FM16: Athletic Bilbao - No puede comprar un trofeo

[Guest El Payaso]

Yeah I remember Guillermo being excellent in FM15 but now only potentially a good La Liga striker. He has developed quite nicely in Bilbao but is already 25 and happy there so I will probably never use him.

I think that season five might be my last one but it is likely that there will be a save game number five and I will try to control the world a bit with in game editor. By that I mean stupid transfers and players like Iniesta etc declining rapidly. It's a bit cheating but I enjoy it more when I can control the AI a bit to challenge me more.

Nice to see this thread coming to life.

[eple]

Yeah I remember Guillermo being excellent in FM15 but now only potentially a good La Liga striker. He has developed quite nicely in Bilbao but is already 25 and happy there so I will probably never use him.

He was brilliant for me in a save, though I think I got a bit lucky with that one! Not so much brilliant now, but I just realized he's in the top 3 in the league in terms of minutes pr goal with around 125 minutes played pr goal. Villalibre has come on leaps and bounds in the last few months though, so I think the era of Guillermo is over

In other news there is trouble in paradise... or is there?

First this happened

Arsenal missed their 2 clear cut chances, but still managed to score from all their 6 half chances. One of those beyond silly 2-legged cup ties. Fair to say I was well and truly FM'd with that teasing 3-1 home win followed by every shot scaring my goalkeeper in the return leg.

Then this happened with Laporte

After complain to his team mates and trying to calm them down Muniain was still unhappy

I was expecting the form to turn bad, but in the next game

It's been such an odd season. I should not be dominating the table with this team.

Griezmann has been the worst player in the team. Any advice on him? I've tried playing him upfront, but he just wastes every possession by shooting from silly angles and distances and finishes most games with 6.3 or below, but it doesn't seem to matter if I limit his shooting from range as he's just as wasteful in the box. I've stuck him on the left wing in a support role, just to limit the damage he causes to our play in every other position. I'm hoping it's just a faze and that he'll come good soon.. maybe when he's natural as a striker.

[bowieinspace]

Nice work pal!

Actually after mentioning Arellano earlier (seeing as I can see his star rating above on your save), in my save his potential is now that he is only going to be as good as Balenziaga, so it looks like your Arellano got a solid PA compared to mine!

I've had some extraordinary seasons with what I would consider to be a weak side in previous FMs with Athletic. This time around however I haven't broken through the Real/Barca barrier yet and think it will be some time until I am able to. THat being said I'm off to a great start this year in the league....but we're never really dominating games so don't feel secure even with our good points total.

Also jealous you managed to sign a youngster from Sociedad. I haven't had a single one from them be willing to negotiate a contract yet...which is a shame because they've had some great intakes.

[Guest El Payaso]

Arsenal is easily my bogey team. I absolutely hate playing against them. Ox and Sanchez always destroy the full backs with their dribbling at Emirates and it is impossible to double mark them as there are also Bernat and Bellerin as attacking full backs.

I have had it easy with my star players. No-one has made it hard to keep them and Laporte has always settled after a while. San Jose was much closer to move although no-one wanted to pay 29 million for him.

I gave Raul Garcia a new deal as he was now willing to lower his demands.

[Guest El Payaso]

SEASON 4 (DYING MOMENTS)

La Liga



The second round of fixtures started in a horrific way as we still couldn't find our own identity and deservedly drew against 18th of the league Mallorca. After that we found a little bit of form also in goalscoring department as we managed to score three and four goals in two games. Otherwise it has been story of our season: really struggling to be anything but predictable and snatching that one goal out of somewhere.

To mount a title challenge, these kind of results though are not enough:





We just don't appear to these games no matter what I try. The Barca game was a decent one and was actually happy to see Neymar and Messi show some glimpses of their quality. The Real game instead was a bit of hammering where the goal was always going to come from somewhere. They didn't create any real easy chances but sfter the game I couldn't help but to wonder: where was my team?

It demanded us to get some of the Ander Iturraspe magic to be able to overcome Málaga at home as the holding midfielder smashed the ball in from 25 yards in a game where we couldn't break the door otherwise. Sevilla on the other hand has been one of the toughest team for us especially because of Konoplyanka. This time though it was Iñaki Williams that kept us still in the title race with a thumping header from Iker Muniain's cross. Valladolid is definitely playing in the wrong league but winning three nil at home was still encouraging as Antoine Griezmann's igniting form continued to grow. The winger had been quiet for most of the season but is now becoming alive when it matters the most.



For a long time it was looking to be a four horse race till the finish but now Valencia are definitely out of it. Atlético and Valencia have been the two teams trailing us all season long but now we have that little bit of slack available with five points gap. The giant duo is a bit off from us but we are not giving up.



A bit of injury crisis is hitting us at the moment and going to the game against Betis is a risky one as we will have to rotate the squad a lot. The remainder of the fixtures is not the toughest possible even though I would gladly change the last two fixtures to some other ones. I bet that the last two rounds will be crucial.

UEFA Champions league



Still in. The match up against Juventus was a really dull one as we only saw couple of decent chances during the two games. It took again some Iturraspe magic to win it at San Mames and in Turin we held firm. Next up is Manchester City with Romelu Lukaku and Sergio Aguero up front. Toure, Busquets, Sterling and Pogba in the midfield... But hey, the squad is aging and they use the 4-4-2 with Diego Simeone in charge so maybe it is doable...

Might even give Pep Guardiola a call if we win the home fixture and ask him to send the 4-1-4-1 Bayern tactic he uses to nullify City at Manchester.



Main stats again.

[eple]

Actually after mentioning Arellano earlier (seeing as I can see his star rating above on your save), in my save his potential is now that he is only going to be as good as Balenziaga, so it looks like your Arellano got a solid PA compared to mine!

Certainly a good chance of that. I guess there's a possible 30 points difference? I'm not entirely convinced that he's got that much potential for me though. His level of improvement has been slow and I think he's close to his potential, but as long as he's good enough to replace Monreal I'm happy.

Also jealous you managed to sign a youngster from Sociedad. I haven't had a single one from them be willing to negotiate a contract yet...which is a shame because they've had some great intakes.

He's the only one so far. He wasn't interested initially. I tried just after the youth intake, but ended up signing him in the middle of pre-season when he was moved to Berio. if I remember correctly he said he was not keen on the move, but I had the option to interact with him. However I clicked the wrong button and exited out of the interaction screen. Perhaps I pressed continue? I'm not sure. When I got back to the contract offer screen the option to interact with him was gone but I could offer him a contract. His demands were hidden, but I offered him basically double of what I expected him to want and he signed on the spot. The whole thing might have been a bug, though I'm not complaining! As things are now it's only recently that I'm able to tempt R. Sociedad 1st team players to come, but I still have no pull to get them unsettled so I would have to pay ransom fees for them, and no other youth players from there have even allowed me to offer contracts, and it's the same with youths from the big and not quite so big clubs.

I've had a few of them on trial and taken a some on loan though, just to get them a Basque passport in time. A bit gamey, I know

I'm 31 games in, and with my tally I would be 3rd in the league. Although I've had a good season I think it's fair to say Barca and Real Madrid have been poor this season on my save. Barca only have 64 points so far. They have wasted a lot of points at home to bottom half teams. This usually happens when I big them up as undisputed favorites to win the league

[Guest El Payaso]

SEASON FOUR (FINALE)

La liga



We had to fully rotate the squad considering that we would be hosting Manchester City at San Mames only three days later. The gamble paid off as we played reasonable well and in-form Iker Muniain was the man to save us. Atletico Madrid continued bullying our rivals with a draw against Barcelona which got us closer to the league leaders.

