dcayton9

America De Natal 2032 Season Review Transfers: Prior to the season, we lost our bright spark Janiel 07A. We were able to cut our losses there though, and our only other departure was Lua Cleyton 07E. (below) He was nothing exciting and despite 4 stars of potential, he was never going to make the cut here and no team would take him on loan. Cups: This year was the beginning of fixture overload. It was already tough, but now with continental football as well the season is near eighty(!) matches. Luckily, instant result exists, but isn't the best option for squeezing out the best possible results. Still, another Potiguar State win, semifinalists in the Copa Nordeste, and an underperformance in the Copa Brazil, exiting in the second round. In the Copa Sudamericana, our newest competition, we failed to escape the group where only the top seed makes the knockouts, but a hard draw with Penarol (Uruguay) and Jaguares (Colombia) was the cause. League: This season felt harder than last, with a much more competitive relegation zone and an inability to get a tactic working. Still, through peaks and troughs I worked out another 13th place finish. Hopefully next year won't be a fight for survival, and we can really start pushing up the table, but I can't get too far ahead of myself. Facilities: With the TV money raking in from Serie A along with installment fees from transfers, we're really swimming in the cash now. We were able to afford two training facility upgrades, and are now owners of superb training facilities. One last step to state of the art and it can't come soon enough. Regarding youth facilities, I'm not sure if my game glitched but there hasn't been an option to upgrade them for a season and a half. This is a real disappointment, as I want to work towards the best in everything, but it also may be something about my board not having the "Work towards best youth system in the country" objective. Youth Intake: Since changing HoYD to Marcio Ebert, our current man in charge, our youth intakes have been on fire. This season, the preview came through which certainly excited me, since those are all key positions. However, after getting the actual intake in September, I think this could qualify as a true golden generation. Even though some have poor personalities, I think many of them will develop into top prospects. Time will tell, but back-to-back 2.5 star players in youth intakes is something special. Three Stars: 2032 Player of the Season, Alan Pedro 06C: Alan Pedro is truly a top class center-back, and though his passing skills to play out from the back are slightly lacking and he's not the best aerial presence, his strength and defensive ability makes him rock solid at the back. He was the highest rated player in the league for my team at a 7.07, and I'm working on securing him to a longer contract to ideally avoid his unavoidable unsettling when the larger teams come in for him. 2032 Breakthrough Player of the Season, Damiao 09D: I had high hopes for Damiao long term, but I did not think he'd be pushing for a starting role before he was 18. Though not the most solid defender, his excellent physical attributes mean that I'll ideally be able to play quite a high line and work out a high-pressing system with these two at the back. With age, hopefully his mental stats will increase and it's an added bonus that he can cover at left-back too. 2032 Hot Prospect, Tcheco 11A: Though a natural striker, it is hard to justify that looking at his attributes. I am torn between molding him into a top class pressing forward to lead the high-pressing system I want to run, or shaping him into an elite ball-winning midfielder. Open to suggestions if anyone has them, but I am just looking forwards to seeing what he becomes. Looking Ahead: Next season, we'll hopefully be able to implement our style of play in some games, as it's our third in Serie A and we're getting stronger. It's been tough solely playing on the counter and relying on our keeper's excellent performances or poor opposition finishing to win games. Overall, this is the first time I feel that I have the prospects in the development line that can take the team to the next level, and I'm excited what we'll look like four to five seasons from now.

I think I might've acknowledged at the start but I definitely acknowledge now that this isn't going to always provide the best possible results. I think that setting your team to positive or attack, gegenpressing, and flooding the box with 4-5 attack roles all looking to penetrate will always be the best way to win unless there are drastic changes to the match engine. The point of this guide is for the roleplaying or realistic approach to the game, of analyzing your squad and building a tactic to match that, which as a tactics aficionado myself, is the main reason I play. @ta11zx I also don't think that tactics that don't take the overpowered approach are unsuccessful, we just are conditioned to think that a successful tactic means extreme over-performance, like finishing in the champions league places with our freshly promoted side, rather than consistently above expectation while the level of our squad grows as well. I do admit you and @teej9 are right about the limitations this approach has, but as @Delial said, sometimes the challenge is building a well thought through system that would work in real life, as well as the game

First day of the new transfer window and my player of the season is gone like that... I had been working on convincing him to sign a new contract for about a season but because of the constant interest he wouldn't budge. His release clause was minuscule due to him still being on his first full time contract and I couldn't even raise it. However, it is still the most money up front that I've received for a transfer and should push my balance to the point that I can afford a facility upgrade!

America De Natal: 2031 Season Review Cups: Another Potiguar win! Hoorah! (sarcastically) Aside from this, we reached the quarterfinals of Copa Nordeste though we weren't really trying. We also went out in the third round of the Copa Brazil to a much stronger Santos. We really had no chance there. Serie A: We survived! By no means was it easy but thanks to a fantastic start we stayed up. In fact, we picked up about one-third of our 41 points in the first 7 games before fighting arduously through the final 31 to secure survival. We successfully set up a low block with less emphasis on pressing, which destroyed many of our player ratings but got results. We finished in the final spot for continental qualification for the Copa Sudamericana, so we will get our first taste of continental football next season! Facilities: No upgrades to speak of even though we sat with about three million in the bank all season. This indicates that the next level of upgrades will cost about that much, so until any major player sales go through, our level probably won't raise. Squad: A little digression on the state of my squad. My players that are left from the first few intakes are starting to hit their primes, and while this should be good, the harsh reality is that they are mostly mediocre to good Serie B level players. However, they still are currently better than the prospects below them, all of whom have Serie A potential. This means to develop the prospects, I'll need to play the starters less but also continue to get results in Serie A. I can't afford a relegation, but thankfully the Copa Sudamericana will offer more opportunities to play youngsters and hopefully develop them to starting quality through the course of this season. We will reassess next season and hopefully move on, but also the fringes of the first team are becoming bloated with mediocre prospects that no one wants to take on loan but are under contract for a season or two longer. I need a good cleanup and to streamline my pathway to the first team for the brightest prospects and hopefully I can work on that next season. Youth Intake: I already touched on it in a prior post, but our youth intake was incredible! Marco Ebert, new HoYD is doing big things already! Three Stars: 2031 Player of the Year, Janiel 07A: Making a home on the right side of midfield, Janiel 07A brings defensive security and attacking thrust to his flank, ending the season with our squad's highest average rating and evaluated as a 4.5 star player. He's a complete midfielder and next year he'll likely make a move to the fabled CM(attack) spot. He's wanted by the top clubs of Brazil however, so that will be contingent on us keeping him. He did this all at 18 years old also and he has all the makings of a real wonderkid, which is funny as I wasn't particularly excited about him as a top prospect for the intake just three seasons ago. 2031 Breakthrough Player, Francisco: My own Joao Cancelo, Francisco is a perfect utility player able to cover at right and left back, with the skillset of a midfielder. I wish my squad was strong enough to use an inverted wingback, as he would play excellently there. We're working on his defensive attributes but he's one of the bright spots of my future team, and also one of my only foreign players, being Brazilian-Italian but opting to play for Italy U-20. 2031 Hot Prospect, Janderson Lenylthon 10A: I hadn't labeled him when I took this screenshot but Janderson Lenylthon is by far the best player I've received in an intake during this save. He has what it takes to become the creative centerpiece of the side and hopefully work in tandem with Janiel (if he doesn't leave) sooner rather than later. His physical attributes are great for a 15 year old and the technicals are too. I can see him locking down a starting role by 17 if he develops as expected. Looking Ahead: As I mentioned on my squad section, next year will be about player development and survival, as I expect another hard season. My squad isn't hugely better so we're hoping for that improvement soon. The future is bright however, and locking ourselves in as a Serie A mainstay, is the next step to eventual challenge success!

