dafuge's South American tour

[dafuge]

8 hours ago, Chrismatthews16 said:

Phew ! I was worried it may affect my save too and I'm really enjoying my time in South America so far.

Are you going to try and follow a similar career path in terms of clubs or just see what opportunities pop up?

 

I'll probably go for something similar, but I might skip out some of the lower leagues if I get the choice.

[dafuge]

After my previous save game ended due to a bug, I've started again with exactly the same setup. My first job this time came in Chile with San Marcos de Arica.

Club - this looks like a decent club for this division, and I love those kits!

Facilities - the stadium is a decent size, but the facilities are otherwise unimpressive.

Finances - we are in debt, which is not good.

Squad - there are a number of good older players, but they won't be around for much longer.

League Table - the season is over, with the club escaping relegation.

Hopefully this won't be a long stay, I'm hoping to move on to a bigger club as soon as possible.

[Northernpilgrim]

Good luck with the new save

[dafuge]

San Marcos de Arica - Campeonato Loto - 2017

My aim for this season was just to avoid relegation.

League Table - 15 games, that was it! The season flew by as we only played each team once. I'm amazed we finished so high, but the gap between us and the bottom clubs was tiny.

Copa Chile - we had a good start, but couldn't beat the team from the division above.

Squad - the best players at the club are the ones who were here before.

Transfers - most of these were last minute panic buys on transfer deadline day.

Finances - we did quite well with the finances, which was a surprise.

Key Player Profiles:

Federico Chiapello - our top scorer.

Miguel Coronado - a decent winger.

Sebastián Méndez - possibly our best player.

Augusto Barrios - our most valuable player.

David Pérez - a promising youth product who was already here when I joined.

Career Overview:

Season     Team                   Country    League                          Position  Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       4th       

Next Season:

We seem to have a break until July now, so hopefully I'll be able to bring in a few new players for next season.

[dafuge]

Last season had 15 games, this season has 30

Means we don't have a long wait after all, the season starts in February.

[LUFCspeni]

I think I remember the Chilean league goes through some restructuring in the first few seasons.

 

Do you still play your usual 442 diamond? What roles do you go for with the front 2 and wingers?

[dafuge]

2 minutes ago, LUFCspeni said:

I think I remember the Chilean league goes through some restructuring in the first few seasons.

 

Do you still play your usual 442 diamond? What roles do you go for with the front 2 and wingers?

I'm playing my usual 4-4-2 diamond tactic. Two wingers (attack), a poacher (attack) and a supporting deep lying forward.

[LUFCspeni]

Just now, dafuge said:

I'm playing my usual 4-4-2 diamond tactic. Two wingers (attack), a poacher (attack) and a supporting deep lying forward.

I found the article, it explains hows the Chilean league restructuring works.

 

http://www.thehighertempopress.com/fm17-chilean-footballing-re-structure-fm17-league-guide/

[dafuge]

Nice one, that explains why I had that weird half-season then.

[dafuge]

San Marcos de Arica - Campeonato Loto - 2018

My first (half) season in charge was pretty decent, finishing 4th. A repeat of that would be ideal as I looked to build a squad capable of promotion in the next few years.

League Table - finishing 4th again was a result, but we could have finished higher if it were not for defensive errors and an eight game winless run at the start of the season.

Copa Chile - we had a brilliant result against top flight opposition, but we couldn't repeat it in the next round.

Squad - the balance is far better this season, although I've hit the foreigner limit quite quickly.

Transfers - I signed five players midseason, which isn't ideal but unavoidable with the Chilean transfer rules.

Finances - I was surprised at making a profit last season, this was more like what I was expecting.

Key Player Profiles:

Federico Chiapello - top scorer again.

Adrián Yagusieczko - struggled for form last season, but he was great this time.

Ewerton - a new signing who could be crucial next season.

Michael Contreras - our most valuable player, but I'm not sure why.

Zacarías López - the young goalie is our first choice after the first choice's contract expired.

Career Overview:

Season     Team                   Country    League                          Position  Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       4th       
2018       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       4th       

Next Season:

I'd take anything above 4th!

[noikeee]

Shame about having to start all over again. I'd be too pissed off to do the exact same career and would do something else, but as we've seen over the years, your patience is legendary!

[Vipertitan]

good luck with new save set up ive had to start a new save to due to crash error too, will be looking forward to seeing how you do. 

[argento]

I've actually managed Arica before on a past version of the game had fond memories pretty sure you'll be able to eclipse my meager success.  Will be reading this!

[Maaka]

Judging by the club motto, you're "doomed" to stay there, "siempre"..

[dafuge]

San Marcos de Arica - Campeonato Loto - 2019

After two solid 4th placed finishes, we were hoping to challenge for the title this season.

