DylanB02

And we are back for Season 2..... Let's get into it SEASON 2 - AUGUST ROUNDUP Kicking things off with the transfer made during the window my aim was to buy a couple marquee signings to boost the team but also make sure we make a profit on this window. So that's what we did. TRANSFERS OUT As you will see Saudi were all over two players, Wieffer who had a great season last year and was a key part of the UCL Final team. But when a £44m bid came in for him I couldn't really say no. And you can already see his value shot up, I probably could have got more out of them to be honest. Beelen was let go, a rotational player last season and a Dortmund CB you will see later on has been brought on to replace him as Beelen deserves first team football. For £5m it was a sale I was happy with. The blockbuster move, Geertruida wanted out and he only had a year left on his deal so I had to cash in, for £60m I was happy to accept defeat and for 2 defenders to leave for £104m I had money to spend. Trauner was one I sold earlier in the season, but confirmation of his move to Porto for 6.75m. TRANSFERS IN As we lost both our IWB's (Geertruida & Trauner) I had to go out and find 2 that could replace them, finding someone better than Geertruida was always going to be difficult but Capaldo is someone I really like on FM due to his versatility and I think he could be a great backup for this position. He was brought in for £19.5m inc bonuses. I also wanted to boost the AM role and Desire Doue is probably someone you have heard mentioned a lot irl at the moment, as I've never used him on FM I thought we may aswell bring him in as he was available for only £11m inc bonuses. The first marquee signing for us, we needed a left-footed cb badly and I thought I need to build a strong spine in this squad, the money made already in the window meant I could spend a bit more on someone so I thought Inacio would be best. For £51m, I'd say this is a very solid deal. And it also isn't the last Sporting player brought in...... The second Sporting boy added to the back 4 of Feyenoord (Inacio - Quaresma - Fresneda). This didn't happen on purpose but I do love Sporting and he fit the team perfectly. The only real IWB I could find/afford that could eclipse Geertruida. For £24m he comes in as the starting IWB. The first of 2 freebies brought in, picked up Georgiev from Barca and have loaned him out to Cercle Brugge for the season, a talented player in real life and for £0 it was worth getting his signature. Brought in as backup RCB, Filippo is a very talented CB who I have managed to pry from Dortmund for £3m, very excited to use him and he will get a fair shot in the squad this season. Another Barca man brought in on a free, incredibly talented and after looking at his stats he is the perfect back-up to Timber in the engine room at DM. And what feels like a new signing is the return of Jaden Slory who was out on loan last season. As Minteh went back to Newcastle after an incredible season with us he is the perfect man to make that IW role his own as we head into the season. So with the aim of making a profit, we did just that. A very solid window in my eyes as I was already exceptionally happy with the squad. I feel disrupting it to much in potentially my last season at the club could damage the dynamics of the team going into a big season. And this is how we are looking going into the season. A few tweaks to the tactic to suit some individuals in the squad and try and advance what worked so well last season. But I am incredibly excited for this season looking at that, especially seeing the Sporting boys in the back line 😆 Super Cup Final - PSV - If this doesn't highlight how good the squad is I don't know what does. Apart from the City second leg last season it may be the best game I've watched at Feyenoord, we gave them absolutely nothing. Inacio & Slory scoring on their debuts and back to back Johan Cruijj Schaal's in the bag. Hopefully the first of the treble I so desperately want. And not much to say to wrap up August, the tactic is working well, PSV beaten twice in the same month further proves this and the additions to the team have been massive. UCL Games And just to add to this before this comes to a close we found out our UCL games to go for that final once again. And I'd say we got very lucky. Apart from Madrid I'd say we win all of these, City especially 😉If you know, you know. Thanks for reading, September & October roundups will be up soon. 😊

SEASON 1 - MARCH ROUNDUP March started off incredibly well but unfortunately ended up being one of the worst months of the season, our unbeaten streak in the league came to an end after one of, if not the worst FM'ing I've ever witnessed and we lost in our 2nd leg against Inter. But was it enough to make the next round? Keep reading to find out. Matchday 24 - PSV Kicking things off with the first game of the month, we had PSV away, we win this and unless a major bottlejob happens the league may as well be ours. And of course, we beat them. It took a 2 late goals from Geertruida & Gimenez but it was well worth the wait. The stats for this one don't correctly highlight how well we played, not just offensively but defensively against a very strong side. They started off with a well worked set piece that Saibari buried and we couldn't do much against it. It took us all game to final finish off a chance and it was a perfect corner from Stengs to Geertruida that made it level at the death. But it wasn't over, a counter in the 91st minute started with Milambo, out wide to Sauer who catches Lingr on the overlap, a drilled in cross meant Gimenez could tap it in with ease and lets just say....the crowd, more specifically me, went wild. UCL R16 Second Leg - INTER MILAN Don't need to talk too much about this one, a game where we should have won based off the stats and how it felt in game but Inter were just too clinical, we held on well at the end and managed to get through to the Quarter Final. Following this we had 2 more games before the UCL draw to decide who we play for the rest of the competition with eyes on the final. In matchday 25 we beat Heracles 3-0 with ease, a Hancko pen and 2 beauties from Stengs kept the title firmly in our hands and 7 days later a 2-0 win away to Herenveen really gave me hope this league was mine again. However.... if you play FM you know that it never ever goes exactly how you plan. Matchday 27 - FC UTRECHT I mentioned it the first time I played them this season, (which was a 3-2 win) Utrecht was a close 2nd in my Eredivisie team for this save and of course these are the ones to cause an upset. Looking at the result below you would think it was fairly even, then you take into consideration that a penalty gives you around 0.9xG you can see they scored 3 of a 1.3xG and to be honest they didn't even deserve one. Don't need to talk about this one much longer as the unbeaten streak was over 27 games in. 6 games away from an invincible season but of course FM isn't going to