FM19: Ajax Amsterdam - Time to reap what has been sown

[zlatanera]

3 minutes ago, Raymond85 said:

50% total next sale is what convinced me. It's insane, i'm likely going to get at least another 15 mln. And yes, his personality is s**t, but what a player when he is on a streak!

My game plan is to have 23 players in first squad+ eventual older mentors, 11 in Jong and 11 in Under 19. Every game i play goes towards this goal. Every season i try and thin the lines and send out on loan less players, and sell the ones that are not likely to develop to stars. It's so difficult, i get attached to them even if i know they will only develop to fringe players.

Must have overlooked that, yeah that's great because there's no way he stays at Fiorentina. I never got the best out of him, firstly due to sticking Schöne on free kicks to get a 20-goal season out of him (A success) and then just because of my playing style meaning we didn't score that many.

Is that not slightly too few in the youth ranks? Won't players get injured? Also I don't mind having a large u19 squad given training is more important at that age and they get picked for the B team automatically once they're good enough, but because they can I have to be careful that B team players get appearances. 

[Raymond85]

4 minuti fa, zlatanera ha scritto:

Must have overlooked that, yeah that's great because there's no way he stays at Fiorentina. I never got the best out of him, firstly due to sticking Schöne on free kicks to get a 20-goal season out of him (A success) and then just because of my playing style meaning we didn't score that many.

Is that not slightly too few in the youth ranks? Won't players get injured? Also I don't mind having a large u19 squad given training is more important at that age and they get picked for the B team automatically once they're good enough, but because they can I have to be careful that B team players get appearances. 

It might seem too few, but they're so much better than other teams at that level, once i select the best after a couple of seasons they start to breeze through all competitions with gray players and the new intake from march filling in for injuries. It's easier to promote them at high level through time if it's short squads.

BTW first start of the season in Eredivisie and i get this. His Determination rose from 3 to 4 during the summer, hope it keeps going up with mentoring

[Raymond85]

9 minuti fa, zlatanera ha scritto:

Must have overlooked that, yeah that's great because there's no way he stays at Fiorentina. I never got the best out of him, firstly due to sticking Schöne on free kicks to get a 20-goal season out of him (A success) and then just because of my playing style meaning we didn't score that many.

Is that not slightly too few in the youth ranks? Won't players get injured? Also I don't mind having a large u19 squad given training is more important at that age and they get picked for the B team automatically once they're good enough, but because they can I have to be careful that B team players get appearances. 

PS i choose the starting 11 for both B team and U19, so that the managers play them, with my tactics. It helps even more on their development for the first squad.

Jong Ajax came 2nd to an unstoppable Twente last season, and by only 5 points

[zlatanera]

15 minutes ago, Raymond85 said:

PS i choose the starting 11 for both B team and U19, so that the managers play them, with my tactics. It helps even more on their development for the first squad.

I might have to try that - wouldn't work at the moment for Lyon as I have my reserve GK and best reserve CB in the first team for mentoring, but worth a shot.

[Raymond85]

11 minuti fa, zlatanera ha scritto:

I might have to try that - wouldn't work at the moment for Lyon as I have my reserve GK and best reserve CB in the first team for mentoring, but worth a shot.

make them available for reserves. I have all my goalkeepers in first team squad for mentoring

Edited April 5, 2019 by Raymond85

[zlatanera]

17 minutes ago, Raymond85 said:

make them available for reserves. I have all my goalkeepers in first team squad for mentoring

Yeah I'm going to experiment with it. I'm wondering what happens when I make them unavailable for the reserves due to first team injuries / rotation - do they still stay in that position? If so, does that mean they still play? I'll figure it out next season, right now if I beat Real Madrid (twice) and PSG in the space of 3 games I'm on for the treble  

[Raymond85]

14 minuti fa, zlatanera ha scritto:

Yeah I'm going to experiment with it. I'm wondering what happens when I make them unavailable for the reserves due to first team injuries / rotation - do they still stay in that position? If so, does that mean they still play? I'll figure it out next season, right now if I beat Real Madrid (twice) and PSG in the space of 3 games I'm on for the treble  

They stay in that position, but in squad you will  see them not available and someone else will fill in until they're available again.

