FM17: Athletic Club Bilbao - Basque in the glory

[davehibb]

Thanks guys.

We beat Steaua at home 2-1 and Valencia at home 3-1 before Barca visited and we saw them off 3-2! We came back down to earth in the very next game though, away to Real, who thumped us 4-0. A lot of games in quick sucession and a few guys missing through injury had us stretched for that one but 5 wins from our first 6 league games so far.  We steadied the ship with a 1-0 away win against Rio Ave, to give us 2 wins out of 2 in the Europa League.

@bowieinspace What sort of rating/ca/pa would you recommend for Yeray and Kepa?

 

[bowieinspace]

2 minutes ago, davehibb said:

Thanks guys.

We beat Steaua at home 2-1 and Valencia at home 3-1 before Barca visited and we saw them off 3-2! We came back down to earth in the very next game though, away to Real, who thumped us 4-0. A lot of games in quick sucession and a few guys missing through injury had us stretched for that one but 5 wins from our first 6 league games so far.  We steadied the ship with a 1-0 away win against Rio Ave, to give us 2 wins out of 2 in the Europa League.

@bowieinspace What sort of rating/ca/pa would you recommend for Yeray and Kepa?

 

I'll PM you as I don't want to get into database discussion which could bring about spoilers for someone 

[davehibb]

Just now, bowieinspace said:

I'll PM you as I don't want to get into database discussion which could bring about spoilers for someone 

No problem.

[lukekarts]

Thanks for the good luck wish - it worked! I won!

And now Man Utd have offered me £100m for Garcia. Do you think I should try to bump him up from his £200k wage and £150m release fee?

[bowieinspace]

100million!!! Holy moly.

I can't see them offering 150m, I think you'll be fine there.

[bowieinspace]

Has anyone seen big things from Mikel Oyarzabel in their save?

[shabloz77]

Hi guys!

Will start today my save with Athletic, thanks for sharing your experiences and suggestions.

If I may add one, it is to remember that you can certainly sign only basque (or basque descendant) players, but you can also sign any Spanish national aged 16 or less. My suggestion is to scout all Liga's clubs youth intakes on intake-day. Given that in Spain release-clauses are compulsory, you can hand-force the transfer of the most interesting youngsters in Spain to cover the holes left in your U19 or your intake. It takes time, but if your aim is a long-term save, you'll be able to have after 3/4 years a constant influx of youngster into your first team for every position. Also, normally after the second year you'll be sitting on lot of money so you'll be able to overspend for youth activating their release-clause.

[lukekarts]

5 hours ago, bowieinspace said:

Has anyone seen big things from Mikel Oyarzabel in their save?

I've just signed him but he looks quite poor - going to give him a chance to improve but he's here mainly for depth.

At work atm but I'll post a screenshot later...

Oh and Man United offered £126m for Garcia in the end. I rejected... not going to regret it as I have £300m cash in the bank right now and nowhere to spend it. I'd probably finish bottom half without him...

[lukekarts]

4 hours ago, shabloz77 said:

Hi guys!

Will start today my save with Athletic, thanks for sharing your experiences and suggestions.

If I may add one, it is to remember that you can certainly sign only basque (or basque descendant) players, but you can also sign any Spanish national aged 16 or less. My suggestion is to scout all Liga's clubs youth intakes on intake-day. Given that in Spain release-clauses are compulsory, you can hand-force the transfer of the most interesting youngsters in Spain to cover the holes left in your U19 or your intake. It takes time, but if your aim is a long-term save, you'll be able to have after 3/4 years a constant influx of youngster into your first team for every position. Also, normally after the second year you'll be sitting on lot of money so you'll be able to overspend for youth activating their release-clause.

This is how I signed a handful of players, though it is worth pointing out that most state they are not interested in discussing because "they've only recently signed a contract". If you're very patient, a handful of players will be interested - especially if they're at smaller clubs. I've also noticed though that your window for signing them seems quite small... most of the good newgens appear to be very close to their 17th birthday in my save.

[bowieinspace]

6 hours ago, lukekarts said:

I've just signed him but he looks quite poor - going to give him a chance to improve but he's here mainly for depth.

At work atm but I'll post a screenshot later...

Oh and Man United offered £126m for Garcia in the end. I rejected... not going to regret it as I have £300m cash in the bank right now and nowhere to spend it. I'd probably finish bottom half without him...