play nice always. SEASON 1 - APRIL ROUNDUP For April we kick things off with the UCL draw, we find out our path to the final which realistically isn't going to happen but hey ho. And the Quarter Final draw had no good options but we did find out our opponent. Now, looking at who's there, it could have been far worse so I'll take the chance at beating my most hated team 😉 And then we get on to the Semi Final draw..... And to think we are even this far into the comp as it is, the chance to play in the UCL final in the first season is insane. But to beat both my local clubs would make it even better. Before we look at how the quarter final went we did get our Youth Intake which wasn't anything special but there were 3 guys we signed on PS - I haven't applied any AI faces to this save yet as I will wait a couple seasons till more are in the game. Mauro Abbenhuis was the most exciting of the three and with a value of £5.8m already I can see him becoming a star. And to keep on with the youth players it was time to see the results of the nxGn awards and for the first time in my FM career, the top 3 players, were my players!!! I didn't quite believe it when I first seen it but Weiper, Minteh and Sauer all making the top 3, I guess consistent games for a top team, almost going unbeaten is enough for a mention 😉 Matchday 29 Just before we look at the Ajax game we did play Volendam in Matchday 28 which ended 5-2, Milambo deciding he wanted to get into nxGn next season so started up again with his outrageous goal contributions. But Ajax, I know they are currently in a bad patch in real life but this....this was.....a horror show, I almost felt bad for what I did to them. Just going to leave this here and focus on the fact we won the leagueeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But this was no time to get ahead of ourselves, we had a quarter final against United to play. UCL Quarter Final First Leg - MANCHESTER UNITED I really, really, really wanted to beat these and honestly I believed we could. Mainly because United are awful, play dire football and have a team that rivals Sheffield as the worst team on paper in the league, sorry Johnny Evans but yeah, I really wanted this. And it seemed my boys did too. It took Weiper 40 seconds to grab a goal to catch United off guard, a pinpoint through ball from Milambo sent him through and Onana did... well you know what he would do one on one. A quiet period led to another goal from us, this team from Milambo, Quaresma driving up the pitch from CB plays it to Minteh who cuts in side and finds Milambo who curls it beautifully into the far left corner making it 2-0 at the break. Or so I thought, 2 minutes later Bruno finds Mount who just escapes my defence, questionably onside and he slots in past Bijlow to make it 2-1. But it still wasn't the end of the first half. In the 46th Hancko has a shot from range, deflected into Minteh who takes the shot from close but hits the bar. Somehow it lands straight on his head and he heads it in whilst Onana tries to get off the floor. And that was that, we kept them quiet in the 2nd half and we were going to our home game 3-1 up. UCL Quarter Final Second Leg - MANCHESTER UNITED Skipping past our 4-1 win to Fortuna Sittard it was time for the 2nd leg. We do anything but lose by two and we are through to the semis....the goddamn semis. And of course, we did it!! And we did it in style too, they got 2 goals from their only shots and other than that we kept them out completely. So who do we play in the semis? It was either City or Atletico and of course, it was time to face the team from the other side of Manchester. Pep, bring it on. And to round off on April we managed a nervy 3-2 win against Go Ahead Eagles, not like it mattered now considering we are the champions...not quite "of the world". SEASON 1 - MAY ROUNDUP And the month you've all been waiting for, May, how far can we go in the UCL. I won't run through the final league games, as you can probably guess, we won all three. UCL Semi Final First Leg - MANCHESTER CITY Now this was the test, Manchester City at the Etihad in the UCL semis season 1, just completely gobsmacked we have even made it to this point but I wasn't going out of this know without a fight. Now I knew this was going to be one sided so my game plan was lets let them do what they do and we will try and capitalise on any mistakes they may have. 16 minutes in we do just that, a misplaced pass from Foden is intercepted by the mighty Timber and we counter, Milambo picks it up and beats De Bruyne (yes, you read that right). Minteh is open for the ball on the right and with some lovely one touch football he squares it to Gimenez who smashes it near post first time to put us 1-0 ahead. And as you can probably guess, City were going to score at least one before this was done, it didn't happen till the 65th minute but they did score. Some unreal passing combinations left my players baffled and De Bruyne equalised deep into the second half. This was all I wanted so we played for the draw and we got it. Can't really complain about that though, it's all to play for at the De Kuip. UCL Semi Final Second Leg - MANCHESTER CITY Now my thought on this one was if we go out, we go out at least scoring a couple in front of these dedicated fans. So guess, what, that's not happened....53rd minute and Haaland makes it 1-0 which means we need 2 to go through....but my plan did work, just took longer than planned. Shaqueel Van Persie is brought on in the 55th minute, 4 changes were made after their goal to battle fatigue with SVP, Wieffer, Timber and Minteh all coming on. In the 60th min Quaresma went on a marauding run down the right hand side, Wieffer took Haaland away from tracking his run and he managed to reach the byline, after cutting it back there was a man waiting. An incredible son of a Premier League legend was waiting....Shaqueel Van Persie makes it 1-1. Now when I say I went wild, I did a lap of the house, it was an insane moment. But it wasn't over. Extra Time - Yes, this has somehow gone to extra time. Weiper was brought on for Gimenez to add some more fire power up top. The first 15 mins were quiet, and then the boys started a counter in the 106th minute, Weiper picked the ball up just before the halfway line with Lewis and De Bruyne in line with him. Minteh makes the run and carries the whole way up the pitch. And of course, the man waiting in the centre...was only SVP again. At 17 years old he had knocked City out the UCL and got us to the UCL final. I was sat in awe for about 20 minutes after this game. I honestly cannot believe it. I've added a link to the goal here to add to the Feyenoord history books. - https://gyazo.com/bfe7f8882cb909df9841cc3aed508a32 We just made the UCL final in Season 1. I just can't believe what I witnessed. But the question is, who do we play in the final... UCL Final - ARSENAL The big one, arguably one of the biggest games in the club history. This match was a battle of two teams who don't