FM18: Athletic Club (Bilbao) - Los Leones

[bowieinspace]

1 minute ago, Jean0987654321 said:

Don't worry, mate. Barca will prolly transfer list him in the next season or the one after

Fingers crossed!

I'm currently playing Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey. Not really too fussed given our league situation, so I sent out my most aggressive 11 players, hard tackling all across the pitch with high tempo and max closing down...let's see how many of their players I can write off for a few games! 

[Jean0987654321]

3 minutes ago, bowieinspace said:

Fingers crossed!

I'm currently playing Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey. Not really too fussed given our league situation, so I sent out my most aggressive 11 players, hard tackling all across the pitch with high tempo and max closing down...let's see how many of their players I can write off for a few games! 

That seems to be the way to go for Derbies. When I played my Turkish rivals in my Trabzonspor save, I hard tackled almost everyone...

[bowieinspace]

5 minutes ago, Jean0987654321 said:

That seems to be the way to go for Derbies. When I played my Turkish rivals in my Trabzonspor save, I hard tackled almost everyone...

I just sent out a team of destroyers, injured Bale and Kroos, and won 3-1 at home (after losing 5-3 away first leg) to beat them on away goals... unbelievable scenes. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THIS TEAM!

[Jean0987654321]

1 minute ago, bowieinspace said:

I just sent out a team of destroyers, injured Bale and Kroos, and won 3-1 at home (after losing 5-3 away first leg) to beat them on away goals... unbelievable scenes. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THIS TEAM!

Good God. We are lucky in this edition. I haven't faced the top 2 yet, tho

[Ricotero_uy]

22 hours ago, Olivierlandman said:

I wasnt going to sign any non under 16 players.. what is Bilbao doing irl? Are they signing youngsters like that?

In real life, Athletic has signed young players from other teams but usually those teams are basques. This year there was a situation with Youssouf Diarra (13/9/97) who is from Mali, moved to Lleida (not basque country) at the age of 8, at the age of 17 he moved to Pamplona (Navarra) and in 2017 moved from Chantrea to Basconia (Athletic C team). Those years are considered by Athletic board enough to consider that the player is developed in the Basque Country. Remember, it matters more where the player was developed than if he has basque family.

The game does not simulate that, the game only allows Athletic to buy spanish 15&16 yo players and turn them into basques. The reality in the game would be that basque teams convert automatically all the young players into basques, no matter if they are spanish, french or chinese, and then they are able to play for Athletic. Of course that basque born players are available, the issue is with those that didn't were born in the basque country. The trick Athletic does, is to buy players at a young age and develop them in their affiliated clubs in the basque country to make them available to sign them later for the C, B or first team.

 

The most known player that is not basque is Aymeric Laporte. He was signed by an Athletic affiliate when we was a kid and Athletic couldn't bring him to Lezama. That team was in the basque country (inside France), and immediately he was able to play for Athletic.

Some people would understand this like cheating at solitaire, but Athletic wants their players to be identified with the people from the Basque Country, doesn't matter where did they born, the idea is that every player that play for the first team know the place, know the people, know how they feel football, and how they feel Athletic. That's the philosophy, IMO.

I leave the link to Diarra's news.

https://en.as.com/en/2017/06/28/football/1498654135_861421.html

[OlivierL]

Thanks for the explanation !

This is also a good article : https://insideathletic.com/2017/06/25/signing-of-youssouf-diarra-sparks-debate-over-athletics-basque-only-policy/amp/

[CapaJr]

So, in other words, u16's are fair game and will not be cheating if we persue them. 

 

[OlivierL]

In my second season at the moment (next match vs Man city in the super cup, then the spanish supercup vs Real Madrid):

In : Capa (pre-signed) , Villalibre , Santamaria(promoted him because of the injured Aduriz) , Unai Lopez and Alex Remiro as third GK.

Out: Sola (retired) , Merino(loaned out) , Gil (loaned out) , Balenziaga till january in the second team because of long injury..

Don't intend to do anything else. My two best newgens from the first youth intake are loaned out to Sestao River

The supercup final is played in Tallinn.. a small stadium +- 9000 crowd.. special

[OlivierL]

We missed Iturraspe, Rico and Aduriz.

