[FM16] Neuchâtel Xamax: Back to Glory (Youth Academy Challenge)

[goktugerce]

I had been waiting to play FM16 for a few months, and finally got it on my birthday at the end of May. During last month I played five exhausting seasons with my favorite club, and I feel like I am ready for a challenge. I tried youth academy challenges in last versions for a few times, but never had a chance to play more than two seasons. That is why I am starting this thread, to feel a little bit of responsibility and practice my English during the process.

I am going to control Neuchatel Xamax, starting from 2015-2016 season. I originally created a manager named Gianluca Eugene Gerber, but for the sake of the story, I set his nickname to Gianluca Eugene Gress (Also, the manager picture belongs to a Swiss singer named Patrick Duo, who was born in the same year as my manager). I am going to write updates at the start of the season, after every 9 league matches (each team plays 36 matches in a season), after youth intake, and at the end of the season obviously.

My game setup has two leagues from Switzerland, and top leagues from Spain, England and Turkey (view-only). Database is medium, advanced options are as shown here. I included all players from Swiss Promotion League (non-playable league).

I think that's it for the first post, hopefully I can complete my goals before FM17!

As a side note, I would be glad to hear suggestions about formatting. Should I give links to player profiles or just include them as images on the thread? Can't decide which one is better.

Neuchâtel Xamax




 

Neuchâtel Xamax FCS is a Swiss football club, based in Neuchâtel. It was founded in 1912, 1970, 2012 and 2013! It was firstly created in 1970 through a merger between FC Cantonal and FC Xamax ('Xam' Max Abegglen happens to be one of the founding members). Lastly, it merged with FC Serrières in May 2013. The reason for the last merge was the bankruptcy declared in 2012 and resulted in demotion from Swiss Super League. The club then made third successive promotions to the Challenge League (second level of Swiss football system), and currently plays 2nd tier football. They play their matches in Stade de la Maladière, which was opened in 2007 and has a capacity of 11977 and has synthetic surface.

 

They have won the Swiss Super League three times (1916, 1987 and 1988), and finished 2nd or 3rd ten times. They were also runners up in Swiss Cup six times. Neuchâtel Xamax was a familiar sight in Europe during 80s and 90s, beating the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Sporting CP, Celtic and Galatasaray at home.

My aim is to win Swiss Super League and a European competition with them, using only players from club's youth academy.

 

Facilities look OK for the beginning. I think I have four upgrades for training facilities, junior coaching and youth recruitment and five for youth facilities. It is going to be fun. Also, Media Prediction is last place finish.

[goktugerce]

Meet the Manager

Gianluca Eugene Gress is the son of Xamax legend Gilbert Gress. Gilbert Gress is a French football manager and a former player, who managed Xamax in three different occasions for a total of 15 years. In his second stint at Xamax in 1981, he had a son: Gianluca Eugene.

Gianluca was born on May 27, 1981 in Neuchatel. His father introduced him to football at a young age in Xamax's youth teams. He played as a central midfielder who likes to play killer through balls and had a strong warrior mentality. He followed his father to Strasbourg when he was ten but came back to his roots at the age of 13. He made his debut for Neuchâtel Xamax when he was 17, and went on to play 59 league games for them. When he was 19, he tore his ACL and has never made full recovery. He played in some other teams in Switzerland, such as AC Bellinzona and Lugano, but had his career cut short when he was 27 after his latest injury.

After retiring from active football, he completed coaching courses to become eligible to be a manager in professional football. He has Continental A License.

Players and Staff

I have 26 players in my squad with average age of 24.5 and only three players older than 28. Facchinetti is clearly the best player. I have several exciting young players, most notably Cédric Zesiger, a strong and fast 17 years old DL and Adrien Zbinden, 19, an all-around AMC-ST.

At the beginning of the game, I only had an assistant coach and two coaches, but luckily my board is allows for me to have a lot of coaches. In this save, the most important person in the club after me will be Head of Youth Development, who is unfortunately a little bit rubbish in my first season. I managed to capture Florian Rahmen (he was the best choice, believe me) who has low judging ability skills but has a positive personality (Fairly Determined). His tenure at the club will not be very long, but he is responsible of first youth intake. Hopefully he can find a gem or two.

I signed coaches for all possible spots, and I tried to find coaches with positive personality.

Tactics

I tried to find the best fit for the squad for the first season, and it is a classic 4-4-2 with Team Instructions. I needed to utilize Facchinetti, so he is a wing back. My squad is weak comparing to other teams in the league, thus I did not try to implement an attacking system. It is a system with defensive central midfielders, wingers who likes to cross the ball and two forwards. I like to have possession to have a good defense, and I try to use the width of the pitch as much as possible with the players in my squad. As I have said, I did not tinker much, but I will tweak the tactics as season progresses.

Preseason

I do not like to face strong opponents during preseason. I rather arrange a lot of friendlies against weak teams to boost squad's morale. I did the same with Xamax, and played seven matches against bad teams. My squad had found time to gel and get accustomed to the tactic.

[goktugerce]

Neuchâtel Xamax - 2015/2016 - First Period Update

Swiss Challenge League

We started off badly, then found our footing. In the first two weeks, we were pretty evenly matched against our opponents but our forwards missed chances, theirs did not. We got our first win of the season against Will away from home with a clean sheet and proceeded to lose another away game. Then came our surprising performances with convincing wins. We won easily against Schaffhausen at home and loaned forward Samuel Afum guided us to victory against Wohlen. Against Chiasso we lost deservedly, but after that loss one of the most lucky wins of my Football Manager career happened. We scored six goals from six shots on target against Le Mont LS. Safe to say that their goalie was not at his best. Samuel Afum has scored a club-record four goals in a match, and scored another two in the next game, making it 9 goals in last 4 matches.

Third place looks nice and steady, hopefully we can be around there at the end of the season.

Swiss Cup

I wanted to give backups a chance against a lower league opposition, but seeing two red cards did not help. We lost 4-3 after penalties; board and fans were not happy to see us go out in the first round (expectation was to reach third round).

Our player of the season to date is Florian Berisha, who has two goals and eight assist in 10 matches. Of course we have Samuel Afum too, who scored 9 goals in 8 matches but will sadly return to Young Boys next year.

We are having some problems with injuries at the moment, I lost three of my players to strained stomach muscles. Also I have some good news from the board:

[tyler16]

Good stuff, I'll be following.

Sort of like the look of that stadium!

[ManUtd1]

Love the look of the stadium, and the formatting so far (no need for changes there!). Looking forward to seeing how you progress!

[goktugerce]

Good stuff, I'll be following.

Sort of like the look of that stadium!

Love the look of the stadium, and the formatting so far (no need for changes there!). Looking forward to seeing how you progress!

Thanks guys!

