Bayer 04 Leverkusen

[jlgray.94]

INTRODUCTION

Bayer 04 Leverkusen are a well-established Bundesliga club that reside from the town of Leverkusen, which lies north of the big city of Cologne. After taking 76 years to reach the first tier of German football, they have went on to win 2 major honours (UEFA Cup - 88 & German Cup 93) as well as finishing runners up in the Bundesliga on 5 occasions. However their most famous season would be 2002, they had the chance to win the treble and ended up with nothing. Therefore it’s up to you to bring the treble season back but with a successful ending.

HISTORY OF BAYER 04 LEVERKUSEN

Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH - Founded in 1904 by employees of the German pharmaceutical company Bayer, whose headquarters are in Leverkusen and from which the club draws its name. It was formerly the best-known department of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, a sports club whose members also participate in athletics, gymnastics, basketball and other sports including the RTHC Bayer Leverkusen (rowing, tennis and hockey). In 1999 the football department was separated from the sports club and is now a separate entity formally called Bayer 04 Leverkusen GmbH.

SV Bayer 04 Leverkusen played third and fourth division football up until the 1930’s. In 1936, they earned promotion to the second highest class of play of the period. That was also the year that the club wore the familiar "Bayer" cross for the first time. They made their first appearance in upper league play in 1951, in the Oberliga West and played there until 1956, after which they were relegated. SV Bayer 04 Leverkusen would not return to the upper leagues until 1962, just one season before the formation of Germany's new professional league, the Bundesliga. The next year saw the club in the Regionalliga West, tier II, where their performances over the next few seasons left them well down the league table

Bayer 04 Leverkusen made something of a breakthrough in 1968 by winning the Bundesliga 2 division title, but was unable to advance through the playoff round to the first division. The club was relegated again in 1973, but made a quick return to the 2. Bundesliga after just one season spent in the third division. Four years later, the club handily secured a place in the Bundesliga to start to play there in the 1979–80 season.  By the mid-1980s, SV Bayer 04 Leverkusen had played its way into the upper half of the league table and was well-established there by the end of the decade. It was during this time, in 1984, that the two-halves of the club that had parted ways over a half century earlier were re-united as TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen e.V. The new club took red and white as its colours.

In addition to becoming an established Bundesliga side, the club earned its first honours with a dramatic win in the 1988 UEFA Cup. Down 0–3 to Espanyol after the first leg of the final, Bayer Leverkusen drew even in the return match and then captured the title on penalty kicks, 3–2. The club captured its next honour in 1993 with a 1–0 win in the DFB-Pokal over a surprising Hertha BSC amateur squad on 12 June 1993. After a near disaster in 1996 when the club faced a relegation battle, Bayer Leverkusen established itself as a powerful side, offering a technically pleasing offensive style of play under new coach Christoph Daum, who was also helped by the signing of players such as Lúcio, Emerson, Zé Roberto and Michael Ballack. The clubs fortunes began to change and success looked around the corner.


 

RECENT YEARS

Leverkusen have come heartbreakingly close to winning the title on a couple of occasions, the first was in 1999-00, Leverkusen needed only a draw against SpVgg Unterhaching to win the title. A 2-0 defeat with the help of an own goal by Michael Ballack. Leverkusen crushed their chances of winning the title and Bayern Munich clinched the title with a 3–1 victory over Werder Bremen. In 2001-02 campaign, the club surrendered a five-point lead with 3 matches to play. Borussia Dortmund went on to win the league title winning their final 3 matches of the campaign. The 2001-02 season under Klaus Toppmöller has been dubbed the "Treble Horror", as Bayer Leverkusen were also beaten 4–2 in the DFB-Pokal final by Schalke 04 and lost the UEFA Champions League final 2–1 to Real Madrid. Leverkusen was the first team to reach the final of the Champions League without ever having won a national championship.

In the summer of 2002, the team lost influential midfield stars Michael Ballack and Zé Roberto to archrivals Bayern Munich. The team then flirted with relegation through most of the 2002-03 season, leading to the firing of Klaus Toppmöller and he was replaced by the inexperienced Thomas Hörster. Charismatic coach Klaus Augenthaler took up the reins in the last two games of the season and helped avoid the disaster of relegation with a win over his previous club, FC Nuremberg.

Leverkusen has gone on to become a well-established club in the Bundesliga over the past decade, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League on 5 occasions. The latest rise of young talent in this current squad means it could soon be Bayer Leverkusen’ time to go to the next stage as a club and secure the Bundesliga title for the first time. 