 

He's classed as a wonderkid with a good potential in my save...no chance of getting him from Sociedad though, but keeping my eye on him! I'm only in season two so plenty of time.

[bowieinspace]

11 hours ago, shabloz77 said:

Hi guys!

Will start today my save with Athletic, thanks for sharing your experiences and suggestions.

If I may add one, it is to remember that you can certainly sign only basque (or basque descendant) players, but you can also sign any Spanish national aged 16 or less. My suggestion is to scout all Liga's clubs youth intakes on intake-day. Given that in Spain release-clauses are compulsory, you can hand-force the transfer of the most interesting youngsters in Spain to cover the holes left in your U19 or your intake. It takes time, but if your aim is a long-term save, you'll be able to have after 3/4 years a constant influx of youngster into your first team for every position. Also, normally after the second year you'll be sitting on lot of money so you'll be able to overspend for youth activating their release-clause.

Absolutely, this is something I mention on the first page in regards to scouting. 

I always talk about two ways to play as Athletic Club on FM...one is to use this method and sign Spanish players of 16 or less, and the other method is to only sign Basque players full stop.

Personally I'm a bit of a purist... Athletic would never ever sign a 16 year old with no Basque nationality/upbringing in real life, and in my opinion this loophole has no place in the game. However it's there and people should definitely play the game in whatever way gives them the most enjoyment, either way it's a great challenge.

Welcome to the thread Shabloz, look forward to hearing about how you get on!

[shabloz77]

5 hours ago, bowieinspace said:

Absolutely, this is something I mention on the first page in regards to scouting. 

I always talk about two ways to play as Athletic Club on FM...one is to use this method and sign Spanish players of 16 or less, and the other method is to only sign Basque players full stop.

Personally I'm a bit of a purist... Athletic would never ever sign a 16 year old with no Basque nationality/upbringing in real life, and in my opinion this loophole has no place in the game. However it's there and people should definitely play the game in whatever way gives them the most enjoyment, either way it's a great challenge.

Welcome to the thread Shabloz, look forward to hearing about how you get on!

I'm using the U16s as a way to fill potential holes in my youngster, as mentioned above, many at the end won't even sign, but I feel it is good to add a little bit more depth. I understand your point of view anyway.

Though for your information, Athletic does sign non-basque youngsters at very young age, Laporte is an example, he is neither Basque nor of Basque origin, but joined the club at the aged of 15. Antoine Griezmann is another example, joining Real Sociedad still a young teenager. In fact, Athletic considers eligible people born in the great Basque Country area; people born and who has lived since in the Basque country regardless their "origins", like Inaki Williams (Ghanian family if I'm not wrong); and finally players who are considered club-trained by Athletic itself since the age of 16.

Then of course in reality those latter cases are very few, considering also that Spain has a lot of clubs with great youth academies, so a kid from Catalunya or Andalusia will go to their local club or to Barça, Seville, Betis, etc. 

Anyway, in my save after a slow start due to tactics finding and tweaking, I'm now sitting 3rd only 3 points from Atletico. Barcelona in my save are having a horrible season and I hope I can fill their place so to speak in the top 3. It was since FM13 that I didn't touch Athletic and it feels good to be back!

[bowieinspace]

1 hour ago, shabloz77 said:

I'm using the U16s as a way to fill potential holes in my youngster, as mentioned above, many at the end won't even sign, but I feel it is good to add a little bit more depth. I understand your point of view anyway.

Though for your information, Athletic does sign non-basque youngsters at very young age, Laporte is an example, he is neither Basque nor of Basque origin, but joined the club at the aged of 15. Antoine Griezmann is another example, joining Real Sociedad still a young teenager. In fact, Athletic considers eligible people born in the great Basque Country area; people born and who has lived since in the Basque country regardless their "origins", like Inaki Williams (Ghanian family if I'm not wrong); and finally players who are considered club-trained by Athletic itself since the age of 16.

Then of course in reality those latter cases are very few, considering also that Spain has a lot of clubs with great youth academies, so a kid from Catalunya or Andalusia will go to their local club or to Barça, Seville, Betis, etc. 

Anyway, in my save after a slow start due to tactics finding and tweaking, I'm now sitting 3rd only 3 points from Atletico. Barcelona in my save are having a horrible season and I hope I can fill their place so to speak in the top 3. It was since FM13 that I didn't touch Athletic and it feels good to be back!

