[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

2036 Brasileirao

Really good! As always the key is competent offense and a really solid defense backed by a great keeper. Highlights include a comfortable win over Athletico, a dominant win over Santos and a draw at Arena Corinthians which we almost turned into a win. We were worse from mid-June to July as we faced a minor injury crisis and various call-ups to our starting defenders. Xavi started many games during this stretch and it's clear he's not ready for a starting spot yet. We concede 0.98 goals per 90 with him, compared to 0.65 for Mogollón and Khopotse, our two starting CBs. However, the only game where we lost control and were dominated was the draw against Corinthians so I'm quite happy.

We could win this thing. We're not favorites and we have to drop off soon but we're on pace for 86 points, which would be the most in Brazil since Santos got 90 points in 2032. Santos have fallen away, but Corinthians seem to be back after four years of being too inconsistent to win this title.

With our 4 starters at the back, I think we'll do well enough to be in a real title race by the end of the year.

Athletico have also fired their manager Alejandro Orfila due to poor league position. The new hire is Bernardo, a former Brighton, RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg player. Bernardo seems to favor shorter passing so I expect they'll be less of a bogeyman now.

Copa do Brasil

We conceded three goals too many, but a solid win over a Série A side.

Palmeiras were too much for the XIs we fielded, we avoided being humiliated but never looked like winning this thing.

Copa Libertadores

We were very poor in the first leg, we had the chances to equalise at home but River were better overall.

We're out of both cups so we can now focus on our unlikely title bid.

[Crazy Sociedad Boys]

That's a very cool set-up with the 3 at the back formation. I've considered doing something like it, but didn't think it would be stable enough. Looking forward to see what you do in season 2.

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

Pacheco and Mogollón are national team players now. Mogollón got a call-up for Copa América as well.

Our U-20 defensive midfielder Reinaldo is also now a national team player. I don't think he'll ever make our first team, but there aren't many Japanese players in my database so a lot of Brazilian-Japanese players make it to their senior team. If anything, it could raise his value?

I'm also doing this again. Brazil were eliminated from the Copa América quarter-final which led to them sacking André Lima (formerly of Bahia). They haven't won this tournament since 2020. I want to change that, which means staying until 2040, at least. But first, there's a WC in South Africa. Brazil is currently 2nd in the WCQ after 6 games, which is a comfortable spot. Getting to coach 32-year-old Austregésilo (still the best Brazilian player) again is great news and I also get to try this 4-2-3-1 with better players, and see how far I can take it. There's a handful of amazing Brazilian forwards, like you would expect and I think there's a lot of potential there.

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

2036 Campeonato Paranaense

My first 4-3-3 experiment ended with a disastrous derby defeat. Athletico destroyed us by countering fast, we did nothing well in their stadium. A draw away against Paraná isn't a bad result for an experimental formation, but I have to go back to the drawing board as it wasn't working well. I went back to last season's 4-2-3-1 against Paranavaí and the difference is clear.

We have to face Athletico again in the stage semifinal.

A far better performance with a tried and tested tactic. We're still vulnerable to their counterattacks but we controlled the game far better and Neitzke, Vitor and Vaggione playing as the "3" in the 4-2-3-1 created enough to win it.

Londrina shocked Paraná to secure a spot in the stage final.

This was a stinker. They played a 4-2-2-2 and with that many bodies in the middle we struggled to create good through balls or crosses. But we won in penalties, which is good enough. I suppose.

We had nothing to lose and played a very easy schedule in the closing stage of the state league. So I tried another 4-3-3 which I created from the scratch. It's working well, the idea is moving to a 2-3-5 in possession with one IWB occupying the spot of a roving mezzala, and one attacking wing-back on the other side. We do struggle scoring enough goals, but with the number of shots and chances created, I think this shape has upside.

Paraná is our rival for the stage semifinal.

Played the 4-3-3 again. It worked well, although we needed a set piece goal from Vaggione to go through. We had total control of the game and with 3 chances (1 CCC+2 half chances), it's hard to find fault in this performance.

This set up another derby against Athletico.

As you can see, we conceded two goals fairly quickly. Athletico counters really well and the 2-3-5 shape is just asking for it. I went back to the 4-2-3-1 to avoid humiliation and Isidoro got a goal immediately. Neitzke equalised with a screamer in the second half, but we had rotten luck this game. We conceded two goals from set pieces in just a minute. Neitzke pulled one back after a through ball from Vaggione, but it wasn't enough. They didn't sit back and both teams had chances during the last 30 minutes, us through controlled possession and them through counters and their striker Ederson beating our CBs to long balls. Can't say we deserved to win this but we could've if I started with the right tactic and we just had a bit more luck on those set pieces.

This set up another derby final for the state league title.

Having conceded 5 open play goals playing with a 4-3-3 shape to this team, I just stuck with the 4-2-3-1 which I know works. The first leg was our derby at home and it showed, they looked toothless on the counter and we got a 2 goal lead and could've got more if Vaggione was a better finisher. The second leg was a nightmare. Once again Ederson crushed us on counter-attacks. He got a brace and an assist. Meanwhile, we were creating shots but playing a set defense and struggling to find good shooting angles, while they were running into open space and were absolutely clinical. Vaggione saved us by scoring on a cut-back. We won the penalty shootout, but it's upsetting that this was such a thriller when we started with a two-goal lead.