[Jean0987654321]

5 hours ago, Olivierlandman said:

In my second season at the moment (next match vs Man city in the super cup, then the spanish supercup vs Real Madrid):

In : Capa (pre-signed) , Villalibre , Santamaria(promoted him because of the injured Aduriz) , Unai Lopez and Alex Remiro as third GK.

Out: Sola (retired) , Merino(loaned out) , Gil (loaned out) , Balenziaga till january in the second team because of long injury..

Don't intend to do anything else. My two best newgens from the first youth intake are loaned out to Sestao River

The supercup final is played in Tallinn.. a small stadium +- 9000 crowd.. special

Gorka? I thought he was sold by Athletic

[bowieinspace]

8 hours ago, CapaJr said:

So, in other words, u16's are fair game and will not be cheating if we persue them. 

 

No not cheating, it’s how the game has chosen to interpret the policy.

[bowieinspace]

It went down to the wire but we just about did it! Unbelievable effort for the first season and we held our nerve on the final day. We had a bit of a dip in late January/February and Real Madrid (after a fairly poor start to the season) barely dropped a point in the second half. They lost a game unexpectedly about 4 games from the end and it allowed us to sneak back in to 1st.

Tactics wise, we played a combination of a 4-2-3-1 with two DMs, using a SS/TM combo up front. That worked really well but by the end of the season I found myself using more of the following:

Ignore the player selection, in pre season!

We're mid way through the summer now, we've signed Yuri (and of course Ander Capa) which has given us plenty of depth on the flanks. We got a really good offer for San Jose which I accepted (around 40mil with 30 of it up front), but he rejected Man City's contract. Not a problem as I like San Jose, the only downside is that I have no money to spend. I managed to pick up Yuri for about 6.5million GBP, but Herrera/Mikel Merino would cost 40/25 mil each respectively, and Odriozola is at Barca still and there's no hope there. I currently have 50 million in the bank and I was given a 7 million budget (just enough to sign Yuri). Ugh. 

 

Plan for season two is to hope I get a transfer budget increase before January, and either Herrera or Odriozola become available. I picked up a few quality CMs in my youth intake day, so I'm not stressing over Herrera although he would be ideal for the BBM role in my 4-4-2. Villalibre is a big focus this season, he will get plenty of minutes as he is still rated as having a heap of potential and I know how useful he can be from previous games. Oscar Gil has gone back out on loan, as will Unai Lopez hopefully, so it'll leave me with a very similar squad to last season.

In's:
Yuri, Capa plus a youngster from Osasuna

Out's:
Mikel Rico (free), Saborit (free), Boveda (free), Markel Exteberria (free), Etxeita (free), Sola (free)

[OlivierL]

Nice! And the europa league? 

I have 90milj on my balance in the summer btw. 

Yuri is a nice transfer.

[OlivierL]

19 hours ago, Jean0987654321 said:

Gorka? I thought he was sold by Athletic

He was in the Bilbao team at the start of the first season

[Ghents]

After weeks of tinkering about, I think I finally found a formation I really like that I can work with at Athletic. Finally starting up my save and I think I'm going with what I'm calling an "alt 4-4-2".

The carrilero is amazing at covering the wide area where the wing back bombs forward and is often isolated with the other team's fullback, easily getting a cross in. The wide play maker cuts inside and creates problems while the overlapping fullback gives some width on that side. The CM-A acts as a late runner to play off the playmaker and the DLF. 

I went ahead and picked up Dani Garcia for his release clause (10.75M) because I know I'll need the depth and Rico keeps getting hurt. I'm also working on picking up Isma Lopez at left back who's been great for me in past saves.

[OlivierL]

I have a question. My bilbao manager was sacked in the first season and replaced by a caretaker manager.. all the bilbao (and baskonia) staff wouldn't sign or talk about a new contract .. So almost everybody left the club. I wanted to sign staff for my b and c team but couldn't find decent guys.. so i assigned my DOF 'hire/fire B club staff' for my b en C team.. nothing happened in almost two months ? They have a manager and nothing else..