[goktugerce]

Neuchâtel Xamax - 2015/2016 - Second Period Update

Swiss Challenge League

In the first nine matches, we got 16 points. In the second nine matches, we got 16 again. It's nice to see that it wasn't a fluke and we can easily survive in the league. It turns out that after scoring six goals from six shots on target against Le Mont, our luck didn't run out and we won 1-0 against Bienne with one shot on target, from Samuel Afum of course. Then we lost 0-2 to Lausanne at home after dominating the game, but I'm okay with it after two super-lucky wins. We got back on track thanks to our in-form winger Berisha (though he has cooled of recently) and came back to win against Schaffhausen. 3 dull matches without a win followed this match, but finally Afum ended his goal drought against Chiasso and we crushed Le Mont again, this time at home and 5-1. Interesting thing is they are not actually the worst team in the league. In the other 16 games they conceded only 17 goals; but we somehow managed to find the net an incredible eleven times in just two matches.

Looks like we can finish the season top four, and to be honest I am not sure that I want to promote this season. We may not survive in top level, but extra money would be nice. We lose around €150k a month, and balance is already below zero. I might have to sell a striker during the transfer window. On the other hand, we have an international now! Zesiger has been called up to the Switzerland U19 side twice. He played three games there and had three assists as a left back. Fantastic (never mind the red card). He's hopefully the first of many.

Youth intake and third period will be in the next update!

[goktugerce]

2016 Youth Intake

That's much better than I imagined! There is not a star but there are five players with three stars or higher potential. Let's see what they are made of.

Alberto Garcia (YP1)

A real poacher. He already has 13 acceleration, 11 pace, 12 off the ball and 10 finishing, alongside other good physical and mental attributes. He lacks a little bit technique and his personality is negative, but let's see if we can develop him into a good forward. Oh, and he's already injured 4-6 weeks. I hope he is not injury prone. He will be tutored by a senior member after he gets healthy.

Junior Ebwelle (YP2)



A nice, tidy goalie. He has good reflexes and aerial reach with some good physical and mental attributes. No real weaknesses except throwing. And he's fairly ambitious, so that's positive. He is already being tutored by Laurent Walthert.

Valentin Delaporte (YP3)

He was the best rated player in youth intake, but I don't rate him that much. He can play in a lot of positions but I see him as a DR. I value Natural Fitness and Stamina in my full (or wing) backs, it's good that he has 16 natural fitness. I am not very hopeful but let's see how he improves. Mike Gomes is tutoring him.

Nicolas Bach (YP4)

I like that guy. He is really athletic, a good passer and has flair. Problem is he too has low level of determination. I think he can develop into a backup player for Swiss Top League in the future. He rejected the tutelage of Berisha and Challandes, but Doudin will take care of him.

Victor Silva (YP5)

My favourite player from this year's intake. Already has excellent technical attributes for a central defender, and he has good acceleration. Only downside is his passing and positioning, but I really think he can be a first team defender for us in the future. De Pierro will tutor him.



I like using spreadsheets to watch my players' developments. The rating is from another spreadsheet I started using this year. I determined important attributes of each position on the pitch and give weights to each of those attributes. 100 rating is for a player who has 20 for each of those attributes. A player who can play in a top 8 side in Europe League has around 65 ratings for his position. If I have a team of players 65-70 ratings, that means I have a shot at winning Europe League. For Champions League, it has to be 75-80.

That's it for the youth intake. Here's to much better youth intakes!

[goktugerce]

Neuchâtel Xamax | Season 2015/2016 | End of Season Update



Swiss Challenge League

We started off strong and 4th after the first half, but a huge performance drop-off saw us in 7th position after week 34. Luckily after three successive wins, we ended the season on a high note at 5th position, which was our aim (top-half finish) at the start of the season. We probably could have done better to stop the skid but I didn't bother much because it was the first season.

League Team Stats | League Player Stats | Fixtures 1, Fixtures 2 | League Team of the Season



Swiss Cup

Not much to see here. We lost in first round after losing on penalties. Hopefully next season will be better.



Top Goalscorer | Fans Player of the Season | End of Season Awards

Squad | Finances | Transfers

Bad news:



Next Season

Our aim is pretty much the same for the next season. Top half finish in the league would be nice, and this time we look forward to progressing to next rounds in Swiss Cup to gain some extra money. Our balance is €1.8M now, after €2.4M commercial revenue. I may have to sell some players to balance the books. Important thing for the next season is improving our young players, giving them debuts and hopefully improving our facilities.

After requesting training facilities and having my request accepted, our balance is now €620k. I was also offered a new contract, which I gladly accepted and before accepting it I wanted them to increase our junior coaching budget. They did accept and our junior coaching is now good! That's awesome news.

That's it for this season.

[nie jem frytek]

I like using spreadsheets to watch my players' developments. The rating is from another spreadsheet I started using this year. I determined important attributes of each position on the pitch and give weights to each of those attributes. 100 rating is for a player who has 20 for each of those attributes. A player who can play in a top 8 side in Europe League has around 65 ratings for his position. If I have a team of players 65-70 ratings, that means I have a shot at winning Europe League. For Champions League, it has to be 75-80.

Could you tell us more about that rating?

[goktugerce]

Could you tell us more about that rating?

Sure. When you click on a role in player's profile, you know some attributes get highlighted as primary and secondary attributes. I used these highlighted attributes for each role. For every outfield position I want some common skills that I want all my players to have (first touch, decisions, strength etc.), I also took those attributes into account. For example, attributes that I use for GKs and DRs are as follows:

As an example, for Delaporte, I multiply primary technical attributes by 5, other primary attributes and secondary primary attributes by 4, secondary physical and mental attributes by 3, and all extra attributes by 2 and add them up. Then I divide the result by 1540 (the result if all attributes are 20) and I get the rating. Pretty straightforward actually.

For potential rating, I multiply it with a coefficient (1.023 as of now) multiple number of times. For a 16 year old player, I multiply it with 1.023 nine times (because I think player has to fulfill his potential at age 25). This way I can more or less predict his potential. Again, pretty straightforward but gets the job done for me.

[tyler16]

This is very well laid out and I love the spreadsheets. Solid first season, look forward to where you from here.

Delaporte is sort of bland, sure, but I think he can be a valuable member of the squad personally. Well rounded, fit, versatile players are rare.

[goktugerce]

Preseason 2016

After finishing the season in 5th place, my main goal in the summer was to keep the squad intact and have a good period of preparation for the new season. I released five players whose contract was over, the most important one being Laurent Walthert, who appeared in 32 games last season and allowed only 28 goals. But he was already 32 years old and wanted a higher salary comparing to other starters in the squad, therefore a decision had to be made. We also parted ways with striker Dante Senger, but he was also 32 and scored 3 goals in 15 league matches last season. Fair to say that he was not very good. I also loaned out Loic Chatton, whom I wanted to sell but wasn't successful.