America De Natal: Youth Intake 2031 I usually wait until my season review to mention this, but I couldn't hold this back, and it looks like all the investment towards facilities is finally starting to pay off. First, I got this in terms of the preview, which was exciting as it was five stars but still only two A positions. However, when youth intake day just showed up, I was greeted by this. This is all crowned by Janderson Lenylthon, genuinely one of the best new-gens I've ever had. He has a decent personality and we can get his professionalism up with mentoring. However, to be an elite AM, all he needs is a bit better dribbling and he'll be our crown jewel.

America De Natal: 2030 Transfers: Right before the Serie B season, Serie A clubs came in for two of our top players and the club and in usual fashion, the club force-accepted the offers once they reached a certain price. Seeing the income from last season compared to the income from the rest of the save is amusing. I'm very sad to see Jarlesson 01D go. He's been my stalwart keeper since he was 17 years old and 2.4 million feels very undervalued. He's an elite shot stopper and has been my key player year in and year out. We have a 19 year old keeper with large potential that's stepping in to fill the massive hole Jarlesson left, but the quality just isn't the same. However, hopefully he (Marlos 06B, not pictured) will improve over the next few seasons. Also to leave this window was wonderkid Rodrigo Eduardo 06A. He has been starting at left back pretty much since he came through the intake and I'm confident he still had a lot of room to improve. This season he was going to make the switch to CB so I could implement a higher line and I had a few left backs ready to break into the first team, but that plan was foiled with his sale. With both of these, I feel that the 2 million and some change was an extreme underpay and if they were English or French or even on a higher reputation Brazilian team they'd be at least ten times the value. On the other hand, after all my years of buying Brazilian wonderkids for cheap I guess it's my turn to feel the other end of it for once. Cups: Making this short and sweet, we won the Potiguar State (again). We went out in the Copa Nordeste groups. This was partially a hangover from last year, partially the lack of a developed tactic, but mostly an intentional move to not have to deal with early season fixture congestion. We made the third round of Copa Brazil. I'm not particularly sure how qualification works for this because every year until now, we have had to start in the first round, but this year we started in the third. Maybe something from winning Copa Nordeste. Anyways, cup success for now is secondary so I'm not pressed about the poor results. Serie B: 3rd!!! Promotion!! Finally, we cracked the top four and were promoted. It's incredible that this season was the one that it worked out in, given that our squad was noticeably weaker than prior ones. I actually started with the intention of instant-resulting through the season to develop the hot prospects and give a better charge next year, but after 7 games, I was sitting near relegation zone and I was scared I was going to be at risk of going down. I did a deep dive on my tactic, examined how I was giving up chances and losing possession, and worked to fix it. After this, we got on a roll and did not stop rocketing up the table and into the promotion battle. We had a blip at the end, losing our second to last game 0-4 sticking us in the 5th position. Luckily, we had an easy matchup on the final day, and not only did the fourth place team Bahia fail to win but we won the tiebreak on the third place team and moved into that position and are moving on up. Facilities: After the sales of Jarlesson 01D and Rodrigo Eduardo 06A we had the case to upgrade facilities further. We only had the option to upgrade training facilities so we took it, and went from good to great training facilities. We took the final step in junior coaching as well going from excellent to exceptional. As we have maxed out junior coaching and youth recruitment, we only need to take steps forwards in youth and senior training facilities. This will take time and more player sales but the recent outgoings of the last few seasons have accelerated our process incredibly. Affiliate: We were able to get our first affiliate, fellow Potiguar State competitor Globo. They are in Serie D, so provide a good platform to get our players that don't make the grade when they hit the magic 18 and need senior football some experience without having to work hard to find a good loan. Youth Intake: During this offseason I brought in a new HoYD. He's a slight upgrade in that he plays a formation I like and has better JPP. Maybe not a long-term option if I grow in reputation but for now he looks better. His first intake was a pretty stellar one, with six (!) elite talents. I am not sure if this is from star ratings being less selective as we lost our highest end players or these are truly elite talents but I'm excited to develop them. None have great personalities but hopefully they'll still develop in time. Three Stars: 2030 Key Player, Glaucio Jose: I love when an untagged player develops into someone good. Glaucio Jose was still a grey star current ability player at 18, though he had 4.5 star potential so I sent him on loan to Serie D. He developed nicely into a squad player and has continued to be so for the last few years. However, after the loss of Joao Cleiton 01B last season he had to step up into a more prominent role and is now a regular starter. This season, he was initially used at right midfield as a WM (attack) but moved into a box-to-box midfielder position as the season went on. I'm trying to use that last bit of available potential ability to get a little more defensive attributes out of him. He's a great glue guy and his high average rating proves that. 2030 Breakthrough Player, Alan Pedro 06C: Upon losing Rodrigo Eduardo 06A, I had a hole at CB. I had two solid low-level Serie B type of guys, but I wanted to raise the ceiling of my back line, so I started giving Alan Pedro full-time starter minutes. He rapidly improved aided by his good personality and now he is my best defender. It feels like he still has a long ways to go being only 19 and I could see him growing with my team into being a mainstay in the backline, assuming we can get our reputation enough he's not poached soon. 2030 Hot Prospect, Otaviano 09A: Ignore the red arrows, all of my youth players have that for some reason right now. Otaviano is a real all-around player and with a little improvement in each attribute, we're looking at a great player. My youth ranks are stocked with forwards now so I'm working on a switch to a 4-4-2 to accommodate them all. Looking Ahead: Next season will be tough but if we can hold on to our players and iron out a good tactic I'm hoping we can stay up!