[OlivierL]

Second question : how are u working with the youth team(s) ? are u guys doing all the training/ individual settings ? Or leave it to the Head of Youth dev ? i Signed Kristjaan Speakman for that position in the first season.

[Ghents]

I always set it up so the DOF hires/fires the staff and signs players, but I handle the out going transfers.

I manually set my player training, too.

[OlivierL]

2 minutes ago, Ghents said:

I always set it up so the DOF hires/fires the staff and signs players, but I handle the out going transfers.

I manually set my player training, too.

Thanks, so my DOF should be signing staff members ? he isn't..

[Ghents]

He should be, yes. 

[bowieinspace]

7 hours ago, Olivierlandman said:

Nice! And the europa league? 

I have 90milj on my balance in the summer btw. 

Yuri is a nice transfer.

Lost to Lazio in the quarters (0-0, 1-1 away goals). We were the better side but didn’t take our chances. I was rotating a bit too due to the league being so tight

[Deego619]

Hey guys,

I notice with Bilbao you have the "recruit foreign youngsters" options when you look for a feeder club. Has anyone tried this and do you receive actual 15/16 year old foreign nationals from it?

[Jean0987654321]

11 minutes ago, JDeeguain said:

Hey guys,

I notice with Bilbao you have the "recruit foreign youngsters" options when you look for a feeder club. Has anyone tried this and do you receive actual 15/16 year old foreign nationals from it?

Tried it and you can't get any foreign youngsters from it

[OlivierL]

I can't make a player 'available for bilbao squad for x minutes' . the player(s) always have a 'unregistered' tag next to their name.

Not possible ?

Signed Otegui for 1.1milj and loaned him out before deadline day(season 2) . Sold Asier Arana for 1.7m to benfica, wasn't able to keep him.

[bowieinspace]

15 minutes ago, Olivierlandman said:

I can't make a player 'available for bilbao squad for x minutes' . the player(s) always have a 'unregistered' tag next to their name.

Not possible ?

Signed Otegui for 1.1milj and loaned him out before deadline day(season 2) . Sold Asier Arana for 1.7m to benfica, wasn't able to keep him.

It's due to the player age, you can make them available to play for the B team if they are young enough that they don't require to be registered for the first team. 

[OlivierL]

36 minutes ago, bowieinspace said:

It's due to the player age, you can make them available to play for the B team if they are young enough that they don't require to be registered for the first team. 

Ok thanks

[ben carter]

Hi all,

Just finished my first season second in the league and won the Europa.

I managed to bring in Herrera from United on the first deadline day for £14 million and a few add-ons and he's been dynamite so far but he's my 2nd highest earner now behind Laporte.

Azpilicueta has been listed too (not sure why). I was going to try and get him but I can't compete with Man City for wages 

   

But a better target is possibly Mikel Merino. Newcastle got relegated and West Brom have just bid £10 million so I may go in for him. Has anyone had much experience using him this year? at 21 he's got to be at least a good squad option for a fair few years.

Aduriz just retired too and I need to sort out watch happening at RB now. With Capa coming in I've got 4 players who can plat RB/RWB. 

Also wondering if anyone has had release clauses triggered? I wan't to keep Laporte for as long as possible and £58 million doesn't seem that high for some of the teams this year. Has anyone upped that in their game or had him snapped up by a big club? 

[AsGardiel]

Hey guys. Nice to meet you.

Sorry for my english 

[AsGardiel]

В 10.12.2017 в 15:39, bowieinspace сказал:

It went down to the wire but we just about did it! Unbelievable effort for the first season and we held our nerve on the final day. We had a bit of a dip in late January/February and Real Madrid (after a fairly poor start to the season) barely dropped a point in the second half. They lost a game unexpectedly about 4 games from the end and it allowed us to sneak back in to 1st.

Tactics wise, we played a combination of a 4-2-3-1 with two DMs, using a SS/TM combo up front. That worked really well but by the end of the season I found myself using more of the following:

@bowieinspace, can I see team instructions and player instructions for 4-2-3-1 with two DMs? Is it like playing Bilbao in real life?