usually compete at tournaments this late on, specifically Arsenal 😉 but we had to treat this as a match we can win. We made it this far at least. The team was picked and it was a young one. Specifically up top with Sauer and Milambo being 18, Minteh 19 and SVP at 17 so this was a massive chance for these lads in particular who did so well for us all tournament. We started off slow, so slow that Arsenal found 2 goals from their first two shots. It wasn't over though, it's only 26 minutes in and we have fight in us. After some tactical adjustments to limit their freedom in midfield we made it to half time with the momentum switched, still 2-0 but good signs. And after an inspiring team talk we came back out for the 2nd half. The biggest 45 minutes of all of these players careers. Who else could it be, 47 minutes, Milambo pulls one back. Quaresma with another one of his "Rudiger runs" as I like to call them nutmegs Zinchenko and takes the shot, deflected off Raya Milambo knocks it home. Was it time for a comeback? It didn't seem so, in the 70th minute Martinelli completely destorys by whole backline and scores a Puscas worthy solo goal. At this point the dream was all but dead in the water. After some further tweaks, we somehow got another to make it 3-2. Lopez drives down the left and drills one of his famous low balls in the box, it somehow gets through everyone but Sauer who is waiting at the back post to slot it home. Was it enough? Click the spoiler link below.... So yeah, we were close, I could almost touch it. We made it so far but it wasn't enough. To get these boys to the final will be on my career highlights on FM and I'll never forget this magical run. But unfortunately the season was done with just the 2 trophies. I've added some images and stats to round off Season 1. And some solo awards to be proud of. And there we have it, Season 1 comes to a close, will we be at Feyenoord next season. Most likely, that Dutch Cup is the target so at least one more season. Thanks for anyone on this journey with me and I'm sure there's plenty more trophies to come. Keep an eye out towards the end of this week for the transfer window roundup. 😊

Appreciate you checking it out, hopefully you are enjoying it as much as I am. 100%, Weiper has been class so far, I don't usually go for the stereotype signings but felt he was a must buy for me. Who did you manage in yours, I've done one save in Holland before with Breda last FM which I loved. As for European Glory, I'm going to post the rest of the season roundup tomorrow night so keep an eye out, as lets just say, European Glory in season one was on the cards.

SEASON 1 - DECEMBER ROUNDUP December was a month where we had 3 competitions to play for and all 3 had games which would decide our fate in them. We started off the month against PSV, at home. After already stealing silverware from them in the Supercup they were going to be back with a vengeance wanting to beat us in the league....or that's what I thought. Matchday 11 - PSV An almost perfect performance, Milambo, Lingr and Lopez stole the show with their performances and this was the first game of Milambo's incredible run of games which you will see further down. PSV didn't even manage a single shot which is utterly absurd and it shows this system is really working. This gives us a great lead at the top of the table and hopefully a slump for the Eindhoven team. Skipping past the next game which was a 5-2 win away at Volendam with Milambo grabbing 2 goals and Van Persie getting another, we get onto the big one, UCL Matchday 6 - CRVENA ZVEZDA As mentioned, anything other than a win and our chances of getting to the next round are gone. Well, the boys wouldn't let us go out so easily. After RVP's son grabbed a goal against Ferencvaros and becoming the youngest ever goalscorer in UCL history he only went and got another 2 in this one. A performance that solidified our place in the next round. Following this a 3-1 win away at Heracles has kept us at the top of the table as PSV start to drop points and our lead starts to grow. Before we look at the Dutch Cup game it was the Round of 16 UCL draw in which we didn't really have any favourable options in the draw after finishing runners up. A very tough draw but in comparison to who we could have had I think we got very lucky. We will have a look at how we got on in the first leg against the arguably better team in Milan at the minute. Dutch Cup Second Round A trophy that is on the list of things we need to win and for some reason, the game just didn't want us to win this. Typical we get the hardest team in the league but we have to play better than this, sloppy passing, no control, no fight, nothing to be proud of. And looking at the stats you can tell both teams played poor we just got really unlucky with how the game treated us. I guess that means we can't complete Holland in one season.... SEASON 1 - JANUARY ROUNDUP I'm not going to go through the games in Jan apart from show this... As you can see it was an absolute whitewash. Across those 3 Milambo grabbed 5 goals and is becoming an out and out start for us, so impressed with how he is performing at only 18 years old. One to watch in real-life to. Transfer wise January was very quiet, there wasn't any signings that I looked at and thought would fit as I'm relatively happy with how the teams played for the first half of the season, still not lost a game in the league and in the UCL round of 16. We brought in 3 guys on end of contracts which you can see below. Bringing in a couple Barca youngsters and Shoretire from United seemed like they could boost our funds in a seasons time if we stay longer than needed. Someone like Casado I can see being a rotation player for next season and could definitely fight for a place in the squad. SEASON 1 - FEBRUARY ROUNDUP I'm even chucking in an extra roundup in todays update as the good run continues, a 5-3 win against AZ, a 6-0 win at Sparta and a 6-0 win at Waalwijk has kept us firmly in 1st place. UCL R16 First Leg - INTER MILAN As I mentioned a relatively tough draw in comparison to some of the other teams left, but as we were at home to start off with we needed to get a good result going into the 2nd leg at the San Siro. And lets just say, Yankuba Minteh has achieved legendary status for Feyenoord. A hattrick against Inter on the big stage and every shot he had went in, Jahanbaksh has been away with Iran at the Asian Cup so Minteh has had a run of games to prove he can keep up with him and the loanee from Newcastle has done magnificently so far. Looking at the league table we sit pretty in 1st with 14 points over PSV and still unbeaten which is unreal. I've never managed an unbeaten season before so to do it season one would be incredible. Thanks for reading, March and April up next. 😊