America De Natal: 2029 Transfers: The outgoings below. Having already posted lamenting the vultures sweeping up my players, I will keep this shorter, but sadly I lost one more key player about a third through the Serie B campaign. Goodbye Joao Cleiton 01B. You were a valiant servant and a great captain and I'm really going to miss having your personality to use for mentoring. We overall made fantastic money off the outgoings but losing four Serie A level talents put a huge dent on my hopes of success. Cups: Soon I'll likely stop trying on cups as the early season fixture congestion from just four extra games really hurts my ability to challenge in the league. However... We won the Potiguar State: Four times in a row! This is just a youth competition for me aside from the odd game I need to win where I play the key players. We won the Copa Nordeste! I had wanted to win this and the success stemming from it was exciting. There's no huge monetary reward or incentive to keep winning in the future but getting my first true silverware was a great feeling. We reached the third round of Copa Brazil: The third round is where the competition becomes two-legged ties, meaning fixture congestion and I am not in for that, especially at a time in the season where there are already so many matches as Serie B always starts as bi-weekly matches before returning to weekly matches halfway through the season. Maybe when my team is truly strong I'll challenge for this, but as of now it's going on the backburner. Serie B: 5th... one spot short. We started the season extremely strong, though after losing our entire attack bar one player, we became a significantly weaker threat. However, our ability to eke out games and over-perform xG meant we stayed in a promotion spot from matchday 6 to 37 (!!!) only to fall to fifth on the 38th and final day. I was crestfallen, sitting for about 10 minutes after feeling absolutely defeated. However, in my attempt to console myself, I'm thinking that 1) I wasn't strong enough to go up and I would've been certainly relegated, but now I can develop a stronger team and challenge again and hopefully stay up next time, and 2) that I overperformed xG so much that it didn't even make sense for me to go up. However, I am terrified that I'll lose my key players again this offseason and I'll be back to square one again. Facilities: For the first time all save, we have a glut of cash and were able to really invest in our youth set-up. This season saw an upgrade from average to good training facilities, an upgrade from average to good to great youth facilities, and an upgrade from adequate to good to excellent youth coaching. This accompanies our already exceptional youth recruitment and leads me to believe that within the next few years we'll be pumping out Brazil's finest products. Last, I finally got my coaching badge up to Continental Pro, so I'll get the most benefit to players in training possible. Youth Intake: The intake wasn't spectacular, which is something I expected from the very underwhelming preview, but there are definitely a few guys that will be solid and could even become stars with the right development. I was able to sign around 10 of them which is a significant upgrade over the 6 from my last intake and should keep the youth team stocked as it's becoming quite shallow. However, I think it's finally time to change my HoYD. I know I can't control bad intakes but I am getting annoyed with a lack of holding midfielders. Having 4-2-3-1 as a preferred formation tends to produce a number of forward thinking midfielders that can play CM and AM but next to no guys with the ability to play DM. Further, many of the wing players have ST as a secondary position meaning any transition to a shape with WMs is difficult as well. I'll probably look for a 4-4-2 or 4-1-4-1 HoYD but am open to others if they fit in other regards. Three (or Four) Stars: 2029 Key Player, Xavier Simoes 02D: I don't like repeat performers for this, but he had by far the best season for us. Shifting between ST and AM, he expertly played all roles, was our leading scorer, and only player with above a 7 rating in the league. Beyond that, he became my all time leading league goal scorer, so I must commend him. I'm also now realizing he was the only player of the 02 intake to stick it and make the grade, but I'll take a deeper look when I start looking back at where are they nows in a few seasons. Honestly, he's only worth 1.5 mil but he'd play decently in up to a mid-table squad in top five European leagues. 2029 Breakthrough Player(s), Jose Ivanaldo and Fernando Henrique 05D: Jose Ivanaldo was the only right back option of any quality when Felipe 03A was sold, and though he was 17, he had to step up and play a key role the entire season. Starting over 2/3 of league games, he stepped up to the call, and though he wasn't stellar (6.65 average rating is not great), he filled what was needed. However, when looking for a player that actually performed, Fernando Henrique 05D became a valuable goalscorer about halfway through the season, netting 11 in 20 starts and forcing Xavier Simoes into the AM slot for a while to accommodate his form. At a young 19, he has a lot of developing to do and given that he's touted to have Serie A potential, I think he'll hit that and be a key scorer for years to come. 2029 Hot Prospect, Gilvan 08A: Though not the highest rated in terms of potential or value, Gilvan 08A certainly has the attribute spread to succeed as a forward in my team. Thankfully he's versatile, but also not being able to play deeper on the left wing highlights the issue I mentioned earlier with HoYD. Still, his personality ideally means good development so we'll see him in a few years. Summary and Looking Ahead: It will be tough to challenge for promotion as the relegated teams are always looking to go back up and each year there's the usual suspects sniffing around as well. However, I'll try and hopefully this time I can be complete with it. In the undesired case that I lose more key players, I'll hopefully be able to really improve the facilities and start pushing out world-beaters. However, I don't want that to be the case quite yet.

