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Travelogue -- a Journeyman starting in 2050


MarcxD

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Introduction

Welcome to my new thread, a journeyman this time! This game will start in 2050, in the world of my previous FM save where I managed Lusitano VRSA in Portugal.

A travelogue is "a description of someone's travels, given in the form of narrative, public lecture, slide show or motion picture".

Of course that fits the theme of my travails as a manager in various nations. But I've also chosen to limit myself to teams that are located in places I have travelled to in my life -- and to start out in the city where I live, Amsterdam. I will start as manager of Ajax. I support the club in real life, but in FM I usually find it quite boring and easy, but now in 2050 the situation will be different hopefully. And if not, I can change jobs.

I have loaded nations which I have visited in my life -- Austria, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the USA. I have made a list of the clubs that I can join, but for the first couple of seasons I will stay at Ajax. How long depends on how long it'll take before I make Ajax the clear dominant club in Holland and if I can achieve anything in Europe.

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I have retired Marc X and I will play as Rui X, named after the best player in my Lusitano save. He is Andorran-Portuguese.

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Ajax has done extremely poor, only 2 titles in 33 years, even an 8th position a couple of seasons ago. 

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PSV has dominated the league for many seasons, but now it's Feyenoord that is the main team. More remarkably, perhaps, is that Fortuna has won a title as well!

One thing to note is that I have no plans on limiting myself too much with transfers unlike my previous careers, although I will still follow youth players.

Let's get into it!

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Always enjoy managing in Holland, I had a good save with Fortuna this year and I'm currently with Ajax in a new save too. Would definitely be interested to see how the other big leagues have changed in that time.

 

Good luck!

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1 hour ago, cerud said:

Interesting concept starting in 2050. Curious to see how the top leagues look right now.

 

57 minutes ago, dnlwrd said:

Always enjoy managing in Holland, I had a good save with Fortuna this year and I'm currently with Ajax in a new save too. Would definitely be interested to see how the other big leagues have changed in that time.

 

Good luck!

Thanks guys, I can do that! There has not been a ton of change, tbh.

Champions League Winners:

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Europa League Winners:

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European Championship winners:

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World Cup winners:

world_cup_past_winners.png

Bundesliga Past Winners

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La Liga past winners

La_liga_2050.png

Ligue 1 Past Winners

ligue_1_2050.png

Premier League past winners

premier_league_2050.png

Serie A past winners

serie_A_2050.png

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Pre-Season 2050

ajax_expectations_and_budgets.png

Money to spend, no huge expectations. Good starting point then!

ajax_pre_season.png

Pre-season is looking very good... even though the friendly opponents weren't of the highest caliber.

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I sold a lot of the players that wanted to leave, got quite a bit of money in. Some replacements and first-team players signed alongside with a number of talents for the future. The free signings weren't mine.

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August 2050

august.png

We had what seemed like a very strong start until we had an absolutely awful time against NAC.... hopefully just a fluke.

august_league_table.png

NAC actually in first place, PSV and Feyenoord have both already lost a game as well.

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13 hours ago, rodesire said:

Any stand-out players in your squad at the moment?

I totally forgot to show the squad and some of the key players, good shout.

Squad_ajax.png

Apart from a few players I brought in there are really no talents in the B and youth team. The team now has a lot of room to grow thanks to some of the players that already were at the club and some that I signed.

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This was perhaps the best player already at the club (that I held on to), the problem of course is that he's already 30 years old.

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He is the biggest talent at the club, he came through the academy. Should be one of the key players during my stay here.

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This is the player I paid the most money for in the summer and rightfully so I think, although of course it will remain to be seen how much further he can develop.

Eduardo.png

The best purchase overall seems to be this guy, who I only needed to pay 100K for. He is only sixteen but look at him!

 

 

 

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46 minutes ago, Minuy600 said:

Oh right... How's Almere doing and what Tweede Divisie clubs made it to pro level?

Almere has been extremely mediocre, I'm afraid.

aXKFAP7.png

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Currently there are a few 'new' clubs in the Jupiler League, but I don't think any have ever made it to the Eredivisie. 