I hear you, but a few slight differences there:

Laporte - Has basque family heritage and is also from the greater basque region

Williams - Grew up in Bilbao from a very young age

The point I was making was more that they wouldn't pluck a random 16 year old from Madrid and consider them Basque/of basque heritage/having had their football upbringing in the basque country because they joined the under 18s team at 16  

There are indeed the odd exception who stretch the rules a touch, but there's always a reason

[shabloz77]

I wanted to gamble a Bielsista formation and glad to see the result coming! This are the victories that boost up morale! 

 

 

...and then tried another version and humiliated Pep! Sorry to brag guys, it's just so nice when tactical boldness pays off.

 

[lukekarts]

On 08/12/2016 at 21:38, bowieinspace said:

 

He's classed as a wonderkid with a good potential in my save...no chance of getting him from Sociedad though, but keeping my eye on him! I'm only in season two so plenty of time.

As promised:

Now this is only one save of course, I do think he has untapped potential as he was on my shortlist from the very start, but sadly he didn't perform this season (following that screenshot) so I've let him go.

 

I managed to retain the 2025 La Liga title, winning it with a game to spare over Barcelona, however I'm no way going to retain it for a 3rd successive season. I've brought in no new players for nearly 3 seasons now (well, none for my first team squad) so my focus is integrating the youth from my academy.

 

[bowieinspace]

7 hours ago, lukekarts said:

As promised:

Now this is only one save of course, I do think he has untapped potential as he was on my shortlist from the very start, but sadly he didn't perform this season (following that screenshot) so I've let him go.

 

I managed to retain the 2025 La Liga title, winning it with a game to spare over Barcelona, however I'm no way going to retain it for a 3rd successive season. I've brought in no new players for nearly 3 seasons now (well, none for my first team squad) so my focus is integrating the youth from my academy.

 

Wow! On my save (2nd season) he's already a million miles ahead of his ability on this screen... definitely going to keep up my interest in him but I can't get him off Sociedad at the moment. I tried giving it everything in the press but he ended up renewing his contract....but on the plus side the new contract reduced his release clause by 10 million!

[lukekarts]

2025/26 Season Update

Ander Herrera stalemate

Despite being 36 to commence the season, Herrera's decline has been slower than expected, buoyed by his high natural fitness. He retained some mobility - acceleration 11 pace 10 and his technical attributes remain the strongest in my midfield. I wanted to keep him. But, his agent put his foot down in contract negotiations, wanting a further 1 year extension after 10 games, and making it a mandatory clause to negotiations. I wanted to keep him so badly, so every week for the month of August I came back to the negotiating table - and every time his agent insisted. Herrera wouldn't sack his agent, and by September, no progress had been made.

For whatever reason though, Herrera has stuck around - on a rolling contract, for the entire season. And by average rating, it's been his best yet. He's almost 37.... and I'm debating whether or not I should negotiate further or just hope he stays on a rolling deal...

I need a new Keepa

Kepa, meanwhile, whilst never putting a foot wrong, was earning way too much. A greedy player and agent combo meant he was earning £120k per week (!) and his contract was expiring in June 2025. He wanted £170k to stay, and I just couldn't bring myself to pay almost 20% of my wagebill to him. I let him walk. He eventually signed for AS Monaco to warm the bench, for just £22k per week.

The good news is Chris Atangana - the Cameroonian from the academy at the start of the game, has developed well, and at 25 years old, was more than ready to take the starting role after serving as backup to Kepa for consecutive seasons. Alex Remiro returned from a year at Sevilla to once again be the understudy. It seems to have worked out:

 

The Academy

I mentioned in recent posts, the academy has started to work for me. Confusingly, most of these players looked terrible when they came in and my coaches reports on their potential have evolved over time. Vera was most surprising, he was always a 3 star prospect and until last season, he never looked amounting to much - where Las Palmas coaches worked miracles and he scored 14 goals in 38 appearances for the Island club. With great attributes for a target man I've got the backup position for Garcia secure for a few years.

Decisions to be made...

I'm competing with Real Madrid for 2nd in the league this season, with Barcelona runaway victors. Inigo Martinez is 35 and I'm unsure whether to retain him; Muniain is 'only' 33 but his decline has been terrifying... and my star players Merino and Garcia near 1 year remaining on their contract and are both upset at the lack of investment in my squad - I'm not matching their ambition. I'm stuck between a rock and hard place here. A tough summer ahead...