[OlivierL]

Started good in my second season with the same formation that gave me EL and liga wins in the first season

(Aduriz almost back fit and i'm missing Balenziaga and Susaete with long injuries.

Update : 29 points out of 33 in the second season. and almost qualified for the next round in the CL after this crazy game :

Also received bad news .. Aduris was only back for 7 games (scored 5) and he is back gone.. He'll retire at the end of the second season so this is almost the end..

[bowieinspace]

On 12/16/2017 at 00:21, AsGardiel said:

@bowieinspace, can I see team instructions and player instructions for 4-2-3-1 with two DMs? Is it like playing Bilbao in real life?

A little bit yeah, sorry I don't have the tactic anymore having changed things around for this season, but I had the following TI's:

Get stuck in
Higher tempo
Prevent short GK distribution
Close down more

In terms of PI's, I think I just set a few players to shoot less and that was about it, maybe the full backs to stay wider. 

Roles:

Right Back - FB A
Centre Backs - BPD D and CD D
Left Back - FB S
DM Right - DM S
DM Left - RPM S
AMR - W S
AML - IF S (would switch to attack in some scenarios)
AMC - SS A
Forward - TM S

I have no idea if it would work with the new patch though

[AsGardiel]

@bowieinspace OK. Thank you.

[bowieinspace]

January 2019:

Going well so far this season, managed to get through a tough Champions League group in 2nd to set up a first round tie against United. Would love to get further but that'll be a tough fixture!

In the league things are going well, certainly looking good for top 3 but Real look unstoppable at present.

New Signing!

The board increased my budget just before the transfer window so I had some cash to spend. I was looking at:

Odriozola - Still at Barca with a super high release clause. Not playing much but has been injured a fair bit and the club don't want to sell

Herrera - Man Utd want 100million

Mikel Merino - At 22 years old with room to grow, Merino both offers a good first team option off the rip but also can provide a good option for a number of years. Newcastle didn't want to sell, but I got him after he became unhappy my bid was rejected. In the end I picked him up for 16million in initial payments/12 month instalments, plus a further 2.5 million after 50 games. Definitely not a super cheap signing, but he's the right kind of player for my system and will be good value over a number of years.

Eneko Pena - Sevilla have an excellent basque regen right back, he looks like he's going to be class...but he has a 25million release clause and don't want to negotiate. Will keep trying there!

 

Hot talent!

From last years youth intake, this guy looks tidy...starting to get some first team games now

[Ricotero_uy]

End of the first season.

We won La Liga with three matches to play. We won the Europa League after an incredible game against AC Milan in the final. Unluckily we couldn't make the triple because we were eliminated by Atletico Madrid at Copa del Rey's semifinals.

The Bilbao Athletic has won the Segunda Division B Group 2 and will play the playoffs to be promoted to Segunda.

The U19 won their group but got eliminated in Qtr finals by Real Madrid, however they've won the U19 Cup.

Results

La Liga

Stats

Tactic

Transfers

Only Isma López was bought for the first team. He shared time with Balenziaga in the left side.

Before playing the second season first match I'm going to make an update of the transfers and news about the save.

 

[OlivierL]

Great result(s)  Ricotero !

And a good start Bowie ! i hope i can sign Herrera or Merino soon..

I have to play against Leipzig in the next round in the champions league.. lucky ?

[Chappy2509]

Hello 

all after my last save with Ab in 2017 13 am back for the new challenge in fm18 enjoyed reading all your posts,

[bowieinspace]

18/19 Season Review:

As you can see, we ended up a very solid second place in the league. We beat our points total from last year when we were champions, but this time Real and Barca played more to their potential. Real in particular were just a different class and we couldn't get near them. I still like we're outperforming the sum of our parts though, so I'd be very happy with another top 3 this next season given our squad isn't getting stronger.

In the Champions League, as expected we went out to Man Utd in the first knockout round, but we gave it a good go. We took the lead in both legs but their quality going forwards was too much and we couldn't keep up, ended up losing 6-4 on aggregate. The killer blow was probably at San Mames in the first leg, we were 2-0 up at 79 minutes and then conceded twice to draw 2-2. 