The dream was although over before we could even mount a serious challenge. Celta did it again to us and we should have lost the game at home. Again we had to rotate the squad but giving both Jurgi Oteo and Gorka Santamaria a start was too arrogant. We were absolutely horrible for the first sixty minutes or so and should have conceded 2-3 goals. In the end though it was disappointment as we had three really good chances in the last thirty minutes through Williams and Griezmann.

Rest of the season was mainly playing against Atletico and Real Madrid as Atletico had gained on us and gave us a challenge for the Espanyol game as they were only trailing with two points. We did deliver though and the chase was virtually over. We were now trailing Real Madrid with just two points.

Even though we produced one of the best performances in the remaining two fixtures, it wasn't enough to change the situation. Barcelona were the deserved champions of Spain again, Real Madrid second and Athletic Club third. Atlético took the fourth place and Valencia sacked Tata Martino as they again failed to qualify to the Champions league although being in such good position midway to the season.





Kepa is the best keeper.



Llorente is the best Spanish goalscorer.



Unai López the third best Spaniard in the league.



Impressive.

UEFA Champions league



Well what can you say. We were Lions for the first 160 minutes of this tie or so. We had absolutely no trouble until we collapsed:



This was the classic type of game where the opposition just start bombarding us with pinpoint crosses and it is game over. We should have won 3-1 after the 90 minutes as we had the better chances. On the extra time it took Aguero's 25 yarder to find a way through and after that we just heard our backbone snap and Lions became lambs. First Otamendi from a corner and after that Clough (easily the smallest man in the box) from a pinpoint cross. City did get 30 shots in 120 minutes but I can honestly say that about 10 of them were from corners on which we lost our ability to defend suddenly.

This was a decent UCL run though.

[eple]

Season 2 end

A bit of an anti-climax, really. I was expecting my unbeaten run and form to come crashing down, but it never happened. Expecting more of a challenge next year. R. Sociedad escaped the drop just barely!





Squad stats



The only award that matters



Asier Villalibre - The New Hope <3

Developed immensely when he got a professional personality and started more matches.



Julen Arrelano

Decent, but still has some way to go to get on Monreal's level.



Laporte

Not long after the title win he dropped his concerns and agreed to sign a huge contract.





Youth intake



Mancisidor Man-sissy? Really?



Pascual

[Guest El Payaso]

Great season for you eple. Nice report also. On Griezmann: I have got my best results with him by simply playing him as a winger and given him ability to roam so he is more of a scoring threat. I also think he is really good as inside forward. I don't use AMRLs though.

I will definitely have one more year cause it is going to be a season of changes again. Will replace Monreal with Arellano, Villalibre will be my number one, Oteo will also get more game time and midfield has also some changes.

After season five it'll be time to start again for the third time.

[eple]

On Griezmann: I have got my best results with him by simply playing him as a winger and given him ability to roam so he is more of a scoring threat. I also think he is really good as inside forward. I don't use AMRLs though.

I will definitely have one more year cause it is going to be a season of changes again. Will replace Monreal with Arellano, Villalibre will be my number one, Oteo will also get more game time and midfield has also some changes.

After season five it'll be time to start again for the third time.

Start again with Athletic, or somewhere else?

Roaming doesn't seem to do much for me, but I guess that is possibly down to my tactic as a whole. I press up so much with the whole team, usually there is little space to move into, and build up play is slow. I imagine if I were playing more of a quick counter style, Greizmann could be an amazing player. I've used him as a Treq lately and he's unlearning his tendency to shoot from range. Working well so far, with 4 in 4 starts, but I think I'll play him mostly as a winger with the odd switch here and there.

Any chance you can post a pic of your developed players that were youths at game start, like Oteo and Xiker? Would be interesting to see how they have developed and if their attributes are very different.

I've made a big signing

A good deal, it probably looks like. I even got Bayern to agree to pay a third of his wages, but he's not the same player he was. He is returning from 8-9 months out with damaged cruciate ligaments, and he had the excate same injury in the first season. He'll be a good tutor though!

His attributes now

I've tried getting Azpilicueta but besides from the £40-50m fee, he also wants £235k p/week and singing bonuses totaling over £15m. Madness! I hope I can get him in his 30s on a reasonable deal. He's a great tutor. Llorente is keen but Sevilla still want his release clause upfront and I can't seem to unsettle him, while Ander Herrera still cost £30m ++.

[Guest El Payaso]

Yes, with Athletic Bilbao as I am not feeling to go to LLM in this version and basically Athletic is the team that interests me in big leagues.

Here are some screenies:

Not really good enough just yet but working on it.

Thinking of making Oteo as an attacking wing back as I don't use wingers on right.

My number one for this season. I like his profile even though the ability to pass the ball needs some work.

Decent one although too slow and his personality and determination are awful. Can get us some money if I sell him. I already have better options in generated players but don't prefer them ahead of real players.

Talking about selling:

Didn't have to sell him or anything but I wanted to use both Ibai and Williams more and that is a good money. I have a young player to replace him in a year or two. More about players in next update.

Maybe going for a quarter of a season updates could work?

[eple]

Woah, that's a lot of money! To be frank I wish I never signed him... serves me right for adding a 50% sell on clause He was incredible for me on FM15 though.

Xiker and Oteo look like 2nd tier players to me. Useful as backup, but not much more. I've considered Unai Bilbao, but with Laporte, San jose, Etxeita and Javi Martinez there's a lot of competition for the CB position. Same with Aketxe, Guarrotxena, Lekue, Undabarrena, Saborit and Sabin. Very good for Liga Adelante, but not good enough for a top side in La Liga.

Do you sign non-basque 16y/o players? I've got a few new-gens already who are better than the starting squad youths and not far from being good enough for 1st team football. I've always been tempted to actually only to sign Basque players, but I've haven't had the self-discipline thus far

[Guest El Payaso]

I think I have bought about one per season as my scouts keep recommending some and also the media helps as there are always rumours of me wanting to buy someone I have never heard of. I am not a fan of my actions but what is done is done...

Thought that it was the right time to move Griezmann as I wouldn't get that much in next year or two and he might start wanting a new contract. The board didn't like it but I know what I am doing.

Those youngsters aren't really that impressive but they are just been used for one year properly. I think both Xiker and Oteo will make. The thing just is that I am lacking tutors in defense and failed to sign Azpiliqueta as Chelsea didn't settle for anything.

[bowieinspace]

Woah, that's a lot of money! To be frank I wish I never signed him... serves me right for adding a 50% sell on clause He was incredible for me on FM15 though.

Xiker and Oteo look like 2nd tier players to me. Useful as backup, but not much more. I've considered Unai Bilbao, but with Laporte, San jose, Etxeita and Javi Martinez there's a lot of competition for the CB position. Same with Aketxe, Guarrotxena, Lekue, Undabarrena, Saborit and Sabin. Very good for Liga Adelante, but not good enough for a top side in La Liga.

Do you sign non-basque 16y/o players? I've got a few new-gens already who are better than the starting squad youths and not far from being good enough for 1st team football. I've always been tempted to actually only to sign Basque players, but I've haven't had the self-discipline thus far

I play only signing Basque players and it is awesome - way more satisfying and adds an additional challenge. I also feel it's more realistic as Athletic wouldn't sign random 16 year olds from outside the region IRL.

I am on the verge of winning the league in season 4 - happy days! I will have to post a few pics of my newgens coming through as I've got a few good ones!