 

 

RIVALRIES

Leverkusen is a small town with a population of 163,000 which is situated very close to the large city of Cologne which boasts a population of 1,016,000 .  Koln is a club with a much larger fan base which is shown by the stadium sizes of the 2 clubs. FC Koln play at the RheinEnergieStadion with a capacity of 49,698. Leverkusen has a much smaller fan base, but are financially backed by the company Bayer AG, Leverkusen play at the Bay Arena with a capacity of 30,210. but are financially backed by the company Bayer AG. Köln fans see this as a perfect reason to call themselves more of a club, due to the tradition of their club, rather than the recent history of Leverkusen. Bayer 04 Leverkusen are currently the bigger club due to occupying 5^th place in the Bundesliga 2017-18 campaign, FC Koln finished 18^th and were relegated to the Bundesliga 2. Leverkusen currently lead the head to head stats, 19 Games Played, Leverkusen 11 Wins, Koln 4 Wins & 4 Draws as of the close of the 2017-18 Season.

 

WHY BAYER 04 LEVERKUSEN?

1) They have some brilliant young stars in Julian Brandt, Kai Havertz, Leon Bailey, Jonathan Tah, Panagiotis Retsos, & Paulinho. As well as established stars Lars Bender, Charles Aranguiz & Kevin Volland.

2) The Bundesliga is now fully licensed offering you the most realistic gameplay possible and providing the use of VAR for the first time.

3) The club doesn’t have much of a history and the prospect of bringing the Bundesliga title back to Leverkusen is mouth-watering challenge.

4) Finances aren’t the best; however the prize money in the Bundesliga being so high that finances will vastly turn around over the next few years.

[bangkonggedek]

A great objective to aim for any Leverkusen save is to banish the memory of Treble Horror forever by finally winning the treble

I often buy Aranguiz and/or Volland in my saves on previous FM. Both are underrated hard workers who never disappoint me in game

[PortgasDiAceOP]

Managed to win Europa League first season and finished fourth at the Bundesliga. Really good team 2nd year now and i have to push for at least second place. Sold Aranguiz as he didnt want to renew his contract for 40 mil to PSG and bought with 30 mil his successor Barella. The only problem is that i cant make my strikers to score Volland and Alario.

[jlgray.94]

7 minutes ago, PortgasDiAceOP said:

Managed to win Europa League first season and finished fourth at the Bundesliga. Really good team 2nd year now and i have to push for at least second place. Sold Aranguiz as he didnt want to renew his contract for 40 mil to PSG and bought with 30 mil his successor Barella. The only problem is that i cant make my strikers to score Volland and Alario.

That’s good then, I came up against Arsenal in the first knockout round and got badly beaten, I finished 5th in my first season and I lost away to Bayern in the German Cup Semi Final.

My downfall was similar to yourself, could not get Volland to score, he scored 17, however only 9 in the league with 27 Starts and 3 Sub appearances. Conceding goals in the last 10 mins was a big problem throughout the season. 

I will upload some screenshots of transfer activity once I’m home from work, league table etc. RB Leipzig done the domestic double! 

[lblanc]

Leipzig are brilliant in my Dortmund save. Both Werner and Poulsen are on 20 plus goals for the season I'm currently in March.

[jlgray.94]

Just now, lblanc said:

Leipzig are brilliant in my Dortmund save. Both Werner and Poulsen are on 20 plus goals for the season I'm currently in March.

Yeah my season was very strange, Bayern Munich ended up snatching 2nd place on the last game of season, but going into it, this is how the table looked, apologies for the quality of the photo, once I'm home I can use screenshots

[Roguienight]

Finished 3rd in my first season. Got to the 2nd knockout round in Euro and 3rd knockout round in the cup.

Sold both Benders (20 and 29+5m) and Alario (16m) in the summer window and Dragovic (4.6m) and Bellarabi (8.25m) in the winter window. Got de Ligt for 25m and a bunch of youngsters.

Volland did ok-ish for me, scored 13 in 34 matches. Weiser and Bailey were pretty good, but no one was great. Paulinho, Brandt and Havertz had good moments, but were not regular enough.

 

I'm in march 2020, 5th in the league (i'm on a very bad run atm), just knocked out Inter in the UCL and gonna play RB now for the quarter finals.

