bowieinspace

Thanks! Yeah here’s a video about the faces https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pmdIkhfmY6w

2025/26 Season Review - We Beat Real Madrid! We finally beat Real Madrid in a final, and we followed it up with some other success: La Liga - 4th, 83 points (Barcelona champions on 93) Copa Del Rey - Winners, beat Real Madrid in final 2-1 Champions League - Winners, beat Liverpool 4-1(!!!) in the final Supercopa - Lost in SF to Real Madrid Oh my goodness we only went and won 2 trophies! We firstly defeated Real Madrid 2-1 to win the Copa Del Rey with two goals from Karrikaburu - we then had the league and Champions League still to go. Following the Copa Del Rey we absolutely collapsed in the league, winning only 2 of our last 7 games against pretty mediocre opposition...it was a horrible run where we were comfortably winning the xG battle only to keep conceding goals from nowhere. It was a tough watch - a cup winning hangover perhaps? We did however manage to get ourselves up for the Champions League, where our run to the final saw us beat Juve, PSG, Arsenal, Sporting CP and then a fantastic final win over Liverpool! Transfers With just the additional of Mikel Gallego last season, we had our biggest budget by far coming in to the summer of 2026 (current time). We've decided to draw a line under this current squad somewhat with the Champions league win, so a bit of squad turnover is coming. Although we won trophies this season we were incredibly inconsistent at times so I am a touch frustrated with the group. We've started off with a 50million signing of Hugo Guillamon - he will play alongside Vivian at CB mostly. We have elected to let Muniain go (new challenge), Nolaskoain, Unai Nunez and Ander Capa. We're also letting Agirrezabala go (Julen, GK) as he was keen on a move to be a more important player. Replacing these guys will be young players. I'm tempted to now phase out Inaki Williams also, as well as Aihen Munoz. Youth Intake More wingers, although one of them can be a good RB! Squad Planning GK - Simon, Padilla, Ayeza RB - Gorosabel, Chevalier LB - Javi Lopez, Munoz (two youth prospects waiting in the wings if we sell Munoz) CB - Vivian, Guillamon, Yeray, Mikel Goni DM - Vencedor, Arregi CM - Sancet, Aimar, Gallego, Moncayola RW - Nico Williams, Serrano LW - Inaki Williams, Ander Pascual CF - Karrikaburu, Alain Garai Welcome to the new first team promotions!

I have beaten Real Madrid to a trophy klaxon!!!! In April, Copa Del Rey final victory over Real Madrid secured, league is still a 4 way fight (all separated by a single point), still in the champions league as well. Gonna be an exciting season ending

Nice work @dothestrand! Quite funny seeing everyone following pretty similar paths in their updates - I think generally the squad has enough quality to finish top 4 consistently at the start but it’s hard to beat Real Madrid. They’ve made some lovely buys in my save too, Darwin Nunez and Scalvini stand out, alongside Declan Rice and others. super tight title race in my save…in Feb and we have 5 teams within 3 points of each other!

Real Madrid are so annoying in my save haha. They’re so good.

Ah true yeah a different Pamplona! I've not really paid much attention to this one in the past but will take a look going forwards

I can’t remember when they put this in the game but it’s fairly new, basically means he will happily drop down the levels as he declines to keep playing rather than retire when he’s no longer cutting it at the top level. And yeah as @dothestrandsays Pamplona is Osasuna, they have an excellent youth system and is where you’ll find a decent number of talented youth players. Usually as the club rep is a bit lower than Athletic you can poach them more easily than you can from Sociedad.

Yeah nice determined is ok. Personally I prefer something that has a defined professionalism level, eg professional, model pro, resolute etc. if you can find a perfectionist or model citizen type then even better.