[eple]

Nice, that's very well done! I think I have to try that sometime and force myself to stick with it. Usually I last until I find an amazing talent that I'm not allowed to get

[bowieinspace]

Nice, that's very well done! I think I have to try that sometime and force myself to stick with it. Usually I last until I find an amazing talent that I'm not allowed to get

Definitely go for it. It's worth it!

Here's a few of my Basque youths. I've got a heap more 3* potential youths but these are a selection of the more interesting ones

Jose Felix Romo - I sold Oteo (who was doing great to be fair every time he played) to fund the purchase of this guy due to his potential. Picked him up from Sociedad after years of effort

Joseba Diez - The pride of our youth academy. He came through with the 'best of his generation' tag and is living up to it, and he's constantly improving. BEAST!

Gaizka Martinez - Still a long way to go for this fella but I love his attribute spread, picked up from Eibar for 110k

Igor Uranga - Good prospect in the midfield from our academy

Diego Larrainzar - Came through our academy and although his attributes have never been great, his pace is immense. He's in the first team squad this year so we will see how he goes

Alberto Mateo - Can play CB or RB naturally. I'm working on his attributes as a RB but he covers at CB exceptionally well too. I would train him as a CB specifically but I need a RB more

Daniel Rodriguez - I couldn't believe my luck when this young keeper appeared in my most recent intake. He looks like he's going to be phenomenal and should be our number one for years and years once he reached the level of Arrizabalaga

[Guest El Payaso]

That is basically why I hate newgens. If you look at Spanish playmakers IRL, you see that most of them are brilliantly intelligent and technical but are usually lacking in pace and all the other physical attributes. Newgens never are physically weak and having someone with 11-13 in physicals at the age of 15-16 means that they will be really physical players that will have no weaknesses when they mature.

There will be no new Mata, Parejo, Benat, Silva, Fabregas etc.

I hope that they will change this at some point.

[bowieinspace]

Two games into the season, had two 1-1 draws against weak teams after dominating both games, and had Javi Martinez snap a cruciate ligament and out for 8 months. What a way to start our title defence!

[eple]

Some nice ones there. That goalkeeper, wow, I'm jelly! I'm desperate for a couple of decent fullbacks and a goalkeeper. Plenty of good attacking players and center-backs coming though, but I'm retraining a few to cover fullback-position just in case.

If you look at Spanish playmakers IRL, you see that most of them are brilliantly intelligent and technical but are usually lacking in pace and all the other physical attributes. Newgens never are physically weak and having someone with 11-13 in physicals at the age of 15-16 means that they will be really physical players that will have no weaknesses when they mature.

I guess there is no national bias when it comes to templates for new-gens? Certainly an interesting thought. I've never considered that. That said I thought my guy from the last youth intake, Mancisidor, was interesting. A tiny, somewhat weak player with great passing and good vision.

[eple]

I got this guy from Eibar for just £400k. At the time he only had 2.5 gold stars, but now all my coaches are in agreement that he can become better than Laporte.

[Guest El Payaso]

The young man to replace Griezmann down the left hand side.

Some of the better ones I have.

I have never liked newgens though.

[eple]

Quality! Moreno and Gail especially

I have splashed the cash in January again. Not in this to make money so what the hell, right?

The season in going very well, but just got a double blow in the space of a week, with Rico out for 3 months and Unai Lopez out for 2 months.

[eple]

Another great season.. almost too good again. I'm just hoping my motivation won't falter and Barca starts playing like Barca again, because I want to see how the young players develop and perform.

Season 3

First off... great news from the coaches :D



Also, the tip from El Payaso to let him roam the pitch seems to have worked wonders for his performances, as you'll see in the squad stats below.

Supercopa, La Liga & Copa del Rey





Again, little to no chance against Real M & Barca in the head to heads, but consistency bore dividens in the league. It was a two horse race until there was 2 games left. There was only 3 pts seperating us at max through the entire season. That is until Real Madrid only managed a draw at home to Espanyol and was beaten by Valencia a week later in the 35th and 36th round.

Awards









Ronaldo had an amazing season with 58 goal in all club competitions. We have our 1st 20 goals + striker in years though, and two of them at that!

Champions Leauge

A very easy group, but Schalke put up a fight and the group winner was decided in the last game with a single goal.



Such a weird Champions League. The knockout stages has some odd teams, but even stranger was it that Real Madrid finished dead last in their group consisting of Leverkusen, Ajax and Marseille. Bayern finished 3rd in their group and were knocked out due to their head to head with Steaua. Newcastle & Shahktar both somehow won their respective groups eliminating Juventus in the process.





We made it all the way, but it was a bumpy road. Against Benfica none of my players seemed able to hit the target and a lucky deflection got us a late away goal. At home the drought would have probably continued if not for a very kind referee that gave us 2 penalties and sent off one of their players. Benfica got 7 yellow cards! The games against Atletico were tight. I'd say we deserved it based on chances, but to be frank I was massively relieved by the end of it. The loss in the semis to Dortmund was a major rip off, where they had one chance and 3 shots all game. Thankfully we set things right in the return leg, and it really should have been much more comfortable.

In the final against Spurs the FM gods were on our side... Lloris, Kane and Nasri were all out with minor injuries. Not only that but it was one of those games were media build up and team talks just seem to align in that very special way. Our three first shots on target went straight in, and they were all beautiful goals, free flowing football stuff. I don't know what Pochettino said to his team before the game but I thank him for it. They seemed to sort themselves out after that inital shock but a red card to Tielemans took the edge of things.



Bilbao



I hired all new staff for Bilbao and let them have Boveda and Guillermo for the season. Ibai Gomez and Kepa also played their part. Too bad they can't join me in La Liga!

Youth intake

Another couple of great players coming through.







Squad Stats



Honarable mentions to..... Ramalho? WTH! I don't know what possessed him this season. Miles better than Azpiliceuta to be far. The only significant change I can think of that I did was that I played Unai Lopez on the right wing, and their link up was sublime. Not long after Azpiliceuta was signed Lopez got an injury and Susaeta took over on the flanks.

Unai Lopez did very well on the flanks, though would have probably played better as the playmaker, but the shift just made everything click. Muniain had his best season so far as the main man behind the striker, and Griezmann/Llorente & Villalibre got their share of great passes and crosses.

Rico had another good year, but a 3 month injury has really knocked him down a peg or two. I'm considering bringing in Ander Herrera for silly money to replace him as the 1st choice.

Arellano bascially forced me to use him or lose him by complaining every time he was left out for 2-3 games in a row. I rate him slightly below Monreal, but I'd rather have a 21 year old for the foreseeable future than a 32 year old who has started to decline. Also, Monreal doesn't seem to mind as much being only a rotation player

Etxeita will probably be sold as Inigo Perez is progressing really fast, whereas I'm considering not renewing Benat's contract.

Javi Martinez hasen't been all that.. but I like him as a tutor and he's useful to have due to his versatility.

As for Ivan Olivares and his 0 games... he was loaned out to Cordoba for 6 months, got an injury and I recalled him. In reality he played over 20 games and is close to Susaeta's ability already.

[Guest El Payaso]

Brilliant season eple. I have only had time for four games this season cause the skiing season is on and I practice twice a day. Was really thinking that I have perfected the 4-1-4-1 in the first two games but after that struggled to create anything. Ajax really demolished us in UCL but the result was 0-1 to us somehow.

[bowieinspace]

Great job pal.