For season two I only sold Pohjanpalo (5m) but got Weigl (45m), Alcácer (15m), Akpoguma (7.5m) and Chakvetadze (21.5m)

Alcácer is the league top goalscoarer with 16 goals in 26 matches. Bailey is doing GREAT! Havertz started pretty well but is oscillating a bit. My 4 defenders plus GK are also going pretty well and Aranguiz is still pretty good!

Hope to finish this season in the top 4 again and I think next season we will go pretty well.

 

Pics of my first team and reserves. Other players that are looking good are Antonio Marin, Pelayo Morilla, Lincoln, Tonali and Joveljic.

 

[jlgray.94]

Atleast your UCL campaign is going strongly! 

I used Brandt on the Right Wing as a (Winger - Attack) and also Bailey on the left as (Winger - Attack), they were both very effective and contributed to around 27 Goals and 26 Assists together

[jlgray.94]

Transfer History:

[jlgray.94]

My 1st XI & 2nd XI for 2nd Season:



Sadly Leon Bailey wants to move to a bigger club which i thought would be the case for a few players, Real Madrid shown minor interest which has now disappeared, so hopefully, keeps going and the unhappiness can become happiness with a champions league qualification season. 

[lblanc]

You're playing two playmakers. That's risky as it confuses players when looking to get ball to a creative outlet.

I'd recommend changing the dlp to a mezzala or b2b

[jlgray.94]

You think? I’ll have to have a little look at that in European fixtures

I had an Ajax save last year which worked out brilliantly playing "De Jong DM (DLP-S) Van De Beek CM (AP-S) & Arthur CM (AP-S)", basically trying to emulate the Guardiola Barca of real life "Busquets DM (DLP-S) Xavi CM (AP-S) & Iniesta CM (AP-A)"

[lblanc]

It's never really worked for me. Miles Jacobson all but confirmed while alpha testing on fmshow it was risky. 

Of course no one game is the same 

[jlgray.94]

29 minutes ago, lblanc said:

It's never really worked for me. Miles Jacobson all but confirmed while alpha testing on fmshow it was risky. 

Of course no one game is the same 

Ah I see, it’s only what I’ve ever used really, I don’t like playing Atracking Midfielder Role for AMC, can’t ever seem to make it work, I understand playing CM as B2B though, just no chance De Jong is doing that with his defensive attributes 😳

[Roguienight]

So this just happened

[jlgray.94]

26 minutes ago, Roguienight said:

So this just happened

Class! Good Luck 👍🏻

[tyro]

Good luck in the final. 

Nice a Leverkusen thread. Great team. Lots of young and interesting players. I thought losing Bernd Leno would be a big hit but Hradecky seems a great substitute. 

[Sansom]

Just finished my first season, managed to win the league although it was more the fact that every title challenger went through a bad spell at one point. Hertha Berlin were top at half way and then threw it all away. Got knocked out the europa league in the semi's to Man United, lost whatever the german cup is called in the semis to Mainz.

League:

Transfers:

 

Getting Munir on a free. Might sell Volland if I can find a replacement, wouldnt mind moving on Wendell as well, I've never seen anyone give away as many penalties as him.

[Roguienight]

So I finished my second season.

 

Lost the UCL final to Liverpool in one corner goal even though we played a lot better.

Finished the league in second behind Mainz.

Alcácer was the top goal scorer for both competitions, Bailey was great and Havertz was the third best player for out team.

 

For my third season I plan on contest the league title for the first time.

Sold Volland (11m) and Wendell (17m) as they didn't want to renew contracts and had only one year left. Got 25m for Aranguiz, who always played very well but was getting older and wanted to leave and my biggest loss was Tah, for 51m. Brought in Luca Pellegrini (31m) to rotate with Francisco Ortega on the left back and Lorenzo Pellegrini (50m), who looks great and is described as a world class midfielder. Also got a lot of regens.

Let's see how this next season goes

 

Sorry for my bad english.