I wanted to get some extra income with friendlies, so I arranged six friendlies in addition to a default friendly with our affiliate club Young Boys. The results were okay (except the matches against top division sides).



I tweaked the tactic a little bit for the season. We are still playing 4-4-2 but this season I wanted to keep the possession a little bit more, so gave some extra instructions to team and players.

Ideal lineup | Team Instructions

As you may notice, our youth academy has its first product playing first team football! After releasing Walthert, I needed a new goalkeeper in the lineup and his backup was not much better than Junior Ebwelle (YP2). I decided giving him a chance, and he is actually playing pretty good, has 6.98 average rating and conceded 14 goals in 13 matches with 72% save rate. He'll be better with regular playing time.

In the last day of the transfer window, I had offers for our center back Pierro but I ended up rejecting all offers, making him a little bit unhappy during the process. But he is ok now. He's still only 25, played in 31 matches last season and offers were not that high to consider the possibility of selling him.

Swiss Challenge League



It has been both a frustrating and exciting season so far. We lost 2-1 at home to newly promoted Servette, despite having 60% possession and hitting the woodwork twice. After that, we traveled to face our favourite opponent Le Mont, and beat them 5-0 again. Andelko Savic has scored three goals (two penalties) and eighteen years old right back Jospin Edoh and central midfielder Bastien Oberli each had an assist to their names. Then we got back home and got thumped 4-0. Pietro Di Nardo saw two yellows after collecting an incredible 18 yellow cards last season. Once we got our best midfielder Mveng back, he will not see the field that much, I can tell that. In our fourth match, we beat Winterthur 4-2 at home, and Andelko Savic had his second hat-trick in three games. He had scored 7 goals in 18 matches last season but already reached the same number in nine matches this year. We lost to Lausanne despite leading 0-1 at the break, and could not find the net against Bienne in 18 shots. We beat Chiasso 2-0 in our field, while Adrien Zbinden finally scored his first goal of the season. I am playing him and Emmanuel Mast in turns, we'll see which one will find a definite place in starting lineup during the next few weeks. After losing another dominant match against Schaffhausen, we traveled to second placed Servette and beat them 3-2 this time, coming back from 2-1 half time deficit.

We are fifth at the moment, but seeing the way we play, I am hopeful of a top 3 finish once the season ends.



Swiss Cup



After getting eliminated in first round last year, this year the goal was at least reaching third round and we did exactly that. We beat two lower league sides but our next opponent is Grasshoppers, who are fourth in Super League. It will be a difficult task but I hope that they play their backups and with home advantage we can take it to them.

In other news, our U18 side is 2nd in their division and was first until Alberto Garcia (YP1) got injured. He's playing fantastic by the way. I am thinking about giving him his debut after he gets healthy.

[goktugerce]

Neuchâtel Xamax | Season 2016/2017 | Mid-season Update

Swiss Challenge League



In the last update, I told that we were actually playing better than the results we were getting. It turned out I was right! After beating Wohlen 1-0 at home with Amazing Savic's goal, we faced our boys Le Mont LS and beat them again, this time 7-1! We made it four in a row after getting a routine 2-0 win at home and went on to face league leaders Vaduz, and lost 1-2 even though we were up 1-0 at half time. We spent little time mourning for the loss and took care of Winterthur at Neuchâtel, where Andelko Savic scored an incredible four goals! We beat Bienne away 4-0, and I gave Alberto Garcia (YP1) his professional debut. We beat last place Chiasso 0-2 and came back home, then dominated Wohlen but could only score from penalty spot. Then we won 3-2 against Schaffhausen to make it five in a row in the league and 9 wins in 10 matches! Then came an unfortunate loss against 3rd placed Servette, who were on a 7 game unbeaten streak themselves, and with the dejection of a heartbreaking loss, we traveled to Le Mont with hopes of getting another win against them but lost 1-0 this time! Pretty shocking consecutive losses after winning 5 in a row was kind of disappointing. Just as people thought our performance is regressing to the mean, we have shown incredible resilience in front of our fans to come back against league leaders Vaduz thanks to two corner goals in extra time from our center back Kiliann Witschi. Man Utd - Bayern Munchen flashback! But as you will see, this was not the latest comeback in our fixtures! Just in the next match, we hit Lausanne back with two goals in four minutes and won 2-1.

We have played 22 matches in the league before the winter break, and the table looks really good for us! Barring an incredible dip in our form like last season, I see as going for the title, but we have to go one match at a time.



Swiss Cup

We actually had reached our goal by winning two matches and reaching to third round to face a Super League side Grasshoppers, but I guess my players were not ready to go home yet. Against Grasshoppers, my young goalkeeper Junior Ebwelle (YP2) left our fans purring after an amazing display - 9.1 rating actually - and guided us to a 1-0 victory against top division side. Just before the winter break, we faced Zürich this time. And as I have hinted, we still had one more comeback victory in our bags! Despite going down 1-0 at first half, we managed to extend our cup run at least 30 minutes by scoring in the second half, and scored another two before letting one in, but eventually won the game 3-2 and reached the semi final! Incredible scenes, really.



Another good news is our training facility upgrade has been completed and now its level is back to Good. We now have two months until our next competitive match, but an exciting second half of the season awaits us.

[goktugerce]

I changed my Head of Youth Development, losing some Working With Youngsters and personality in the process but new one judges player ability and potential much better comparing to the old one. It's good to see that staff with better reputation is also available for our club now.

[goktugerce]

Well, this came out of nowhere but I don't want to manage any national team other than Switzerland. Plus I am not going to manage them until I will have won the league.

[goktugerce]

Youth Intake 2017

I am back with the youth intake and development of previously tagged academy players. Before starting, I should note that I changed YP1, YP2, YP3 notation to 16A, 16B, 17A notation for youth players.



This year's youth intake is okay. I am excited because there are potentially one star, one starting caliber player and one rotation player; but the rest is awful. As I have did last year, I will sign players with more than one star of potential ability. Let's see new players.

Daniele Baldi (17A)

Swiss-Italian forward is shown as the best player from this year's draft. He has amazing technical ability, with 13 finishing, 11 first touch and 13 heading. He's not slow, he has natural fitness, he's strong for his age and he will work for the team. Nothing to complain about except technique, composure and balance but he's a total package. I hope that he'll become a starting lineup player in the future. Best news is that he's professional.

Silva (17B)

He's already the best goalkeeper in our team and will go straight into the starting lineup. Not much to complain, really, he has already 2 stars of current ability! I think that he'll be a star player in the future. Also, first foreigner coming through our ranks.

Nebojsa Mijailovic (17C)

Another dual nationality player, this time from Serbia. He's fairly determined, he already has high finishing to go with two preferred moves and he has 16 determination with Fairly Determined personality, to go along with nice mental stats. I'd like to think that he'll become a rotation player in the future.