It's our third state league title. We now have 43 titles to Athletico's 34. They had won 9 of their last 10 before I got here and would've caught up in no time.

Copa Libertadores

Can't ask for much more from our first appearance in this tournament. We had a naive game at home against Colo Colo failing to finish many of our chances, but beating Independiente reassures me that we have a very solid tactic which fits out squad perfectly.

We won the group! Our reward is playing River, the best 2nd place who didn't top their group because they shared it with Corinthians. We are clearly underdogs but now that we've beaten teams like Corinthians in the league, I know we have a chance. We could play Athletico in the quarter-finals if we go through and they manage to beat Vélez.

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

This happened last year. It's a vindication of the youth players (my reserve team is basically empty, so the players in these games are mostly from the U-20 team) we have and the tactics that I'm using.

Transfers

Once again, we turned a healthy profit from outgoing transfers, getting R$17.5M in fees after R$25M last year. The key departure is starting centre-back Albanaz, who was very solid for the past three years but was as far from a ball-playing centreback as you can get. Getting reasonable fees for Erielton and Leitao is a huge coup, as they are Série B caliber players at best. We have two more first team squad members from last year leaving, in José Carlos who will be a starter for a Série D team and Mamute who's leaving on loan to play in Série C. I think Mamute could be a reasonable fourth CB, but he's probably maxed out his PA already.

I didn't manage to sell Alexsandro, so he's leaving on a free at the end of the year. Cleomar will probably come back to the first team next year, so I hope he scores many goals for Vila Nova in Série C. Claudinei is another striker who's on the cusp of making the first team and will also be playing in Série C. The other loanees probably don't have much future at the club but they're all loaned to Série D or Série C teams.

I promoted two players to the first team this year.

Promoting Emerson Luiz was just a no-brainer. He ended up notching 13 appearances in the first team last year as we had a bit of an injury crisis at the end of the season. Emerson will play as a mezzala in a 4-3-3 or as our AMC in the 4-2-3-1 for now, but in the long term he might have to become a winger. I think he will soon be an upgrade on our captain Neitzke (who's played in all the same roles).

I'm in the middle of a big transition with centre-backs. Mamute and Albanaz just left, which leaves us with only two from four players who featured there last year. I'm also planning to sell Khagiso Khopotse after this season, to make room for the promising Xavi in the RCB spot. Moisés will be our fourth CB this year but he's going to be our third choice next year, and in the long term might even be a better option than Xavi.

I wanted two specific profiles as incoming transfers, and managed to secure good players for both after a lot of scouting.

I'm a big supporter of left-footed centre-backs in "real" football. This hadn't come into play this save since I was playing more direct tactics but with the focus on playing from the back and withSérie A has several high pressing teams, having a centre-back who can play that natural pass out wide could be an advantage. I didn't find any decent CBs who were left-footed and could play the ball but I did find Mogollón, who will hopefully grow into this role. Mogollón has good athleticism and mental attributes, he's young with potential, can pass the ball (reasonable passing, first touch and vision) and has decent defensive attributes. He's coming in for R$5M, which is a high fee for us. Mogollón hadn't yet made his debut for Alianza in Peru and will have to be retrained, so he's a gamble but I think he'll be one of our two centre-back starters for many years.

Our signings have been either players from other South American leagues, players unable to feature at big clubs or standouts from the lower leagues. Kid is the first player who's coming to Coritiba after being a starter in Série A . He started 32 games for SPFC last year and has been a regular starter for the last 9 years with stints in Botafogo, Chapecoense and Sao Paulo. He even notched 10+ assists at his first two seasons in Sao Paulo. He comes in on a free transfer as his contract expired and will be competing for a spot in the starting XI with Harold García and Keirrison.

This is our first team for the year. Two players for each spot, but we have a lot of versatility which is good. I will be using a 4-3-3 and a 4-2-3-1 for the year, with the old diamond tactic mostly used late in games.

I would like to find a rotation option at left-back, since Tamandaré is clearly the worst player here. I also think Kurt is over-valued and I would jump at the chance to sell him for R$30M if such an offer came in. But we're still very limited financially, and I want Kurt to continue as the starter as long as he's here. So I'll just have to wait for a free transfer to bring in someone.

Season preview

The board wants us to reach the Group Stage in Copa Libertadores and the fifth round in the national cup. We're entering at these stages in both competitions, so I'm not worried about board expectations this year. This is what I personally hope for:

Campeonato Paranaense: We've won the state league twice in a row. I don't care that much about winning it again, I just wanna win the derbies with Athletico (who are spending a lot of money, I wish we had money).

Copa do Brasil: This is all dependent on the draw. We could get a fourth-tier side or Santos in our first tie. I want to win this eventually, since Athletico won it last year but we have to improve a lot for me to expect anything in this tournament.

Copa Libertadores: Our group is Independiente, Colo Colo and Barcelona (ECU). This is a really easy group, with two teams not from Brazil or Argentina. We have to qualify and we could even win the group with good results against Independiente. After that, it all depends on who we draw, but I think we could have a good run this year.