Bit off topic Bilbao wise, but in my save Murcia got promoted to La Liga last season.... this season after 17 games they're 1 point from 17 games and a -51 goal difference

[Guest El Payaso]

I think I am hitting the wall with my 4-1-4-1. Putting too much on defending and end up seeing no real creativity or roaming from those players I expect to see it. Lopez got 4 assists in first two but after that he got quiet and eventually injured. Really have no idea to tweak it.

[eple]

Here's my tactic

I use it at home against most sides, switch to standard/fluid against top sides. I also use it away against most sides. I wouldn't recommend using it in the 1st season though. It's only safe when teams sit back.

Player instructions:

GK: Roll it out - Distribute to CBs.

RB & LB: Stay wider.

MCl: Close down less, tackle harder.

MCr: Close down less, tackle harder, more risky passes

AMl: Is set to IF-s when there's a right footed player there - 'Griezmann has roam from position'

[Guest El Payaso]

It has quite the same elements that I use in many ways. On the other hand I hate dribbling and am more about "pass and move" type of manager and also like to mix between counter attacking style and ball control.

Seems impossible to concede in this season as Atletico again hammered us early in the game but the door stayed shut thanks to Kepa.

[eple]

I usually remove the 'run at defence' instructions against the better sides as players tend lose possession against good defensive players, especially the AM. It works a treat against most other teams, but I'm not sure if that's the instruction making a difference or if it's just in the innate behavior of the roles. The CF-s will quite often dribble past his marker and get a CCC, and the wingers and full backs do the same for a cross.

[Guest El Payaso]

I think dribbling is a bit overpowered in FM always so that is why I never use it. Same with short keeper distribution. Also down the flanks i like to variate and only use one attacking full back cause again those are really effective. With Spain I only play with key highlights and basically the attacking wingbacks win me every game.

[Guest El Payaso]

SEASON 5 (FIRST QUARTER)

"IS IT POSSIBLE TO CONCEDE?"

TRANSFERS

CLICK HERE

Jonathan Espericueta was the new man and a bargain I was talking about. Really good midfield signing that suits perfectly to the style of play I want to play. He is the new link between the destroyer Ander Iturraspe and the creator Unai López. A bit of a mix of both of them: can defend, can pass the ball really well but also has that bit of vision and flair in him. Perfect signing I have to say. Mikel Merino is a decent backup option for Iturraspe who could be useful as Mikel Rico is past his peak. Has a bit of potential there to be dug out.

Out went the loyal Nacho Monreal that had lost his pace and was giving us some horrific performances in every bigger game. It was time to give Jon Aurtenetxe a bit bigger role and let the old option go. We wont miss him. The player that we have missed a bit is Antoine Griezmann but also when talking about him I think it was the right time to let him go as we got really good amount of money and players like Ibai Gomez and Iñaki Williams can fill that gap and deserve more game time.

La Liga

We started the season with a trip to Córdoba and absolutely nailed it there. It was exactly the performance I had been waiting for: Unai López giving them a torrid time and the finishers finishing off the chances: a brace from Iker Muniain was very familiar sight. A convincing 2-0 home victory to Sevilla was the one to follow and I was confident: this is going to be it, I have finally mastered the 4-1-4-1 to the maximum. We looked so fluid and dangerous as a team.

Things were about change though and the joy was short lived as we won the next three games with mediocre performances: Betis, Málaga and Granada with 1-0 victories. This was followed with a bit better 2-0 at home against Getafe but the hope again died before it was even born as Atlético and especially Angel Correa gave us and especially Markel Susaeta a proper runaround. At this point I was thinking: "is it possible to concede?" as Atlético created six CCCs in short time without scoring.

A bit better performance followed as we faced one of our rivals Valencia at home. In form Asier Villalibre was the hero here as he assisted the goal to Muniain and finished the game with a thumping header in 84th minute. We had conceded for the first time though.

Our defense broke down at home to Racing as we conceded three times in a frustrating game. The frustration was really high here as the visitors were allowed to foul us as much as they wanted without really suffering in terms of yellow cards. Also they finished from chances so much better as we had chances to score ten and they scored from every single one finally equalizing from the final attack of the game with a precise far post cross.

The final two games of this quarter of the season were wins again as we beat Espanyol and Celta. Espanyol were quiet through the most of the game even though after the only goal of the game we looked again fragile at the back. Victory against Celta wasn't really that convincing as we got one from a corner and one from penalty scored by San José

We are decent at the moment but again not as exciting looking as I would like. Too predictable and creating too much through the excellence of Susaeta. I want to create more through the middle.





Two horse race so far. Nice to see Barcelona really challenging us again.

UEFA Champions league

The draw saw us meet again with Manchester City that we have a bit of grudge because of what happened last season. The two other teams were Marseille and Ajax so a bit of a challenge this group was.

We started in Holland with a really odd game that we somehow managed to win after being hammered really badly. Fernando Llorente scored from the only proper chance we got and Ajax couldn't score from anywhere. They had 30 shots in this game so it's needless to say that our defending was absolutely awful especially inside

the penalty area.

Marseille at home was next and we didn't really improve. 0-0 without any real chances. We were once again struggling in Europe.

Manchester City at Etihad was something I didn't look forward to as we lost 4-0 last time and players like Lukaku, Kane, Aguero, Pogba, Sterling etc. aren't really the ones you would gladly meet in away game. City were the better team by far but after hour of play it was us who took the lead through Espericueta on a counter attack. Just 9 minutes later we stroke again through second half substitute Villalibre. We held firm in the second half after a poor first half after my harsh team talk. Also the counter attacking goals through the middle were really nice thing to see.



So after three rounds we are top of the table with two wins and a draw when we should have one draw and two losses. A win at home against City could already see us well through.



And also City out.

[bowieinspace]

Great start to your season Payaso!

Little update on my team - we just finished the season and finished on 95 points in 1st place. We're now in 2020 so about to start season 6 I think? We lost in the Copa Del Rey final to Real Madrid 2-1 in a really great game, and got knocked out of the Champions League to a strong Liverpool side in the first knock out round. They finished second in their group so a tricky draw, but definitely winnable. Sadly the first leg at their place was just one of those games where everything goes wrong. We gave away two penalties and had a man sent off after 40 minutes. After 60 minutes we had managed 6 clear cut chances to their 1, but were 3-0 down. We managed to pull one back but by the end the tide had fully turned and some inspired goalkeeping kept it at 3-1. In the end it could have been a lot worse and we gave ourselves a chance. We won the home leg 1-0 and they sat deep defending in a 4-1-4-1, we just couldn't break them down and grab a second.

I'm at the start of pre season now in 2020 so a fair bit to do but we're in a transition from old to new right now. I went through last season with a transitioning squad so I was surprised to do as well as I did - all my rotational players were youngsters so although I had the numbers, I wasn't sure the quality was there in depth. Before the start of last season I shifted Raul Garcia, Mikel Rico, Susaeta, Balenziaga, De Marcos and Monreal. I was really concerned when I then lost Javi Martinez for 9 months to injury but my youngsters really stepped up - led by Joseba Diez who is fast becoming a beast. Javi Martinez is back now, but his injury has affected him a bit to be fair, and his wages are massive so need to make a decision on him. Although I doubt there will be a decision to make as I can't see anyone picking him up with his 150k p/w wages and post injury attributes.