Above is the spreadsheet for my tagged players. As you can guess, values with green backgrounds are improved comparing to last year, yellow are unchanged and orange are dropped. I am mostly happy with Delaporte and Bach, who improved in every aspect. Ebwelle is the first player who cracked the rotation.

I was hoping for better improvement from Garcia (16A), but his improvement was hindered by injuries and his low determination. He's still playing good in youth league, but I am not happy. Last year's profile.

Our senior goalkeeper Junior Ebwelle (16B) has played in 26 matches this year, conceded only 24 and kept 12 shutouts. Really, really good performance for a goalkeeper with 7.15 rating. He's shown some nice improvements in his attributes, so I hope he keeps it up. He might drop to the bench though, because new draft is looking better already. Last year's profile.

I did not rate Valentin Delaporte (16C) last season, but he has shown some glimpses with improvements in his physical attributes. He also has added a PPM to his arsenal. I'm still not very convinced. We'll see next year. Last year's profile.

Nicolas Bach (16D) has yet to debut in our club but he's loaned out to Chiasso from our league and will get some regular game time. He also has learnt a PPM. His determination is up to 12 from 4, and he's improving really quick. I hope he does well at Chiasso. Last year's profile.

Last player is Victor Silva (16E), who is playing regularly in our U18 team and can mark opponents tightly now. He could have done better in training, but he is developing. He might play in some matches in next season. Last year's profile.

That's it from today. Hope you enjoyed it.

[iacovone]

Enjoying this, good update. Getting a good keeper in so early is brilliant, you've done well with Silva there

[goktugerce]

Neuchâtel Xamax | Season 2016/2017 | End of Season Update



Swiss Challenge League





What an incredible season!! We were really the best team throughout the season, even it got a little bit tense in the last few weeks. We were unbeaten in last 10 games of the league and played dominant football. Beating Vaduz 2-1 away was probably the most important moment of the season. But as I have said, we never looked like we were going to throw the title away, and Vaduz's form kind of helped us. We were the best attacking team in the league and we only conceded 30 goals in 36 matches. We had the top goalscorer in Savic 29 goals in 36 matches and top assist man Berisha with 14 assists. Also, how crazy is that we have the top five players with best average rating in the league? I had even 5 players nominated for best player of the season. Promotion feels so good with such young group of players. Next season will be a challenge, but with the support of Roy Hodgson I feel we can survive!

League Team Stats | League Player Stats | Fixtures 1, Fixtures 2 | League Team of the Season



Swiss Cup



After last season's disappointment, there was a dream run in Swiss Cup. We have beaten two top division sides en route to semi finals, but Luzern was too much for us at the end. I'm sure fans are still happy with the results.



Top Goalscorer | Fans Player of the Season | End of Season Awards | Overall Best Eleven

Squad | Finances | Transfers

Starting Lineup

GK - Silva (17B) - Career Silva immediately started playing after he joined the team and played amazing. He only conceded 3 goals in 10 matches in the league with 7 clean sheets. He turned pro by signing 3 year contract with 2 years extension option, which is great for the club. He's also called up to Portugal U21 at age 17, which shows his potential. He'll be the starting goalkeeper next year again.

Key Stats: 87% shot saved, 7.09 average rating

DR - Mike Gomes - Career Solid no nonsense player. I am very happy with his defensive contribution, as well as his 6 assists. He's 28 and he has 2 years left in his contract, and will be the first option until Jospin Edoh is ready.

Key Stats: 91% tackle won, 85% pass completion, 6 assists, 7.75 average rating

DC - Adriano De Pierro - Career Club captain was unhappy at the start of the season because I refused to sell him, but he went on the play 36 solid games and scoring 4 crucial goals. He was all I could ask for in the defense, composed and scary for opponents. He has one year in his contract and will attract offers from Serie B clubs, but I hope to extend his contract because he is still 26.

Key Stats: 81% headers won, 79% tackles won, 7.19 average rating

DC - Kiliann Witschi - Career He rotated with Sejmenovic, but played better, scored two crucial goals in extra time in a comeback win, plus he's from club's youth academy. He was not in my plans at the start of the season but played a solid part in title run. He'll be back next year and I hope to get him sign a new contract for two more years.

Key Stats: 85% headers won, 82% tackles won, 7.39 average rating



DL - Mickael Facchinetti - Career Best player in the club, and most valuable. He was consistent all season, has amazing technical and physical attributes, and even can be a star fullback in top division. I will probably not sell him this season, but when should I sell him? He's valued at €275K, has 5 star rating in both CA and PA. But Cedric Zesiger needs playing time. Maybe I can train him at DC, what do you think? I would like to hear opinions.

Key Stats: 81% tackles won, 82% pass completion, 9 assists, 7.83 average rating

MR - Florian Berisha - Career Another consistent performer. Upped his assists totals to 15 from 8. We really struggled when he was out with an injury. Still 27 years old, in his prime and has two years in his contract. He'll be in the team next season.

Key Stats: 15 assists, 4 goals, 3.63 dribbles per game, 3.81 key passes per game, 7.71 average rating

MC (BWM) - Freddy Mveng - Career Great young team player with amazing mental abilities. He had the best games win ratio in the team, and really gives confidence in center of the field. He has one year in his contract but I will look to tie him for a few more years.

Key Stats: 82% tackles won, 87% pass completion, 4.41 interceptions per game, 7.20 average rating

MC (CM) - Bastien Oberli - Career Player of the season for fans, player of the season in the league, young player of the season in the league. What an awesome season for him. After only playing 7 matches last season, he started in 39 this season, and averaged an incredible 8.11 rating. He had 5 goals and 8 assists to his name and contributed to team defense as well. Extended his contract and will stay in team for the foreseeable future.

Key Stats: 80% pass completion, 5 goals, 8 assists, 5.89 key passes per game, 8.11 average rating

ML - Max Veloso - Career Another good, consistent player. Former academy product had a nice year and I will look to extend his contract this summer. He'll be a decent Super League midfielder next season.

Key Stats: 7 assists, 6 goals, 3.53 dribbles per game, 4.10 key passes per game, 7.72 average rating.

FC (DLF) - Adrien Zbinden - Career One of the weak links in the team but held his own. He's still 21 years old so I will look for improvements next season. Stats don't show but I liked his contribution to team's attacks.

Key Stats: 8 goals, 47% shots on target, 2.4 key passes per game, 1.59 dribbles per game, 304 minutes on pitch per goal, 7.10 average rating

FC (P) - Andelko Savic - Career Player of the season in my opinion. Whenever I needed a goal, he stepped up to the plate. Scored 30 goals in 40 matches. Had 5 hat-tricks. Still 24 years old and will be the main goal threat next season.