League Table - our form in the first half of the season gave us a huge lead as we cruised to the title.

Copa Chile - this is the 4th year in a row we have drawn this team, I'm guessing the draw is regionalised?

Squad - the squad is well balanced, but I'm not sure how they will do in the top flight.

Transfers - just three signings, onw of which was ineligible in the league.

Finances - not great, but I'm hoping the promotion will sort that out.

Key Player Profiles:

Federico Chiapello - not quite up to the level of last season, but still our top scorer.

Adrián Yagusieczko - scored just as many as Chiapello.

Ángel González - the new winger had a good season.

Diego Oyarzún - our new signing became our most valuable player.

Felipe Montecinos - a decent looking new youth product.

Career Overview:

Season     Team                   Country    League                          Position  Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       4th       
2018       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       4th       
2019       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       1st       Promoted

Next Season:

I've already been turned down by Boyacá Chicó and Colo Colo but hopefully this promotion will raise my profile.

[Keano16]

Congrats on the promotion! 

[dafuge]

25 minutes ago, Keano16 said:

Congrats on the promotion! 

Thanks

I just had an interview at Peñarol, didn't get the job though

[Keano16]

6 minutes ago, dafuge said:

Thanks

I just had an interview at Peñarol, didn't get the job though

Maybe a season in the top tier will help? 

[dafuge]

3 minutes ago, Keano16 said:

Maybe a season in the top tier will help? 

My contract expires half way through the season, so maybe I'll take a chance and try moving on then.

[scfcbostock]

3 hours ago, dafuge said:

My contract expires half way through the season, so maybe I'll take a chance and try moving on then.

Do the players contracts expire mid-season too ?  Or is it just yours ?

 

Could really scupper a good season if a couple of players refused to sign new contracts!!

[dafuge]

8 minutes ago, scfcbostock said:

Do the players contracts expire mid-season too ?  Or is it just yours ?

 

Could really scupper a good season if a couple of players refused to sign new contracts!!

It's everyone. Combined with the limit of three transfers in January it makes it hard work as a newly promoted team!

[dafuge]

San Marcos de Arica - Campeonato Nacional Scotiabank- 2020

We felt confident as the newly promoted champions, a mid table finish was in our sights.

League Table - incredible stuff as we won the title on the last day of the season.

Copa Chile - another outstanding result as we lifted the cup.

Squad - these players won't stand for being paid this amount for long.

Transfers - just two in to replace three out.

Finances - a massive profit, but that won't last.

Key Player Profiles:

Federico Chiapello - top scorer again.

Ángel González - the winger had a great season.

David Pérez - the youth product became a star.

Nicolás Femia - a great winger.

Maximiliano Espínola - a future star.

Career Overview:

Season     Team                   Country    League                          Position  Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       4th       
2018       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       4th       
2019       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       1st       Promoted
2020       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera División                1st       Copa Chile winners

Next Season:

This season couldn't have gone better, so it is a perfect time for me to move on. There are a few jobs available that I'm interested in, but it is early days.

[dafuge]

There was no way I could top my last season in Chile, so now was an ideal time to leave in search of a new challenge. It came with a trip to Uruguay, to manage Nacional.

Club - this is one of the two big clubs in Uruguay, the other being Peñarol.

Facilities - the stadium is a decent size, although the training facilities aren't the greatest.

Squad - there's another 54 players in the reserves, so I need to trim the squad.

League Table - after four consecutive titles, they slipped to 5th. No pressure then!

The aim at this club is pretty simple, I want to challenge for the league title before moving on again.

[oohlala111]

4 hours ago, dafuge said:

There was no way I could top my last season in Chile, so now was an ideal time to leave in search of a new challenge. It came with a trip to Uruguay, to manage Nacional.

Club - this is one of the two big clubs in Uruguay, the other being Peñarol.

Facilities - the stadium is a decent size, although the training facilities aren't the greatest.

Squad - there's another 54 players in the reserves, so I need to trim the squad.

League Table - after four consecutive titles, they slipped to 5th. No pressure then!

The aim at this club is pretty simple, I want to challenge for the league title before moving on again.

I haven't been following this for a while now. Sorry about the bug, hopefully this time you are just as successful as before. Good luck with Nacional, who I believe were Suarez's first club?  

[dafuge]

13 minutes ago, oohlala111 said:

I haven't been following this for a while now. Sorry about the bug, hopefully this time you are just as successful as before. Good luck with Nacional, who I believe were Suarez's first club?  

It is indeed, I could do with a player like that coming through!

[noikeee]

Wait, you won the double on your first season on the top flight in Chile? What the hell?

[dafuge]

1 hour ago, noikeee said:

Wait, you won the double on your first season on the top flight in Chile? What the hell?