[Ghents]

On 12/9/2016 at 13:21, shabloz77 said:

I wanted to gamble a Bielsista formation and glad to see the result coming! This are the victories that boost up morale! 

 

 

...and then tried another version and humiliated Pep! Sorry to brag guys, it's just so nice when tactical boldness pays off.

 

 

Really love the look of those strikerless formations.

[bowieinspace]

2025/26 already!

Great to see your academy is working out now Luke

[shabloz77]

I'm on my third season now. Managed to win the Liga last year, thanks to Real and Barça having horrible spells around. Both Enrique and Zidane has gone and it was such a sweet feeling to bring some silverware after only 24 months in charge. 

This year the big two haven't made a wrong step yet and I think it'll be difficult to retain the title, hope in a nice cup or European run though. Aduriz retired but my academy managed to produced a rare jewel, he's already ahead of Villalibre and Santamaria in the starting 11.

[ScottGooner]

Reading this thread has persuaded me to accept the challenge.

Just a question, I know that like my favourite cycling team Euskaltel Euskadi that Athletic can only sign Basque players, but do they sign non Basque nationals for staff roles?

[shabloz77]

2 hours ago, ScottGooner said:

Reading this thread has persuaded me to accept the challenge.

Just a question, I know that like my favourite cycling team Euskaltel Euskadi that Athletic can only sign Basque players, but do they sign non Basque nationals for staff roles?

Yes you can hire whatever staff you like and you can set your manager avatar as you like, there are no limitation on staff nationals. In fact, even IRL some of the most recent iconic manager of Athletic were foreign like Jupp Heynckes or Marcelo Bielsa (who brought them to the Europea League final in 2012).

[Ö-zil to the Arsenal!]

On 9 December 2016 at 15:21, shabloz77 said:

I wanted to gamble a Bielsista formation and glad to see the result coming! This are the victories that boost up morale! 

 

 

...and then tried another version and humiliated Pep! Sorry to brag guys, it's just so nice when tactical boldness pays off.

 

Nice post. Like the shape. We're playing rather similarly. The 3-4-x formation is certainly in vogue this season.

[shabloz77]

1 hour ago, Ö-zil to the Arsenal! said:

Nice post. Like the shape. We're playing rather similarly. The 3-4-x formation is certainly in vogue this season.

The 3 at the back vogue is, I guess, due to Chelsea success with their formation. I normally use a classic 4-3-3 (or 4-1-2-2-1) Because I have pretty decent strikers. And I use a strike-less formation only for very big matches against top-tier opposition. I've noticed that the 3 back-line protected by another 4 is pretty solid defensively (even when playing registas) and the AI struggles a lot to counter a strikeless formation. But I guess I'm going off-topic.

[bowieinspace]

2 hours ago, shabloz77 said:

The 3 at the back vogue is, I guess, due to Chelsea success with their formation. I normally use a classic 4-3-3 (or 4-1-2-2-1) Because I have pretty decent strikers. And I use a strike-less formation only for very big matches against top-tier opposition. I've noticed that the 3 back-line protected by another 4 is pretty solid defensively (even when playing registas) and the AI struggles a lot to counter a strikeless formation. But I guess I'm going off-topic.

I ended up going strikerless this year simply because I couldn't get anything out of my strikers, they were pretty poor every game. I found with a strikerless formation it was easier to get support to the striker without playing a top heavy formation, and the striker was less aggressive in their play (e.g. less dribbling and long shots). 

I'm still working on my striker tactics to get more out of them so hoping to go back to it at some stage.

[bowieinspace]

Season 2:

We had an ok season really, we missed a few chances and didn't win key games that we perhaps should have. Overall though, Atletico had a great season and we should never have been close to them really, they just lost a few near the end. We couldn't keep up with Real or Barca, so 4th was an ok result.

Champions League we had a great run in the group stage in a tough group of Man City, BMG and Basel. We ended up drawing PSG in the 1st knockout round, and overall we were probably the better side but went out narrowly 2-1 on aggregate. The away tie was a scrappy 0-1 loss (2nd leg), but it was the first home leg we really stuffed up. We scored early and dominated the game, but didn't convert our chances from there on despite having plenty of them, and then got caught by a set piece goal in the final minute. 

One success was a Supercup victory against Spurs to open the season up.