Key Stats: 30 goals, 48% shots on target, 3.45 shots per game, 119 minutes on pitch per goal, 7.33 average rating

News

U18 team finished the season second in their league.That's a surprise. I knew we didn't own the stadium but I wasn't expecting to buy it. I attended the meeting and told the board that we would be better of investing the money in other areas, and they told me what to do with extra money. I said we could improve youth facilities and they responded by saying "We are not currently willing to consider this due to the club's present financial situation". Are youth facilities really more expensive than buying a stadium?

Though I asked again and here it is!

Next Season



Main goal is to survive in Super League, and getting facilities improved with extra money. Quarter final in Swiss Cup would be nice. But mainly the aim is the development of young players. I will look to give some of them more game playing time.

Well, this has been a hectic update. I can't wait for the next season.

[goktugerce]

Neuchâtel Xamax unveils new uniforms for 2017-2018 season

Neuchâtel Xamax has unveiled their new uniforms for the upcoming season before the training camp. With adidas replacing old manufacturer Erima, they decided to make a throwback to club's majestic 1980s decade.

They designed modern versions of of 1984-85 home kit and 1983-1984 away kit:



They hope to remind fans of the successful years with club's legendary coach's son Eugene Gress in charge, fans are dreaming again.

[goktugerce]

I couldn't have refused that. €3.8M immediate transfer fee, €475K after 10 league matches, €650K after a year, €95K per game for the next 10 league appearances and most importantly 40% of the profit made on his next transfer. It was too good to turn down.

[goktugerce]

It shows how good he is, but I will not sell him.

[tyler16]

Wow, so much happening!

Clear you're putting a lot of effort into this, great job. The new kits for the Super League are fantastic.

Interesting how many quality academy players were already at the club. Seems like they're much too good for the second tier. In fact... they finished second in the Challenge League last season in real life. Yes, I looked that up.

[goktugerce]

Wow, so much happening!

Clear you're putting a lot of effort into this, great job. The new kits for the Super League are fantastic.

Interesting how many quality academy players were already at the club. Seems like they're much too good for the second tier. In fact... they finished second in the Challenge League last season in real life. Yes, I looked that up.

Thanks so much! Yeah, they look like a strong side already with good prospects. I am excited to see what they are going to do in the league this year.

I am struggling so far this season, I am going to write about it in next update.

I am having fun with updates so far but I might tone it down a little bit until I get more successful. Think I'm gonna play the game quicker instead of writing so much stuff

[goktugerce]

Neuchâtel Xamax | Season 2017/2018 | Mid-season Update

Swiss Super League



We are not doing very well in the league this season so far. It's clear our squad is not strong enough to survive in the league. We lost two games in the league after 80th minute, sadly but we also gained some extra points in the dying minutes of the matches. We got two wins in our last three matches against two sides just above our position and Luzern's coach was fired after the match. We will play home and away against each team one more time, but probably matches against Luzern will decide our fate. It would be nice to get some draws against mid-table teams too.



Basel is just dominating the league.

Swiss Cup

A lucky draw and an extra time goal against Lugano got us to the Semi Final, but we will be facing Basel in Semi Final.



Board is improving training facilities and planning buying the ground at the same time. Great news!

[ManUtd1]

Ouch, brutal league run. But, if you can stay up...

How did the cup run affect your finances?

Still loving the save -- keep it up!

[goktugerce]

Ouch, brutal league run. But, if you can stay up...

How did the cup run affect your finances?

Still loving the save -- keep it up!

I was hoping for some prizes but no income from cup run. Also, all games were away

Thanks so much for the kind words mate. Appreciate it.

[goktugerce]

Youth Intake 2018

It's that time of the year! We got another okay intake -- not too bad, not too good.



Not too much depth, but three players are looking good, with one having Determined and one having Professional personality.

Joel Limacher (18A)

Looks like the best player of the intake. Already has good technical abilities. Strong passing, first touch, tackling, work rate and stamina makes me think he can be a good box to box midfielder. Determination is concerning, but I'll have a tutor reserved for him.

Steve Pinault (18B)

Looks like I have my winger for the future. Amazing pace and technique combined with 18 determination makes me think he'll have a nice career in the club. I'm really hoping he will be a good one.

Julien Launay (18C)

If he wasn't professional and my assistant didn't rate him 3-4 stars in his PA, I wouldn't tag him but I'll be keeping an eye on his development. Not a fan of the horrific mental attributes though.



Garcia (16A) continues to disappoint me. I was really hoping for better improvement this year but his negative personality hindered his development. Currently on loan in second division. Last year's profile.

Not a good year for Junior Ebwelle (16B) because after the draft of Silva (17B) he only played in 1 game. Though his training performance is fairly good. His personality also changed to Balanced. Last year's profile.

Valentin Delaporte (16C)has improved a bit over the last year but couldn't crack the rotation yet. His personality has changed from Fairly Sporting to Balanced. Not sure what that means. Last year's profile.

Nicolas Bach (16D) went to Chiasso, didn't have a high average rating but improved a lot. He played in 9 matches this year and had 7.35 average rating, quite awesome. His physical attributes are very well. He'll become a contributor next year. Last year's profile.

Victor Silva (16E) is making me really happy. He continues to develop, he is now capped at U19 level, though in Portugal. His hairline doesn't look good though He'll play next year. Last year's profile.

Daniele Baldi (17A) is really, really good. Actually I think I am going to give him some playing time in second half of the season. He has scored 11 goals in 17 matches in U18 level, so more competitive matches will only do him good. Last year's profile.

Silva (17B) is the best player from youth academy so far. He is wanted by 12 clubs, getting regular playing time, playing in Portugal U19 and improving. Promising signs from him. Last year's profile.

It's too early to tell about Nebojsa Mijailovic (17C) but he is making it rain in the U18 league. Last year's profile.

[goktugerce]

Neuchâtel Xamax | Season 2017/2018 | End of Season Update



Swiss Super League





A crazy end to an awful season. Our squad's incompetence for this level was proven by the fact that we finished the season with 27 points. Luckily, Luzern was worse. After a twelve game winningless streak, we managed to beat St. Gallen who didn't have anything to play for on final day. In penultimate fixture, we went through a crazy fifteen minute period but my tactical risks worked out in the end, we grabbed a crucial point by drawing 2-2. For the last match, I needed to go with a more attacking side, so I gambled by playing 4-1-2-3 with WBs, thankfully it paid off.

It was a long, difficult season though. I am not sure if we will be able to survive next season, but we can be proud of our achievements this season, even though we had a goal difference of -51 Basel just dominated the league and broke the record of most points en route to their 9th league title in a row. Oberli was once again our top performer in terms of average rating. He's 20 now and has €900K value. Savic was the topscorer again, scoring 21 goals in 40 matches. Good debut season for him in Super League. Silva (17B) has also had a strong campaign, though he conceded 91 goals in league He'll be great. Towards the end of season, I integrated Baldi (17A) to the starting lineup as Target Man. He performed well, scored 3 goals in 8 matches. I'm expecting a rapid development from him next season. Bach (16D) also featured in some matches, and is showing great development. Happy for him.