Série A: Still the most important competition for me. I won't leave Coritiba until I win this league. We're still a few years away from contending. I don't think we should expect a repeat of last year's 3rd-place finish but we have to keep qualifying for continental competitions. The TV money we get seems to be capped for some unknown reason, so prize money and outgoing transfers are the only way we can improve our finances, pay higher wages and improve our squad. We need something like a top 13 finish, which is very doable.

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

2035 Brasileirao

We never let up! We accumulated 35 points in the second half of the season, exactly the same as the first half. October was a special run for us, as we ended up drawing to Santos in a thriller where we went ahead 3 times but couldn't hold on to the lead. Santos is a fantastic team. They have a golden generation of sorts that they've managed to hold on to, led by AMC Caio Roberto and centre-back Amaral (part of the WC winning squad). And their extremely talented forwards are just really hard to shut down. That game had 4 clear cut chances for each team, so the result was fair in the end. On our end, Jurandir playing as a false 9 was amazing, creating of those 4 CCC's. It's expected that Santos will create chances against us, but that we managed to create so much danger is fantastic.

Then, two weeks later we beat Timao in my old stomping grounds of Arena Corinthians. I deployed the diamond and Vaggione netted two goals as a mezzala. It was a game that could've gone either way, but we kept it tight at the back. This result qualified us for the Libertadores next year, which will bring a lot of needed money to the club.

We were never in contention for the title, but we were just a couple results away from being close, which is not what I expected at all this year. I can't complain because we weren't particularly unlucky (or particularly lucky either). Santos claimed their third league in four years with a win in the final day, while Corinthians lost away to defending champions Grêmio. Corinthians still have the best players and the highest wage bill in the country, by a lot, but they just haven't managed to be a dominating force lately. They now have 15 national titles while Santos have 14.

A podium finish is beyond great for us. I'm a bit surprised that this can even happen in the game. We have the lowest wage bill and we're playing attacking, possession football. But we have all the right players for it and it's working. I expect to regress a bit next year as I keep trying different things tactically. Not to mention our reputation improving and teams playing us more defensively. I also expect that we'll eventually have to make some unwanted sales. Isidoro and Vaggione are both labeled as "wonderkids", but they're not being tracked by any teams at the moment. PSG have (thankfully) lost their interest in Vaggione. The other issue looming over our heads is we'll eventually have to start paying these players a much higher wage.

Copa Sudamericana

Uruguay's Liverpool was no match for us. We had a nervy first leg away, but we crushed them at Couto Pereira.

Gimnasia (LP) was another story, as they limited our offense and hit back on the counter. Our captain Neitzke disappointingly missed in the shootout and they converted all their penalties.

Palmeiras beat them in the final with a comfortable 3-0. We reached the semifinals two years in a row, it would've been great to win it this year but we just couldn't score at home after Antonio Vitor's goal.

Our rivals Athletico surprisingly won the Copa do Brasil. They also were never in trouble of relegation on their first year back to the top tier. This rivalry has been dominated by us since we reached Série A but it may be more competitive going forward.

This is the tactic I ended the year with. I still haven't gotten the best out of the Isidoro-Vaggione pairing, and it seems like one can only perform at their best at the expense of the other. What I'm trying now is Vaggione as a false 9 (although he's out until February with a broken foot). Jurandir was fantastic in the false 9 role and Vaggione also improved, but Isidoro never performed as a shadow striker. He went from 20 goals in the first half of the season, to 3 playing as a shadow striker. With this in mind, I'm moving to a 4-3-3, with Isidoro as an inside forward. I still have two versions of the 4-2-3-1 which work well, as well as the diamond tactic. Brazil is a great place to try out tactics. There is a shortage of ball-playing defenders which is very annoying, but I get 4 months of games against weaker teams to try out tactics at the start of every season.

 

Everyone was great basically all year, other than the front 2 of Vaggione and Isidoro (in theory, our best players). Vitor, Nicolau and Neitzke from the wings picked up the slack on offense when either of those struggled. Defensively, we got carved open and conceded very easy chances in a few games, but that's the risk of playing a high line as a team without a great squad. What's amazing is that didn't happen in every single game and we ended up with the fourth-best defense in the Brasileirao.

The fans picked central defender Kagiso Khopotse as the best player. He was really good and went on a weird goalscoring run early in the year, but my favorite player was my keeper Luis Maranhao.

Luis has now won the Série best keeper award three years in a row and he fully deserves it. He's an amazing shot stopper and allowed us to get several points from those games where we got carved open. It's a bit annoying that he probably won't make it as a club legend or icon, because the avg rating tends to undervalue keepers but he's really important for us. I think he adds like 15 points to our tally every year.

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

I've sold our back-up right back halfway through the season. He's off to Novo Hamburgo, where he joins one of my midfield playmakers back at Caxias, Antoninho. Antoninho never made it in Série A but he's become a club legend at Novo Hamburgo.

I've kept track of Antoninho with the aim of signing him some day. He didn't want to come to CENE or Naútico (RR) when I managed them, and Novo Hamburgo didn't want to sell him when I arrived at Coritiba and we were in Série C. He's obviously not good enough for us at this point in time. I don't think I'll ever manage him again but he's one of my favorite players in this save. He had a great game as a teenager with Caxias when we beat Grêmio away 3-0 in the state league. He might not have been good enough for the first tier but his vision and flair made a huge difference in the lower tiers. That reminds me of several of the players I have right now, namely those that have been here longer than me (Keirrison, Jurandir, etc), except now I'm playing in a style where passing and technique are the most important things. With Antoninho's Caxias I was playing a very direct version of football.