I know a lot of YouTube content is shunned on the forums and I'm fairly skeptical of most YouTubers anyways regarding FM so I'm not trying to pass this on as fact, but this channel "Evidence Based Football Manager" does really great experiments regarding effectiveness of elements of the game. Anyways, he did a test on training sessions to see what boosts are given to attributes compared to running a control sample of no training at all and his findings weirdly showed that "Ball Distribution" didn't give any growth to players under 21. This is probably a glitch within the game rather than intentional since it is just that session, but I think it's good info to avoid using it in youth development schedules and just wanted to pass it on to here since youth development is obviously the primary part of the challenge we're all working on. Just for reference the numbers are the average attribute boost over using no training sessions if you were to use just that session all season (with no gametime or other sessions). Full methodology and video here:

I was trying to implement something like this with an asymmetrical defensive tactic inspired by 2018 Shakhtar, where the right CD would play stopper with a fullback on the right side and the left CD would play cover with a wingback on the left side. Then a holding DM would shift and fill the spaces accordingly. It didn't work for me because when the aggressive wingback pushed forwards, the cover defender would never close down the space so wide attackers would get through and all the way until crossing position where the cover defender was still covering the forward in the box and the wingback couldn't get back. Because of that trouble, I would think the original set-up would be best, because ideally your stopper won't only step forwards, but step out wide to close down any wide player that is on that flank meaning that the cover defender can still cover the striker making the central run and the holding DM can close down or mark any central options so that the stopper doesn't have to step forwards always. Last, I think the holding player would have to be a lone DM as any member of a double pivot would mean that he'd either get in the stopper's way sometimes or he would fail to ever cover the interior player in the opposite channel when the stopper moves wide. Last, if everything works according to plan, passes will be funneled to the middle where your DM ideally will make an interception or your cover defender will sweep up a ball behind. I also don't think this would work well in a system with too high of a line unless you have an incredibly mobile keeper, so I'd stick to a standard or even lower defensive line.

America De Natal: Transfer Deadline Day This was absolutely brutal. Just as I thought I had made it through the transfer window with my squad intact, the offers come flurrying in and the players become unsettled. Then the MLS and Saudi clubs start triggering the foreign release clauses that the players made a non-negotiable in their contracts. Before I know it, I have to start giving the Brazilian Serie A vultures the time of day in order to maximize value and not fall victim to the measly fees from the foreign clubs. During this two in-game day stretch, my promotion hopes were dashed and my wonderkids were stolen. First, the board force accepted an offer for Almeida 05A, my breakthrough player of last season. After this, Cuiaba offered to pay more and I had to accept, though I didn't want to. Then, last season's key player Felipe 03A gets his foreign release clause of 1.1 mil triggered by two MLS teams. On deadline day, Corinthians comes in with a much larger offer, and though he may have declined the MLS contracts and I could've kept him as had happened with one of my other players, I didn't want to take the chance and negotiated a higher fee with them. Finally, when I thought I was in the clear the board accepts another offer for Tazio, my star winger without giving me the opportunity to protest at all. I am immensely disappointed, but now I have loads of cash and installment fees / transfer profit which should translate to facility upgrades for at least two seasons to come. I don't know what the timetable is for Serie A promotion and I'll still give it my best go this season. Maybe the eventual upgrades that will come from this will make the sales worthwhile and lead us on a quicker path to becoming the eminent youth academy in one of the best youth countries in the world. Only time will tell.

Other people have already touched on this but it seems like you're playing a quicker transition based system in a mid-low block based on your team instructions. Because of this, I think the right flank should use a FB-Attack. The WB-support is a role much more based on being a wide outlet for possession or to occasionally overlap a more attacking forward ahead of it. I think the FB-Attack would sit deeper in defense (which is ok given that your team is already playing deep) and it focuses on firing crosses forwards and making slightly more risky passes (because of upped individual mentality). It will help the transition system move faster and work beneficially with two forwards. On top of that, using playmakers in the quick system that I'm assuming you're going for just slows down play, so I would avoid WP-Support and just go for WM-Support if the player isn't great at dribbling or just W-su or IW-su if he is good at dribbling.

Since the game uses the training schedule plans it uses for a reason, I always assume that when the preseason schedules are being suggested by the AssMan, that the schedules I implement should be preseason focused rather than the same ones I use during the season. I often run a bootcamp type schedule focusing on endurance, general sessions to slowly boost that tactical familiarity, and bonding / outreach with no scheduled friendly my first week (and include match practices). Then for the second week run a similar schedule but slightly less intense with an easier friendly. Then, if it's a four-week preseason, my final two weeks are a two match week, then a one match week, and if it's a five-week preseason, my final weeks are a one match week, two match week, one match week. The schedules for these focus a bit less on general training and a bit more on system specific training as well as a continued focus on endurance and managing workload as to prevent injury. Obviously match fitness is important so I make sure to rotate and try and give each player a half in each game. I used to let the AssMan manage friendlies, but now I just run them on Key Highlights so that I can make the needed substitutions. Also, during this time I like to call up the youth players that may get a first-team opportunity during the season so that they can get some training with the squad. I don't think there's any prescribed answer to max-min the situation but it's an especially fun aspect to play around with to enjoy the role-playing element of the game.

