FM17: Athletic Club Bilbao - Basque in the glory

[razu64]

HEy guys, I am reading this thread and it looks to be an interessing carreer. I want to make a career with Bilbao but is it worth it? I am scared to be bored because of the fact that I can't buy players (except basque).

[Chappy2509]

Currently starting 2nd season I must say it a very different game when you can't just go and sign which ever player you want so far so good only thing annoying me is the real ease clauses in the contracts.

[Chappy2509]

Thanks for all the advice on the release clause just signed Laporte to a new 5 year deal with a 89 million release clause happy with that 

[bowieinspace]

8 hours ago, razu64 said:

HEy guys, I am reading this thread and it looks to be an interessing carreer. I want to make a career with Bilbao but is it worth it? I am scared to be bored because of the fact that I can't buy players (except basque).

A lot of people play Football Manager for the transfers, well Athletic is all about managing the team and youth development so the focus is a little different. You get to know your players and have to work with what you have. Personally I don't find it boring at all, but it's not for everyone. You should give it a try!

[Jean0987654321]

9 hours ago, razu64 said:

HEy guys, I am reading this thread and it looks to be an interessing carreer. I want to make a career with Bilbao but is it worth it? I am scared to be bored because of the fact that I can't buy players (except basque).

It won't be boring, I promise. IMO, its much more exciting to see my
youth prospects fighting their way to the starting 11. It might not be
you since it's a long term save and they are a few that don't like that but it works for me as I like to youth push their way into the team

[BoxToBox]

10 hours ago, razu64 said:

HEy guys, I am reading this thread and it looks to be an interessing carreer. I want to make a career with Bilbao but is it worth it? I am scared to be bored because of the fact that I can't buy players (except basque).

Don't worry about it, Athletic Club is one of the best saves on FM, and probably the best of the top leagues.

A real fun blend of entertainment, challenge, and youth development. I'd recommend anyone to try it.

[bowieinspace]

I'll just leave this here...

 

 

[Chappy2509]

Half way through season 2 all is not good spent most of the season in 15 th place  majority of players have lost confidence in my ability going to be hard to pull my self out of this managed to push up to 9 th but so inconsistent.

[ManUtdFan]

Hey guys,

 

Finished my first season with Bilbao and I've got a question about the B/C teams. I set my B-team manager to take care of B team contract renewals, player purchases etc and my DoF to take care of everything in the C team. But once the contracts expired they didn't renew anyone and didn't even attempt to buy anyone, currently got the whole C-team on month-to-month deals and not sure what to do. How to people handle the C team, do you guys release all of the bad/lower PA players?

[Dokara]

When i played with Bilbao last year, i did everything. Because no matter how much they talk about advanced AI, i always end up doing things myself. Can't trust a machine. 

Basically, take two or three hours at the beginning of the season and go through every single player you have. All teams included. And grade them. Move them between teams. Make a teams with 22-25 players. If they're looking good, give them 3 year contract. If they're great with potential, give them 4 year contract. If they're useful, 2. Just drop the rest. There is a lot of deadwood and you'll almost for sure get better players in intake than you have in C team. 

[Chappy2509]

Yeah I'm afraid I have to do everything my self,with b and c team now as I can trust the computer but on a bright side my b team got promoted to league 2 2 season ago and have managed to stay in the division which as been great for young player development ,also a few newgens that didn't look like much at the start are coming good but on the down side every transfer window I'm always rejecting bids for them and in turn the player wants a new contract anyoing

[Jean0987654321]

5 hours ago, Chappy2509 said:

Yeah I'm afraid I have to do everything my self,with b and c team now as I can trust the computer but on a bright side my b team got promoted to league 2 2 season ago and have managed to stay in the division which as been great for young player development ,also a few newgens that didn't look like much at the start are coming good but on the down side every transfer window I'm always rejecting bids for them and in turn the player wants a new contract anyoing

You'll get used to that as you play a lil deeper in the challenge. Players moaning about you rejecting an awful bid from a big club and stuff like that..

[Chappy2509]

Yeah I know what you mean it's annoying just pisses me of as straight away they want a new contract even though they signed a fresh 5 year deal 

[bowieinspace]

9 minutes ago, Chappy2509 said:

Yeah I know what you mean it's annoying just pisses me of as straight away they want a new contract even though they signed a fresh 5 year deal 

I just tell them to get on with it, they are unhappy for a few months and then sort themselves out!