Regardless, the reason to sell Paulo André is the progress of this youngster.

We bought Alexandre last year for R$80K from Ivinhema. A real bargain. Alexandre needs to improve on possession, but he seems very solid defensively and is enough of an athlete to get into good crossing positions. All I need from our back-up full-backs at this point is being decent defenders and maybe a handful of good crosses per season. André was a similar player but attributes-wise he's been surpassed by Alexandre already and his PA was poorly rated by the staff. Hopefully, we can develop this player into a starting option.

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

I've been playing a lot, so I'm just gonna cramp the first half of the season into an update.

2035 Brasileirao

We're amazing! Isidoro leads the league in scoring and we're keeping things tight at the back. Beating the defending champions Grêmio (who dominated us last year) while playing well was great to see but the obvious highlights are winning both of our local derbies, with a goal and assist from Vaggione in the Atle-Tiba derby.  He's very much a big game player. However, he hasn't been as much of a prolific scorer as I hoped. Right now, he's playing in an AP(s) role. This limits his goal scoring chances, but has brought out the best version of this team so far. We're legitimately playing well, controling games and dominating most teams with the ball. Santos, Caxias and Corinthians are still too good for us, but considering we have the smallest wage bill in the league, I'm quite happy that we're at this point already.

We're definitely not getting relegated, and as long as we don't fall apart entirely, we should have a shot at playing the Libertadores next year.

All the Paranaense teams are doing well so far.

Copa do Brasil

A heavily rotated side was enough to get a big lead against Série D's Audax in the first leg. An even more rotated side (basically our U-20s) got a draw away. Xavi has scored 4 goals this season, two of them from direct FKs. This is good to see from a CB.

We got Santos in the quarter-final, which means trouble.

Nothing to see here. Just us failing to progress the ball from the back reliably and Santos being both very creative and deadly in the final third. We have to take these defeats some times with the team being what it is right now, but we did create chances (two CCCs and one half chance, to be precise). We're just a worse team.

Copa Sudamericana

Vaggione showing up in big games again! He scored a late FK in the first leg and we were never in trouble after that. Racing are a mid-table team in Argentina, it's good to know that we can compete against these clubs.

Emelec are an Ecuadorian team, and like every team that isn't from Brazil or Argentina, they don't have a chance to win any South American tournament in this save. Our first four goals came from set pieces, which feels lucky. However, we dominated them and they only got 5 shots in both legs.

In the quarter-finals, we have Uruguay's Liverpool. We should also beat them to qualify for the semifinals for the second year in a row. I think we have a chance to win this thing with the way we're playing.

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

2035 Campeonato Paranaense

It was quite a good start, but we were lucky against Paraná, where we conceded a whooping 7 chances and somehow won the game with our back-up keeper. We were also lucky to score 8 from only 3 clear cut and half chances against Uniao. Our offense and defense have improved since, but it was great to have luck on our side while working through a new tactic. Vaggione only came back against Londrina, as he was with the U-20 national team.

Top of the group means an easier path to the stage final.

Great game from Isidoro and Vaggione, we carved them open repeatedly after having a harder time during the group stage game just days before this. The tactic really started clicking here.

Paraná beat Athletico, so we avoid the bigger derby for this stage. But with Athletico back in Série A, there'll be a lot of Atle-Tiba games this year.

Dramatic winner from Vaggione! We came back and controlled the game after conceding a shot that Marcelo Gaúcho should've saved (both of our two first team keepers were out, Marcelo not leaving for loan worked out in the end!). This means we've secured a shot at a league final, or we may win the league if we win the closing stage.

Another major win against a lowly team to kick off this stage, we met expectations with the rest of the games. The derby featured only 12 shots from each team but we created 2 clear cut chances (neither were scored), it was disappointing to not win. Low shot games with a few high quality chances seem to be the pattern for our games against good teams this year.

Once again, we face a poor team in the stage semifinal by virtue of winning the group. Athletico had it all in their hands but drew to Operario in the final day,

This sucked. Disappointing game, and it was sadly picked as a fan day. We have high attendances, so it's fine but we really sucked on this one.

We bounced back though! Couldn't ask for a better way to win a tournament. Vaggione showed up for a big game once again, and we scored the winning goal from a set piece. We've been quite adept at coming back after conceding first, which wasn't a strength for this team last year.

This makes it two state leagues in a row for us.

Copa Sudamericana

An easy fixture against Chilean team Huachipato. This competition really suits Jurandir who now has 10 goals in it.

We drew Racing next round, which is a much tougher tie.

Copa do Brasil

This was against Brasilia champions Real (DF) from the fourth tier. We laid an egg here, never in danger of losing and we had the tiebreaker as the highest division team, but it was a lousy game where we had control but couldn't create danger.

Second round brought us Tombense, freshly promoted to Série A. It was a hard-fought game won by Isidoro, who has been in killer form all year. He's playing an advanced forward but he's been a deadly aerial threat.