Now my youngsters all have a year of experience under their belts, still a lot of growing to do but we are much stronger this season. The next stage is Ibai, Iturraspe and Javi Martinez being phased out gradually (and I do mean gradually to be fair as they're not that old yet). I could do with an out and out holding midfielder coming through to replace Iturraspe and Martinez because my youngsters are all more suited to BBM type roles. Also considering letting Ruffier (who is back up to Arrizabalaga anyway) go and replacing him with my 17 year old wonderkid keeper, who I think could be the best keeper I've ever had come through my academy in any FM save I've played.

Exciting times ahead and really want to do better in the Champions League this time around.

[Guest El Payaso]

SEASON 5

SECOND QUARTER

La Liga

Top of the table we started our journey with a visit to Deportivo. We failed to capitalize and create absolutely anything and the game ended in a disappointing 0 - 0 draw. Luckily Barcelona also drew with Atletico.

Next up was a home game against the bitter rival Real Sociedad. Really satisfying performance followed as we had the right mentality here. Iker Muniain won us a penalty early on which San José buried with accuracy. Fernando Llorente and Julen Arellano were the other goalscorers here. Arellano scored his first for Athletic and Llorente already his 100th league goal.

Murcia and Rayo were easy for us with 4 - 0 and 2 - 0 victories.

Real Madrid was up next at Bernabeu and as expected we didn't do our best here. Three nil early on and the game over. Rest of the time was decent battling where we should have scored two goals at least. Real still easily the better side.

Levante at home was our game to get back on track. Susaeta scored his first of the season early on and after that we sailed to the port quite smoothly.

It was January already and before facing Barcelona at Camp Nou. We made this:



Ramalho's nightmare at Man City was over. Our player of the season in 16/17 is always welcome to return.

Ramalho was immediately tossed to the deep end with a Camp Nou visit. Barca didn't find their way through in the first half and Jordi Alba let his team down quite badly in the second minute of stoppage time by landing a two footed tackle on Muniain. We failed to capitalize again with man advantage but nil nil at Camp Nou was far more than I expected. Real Madrid were creeping in to the title race but nothing lost so far.



Brace from Iñaki Williams might be the last thing we will see from the winger as he has announced his intention to leave:



This saga begun in start of January and has now gone to the point where the only option is to allow him leave. We would have got £55M from Man United early on in January but are now settling for a £40M straight away and there are two bids gone through: from Dortmund and United. The money really doesn't help us in any way but getting the morale back is vital in our Champions league campaign.



Forgot to take the league table but will provide one soon.

Copa del Rey



Still in it.

UEFA Champions league

We started with less glorious home victory against City where Unai López provided the only goal. At this point Manchester City were the team that was at the bottom of the table.

Marseille beat us in France but it wasn't enough to knock City of as City beat Ajax in Amsterdam. They drew in points but City were the ones to qualify.



Dear god no. That was the feeling when we got that split second of delay during the draw after Arsenal was waiting for their opponent. This is the one team I didn't want.



Our stats.

[bowieinspace]

Good luck vs Arsenal!

I've not got too far since my last post - we're now in early November 2020, had a not too great start to the season so far but things are improving now after a few wins on the bounce.

[eple]

I haven't gotten far either.

Played up to the start 4th season. Signed Ander Herrera, sold Etxeita and Javi Martinez out for 9 months. Feel a FM-break coming up, will maybe stay off it until after new years.

[Guest El Payaso]

I am a bit bored with this. January again was a mood killer as Barca sold Halilovic and Samper for cheap prizes just because there is no rotation. How fantastic it would be if Iniesta would be replaced by Samper and Barca midfield triangle was Roberto - Samper and Busquets. I hope they can fix this for the current version as it kills all the fun in long term saves.

[eple]

I saw it was raised in GD, but quickly closed as apparently it is considered a data issue (rotation influenced by manager attributes), but have to say I agree with you bud.

[bowieinspace]

I haven't gotten far either.

Played up to the start 4th season. Signed Ander Herrera, sold Etxeita and Javi Martinez out for 9 months. Feel a FM-break coming up, will maybe stay off it until after new years.

Javi Martinez repetitive knee ligament injuries are a bit annoying! He's come back into my team post injury and he's still doing a job though

[Guest El Payaso]

SEASON FIVE 3/4

"End is near"



This was the thing we expected. It was absolutely vital at this point to win the team back to my side and this was the only way. We didn't have any possibilities to strenghten the squad so I had to rely more on Jurgi Oteo, Ibai Gómez, bring back Aker Aketxe and Markel Susaeta to the midfield. It was no surprise that Oteo and Gómez weren't able to play a single game during this third quarter through injuries.

La Liga



Starting situation was like this when we entered the third quarter of the season. Five points away is decent but really not safe when you have teams like Barcelona behind you. Real Madrid were also still in title competition at this point...

We started the third quarter with a really satisfying home victory against Córdoba. Asier Villalibre, Iker Muniain and Aymeric Laporte scored. Sadly we also conceded from the only chance the visitors got.

Next up was a tough away game against Sevilla. The game went almost exactly like I planned: we stayed tight at the back but couldn't score as we didn't throw enough out to attack.

Next up was a routine home victory against Betis. Villalibre, San José and Laporte scored to give us 3-0 victory. We were in good situation even while operating with really narrow squad.

After that we entered something that I had feared: a series of really bad performances. We weren't playing against challenging teams as we faced Málaga, Granada and Getafe. I don't know if it was the lack of motivation, too defensive style of play or the narrow squad but we really didn't perform in these three games. The fact is that we should have probably lost all of these three but with a good squad, you sometimes are lucky and finish from your chances. We managed to win all of these three we shouldn't have. Iker Muniain again was our hero in all of these. The boy is having the best season of his career. Three goals and 1 assist in these three, he was contributing in each goal we scored.

Next two were again challenging ones: Atlético at home and Valencia away. We improved our performances again here. Villalibre scored the only one against Atlético to give us priceless 1-0 victory. Against Valencia we were 2-1 down through two goals from Zivkovic. Kepa Arrizabalaga saved Zivkovic's penalty to give us hope late in first half (this was maybe the fifth penalty he has saved during the years, he is really good at those). At half time I told the team the truth: we had been the better team and can win this game. The team responded and late goals from Moises Gutierrez and Mikel San José secured us the victory.

The final two games of this quarter were Espanyol at home and Celta away. Considering we had the second leg against Arsenal ahead, I rested almost all the starting line up against Espanyol and it paid off quite well. Beñat set up San José from our first attack and scored the second from Gutierrez's pass to give us 2-0 victory.

Celta had a new managed and managed a 2-2 draw against us. This was a rare occasion where our defense looked vulnerable. The bad thing is also that we will be missing Unai López for next 5-6 weeks.





Barcelona continued their good form behind us. Real Madrid have slumped and lost El Clasico at Camp Nou 4-0. They are struggling to finish in top four.

Copa del Rey



Nothing really to say here. We didn't perform that well at any point and the first 20 minutes at Santiago Bernabeu sealed our fate.

UCL

So it was Arsenal again. We started really well at the Emirates as we didn't concede any shots for the first 15 minutes of the game. After that Arsenal took the driver's position in this game. A fairly suspicious penalty call gave them the lead as Kepa couldn't save Icardi's effort. At half time I told the team to start playing as we were really badly hammered for the last 30 minutes of the half. Villalibre almost equalized in 50th minute but guided Muniain's cross wide of the post. At 69th minute Muniain set up Susaeta through on goal and he delivered. We had equalized and started playing here at the Emirates. Two things I had not expected. 82nd minute was crucial and crushing as Özil delivered a pinpoint cross while being closed down by two of our players and Gabriel Barbosa somehow scored between two of our centre backs. First leg: 2-1.