[Jonny2J]

On 03/09/2017 at 10:21, bowieinspace said:

I'll just leave this here...

 

 

 

That's fantastic man.

[bowieinspace]

Future superstar alert!

Everything about this guy screams massive PA. I think he could be one of the best players I've ever seen on FM provided he avoids any major injuries. Will post an update when he's a bit older

[Chappy2509]

Did he come from your academy valued at 17 million and only 18 going to be a beast 

[bowieinspace]

59 minutes ago, Chappy2509 said:

Did he come from your academy valued at 17 million and only 18 going to be a beast 

Yeah came from our academy. I just have a feeling this guy is going to be a god amongst little tiny pixel men.

[CapaJr]

Actually if only the basque players at Sociedad were interested for a transfer, there would still be plenty of choices for transfers.

but it sucks that they are never interested, which makes the options even more limited. 

 

[BoxToBox]

You can convince them eventually, but often it's after a move from Sociedad first.

There are lots of high to high-ish Basque clubs about(Eibar, Alaves, Osasuna, and I've seen all produce amazing players), so there are always plenty of options, and at worst you can pinch any 16 year old Spaniard you want.

[Chappy2509]

5 hours ago, bowieinspace said:

Yeah came from our academy. I just have a feeling this guy is going to be a god amongst little tiny pixel men.

Best get a monster release clause on him keep the big clubs away,do u lose many of your best players to the bigger teams 

[bowieinspace]

6 hours ago, CapaJr said:

Actually if only the basque players at Sociedad were interested for a transfer, there would still be plenty of choices for transfers.

but it sucks that they are never interested, which makes the options even more limited. 

 

You can do it eventually when club rep separates out a fair way, but even then some players are a straight no. Just like real life

[bowieinspace]

3 hours ago, Chappy2509 said:

Best get a monster release clause on him keep the big clubs away,do u lose many of your best players to the bigger teams 

He's got a 120mil clause  

i haven't lost anyone to a bigger club yet in this save, I'm firm on rejecting offers and dealing with unhappy players do I just wait them out. I had a near miss with Laporte but saved it with a ridiculous new contract 

[Chappy2509]

1 hour ago, bowieinspace said:

He's got a 120mil clause  

i haven't lost anyone to a bigger club yet in this save, I'm firm on rejecting offers and dealing with unhappy players do I just wait them out. I had a near miss with Laporte but saved it with a ridiculous new contract 

Will like to see how he develops in a couple of years 

[bowieinspace]

1 hour ago, Chappy2509 said:

Will like to see how he develops in a couple of years 

Yeah I'll post an update here come the end of each season!

[bowieinspace]

Well this is new... my board built the B team a new stadium with a nearly 10k capacity! Never seen that before

[Chappy2509]

1 hour ago, bowieinspace said:

Well this is new... my board built the B team a new stadium with a nearly 10k capacity! Never seen that before

That is great news for your b team didn't even know that can happen ,my b team have been in second league straight for 3 years now which I'm hoping will help with the development  of my youngsters 

[Chappy2509]

Just looked at my b team stadium and they have had a bit of an stadium increase as well which I never nöticed befor. 

[bowieinspace]

FInally did it!

Superstar update:

[Chappy2509]

4 hours ago, bowieinspace said:

FInally did it!

Superstar update:

Good effort  I into my 5 th seasons and have not managed to finish higher than 5 th 

[bowieinspace]

7 minutes ago, Chappy2509 said:

Good effort  I into my 5 th seasons and have not managed to finish higher than 5 th 

Cheers. You'll get there mate just stick at it! Usually I find it difficult to dominant the league but on this save it's been ridiculous. I think I might have won 9 out of the last 10 years. I kept getting knocked out in the Champions League latter stages though...a few semis, quarters and one lost final. For some reason the other Spanish teams are quite weak so I've had an easy ride in the league but struggled to get through multiple rounds against very strong English teams mostly in the Champions League...this year was nice though, beat Man Utd in the quarters who had won the last 3 Champions League titles, Arsenal in the semis and then Man City in the final. Get wrecked England.