2024/25 Season Update La Liga - 2nd place, 88 points (Real Madrid winners) Copa Del Rey - Lost in QF to Sevilla Supercopa - Lost in final to Real Madrid Champions League - Lost in quarter finals to Chelsea Another solid year without winning anything, constantly falling short of Real Madrid! Overall though this year we saw lots of really positive youth development and the start of a transition of some of these players into the first team. I enjoyed the new Champions League format and had some great performances in the group stage, going through in the top 8. We then beat Napoli in the round of 16 before progressing to play Chelsea in the quarters. A very even game unfortunately saw us go out 3-1 on aggregate, a scoreline which flattered them somewhat but they took their chances and we didn't! We got done by a half time team talk turnaround in the Copa Del Rey unfortunately, so another opportunity missed leaving us with a very similar season to the last couple! Karrikaburu was the standout player, scoring loads of goals and forcing Inaki Williams out of the first 11! Muniain had a long term injury so has seen some decline, this has left Inaki deployed on the left wing a bit more. Transfers We have signed a player! A budget of 26 million allowed us to bring in one of our targets - sadly Guillamon and others remain out of reach, but we have splashed our budget on an 18 year old from Sociedad's academy called Mikel Gallego (screen below). He will come in to central midfield this year to back up Aimar, but I have high hopes for him - this means Julen Jon Guerrero who has not developed very well will go on loan somewhere. With a couple other youngsters coming through I was also able to sell Berenguer for 10million to Aston Villa. Youth Intake A really strong intake this year has left me with an academy flooded with potential first team talent, many will be representing the B team in the Segunda this year, while the 16 and under players will stay with the U19s. Looking Ahead GK - Simon, Agirrezabala, Padilla (Ayeza to go on loan) RB - Gorosabel, Capa (Capa likely in his final year) LB - Javi Lopez, Munoz CB - Yeray, Vivian, Nunez, Nolaskoain DM - Vencedor, Peio Arregi CM - Oroz, Sancet, Moncayola, Mikel Gallego RW - Nico Williams, Serrano LW - Muniain, Alain Garai/Andoni Etxabe CF - Karikkaburu, Inaki Williams My plan for screen shotting newgens this year is to show them off when they are making their break into the first team squad - this should make it a bit more exciting than pics after the youth intake, as we'll start to see them a touch closer to their potential - so welcome Mikel Gallego (signed this summer from Sociedad for 26million), Peio Arregi, Alain Garai and Andoni Etxabe!

I’ve generally never found this an issue to be honest, and they develop the language etc quickly anyway. Don’t forgot to check his overall personality as well, really important for HOYD

Yeah always seems to be loads of wingers…especially ones with loads of pace and largely garbage in every other area. I would say this time around though, after a few seasons it’s nice to have talent coming through in that area knowing Muniain and Inaki Williams are getting older. I have been keeping an eye out for one I can retrain to lb or rb but no good candidates yet!!

Haha totally does that's a great way to describe it. Muniain just broke the all time appearances record in my save, he will potentially hit 500 before he retires. Only seems like yesterday he was the next hot young prospect. Getting those guys in for your first window is a nice squad turnover - interesting you decided to let Martinez go early...good fee? I was worried about depth if I took that path.

Yeah in fairness Luis Bilbao and Malcom Ares both actually ended up being potential back up options for me so it wasn't a complete write off in terms of the young options at game start...neither would have been more than back up though, probably about Morcillo levels. My Lander Arenal is going to be playing in the 3rd/4th tier for sure. I think Alboniga-Menor ended up being the most promising option but again back up at best. I've had some decent intakes now though so all are surplus.

I'm glad you're enjoying the first window cause if your save is anything like mine, you won't make any more transfers for a few seasons haha

Agreed the away shirt is beautiful this year

I think the biggest surprise for me was the lack of any strong prospects within the youth ranks - usually you expect 1-2 who look decent but I really had nothing from within the under 19s or B/C teams who looked likely to reach first team level (maybe just bad luck on my save though). That kinda links in to the second question - I guess not a hidden gem but I've been so impressed with Nico Williams on this addition - such a good player in this years edition.

I’m not away of Iker Alvarez but I have been tracking Dani Rodriguez in my game since the start so definitely one I can add in the post above

Yeah that's correct, especially with an Athletic save you have to take star ratings with a pinch of salt and focus on what works/attributes sometimes. My assman has 16/16 JPA/JCA so quite reasonable, but I have a feeling it's the HOYD who gives the initial star ratings on intake day - either way, once into our youth team the ratings didn't really change. Overall the intakes haven't been terrible by any means, just not quite as good as the previews. I do think there's potential in the bunch though, I just need some high potential defenders as there's just nothing coming through at Athletic or the other basque clubs.