We had a fully rested squad in the second leg excluding Laporte who had a virus bugging him. Also Gutierrez and Ibai were our as well as Oteo. We were the better team here with quite a margin. Susaeta had delivered already about 10 crosses to the box without success in first 15 minutes and then came Bellerin: first cross in and causing us trouble. Oxlade-Chamberlain smashed the ball in from the edge of the area. This is cruel stuff. In 24th minute we had a double chance as Villalibre and Muniain both had a CCCs from rebounds but Perin kept Arsenal ahead. We equalized in minute 35 with Susaeta again scoring.

Second half and we continued controlling the game. Arsenal played only with two wide players and Bernat finally got sent of in 64th minute with a second yellow. Surely now? - No. All the credits to Arsenal about the defending after that. Offsides ruined many of our attacks but we didn't actually create anything even with 4-2-4 in the end.

Really good match up. A little gutted with the way Arsenal scored their goals but that's life. Tight match up all the way.

[Guest El Payaso]

SEASON FIVE 4/4

- THE FINAL -

La Liga

We started our final quarter with a game away to Racing Club. We all remember the previous 3 - 3 draw and were expecting a revenge here. This game was even more sick than the previous. Once again Santander lined up with narrow 4-2-3-1 that we cannot handle. This time though the middle was the problem.

Asier Villalibre scored his first senior hat-trick for the club and the set piece goalmachine Mikel San José gave us one more. 4 goals were enough as Racing "only" scored three. I tried absolutely everything here to shut the door in the middle but cold wind blew in for the whole 90 minutes. They aren't even good...

Next up was 18th in the league Deportivo at home. I tried walk through the middle this time with a narrow 4-5-1. We created enough chances to score three goals easily but only managed to get one as their defenders gifted the ball under pressure to Villalibre who tapped it in. 1-0 victory is enough. Barcelona dropped points away to Granada with 2 - 2 draw.

Vasco derby up next away from home. We have never during my career lost one of these and also this time the plot was clear for the first half: shots 0 - 6 to us and the lead from the first goal of the season from Ander Iturraspe. Sociedad were only going to be better in the second half and they were. They created a decent chance already from their first attack in the second half. In 59th minute they although fell asleep as Villalibre was allowed to pick a long ball from Susaeta, hold it for a long time and spread it for Ibai Gómez. Ibai's cross was really good and Villalibre finished. 2-0 for Athletic club.

We held firm here for 88 minutes until Julen Arellano conceded a penalty and Jonathas converted. The remaining minutes were a bit nervy but we won deservedly. Sociedad didn't even deserve that one goal IMO. From Barcelona we heard good news: Barcelona 1, Getafe 1. They had started slipping. We also had Unai López back.

Six games left and seven points ahead. It's almost a poem. Rayo next in an away game. We started really well with a goal from our first proper attack Moisés Gutiérrez with a really strong first touch cross and Villalibre again with a goal. Gutiérrez was the one to set up also the second one as Unai López made a good return to the starting line up and hit a screamer. Only his second in La Liga this season. Just minutes later we should have had third as Villalibre's powerful effort from range almost broke the goal post to pieces. Villalibre though added his second before half time from López's pass. It started to feel that this is our season...

In the second half we should have conceded three or four but only let in one thanks to Kepa. 3-1 is a good result, the team did get a strong word from me though. Barcelona 2 Valencia 0.

Murcia at home. Surely a piece of cake and even possible to make the title practically ours as Barcelona had a tough trip to Madrid against Atlético?

We started brightly and really knocked the door stronly in the first minutes here. After the bright start things got dull though. The weather was bad and our players didn't show proper desire to get forward and support Villalibre. In 32nd minute there was this moment of leadership from the club captain as Susaeta set up in form Villalibre and it was 1 - 0. The boy was in such hot run of form. Aduriz, Williams, Llorente, none of them has been able to lead the line like that... Jurgi Oteo should have made it two nil just minutes later as Villalibre provided this time. Just to make it even Villalibre decided to miss from a through ball Oteo provided two minutes later. Come on, kill the game! 45th minute and after multiple chances missed he struck again.

Second half was a bit more quiet as expected. López played one beautiful through ball for Villalibre that he should have used. The thunder strike hit on 87th minute though as Aker Aketxe hit a rocket from 25 yards and scored. So happy that the boy was happy again and for once scoring.

Three nil at home is what we expected: professional job. We should have scored seven or eight though.

Atlético uno Barcelona uno. The gap was now nine points, surely enough?

Real Madrid have been really quiet in 2020 but for us they have been really tough. Before the game the message is clear: Espanyol uno Barcelona zero. No pressure anymore but who wants a revenge on what happened in Copa del Rey?

This mentality and in form Villalibre gave us the confidence that we would end the bad run against Real Madrid. Villalibre though was really tightly marked in the first half. He got two CCCs that really weren't that easy as his efforts from short range were closed down incredibly well. Tight first half saw us goalless.

The second half looked really dull for most of the time as none of the teams looked willing to lose this. Ronaldo forced his way through two players in 60th minute to force a save from Kepa. 67 minutes on the clock when the devastating duo hit. Susaeta was unmarked and found Villalibre inside the penalty area with a precise low pass. Get in! We went to counter for the rest of the game and it once again looked solid. Ramos scored an offside goal at 88th minute but we were never in doubt that it wouldn't be disallowed. Real caused us no trouble here. Three games left and 12 points. It was over, we were the champions for sure. Jonás Ramalho picked the MotM award and Llorente made his 300th appearance.

As Barcelona had lost the title and also just three days before in the Champions league, I was expecting quite easy home game. But they surprised me by using some rotation. The first 15 minutes were the visitors' but after that we were on the driver's seat. First half 0 - 0 with only a couple of chances from us and possession for Barca.

It was looking like that time was running out but in 73rd minute it was the familiar man that gave us the lead as Villalibre finished from Gutiérrez pass inside the penalty area. One goal ahead, deservedly. 2-0 was really close in 84th minute as Iturraspe won the ball in midfield and launched us forward. How nice it would have been if Gutiérrez would have finished the move.

78 minutes of comfortable dominating but still only 1-0. That is still enough. 15 points gap to Barcelona and two rounds to go.

8 games on a row and looking to add more was the story of Asier Villalibre when we faced Levante away. The first few minutes looked like overconfidence to me but in 9th minute we were in control and ahead. Guess who had scored? López this time provided the finishing touch to release and Asier did the rest.

During the remainder of the half we should have scored three more but as the chances fell to other players we couldn't manage to get one in. HT 1-0.

The second half began with a bang as Gutiérrez scored in 50th minute, nice to see someone else scoring for once. No more goals but this was a strange game. We "only" created 14 shots but should have scored 7 or 8 goals.

Will it be Villalibre or Llorente who starts the final game? It was Asier and it was Villarreal we were facing. The only exciting thing here was the question: can he make it ten on a row? Well he couldn't like no-one else couldn't today. We had a couple of chances to score but Villarreal defended quite well and forced us on a draw.

Asier though was called to the national team for the first time.

So season finished with 97 points and 13 points ahead of Barcelona. Real Madrid third and Valencia fourth.





















These trophies really don't make much sense at all as our players are ignored in such many as well as in Ballon do Or. We got some honour though.



Here are our main stats for the season.



And the all time first eleven from the five seasons. Bit odd this also but anyway. Not sure if this is it or shall I give it one more year. Sorry about the length of the text, I was writing this while I played. I enjoyed this final quarter so much as we played so well for once.