[Chappy2509]

I only have 2 players left from the start of the game and that is my gk kepa and the crown Juel which is Laporte below is the youngster in the team from the academy 

[bowieinspace]

Future hero update:

[Chappy2509]

2 hours ago, bowieinspace said:

Future hero update:

Progressing nicely any big teams sniffing around yet.

[bowieinspace]

26 minutes ago, Chappy2509 said:

Progressing nicely any big teams sniffing around yet.

Surprisingly no, but he has a huge release clause after he signed a new deal last season (on a much bigger wage too), so he won't be going anywhere. I'm basically going to lock him at Lezama

[Chappy2509]

14 hours ago, bowieinspace said:

Surprisingly no, but he has a huge release clause after he signed a new deal last season (on a much bigger wage too), so he won't be going anywhere. I'm basically going to lock him at Lezama

That's ok then my best player is being poached by PSg at the mo ,he as 3 years left on is contract with 80 release clause psg offers are creeping up slowly ,hope I can keep hold of him he is currently unhappy and will not negotiate a new deal 

[bowieinspace]

1 hour ago, Chappy2509 said:

That's ok then my best player is being poached by PSg at the mo ,he as 3 years left on is contract with 80 release clause psg offers are creeping up slowly ,hope I can keep hold of him he is currently unhappy and will not negotiate a new deal 

As long as they don't hit his release clause by the end of the window, they will likely lose interest and his unhappiness will go away. Then you can either wait or resign him with a higher release clause if you're worried. 

[Jean0987654321]

I lost a fair share of players due to release clauses but at least I have plenty of depth to replace them...

[bowieinspace]

@Jean0987654321 what are you up to tactically these days on your save? I was just having a read around to get some inspiration and had a look at your Lucien Favre 4-4-2 Gladbach thread from last year. I'm a big fan of the 4-4-2 and have experimented with Favre's Gladbach 4-4-2 in the past on saves. I'm looking for something to try with this Athletic save to develop and take into FM18 when that comes out due to the following:

I've gotten to a real point of difficulty on this save which, to be honest, is worse than anything I've dealt with on FM before. My troubles stem from:
- Real/Barca/Atletico under performing for many years, giving me 9 out of 10 league titles between 2020 and 2030.
- During my final league title success I also won the Champions League after a few years of semi finals, one final lose and numerous quarter finals. Up until that stage my club rep was obviously very good having dominated Spain, but it was never right at the top in Europe. Once I won the Champions League it felt like this triggered an increase in our club rep which has affected the way teams set up against me.
- We also lost a number of key players to age/decline (Laporte, Oyarzabal, Williams and Villalibre all left after the Champions League final). This has left us with a club rep that probably doesn't reflect the ability of my players (we're a very good team with a few star players, and a lot of solid squad players, we certainly don't have quality all over the pitch).

It feels like the increase in club rep has led to teams setting up very defensively against us, particularly when we're at home, and we no longer have the quality to break them down. Our team is best at playing down the wings and crossing to our superb forwards, but last season teams just played deep and narrow, packing the box so our crossing game didn't work well. We drew so many games 1-1 or 0-0 last season against stubborn teams, they would just grab a goal from a set piece or odd attack and our central players aren't good enough to work through the deep/narrow block. Usually we came up against the same formations which we struggled against regularly as well...either a coincidence or the AI is getting smarter these days. In Europe we are still doing just fine, but in La Liga it's absolutely horrible. Last season, without changing our tactical system from the year before, we went from 99 points to 70.

Fair play to you Football Manager, you have frustrated me.

Either way, I built a different set up for this season, switching from a 4-4-2 focusing on wide play, to a 4-3-2-1 (the two attacking mids playing wide and the 3 midfielders playing centrally). This involved keeping one star striker up front, moving one out wide to play as a raumdeuter, and having the other attacking mid play as a winger to stretch play. The central midfielders play as a DLP (D) who anchors play, alongside a BWM and a CM (A). The idea was to maintain our overall philosophy, but with a central midfield runner, mixed wide play (and the option to flip the wide roles mid game) alongside a forward who roamed around, dropped deep, went wide to create space for others and drag the defence around, I had hoped it would help us break down more stubborn teams. 