SEASON 1 - OCTOBER ROUNDUP Going into October I thought I'd just cover the key games that happened in the month instead of covering each one. We did start off October with a poor performance against Crvena Zvezda in Matchday 2 of the UCL. Only managing a draw in this one which puts in a poor spot to start the campaign. In Matchday 8 against Zwolle we struggled again and only managed a 2-2 draw, the positive in this one was Van Persie managed to get onto the scoresheet further increasing his tally this season. Matchday 9 - VITESSE In the next match we really turned it around, changing the defensive line to much higher and adding in work into the box to try and limit the rushed chances we have. And let's just say it definitely worked.... Yeah, we kind of put 8 past them. Another Weiper hattrick and there was too many goals to even break down and explain, but it definitely boosted our goal difference further. UCL Matchday 3 - FERENCVAROS This game needs highlighting because the xG and the amount of shots we had is mind-blowing that this finished 0-0. Currently sitting on 2 points in the group we really have work to do in the remaining 3 games. Matchday 10 - FC TWENTE The first half really was perfect, Twente didn't even manage a shot and Gimenez was close to grabbing the perfect hattrick, scoring with his left foot, right foot and almost his head which was deflected into Lingr who tapped it in. Both of the reds goals were very lucky just due to poor defending on our end but Sauer sealed the win to grab his 3rd goal of the season at only 17 years old. A serious talent... SEASON 1 - NOVEMBER ROUNDUP For November it really was a perfect month with us beating every team we came up against with ease. This has caused a slight tweak in the table too as PSV slipped up in the final league game of the month. It is worth mentioning Van Persie created history against Ferencvaros becoming the youngest goalscorer in UCL history which is fantastic news and shows the talent he has. There is only one game I want to cover and that was the final game of the month against Real Madrid, we desperately needed a point minimum to keep us in contention for qualification and of course, we did it! UCL Matchday 5 - REAL MADRID Going into this I didn't really expect anything, especially playing in the Bernabeu but the boys weren't giving up. Ivan Ivanusec kicked us with a pinpoint back post header from a perfect cross from Lopez who's been in top form when Hartmann needs a rest. There was a somewhat lack of quality in the final third from both teams as only 5 shots were on target across all 28 shots. Geertruida was unlucky to have the own goal registered to his name, a low driven shot from Modric was all but saved from Bijlow but Lutsharel unfortunately stuck a leg out and given it enough change in direction to put in the net. This leads on to a huge December, kicking the month off with PSV at home in a early league decider followed by the final UCL game against the Serbian giants Belgrade and ending the month with PSV in the Dutch Cup second round. And now looking at the league table we are 1 point clear of PSV and the only unbeaten team in the league. A perfect showing for the Pride of the South with another 21 games to go. Thanks for reading and December's update will be up shortly, followed by a huge January window to keep us fighting at the top. 😊

SEASON 1 - AUGUST ROUNDUP Now I have got to the end of August it's worth looking back at the month to see how the boys got on and where we currently sit in the league table. Continuing from the magnificent Super Cup win against PSV we brought in one more signing, inbetween the cup game and the league officially starting. Eduardo Quaresma, an extremely talented centre back who is great on the ball, has good mentals for what I will be using him as and consistent physicals that match the philosophy of the club. Also either-footed, a great option at IFB also. I thought this guy should be the marquee signing for the club and I was happy to spend £12m on him, £7m upfront. No other signings have been brought in for the summer window as I like to keep the squad quite similar for the first half of the season which will help further make a decision on future upgrades. Eredivisie Matchday 1 - FORTUNA SITTARD The first game of the season was held at De Kuip, Rotterdam and was an extremely frustrating game, plenty of chances for us but just no final product. An official league debut for Weiper was handed out but he never seemed to be a threat upfront. After the lads in yellow and green managed to get on the scoresheet first with their only shot on target of the game I could feel an "FM'ing" on the way. However, the substitute appearance from the 16 year old wonderkid Van Persie grabbed one back in the 66th minute with a majestic header by David Hancko in the 96th minute from a corner managed to help us claim the 3 points. Eredivisie Matchday 2 - SPARTA ROTTERDAM What started to feel like another "FM-ing" on the way (if you know, you know) the first Rotterdam derby of my career was one that could have easily been 5-0 if my boys up top could take their chances. With the momentum on my side the entire game their early goal eventually meant nothing as Jahanbakhsh scored a beauty from a short corner as Van Persie laid it off to him on the edge of the box. And to wrap things up just moments later a shot from Timber off the bar falls into the feet of Weiper who powers it home. Plenty more chances were had after this but none could be converted Eredivisie Matchday 3 - ALMERE CITY Arguably the worst team in the division and they certainly showed us why, a 9-0 thrashing at home, honestly one of the best performances I've watched on FM, a hattrick for Weiper and Stengs with 2 from Hancko also. Not much more to say apart from the style of football I aimed to bring to the club is working exceptionally. UCL DRAW And as the month came to a close the email came through for us to take part in the Champions League draw, a competition that is on the tick list but one that I can't see us winning for some time. We were placed in Pot 2 for this draw and added to Group E. Definitely a group that I can finish second in, Crvena Zvezda are certainly a team not to under-estimate and I feel like they will be the team that decide our fate in this one. We can be hopeful of maybe a point in 2 games against Madrid and we should beat Ferencvaros fairly easily albeit they are no push over as seen in real life. And as the window closes and the month of September begins lets have a look how we got on.... SEASON 1 - SEPTEMBER ROUNDUP Eredivisie Matchday 4 - FC UTRECHT A team I did consider to start with for this adventure through Europe if I wanted to make this super challenging Utrecht are a very solid team and always produce decent Dutch players who go on to play for the mens team. The game definitely started off in Utrechts favour with them picking up an early goal through Sam Lammers follow a mis-communication from the goalkeeper. Something that has happened now in 2 of the first 4 games and might need to be looked into. Having Stengs wasn't having any of it and he grabbed a goal before half-time. To further help us out Hartman drilled