[Jambo98]

I had probably one of my fave FM saves of recent times last year with Athletic (after having a complete meltdown save with them in FM14 where i threw the toys out the plan at the crap ME!). I spent hours and hours building the entire club to my "DNA", including focussing on every single staff member across the first team, the youths and Bilboa. We also the had targetted development routines for each promising youth i identified and we wated each player to fit our way of playing exactly. Was my fave thread ive written on here (in Tactics forum somewhere still!)

This year i have really struggled to get into FM a lot, i cant nail down my tactical approach and aside from an ongoing FMO game, i have not played more than 3 months in any save. So i decided to fire up at San Mames again and see if i could recapture my enthusiasm.

This is a great thread and really impressive achievements from one or two - Winning the league and CL so quickly with this somewhat limited group of players is amazing!

I have started my save and the first transfer window brought about a first problem. San Jose wanted to leave, after i turned down several bids for him. With unhappiness spreading, i had little choice but to cash in and accept £20m upfront from PSG. Part of my thinking is that i will get him back in a year or 18 months anyway once a lack of game time upsets him, which is inevitable at PSG! I used some of the cash to sign up Ruffier in goals, as i always rate him higher than Gorka.

My early approach tactically was to use my counter attack system i have been using at West Brom in another save (and FMO). This worked reasonably well, but very much relies on a fast striker with goalscoring instincts. Aduriz was therefore not particularly suited, and i took to playing Inaki up front as my lone forward. He has adapted ok, but lacks the out and out scoring instincts needed at this level (although i believe he can develop). A big surprise for me has been Borja Viguera, who has excelled from the bench and in starts in the Copa del Rey and Europa league. Leaves me in a real quandry with my striking situation.

Having reached January, we sit 4th. We are in the Semi of the Copa Del Rey (v Las Palmas - so real chance for a final) and in the knockout of the Europa. Yet my tactic doesnt "feel" right. We are not fluent, winning games inspite of our performance at times. I need a rethink.

We also suffered another transfer loss, when De Marcos became the latest to have his head turned. £24m upfront from Chelsea meant he is also now gone. I have a big pot of money, but none of the established basque stars are interested in signing for me.

The Jan window gives me the prompt to really sort out my tactic and my squad management - Prioritize the youths i really see a future for and start to get them game time. I need a clear depth chart to understand my squad better, and to assist in rotation.

Hopefully i can kick on and enjoy this save

[ilker136]

Well, It was not my first experience with Athletic but also first game in 3 years after FM'13. Hence it took me some time to adapt to the new engine. I also started the game by losing Mikel San Jose to PSG for €25M. This sum helped me to buy Monreal for €12,5M and then sell Balenziaga to Watford for €6M. Actually it was a nice trade for 6,5M to upgrade my left full-back.

I had chosen to play with 4-3-3 with DMC, 2 MC, AMR/L. It took me some months to tweaking and tinkering my tactic. Until the end of december I was in mid table position. My biggest problem was to score as everybody concerns for 16.2. A typical game for me shooting 11, shots on target 2, at least 10 corners that I couldn't produce anything at all. Meanwhile conceding stupid goals from set pieces or personal errors.

In january transfer window I managed to keep Ituraspe, De Marcos, Laporte and Munain even thought they initially frustrated not letting them go. Starting January the team started to win or at least not lose. In next 14 games in the league I lost only once (barça away) and goes up to 5th place only 5 points away to CL place and there were still 13 games, meanwhile I managed to eliminate Barça in Copa del Rey and reached to semi-final.

Then suddenly team stopped again. Losing stupid points against Sociedad, Espanyol, Getafe, Betis in a row,left me in 5 th place in the league. Eventhough, I managed to reach the boards targets, I was far behind what you wrote here in your experiences. Munain was the top scorer with only 13 goals, meanwhile Susaeta was the top assister and Monreal with highest rate. Arrellano progressed well for me and became a solid back-up.

In summer, I was much more familiar with the team. I handled not only Athletic staffs but also Bilbao and U19 team. I sold the garbage players however Man Utd triggered Laporte's clause (€50M) and lost my defense heart. I arranged coupled of friendlies in order to see and tweak my tactic. And It seemed I managed it this time. Beating Club Brugge 4-0 or Monaco 3-1, it seems I am ready to compete for CL this time.

However, the league hasn't started like in my mind. I hardly scored especially in first half. Either I was trying to get back from deficit or crack to defense with shoots off target. After first 7 games I only managed to win 2. (2-3-2). Hence, I changed my tactic by dropping my striker to AMC for shadow striker. As the best striker was only 2,5 stars, I believed Raul Garcia or Munain with 4 stars as shadow striker would be a better idea. However it doesn't work neither. Following 6 games, it doesn't changed anything and after 13 games I'm only 10th with 4-5-4. And my players started to complain that the club is underachieving.

So after 1,5 years I stop to play this save. Playing with Athletic is all about to create a proper tactic as you cannot transfer a specific player for a proven tactic. Hence this is all from me as I believe all I can for the team.

[Poddy]

When playing bilbao is there an option to search for basque players?

[bowieinspace]

When playing bilbao is there an option to search for basque players?

Yes there is, in multiple ways:

When you search for players, if realistic transfers is ticked in the filter menu, non-basque players are filtered out.

You can also select Basque as a nationality to search for it, which really helps when searching for under 18s if you don't want to sign Spaniards who will later gain Basque nationality

[Poddy]

Do bilbao sign u18 spaniards irl or just basque completely

[bowieinspace]

It's been a little while since I updated and I've been playing a lot over the Christmas period!

I'm now in September 2023, and since my last November 2020 update it's been very frustrating. We've been the bridesmaid and never the bride each season, losing out to a very strong Real Madrid side in the league for 3 consecutive seasons - we finished with 85, 90 and 83 points in the last three seasons and have narrowly missed out on first each time. In the Champions League we are steadily improving each year but my side has a habit of not turning up in the big games, last year we reached the semi finals and got knocked out by Monaco. We dominated the first leg at home and some how only managed a 2-1 win, then we lost 3-1 away from home and didn't turn up.

I feel that we had one bad season, then a transitional season where older players were on their way out, and then last season proved to me some of the youngsters I had promoted just weren't quite good enough to win trophies.

The team was hamstrung by two main issues:

1) The youth players we had come through lacked depth. We had a few really good players but some others just didn't develop enough and we lacked top quality in key positions

2) Our tactics meant we didn't create good enough chances, leading to a low SoT ratio.

We've revamped our tactics over the summer, and complete with the removal of some deadwood and a more well rounded squad now with some youngsters having come on a fair bit, this season we look stronger and I'm confident we can end the drought. I suppose it's always the challenge without signing Spanish under 18s, sometimes it can take a while to get a well rounded squad.

Here are a few of the new generation of Basque players:

Daniel Rodriguez - Kepa's eventual replacement, at the moment he's playing easy home league games and the Champions League groups/copa del rey games. By the end of the season I anticipate he should be number 1

Xabi - Excellent left back has taken the starting spot. Will be our first choice LB for years to come now fixing a problem position

Aitor Irazusta - I play him in a box to box role and I'm also training him as DM so he can successfully play that role when required (we switch between a 4-1-2-3 and a 4-2-3-1). I picked him up from Sociedad for 10million (I didn't see his potential when he came through the youth intake originally). His emergence meant a lot because the central midfielder I had coming through in my previous post (Uranga) failed to live up to expectations - to the point I have now sold him.