One big thing did happen in April though....

[shabloz77]

Just finished 2018/19 season here, my third in charge and we are CHAMPIONS!!! We retain the title in a hotly-battled title fight against Real. By mid season I was thinking it'd be impossible as Real were at +10 by January. Then they hit a bad run of results just as we were finally clicking in.

This was the situation before our return match against them at only 6 weeks from the end of the season, we were only at -1:

And we did it, final standings:

 

Cherry on top, both Iturrino and Villalibre were in the top three for rookie of the year:

 

These were my First and Second XI during the season:

 

It will be harder I guess next season as I want to start integrating some of the youth region produced by the academy. I guess I can allow a transition season in order to help their development and not lose them for lack of playing time.

 

[ekstromlars]

On 2016-12-09 at 19:21, shabloz77 said:

I wanted to gamble a Bielsista formation and glad to see the result coming! This are the victories that boost up morale! 

...and then tried another version and humiliated Pep! Sorry to brag guys, it's just so nice when tactical boldness pays off.

 

Wow, looks really nice and good work with the results. Very keen to know about this tactic when it comes to mentality & TIs. Care to share? No need for download link ofc, just interested to look "under the hood". 

thanks!

[shabloz77]

48 minutes ago, ekstromlars said:

Wow, looks really nice and good work with the results. Very keen to know about this tactic when it comes to mentality & TIs. Care to share? No need for download link ofc, just interested to look "under the hood". 

thanks!

Not at all, I've actually just shared some thoughts on private email to another person. I'll make the same disclaimer though: the strikeless 3-4-3 served me well in big matches, but since I uses only in such occasion I must have used it no more than 8-10 times in total, so it should go under a longer period of scrutiny.

Anyway, Set up is Standard and Flexible. TIs are: Fairly Narrow; Pressing More; Prevent GK...; Use Offside Trap; Play Out of Defence; Pass into Spaces.

The 3 centre-backs are all told to press less, as I want them to keep their shape and not go chasing the ball around. The WB-DM 4-men-line is doing the pressing and the two DMs are set to press more also in the PI. WBs are told to stay narrower to increase our compactness but to run wide with the ball to give the team some attacking width.  

Basically the whole idea is to have three players staying always at the back and maintaining their shape while defending and a four men retreat midfield that press the opposition. When the ball is recover they will pass it to the Enganche who set-up the two Shadow strikers. It is a tactic based on the idea of having a very quick defence-to-attack transition that will caught the opposition disorganised and unable to react in time. It works pretty well with big teams as I guess the AI instructs them to stay higher on the pitch.

I've chosen the Enganche over an Advanced Playmaker or Trequartista because the Enganche is static and doesn't roam around wide. It works as a sort of retreat Target Man. Both 3 "forwards" are told to shot less often to avoid sterile long shots. 

A small tips is to set the two Shadow Strikers before the match to man-mark the opposition fullbacks, like this, you diminish the risk of being outnumbered in wide areas (which is normally the main liability of a 3 at the back formation). While the ball is in the opposition feet, with this small tweak, the formation looks like a wide 3-4-3 and the two Shadow Strikers looks more like Wingers only to rapidly cut in when the ball is reconquered.

Hope I managed to explain this properly.

 

[ekstromlars]

14 hours ago, shabloz77 said:

Not at all, I've actually just shared some thoughts on private email to another person. I'll make the same disclaimer though: the strikeless 3-4-3 served me well in big matches, but since I uses only in such occasion I must have used it no more than 8-10 times in total, so it should go under a longer period of scrutiny.

Anyway, Set up is Standard and Flexible. TIs are: Fairly Narrow; Pressing More; Prevent GK...; Use Offside Trap; Play Out of Defence; Pass into Spaces.

The 3 centre-backs are all told to press less, as I want them to keep their shape and not go chasing the ball around. The WB-DM 4-men-line is doing the pressing and the two DMs are set to press more also in the PI. WBs are told to stay narrower to increase our compactness but to run wide with the ball to give the team some attacking width.  

Basically the whole idea is to have three players staying always at the back and maintaining their shape while defending and a four men retreat midfield that press the opposition. When the ball is recover they will pass it to the Enganche who set-up the two Shadow strikers. It is a tactic based on the idea of having a very quick defence-to-attack transition that will caught the opposition disorganised and unable to react in time. It works pretty well with big teams as I guess the AI instructs them to stay higher on the pitch.