America De Natal 2028: Season Review Transfers: During the first window ahead of the Serie B season, Serie A club Vasco da Gama came in for one of the key members of our attacking trident, Gabriel Veron 01A. After numerous denied bids and protesting to the board, the board accepted an offer for 2.5 million, the record transfer fee by far. It was disappointing to lose him, and even more disappointing that the club used the profits to run the club, refusing to invest anything back into facilities. Elsewhere, during the second window I thought I would be losing another key member, Joao Cleiton 01B. However, the faithful player declined the two teams that met his release clause and stuck with us. Also, I offloaded Roldao Marinho 02A for a relatively small fee, as he's failed to develop any and was the third choice option at his position. I forced in a 40% profit clause so if he comes good for Ituano, at least I'll make money there. Cups: Another mediocre year here. We won the Potiguar State. Third year in a row! Wish this could be a more exciting achievement but there is no meaningful reward and as this save continues I am starting to distinguish myself as by far the strongest team which means mostly youth prospects are played in this tournament. We reached the semifinals of Copa Nordeste. A better result than last year's quarterfinal exit, however we're still falling short of actually competing. Ceara is a Serie A club and the major competition but if I can beat them I can win this competition and I so badly want to do that. We reached the second round of Copa Brasil. Mirassol is our foil, I've lost to them five times in a row and the matchup in Copa Brasil was no different. I would've liked to make a run but my team never seems to do well in knockout games. This competition is such a cash cow that I need to start going further if I want to get my money up. Serie B: 8th again... This should be considered another great result, as my preseason expectation was 'fight bravely against relegation.' Only midseason did I change it to mid-table finish, as at that point we were flying high and vying for a promotion spot. Alas, a brutal September crashed us out of contention and the season ended in disappointment. Tactically, our set-up works but I'm thinking it could be improved upon to match our strongest players, I just haven't wanted to take the time to really review it this season. Hopefully doing that before next season will give us a necessary boost. This set-up is fine, as the goal was to attack quickly through the center but narrow defenses congest the middle and definitely shut us down. Facilities: There were no facility upgrades this season. Try I did, but the board refused to invest anything. I never had enough to safely do a facilities upgrade, but I've been trying for a junior coaching upgrade for years. The board always says "you have a lot of youth players, so get the most out of them" and never gives me the upgrades, even when my approval rating is at A+. I need this to change to start getting better facilities but have no idea how to do so. Youth Intake: The last two seasons my intakes have had a star player and then not much else, so I was hoping that I'd get a bit deeper of an intake this year. I got what I wanted, as there is a wide spread of potentials here, however, I'm disappointed that none have decent personalities. If there's anything I've learned, personality is the most important part of development and most if not all of my players that have legitimately developed into first team players have good ones. Hopefully mentoring can fix them, but as you can also see, many lack work rate to really fit into my desired aggressive pressing system. I only signed the tagged ones and Fransisco, as I am stacked at GK in the youth squads and can't deal with a casual personality. Three Stars: 2028 Key Player, Felipe 03A: I could have given this to key players of the past two years Jarlesson 01D (our star keeper) and Xavier Simoes 02D (our leading scorer), but I didn't want to be repetitive, so the key player is Felipe 03A. Our top prospect from the third intake, he has blossomed into an incredible right back, mostly due to his rapid pace. Average going forward and in defense, his WB support role mostly means he runs the flank and always provides an outlet pass. He has a very low foreign release clause I couldn't get out of and the foreign clubs are sniffing around, so it may have been his final season at the club, but it was a great one, notching a rating above 7 in the league. 2028 Breakthrough Player, Almeida 05A: It was no surprise he'd be here eventually, but I didn't know it would be this soon. After the sale of Gabriel Veron 01A, we had to have a new player step into the front line, and Almeida 05A made that role his. He's already remarkably improved since the intake, and having just turned 18, I'm working on locking him up for years to come. 2028 Hot Prospect, Janiel 07A: I'm not particularly sure how he'll develop or what his role will be, but he was the star of this year's intake. He has no standout skillset, but a ball-progressing midfielder is probably going to be his long term role. Not much else to say as he doesn't excite me too much, but I'll hope he proves me wrong. Summary and Looking Ahead: This season was good but I didn't get the desired development in depth I was looking for. The great players got better, but the average or bad players stayed relatively average or bad. I'm gonna make another push for promotion next year, but I'm definitely feeling like it's about time for me to get raided in the transfer market. Many of the players have expressed desire to leave and almost all my good ones are wanted. If we can hold it together though, we should continue to be very strong next season.

America de Natal 2027: Season Review Preseason: Able to keep all of our players from the previous season, we were able to go at Serie B with full strength. Cups: A disappointing year overall, but not horrible results. We won the Potiguar State Championship, though not finishing first in the overall table. However, there is a final at the end of each stage, and if you win each final, you win the championship. We took care of business in each, meaning we won the final even though we dropped some games in the group. Always nice to win but doesn't mean too much We reached the quarterfinals of the Copa do Nordeste. This tournament is the next on my list of trophies to win, as the best teams in the cup are low-level Serie A sides, meaning it's definitely possible to squeeze a result out of it. However, this year was not the year and it was a more or less average showing. Flamed out in the second round of Copa Brazil, which is about our level of expectation, but disappointing after last year's run. We made significantly less income due to not progressing further. Serie B: Finished in 8th! By far the highlight of the season, the lack of progression in the cups meant we could focus fully on the league. We started off slow, evidenced by the league position chart, and bouncing in and out of the relegation zone. However, after a deep dive in the data hub and tweaking my tactic, we went on an incredible run, shooting up the table and with just two games to go were 4 points off promotion and in with an outside chance. We couldn't cross the finish line and dropped the last two matches, but it was still a huge over-performance compared to expectation and something that presents loads of optimism for the future. According to the xG table, we should've finished 5th so I struggle to call it a fluke. (xG table below) Facilites: I forgot to take the screenshot even though I swear I did, but the board accepted a youth facilities upgrade, so we now sit at average. The money for the upgrade nearly put us negative, then general costs throughout the season and to run the set-up put us in the red, so we'll have to figure a way to balance that out soon... Youth Intake: The bettering of our facilities and exceptional recruitment didn't help too much. While we got two stellar products, given the stat spreads and potential ability of the rest of the intake, I struggle to think any of them will make a long-term impact as a member of the side. Since the screenshot, Alan Pedro has dropped to 3/4 stars, and Ihordam Mathews and Bruno have dropped to 2/3 stars. Not promising, but maybe things can change if they progress well. Three Stars: These weren't as easy to pick from as last season, as many players contributed but there was no sole player dragging us up the table. 2027 Key Player, Xavier Simoes 02D: The D player from my second intake, but by far the best, Xavier Simoes has had a remarkable development curve over the last season and a half and become one of the premier players in my side. A very creative striker, he plays almost like a Trequartista at advanced forward and scored 15 goals with 8 assists in 32 league games. He should continue improving and leading the line for my side and his versatility means he fits almost every role. 2027 Breakthrough Player, Heberton 03E: Choosing this was tough, as this season relied on the already-best players to play most of the games. However, a hole at backup left back was present, and judging by attributes, Heberton seemed like the player for the job. It took him most of the season to achieve familiarity, but by the end he was beating club legend Vinicius Freitas (who is declining alarmingly fast) for the starting role. Now that no training time will be going to positional familiarity, he can hopefully improve massively and become a really solid fullback / inverted wingback. 2027 Hot Prospect, Rodrigo Eduardo 06A: The most exciting player from my intake, Rodrigo Eduardo has all the talent to become an excellent left-sided CB or a conservative LB in the future. This is excellent, as those two positions are my two biggest holes and he gives me an opportunity to fill one with true quality. He even has the personality to match. I'm truly excited for this prospect and can see him becoming a first-team contributor as soon as next season. Summary and Looking Ahead: Overall fantastic season. We will improve in the cups hopefully, but look to build on our league success. However, part of the inability to achieve promotion was due to a severe lack of depth, so next season, I am not primarily looking to achieve promotion. Rather, I want to continue to develop the entire squad (through more rotation and focused development) so that I can have a full arsenal of quality players at my disposal when I push for Serie A promotion in two to three seasons and ultimately staying up in it without a relegation in my first season. Last note: Our star keeper Jarlesson is already getting watched for the Brazil squad! I didn't think a full-fledged international would happen so early, but maybe it will! (though it will take him away for a large portion of the season during any international tournaments)