one across goal to Weiper who made it 2-1 going into the half. Straight out of the gates after a mixed team talk Stengs decided he wanted to become Bergkamp and scored a beauty to almost kill off the game. Sam Lammers managed to bag one more but it wasn't enough to overthrow us as we maintained possession and was defensively sound to see out the game. Eredivisie Matchday 5 - SC HEERENVEEN The second game of September was against Heerenveen at home, 3 days before the first game of the UCL campaign against Madrid so there was some rotation built into this squad. It took us 36 minutes to find a goal but it was worth the wait, Timber with a marauding run through the centre and then smashes it past the goalie from the edge of the box. To kick off the second half a beautiful counter starting from Geertruida sends Minteh through with a 4-1 which Weiper manages to receive and slot past Noppert in net. It didn't take him long to grab a 2nd to make it 3-0, Stengs sending him through for an easy finish. From this point I changed to Positive, tweaked my TI's to be less aggressive and settled with 3. Really impressed so far with how this tactic is working. UCL Matchday 1 - REAL MADRID Starting off with the best team in the group, arguably the best team in world football. To get anything from this one would be amazing but we will be going down fighting if we don't manage 3 points. 30 mins in and Madrid find a way through, Hancko steps in to get the ball, misjudges and it falls straight to Brahim Diaz who slots it home. Definitely not one-sided and we are still dominating so far. As the second half kicked off plenty of misplaced passes from my boys and Madrid were all over them. I have tweaked to go more direct and regroup on the counter to see if this helps. And guess what, it frigging did hahaha. A few subs were made and tweaks to the system and Jahanbakhsh manages to square it to Ivanusec who pulls 1 back. Which now means we have 35 mins to either hold on or try for another. Not sure which is easier against this star studded team. At this point I did tweak the midfield slightly to go with a Volante next to the RPM to try and help him out as I noticed Madrid started to play through here on the counter. Unfortunately though, Vinicius scores a goal from nothing and puts Madrid back into the lead, with some opposition instruction tweaks I'm hoping we don't concede another. We couldn't find an equaliser before full-time but I did say if we lose it we will be fighting. And an injury to a key man following this doesn't help us at all as we take on Ajax next in the penultimate game of September Matchday 6 - AJAX A great game this one that felt like I probably should have scored more but I'll take the 3. Gimenez opens the scoring shortly followed by a clumsy tackle from Zerrouki which led to Avila bottling the penalty, a great save from Bijlow. Gimenez follows it up by showing him how its done after Brian Brobbey handles the ball in the box. A very solid game and one where we deserved three points. After highlighting the fact Ajax brought in Hansi Flick it's quite humerous that we got one over on him keeping the title fight firmly between us and PSV. Matchday 7 - GO AHEAD EAGLES It took us 25 mins to score two goals, both from Gimenez, both disallowed for close offsides. And of course in typical FM fashion the Eagles scored 5 minutes later with their first shot on target. Whilst we did slightly rotate for this I am still expecting the full 3 points against a team currently in midtable. I'm not sure whether I'm using the Mexican wrong but Santiago Gimenez hasn't been at the races for me yet, so many missed chances and offside runs but he does manage a goal from the spot to make it 1-1 after half-time. But in the 80th minute the youngsters combine to give us the 2nd, a great effort from Milambo hits the post and lands to the extremely talented 17 year old Leo Sauer which should be enough. Hancko solidified us the win the 87th with a rebound from his own header that landed back to him on the volley. Much better performance second half, from making the subs and changing to a DM on support instead of the RPM we were much more solid building up from the back. Another tough injury to deal with following this game but this gives Milambo a chance in that AM role to really show me what he's got in his locker. Monthly Roundup And as I reach the end of September it's worth showing you the current league table and stats for the team. And as you can see PSV are very much the team to beat as they are hot on my heels with a big gap to Twente in 3rd. Weiper topping both the Top Goalscorer and Average Rating charts with Stengs providing all the assists 7 games in. Very impressed with the start and hopefully we can keep this form going into a tough October. Keep an eye out over the weekend for October's breakdown and thanks for reading! 😊

SEASON 1 - PRE-SEASON Carrying on from our squad setup, we still need to set up the following: Training schedules, individual training, staff improvements and some recruitment focus setup + scouting. So lets get into it! Training So in terms of team training I have my training schedules saved for different scenarios, happy to upload these if anyone is interested. I have schedules set up for the current scenarios. After spending 5-10 minutes going through both the first team calendar plugging in these schedules as well as the U18 teams using the Youth Development schedule we are all setup for the season. Now this is setup I can focus on the individual training. I have been through everyone currently available for selection and set up their specific role training, additional focus if needed as well as traits for the younger players. As long as I manage to remember I'll be keeping on top of this as I really want to get the best out of these guys. Staff Now the staff at Feyenoord were already the best in the league at nearly every area, but I have needed to revamp the scouting department as this is where we are lacking currently. Some recruitment analysts are on the flight to the south of Holland as I type this so hopefully these bars raise slightly soon. Recruitment Focuses This is where I want to spend a bit more time to explain how I have set these up and why they work so well for me. Below is what my current RF (will refer to Recruitment Focuses as RF so my fingers don't start aching typing it) setup is looking like. So the idea is to focus solely on certain age groups instead of area based, this works well with smaller clubs as long as you do have a somewhat decent level of regional scouting and scouting knowledge but it works especially well with bigger clubs due to scouting budget you have. Individually, I have them all set up as so, You can select an area and a preferred scout if you want to get really precise with it but the template above works great. Each one is the same layout apart from the age ranges which you can see in the names of the RF. As you can see below, I've only had these running for a day and a half in game and I've got some real good prospects. Ideally you want to leave this up for about 3-5 days and then check the focus, head to the In Progress tab and then filter by potential, highlight anyone with a 5 star potential and add to a shortlist and scout for a week, then you can remove the RF's and remake them. This only takes 20 seconds but worth it in the reward you get in scouting this way. Note: You aren't looking to complete the RF and have them fully scouted in here, just for the In Progress tab to fill up and then select the ones you want to focus on. Shortlists It's worth me showing my shortlists to so I can show you how I manage the volume of players you will get from doing this method. 