[PortgasDiAceOP]

I managed to get cucurella for free at the 1st January. Now in the summer after playing some friendlies lookks like a good sub for wendell. Any ideas on RBs? I also have to get rid of Alario. Anyway the bet for this second season is Barella cause if he underperforms then im screwed. Btw be a little bit romantic guys. Dont sell the Bender brothers :D

 

[Roguienight]

2 horas atrás, PortgasDiAceOP disse:

I managed to get cucurella for free at the 1st January. Now in the summer after playing some friendlies lookks like a good sub for wendell. Any ideas on RBs? I also have to get rid of Alario. Anyway the bet for this second season is Barella cause if he underperforms then im screwed. Btw be a little bit romantic guys. Dont sell the Bender brothers

 

I've kept Weiser and Jedvaj for RBs. Weiser is great, Jedvaj not so much, but good enough (and being trained at the club is a nice extra). I use them as wingbacks - attack

I felt like my offers for the Benders were too good to pass, but none of them performed really well after leaving us, albeit neither did Kohr (who i actually used on my first season) in their position.

And btw, Barella looks great on my save (2021).

[PortgasDiAceOP]

2 minutes ago, Roguienight said:

I've kept Weiser and Jedvaj for RBs. Weiser is great, Jedvaj not so much, but good enough (and being trained at the club is a nice extra). I use them as wingbacks - attack

I felt like my offers for the Benders were too good to pass, but none of them performed really well after leaving us, albeit neither did Kohr (who i actually used on my first season) in their position.

And btw, Barella looks great on my save (2021).

Well i dont consider Jevdaj a RB in the first place. I hope Barella becomes a beast for me too cause i spent 35mil on him :P. I'm kinda romantic at this save. So i dream Bender brothers retiring at Bayer and maybe becoming coaches later on. 

[Roguienight]

3 minutos atrás, PortgasDiAceOP disse:

Well i dont consider Jevdaj a RB in the first place. I hope Barella becomes a beast for me too cause i spent 35mil on him :P. I'm kinda romantic at this save. So i dream Bender brothers retiring at Bayer and maybe becoming coaches later on. 

Yea, i think he's much more of a DC too, but I had two great ones playting there in the beginning of my save and good back up, but no back up to RB, so you know...

Tried to get Barella for my 3rd season, but he prefered Man City over me.

 

Em 12/11/2018 em 19:45, Roguienight disse:

So I finished my second season.

 

Lost the UCL final to Liverpool in one corner goal even though we played a lot better.

Finished the league in second behind Mainz.

Alcácer was the top goal scorer for both competitions, Bailey was great and Havertz was the third best player for out team.

 

For my third season I plan on contest the league title for the first time.

Sold Volland (11m) and Wendell (17m) as they didn't want to renew contracts and had only one year left. Got 25m for Aranguiz, who always played very well but was getting older and wanted to leave and my biggest loss was Tah, for 51m. Brought in Luca Pellegrini (31m) to rotate with Francisco Ortega on the left back and Lorenzo Pellegrini (50m), who looks great and is described as a world class midfielder. Also got a lot of regens.

Let's see how this next season goes

 

Sorry for my bad english.

 

Little update:

Got the Bundesliga tittle in the 3rd season! Bailey was a total beast! Lost the UCL quarter final do Man Utd though, but overall it was a great season.

Brandt complained the whole season about wanting to leave and started to play like ****, so for my 4th season I sold him for only 55m, but Paulinho played most of last season and is looking pretty good. Got Antonio Marin as back up. Also sold Kohr (9m) and Akpoguma (20.5m) and loaned a lot of young players who will net me 7.8m.

Man Utd made a huge 115m offer for de Ligt, he wanted to go, so I accepted, but he ended up refusing the contract. I had already paied 75m for Upamecano to replace him, but oh well, now I have 2 great and young DCs. Also got Joe Gomez for back up for 8.75m.

Already have 3 good regens on my main team, and some pretty good ones to come, including 2 strikes that i'm very excited about!

[PortgasDiAceOP]

1 minute ago, Roguienight said:

Yea, i think he's much more of a DC too, but I had two great ones playting there in the beginning of my save and good back up, but no back up to RB, so you know...

Tried to get Barella for my 3rd season, but he prefered Man City over me.

 

 

Little update:

Got the Bundesliga tittle in the 3rd season! Bailey was a total beast! Lost the UCL quarter final do Man Utd though, but overall it was a great season.

Brandt complained the whole season about wanting to leave and started to play like ****, so for my 4th season I sold him for only 55m, but Paulinho played most of last season and is looking pretty good. Got Antonio Marin as back up. Also sold Kohr (9m) and Akpoguma (20.5m) and loaned a lot of young players who will net me 7.8m.

Man Utd made a huge 115m offer for de Ligt, he wanted to go, so I accepted, but he ended up refusing the contract. I had already paied 75m for Upamecano to replace him, but oh well, now I have 2 great and young DCs. Also got Joe Gomez for back up for 8.75m.