Best of luck, go Lyon!

I've got my first games after the Onana-Scuffet switch, waiting for Ziyech to make up his mind

Edited April 5, 2019 by Raymond85

[Raymond85]

So lucky with my draw, Champion's League will be a breeze this year 

[Raymond85]

Well, it was a busy transfer window, but i'm very happy for what we managed to get and sell. We kept almost all key players, sadly Onana and Ziyech had to go, that was too much money to just ignore. Also Tadic got a huge offer for a 30 y/o player, and i had to let him go.

Alena i will try everything to keep, but it will be very difficult. Odegaard (12,75) and Pellegrini (20) are loans with option to buy, and i will try very hard to get them during the season, as they are two players i rate very highly.

 

 

This is what our starting 11 looks like now

 

This is our backup team, who will be able to make it very difficult for me choosing who has to play

 

 

Other first squad players: Joel Veltman, Marten Stekeleemburg, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Lasse Schone (experience and tutoring, also all Ajax legends)

[zlatanera]

@Raymond85 "legends" for most of them might be a bit much.

Out of interest, does the Frenkie money get added to your transfer budget? I've noticed often with big transfers like this that are pre-arranged, or happened in January so are gone on the winter update, aren't reflected in your budgets - for example if you started with Athletic on the winter update in FM18 it didn't reflect that they'd had the Laporte money come in.

[Raymond85]

6 minuti fa, zlatanera ha scritto:

@Raymond85 "legends" for most of them might be a bit much.

Out of interest, does the Frenkie money get added to your transfer budget? I've noticed often with big transfers like this that are pre-arranged, or happened in January so are gone on the winter update, aren't reflected in your budgets - for example if you started with Athletic on the winter update in FM18 it didn't reflect that they'd had the Laporte money come in.

I know legends is a bit over the top, but they're still highly influential players with important history into the club  and that made me vouch against selling them, i'm very sentimental with these things. Reason i got Marteen almost free as mentor.

I think the money didnt add up, it just flowed into our finances, but not the budget. TBH i didn't really need it, so i don't care. The 81 mln i now have hopefully will be enough for making the 3 loans permanent, if they impress during the season.

[AndySummers]

24 minutes ago, zlatanera said:

Out of interest, does the Frenkie money get added to your transfer budget?

No.

Ajax begin with £49m in the accounts, so the sales of De Jong and Wober aren't reflected from the start, and it isn't added at the end of the first season either.

Edited April 6, 2019 by AndySummers

[zlatanera]

16 minutes ago, AndySummers said:

No.

Ajax begin with £49m in the accounts, so the sales of De Jong and Wober aren't reflected from the start, and it isn't added at the end of the first season either.

Cheers for the info. I hate that, means if I do go for another pop at Ajax I'll probably use original DB where Tagliafico is lacking technically and Donny vdB isn't natural at AMC. Not that it stopped me winning everything the first time!

[Raymond85]

Not quite 100% happy with our possetion game, thinking of switching up to a more direct system. let's hail for disaster lol

[zlatanera]

1 hour ago, Raymond85 said:

I know legends is a bit over the top, but they're still highly influential players with important history into the club  and that made me vouch against selling them, i'm very sentimental with these things. Reason i got Marteen almost free as mentor.

No I'm exactly the same, right now Lacazette and Tolisso are transfer listed for a combined £65m (they left for a combined £85m) and I'm thinking of blowing my wage structure right open just because they're from the club's academy.

Last year with Ajax too I managed to bring back Sneijder, de Jong, Stek etc. (once field a 433 with a midfield entirely composed of guys called De Jong, which is truly living the dream!)

[Raymond85]

2 minuti fa, zlatanera ha scritto:

No I'm exactly the same, right now Lacazette and Tolisso are transfer listed for a combined £65m (they left for a combined £85m) and I'm thinking of blowing my wage structure right open just because they're from the club's academy.

Last year with Ajax too I managed to bring back Sneijder, de Jong, Stek etc. (once field a 433 with a midfield entirely composed of guys called De Jong, which is truly living the dream!)