1 - This is where I dump all my players from the RF, when I mentioned adding anyone 5 star to a shortlist, this is the one I mean. I use this to then check through once a month to see if there is anyone I can move through the shortlists. 2 - Anyone that either passes the initial eye test after a week of scouting or players who look "good" (sounds silly but works) gets added to this one. I use this to track to see whether they become "wonderkids" or just mediocre players. 3 - Players who either look amazing in the eye test or are promoted from the "good" shortlist will be added here, and these are the ones I want to keep track of. 4 - If there is anyone from any other RF's I set up specifically looking for first teamers I will add here. 5 - Any wonderkids who I really really really want will be added to Targets and I'll be actively trying to get these in throughout the season or at the start of the window. 6 - I built a library that contains player search filters for every single role in the game (yes I clearly don't have a life) which also has filters for the specific movement e.g Attack, Support, Automatic, Defend. Yes, this folder does contain 471 files, if you want it, dm haha So this shortlist I use for anyone I find using the filters, specifically for the right BPD and striker we will come onto later. Transfers/Loans OUT! Now all that admin tasks was out the way I thought I'd some more..... I had a look through my U-18 team and anyone 18 or older who wasn't going to make the first team I added to the development list with the intention of loaning them out to clubs all over the Netherlands to help boost them. After double checking the league rules I got some good news in the fact I can loan out as many as I want under 22 which is perfect. As you can probably tell, it took me a while going through each one setting the criteria set to the right of the list up for each but I did it! And it's working, got plenty of loan offers in which get auto accepted if they match the criteria and rejected if not, saving me time analysing each loan offer for these guys. Before we look at the first pre-season results I did have a couple sales from the 4 I listed in the previous post. Nieuwkoop and Paixao have both left on permanent deals and boosted the transfer/wage kitty for some potential incomings. Goodbyeeee FIRST PRE-SEASON GAMES As I waited for some scout reports to come back and staff to join I thought I'd work through 3 pre-season games to see how the tactic does against a mixture of teams. These were managed by my AM, as much as I love the game I'm just using friendlies for info and nothing more. I do have things to do you know. (Coming from the guy who spent 7 hours making player search filters......) ADO Ten Haag The first game was pretty straightforward it seems, Geertruida's goal a bullet header from a corner. The second some lovely play from the RPM who plays it into the AM dropping deep, out wide to Jahanbakhsh who drills it across to the recently departed Paixao. And rounding it off with Lingr who made a lovely run into the box from Stengs cross from the by-line. A good result to start pre-season and hoping for more of the same. NAC Breda Had to set up a friendly with one of my favourite team (if you read the first post you will know why). Another relatively straightforward showing, having 67% possession again which shows the philosophy is there with this tactic. Stengs with another 2 showing why he's going to be key for me in the AP role. Jahanbakhsh also on the score sheet, someone who I feel will have a very good season this year. All 3 goals for this one played from the by-line, Stengs receiving a beauty of a ball from Alireza to kick things off with the favour returned as Stengs sets up the Iranian to grab his first for me. Nottingham Forest Forest really lucky with this one as Bijlow having a shocker in net, first goal from a corner that has to be saved and the second was from a free kick deep in the final third palmed back out to Murillo with the tap in. Hancko completely missing the net with the chance to wrap things up unfortunately after scoring one at the start to kick things off. Following this I received some rubbish news, Geertruida injured for 4-5 weeks..... Which means he definitely misses the Super Cup final against PSV to start off the season. As we progressed to the next friendly, a big managerial appointment for the dutch giants Ajax as Hansi Flick is brought in as manager. A huge move for them and another reason why that Eredivisie title season 1 may be a stretch too far. FC Dordrecht With 3 more pre-season games until the league officially starts we kicked things off against Dordrecht which was a 5-1 thumping. Huesca An end to end game with 2 for Gimenez on his short-lived return as he is now injured for 4-5 weeks also......so this game is now RUINEDDDD. This now means I need a striker in asap... 2 key ones on the radar from my filters were Nelson Weiper and Facundo Echevarria but we will have to wait on see on who comes in. Getafe Certainly no push over Getafe but we ended pre-season in dominating fashion, another one for the Iranian who can't stop scoring and a first for the mighty Milambo who's already showing why I promoted him to the first team. Van Persie also got a start in this one but unfortunately no goal contributions for him. Good to see him out on the pitch at only 16 years old though, huge future for Shaqueel. Pre-Season Result Roundup Transfer Business Following the almost perfect pre-season we managed to loan out the remaining unwanted man from the first team. As Ueda moves to Brugge, hopefully with a permanent move on the cards. And as one striker goes another joins in the form of Nelson Weiper. A somewhat popular choice but someone I've not used in FM so intrigued to see if he's worth the hype. I will be looking to potentially bring in a 3rd option upfront just so I have the squad depth for UCL. The first signing of this save, lets hope it goes down well. And the 2nd will be soon to follow..... Currently working on deals for the 21 year old Eduardo Quaresma from Sporting as my BPD and the 18 year old highly rated Jovan Mijatovic as my 3rd choice striker who can also cover the wings. Both clubs being very stingy and with my small-ish budget it's going to require some negotiating. But first, the Super Cup final, first trophy in the bag already? (Doesn't count to Glory Hunter challenge but hey, a trophies a trophy) SUPER CUP FINAL VS PSV And here we go, could we win a trophy in our first ever professional game as manager? The teams are out, I'm somewhat excited and frightened at the same time, I have a reputation to withhold here. The boys had no response to my enthralling team talk which is always great. A very tough game indeed against arguably the best team in the league. Only a few minutes in but the Rotterdam boys are soaking up the pressure well and had a great chance all launched from a marauding run from the number 17 Ivanusec. OH HE HASNT, ALIREZA JAHANBAKHSH WITH A BEAUTY IN FRONT OF THE PRIDE OF THE SOUTH. A beautiful free kick straight into the top corner and Benitez stands hopeless in net. Veerman even shed a tear after seeing that beauty. 