Already have 3 good regens on my main team, and some pretty good ones to come, including 2 strikes that i'm very excited about!

 

well Jevdaj did the trick for me too the 1st season but for the second onw i need a real rb :P 

 

These are my ins and outs for the 1st season. I havent finished the transfer period in my second season so no screenshot. I have to find a way to get rid of Alario cause he literally does nothing for the team

[Roguienight]

3 minutos atrás, PortgasDiAceOP disse:

 

well Jevdaj did the trick for me too the 1st season but for the second onw i need a real rb :P 

 

These are my ins and outs for the 1st season. I havent finished the transfer period in my second season so no screenshot. I have to find a way to get rid of Alario cause he literally does nothing for the team

I have no recommentations for RB, but I've been interested in Vagnoman. Also bought Lincoln, and even though I don't play him much, he looks GREAT! Developed really well! Tonali is in my team too and looks good, kind of a worse Barella, I plan on playing both more this season.

[BanOly]

Great thread, I'm glad someone else picked up the mantle this year as I was late to acquire the game and had no interest in writing for the third year running!

Sticking with Roger Schmidt's approach for high-intensity pressing in the 4-4-2 shape, similar to how Leipzig still play on occasion with two DMs and two wide AMs with the appearance of wingers. Volland is good for the tactic and scored 14 in his first season but Alario will have to be let go as he struggles with the system wherein both players take turns being the pressing forward that drags defenders out of position to create space for the other. Paulinho and Havertz have taken turns in this role but I really need a Poulsen/Werner-esque player.

Havertz is exceptional on the right as "the Sabitzer" and Brandt is equally incredible on the left as "the Forsberg" with Bailey rotating as "the Bruma" lots of similarity to Leipzig's squad in all honesty but that's only good for me as I have a massive interest in both clubs. Leverkusen also have loads of defensive central midfielders and few attacking-minded ones with Aranguiz, Lars, Kohr and Baumgartlinger all more defensively inclined. Baumg will be let go soon as performances continue to decline. Curious to hear who you have all been signing as a long-term replacement for Aranguiz? He is more important and harder to find a replacement for than you think; very few players are as defensively capable as he is while also possessing the creativity he has. Last year I went with Torreira, now that he's with Arsenal the best I could find this year was Lucas Romero (Cruzeiro) after passing on Miguel Almiron (Atlanta), the former doing a good enough job and matching the kind of player Aranguiz was when he first joined the club but I feel I can do better.

Defensively though there's something wrong, and I can't put my finger on it. 14 clean sheets and 39 goals conceded in my first season doesn't tell the whole story - Hradecky doesn't seem to be able to replace Leno which is unsurprising because Bernd was pretty special. Bender and Tah are the regular choice but I'm thinking I need an upgrade on Wendell, Weiser, Retsos and Jedvaj as my full-backs. Saracchi is underrated on the game I think and had he been given attributes more reflective of his real-world ability I'd go in for him next season, but I need to find a left-back and I need a better goalkeeper in the future.

Third-spot and a place in the Champions League. Should give me a bit of pulling power to bring in some world-beaters. Baumg is off and I'm looking at Sander Berge (Genk) amongst other assorted low-wage obscurities.

[PortgasDiAceOP]

3 hours ago, BanOly said:

Great thread, I'm glad someone else picked up the mantle this year as I was late to acquire the game and had no interest in writing for the third year running!

Sticking with Roger Schmidt's approach for high-intensity pressing in the 4-4-2 shape, similar to how Leipzig still play on occasion with two DMs and two wide AMs with the appearance of wingers. Volland is good for the tactic and scored 14 in his first season but Alario will have to be let go as he struggles with the system wherein both players take turns being the pressing forward that drags defenders out of position to create space for the other. Paulinho and Havertz have taken turns in this role but I really need a Poulsen/Werner-esque player.

Havertz is exceptional on the right as "the Sabitzer" and Brandt is equally incredible on the left as "the Forsberg" with Bailey rotating as "the Bruma" lots of similarity to Leipzig's squad in all honesty but that's only good for me as I have a massive interest in both clubs. Leverkusen also have loads of defensive central midfielders and few attacking-minded ones with Aranguiz, Lars, Kohr and Baumgartlinger all more defensively inclined. Baumg will be let go soon as performances continue to decline. Curious to hear who you have all been signing as a long-term replacement for Aranguiz? He is more important and harder to find a replacement for than you think; very few players are as defensively capable as he is while also possessing the creativity he has. Last year I went with Torreira, now that he's with Arsenal the best I could find this year was Lucas Romero (Cruzeiro) after passing on Miguel Almiron (Atlanta), the former doing a good enough job and matching the kind of player Aranguiz was when he first joined the club but I feel I can do better.