I'll be soon having a front 3 that reads Johnsen-Janssen-Jensen

[zlatanera]

5 minutes ago, Raymond85 said:

I'll be soon having a front 3 that reads Johnsen-Janssen-Jensen

I can just imagine the chaos on the training ground where any slightly issues with pronunciation due to accents just leads to absolute chaos and shouting reminiscent of the "Fenton! Oh for christ's sake Fenton!" video 

[Brian]

18 hours ago, Raymond85 said:

t's so difficult, i get attached to them

I have the same with Huntelaar. I have Kasper Dolberg, Vincent Jansen and Luciano Vietto for the striker spots but Huntelaar just keeps banging them in although he is 35 and his stamina is starting to be an issue. 

The guy scored 30 in 42 games last season and now he has 7 in 7 games. 

[Raymond85]

2 minuti fa, Rooks ha scritto:

I have the same with Huntelaar. I have Kasper Dolberg, Vincent Jansen and Luciano Vietto for the striker spots but Huntelaar just keeps banging them in although he is 35 and his stamina is starting to be an issue. 

The guy scored 30 in 42 games last season and now he has 7 in 7 games. 

You must have worked well your tactic around him.

Happy to see i'm not the only one that went for Janssen as a good backup. He's been consistent for me, still no Dollberg, but performs well up front for the team.

One big problem will be to choose the starter between Kristensen and Vagnoman now.... they are both so good.... hopefully someone puts a nice offer for the Dane in January

Edited April 6, 2019 by Raymond85

[Brian]

2 minutes ago, Raymond85 said:

 You must have worked well your tactic around him.

 Happy to see i'm not the only one that went for Janssen as a good backup. He's been consistent for me, still no Dollberg, but performs well up front for the team.

Well, I build a tactic that I think works best without the proper wingers in my save. And he just preforms outstanding in a Deep Lying Forward - Support role in a 4-3-1-2. 

[Raymond85]

2 minuti fa, Rooks ha scritto:

Well, I build a tactic that I think works best without the proper wingers in my save. And he just preforms outstanding in a Deep Lying Forward - Support role in a 4-3-1-2. 

Well, i just found my sweet spot for my tactic this season, i think. Now to get Dolberg back on double digits

[Brian]

1 minute ago, Raymond85 said:

Well, i just found my sweet spot for my tactic this season, i think. Now to get Dolberg back on double digits

I just saw your tactic, that Trequartista-role on the left looks tasty in a 4-3-3. Never tried one before, is it working? 

I saw your mentoring works well, do you promote the best talents to the first team to mentor? I haven't found a way yet, so I'm just training them but it seems like a waste to continue playing another whole season without figuring out what's the right way. 

[Raymond85]

20 minuti fa, Rooks ha scritto:

I just saw your tactic, that Trequartista-role on the left looks tasty in a 4-3-3. Never tried one before, is it working? 

I saw your mentoring works well, do you promote the best talents to the first team to mentor? I haven't found a way yet, so I'm just training them but it seems like a waste to continue playing another whole season without figuring out what's the right way. 

Well, the trequartista was just perfect for Ziyech, Sadly, he's gone. But i'm sticking to it for Odegaard and Jensen, they will slowly get there attribute wise. Madrid's kid is already showing promise.

For mentoring, actually no. I tend to only bring up desperate cases (Like Gravenberch who had 2, and now is up to 4 and in first team rotation sub for Alena) and my young goalkeepers, they are actually the most important roles to mentor, and sadly the only ones not making progress. I thjink i'll just have to accept it and let go, maybe it's best for them to train with their own age.

[Trent71]

@Raymond85 how's mauri and Kishna doing? Last I remember they were both very injury prone and on a previous FM, Kishna even retired after a season, when I signed him!

 

I just booted up a save with Ajax with the update and I read that you don't really get the Frenkie money - which is a shame. I've decided to stick to an open, free flowing 4-3-3. Transfer policy-wise, we'll be signing only teenagers that will become homegrown after 3 years at the club and also established Dutch players, mainly of decent class (like Quincy Promes or whoever becomes available). 

 

We also have a few tactical experiments, as Carel Eiting will be playing on the left back, and Ekkelenkamp will be tested as a SC, as his 15 finishing looks quite tasty! 