Our possession went up, clear cut chances went up, shots on target went up. However for whatever reason, the results haven't changed. We give away goals on the counter too easily and don't turn our dominance into goals. The change hasn't really done what I wanted it to do philosophically and partly through boredom, and partly through frustration I want to go back to the 4-4-2. The only difference is I plan to go deeper with my defence, run a compact block around our own box and then spring out with quick, short passing on the counter. I am hoping this will draw teams out and we can catch them on the counter, as my players need some room to breath!!! It'll be a Favre style 4-4-2 (I don't want to go as defensive as Simeone)...if you have any thoughts let me know!

[BoxToBox]

Been playing with Athletic the last few days, had Aduriz do this in a game.

Sadly, not long later he decided he must have CL football, and I suggested we'd get it if he put his head down and worked. Crisis over. Until January came and he signed a pre-contract with Atletico, I couldn't offer him a contract as he was unhappy waiting out the promise to see if we'd get CL football.

Now it's April, he hasn't played a game since, we're a win away from the title and Atletico look very much like they'll finish 5th.....

In other news, I got a message in early January that Mikel Merino was available, for 4m! Daylight robbery.....

[Chappy2509]

                   i   am absolutely devasted with this a youngster from  my academy ,he had turned into a world class winger as well,devasted tried getting on new contract but wasn't interested at all so I couldn't up is realises clause worst thing is after 6 season I just finished third and qualified for the champions league .

[Jean0987654321]

On 9/19/2017 at 00:09, bowieinspace said:

@Jean0987654321 what are you up to tactically these days on your save? I was just having a read around to get some inspiration and had a look at your Lucien Favre 4-4-2 Gladbach thread from last year. I'm a big fan of the 4-4-2 and have experimented with Favre's Gladbach 4-4-2 in the past on saves. I'm looking for something to try with this Athletic save to develop and take into FM18 when that comes out due to the following:

I've gotten to a real point of difficulty on this save which, to be honest, is worse than anything I've dealt with on FM before. My troubles stem from:
- Real/Barca/Atletico under performing for many years, giving me 9 out of 10 league titles between 2020 and 2030.
- During my final league title success I also won the Champions League after a few years of semi finals, one final lose and numerous quarter finals. Up until that stage my club rep was obviously very good having dominated Spain, but it was never right at the top in Europe. Once I won the Champions League it felt like this triggered an increase in our club rep which has affected the way teams set up against me.
- We also lost a number of key players to age/decline (Laporte, Oyarzabal, Williams and Villalibre all left after the Champions League final). This has left us with a club rep that probably doesn't reflect the ability of my players (we're a very good team with a few star players, and a lot of solid squad players, we certainly don't have quality all over the pitch).

It feels like the increase in club rep has led to teams setting up very defensively against us, particularly when we're at home, and we no longer have the quality to break them down. Our team is best at playing down the wings and crossing to our superb forwards, but last season teams just played deep and narrow, packing the box so our crossing game didn't work well. We drew so many games 1-1 or 0-0 last season against stubborn teams, they would just grab a goal from a set piece or odd attack and our central players aren't good enough to work through the deep/narrow block. Usually we came up against the same formations which we struggled against regularly as well...either a coincidence or the AI is getting smarter these days. In Europe we are still doing just fine, but in La Liga it's absolutely horrible. Last season, without changing our tactical system from the year before, we went from 99 points to 70.

Fair play to you Football Manager, you have frustrated me.

Either way, I built a different set up for this season, switching from a 4-4-2 focusing on wide play, to a 4-3-2-1 (the two attacking mids playing wide and the 3 midfielders playing centrally). This involved keeping one star striker up front, moving one out wide to play as a raumdeuter, and having the other attacking mid play as a winger to stretch play. The central midfielders play as a DLP (D) who anchors play, alongside a BWM and a CM (A). The idea was to maintain our overall philosophy, but with a central midfield runner, mixed wide play (and the option to flip the wide roles mid game) alongside a forward who roamed around, dropped deep, went wide to create space for others and drag the defence around, I had hoped it would help us break down more stubborn teams. 

Our possession went up, clear cut chances went up, shots on target went up. However for whatever reason, the results haven't changed. We give away goals on the counter too easily and don't turn our dominance into goals. The change hasn't really done what I wanted it to do philosophically and partly through boredom, and partly through frustration I want to go back to the 4-4-2. The only difference is I plan to go deeper with my defence, run a compact block around our own box and then spring out with quick, short passing on the counter. I am hoping this will draw teams out and we can catch them on the counter, as my players need some room to breath!!! It'll be a Favre style 4-4-2 (I don't want to go as defensive as Simeone)...if you have any thoughts let me know!