Defensively though there's something wrong, and I can't put my finger on it. 14 clean sheets and 39 goals conceded in my first season doesn't tell the whole story - Hradecky doesn't seem to be able to replace Leno which is unsurprising because Bernd was pretty special. Bender and Tah are the regular choice but I'm thinking I need an upgrade on Wendell, Weiser, Retsos and Jedvaj as my full-backs. Saracchi is underrated on the game I think and had he been given attributes more reflective of his real-world ability I'd go in for him next season, but I need to find a left-back and I need a better goalkeeper in the future.

Third-spot and a place in the Champions League. Should give me a bit of pulling power to bring in some world-beaters. Baumg is off and I'm looking at Sander Berge (Genk) amongst other assorted low-wage obscurities.

I went for Barella to replace Aranguiz ( sold him in the end of the 1st season to PSG for 40 mil euros.) He and Paqueta were the 2 players in the end but i chose Barella, He is a bit more expensive but Paqueta's injury proness old me back back from going for him. 
LBs and RBs is a huge problem for me too. Luckily i managed to get cucurella for free in the 1st January and he is pretty decent for back up. But i cant find someone for the RB role :/

[PortgasDiAceOP]

18 hours ago, Roguienight said:

I have no recommentations for RB, but I've been interested in Vagnoman. Also bought Lincoln, and even though I don't play him much, he looks GREAT! Developed really well! Tonali is in my team too and looks good, kind of a worse Barella, I plan on playing both more this season.

I loaned lincoln out to Nuremberg with a key player role and i got on loan Pinamonti. The reason i did this is for Lincoln to play first team football and improve much faster. Next season he will be in my rotation next year. I have to find a way to offload Alario without displeasing the whole squad but this seems really difficult to achieve.

[talhak]

Hey guys,

I wonder your opinions about the best number 10 in the squad. Havertz or Brandt? And how do you play them together? And what about Paulinho, asking him since he should play regularly in order to reach his amazing potential as he is one of the best wonderkids in the game.

[zlatanera]

Paulinho is the only one I haven't signed on this FM, I'd have to say Havertz is by far the best No. 10, can become possibly the best one in the game. I have him for Man Utd and have got him to natural at MR to play as a Wide Playmaker and he's been brilliant, after a season I wanted to get rid of Mata just to play him more. Brandt is more of a winger / inside forward anyway. 

[talhak]

Thanks @zlatanera for your feedback. I just wonder why you did not play Havertz as AMC or MC (maybe with Attack duty)?

[zlatanera]

6 minutes ago, talhak said:

Thanks @zlatanera for your feedback. I just wonder why you did not play Havertz as AMC or MC (maybe with Attack duty)?

Because I was playing a 442 with 2 DMs, then a flat 442. Midfield was W-At - SV-Su - SV-Su - WP-At and then WM-At - BBM-Su - DLP-Su - WP-At. 

The Wide Playmaker tends to get into No. 10 positions when we have any significant possession anyway, but I get far better results than I've done with any AMC role. Havertz is particularly lethal on my Utd save (although he's been injured for 4 months) as he's tall - combined with him learning Gets Into Opposition Area (and many other traits) from Mata, it makes him a threat at the back post on a cross too. 

[Gungner]

On 08/11/2018 at 18:55, lblanc said:

You're playing two playmakers. That's risky as it confuses players when looking to get ball to a creative outlet.

I'd recommend changing the dlp to a mezzala or b2b

I'm using two playmakers myself, in my Marseille save. A deep-lying and an advanced. The success speaks for itself, as you can see in the Marseille thread.

[lblanc]

On 15/02/2019 at 19:20, Gungner said:

I'm using two playmakers myself, in my Marseille save. A deep-lying and an advanced. The success speaks for itself, as you can see in the Marseille thread.

I didn't say it didn't work I just said it's risky

[Roguienight]

Em 15/02/2019 em 09:29, talhak disse:

Hey guys,

I wonder your opinions about the best number 10 in the squad. Havertz or Brandt? And how do you play them together? And what about Paulinho, asking him since he should play regularly in order to reach his amazing potential as he is one of the best wonderkids in the game.