League Team Stats | League Player Stats | Fixtures 1, Fixtures 2 | League Team of the Season







We managed to reach Semi Final, as we did in last season, but at the end Basel was just too much for us. I am still happy with it though. It would be fantastic if we can reach the final next year!



Top Goalscorer | Fans Player of the Season | End of Season Awards | Overall Best Eleven

Squad | Finances | Transfers

News

We bought our stadium and now own the ground. Apparently it can be expanded to 14971 seats, one thing I might be doing in the near future. We were already upgrading our training facilities but this popped up at the end of the season, so we paid even more money for the upgrade. We are also improving our youth facilities again! Great news. Oh, and our U18 team won their division comfortably once again, thanks to crazy goalscoring trio. They also advanced to Semi Final in Under 18s Cup.

Next Season

Next season will again be about survival. It would be nice if we can further improve our facilities. Financially we look stable, so I see no reason not to do it. I am thinking about playing around with tactics, leaning towards 3-1-4-2 or 3-1-3-3 now. It would also be fun and challenging for me as a manager to experience less frequent formations. Another aim is giving more playing time to young players. In addition to three players I have mentioned above, Victor Silva (16E) can get more playing time.

[ManUtd1]

Great news re the improved facilities. Just need to get recruitment and junior coaching improving as well. Fortunately, staying up will mean that your reputation didn't take a hit, as to the former.

[goktugerce]

Great news re the improved facilities. Just need to get recruitment and junior coaching improving as well. Fortunately, staying up will mean that your reputation didn't take a hit, as to the former.

I was wondering about that. What is the most important factor for improving Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching? I assume it's not about money. Is it only about reputation? At the start of the save, the club had 2*, now it is 3* but I only improved Junior Coaching once and haven't improved Youth Recruitment at all.

[ManUtd1]

Reputation, for youth recruitment. I don't know what metrics, if any, affect your ability to improve junior coaching.

[goktugerce]

Youth Intake 2019

I really like this year's intake. There are 6 players with 3.5 star potential or higher, and all but one has positive personality.

Ardit Zamaku (19A)

A really good forward with lots of potential. Already has excellent finishing, first touch, heading and acceleration attributes, and he is professional. There are no red flags except he is injury prone, according to my assistant. He needs to strengthen a little bit, but he is going to be very useful. Oh, and he already has a PPM.

Damir Muratovic (19B)

Looks like a player worth building a tactic for. I don't like using AMCs generally but this one is a gem. Best player of the intake for me. Look at that physical, look at the flair and the vision. Fairly professional. Can't wait to see his development.

Marcel Aeschlimann (19C)

Another GK. We have 3 tagged goalkeepers so far and one of them is attracting interest from the clubs such as Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. I am going to tag this one and I think he may be the second best GK in the team a few years later.

Jurgen Hyka (19D)

The player with most potential according to my assistant. Even though I do not rate him that much, I am tagging him. Can be a useful player on the left wing and I do not have any player for that position yet, so I hope he can go and become one. Nice determination, crossing and dribbling with pace and acceleration.

Amine Borel (19E)

Excellent tackler already. I like having my captains in defense or defensive midfielder positions, and he has 13 leadership. Future captain in the making?

Alessandro Bassi (19F)

I do not have any DL coming from youth academy, and he looks okay, so I am tagging him.



Old Players

From this season on, I am going to remove some players from the list above, who are not developing well enough. Alberto Garcia (16A) is the first victim. I am also going to write about players who had improved well throughout the year.

Bach (16D) is the most pleasant surprise. He developed rapidly last year and now has a senior role within the team. He played 18 matches this year and has 7.94 average rating. Last year's profile.

Baldi (17A) is another player who had amazing development and now playing regularly in first team. I am genuinely excited for his future. Last year's profile.

Silva (17B) is still the best young player in the team and Real Madrid is still interested in him. He is improving steadily and will be a star goalkeeper. Last year's profile.

Pinault (18B) really surprised me with his rapid development. He made his debut with the first team and played another match. In the second half of the season, I am going to try and play him when I play 4-3-3. Last year's profile.

[goktugerce]

Neuchâtel Xamax | Season 2018/2019 | End of Season Update



Swiss Super League





Another season, another last-gasp survival. After going on a six match losing streak against strong opponents, we managed to get 7 points from last 4 fixtures, 3 of which was at home. But I almost blew it by losing 0-1 at home to Aarau in the penultimate fixture. 71st minute goal against Grasshoppers meant we survived another season, because Zürich had to win their match against Aarau to secure their first championship in ten years. It was another difficult season but we finished with two more points and had -36 goal difference instead of -51. Another interesting thing was I had three 2-game winning streak. I guess all my team needs is a little bit confidence. Or playing Aarau.

Bach (16D) was the best player this season, but it looks like we are going to lose him because he is wanted by five clubs and I didn't see the release clause when I renewed his contract. What a shame. Oberli had another good season but he wants to move to a bigger club and unhappy at the club. I fear I might have to start new season with a new midfield duo, which would be awful for me because they were the best two players in the team this season. Baldi (17A) had a great debut campaign, scoring 11 goals in 30 matches.

I played mostly with 3-1-4-2 formation this season, but it did not end up much better than last year's 4-4-2. I feel like I have to play with two strikers, but a dip in Savic's form can make me rethink this. Going to 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-1-1 next season might be an idea.

League Team Stats | League Player Stats | Fixtures 1, Fixtures 2 | League Team of the Season







Apparently, third time isn't the charm either. Maybe next season!



Top Goalscorer | Fans Player of the Season | End of Season Awards | Overall Best Eleven

Squad | Finances | Transfers

News

I managed to improve youth and training facilities, and they are doing it again. It will be great once my facilities are set. I found a feeder club from second division and may loan out some young players there. But I am not sure if they are going to develop there better. Regular playing time or club facilities with good coaches? I have to decide. Board also made Sporting from Portugal a parent club without asking me, so there's that. U18 team finished second this time.

Next Season

Survival again, but this time it will have to be more comfortably. Facilities will be finished on September, so it would be naturally great if I can improve them further. I need to improve the club's reputation, I think, to improve youth recruitment. Let's see how it goes. I also need to improve junior coaching but I do not know how. Any tips? Or do I just have to constantly check and wait? Next season we might see Pinault (18B), Muratovic (19B) and Zamaku (19A) (though he already had two serious injuries as I feared).

This season we had lots of injuries, I am hoping for a better luck with it next year.

Edit: Board told me they are considering increasing transfer budget, I told them to improve the junior coaching but they rejected. But I went to boardroom again and they accepted increasing junior coaching. Great news!

Sigh.