We were beaten by Sevilla in the Copa Del Rey while rotating the squad, so aside from the Super Copa it was a quiet year on the trophy front, albeit overall a good season.

 

19/20 Preview:

Unfortunately even with a strong 40million transfer budget we've not been able to strengthen the squad. Odriozola was our main target from Barca, but he came into their first team on a regular basis at the end of the season and they clearly weren't keen to sell. I couldn't unsettle him and he ended up signing a new contract there. I think my chances of getting him in the future are very slim.

I then decided to just suck it up and pay the 26million release clause for Eneko Pena from Sevilla, a Basque regen full back. He has super high potential and would be a rotation option for the next season or two. Definitely a high price but he looks like he's going to be world class. I negotiated the contract and I thought it would be all done, however Sevilla offered him a new contract and he elected to stay with them on less money  His release clause however remained the same, so I'm going to wait until he's willing to negotiate again, and then I'll just smash a big wage offer in there to get him to join...hopefully January that one.

I'm also keeping tabs on Ander Herrera...he's entering the last year of his contract but Man Utd won't negotiate below 50 million. He's about to turn 30 and I'm certainly not willing to pay what they're asking. We have some depth in central midfield, and while he'd be a great addition I'd prefer to get Pena, and with my budget I couldn't do both. Hoping he might be available on the cheap in Jan or on a free. While he would definitely be our best central midfielder, I don't want to limit the opportunities of a couple of good youngsters I have coming through who I think will be as good/better than Herrera. Pena will also be a key addition for the future, as I don't currently have any quality young full backs coming through, so I need to play the long game and pick up Pena while the opportunity is there.

Young gods:

How about this goalkeeper from my youth intake? He only just turned 16 and he's already 2.5 stars....wow. My B team won the Segunda B so will be playing in the Segunda this season, I have a lot of my prospects there for the season to see how they go, including this guy. I imagine next season I'll let Herrerin go and start rotating this lad with Kepa at a mere 17 years old.

 

Jon Martinez is still improving very well indeed. He's going to be involved with the first team a lot this year. Benat is now 32 and declining, Iturraspe is 30 as is San Jose. Benat looks set to decline physically a fair bit this season, so this will be the transition year for my midfield. I plan to have a starting midfield of Mikel Merino and Jon Martinez as soon as possible, with another youngster I have coming in to rotate with them in the future. Aside from those guys, I'm down to Vesga and people like Unai Lopez/Aketxe. I'm currently switching between a 4-4-2, 4-1-2-3 and 4-2-3-1 depending on the opposition, so I need options.

 

 

EDIT - I signed Eneko Pena on deadline day for his release clause! Sweet!

[Chappy2509]

Show picture of Pena 8 games in and I’m top won’t last long though 

[bowieinspace]

 

A lot of work to do on his technical attributes, but the potential is massive so I should be able to use his high potential to round him out. Worst case scenario is he's a beast of a defensive full back down the line who can play left or right back (he's completely two footed).

[Chappy2509]

How as Córdoba progressed after a couple of seasons on everyone’s save on my pine he has started with determination of 20 don’t know how , am thinking of trying to rotate him this season but I get the feeling he looks like one of them players that will never improve past is current level 

[bowieinspace]

1 hour ago, Chappy2509 said:

How as Córdoba progressed after a couple of seasons on everyone’s save on my pine he has started with determination of 20 don’t know how , am thinking of trying to rotate him this season but I get the feeling he looks like one of them players that will never improve past is current level 

Average at best 

[SmileFaceGamer]

On 12/11/2017 at 18:31, Olivierlandman said:

After the first game in la liga i tried to make a different tactic (i played a 4-4-2 narrow diamond and won the first game, didn't like the roles for Iker, Williams and Garcia)

A mix from strikerless (movement and space) - ball possession - pressing as a unit (high) 

Movement and space : Strikerless - using my AMC as a targetmen - overlap - roam and be more expressive

Possession : Play out of defence - work ball into box - dribble less

Press as a unit : Play Narrower - Fluid - Push Higher up - close down more - Tighter marking - Prevent short GK distribution .

Because of the space behind my defence , i hope that the offside trap will work.