Havertz is amazing. I play him as attacking midfielder - attack. He doesn't always have the best ratings, but he's always great in the field. He's looking great for me in 2023 and got 25 goals and 10 assists in 43 matches last season. 

Brandt was never good so I sold him, used as IF - support. He was replaced by Paulinho, who doesn't look as good as you'd think. Also always very inconsistent for me and got replaced by a regen.

I can post pictures of how they look on my save if want.

[Gungner]

Have you guys stuck with Hradecky, or gone for a better keeper?

[talhak]

10 hours ago, Roguienight said:

Havertz is amazing. I play him as attacking midfielder - attack. He doesn't always have the best ratings, but he's always great in the field. He's looking great for me in 2023 and got 25 goals and 10 assists in 43 matches last season. 

Brandt was never good so I sold him, used as IF - support. He was replaced by Paulinho, who doesn't look as good as you'd think. Also always very inconsistent for me and got replaced by a regen.

I can post pictures of how they look on my save if want.

Thanks my friend for your feedback. Completely agree with you - Havertz is one of the best wonderkids in the game, and always does his job as it is expected. I play him as Advanced Playmaker with Attack duty. I play Paulinho as a striker (Pressing Forward) and play Brandt as Midfielder (Center) with Advanced Playmaker (Support) role. Both of them does well. Since I am just in the first winter transfer window, I could not be able to sell Brandt in order to have some budget to sign a great MC and a striker who will play in the position of Paulinho. I want to play Paulinho in the rotation as an Inside Forward (Left) or Striker until he develops, but will keep in the squad as his potential looks great.

[Roguienight]

14 horas atrás, Gungner disse:

Have you guys stuck with Hradecky, or gone for a better keeper?

He was always good for me, but now that I have a great goalkeeper I can see the difference even though he's young and not fully developed. I'd keep him until you can get someone that will take you to the next level.

 

7 horas atrás, talhak disse:

Thanks my friend for your feedback. Completely agree with you - Havertz is one of the best wonderkids in the game, and always does his job as it is expected. I play him as Advanced Playmaker with Attack duty. I play Paulinho as a striker (Pressing Forward) and play Brandt as Midfielder (Center) with Advanced Playmaker (Support) role. Both of them does well. Since I am just in the first winter transfer window, I could not be able to sell Brandt in order to have some budget to sign a great MC and a striker who will play in the position of Paulinho. I want to play Paulinho in the rotation as an Inside Forward (Left) or Striker until he develops, but will keep in the squad as his potential looks great.

I had no idea Havertz was that great! He's being a total beast in the current season! He also loves me and the club so never wanted to leave the team.

About Paulinho, my biggest issue is that he's always been too inconsistent. Played amazing for 3 games and then did nothing for 5. He was my number 1 AML for 20/21 and 21/22 seasons, but then this regen that was supposed to be his back up started playing so great and took his spot (regens are actually developing so well they already are 5 of 11 for my starters). In fact, Paulinho just handed his transfer request. He looks good and is worth £64m so I hope I can get some good money.

How is Brandt playing as CM?

[talhak]

25 minutes ago, Roguienight said:

How is Brandt playing as CM?

 

His succeed passing ratio is 88% which is good I think. His average rating is 7.18 as MC. Between Paulinho has scored 12 goals in 23 (2) appearances which is good as well. His average rating is 6.92. But as I said earlier I am planning to sign a striker and play Paulinho as the backup/rotation for both striker and AML positions as my main AML is Hudson-Odoi. I just hope Paulinho does not demand to leave the club for the first team football.

[Roguienight]

Winter window hit me hard. Lost my best defender, Upamecano for £95m. Decided to just use my back up DC for his place, so I didn't bring anyone.

Also got a £136m bid for Bailey, but as I don't need the cash (got £514m selling players this season) I rejected it. Had to promisse him we're gonna win ECC this season. We have a good chance, but it's gonna be hard.

1 hora atrás, talhak disse:

His succeed passing ratio is 88% which is good I think. His average rating is 7.18 as MC. Between Paulinho has scored 12 goals in 23 (2) appearances which is good as well. His average rating is 6.92. But as I said earlier I am planning to sign a striker and play Paulinho as the backup/rotation for both striker and AML positions as my main AML is Hudson-Odoi. I just hope Paulinho does not demand to leave the club for the first team football.