An easy win against Rio de Janeiro's Boavista, currently in Série B. Not much to say about this one, other than I would've liked to score more. The team really started clicking around this time.

Great game at home. Only created 10 shots but that was enough for 3 chances and 2 goals, and we only conceded 7 shots, of a much lower quality. With that, we went to Belo Horizonte playing a more conservative game, and we went up by a penalty after half-time. It seemed like there could've been some drama as we conceded twice late, but they needed four goals and we widened the gap by one more with Isidoro scoring in injury time.

We got the luckiest draw, as we'll face Audax (SP) from the fourth tier in the next round. They beat Paraná in the third round to get here, but I think we should dominate them easily.

We're about to start the Brasileirao, we won the state league and we're alive in both cup competitions. Can't ask for much more!

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

I've played a lot without having the time to update this thread.

One of the things I did was reassigning numbers. #1 through #30 are for players who've been promoted to the first team. #31 through #40 are for reserves players (usually on loan or transfer listed), and #41 onwards is for U-20 players. We have currently assigned 50 numbers between 1 and 57. Overall, I like this more than the previous chaotic numbering system.

The 3-3-3-1 ended up turning into this. Vaggione isn't one of our primary goal threats here but having two defensive midfielders allows him to be the difference-maker in midfield and has brought out the best version of the team.

Many players leaving on loan as per usual. You may notice Alexsandro, a mainstay in the first team since our Série C season in 2031, left on loan. This was me panicking over our wage bill but he also doesn't fit in as a CB or in either DM spot, so I'd rather promote someone. I managed to sell two so-so youth players and target man Marcos Antonio, which doesn't fix our financial issues but helps a bit. Marcos Antonio started last year in the first team, but since we will rarely play a target man going forward and he's not among our best prospects, it makes no sense to keep him.

I can't make any youth signings this year because I need to save my scouting budget to find next year's targets, and our transfer budget will be close to R$0 until next season (hopefully I have a transfer budget next season!).

I forgot to talk about the youth players I've promoted, so I will do that now.

Xavi showed up in the '34 intake, just a few months ago. I think we have another Vaggione-tier prospect here. He's been very solid after his terrible debut in the last game of last season, where we shipped 5 goals to Paraná. He's been a real threat in set pieces, as a FK taker and as a target on corners. With his defensive attributes being so strong already, I will be training him as a libero. He will hopefully grow into our first true BPD. He's so good already that I'm probably selling Albanaz over the season. Like Vaggione, his main problem is lack of pace.

One of the youngest players from the '30 intake, Tamandaré will be a back-up and little else. With our full-backs covering a lot of ground, there will be a lot of games where he's subbed in. As long as he doesn' make too many mistakes and we don't get a better player in this position through an intake, he'll play here.

Damiani came through at Criciuma and Avaí, we paid R$83K for him. Giving him Alexsandro's playtime with his potential can only benefit the club. He has great physical attributes and I think we can mold him into a useful midfielder, at least.

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

2035 season preview

We ended up having to sell to make enough money to afford my 3 targets. It wasn't pretty but we got everyone I wanted. The fact that none of the outgoing transfer ended up in a team in our state league or Série A is also good. On paper, we've lost quality and depth but aside from left-back, we are not worse at any position in the diamond tactic. Not making a profit on Balanta is disappointing, but not losing money is a relief. He was a bit disappointing in his two years here, and I think we rushed into signing him when he wasn't the player we needed. I didn't plan to lose Filipe but we're just broke and I still needed to sign a starting DM. It looks like we'll remain broke if/until we sell Vaggione.

I am quite happy with the incoming transfers. I already mentioned Nicolau but here are the two other signings:

Vitor has ridiculous wage demands but we need technical playmakers like him in the team. He should be able to play on the left wing until his physical attributes drop off and he could compete with Keirrison for a midfield spot. He was frozen out of the team at Tombense as they were promoted from Série B, but I think he has enough quality to be a rotation option in the first tier.

García ended up being the reason we sold Filipe, but I'm convinced we needed a player like him. Once again, I'm brining a player with good technique and vision, but Garcia also has the physical and mental attributes to cover a lot of ground as the only nominal midfielder in the squad. While his CA may be similar to his countryman Balanta, he is better in most of the key attributes for the type of football I want to play.

Our squad in the new shape should look something like this, once García heals and Vaggione returns from the U-20 national tournament. Maranhao is also out for January, so Jose Carlos will see some starts in the state league.

This depth chart isn't so bad, but having Filipe's versatility would've made us better.

I think we'll struggle in Série A this year. Having won the state league, my only aim is avoiding relegation from the national league. The plan for now is incremental improvements (next year left centre-back, after that the full-backs), and I think we can be competing for titles within a few years.

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

Something else

This is little more than the germ of an idea but I think something like this would work for us. The influences from Bielsa and Cruyff should be obvious, but the focus is all on young Vaggione. With the diamond tactic, Vaggione is moving the ball out wide and then getting in the box to be a target for crosses. The main problem with this way of attacking is the full-backs' poor starting position. With this shape, the wingers will provide that wide threat and we don't empty out the midfield, as the IWBs will be coming inside. The problem is obviously that gap in midfield when out of possession, so I don't know if we'll ever use this against stronger teams.