[Raymond85]

1 ora fa, Trent71 ha scritto:

@Raymond85 how's mauri and Kishna doing? Last I remember they were both very injury prone and on a previous FM, Kishna even retired after a season, when I signed him!

 

I just booted up a save with Ajax with the update and I read that you don't really get the Frenkie money - which is a shame. I've decided to stick to an open, free flowing 4-3-3. Transfer policy-wise, we'll be signing only teenagers that will become homegrown after 3 years at the club and also established Dutch players, mainly of decent class (like Quincy Promes or whoever becomes available). 

 

We also have a few tactical experiments, as Carel Eitling will be playing on the left back, and Eggelkamp will be tested as a SC, as his 15 finishing looks quite tasty! 

Mauri i shipped off to feeder Hibs in Scotland to get some first team football, as an unnanounced Carles Alena was put on the loan market and i just had to grab him.

Kishna actually very very well, i have Neres that's been out 8 months for damaged liegaments, and he has fill out very good, i like his play style a lot. Mixed between winger and inside forward, cutting in late and causing havoc.

 

As you can see i managed to his determination even higher thanks to mentoring, and also i am working hard on his mentals, i love complete and smart football players, and my whole training system is set up to get well rounded gifted players, very Ajax style

[Raymond85]

I think getting Odegaard was a good idea....

 

[Trent71]

First league game against Heracles. van de Beek gets sent off after 20 minutes of play. Can you guess the final score? 

 

Spoiler

7:0! With Gravenberch not only becoming the youngest Dutch goalscorer, but getting a hattrick as well!

 

Transfer-wise, we got Kjell Scherpen (Emmen, 1.3M), Elayis Tavsan (Sparta, 1.2M), Joey Veerman (Volendam, 325K) and Mile Svilar (Benfica, 4M) - was surprised to see the keeper being available for such low sum! I scouted him and "the next Ronaldo" when we played against Benfica in a pre-season friendly and decided that those 4M are definitely going to repay themselves pretty soon. Only player I'm looking to offload is Lasse Shone, but until now, no one wants to go anywhere near him...

 

How we look tactically - I'm very impressed with the structure and how many chances we make per match. Results have been well and steady, and I'll be updating more later on, as I expect there would be a transfer deadline day frenzy for many of our best talents!

[Raymond85]

13 minuti fa, Trent71 ha scritto:

Only player I'm looking to offload is Lasse Shone

Absolutely keep him as long as you can for mentoring purposes

 

14 minuti fa, Trent71 ha scritto:

we look tactically

That's a very brave tactic to be playing, but results are coming. I'm curious how it will fare in big youropean matches

[Raymond85]

Well, i don't know how, but we managed! 

 

[Brian]

18 hours ago, Raymond85 said:

Mauri i shipped off to feeder Hibs in Scotland to get some first team football, as an unnanounced Carles Alena was put on the loan market and i just had to grab him.

Kishna actually very very well, i have Neres that's been out 8 months for damaged liegaments, and he has fill out very good, i like his play style a lot. Mixed between winger and inside forward, cutting in late and causing havoc.

 

 

As you can see i managed to his determination even higher thanks to mentoring, and also i am working hard on his mentals, i love complete and smart football players, and my whole training system is set up to get well rounded gifted players, very Ajax style

Looks tasty, although his Workrate, Concentration and Decisions makes me not wanting him. 

[Raymond85]

9 minuti fa, Rooks ha scritto:

Looks tasty, although his Workrate, Concentration and Decisions makes me not wanting him. 

My same doubts, but i'm doing everything i can to shape his training and change that a little. For someone on a free, i think it's money greatly spent (also i hate Neres, always injured, his knee is so fragile even if he hasn't got a recurring injury)

[Raymond85]

It was a good first half of the season. Only thing is that with new tactics Dolberg isn't a goal scoring machine any more, but all the team is chipping in goals. Not a big problem, results are even better this season. Now the hardest part, go through January 2020 with half of Europe after my whole first team squad 

We have arranged to buy Pellegrini for the agreed 20 mln, we didn't manage Odegaard yet, and it will be top priority seeing his performances. We have a 12.75 agreed fee but he just went and renewed his contract with Real Madrid instead of accepting our (very high) offer. 6 months to convince him and Alena (yet we have no agreed fee with Barcelona, and they're not budging from 75. Which is a big no for me).