I didn't have much luck for that role. After I sold Aranguiz on season 3 I got Pellegrini for DLP-S, but he's not thaaaat good.

I never played Paulinho as ST, but he looks pretty good for that too.

What season are you in? Hudson-Odoi should be pretty young I guess? How is he playing?

[talhak]

3 hours ago, Roguienight said:

What season are you in? Hudson-Odoi should be pretty young I guess? How is he playing?

I am in the first season. Yeah, Hudson-Odoi is only 18, he plays good for me, but I have huge expectations from him, hopefully, he will meet my expectations in the next few years. He has scored 5 goals and made 4 assists in 22(1) appearances. His average rating is 6.94. He is very fast and agile but he just needs to improve his ability in front of the goal as well as positioning.

[Gungner]

Any tips for a left-back? Wendell is pretty much what you have, and I need a back-up... 

[SwedenYid]

Hi guys! I have finally taken the step and started a Bayer Leverkusen save. 

Tactic and XI
So I'm currently in the late stage of my first pre-season with the team and after some thinking and experimenting I think I have settled for this tactic and XI:

A quite simple but offensive 4-2-3-1 as you can see. The pre-season games have gone well and we have created loads of chances with especially Bailey and Havertz bossing it so far. I'm a little bit unsure on the winger roles as I might switch one of them to a IF (s) instead in some games to keep the attack more unpredictable. 

The defense looks decent especially the pairing with Tah and Diego Llorente that looks like a perfect match. However I have a few questions over Weiser and Wendell but it's obviously very early days so we'll see. 

 

Transfers
This is how my transfer window looks at this moment:

Unfortunately I sold Lars Bender to Bayern for £25m up front but I felt like it had to be done. However I'm confident that his brother Sven will step up and prove his worth even more now as I also have sent him to a leadership course with his brother now gone.

As you can see I decided to sign Trémoulinas on a free to provide some cover for Wendell. Gnoukouri was also signed as a free agent mainly because of the bargain status, but I have not yet decided if he will be in our squad this season as a back up or if he will be loaned out and maybe sold later on for a profit. 

Almirón was signed for rotation with Havertz and he's been impressive during pre-season so he'll definitely get games. 

With Diego Llorente I have big, big hopes for him this season. I felt that we needed one more quality proven centre back along Tah and so far so good. I see this transfer as a coup since the likes of Man City, Liverpool, Roma etc were lurking around him and given the fact that he almost every save sign with a top flight club.

Youngsters Norrestrand and Hasic is mainly signed for my U19 team but might be involved in a few cup games this season. Hasic looks like a great prospect imo.

I'll be looking to add some more talents to our youth team as the most of the current youngsters are not good enough for the future. I'll also looking to be upgrading on Alario and Pohjanpalo in January and maybe one or another position. 

Staff
I almost every save make a big clear out since there is so much deadwood staff at almost every club... This save was not any different. I won't go in to so much of the details but I hired Marco van Basten as my assistant manager as he was the best option available to us. I fired the DoF since I don't understand how anyone can play with a DoF (no offense) and who's also almost every time on high wages as well. 

Anyway this is how it looks after the clear out and the recruitment process was done:

Not so bad at all if I might say so!  

Okay, sorry for my novel but I had some spare time over hehe. I'll be hoping for a great start of the first season, knock on wood. 

Come one you Bayer 04!

[Gungner]

Started a Leverkusen save, which should be fun. Never tried them before in FM, but they look loaded with talent. My transfers looks like this:

Everyone was signed to be a part of the U19 Squad, except Gnoukouri, but when Tremoulinas chose Betis over us, I had no other left-back than Wendell in the squad, so Abanda had to be instantly put into the Senior squad. He's gotten a few friendlies, but he'll go back to the U19's once the season starts so he can get regular game time, and be fit when he's needed. Looking forward to the first season, should be an entertaining ride. 

[Roguienight]

Well,

 

 

WE DID IT!!!

 

[Gee_Simpson]

I really can't decide between Leipzig or Leverkusen. If Leverkusen had Werner and Upamecano I would gladly choose them. Bailey, Brandt, Havertz and Tah are so appealing though, also Paulinho. On the other hand it looks like Leipzig have the better finances and better reserves with many more young prospects, whereas Leverkusen's reserves are poor. What kind of budgets do you get after the first season? Enough to bring in players like Werner and Upamecano?