 

I think this will be closer to the Bilbao(Bielsa) Dna ?  Only played one game and won 4-1 against espanyol.

In my own save, which will hopefully be my long term one, I’m at PSV following the career of an ex pro looking to make it in managment. I’ve started at PSV and that tactic looks very akin to the ‘totaal voetbal’ I’m trying to achieve (3-1-3-3). I guess we’re both doing low key Bielsa things

 

btw good luck with Bilbao

[OlivierL]

11 hours ago, SmileFaceGamer said:

In my own save, which will hopefully be my long term one, I’m at PSV following the career of an ex pro looking to make it in managment. I’ve started at PSV and that tactic looks very akin to the ‘totaal voetbal’ I’m trying to achieve (3-1-3-3). I guess we’re both doing low key Bielsa things

 

btw good luck with Bilbao

Thanks ! Yes it is a mix of a few different views / managers   Good luck with PSV , did u post your tactic somewhere ?

[OlivierL]

Signed this newgen for 6.5milj in the transfer window (january) in second season , barca and real also tried to sign him:

 

I'm going to retrain him as a shadow striker(i don't use wingers or strikers).

And i have an option to loan herrera , have to pay them 850k each month and his full wage.. now he was transfer listed for 35milj , i added a future fee for 27m:

[Jean0987654321]

Take it, take it, take it

[SmileFaceGamer]

On 15/12/2017 at 16:10, Olivierlandman said:

Started good in my second season with the same formation that gave me EL and liga wins in the first season

(Aduriz almost back fit and i'm missing Balenziaga and Susaete with long injuries.

Update : 29 points out of 33 in the second season. and almost qualified for the next round in the CL after this crazy game :

Also received bad news .. Aduris was only back for 7 games (scored 5) and he is back gone.. He'll retire at the end of the second season so this is almost the end..

Yes, *Aduriz* has done his *heel*

 

 

bruh. Seriously though unlucky. Aduriz is so damn prolific I hope Viliaba (oh how u spell it) steps up

[SmileFaceGamer]

11 hours ago, Olivierlandman said:

Thanks ! Yes it is a mix of a few different views / managers   Good luck with PSV , did u post your tactic somewhere ?

No, trying to make it work is difficult. I’ve had a failed Europa league tie where I got rekd. I have another version which is 433 strikerless so yeah... it’s a process. Once I have it working then yes I will post it. Do you have any tips cause I have outright wingers in this tactic but I am on very fluid so I can’t see why the midfield (2 CM-S, not the RP) and defence can’t sort it out. So frustrating.

[SmileFaceGamer]

7 hours ago, Olivierlandman said:

Signed this newgen for 6.5milj in the transfer window (january) in second season , barca and real also tried to sign him:

 

I'm going to retrain him as a shadow striker(i don't use wingers or strikers).

And i have an option to loan herrera , have to pay them 850k each month and his full wage.. now he was transfer listed for 35milj , i added a future fee for 27m:

Ohhhhhh... I’m just gonna pray he dosent flop.

[OlivierL]

6 hours ago, Jean0987654321 said:

Take it, take it, take it

I did

He is playing as AMC (with Iker and Ager ( Williams is just back after a bad injury) next to him as shadow strikers). 

We won against Barcelona in the copa quarter final (2-1 in Barca , 1-0 at Bilbao so ) , just won the first leg against Real Madrid with 3-1 . Herrera is scoring and producing a lot of key passes.

Edit: second leg at Bernabéu : 4-3 ..  in the 85th minute , madrid scored the 4-2 .. so they needed one more. Vesga scored the 4-3 . Goals from Benat, Herrera en Vesga.

Copa final against Atletico..

[OlivierL]

3 hours ago, SmileFaceGamer said:

No, trying to make it work is difficult. I’ve had a failed Europa league tie where I got rekd. I have another version which is 433 strikerless so yeah... it’s a process. Once I have it working then yes I will post it. Do you have any tips cause I have outright wingers in this tactic but I am on very fluid so I can’t see why the midfield (2 CM-S, not the RP) and defence can’t sort it out. So frustrating.

I need to see the full tactic , send me a picture of your formation .