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October 2050

october.png

We started really well by beating old rivals PSV, but we were shocked by Pec Zwolle... even though I was warned by the press that they had often beat Ajax in the past. The rest of the month was fantastic though with a 8-1 win as clear highlight.

october_league_table.png

Things are going much easier than I thought beforehand, but a lot of the season still to go. 

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3 minutes ago, Novem9 said:

What do you think about regens in FM18?

I want to play journeyman 30-40 seasons (for now is 4 season), but not sure about regens realism. In FM17 they were too much random imho

What do you mean exactly? I personally like regens but I can't say I notice a huge difference between FM18 and previous versions. 

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December 2050

december.png

Not a good month, we need to get more consistent.

december_league_table.png

We dropped to second place, Feyenoord is on a roll right now. Winter break comes at the right time... Hopefully we can link some more wins together when we get back.

december_youth_facilities_upgrade.png

I got these approved, not the training facilities yet though.

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Sorry for asking much, that's what you get for playing in Holland again :P

Are you using a DB? Pretty sure Berkum, DOS Kampen, WHC and vv Bennekom can't get promoted under normal circumstances. The Eredivisie looks suprisingly boring too, only Fortuna and Go Ahead aren't there at the start. Finally, what's with the low attendance away at the first of those two? Did their stadium get smaller or do they simply not have much reputation?

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1 hour ago, Minuy600 said:

Sorry for asking much, that's what you get for playing in Holland again :P

Are you using a DB? Pretty sure Berkum, DOS Kampen, WHC and vv Bennekom can't get promoted under normal circumstances. The Eredivisie looks suprisingly boring too, only Fortuna and Go Ahead aren't there at the start. Finally, what's with the low attendance away at the first of those two? Did their stadium get smaller or do they simply not have much reputation?

No worries about the questions.

I have the Claassen updates loaded, which adds the Tweede & Derde Divisie and relegation/promotion from the inactive hoofdklasse.

The fact that the leagues haven't changed too much is probably because the detail level is low, to make the game quicker.

The fortuna stadium can hold 10.300 people so not exactly sure what's going on there!

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Yes! Good idea continuing on the same game world! I take it there'll be some fine European matches against Lusitano coming up at some point. ;) 

I fancy Ajax and always enjoy careers with them so can't argue against that starting point. :thup: I had a blast with them at some point in FM12, so in fact you're kinda making me nostalgic and wondering whether I should go there myself at some stage in my own career...

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17 hours ago, noikeee said:

Yes! Good idea continuing on the same game world! I take it there'll be some fine European matches against Lusitano coming up at some point. ;) 

I fancy Ajax and always enjoy careers with them so can't argue against that starting point. :thup: I had a blast with them at some point in FM12, so in fact you're kinda making me nostalgic and wondering whether I should go there myself at some stage in my own career...

Thank you! I certainly hope for matches against Lusitano, that would be awesome. Maybe there are also some teams managed by former players... I've not really looked into which ones stayed in the game, should do that.

I saw you had thought about taking the Ajax job in your career, that would've been awesome! I don't really like taking charge of them in the beginning of a save, as I said above because it's too easy but also because the first team, B team and u19 team are all full of young talents, almost too much for me to properly handle. Because the AI didn't stockpile players like that (at all) now I can build them up myself. Quite nice.

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January 2051

january.png

A very strong performance in the cup against PSV (and in the friendly...) but bad results in the league.

january_league_table.png

Need to get some points in soon.

transfers_incoming.png

I got in a bunch of players, but most are talents for the future or back-up players.

transfers_outgoing.png

One sale and a few loans outgoing.

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February 2051

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One of our best months this season, three away wins in a row including another one over PSV.

february_league_table.png

4 points behind Feyenoord but 6 ahead of PSV. It's going to be an exciting final 9 matches.

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March 2051

march.png

Another pretty good month and the first cup final of this save is coming up!

march_league_table.png

Only 1 point separating us from first place now. Exciting...

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Not the greatest first youth intake, sadly. 

yp51a.png

This is the one guy with some promise, doesn't look all that bad.