Obviously, the diamond works (most of the time) and the 5-3-2 is a nice safety net so I won't be going into big games with this tactic just yet, but I do want to get something with this shape working to use it as a main tactic by the season after the next one. We don't have the right players and Neitzke, who has good attributes for a winger, would have to be retrained from scratch. But with a left winger signing, I think I can start using this with our current wing-backs and left-footed Filipe slotting in at the DCL spot.

We've secured our first signing for the '35 season. Nicolau is a fringe Série A player, He's played the bulk of his career in the first tier but he had his best seasons in Série B for CSA and Botafogo. For a fee of R$120K, there's no risk in this transfer. I think he'll be able to do well with two targets in the box and he can also slot in as a striker, so if I give up on this tactic he will not be useless.

Keeping in tune with that theme, I have two more spots to fill in my squad with players  who can be useful in both shapes.

I've bolded the players who need to be retrained for the new shape and italicized promotions from youth teams. Jose Carlos is coming back as a back-up keeper, since Marcelo has been generally underwhelming and just conceded 5 goals from 16 shots against Paraná.

So we're looking for a starting playmaking DM (Filipe has been at this club longer than me and has held down the DM spot well, but he's very out of place in a possession-oriented team) and a central midfielder who can play as a left winger.

This leaves left-back Jeremias, centre-back Lucas Michel and midfielder Balanta as players to be sold. And several other players (Cleomar, Marcelo, Mamute, Marcos Antonio, Luiz Fernando, and whoever outgrows the U-20 team) will have to be loaned out.

We've made a loss two years in a row. I still don't know if we have any money to play with for next year since even with the sales we might be in the red. Hopefully that increase in TV money comes through now.

Excited about next season though!

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

2034 Brasileirao

The last two games are very depressing. I played the kids against Paraná, giving Xavi his debut and featuring other teenagers. It was a mistake as this is a derby after all. In all fairness, we created 4 clear cut chances but they created 5. The difference was the finishing. The win against Bahia was quite dramatic, but it's all soured by that horrible loss.

We improve our finish by one spot but have 6 points less and a much worse goal difference. We played more ambitious, attacking football this year. It wouldn't be wrong to say we got worse but this is necessary to get to where I want to be with this team.

Two very different formations. I changed the 5-3-2 slightly this year. Khopotse is in Filipe's place in the second screen but this is roughly my best side with each formation.

Some stand-out players: Pacheco, a demon on the right side, he compensated for some defensive shortcomings with 13 assists. Maranhao, one of the best keepers in the league, we'd probably go down without him. Jurandir, who played his best football in his career and scored 20 goals in all competitions. And Keirrison, who unexpectedly developed into a starter and gives us some much needed variety and control in midfield.

Our best player to me is Vaggione, by a lot. 7 goals and 8 assists in Série A, 17 goals and 15 assists in all competitions. I think we can get more out of him, and I have some tactical ideas as to how to do that. But he's getting to the point where he's performing every week. Lets hope the Europeans don't come asking about him for at least one more year.

[[FM21] Hometown Heroes]

Have you considered hiding attributes entirely and just going with stats/performance? I assume it might be more palatable with all the information you can get in this edition.

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

2034 Brasileirao

Well, we're keeping our form. We can't beat any good teams this year, hence our losses to Caxias, Palmeiras and Santos. The 5-3-2 seems done for. I'm tweaking it but nothing really seems to work, we just aren't creating counterattacks as we lack speed in midfield and we struggle to play from the back, so we clearly lack the personnel for it. I seem to remember my centre-backs at Caxias being better passers, but that seems very unlikely.

However, we play really well in certain games like the one against Vitoria and Chapecoense. Getting enough of thse wins against lesser clubs at home is our ticket to safety this year. A draw against a rich team like Flamengo while winning the possession and shots battles and using the diamond tactic is very encouraging. The one outlier is our loss at Ponte Preta, which was an even game where left inside forward Edney scored a hat-trick on us. That's interesting as Grêmio's Matias Diaz punished us from the same position and role but when we played a different tactic. I will have to keep an eye out and instruct right-back Pacheco to show all such players onto their left foot.

Finally level on games with everyone else. Nine points over 17th and with a chance at qualifying for Copa Sudamerican again!

Vaggione won the Golden Boot and the Best Player award for the Sudamericana, thanks to his two hat-trick games. He's the youngest winner for both in this save. Grêmio beat Belgrano in the final.

I figure there's nothing really interesting to be gleaned from tracking previous year's intakes, and I'm really fighting a losing battle with personalities. My squad has high determination but we don't have great personalities on the first team, and with Khopotse and one of my signings for next year, I'm acquiring two "negative" personalites. I will always choose the best player

I'll still use the spreadsheet to evaluate what position to train players in and who to avoid signing. From this year's intake, Xavi is great and Bruno Henrique is promising as well. I'm cutting Bruno, who my staff rates as having a 2.5 PA but he's starting with really poor attributes.

Good passing and a starting first touch which is not terrible! Not to mention fantastic tackling, positioning and jumping reach. With one CB being sold, he's breaking into the first team next season.