[Brian]

2 hours ago, Raymond85 said:

My same doubts, but i'm doing everything i can to shape his training and change that a little. For someone on a free, i think it's money greatly spent (also i hate Neres, always injured, his knee is so fragile even if he hasn't got a recurring injury)

For free, that is a bargain as you can always sell him for profit and tribute to the first team. That should be a win-win for me. 

[Raymond85]

Well, i got to relax and breathe. I just rejected a combined 130 mln € for De Ligt and Vagnoman..... 

 

And 58 for dolberg....

Edited April 8, 2019 by Raymond85

[Brian]

25 minutes ago, Raymond85 said:

Well, i got to relax and breathe. I just rejected a combined 130 mln € for De Ligt and Vagnoman..... 

 

And 58 for dolberg....

Sell and insert youth. 

[Raymond85]

3 minuti fa, Rooks ha scritto:

Sell and insert youth. 

I am waiting for that kind of money all together for only De Ligt. Dolberg is worth about 100 mln, and Vagnoman roughly 60 or 75 in my head. Also they're perfectly happy i rejected those bids, and i have over 100 mln in balance, so off we go forward

[Raymond85]

 

[zlatanera]

Well I peaked too early in my Lyon save, nobody cares about the cups any more and Ligue 1 and CL double is spectacular. So I'm going to join you guys playing with Ajax.

This will be my 3rd save with Ajax on FM19; first was ended due to the B team promotion bug as although Jong Ajax won the league and therefore avoided it, two other reserves came up that first season, second again I peaked early (CL in second season) but also I'd copied my tactics direct from herne's Tiki-Taka thread (I mean, you have to piece it together from 5 posts, but its still copying, Ajax are surprisingly similar to West Ham in their starting squads). 

So I'm going to use my own tactics this time, and hopefully actually develop more of the youth - only Gravenberch got promoted to the 1st team squad last time out. I'll use original DB though, I don't like using the update one unless its for a specific player. 

[Raymond85]

23 minuti fa, zlatanera ha scritto:

Well I peaked too early in my Lyon save, nobody cares about the cups any more and Ligue 1 and CL double is spectacular. So I'm going to join you guys playing with Ajax.

This will be my 3rd save with Ajax on FM19; first was ended due to the B team promotion bug as although Jong Ajax won the league and therefore avoided it, two other reserves came up that first season, second again I peaked early (CL in second season) but also I'd copied my tactics direct from herne's Tiki-Taka thread (I mean, you have to piece it together from 5 posts, but its still copying, Ajax are surprisingly similar to West Ham in their starting squads). 

So I'm going to use my own tactics this time, and hopefully actually develop more of the youth - only Gravenberch got promoted to the 1st team squad last time out. I'll use original DB though, I don't like using the update one unless its for a specific player. 

If you want to get ahead of planning load a league that let's you start in early 2018, like february. I used those months to set up training and staff as i liked it most

[zlatanera]

24 minutes ago, Raymond85 said:

If you want to get ahead of planning load a league that let's you start in early 2018, like february. I used those months to set up training and staff as i liked it most

Yeah I sometimes do that, for the Lyon save I loaded the Swiss league - French league starts in June too but Switzerland is the earliest June start I could find. The issue is I don't have an especially powerful laptop, and a lot of the early starters are either leagues that don't produce enough talent to matter (like Norway) or produce too much and kinda ruin the game (Brazil, Argentina). 

Do you go all in on training? I normally set myself as responsible for first team so I can add Match Review, and do all individual, but otherwise leave it. But with the Lyon save I started adding in sessions that work on mental attributes wherever there were gaps. I probably hadn't played it long enough to see significant improvements outside of first team players improving through playing time though.  