I've settled with something similar to that. I got too many good strikers in the side to not use a high-pressing 442

[Chappy2509]

What's every one doing when fm 18 is coming out trying a new team or staying with Bilbao 

[bowieinspace]

7 hours ago, Chappy2509 said:

What's every one doing when fm 18 is coming out trying a new team or staying with Bilbao 

Well I've been playing my Athletic save on FM17 a lot recently, and I actually started this save on the beta last year but then had a long break from the game Jan-Aug. Athletic has been my main save on FM for many years and I will do it again on FM18 for sure. I will explore all things Athletic again when the game comes out, but I might not get into the save straight away....as I've been playing this FM17 save so much recently I want to keep things fresh as well. I will certainly be involved here though, and will create the Athletic Club guide/drive the forum thread again alongside @Ghents if he's keen to help out with some of the initial stuff (if you're not keen Ghents I can do it alone, no stress).

[Jean0987654321]

7 hours ago, Chappy2509 said:

What's every one doing when fm 18 is coming out trying a new team or staying with Bilbao 

Might stick with Bilbao. Hopefully, the youth will have better ratings instead of me just waiting for regens...

[bowieinspace]

22 minutes ago, Jean0987654321 said:

Might stick with Bilbao. Hopefully, the youth will have better ratings instead of me just waiting for regens...

Yeah certainly hope so. If not though I can always edit the database and share it when the full game comes out. SI generally freeze the player ratings fairly early on, I can't remember exactly when, but it always means that players who emerge quickly at the start of the season (e.g. Yeray last year) don't get ratings that reflect that at the start of the game. So players who have come into the first team this year for Athletic such as Unai Nunez and Inigo Cordoba, I wouldn't expect their CA ratings to be particularly well adjusted to reflect their performances in the first team this season.

[Guest El Payaso]

11 hours ago, bowieinspace said:

Yeah certainly hope so. If not though I can always edit the database and share it when the full game comes out. SI generally freeze the player ratings fairly early on, I can't remember exactly when, but it always means that players who emerge quickly at the start of the season (e.g. Yeray last year) don't get ratings that reflect that at the start of the game. So players who have come into the first team this year for Athletic such as Unai Nunez and Inigo Cordoba, I wouldn't expect their CA ratings to be particularly well adjusted to reflect their performances in the first team this season.

If I remember correctly there were very little (if any at all) db changes last year in terms of Athletic and for example in the original db Yeray and Kepa were both still both ranked and placed to the reserve squad while both really were solid first teamers and Kepa taken over the place as a starting goalkeeper. Hope that this isn't the case this year and for example Unai Nuñez's presence and generally really good performances, also Córdoba has been featuring in the first team for three times already in La Liga and for me Vesga has been really good in the midfield. Hope that these will be also notified in the game db. Would also like to see upgrades on Lekue who has been solid for couple of seasons now and also upgrade to De Marcos' defensive attributes that still are rated fairly low even though he has played and performed really well as a right back for years now at the top level. 

[bowieinspace]

God update:

Coaches reckon he still has room for improvement too on his report...he is already amazing, intrigued to see just how much better he gets

Second time in three years in the Champions League! This feels like the natural end to the save with FM18 around the corner, but I've got quite a few decent newgens, including God above, who I want to see develop a bit

[ChrisBones1990]

Pre season on my second season and really enjoying the save so far. Finished 5th in the first season, Managed to resign laporte, williams, munain and villalibre on long contracts with high release clauses. Got 2 good prospects in the first youth intake, Excited to see how they develop and hopefully i get a few more good ones. Has anyone signed Oyarzabal from sociedad if so is he hard to acquire? 

[bowieinspace]

27 minutes ago, ChrisBones1990 said:

Pre season on my second season and really enjoying the save so far. Finished 5th in the first season, Managed to resign laporte, williams, munain and villalibre on long contracts with high release clauses. Got 2 good prospects in the first youth intake, Excited to see how they develop and hopefully i get a few more good ones. Has anyone signed Oyarzabal from sociedad if so is he hard to acquire? 

I signed him, but it took me years of hard work. Proved well worth it mind you