20" - Feyenoord 1-0 PSV 43" - Feyenoord 2-0 PSV Nelson Weiper's only gone and scored on his debut, Alireza with a beauty of a ball down the channel to Ivanusec who squares it to Weiper who has a simple tap in to make it 2 before half-time. A perfect performance so far. Need to ensure complacency doesn't sink in as I go into the 2nd half. And the momentum continues with the mighty red and whites as it's chance after chance for us. Alireza is playing an unreal game today, really impressed with the back line also who have defended so well all game even with some player adjustments due to injuries. Thought it would be worth sharing how we sit on the ball and position ourselves, you can see there how we have 3 centrally which has forced the LB to help out leaving Jahanbakhsh open on the right as well as the overload on the left of Hartmann (CWB) and Stengs (IW). This has been the game plan today and it seems to be working well, if that ball gets out wide there's always been a chance on goal due to the numbers and we have managed with the counter each time. Close one as PSV have their first chance on goal, miscommunication from a set piece and Pepi picks the ball up on the halfway line, one on one with Bijlow who really did do magnificently to stop that from going in. FT: FEYENOORD 2-0 PSV CHAMPIONESSSSSSSSS An incredible game for the boys who really shown why we should be up there in the title contenders. Really really impressed with how we played, specifically the RPM and wingers who just caused chaos all game for the fullbacks, A fitting way to end the first couple of posts for this save, keep an eye out over the coming days as I'll be updating you on some new transfers being completed as well as the monthly roundup for August. Thanks as always 😊

Thanks man, Most likely every few days as the season starts/ends and then weekly/fortnightly during the season doing monthly in game breakdowns. Appreciate it 😊

Hello to anyone who's managed to find this thread, something I've never done before so bare with me as I venture out into the blog world. May be worth a brief introduction before we get into the good stuff, I'm Dylan, 22 from the UK, specifically Manchester, I've played thousands of hours of FM since FM20 (9,580 to be specific at present) so still a relatively new player but learning more and more as the FM game-cycle renews. My main form of saves on Football Manager is a one club save, taking a team from the lower leagues in Europe to the top where I restrict myself to only sign Under 21's, thought I would list them below. NAC Breda - Netherlands Nacional Madeira - Portugal SV Ried - Austria Polonia Warsaw - Poland (My current FM save) With each one I had targeted the high and mighty UEFA Champions League win but always just missed getting my hands on the infamous trophy. Anyway, back to the stuff you probably clicked on this for, the Glory Hunter challenge, attempted by many, very rarely completed (throwing no shade on DrBenjyFM) but after considering it for some time I thought I'd give it a go with a couple of tweaks to how it works. Worth noting I have started this just after the database update on the 29th Feb so currently using the latest version of this. RULES No time limit on when to complete as I feel this just removes the rigid aspect of this save and I do want to keep the element of squad building through youth in parts and not just focus on mega moves to rush through. For the leagues I will need to complete, along with the relevant trophies at stake, these will be: England - Premier League & FA Cup Spain - La Liga & Copa Del Rey Germany - Bundesliga & DFB Pokal France - Ligue Une & Coupe De France Italy - Serie A & Coppa Italia Portugal - Portugese Primeira Liga & Taca de Portugal Netherlands - Eredivisie & KNVP Cup European Trophies - Champions League, Europa League & Conference League National Trophies - World Cup & Euros And that's it! I don't want to restrict myself too much setting time limits on my length of stay or spending as some may do so we will be keeping this as open as possible. PICKING THE TEAM I had a few teams I was torn between: Sporting - Portugal Lyon - France Ajax - Netherlands Stuttgart - Germany But I did eventually come to a choice, mainly due to my admiration for a certain bald man, no, not Pep, but Arne Slot. At the time of writing Feyenoord are currently sat in 2nd in the Eredivisie with only 2 losses this season. Usually setting up in a 4-2-3-1 with the option of a third man pressing the back line creating a 1 on 1 scenario against teams playing a back three they play attractive football and have a young squad with plenty of potential. This style has evolved over time and he has, specifically this season, been deploying a reserved block 442 which changes to a 4-1-4-1 depending on where the ball is. Although this isn't the style I'm particularly a fan of the concept and tactical knowhow of Arne is admirable. I thought Feyenoord would be a good starting point but also comes with a risk that if I don't do well here it will only delay my rise to the bigger leagues. GAME SETUP For anyone interested in how the game is setup I have shown a picture of the DB setup, I'm using the database setup method shared from SecondYellowCard which can be found here and has worked well for me on other saves. And just an FYI, I play with all badges, name fixes, player faces etc etc as well as a custom AI generated regen faces when we get to that point. Developed by many of my mates and contains hundreds of thousands of realistic faces suited to their birthplace. And I will be using the latest version of the Tato FM skin also for anyone interested. I also chose to slightly tweak the Managerial Style, giving myself max badges but making my Past Playing Experience slightly lower, further increasing the realistic managerial pressure. TEAM 1 - SEASON 1 - FEYENOORD And now with all the admin preparation out the way we can get into it, appointed as Feyenoord boss. Replacing the man I just wrote a love letter to, no hard feeling Arne. A club with plenty of history, even winning the Champions League (or European