[Raymond85]

11 minuti fa, zlatanera ha scritto:

Yeah I sometimes do that, for the Lyon save I loaded the Swiss league - French league starts in June too but Switzerland is the earliest June start I could find. The issue is I don't have an especially powerful laptop, and a lot of the early starters are either leagues that don't produce enough talent to matter (like Norway) or produce too much and kinda ruin the game (Brazil, Argentina). 

Do you go all in on training? I normally set myself as responsible for first team so I can add Match Review, and do all individual, but otherwise leave it. But with the Lyon save I started adding in sessions that work on mental attributes wherever there were gaps. I probably hadn't played it long enough to see significant improvements outside of first team players improving through playing time though.  

I leave general for all teams to my assistant, but i do individual across all teams. That's the most important imho. And i can see a huge difference. Look at Kishna after 6 months with me, up a few posts

[zlatanera]

8 minutes ago, Raymond85 said:

I leave general for all teams to my assistant, but i do individual across all teams. That's the most important imho. And i can see a huge difference. Look at Kishna after 6 months with me, up a few posts

Oh yeah I've always done individual, even back on previous FMs with the old training module where I'd control it at all levels (literally just stick it on "Tactical").

[Brian]

Last season we lost our first and only match of the Eredivisie season in match day 31. This season in match day 5 we don't have any pressure for a undefeated season... 

[Raymond85]

2 minuti fa, zlatanera ha scritto:

Oh yeah I've always done individual, even back on previous FMs with the old training module where I'd control it at all levels (literally just stick it on "Tactical").

Would you guys take 15-20 mln for an almost 30 yo Blind? Although i love him, and he's a model citizen......

[Raymond85]

6 minuti fa, Raymond85 ha scritto:

Would you guys take 15-20 mln for an almost 30 yo Blind? Although i love him, and he's a model citizen......

Well, i had to cave in. They negotiated to a structured deal of 35 mln. That's insane.... time for Eiting to step up i think

[zlatanera]

1 minute ago, Raymond85 said:

Well, i had to cave in. They negotiated to a structured deal of 35 mln. That's insane.... time for Eiting to step up i think

That's nuts, who took him? 

I always assumed Eiting was the next Blind, but you look at him and he actually has a decent amount of Flair. 

[Raymond85]

11 minuti fa, zlatanera ha scritto:

That's nuts, who took him? 

I always assumed Eiting was the next Blind, but you look at him and he actually has a decent amount of Flair. 

Crazy Benfica. I'm looking also for a quick substitute, as i don't have much depht in that position. Might go with a loan, i shall see. I have no much idea, i always assumed i'd have him until retirement.

I need to check my youngsters out on loan, maybe retrain a techincal center back. I'm tempted to slot schuurs in there

[zlatanera]

So this is my set-up: Top divisions in recommended nations, plus South Africa and Slovakia for our affiliations (Slovakia also coming with a nice 1 month advance start date, even though I switched off the transfer window I still like the buffer) and then I added the three best Scandi nations so we can keep that youth link going. I thought about adding Colombia but I'm going to settle for just making it a short-term scouting focus. 

@Raymond85 Schuurs is good, I couldn't get his personality up. What about Van Gelderen or Bakboord?

Edited April 8, 2019 by zlatanera

[Raymond85]

9 minuti fa, zlatanera ha scritto:

So this is my set-up: Top divisions in recommended nations, plus South Africa and Slovakia for our affiliations (Slovakia also coming with a nice 1 month advance start date, even though I switched off the transfer window I still like the buffer) and then I added the three best Scandi nations so we can keep that youth link going. I thought about adding Colombia but I'm going to settle for just making it a short-term scouting focus. 

@Raymond85 Schuurs is good, I couldn't get his personality up. What about Van Gelderen or Bakboord?

 

Well, i'm so short minded.... i have the solution in front of my eyes: Jose Mauri is coming home and learning the hard work of a holding midfielder. I use a DM on support now, so i think Eiting and him will be perfect

[Brian]

6 minutes ago, Raymond85 said:

 

Well, i'm so short minded.... i have the solution in front of my eyes: Jose Mauri is coming home and learning the hard work of a holding midfielder. I use a DM on support now, so i think Eiting and him will be perfect

I have Eiting playing as a BPD in cup matches. Thinking of switching to a 3-back if I want to introduce it into my first team.