I've chosen the Enganche over an Advanced Playmaker or Trequartista because the Enganche is static and doesn't roam around wide. It works as a sort of retreat Target Man. Both 3 "forwards" are told to shot less often to avoid sterile long shots. 

A small tips is to set the two Shadow Strikers before the match to man-mark the opposition fullbacks, like this, you diminish the risk of being outnumbered in wide areas (which is normally the main liability of a 3 at the back formation). While the ball is in the opposition feet, with this small tweak, the formation looks like a wide 3-4-3 and the two Shadow Strikers looks more like Wingers only to rapidly cut in when the ball is reconquered.

Hope I managed to explain this properly.

 

Amazing, excellent walkthrough of the tactic. Should you ever write anything on this forum I will read it for sure. Tried the tactic in a tough friendly and the tactic really delivered. I will tried it out some more and get back to you via DM. Don't want to go off-topic in this lovely thread.

Thanks again

[shabloz77]

1 hour ago, ekstromlars said:

Amazing, excellent walkthrough of the tactic. Should you ever write anything on this forum I will read it for sure. Tried the tactic in a tough friendly and the tactic really delivered. I will tried it out some more and get back to you via DM. Don't want to go off-topic in this lovely thread.

Thanks again

Thanks mate!

[shabloz77]

So, my super wonderkid regent has been call up by the Spain to earn his first international cap at only 18. We're talking about world class and future Balon d'Or here. 

[lukekarts]

Bibao Champions of Europe (in 2027...)

Following successive league victories, I suspect my team decided to put more focus on our Champions League campaign. There was nothing I did or said to influence this, except maybe mumble in frustration as in every prior season the club failed to advance past the quarter finals and usually went out in the first knockout round. Our Champions League form was BAD.

But, a 5-3 smashing of Paris Saint-Germain, followed by a 5-1 victory over Benfica, saw my Bilbao squad face - and defeat - Manchester United in the Champions League Final with a comfortable 2-1 victory. It completely took me by surprise, to be honest. I opted for counter attacking football to take advantage of my pace up front, whilst expecting to be dominated in possession.

The league was a resuming of normal duties; Barcelona had it sealed with 6 games to spare, whilst I was engaged in a five way fight for 2nd with Las Palmas (!?), Deportivo (?!), Sevilla and Real Madrid. In the end, I settled for 3rd, behind Las Palmas but just ahead of Sevilla. Deportivo had the most bizarre season, they were top at Christmas having won all but one match, but slumped massively during the second half of the season. Las Palmas meanwhile, had a consistent showing all year. Neither squad appears to have any gems amongst them, so a mixture of good form and good management took them to heights you'd never expect. Meanwhile, Valencia have returned to La Liga after several years absence... and they still have no money.

Basque Football Suffers Defensive Drought

The Champions League victory saw three key of my defenders retire - Inigo Martinez, Inigo Lekue and Markel Etxeberria; as well as the retirement of Iker Muniain. I think they all wanted to go out on a high, and given their ages (33-35) it's not surprising. Muniain in particular was a shadow of his former self - his pace was 7 on the day of his retirement.

But, it suddenly dawned on me that my academy has produced just two centre-backs in my 11 year tenure, one who was terrible and departed several years ago, and the other (an earlier screenshot) Iker Pareda is a natural right-back.

Subsequently, I spent around an hour filtering through scouting reports, looking through youth academies, looking for more established players in their early-mid 20s... there are NO basque defenders out there with more than a handful of attributes over 10 - I feel like I'm looking at scouting reports more suitable for my lower league management saves... I managed to find two 3.5* prospects (both 16) and brought them in), but I'm starting the 2027 season with just four defenders, two of whom are 33 (Laporte and Iriondo).

Time to get retraining my midfielders, I think!

[Ghents]

Finally won La Liga in the 2018/2019 season. Got knocked out of Champion's League by PSG in the Semi-Final. Won the Supercopa de Espana.

The 2019/2020 season started strong, outside of my baffling quick exit from Champion's League in group play. Hit an injury crisis and lost some 1-0 matches.

The tide has turned, though.

[Ghents]

I'll try to do a full update later, but dominated the league in 2019/2020.

[Jean0987654321]

Man, Villalibre is soon good for me thus far in the second season. 2 goals and 2 assists in 2 games so far...