I was all set to quit midseason when my contract expired, but the chance of a title challenge persuaded me to sign a new deal.

I wasn't expecting the result we got

[dafuge]

Club Nacional de Football - Campeonato Uruguayo- 2021

After unexpectedly conquering Chile, I took a big job in Uruguay in the hope of winning more silverware.

Opening Stage - not bad for my first season.

Intermedio - we continued our form lifting the cup with an injury time winner against our rivals.

Closing Stage - so close to a perfect record.

Overall Table - we stormed it.

Copa Sudamericana - things were going so well until we had a shocker.

Squad - our left side os very weak, but we have some great young players here.

Transfers - we made a profit as I brought in a few players.

Finances - the finances are decent, but I've arranged improvements to the facilities and a stadium expansion.

Key Player Profiles:

Danilo Franco - this youth product is something special.

Martín Hernández - his strike partner isn't bad either.

Guillermo Vergara - my big money signing.

Lucão - another signing who made an impact.

Giuseppe Sala - Man City were after this brilliant young goalie.

Career Overview:

Season     Team                   Country    League                          Position  Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       4th       
2018       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       4th       
2019       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       1st       Promoted
2020       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera División                1st       Copa Chile winners
2021       Nacional               Uruguay    Campeonato Uruguayo             1st       Intermedio winners

Next Season:

Next season will be my debut in the Copa Libertadores, so I'm planning on staying for at least one more year to see how that goes.

[LUFCspeni]

The closing stage has you managing Penarol?

[dafuge]

2 minutes ago, LUFCspeni said:

The closing stage has you managing Penarol?

Thanks for spotting that, I used an old post as a template and must have missed a screenshot out.

[dafuge]

Newell's just made a bid of potentially up to £13m for Martín Hernández. I protested the decision of the board to accept it, but they wouldn't back down.

Then this happens.

Not sure if I should be happy with that or not, I get to keep him for a bit longer but that was a massive bid.

[JWVG]

Wow, that is a youthful squad!

[dafuge]

Guillermo Vergara - gone for £2.3m (release clause).

Rubén Martinez - gone for £2.2m (board accepted bid).

My team is disappearing

[oohlala111]

18 hours ago, dafuge said:

Guillermo Vergara - gone for £2.3m (release clause).

Rubén Martinez - gone for £2.2m (board accepted bid).

My team is disappearing

Oops! Better get some more young talent signed and perhaps sign some new contracts WITHOUT release clauses!  

[dafuge]

3 minutes ago, oohlala111 said:

Oops! Better get some more young talent signed and perhaps sign some new contracts WITHOUT release clauses!  

I tried so hard to get rid of that clause too, every negotiation had his agent insisting on reducing it to about £1.5m

Fernando Orihuela - here's his replacement. It's a step down, but the scouts rate his potential.

[dafuge]

Club Nacional de Football - Campeonato Uruguayo- 2022

Last season we stormed to the league and cup double, so this season I was looking forward to continental football.

Opening Stage - a perfect record!

Intermedio - another  perfect record!

Closing Stage - so close to a third, but we drew 1-1 after 30 consecutive wins.

Overall Table -  this was so one sided it was unreal.

Supercopa Uruguaya - we kicked off the season with a narrow win over our rivals.

Copa Libertadores - we had a shocker in the group stage against some good sides, but managed to squeeze into the Copa Sudamericana.

Copa Sudamericana - we were superb, especially in the latter stages as we went on to lift the cup.

Squad - we have so many good young players, our only problem is the bigger clubs are after them.

Transfers - the two sales we enforced against my will.

Finances - a decent profit, which has been spent on more improvements to the facilities and another stadium expansion.

Key Player Profiles:

Danilo Franco - top scorer again.

Martín Hernández - I battled hard to keep him, he's a great supporting striker.

Ismael Siboldi - he made a case to be a first choice striker.

Marcelo Bottino - he had a quiet start, but soon hit his stride.

Giuseppe Sala - this keeper is superb.

Career Overview:

Season     Team                   Country    League                          Position  Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       4th       
2018       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       4th       
2019       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       1st       Promoted
2020       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera División                1st       Copa Chile winners
2021       Nacional               Uruguay    Campeonato Uruguayo             1st       Intermedio winners
2022       Nacional               Uruguay    Campeonato Uruguayo             1st       Intermedio and Copa Sudamericana winners

Next Season:

Realistically, this season couldn't have really gone much better. My contract expires in six months, so I might start looking out for jobs at clubs that have a realistic chance of winning the Copa Libertadores.

[dafuge]

Not sure if I've spotted this before, but my club is selling loads of goalie shirts

[noikeee]

Wow, magnificent season.