If I do end up getting relegated this time around it's probably game over for this save and onto a somewhat small league because you're right. These seasons are killing me lol

America De Natal: Youth Preview This season is taking its time and dragging, as I'm having to play each game in full (no instant result) and fully scout and tweak tactics for each opposition in order to squeeze the best possible result out of each match. However, we're holding onto a lifeline and on pace for survival through 18 games. Still, that will come with the season review. For now, I'm popping in to share my preview, where it's as if the FM gods were listening when I said in my prior post that my CBs and LB were getting on in age and quickly declining! Immediately two new CBs and a fullback are in the youth pipeline! Praying they materialize into something good.

America de Natal Youth Update: After some time on this save, as well as reading everyone's updates, I've noticed the crux of this challenge is over-performing with a squad that's less gifted than the average of any given league you're in or ultimately the continental competition you are in. The goal is the legendary Barcelona squad, but the reality is that this would be extremely rare and take maxed out facilities in a country that's the top of the food chain, a team that has enough sustained success that players would never want to leave for bigger clubs, and enough time and luck to develop a full eleven of wonderkids to their prime. (not even counting that a number of these players left Barcelona only to come back, off-limits in our own challenges) However, to climb quickly and complete the challenge with what you have and in a timely manner (something I am struggling with as I am hardly better 5 seasons on from starting), the goal is to over-perform with less talent, or create a squad that is greater than the sum of their parts. In my eyes, there are only two ways to consistently do this. One is the low block, organized defense, a la Burnley. The other is an organized high press creating chaos. Both of these emphasize physical superiority over technical skill, relying on tall or fast defenders, respectively, and pacy attackers. My team is more consistently gifted with speed, rather than height or strength, as well as the culture in Brazil favoring technical players that could thread passes and shots through organized defenses, but sometimes lacking mental attributes to play well under pressure, so I'm choosing to adopt the pressing style. To build this, it is about the foundation of the squad and the youth development pathways. First, after plenty of research regarding intake production, I have switched HoYD. The old one (Kleber Pereira, above), has a personality that I like, but under the hood his defending style and Less Often pressing intensity indicate that he prefers a defensive, packed-in approach resulting in a higher proportion of players that fit that. While the new HoYD (Josenildo Ribeiro) has a decent personality, his Mental Coaching style and More Often pressing intensity indicates that the new players in each intake will hopefully be tactically smart pressers, able to contribute to the goal of working as a unit. Ultimately, I want a HoYD with a positive personality, and a fitness coaching style as well as more often pressing preference to produce the physically superior players I need, but as of now, I cannot afford the possible candidates. Further, youth coaches affect youth intake, though not to the same degree. However, as a part of the production line I have to make sure they are optimized as well. I dropped a few coaches that had Balanced Personalities and instead picked up coaches with better personalities to promote the production of youth with personalities to match. There are still two with Balanced, but this is due to their extreme coaching attribute superiority over all other candidates. Last, I've developed a rotation of three youth training schedules to mold my intakes in the style that I want to play. With the first team, I want to implement similar sessions, but with more emphasis on results than development. However, in the youth team only progression matters, so that is what we are after. In each schedule, we use two physical sessions a week, as physical superiority is paramount in beating technically greater players. On top of this, we use two match practices each week, as the individual roles focus allows our specific player development detailed in their individual training regimes to get see the greatest growth. First, the fundamental session implements a focus on pure fundamentals. The ball retention and distribution sessions focus on working with the ball at all moments rather than specifically creating chances, shooting, or attacking in a specific style. Further, the defensive sessions work on general defensive principles, and the general sessions used throughout the week provide a holistic approach to training. The transition-press sessions underline the fact that the overall focus is to prepare these players for the top level pressing system we want to run. In the technical schedule, we look to create players that can technically be at least somewhat competent. However, this will be used only once every four weeks, to give a real focus on the skills necessary to play. This features sessions teaching defenders how to play progressively (play from the back and overlap) as well as more specific attacking application in chance creation and conversion Last, the pressing schedule is very important for their long term development. It may look like overkill, but the idea is that the core fundamentals taught in the Transition-Press training will become excellent on all youth products, and ultimately the squad will be full of these kinds of players. The units regarding attacking and defending reinforce this during the pressing weeks, with direct attacking principles promoted and engaged, active defending at all levels. I have just rehauled the youth set-up and my current season is just beginning, so I don't expect to see these results come from the current youth players or even from the intake this season. However, in 4-5 seasons of this regime, and upgrading staff whenever I can, hopefully I can see the fruits of my labor become ripe!