[ben carter]

Just finished my first season. Came second to Barca and won the Europa league.

Just a quick one about transfers though. I've signed Mikel Merino on a 2 year loan with the option to buy for 25 million, which I'll probably take up but I was mainly wondering about Ander Herrera. I've seen some of you managed to get him back and I was just wondering when and for how much.

I'm in the 2017 summer window and United wont budge on £50 million. He didn't seem to have a particularly good year but I can't get them to budge on their valuation.  I may have to go back in 2018, i just can't afford him without selling (which I don't really want to do)

Cheers 

[bowieinspace]

4 hours ago, ben carter said:

Just finished my first season. Came second to Barca and won the Europa league.

Just a quick one about transfers though. I've signed Mikel Merino on a 2 year loan with the option to buy for 25 million, which I'll probably take up but I was mainly wondering about Ander Herrera. I've seen some of you managed to get him back and I was just wondering when and for how much.

I'm in the 2017 summer window and United wont budge on £50 million. He didn't seem to have a particularly good year but I can't get them to budge on their valuation.  I may have to go back in 2018, i just can't afford him without selling (which I don't really want to do)

Cheers 

I managed to pick him up in the summer of 2017 for somewhere around 30mil after some negotiating. He's been a fantastic signing so if you get the opportunity I would do it. He does generally become available so keep at them, you might be able to grind them down with time. I also took up a loan to buy option on Merino and he's still developing fairly well.

I've had a few weeks off playing so no further developments to report for me, about a month into the 18/19 season. I took a break over Christmas/New Year with all the social commitments, and my video game time was spent elsewhere! Going to get back into it soon when I get the itch!

[eple]

15 hours ago, ben carter said:

 I've signed Mikel Merino on a 2 year loan with the option to buy for 25 million

Cheeky! I didn't think ahead and got him on a 1-year loan. Made him into a superstar and now Dortmund consider him important and won't budge on the £71m release clause and will probably offer him a new deal.

As for Herrera I experienced the same as you. United initially wanting £50m-75m. At the tail end of 2nd season it dropped to £35m-£50m. And at the start of the 3rd season they dropped their asking price to £22m-£28m. He wasn't really keen on it either, I had to pay him  £155k pr week, £6.5m loyalty and £35k pr game. In the end I decided to not sign him until maybe United drop him from the team and he wants to move. Unai Lopez is already just as good, if not better. Good tutor though so he would be a decent player to have around.

It's been frustrating in terms of recruiting senior players. My only senior player signed was Dani Garcia in the 2nd season and Xabi Alonso in the 3rd. On the up side I've had the funds to be able to sign every decent Spanish youngster coming through and already have a few ready for the first team.

[bowieinspace]

15 hours ago, eple said:

Cheeky! I didn't think ahead and got him on a 1-year loan. Made him into a superstar and now Dortmund consider him important and won't budge on the £71m release clause and will probably offer him a new deal.

I was close to being in this situation. I went with a 1 year loan but included an option to buy at something like 25mil. Fortunately I was able to get it together to make the purchase but he wanted big wages. I wish I'd remembered you could now do a 2 year loan and I would have done that instead, but fortunately all worked out well for me!

[eple]

I was actually able to unsettle him. I had him as a top target, scouted him and attended a few games. Kept on bidding. He requested to leave eventually and after a few months they dropped their price. So he'll be joining for £17.25m on a modest £38.5k pr week in Jan 2019.

[CraigTodd]

On 12/9/2016 at 18:21, shabloz77 said:

I wanted to gamble a Bielsista formation and glad to see the result coming! This are the victories that boost up morale! 

 

 

...and then tried another version and humiliated Pep! Sorry to brag guys, it's just so nice when tactical boldness pays off.

 

 

Love the look of these! Tried the 2nd one against bottom side there and won 3-0, significantly less cards than I'd been given in past. Going to trial run it into Jan, have a cup game against Barcelona.

Just wanted to say fantastic work on this thread for those involved, really helps when starting out at Athletic.

Midway point through my 1st season and sitting 4th. Surprisingly I received no bids for my top players (clubs are interested mind you).

Is there anyone people would recommend attempting to go for in Jan 2017?