[dafuge]

The run is over

[Northernpilgrim]

32 minutes ago, dafuge said:

The run is over

You can't win them all, terrific effort to go that long

[dafuge]

1 minute ago, Northernpilgrim said:

You can't win them all, terrific effort to go that long

We lost the next league game too, against Peñarol

[Northernpilgrim]

[dafuge]

I've been suckered in by my contract expiring mid season and signed a new one year deal.

Ideally I'd like to sign until January, but I'll be looking to move if an interesting job comes up.

[dafuge]

Another one gone

He had a release clause of £5m, but I'm not sure how he managed to get a work permit. My transfer window is shut too, so I can't even replace him.

[Slipky]

Beautiful thread, this has inspired me to start a save where I start managing in South America then try moving to Europe, pretty much like Simeone for exaple.

Will keep following!

[dafuge]

2 minutes ago, Slipky said:

Beautiful thread, this has inspired me to start a save where I start managing in South America then try moving to Europe, pretty much like Simeone for exaple.

Will keep following!

Thanks

It's certainly a bit different, the format of the leagues takes a bit of getting used to!

[dafuge]

Club Nacional de Football - Campeonato Uruguayo- 2023

Last season we went unbeaten in domestic competitions, so there wasn't much chance of an improvement on that. Originally I had planned to leave when my contract expired, but I decided to stay on for one more year.

Opening Stage - it was nothing like last season as we lost early on.

Intermedio - we made it three in a row with a narrow win over rivals Peñarol.

Closing Stage - a slight improvement on the opening stage.

Overall Table -  there was a big improvement from Peñarol, which is good for the competition.

Supercopa Uruguaya - an easy win to start the season.

Recopa Sudamericana - we did well to hold them in the first leg but got outclassed away from home.

Copa Libertadores - we improved to get out of the group, but that was as far as our competition went.

Squad - the squad is quite big, although it is handy when bigger clubs pinch our players after the transfer window has shut.

Transfers - three great signings and a decent profit.

Finances - a massive profit, which once again will go towards new facilities.

Key Player Profiles:

Ismael Siboldi - took his chance as the main striker with style.

Danilo Franco - did ok as the second striker, covering for the injured Martín Hernández.

Nicolás De La Cruz - he had his greatest season ever at the club.

Alejandro Tinaglini - did well replacing my star winger as he left for Man City.

Martín Hernández - our most valuable player, despite suffering with injuries and poor form.

Career Overview:

Season     Team                   Country    League                          Position  Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       4th       
2018       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       4th       
2019       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera B                       1st       Promoted
2020       San Marcos de Arica    Chile      Primera División                1st       Copa Chile winners
2021       Nacional               Uruguay    Campeonato Uruguayo             1st       Intermedio winners
2022       Nacional               Uruguay    Campeonato Uruguayo             1st       Intermedio and Copa Sudamericana winners
2023       Nacional               Uruguay    Campeonato Uruguayo             1st       Intermedio winners

Next Season:

This time I'm determined to move on, so I'll be looking at job opportunities immediately. If nothing turns up, I'll leave in July.

[Slipky]

Fantastic season dafuge! I agree that you have to leave.

[dafuge]

My time in Uruguay was up after winning everything I thought I realistically could in the space of a few years. I was hoping for a big job in Brazil or Argentina, but this was an opportunity that could not be missed!

Club - I'm sure may of you will already know of this club, but they have been away for a while.

Facilities - the stadium is a decent size, although another club in Peru have an 80000 capacity stadium. The facilities need Improving.

Finances - the finances look good, but it's hard to tell at this stage.

Squad - there's not a lot here, so I've almost got a clean slate to start with.

League Table - the club have been unplayable in FM since 2004, so here's last year's table. I'll be looking to avoid relegation.

I'll be honest, it is the cult following due to the name that attracted me to the club but there is an interesting story behind them that I was unaware of:

Quote

Deportivo Wanka were last in the Peruvian First Division in 2004 – a season that brought shame upon the club.

With the team floundering in the relegation zone, the directors tried a cowardly trick to try and avoid the drop. Wanka moved their base to Cerro de Pasco – the highest city in the world – at 4,380m above sea level.

This calculated move played havoc as opposing teams would be devastated by altitude sickness. The weather conditions at that altitude made the game a lottery as players gasped for oxygen while being pelted with hailstones.

The underhand tactics worked for a bit with several sides losing good men on the dangerous trek to the pitch, but the better prepared sides soon started signing sherpers who ran rings round the Wanka players.

Wanka were relegated and haven’t been back in the top-flight since. The phrase 'para ser un poco de un Wanka' (to be a bit of a Wanka) has entered the Peruvian-Spanish lexicon, meaning 'to be a bit of a wanker'.

When I spotted this social media item, I knew I had made the right decision!

[DodgeeD]

Stranger than fiction! Nice social media update as well