Joseba Diez - This guy is actually my hero. I had an incredible central midfielder of similar ilk in an Athletic save on fm 14, and this guy could match him. He dominates the midfield and is now Club Captain.

Jose Felix Romo - Invaluable on the right wing and gets a lot of assists. He's really important to my tactic alongside his best mate in the same position....

Gaizka Martinez - Another fantastic right winger who contributes a lot. Romo is just about my first choice, but it's tight - both these guys are excellent and if I'm without Romo for a big game, I don't worry.

Prospects:

Francisco Javier Barasoian - Looks likely to be Unai Lopez' natural replacement

Sergio Etxeberria - My future left wing. He's right footed so fits my desire to have an inside forward on one flank. At the moment Muniain or Larrainzar (from my previous post) hold the left wing position. Muniain is now over 30 and Larrainzar hasn't really developed like I had hoped. This guy should replace Muniain and Larrainzar can stay as my second choice.

Angel Saizar - Looks like he will be our number 9 in a few years.

Hasier Perez - Has all the hallmarks of an excellent centre back - which is ideal because my centre backs are not that young anymore. Inigo Martinez is 32, while Laporte still has his best years ahead at 29. This guy should replacement Inigo Martinez at just the right time.

Remaining squad members/notable players:

Kepa - Number 1, quality goalie

Alberto Mateo (see previous newgen post), flopped in his development and has been sold

Laporte, Martinez are my starting centre backs, with Xiker a capable backup. I then have a few other new gens coming through around the 3* mark.

Azpilicueta is 33 and still excellent at RB, Ramalho has been sold.

Arellano I have sold, largely in anger because he kept getting sent off, and Xabi is better anyway.

San Jose came back to us after 3 years at Monaco and was a regular starter for two seasons. He had one more year on his contract, but his physicals had started to go, and I wanted to give my youngsters the playing time so I moved him on in the summer.

Iturraspe was moved on just over a year ago as his physicals started to drop massively.

Javi Martinez was also moved on at the same time

Ibai Gomez - I love this guy on every FM, and this one was no exception. He left on a free at the age of 33 in the summer just gone. He will be missed

Inaki Williams - I played him out wide for years, but now he's making the striker position his own.

Asier Villalibre - So dissapointed with this guy...he was great for ages and looked like he was going to be a superstar for a decade, and then just stopped developing. I sold him and he's now washing dishes in the local Beefeater

Unai Lopez - Doing great in the first team and one of my key players.

[bowieinspace]

Do bilbao sign u18 spaniards irl or just basque completely

Historically, only people born in the region who are Basque from birth. However this has relaxed somewhat and FM incorporates this by allowing the player to sign 16 or under Spaniards who then gain Basque nationality. In real life the relaxation of the rule is more for someone who was born outside of the region, or has parents not originally from the region, but then moved to the region and grew up there.

Signing a random Castillian 16 year old with no attachment to the region is something Athletic wouldn't do, so personally I try to play true to real life and only sign players with Basque nationality. It's possible Osasuna or Sociedad would sign a 15 year old Spaniard who would then gain nationality, and I would then sign them without knowing, but I'm ok with that as I can't be bothered to police it - and it would be very rare.

The added advantage is playing it the way I do adds a longer term challenge as you can't just harvest up all the best Spanish newgens. However I've spoken to the SI guys responsible for implementing this rule in the past on the forum and I can understand why it is set up in this way.

[bowieinspace]

This has now actually become the worst Athletic Club save I've ever had in FM (worst as in trophies/squad level rather than enjoyment).

Following my previous post in September 2023, I have done two seasons and I'm now in December 2025. I did win the league after a superb year in 2023, but failed in the quarter finals of the Champions League, that was followed by an up and down 2024 which saw us capitulate in the final few months of the season - finishing on a dismal 74 points and collapsing in the Champions League semi final second league, and the Copa Del Rey final. I have however won a couple of Super Copa's which has been nice.

Following my total collapse at the end of the 2024/2025 season I looked again at my tactics and did further squad analysis. I deduced that we had some effective wide players, plenty of central playmakers (our star player included) and good, if not exceptional centre forwards who could score goals. We also have probably the best goalkeeper in the league now. Our strongest outfield comparisons with the rest of the league were in strength and work rate. However statistically we are consistently between 6th and 12th in a lot of categories so we aren't going to be destroying many teams, and Real Madrid are a class above us (as proven this year, they are won 17, drawn 0 lost 1 so far this season). Our back 4 is not strong, with Laporte our only top player...the rest coming in at 3 or 2.5 stars. We have a few prospects coming through, but no one who will replace the ageing Laporte so I doubt this trend will change in the near future. Unfortunately we have had 3 goalkeepers in 4 years at youth intakes who are 4 gold star potential and very little else, which is just not what we need.

I decided, that with our high work rate and strength we should look to impose ourselves on the opposition and close down heavily, and I decided we would play high up the pitch as we have some pace in our back line, but we don't have the defensive quality to sit deep and frustrate the opposition - our players are tactically smart but not aggressive or strong tacklers - so our aim is to force them into poor passes with our high closing down, so we can rely on interceptions rather than tackles. When we try to sit deep and retain our shape, it takes us way too long to win the ball back and we don't have much control over the game.

The goal is to stop the opposition getting their midfield line into our half as much as possible and then transition quickly in attack and play at pace to catch the opposition off guard before they regain their shape. Once they have regained their shape, we struggle to break them down but we can at least pin them back and stop them from building possession against our weak defense. I went with a structured mentality and an attacking strategy to help achieve this with a few TI's. Our structured mentality also helps as our full backs are not great going forwards, so they are both set to FB S and just sit there ready to recycle possession as necessary, occasionally crossing from deep.

This season we are doing ok I suppose, although we went out of the Champions League group stages after two disappointing results against Anderlecht (3-3 at home and a 1-0 loss away on match day 6 to go out). We are second in the league, 8 points clear of sugar daddy Sevilla in 3rd and miles away from the ridiculous Real Madrid in 1st. The only positive from this season is we can have a good go at winning the Europa League now, and we are facing a challenging tie against Stuttgart in the 1st KO round.

We really need a good youth intake a 4* potential defender this year (preferably an attacking full back or BPD), and hopefully some good players to come through at the other Basque clubs otherwise defensively we will continue to struggle. At least going forwards our promising prospects are coming through well. Etxeberria on the LW is marvelous now, Saizar is competing for starts but still has some way to go in his development, and Barasoian is continuing to improve and is rotating with our other midfielders.

Defensively sadly it's not such good news. Xabi is now 2.5 stars and looks like not much more improvement to go - massive plateau for him and he's no better than he was two years ago. Hasier Perez's potential has dropped and he's now a 3* (4 black star potential). He's doing well though so hoping he will keep developing and be a good replacement for Laporte.

2025 and a few domestic titles, and two Champions League semi final second leg capitulations against Monaco are all I can write about. This save is turning into a real slog, but when I win the Champions League I'm going to bloody enjoy it...it doesn't look like coming anytime soon!

[bowieinspace]

This team does my head in...

Two games 5 days apart, vs Elche at home in La Liga (who are 12th), we create 12 (yes 12) clear cut chances and absolutely demolish them. Next game vs Stuttgart in the Europa League first knock out round second leg, after a 1-1 draw away from home where we had 62% possession and should have won comfortably, we muster no clear cut chances, 45% possession and concede a last minute goal to go out of Europe once again. Sigh.

[Marc.Foster050]

I'm assuming from some of the signings in this thread that the "Only Basque Allowed" transfer philosophy is not included in the game?