2023/24 Season Review Competitions La Liga - 2nd place, 86 points (Real Madrid won with 99) Copa Del Rey - Lost in QF to Real Madrid Supercopa - Lost in SF to Atletico Madrid Champions League - Runners Up, lost in final to Real Madrid Overall an excellent season which saw us achieve our goals - we retained our second place with an increased points total (overall I thought our performances were improved as well. Our cup performances were mixed with a 'ok' Copa Del Rey seeing us lose to the superior Real Madrid in a close game, and (another) unfortunate loss to Atletico in the Super Copa in a game we generally were the better side - this keeps happening vs Atletico! The Champions League was a real highlight of the season, only falling at the final hurdle vs Real in the final - the biggest disappointment is that we were just awful in the final and slumped to a deserved 3-0 defeat - it was one of those games where on the highlights we just looked terrible, slow and off the pace, giving the ball away constantly etc. After a fantastic run through the knockouts, eliminating Chelsea, Arsenal and Man Utd (as well as beating Liverpool in the groups!) with some stunning performances, the final was a total let down. None the less it was a great run and certainly better than expected. Transfers The summer of 2023 saw Andoni Gorosabel join which was our major acquisition for the season, improving our RB position. In an otherwise quiet season we then saw Jon Morcillo leave for a fairly low fee due to being in the final year of his contract, and Ander Herrera depart at the end of the season when his contract expired. The only other transfer business was a young defender from Osasuna (16 year old) for 7.25million and a back up goalkeeper for a nominal fee from Sociedad to be our third choice. Generally speaking we're having big issues in the transfer market this summer (2024) - our main interest is in Guillamon who Valencia will only sell for his release clause up front - I don't have 57million in the budget so hoping I get a chance to do that via instalments but seems unlikely. Mikel Merino is the other one but he's just signed a new deal with Man City. With the usual limitation of only signing Basque players of any age, e.g. no Spanish nationality 15/16 year olds, my options are limited to local rivals. At present, no one wants to join or is even open to negotiations with us, so I basically can't make any moves. I am hoping that changes as our club rep improves otherwise it will be a very slow burn!! Youth Intake My second consecutive golden generation that disappointed on intake day, at least initially. However there's some solid attributes in there and players who may come good, so I'm quite positive about our pipeline overall. Looking Ahead Squad for 24/25: GK - Simon, Agirrezabala, Gaizka Ayeza RB - Gorosabel, Capa LB - Javi Lopez, Munoz CB - Vivian, Yeray, Unai Nunez, Nolskoain DM - Vencedor, Alboniga-Menor CM - Sancet, Aimar Oroz, Moncayola, Julen Jon Guerrero RW - Nico Williams, Serrano LW - Muniain, Berenguer CF - Inaki Williams, Karrikaburu As you can see we've not made any steps forward here, if anything the loss of Herrera and inability to replace him has made us weaker in midfield depth. We can probably make it work by shifting Moncayola into DM to cover Vencedor as cover, and playing Muniain in central midfield at times as well. Julen Jon Guerrero and Alboniga-Menor are not quite there yet but I'm just short of options, so I'll likely be relying on the others and using those two as subs later in games we are comfortably ahead. I see 24/25 as another holding stations type of season - we just need to retain our position and aim for good cup runs. I hope by the time 25/26 rolls around we will either be able to add someone like Guillamon to strengthen the team, or one or two of our young prospects will be starting to get close to first team level.

And another disappointing intake, at least in terms of star ratings. One really good looking left footed winger (which is exactly the same as my last intake)…not a huge problem as Muniain, Williams and Berenguer will all need replacements in 3-4 years or so, so good to have options coming through. The other players in the intake were initially disappointing but actually some good attributes in there so a few may be underrated and actually come good over the coming years.

Absolutely @jippo45 you’re getting some super newgens by the looks of it!! My first year was a touch underwhelming after getting a golden generation tag on my preview (still a couple decent players but not much depth). Year two and I’ve got another golden generation! Hopefully this one treats me well

I always consider formation to reflect defensive shape and roles to dictate attacking shape (simplification but in general terms…). Generally speaking I want consistency in my defensive shape (eg structure), and then unpredictability in my attacking shape through roles who break the lines. So for me, personally, I’ve never had asymmetrical formations as something I want to get too deep in to, maybe just the odd niche situation.

January 2024 Quick Update So as expected a very quiet end of the summer 2023 transfer window, and the January 2024 window followed suit with just one loan move out for Peru Nolaskoain - my fourth choice CB - who wanted a bit more first team football. I didn't want to give him the games at Athletic so I just gave him a loan to avoid him getting upset about it. Overall we've had a positive season so far, getting through a Champions League group containing Juve, Chelsea and Shahktar in first place was a real highlight. We sadly lost in the Supercopa semi final to Atletico, who continue to beat me everytime despite creating next to no chances. We have a Copa Del Rey quarter final against Real to come still and we're sitting comfortably in the top 4, battling Barcelona and Atletico for 2nd-4th basically. Real Madrid have a 6 point lead at the top and I'd be surprised if they fell into a battle with the rest of us. In the summer I'll need to replace Ander Herrera so a midfielder will be required - I've got one B team player who may be able to step up but otherwise I am also eyeing any available moves for Guillamon, Mikel Merino or Zubimendi that may become possible...not looking too promising at the moment though. There's a couple youth prospects I really want from Sociedad/Osasuna but they don't want a bar of any conversations at the moment!

Ah that’s such a shame to lose Nico Williams, he’s pretty irreplaceable to be honest. I’m in season two as well and am using Nico Serrano as back up to Nico on that right side as an inverted winger. He’s been really good for me when he’s come in - obviously no where near Nico Williams ability but very capable and promising. I’d say it’s worth just committing to playing him there to get him developing as quickly as possible. Otherwise perhaps play Inaki as a winger on the right and figure out a solution for centre forward?

Yeah probably a few ways you could go about tweaking it - I’ve not used 4-4-2 yet in this match engine so a little hesitant to be too specific. Given the rest of your system though I think it makes sense to have two roles that form more of a double pivot style set up in the middle, just to anchor things a bit and have some solidarity through the spine given the attacking mentality and attacking roles in the wide areas.