America De Natal 2026: Preseason: As outlined in my previous sad-boy post, we lost three key players to relegation release clauses. I was able to hold on to the last one, but my two key attackers and own version of N'golo Kante moved on to greener pastures. Cups: As they always play out before the season in Brazil, we start with them. We won the Potiguar State Championship, able to return to top form and win every match. This sounds impressive, but in reality it isn't too hard as 6 of the other 7 teams in the league are semi-pro or amateur teams and our only true competition is rival ABC FC but in beating them twice, we take the title back. We were semifinalists in the Copa Nordeste, which is the tournament between teams in Northeast Brazil. However, as we didn't win the state championship last season, we had to qualify through the preliminary rounds. We were handed an easy path to qualification, however, and in the competition proper, handed an easy group, so were able to advance fairly far, resulting in decent payday We reached the fourth round of Copa Brazil! This is the round of 16, and is absolutely massive for us. We were the last third division team left in the competition and pulled off an impressive two leg win through a 90th minute winner and penalties to advance past Sao Paulo, one of the giants of Brazilian football. We got knocked out by Palmeiras eventually, however the performances were particularly impressive as we were essentially even on xG over the two legs. We were named the "Biggest Overachievers" of the competition and raked in massive income through this run. Copa Brazil Performances / Review below: Serie C: We won promotion! The team started off strong, winning 6 and drawing 3 over the first 10 games. As the first stage of the league is only 19 games, this put us halfway to a first place finish. However, my team practically fell apart in the final 10 games, registering 3 wins, 2 draws, and 4 losses over the final 9. We stumbled into a 7th place finish, still making the second stage of the league, a promotion group where the top two of each four team group get promoted. We were able to finish the six matches with 3 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss meaning we finished first in our group on goal differential and faced off against Avai FC for the Serie C championship. Things weren't meant to be as we got blasted in the away leg, and no forced offensive at home could bring us back. However, this promotion is still exciting as though my team is arguably worse than it was a season ago during our last effort at Serie B, we get another chance to make things right. Overall Review below: Facilities: First, our training facilities were demoted to adequate, rather than average at the start of the season, but eventually re-upgraded. This was disappointing for sure, and as mentioned earlier, we had relegation release clauses activated, resulting in a profit around £1,000,000, so my immediate thought was to re-invest it into the facilities. The board stood strong most of the season and firmly denied every month when I'd return and ask again. However, when I was in my best moment of form coming off of my Copa Brazil finish and just before slipping down the Serie C table, my request was accepted and we were able to make progress to return to our previous standard. While this wasn't an overall step forwards, it was an important part of maintaining ground. On the youth side, our youth recruitment was upgraded to the final level, exceptional. This seems to be the easiest one to get them to budge on, as they never seem to question it. They won't ever agree to junior coaching or youth facilities, so for now we'll have to settle for high PA youth, rather than ones that are immediately great. Youth Intake: With our now-exceptional youth recruitment, I was hoping for plenty of 5-star prospects. I was slightly disappointed in that regard, but it is still relatively decent. Plenty of players in the attacking third is always fun, but I sorely need defense. I have no holding midfielder in the first team, my starting two CBs are 31 and 33, and my LB is 33. They are all quickly losing their legs and it's only a season or two before I'll have to let them go. Maybe it'll be retraining time for some players in the youth setup and move to an attacking wingback system. We'll figure it out in time... Three Stars: In my effort to create more in depth updates, I am including a new section, where I present three players from the team, the season's key player (though I'll try to keep these different season to season), the first team breakthrough, and the A or B (or both) prospect from the intake. 2026 Key Player, Jarlesson 01D: The D player from my first official intake, Jarlesson quickly stepped up upon losing my legacy keeper and became the first choice at 17 years old. He's grown remarkably since then, was the only player of my unsettled stars to stay through relegation and make the return with us to Serie B, and makes many crucial saves. He was wanted by many Serie A clubs, but after promotion he has agreed to a new contract keeping him at the club for at least the next four seasons. 2026 Breakthrough Player, Tazio: Tazio wasn't even tagged, as I tag only the best five players in my opinion of each intake, but he's blossomed into the best player from his 03 intake (so far) . He played a bit in the previous season, but after star winger Fernando Arkyles sale, there were big shoes to fill, and Tazio certainly filled them. Playing mostly on the right, he provided a creative and goal threat cutting inside and made huge leaps in progression, with his potential reaching 5 stars and personality becoming resolute. 2025 Hot Prospect, Almeida 05A: Maybe the best attacking talent to come through in terms of current ability, Almeida looks like he could really become a complete forward. Aside from his weakness (quite literally, with only 4 strength), he doesn't seem to have many holes in his game and should be able to be a reliable option very soon for my first team. He is also only 15, a almost a whole year younger than most of the rest of the intake is, so fingers crossed, he could be a true wonder-kid. Further, he has a good personality, no obvious let-downs like lack of consistency or hating big matches, and is even fairly two-footed. I'm really stoked to see how he develops. Summary: I'm working on being more thorough with pictures and information during the updates, so I hope this post isn't too long, but critiques are welcome for things to include / leave out. Hopefully in Serie B we can survive, and I am working on rehauling my youth development pathway and training, so in the near future I will be posting on that. Until then, enjoy your youth saves and may you always get wonder-kids!

Was able to terminate the loan. Thanks for the fast response

@XaW @darren1983 As moderators, I guess you are the right people to ask. I had a player's release clause activated and he was loaned back immediately (without me agreeing as far as I can remember since it was a release clause transfer but maybe I just clicked through it without thinking). I honestly had forgotten he was on loan since he had been with me so long so took him for granted as a regular player, but two games into the league, I realized as he is technically loaned in it probably is a violation of the rules? I only used him for a few games of a cup competition that we are in and the two games in the league but I will terminate the loan immediately if this is a violation.

There we go... Only 3 weeks into the transfer window and I've already lost 3 of my 4 best players to relegation release clauses. To those who have gone far or completed this challenge have you been through this? Though I anticipated this in my prior post, I can't help but feel as though I'm back to square one having lost the best of players that I have developed and now have, arguably, a worse team than when I started because of this. Along with that, I suffered a training facility downgrade from bettering technology and my board refuses to even reinvest this transfer profit into new facilities. I am thinking about starting over and seeing if I can make it work with another club in Brazil or elsewhere, but maybe this is just part of the process on the way to succeeding.