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April 2051

april.png

A terrible and hopeless performance against Sparta started the month... (remarkable to have a season where we beat them 8-1 and lose 4-0) before having a good month otherwise. Or at least that's what it seemed like until we lost the cup final.

april_league_table.png

In first in the league though, with only two more games to go! And one point ahead. We have it in our own hands, and since we have to play Willem II and FC Twente, we should be able to get the title. Just hope I'm not jinxing it.

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May 2051

may.png

Oof.... that Twente game was tense. But we did it!

final_league_table.png

may_title_win.png

Winning the title right away is lovely, but there's clearly a lot of room to grow. Will be nice to get into some European football next year, for one.

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18 hours ago, Rikulec said:

Not a bad start to your new life!

Thanks!

17 hours ago, cerud said:

Decent start to your career. Definitely need to build for Europe. Wondering...how are my Vancouver Whitecaps faring in the future?

I have not loaded the MLS until starting this journeyman, so in 2050, so I can't say much. They have won several Canadion championships, but the MLS has not been simmed like that. For the 2051 MLS season they are currently near the bottom of the western conference.

15 hours ago, Minuy600 said:

And how was the Jupiler League season? Would appreciate it if you'd show the standings of it every season you play in Holland.

jupiler_league_50_51.png

11 hours ago, kidthekid said:

nicely done

Cheers

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6 hours ago, MarcxD said:

I have not loaded the MLS until starting this journeyman, so in 2050, so I can't say much. They have won several Canadion championships, but the MLS has not been simmed like that. For the 2051 MLS season they are currently near the bottom of the western conference.

 

Ahh, my bad. The intro post mentioned you loaded the American nation. I confused it for the league. Cheers!

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13 minutes ago, cerud said:

Ahh, my bad. The intro post mentioned you loaded the American nation. I confused it for the league. Cheers!

No I have loaded it but only just now, so the 2051 MLS season is the first I can see.

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Season Review 2050-2051

season_review_50_51.png

I was a little bit surprised to win the title as we certainly weren't very consistent throughout the season, but from now on I think we should be able to quite easily dominate the league, of course depending on if Feyenoord and PSV can strengthen their teams. I'e got in a bunch of talents for the future, which is looking bright.

best_eleven_50_51.png

Star player by far is Bergonzi, obviously, although I'm also happy with how Mbombo has done in his first season at the club. A thirty-game season for 16-year old defender Eduardo has shown a lot of promise as well.

Mbombo_best_rookie.png

Manager_of_the_year.png

My first managerial award!

excel_2051.png

Trying to have a little table for this career. 

 

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Pre-Season 2051

pS6UsOz.png

Not expected to win the league, but the odds are close.

transfers.png

It was quite a busy transfer window, with me renovating the squad a lot, letting players go and signing some more young players. 

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Pre-season went very well and we won the Dutch supercup very easily. 

CL_draw.png

Not quite lucky with the draw there... will have to try go get the third position for some EL games in 2052.

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August 2051

august.png

A rough start to the regular season, we had some tough games with AZ and PSV away and obviously the new team still needs to gel a bit. Still disappointing to only come away with one win though.

august_league_table.png

That means we are already 5 points behind Feyenoord (and Utrecht).

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September 2051

september.png

The green dots make it seem like a very good month but we lost another top match against our arch rivals so that's not actually the case. At least we won our first CL match.

september_league_table.png

8 points behind Feyenoord, who are still perfect, as are Utrecht.

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3 hours ago, rodesire said:

Those two at the top are really steaming ahead, hope you can steady the ship before too long in the league.

Thanks, Feyenoord could become a problem yes.

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October 2051

october.png

Just a bizarre month, we were able to beat both Barcelona and Juventus in the Champions League! But two 0-0 games made sure we dropped more points, which we really can't have right now.

october_league_table.png

10 points behind Feyenoord, who are still unbeaten...

Will need them to have a dip of form at some point.

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November 2051

november.png

Another month of poor results in the league and amazing in the Champions League. When you follow a 4-3 away win over Juventus with a 0-1 loss against Fortuna Sittard. :seagull: Consistency is a big issue, the team might just be a little bit too reliant on the young talents I brought in. Their performances in the CL show their class though.

november_league_table.png

I guess with a good second half we'll be making automatic continental qualification but a title is going to be very tough. 

november_training_facilities_upgraded.png

november_youth_facilities_upgraded.png

november_youth_facilities_upgrade_approved.png

Upgrading the facilities as we go...