[withnail316]

Enjoying this, fella. KUTGW

[goktugerce]

Enjoying this, fella. KUTGW

Thanks! I'll be back with youth intake update tomorrow. As a quick update:

I finished last season with 28 points. This season, I have 18 at first half of the season, but there are no awful teams in the league. But I am happy with the improvement of the squad. I am hoping for a top-6 finish. Also, I will face St. Gallen in Swiss Cup semi final, so final looks probable!

[ManUtd1]

Definite progress, goktugerce. Well ahead of last year, 5 points off Sion -- very doable. Good luck against St. Gallen!

[Ceching You Out]

Youth Intake 2018

*Snip*

I'm very, very jealous of the personalities you've got coming through in your intake. Zamaku and Muratovic look like good bets to develop into quality contributors. Good luck!

[goktugerce]

Definite progress, goktugerce. Well ahead of last year, 5 points off Sion -- very doable. Good luck against St. Gallen!

I really need to go to the final in Swiss Cup! Not only for a chance at silverware, but for a chance to increase club's reputation. My promising players are coming to me with the "I want to move to a bigger club" b.s., which makes me sad.

[goktugerce]

I'm very, very jealous of the personalities you've got coming through in your intake. Zamaku and Muratovic look like good bets to develop into quality contributors. Good luck!

Thanks! It also surprised me, having such an intake with positive personalities, considering my Head of Youth Development is "Fairly Sporting."

I'm posting last Youth Intake now, and I have some good news.

[goktugerce]

Youth Intake 2020

I am only tagging two players this time, but it may change if Bytyqi or Gomez developes well.

Diego Di Finizio (20A)

This Catania-born Italian guy with beautiful name looks like he is born to be a star. How often do you draft a 16 year old with 15 pace, 14 acceleration, 11 strength, 12 finishing and 13 first touch? His technique and dribbling will need some improvement but 16 flair looks tasty.

Théophile Bischoff (20B)

I really needed a centre-back and I got my wish. He's not very good technically, I suppose he'll be a limited defender but he's not that slow even though he is 1.92m. With 14 jumping reach and 11 heading, I have a tank here! Needs to strengthen a little bit.



Old Players

Nebojsa Mijailovic (17C) is the second player I removed from the list above after Garcia (16A). It's not looking good for Limacher (18A) or Delaporte (16C) also, they need to train harder this year.

Bach (16D) is really impressive. His value is up to €1.2M and he was fans player of the year last season. Sad thing is he looks like he reached his potential already, at 20. Southampton wants him. Last year's profile.

Baldi (17A) is developing into a killer forward. He has 13 goals in 17 matches this season and is playing awesome. Too bad he made me put a €4M minimim release clause in his new contract. Last year's profile.

Silva (17B) is better this season. Arsenal and Leverkusen still want him, but hopefully he's going nowhere. He'll reach 100 matches very soon! Last year's profile.

Pinault (18B) continued his impressive development and now is a regular player in starting lineup. He already has 3 goals and 7 assists this season. Look at the pace and acceleration. His new preferred move looks like it works! Last year's profile.

Muratovic (19B) is making me really happy except he wants to move to a bigger club. He's 4 star CA at 17 years of age, playing regularly and improving. He learnt 3 preferred moves already. Last year's profile.

[ManUtd1]

DFD is going to be fantastic - I'm jealous! The others are coming along nicely, too. It's only a matter of time!

[goktugerce]

Neuchâtel Xamax | Season 2019/2020 | End of Season Update



Swiss Super League





Our best season so far in the league. After collecting 29 points last season, we collected 35 this season, improved our goal difference, and avoided a relegation battle. It was a good season for us as our players improved a lot. Basel took back the crown. Best player was I think Baldi (17A), and the most pleasant surprise was Pinault (18B).

League Team Stats | League Player Stats | Fixtures 1, Fixtures 2 | League Team of the Season







I can't quite believe it. After getting eliminated in Semi Final three seasons in a row, we finally got over the hump and actually won the cup. Basel started of really well but Pinault won a penalty on a counter attack, then made an excellent cross to make it 2-0 in a matter of three minutes. Game settled down a little bit, but at 35 and 37 Baldi scored two more to give us an improbable 4-0 lead. We killed the game afterwards and eventually won it 4-1. Pinault was amazing with three assists. We finally won the cup after three semi finals, and we are the four-time holder of Swiss Cup Team of the Year award.



Top Goalscorer | Fans Player of the Season | End of Season Awards | Overall Best Eleven

Squad | Finances | Transfers

News

Our U18 team just dominated their league, and won the title comfortably (I forgot to take a screenshot). Improvement of youth facilities and training facilities have finished, and now they are operating at Great and Superb levels, respectively. I also managed to max-out Junior Coaching, which is awesome as we need some players for rotation. I survived a board takeover, and they are improving training facilities yet again. Will it be State of the Art or do I still have one more upgrade? I am not sure.

Also, we will be in Euro Cup next season, awesome!

Next Season

This season we avoided survival battle comfortably. Next season, I think should be improving some facilities, continuing development of our young players and maybe top 6 in the league? I think we need it after finishing 7th. I won't be too disappointed with another 7th finish either. Hopefully Muratovic (19B), Zamaku (19A) and Silva (17B) can improve further.

Another crucial thing is keeping players happy. I don't know how I can do it, but I will try my best. Most of the important players have long time left in their contracts, thanks to optional contract extension by the club. Bach (16B) has 5 years left and I have 3 years extension option, for example. Though I have 16 players in their last contract year (all but two of them were at the club at the beginning of the save) and I have to make some decisions regarding them.

[goktugerce]

Youth Intake 2021

That's an interesting intake with as much as six tags. I tagged two right backs, two left backs, one center back and one midfielder. I don't think any of them will be stars but they can all be good rotation players.

Benjamin David (21A) | Jean-François Siegrist (21B) | Florent Guyot (21C) | Karim Bertrand (21D) | Endri Sabanovski (21E) | Matteo Mirra (21F)

Look at the speed of these group! Well, it's not surprising since they all (except Bertrand) play on the wings. All have neutral or positive personalities too. Siegrist is the one I like the most, a speedy winger with flair. Sabanovski and Mirra also look pretty good as left backs, I wonder which one will be better in a few seasons.



Old Players

Baldi (17A) is sadly gone. Milan was determined enough to buy his release clause, and now he's with their U21 team. Pinault (18B) and Zamaku (19A) has a lot of offers coming in. Muratovic (19B) is becoming an amazing player. Silva (17B) and Di Finizio (20A) are improving. Everything looks good, right? Well, it's not good. Almost all of them want to move to a bigger club, and I couldn't figure out how to keep them happy. Squad harmony is dropping fast. Any suggestions are welcome!