[Jean0987654321]

On 1/12/2017 at 19:17, bowieinspace said:

I was close to being in this situation. I went with a 1 year loan but included an option to buy at something like 25mil. Fortunately I was able to get it together to make the purchase but he wanted big wages. I wish I'd remembered you could now do a 2 year loan and I would have done that instead, but fortunately all worked out well for me!

I got him on loan w/ option to buy in the second season because he asked to leave. Greatest $15M ever spent. Decided to settle him in as one of my back three guys in my interpretation of Conte 343. BPD (c).

[bowieinspace]

6 hours ago, CraigTodd said:

 

Love the look of these! Tried the 2nd one against bottom side there and won 3-0, significantly less cards than I'd been given in past. Going to trial run it into Jan, have a cup game against Barcelona.

Just wanted to say fantastic work on this thread for those involved, really helps when starting out at Athletic.

Midway point through my 1st season and sitting 4th. Surprisingly I received no bids for my top players (clubs are interested mind you).

Is there anyone people would recommend attempting to go for in Jan 2017?

Mikel Merino is generally the first top basque player you want to keep an eye on if you're not already keeping tabs. I know most people have brought in Merino on loan with an option to buy right at the start of the game. 

Ander Herrera will be the next one but he might not become available until the summer at the earliest, and a decent cost, but he's a great signing. Other than that there's a few signings worth a look for depth, and Oyarzabel at Sociedad can have high potential but it's near impossible to sign him. 

[CraigTodd]

On 1/25/2017 at 19:35, bowieinspace said:

Mikel Merino is generally the first top basque player you want to keep an eye on if you're not already keeping tabs. I know most people have brought in Merino on loan with an option to buy right at the start of the game. 

Ander Herrera will be the next one but he might not become available until the summer at the earliest, and a decent cost, but he's a great signing. Other than that there's a few signings worth a look for depth, and Oyarzabel at Sociedad can have high potential but it's near impossible to sign him. 

Just managed to get Merino on 18-month loan deal, optional purchase of £22mil which was cheapest I could get. Extended Aduriz's contract by 1-year but think he's on his way out to Saudi Arabia now.

I've managed to get to Spanish Cup final too.

Crazy how quickly you start to take the save so seriously! Can't wait for Youth Intake.

[bowieinspace]

17 hours ago, CraigTodd said:

Just managed to get Merino on 18-month loan deal, optional purchase of £22mil which was cheapest I could get. Extended Aduriz's contract by 1-year but think he's on his way out to Saudi Arabia now.

I've managed to get to Spanish Cup final too.

Crazy how quickly you start to take the save so seriously! Can't wait for Youth Intake.

That's not a bad deal on Merino by any means, you'll want to make that purchase if he's willing to negotiate a low wage

[eple]

I'm in the latter half of the third season. Thought I'd share some pics of Villalibra and my best newgens

Garcia is already 1st team choice. Ortega is on par with Lekue. Xavi has fillied in a little bit here and there. Moreno is 2nd choice behind Villalibre.

Villalibre has been our savior. I renewed Aduritz contract, but he still retired at then end of the 1st season. I was unsure of Villalibra.. his attributes were not very impressive (him being good with either feet plays a part I guess). He came good though and has improved massively. Still has more potential according to my coaches.

[CraigTodd]

That's Barcelona just signed Inigo Martinez so will be keeping an eye out for when he doesn't get a game.

[CraigTodd]

On 1/28/2017 at 10:50, eple said:

 

Garcia is already 1st team choice. Ortega is on par with Lekue. Xavi has fillied in a little bit here and there. Moreno is 2nd choice behind Villalibre.

Villalibre has been our savior. I renewed Aduritz contract, but he still retired at then end of the 1st season. I was unsure of Villalibra.. his attributes were not very impressive (him being good with either feet plays a part I guess). He came good though and has improved massively. Still has more potential according to my coaches.

What role do you play Villalibre?

[eple]

12 minutes ago, CraigTodd said:

What role do you play Villalibre?

His role is a bit tricky to nail down.. At first I played him as a DLF-A, mainly because his physique and passing ability was below average. He was not quick enough to dribble and not good enough to play others through.

2nd and 3rd season he did very well as an AF-A lone striker, scoring about 2 in 3.

4th season I've changed my formation a bit and he's now a CF-A. He has struggled a bit, scoring just 2 in 13, then all of sudden he scored 5 in a match and got a perfect 10. My team is doing better with the new tactic, but I'm still not sure about the striker role.

tl;dr: Not sure what he's best at.