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

2034 Brasileirao

A decent run. We were unlucky not to win any of our July league fixtures and then losses against two of the best teams had us close to relegation places, but we stole a win at Morumbi and played fantastically against Paraná and Mirassol to get some much needed points.

We have games in hand but they're against Palmeiras and Santos so it's unlikely that we'll get any points from those.

Copa Sudamericana

We played some great football in both games, but it's to be expected against a team outside of Argentina or Brazil.

We had a thriller away, Khopotse scored on a corner and Jurandir benefitted from striker Cleomar rescuing a clearance to score on the counter. We were ahead and comfortable most of the game but eventually we were just too tired and gave up two goals. Vaggione came from the bench and seemed to put the game beyond doubt with a third goal where he connected on a long ball to Cleomar, who once again held the ball magnificently, and then ran the length of the pitch to head in a cross. But our keeper Luis Maranhao made a rare mistake and gave up the ball to concede a third goal. We needed to hold on for just another minute, it was nervy but we pulled it off and advanced to the semifinals!

The fairytale comes to an end. Left winger Díaz is just terrible to play against, with the 5-3-2 we give teams space and time and pack men behind the ball, but Diaz is a great dribbler and an accurate shooter, he's scored 4 goals in 4 games against us this year taking full advantage as an inside forward.

Nevertheless, it was a fantastic run. Currently, Jurandir and Vaggione are tied with Palhinha as Sudamericana top scorers with 7 goals. Grêmio will play the final against Belgrano.

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

I found two targets for the spots I wanted, both were transfer-listed and I'm still not sure we'll stay up this year (if we go down we won't be able to atract either) so I just pulled the trigger on both transfers.

A South African defender transfer listed by Caxias. He's good enough technically to improve Albanaz and Michel with the ball. There are cons to this signing, such as his poor personality and his wage (highest at the club), but that's all fine since he fits the profile enough and he's coming for RS975K, a bargain.

For R$1.4M we signed Mineiro graduate Isidoro from Santos. As you can see he's not a natural striker but I plan to train and play him as a target man. He lacks the finishing and some of the signature target man mental attributes of Jurandir, but bests him in vision and athleticism. Having technical players like him and Vaggione playing close to each other should be interesting.

With these two signings, Mamute and Marcos Antonio will have to go out on loan.

This isn't good news. I don't know if I'd be interested in remaining at the club without Vaggione, I've already won the Paraná league so I've already completed the "challenge" here. Although Vaggione has a R$66M release clause. If we get that much money, I could build a good side.

I'm now thinking ahead to what I should actually do with next season's transfer budget. We might have a new TV deal, which I hope will resemble the huge one at Caxias. If so, we should get a larger budget. We don't have to sign anyone and we're fulfilling the board's expectations easily but if I wanna push for a league title in the next few seasons we gotta keep improving the team. The only players that I'm planning to sell are Jeremías and centre-back Lucas Michel (I think it'd be better to keep Albanaz who is valued at half the price and slightly better right now), but I have decent replacements lined up for them already. Any signing would have to push someone out of the first XI.

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

Brazil's World Cup squad

I figured I'd post this. Only 9 players (those highlighted) remain from the squad I won the WC with in 2030, although quite a few of the others called-up narrowly missed the cut for my squad. Austregésilo and Joao Pedro are playing their 3rd World Cup. There's a lot of players based in Brazil with 6 from Corinthians, 3 from Santos and 1 from Caxias. I'll post the bracket after the final.

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

2034 Brasileirao

World Cup break is here, which means we have a month off to rest our injury-riddled squad. Although, we were performing really well and I would've liked to keep this run going. We're playing fluid football and the crosses are reaching Jurandir and Vaggione. Vaggione still hasn't scored a header, which I want to see but he has 9 goals and 9 assists in these 6 months. The fact that he's getting those shots is more than good enough. We beat Flamengo and Vitoria away using the diamond tactic, so I'll trust in that more and save the 5-3-2 for the top top teams.

As per usual, 40 points is the target and we're ahead of schedule but not far ahead of the relegation places yet. Corinthians is underperforming for yet another year. They have 6 players in the WC-defending Brazil squad but somehow are 7 points behind the leaders.

Copa do Brasil

We just got embarrassed here. I went with the diamond at home and we were outplayed. Playing the 5-3-2 away didn't work as they were content to just hold the ball and gave us no counterattacking opportunities. Reaching the 5th round for the second year in a row isn't too bad though.

Copa Sudamericana

The opposite of our cup tie, we dominated this. We just connected on crosses at will and Jurandir feasted. We're facing another Paraguayan team next round, so we should make the quarter-finals.

Squad planning

I've started scouting for next year's transfers. Our team has two glaring needs: a ball playing defender and a replacement for Jurandir as target-man/playmaker. None of our centre-backs are anything other than mediocre passers, which hinders us against pressing teams. Jurandir is having his best season, but attributes-wise he's a Serie B player and he's our oldest squad member. I probably won't renew his contract which ends next season. Of course, we still don't have much money so we need to sell to make this happen.