Cup) in 1970 so I guess its worth a try adding that collection of European trophies. They are no slouch to winning the Eredivisie either, winning this 16 times throughout their history. Only 2 of these have been won since 1998, the 2nd coming as recently as last season so I will be under big pressure to retain this going into the 2023/24 season. Learning the Club I think it's worth dedicating sometime into looking through the taskbar and looking at things we can accomplish before I start clicking that addictive continue button and get moving through pre-season. So, starting with..... Club Vision So looking at this seasons objectives we need to achieve the following: From looking at this, the key one is "Challenge for the Eredivisie title", basically meaning I need to be top 2, top 3 at a push but actively putting pressure on the likely leaders that will be PSV. I think this is definitely achievable and pushing for the title season 1 is something I think I could accomplish. Tying this in to the season preview looking at the predicted teams to finish in potential European places we are predicted 3rd currently, behind an Ajax team who should do much better than they currently are in real life, albeit they are slowly turning their abysmal start of the season around. Finances Worth taking a look at these early on so it sticks in my mind whilst I look at places to improve later on if needed. Key figures to look at are: Overall Balance Projection Transfer Budget Wage Budget Looking at this the clubs in a decent spot, they do have 2 £6m loans to payoff, paying out £33.5k a month until 2040 and are in -£7.92m transfer debt so still money to come out but there are definitely players here who can be flipped for profit. Squad So, the key one is to look through the squad I have to play with, it's a very young squad, with only 2 first team players over the age of 27. But to focus on 6 key players we have to build the team around we have: Clearly a very talented squad and I'm sure a squad of players you already know the majority being an FM player. I'm especially excited to use Gimenez and Geertruida who I'm a big fan of in real life. So lets tie this in to the next section: Tactics So the big one, how do I want to play???? Well, looking into the key players I have and the ones I want to keep I'm looking to play short, high tempo passing, playing out from the back and focusing heavily on nullifying any opposition attack using a wedge shape in defence. The wedge shape has been amazing for me this year when focusing on the rest defence of my teams (where the team sits when off the ball) so I will try to incorporate this into the tactic. I'm not someone who plays wingers, often using my Wing Backs as wingers playing something like a 4-3-1-2 or a 4-4-2 narrow but for this team I'm going to mix it up due to how I want to play. Defence/Midfield I thought it would be worth explaining my thought process for each area of the pitch before showing the full tactic I plan on using. Starting with the defence I've gone with the following: Obviously, this looks a little strange first off but it will make more sense as you keep reading I'm hoping. (It did in my head anyway 😆) The idea with this to play as a 3atb when we are on the ball, the CWB (Hartmann) will be tasked with charging up that left side of the pitch, overlapping my left winger which you will see further down. Utilising this it enables the left-sided BPD to shuffle to the left and the right BPD to play the central CB in a back three. I intend to have the majority of the ball with this tactic so focusing on where we are on the ball is critical. The IFB will then shuffle somewhere in between where the right BPD and IFB currently are on screen, often encouraged to push up slightly more into a right sided DM to cover the RPM (still debating whether to change this to a DM on support but playing some games will help make up my mind). Attack Now with the attack I want to make sure that we are covering every channel, attacking the half spaces and focusing on playing in between the oppositions back line. Starting with the wingers for this I've chosen to go with an AP on support and an IW on attack. The AP on support is who I want to be holding the ball and playing killer through balls to the SS, AF and IW. Focusing on creating assists or the assists to the assists (that's a lot of assists, the word doesn't sound real anymore) and using the CWB who will be overlapping him as another option. This is going to make it very hard for the AI to cut off our attacks. The IW will have the option to cut inside and use the AM or go out wide to the by-line looking to drill crosses into our main man Gimenez playing the AF role. As for the 2 attacking midfielders, the AM will be encouraged to drop to help the RPM on build up, being the key player focusing on moving the ball from midfield to attack. The SS next to him will partner up with the AF, giving them another option in case the shot isn't the best option. Instructions In Possession In Transition Out of Possession I'm not going to intense on the instructions, the key theme is play short, fast, focus the flanks where we can and play that high line with the wedge aiming to catch the opposition offside where we can. Which matches the brief of what I wanted to make. Squad Selection Now it's time to plug in the team and see where we can improve in the window. When starting with a new team I like to do a certain method which works best for me in identifying spots to improve: 1. Go through each position and either put them in the starting spot, the bench if they will be second choice or leave out of position if they will be sold/loan. 2. Go to the youth teams to see if there's any gems that could either grab a spot on the bench or be 1/3 extra squad picks for the season (22 for starting 11 and bench and then 3 spots for youth players) 3. When done I can then see where I have gaps in the team. Below is the results. I'm seriously impressed with how well this squad fits the tactic, as you can see I have a full 11 I think is good enough to win the league as well as an almost full bench, 2 players I called up is 16 year old Shaqueel Van Persie, famously Robin Van Persie's son and someone I know develops really well in the game, he will be trained to become a SS and Milambo who will be my backup AM. Two spots to improve on is a backup for Wieffer in the right-side BPD as well as a backup striker, Ueda who is the current backup doesn't fit my style. So I better add this to the checklist. The above 4 will be moved on as I don't have a spot for them or don't fit the system. So now we have the tactic in place I will go ahead and set up my training schedules, individual training, staff improvements and some recruitment focus setup + scouting which will all be covered in the next post. Hopefully you enjoyed this read and are looking forward to poor, any comments on improvements in posts etc is welcome, as I mentioned, totally new to this but very excited. Thanks Guys 😊