[goktugerce]

Neuchâtel Xamax | Season 2020/2021 | End of Season Update



Swiss Super League





Another season is over and it was our best season yet! We managed to collect 42 points and finished 6th, both are records in this save. 5th and 8th places were divided by only three points in total, so it was really exciting to finish in 6th place. We only conceded 40 goals in 36 matches, but scored only 31. I'll look at the glass half full and say that defensive improvements are encouraging and offense will come once the boys improve further. Basel took the title back from Zürich, who could only finish 3rd after a disappointing campaign. Pinault (18B), who is now valued at €7.75M, was in my opinion the best performer of the season, scoring 9 goals and finishing with 7.70 average rating. He also was selected as the best midfielder of the season in Swiss Super League (but didn't make the best eleven, ugh). Muratovic (19B) was a close second, and future looks really bright for the 19 year-old. He was in the team of the season. Oh by the way, Balotelli continues to tear the league apart.

League Team Stats | League Player Stats | Fixtures 1, Fixtures 2 | League Team of the Season



Swiss Cup





After winning the Swiss Cup last season, we got knocked out by Lugano at 90th minute. It was a disappointing one this season but next year hopefully it'll be better.



UEFA Europa League



Well to be fair, we were in a pretty tough group. OM and PSV were really strong teams, and FC Kobenhavn wasn't bad either. At least we fought bravely, drawing our two games against Kobenhavn, and also led OM 0-2 at the break at Marseille, only to lose 3-2. But it was a good experience, and also brought extra income. I can't complain.

Fixtures



Top Goalscorer | Fans Player of the Season | End of Season Awards | Overall Best Eleven

Squad | Finances | Transfers

News

Our U18 team has won both the league and the cup this season! We are improving both training and youth facilities.

We have our first national team player! Muratovic (19B) made his debut with the Switzerland national team.

Next Season

Top half finish at last? I think after finishing 6th this season, top 5 is a good aim. Let's see if we can do it.

[goktugerce]

Youth Intake 2022

Only two players tagged this year, but I'm hopeful of their development.

Ekra Tomasic (22A) | Tom Guichard (22B)

Tomasic already has a lot of excellent attributes and I hope he can improve. I don't like his personality. Guichard on the other hand, is a perfect candidate to fill the center back void with his potential and Professional personality.



Old Players

Muratovic (19B) is our first player who is capped at national team level. He's playing excellent and improving like crazy. Good thing is he'll be with us three more years. I'm hoping to be able to extend his contract if we can be more successful in the league. Pinault (18B) is another player who is playing a crucial role in our team. 20 year-old AMR has become a constant force on the right wing. Just accepted a new contract offer, which will tie him down for 5 more years + 3 years optional contract extension. Di Finizio (20A) is one of the better players in the club, and fighting for the top goal scorer award in the league. I sometimes have to rotate him with Zamaku (19A) who is also scoring a lot, but I don't want to play with two forwards. Silva (17B) has become a constant presence between the sticks and nearing his 200th game with the club. David (21A) has developed well over the last year, I'm hoping he can be a contributor in the near future.

[goktugerce]

And I want to drop this here because it's a really exciting season!

[goktugerce]

 

Neuchâtel Xamax | Season 2020/2021 | End of Season Update

 

 

Swiss Super League

 

 

An amazing season, really. We finally took the giant step towards being a contender, and finished third, just five points off the top spot. It was a roller coaster ride all season, as you can see from past positions. In the last game we beat Basel 1-3 away from home, but Young Boys also lost at home, 1-2 to Grasshoppers (thanks to a goal from our old player Baldi (17A)). We scored 51 goals and conceded 39, and collected 62 points, 20 more than the last season. Di Finizio (20A) scored 20 goals in the league and Muratovic (19B) had 7.91 average rating, while Silva (17B) had a league-high 14 shutouts. I am genuinely excited for the next season after making the giant step towards being a strong team. We could have even won the title if we didn't struggle so much against Zürich.

 

League Team Stats | League Player Stats | Fixtures 1, Fixtures 2 | League Team of the Season

 

Swiss Cup

 

 

Another disappointing season in the cup. After winning the cup two years ago, we got knocked out in Quarter Final twice. Aarau, a Challenge League side beat us even though we dominated the game. Next season we have to go for the cup.

 

 

 Top Goalscorer | Fans Player of the Season | End of Season Awards | Overall Best Eleven

 

Squad | Finances | Transfers

 

News

 

U18 team have won their third successive league title. Our board is improving youth facilities one more time, and it will be maxed out this time (and it is cancelled due to financial reasons as I am writing this.)

 

Next Season

 

After making a surprise this season by finishing 3rd, my aim is to at least keep that position. It would also be great to advance to the group stages in Euro Cup, and to win Swiss Cup. Of course I need to keep the squad together and try to increase the reputation of the club.

[goktugerce]

Neuchâtel Xamax | Season 2020/2021 | End of Season Update

Swiss Super League

What an incredible season! After finishing 3rd last season, my aim was top 3, but development within the squad was too good for a 3rd place finish! We won the league thanks to better goal difference, and stats show how good we were. What makes it even sweeter is we beat Basel 3-0 a week before the last match, and then they lost to Thun, who fought for their lives. We won the league by playing a squad with average age of 23, so the future is looking bright for us. Another interesting to note is that we had two spells of seven game streak without winning. We managed to win 19 of the remaining 22 matches though. It's really odd to win the title like that, but to be fair, we beat Basel 3-0 twice, won twice against Zürich, won three times against Young Boys.

League Team Stats | League Player Stats | Fixtures 1, Fixtures 2 | League Team of the Season

Swiss Cup

We finally passed quarter final but lost to Basel in the final. Nothing to be ashamed of though, the kids probably partied all week before the game  

UEFA Europa League

OM knocked us out in the third qualifying road thanks to away goals, but I was happy with our performance. We even won in Marseille!

 Top Goalscorer | Fans Player of the Season | End of Season Awards | Overall Best Eleven

Squad | Finances | Transfers

Squad

Di Finizio (20A) [Zamaku (19A)]

Hyka (19D) -------------------------------------------- Muratovic (19B) --------------------- Pinault (18B) [Siegrist (21B)]

-------- Bach (16D) -------------------Oberli [Siegrist (21B)]

Bassi (19F) [Facchinetti] ----------- David (21A) [Epitaux] -------------- Silva (16E) ------------------------------- Edoh

Silva (17B)

News

U18 team have won their fifth title in six years. Our board is improving youth facilities, and I'm hoping this time it doesn't get cancelled! Still couldn't improve youth recruitment. Average attendance inexplicably dropped, and I am not happy with our fans because of this. Hopefully it increases next season.

Next Season

I feel like I achieved the goal I set when I was starting this save. Should I go on and try to dominate the league? Should I try to be successful in Europe? What do you all think? Maybe I could use some break but I'm open to any ideas.

[Bedese]

Overthrowing Basel is really impressive. It has to be Europe next up to conquer