Looking at my squad, I think Ricardo Balanta, Jeremias, and Milton Albanaz are overvalued. If we sell all of them for close to transfer value, we'll have R$15M which is more than enough. Jeremias and Albanaz are starters and we would have to replace them. Academy graduate Guilherme Kurt can be our starting left-back and if we buy a centre-back, he would occupy Albanaz's place. I'm more hesitant to sell Balanta who is a solid rotation option in central midfield, when we bought him at the start last season I struggled to find a player who fit the mold that I wanted. We have a better reputation now which might make things easier, but I won't sell him without a cheaper replacement lined up.

[[FM21] Hometown Heroes]

That Dover game had to be maddening.

[[FM19] Winning Every State League]

I started playing the save again last week. Today I got this after clicking continue twice, so I played through March and April fairly quickly.  I have hopes for Reinaldo but Vaggione is the real gem. 

2034 Campeonato Paranaense

I played the first four of these games months ago so I don't remember much. Looking at the highlights we were a bit lucky to score so much, even against weaker teams. Starting with the Cianorte game, I started experimenting with a strikerless formation for the sake of trying Jurandir as wide target man, seeing how he can play in all attacking midfielder spots. It worked with mixed results. Jurandir was maybe better than ever and Vaggione was good, but the other one in the front three never contributes anything.

The groups might be a bit lopsided.

This was a very boring game. I don't think we should've advanced as Paraná are the higher-seed, but I'm not complaining. The stage final is Atle-Tiba.

Coritiba are stage champions! This means we have a chance at winning this thing. The winner came thanks to young Mamute, subbing for the two first choice right-backs Pacheco and Paulo André, assisting Jurandir with the only good cross he's put in all season. Our defense has been good through the whole thing, so that's enough to get by for now.

The strikerless thing isn't really working, we just don't create shots. With the old diamond we had more shots, it's just that since we lack width we needed to work extremely hard for every good shot. We lost the derby, but we had a few more around this time so it's not terrible in the grand scheme of things.

A 50/50 game, literally. 50% possession and 10 shots for each team. Their right-back was the one to score, which is a bit embarrassing.

Athletico miserably lost the semifinal at home to Série D team Uniao Beltrao, so Paraná had an easy win in the final. This means we have to face them again in the stage final. I went back to the diamond around this time, but finally bit the bullet and let the wing-backs do more wing-back things. The downside is we are now putting in 40 crosses per game, at least. This is a problem because the FM19 match engine has a horrible cross completion rate, but having a wide presence makes Vaggione and Neitzke's job a lot easier.

We got a goal from a cross and one from a set piece in the first leg, and two goals from through balls in the second leg. I've solved FM!

This is the fifth state league I win out of 27. Only took 15 years to get this far!

2034 Copa Sudamericana

The first leg is the game that convinced me to try the strikerless thing. Vaggione just had a genius game. I lost a game month trying to get that thing to work but on the other hand, we'll be playing another round of continental football. We still don't have a rival because the Sudamericana first round takes 5 months to be completed in this game.

2034 Copa do Brasil

This wasn't a pleasant game.

This one was rough as well, really lucky to pull off an equaliser here.

This tie was really close, but our hero Lucas came through with a late winner.

I'm trying not to overreact to one match like I did sticking to the strikerless formation after beating Audax, but this first leg convinced me to return to the diamond. We played a brilliant game, and we can't pin it all on one player like the Audax win.

We get Palmeiras next on the cup. It's unlikely that we can beat them but reaching the fifth round two years in a row is nothing to sniff at.

We're starting Série A now. I have the new and improved 4-4-2 diamond tactic to try and play good football and the old reliable 5-3-2 to steal points from good teams. We're still a very mediocre club by player quality and have a wage bill that would be below the median in the second tier. Lets hope we can stay up another year!

[[FM19] Fear and loathing in Tercera]

CE Europa - February 2021

The loss to Gramenet is unfortunate, but we're shutting teams down and scoring just enough to win most games.

I really want that 1st place spot, so far Nástic B remains ahead but we have a really good lead over 5th place which should guarantee us a place in the playoffs. However, André Costa broke his leg which means he's out for 9 months and Madrid has recalled him. We're short on midfielders so I'll probably try to sign someone quickly.

[[FM19] Fear and loathing in Tercera]

CE Europa - November 2020

Some money making friendlies and a pretty good run despite having a few losses. We have a really good defense, led by Levante loanee Carratalá. We've only conceded 8 goals in 16 games, if we had a bit better finishing we'd be far ahead in the league.

Carratalá is rated as a future La Liga player, that might be stretch but he's incredible at this level with  decent values in all the key attributes.

We already have some space between us and the pack, we just have to keep up with Manlleu and Gimnástic B. 

[[FM21] Hometown Heroes]

Looking forward to following this! Nice setup but I always feel like the most creative central midfielder (Moti in this case) has to be among the best players on the side.

[[FM19] Fear and loathing in Tercera]

CE Europa - August 2020

A takeover! We are getting some money here but it isn't totally neeeded. Our balance is hovering around 0, which is better than I've ever seen for a semi-pro club.

Just three transfers. A back-up right-back (Pallás), a back-up centre-back (Mesa) and a new left-back starter in Aranguren. Aranguren is just 16, but as a La Liga regen he's already among the best players in Tercera. The two other loanees (Madrid's Costa and Levante's Carratalá) are staying for another year too. I have space for a key player on my wage budget, but finding quality at this level is hard.

We're looking like promotion contenders if you ask me.