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December 2051

december.png

It's just not a good season. I can't get the team to perform every match, another loss against AZ this month.

I noticed the amount of spectators Barcelona hosted in our game, so I took a peek at their stadium.

pep_guardiola_ffs.png

:stop:

december_league_table.png

18 points behind Feyenoord!!!!

This is some sort of nightmare.

The goal will be continental qualification...

Maybe some sort of success in the cup.

december_CL_draw.png

We are also still playing in Europe, in the CL even, but not sure that will last very long.

Despite doing badly, the job interviews have come rolling in this season. Perhaps from us overperforming a lot last season, or because I set my past experience and coaching badges as fitting to Ajax.

The biggest one so far has been this one

liverpool_job_offer.png

Even if I wanted to, I can't according to the limitations I set since I have never visited Liverpool.

(I also don't want to, not a particularly big LFC fan tbh)

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11 hours ago, MarcxD said:

December 2051

december.png

It's just not a good season. I can't get the team to perform every match, another loss against AZ this month.

I noticed the amount of spectators Barcelona hosted in our game, so I took a peek at their stadium.

pep_guardiola_ffs.png

:stop:

december_league_table.png

18 points behind Feyenoord!!!!

This is some sort of nightmare.

The goal will be continental qualification...

Maybe some sort of success in the cup.

december_CL_draw.png

We are also still playing in Europe, in the CL even, but not sure that will last very long.

Despite doing badly, the job interviews have come rolling in this season. Perhaps from us overperforming a lot last season, or because I set my past experience and coaching badges as fitting to Ajax.

The biggest one so far has been this one

liverpool_job_offer.png

Even if I wanted to, I can't according to the limitations I set since I have never visited Liverpool.

(I also don't want to, not a particularly big LFC fan tbh)

Hey! I'm here following again. 

 

I'd like to ask you the tactics you are using in Ajax. 

 

 

Cheers

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5 hours ago, walterjocoski said:

Hey! I'm here following again. 

 

I'd like to ask you the tactics you are using in Ajax. 

 

 

Cheers

Welcome!

tactics.png

It's the same tactics I've used for a long time now, including the Lusitano save. It's intensive and not without risks nor is it perfect, but should certainly work within the Ajax tradition

 

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January 2052

january.png

A perfect month, the winter break did us good! Especially the win over PSV is nice to see, of course. To the semi's in the cup as well.

january_league_table.png

Not much change after two league games of course, but I'm hopeful to pick up some places soon.

transfers_incoming.png

I signed a few players - two Arsenal midfield rejects, a new rightback in Ribeiro and a talented defender in Jaziri.

transfers_outgoing.png

Jaziri was loaned out again (almost recouping his small transfer fee immediately) as were some others, and because I signed some new midfielders I decided to ship one off in Hallgren.

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February 2052

february.png

We continued our winning form in the league, including against Feyenoord... even though not all wins were super convincing. Lost against Arsenal, but that was not much of a surprise, so not too disappointed.

february_league_table.png

Up to third and behind Feyenoord it's extremely close... and even only 8 points behind Feyenoord, which seems very good as we were 18 points behind only a little while ago.

Hopefully we can keep this up.

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March 2052

march.png

A... special month. The form seemed to be broken up by two losses in a row, but then we went on and beat Arsenal 4-0 to go through in the Champions League and followed that up with a 8-1 demolishment of FC Utrecht, a direct rival for the European spots. 

march_league_table.png

The situation in the league is pretty much the same as last month, still 8 points behind Feyenoord and still 4 clubs within 1 point of each other...

youth_intake_52.png

Another mediocre youth intake, it seems like anyway. Not sure why, probably just bad luck.

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April 2052

april.png

And a bad month where we screwed up in the league and lost to Sporting in the Champions League. Fits within this season to screw up again.

april_league_table.png

If we end up as fourth we'll have to play in EL play-offs, I hope PSV make a mistake in their last match. 

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