In the first part of the season, the cups, we had mixed bag of performances. We had an incredible run in the Copa Nordeste, finishing Runner-Up, and a blown second leg away from winning. This brought a massive amount of income to the team, allowing us to get a needed youth recruitment upgrade. However, a poor performance in the Potiguar State Championship final against our tough-as-ever rival ABC FC meant we would not even qualify for the next year's Copa Nordeste, which is disappointing, as it is our real chance for big prize money each season. We made a groundbreaking advancement in the Copa Brazil, with this season marking our first time out of the first round. However, the first season in Serie B was a complete nightmare. I went in fully confident I could maintain a 16th place finish or higher. Alas, I was too ignorant of the fact that only two of my players were considered Serie B quality, and the rest were considered Serie D quality or worse. We got absolutely blasted and finished last in both the true table and xG table. Our Serie C rivals from last season Botafogo (PB) were also relegated, so there was solace in that. Unfortunately, our fellow Natal club ABC has made a sneaky climb gaining promotion from Serie D to Serie C to Serie B in the course of two seasons. It will be a sad moment as they'll play in a higher division than us for the first time ever. We'll hopefully make our return to Serie B next year, and this year in Serie C will be one of development and success. But likely one without our best current players as their mandatory relegation release clauses are now active and they all are wanted by 2-3 higher level clubs. Still, they will be replaced in time, as this youth intake was very solid. Two of the "elite talents" are keepers meaning that the imminent departure of our top talent Jarlesson will hurt less, as hopefully one of the two can develop. Finally, as mentioned in the prior small post, my top two talents have the same name, so I'll show them too. MMA has some work to do on physicals but has a strange and exciting attribute spread. A lot of really high level stuff already mixed with some outrageously low complements. Not sure what I'll do with him in the long run but open to any suggestions. On the other hand, MMB immediately jumps out as a winger that has the natural pace to ultimately develop a very high mark. He has a bad personality, but hopefully we can fix that in time and he'll be a dangerous future weapon for us. Edit: I almost forgot to include the season update table. We were actually able to get two upgrades to youth recruitment so maybe we'll make meaningful progress towards landing the top prospects of this elite youth production country. Furthermore, we got a needed coaching badge upgrade, but aside from these, even with fairly large profit, the board wouldn't budge on facilities. Hopefully that changes with time.

Full update coming as soon as this season is over, but strange things happening in Natal, where my top two prospects of the intake have the same name...

The tactic looks really good, I think it should work well on the break and I like the defensive winger on the right providing pressure and getting crosses in. I think in your specific case a BBM would accomplish much of the same thing, solely because the PPMs that he has are so attacking already and all an attack duty would do is raise his individual mentality meaning he'd try more risky passes, take long shots, and other similar behaviors. The player is not great at these or at decision making, so I'm inclined to believe a BBM might work best. If the attack feels blunted after a while, maybe try out the TF as an attack duty or even switch the RM to winger attack then the RB to defend and the other CM to a support role but I think overall it's really well thought out.

America De Natal: Meet The Squad I actually couldn't wait to share, so work is getting put off, and this is getting posted. Consistent Legacies Elvinho: A legacy player, he has played a consistent role as an attacking midfielder or mezzala, but has started to lost his pace over the last season. Still a clear member of the team, but will be playing less and less over the coming season. Vinicius Freitas: Another legacy player, he has been my only real option at left back or left mid and performed excellently. He's also losing his pace and stamina fast, meaning I'll need to find a replacement soon, but there's no candidates in the ranks. Fingers crossed we can figure something out. Lucas Rex: Holding onto relevancy, Lucas Rex has been my stalwart defender over the last three seasons. He won the player of the season for the entire Serie C in our recent promotion campaign with an impressive 7.7 average rating. He lacks a bit in the mental aspects of defending, but his excellent pace and jumping reach allow him to make up for it. Hot Prospects Pablo Moises: I already shared Felipe in the previous post, but the other bright spot from our most recent intake is Pablo Moises. He's already a staunch DM, with physicals likely to grow and excellent attributes already. The natural fitness scares me, but if we can manage his workload, he should develop into an excellent piece. Gabriel Veron: I have an attachment, as I rated him the best player from my first intake, however his development has been slow to say the least. There has been next to no improvement over the two seasons, and I'm worried he'll never hit the 4 to 5 star rating that is expected of him. He has bags of potential, but only scoring 7 goals in all competitions was worrisome. However, he's getting mentored and has begun to show positive improvement in mentoring reports so hope is not yet lost. Xavier Simoes: Veron's primary competition, another poor personalitied youngster with a light at the end of the tunnel. Not sure what role he'd play long term, but as of now he's been training as a support striker. Important Players with Room to Grow Jarlesson: Having just turned 18, Jarlesson has already taken the starting keeper role after our legacy keeper refused to re-sign last offseason. He's rapidly improved, has a good personality, and Serie A potential, so hopefully he can be the rock in goal for years to come. Mateus Gavio: Though he lacks the technical ability and moves like a slug, Mateus Gavio is an all around workhorse and a solid midfielder for my side. He has Serie B potential, trains and grows well even though he has an average personality, and will be a long-term staple for my midfield. Jadiel: Another box to box threat, Jadiel spent most of the last season as a Defensive Winger on the right flank. However, with Serie A potential and an excellent engine, he'll be moving to central midfield for the foreseeable future. Railton: I've included him not because he's great, but because he's my only long-term answer at CB. He has decent potential, though likely only a high Serie C / low Serie B type player, but also has really quality defensive attributes, though his star rating is only 2. This is certainly due to his weak physicals, though we are working on his strength, and hopefully he can continue to improve. Joao Cleiton: A midfield slalomer, Joao Cleiton is excellent on the dribble, and is successfully ousting Elvinho for the attacking midfield / mezzala spot. He has plenty of room to grow, Serie A potential, and with a bit of increase to the physicals, can be a really dangerous weapon. The Bonafide Stars Fernando Arklyes: The first of the two players saved for last, Fernando Arkyles really came out of nowhere. Part of the initial intake from before I took over, I didn't even bother to tag him. I took an idea from an earlier poster in this thread to only tag my predicted top 5 from each intake, and it makes the deep cut hits all the better. He's progressed from 3 grey stars to 4.5 regular ones and even has made some U20 caps for Portugal meaning he's my only player with any international representation. He wants out and I mistakingly did not secure him on a long term contract, so if I lose him it will have been a lesson learned the hard way, but that won't change anything regarding how much I've been blessed to have him. Diego Batista: In true fashion of saving best for last, I re-present Diego Batista. He was included in my first post, as he was a hot prospect then, but my has he improved since then. He finished with the Golden Boot in Serie C, 33 goals in 36 games, and I have him under contract for at least 4 more years. He's about to reach his full potential according to reports, but if this is his final form, I'm ok with it given that he should be an excellent Serie B player already.