[FM2005-] A Healthy Wave of Nostalgia

[Tikka Mezzala]

Will Valencia drop off? They were a top side back then. Better not let them get too far ahead early in the season. 

[Drogba11CFC]

I hope Chelsea are a lot better in this one than they were in the last one.

[sjg11]

On 09/08/2019 at 16:45, Pechorin said:

Will Valencia drop off? They were a top side back then. Better not let them get too far ahead early in the season. 

To be honest, there's a big drop-off in game for Valencia between FM05 and FM06. On 05, the in-game bookies actually tipped them to win La Liga in the first season and they managed to finish ahead of Barca. On 06 they were predicted to finish 6th. 04-05 was really the end of the Cuper/Benitez Valencia team as they did not thrive under Ranieri. 

[sjg11]

On 10/08/2019 at 23:21, Drogba11CFC said:

I hope Chelsea are a lot better in this one than they were in the last one.

I expect more from Chelsea here. On FM05 Arsenal are the best side in the game at the start of the save. Which is fair considering that it was the year after the Invincibles. That naturally makes it kinda hard for Chelsea to do much in game. 

[sjg11]

October 2005

La Liga

One thing which I forgot to mention in my last update is that Ronaldo was injured in an international game in August for 4 months. He's expected back in early December. 

We started the month with an excellent win at home to Betis. Raul, Baptista and Robinho all linked up well to give us a comfortable win. However, this was followed by another big injury in an international game, with Zidane out for between 3 to 5 months. 

This win against Mallorca was routine. Cassano scored an amazing overhead kick to open the scoring in what was the most noteworthy moment of the entire match. 

 

This game was one where we always looked superior but we were never comfortable. Raul gave us an early lead before Paunovic equalised with a great striker. Baptista and Cassano then scored a quickfire double around the 70 minute mark before Jaja scored a consolation to ensure a slightly nervy finish. 

This was a frustrating game where a disciplined Villarreal side largely managed to stifle my attack before taking the points with a Diego Forlan header on 70 minutes. In more bad injury news, Casillas broke his finger leaving him out of action for a month. Meaning I'm gonna spend November with my main keeper, my best midfielder and my best striker injured along with a defence which is not exactly vintage. 

In better news, we end the month only two points behind Atleti at the top of the table. Valencia's downfall occurred this month and we've maintained a reasonable lead over Barca. The title race is still very open as things stand. 

Currently the relegation spots are filled by the three newly promoted sides but, similar to the top of the table, things are still close enough that plenty will change between now and the end of the season. 

Champions' League

This game was one of those games which makes you start throwing things. Casillas was injured meaning I needed to put Diego Lopez in goal. He proceeded to produce one of the worst goalkeeping performances I've seen for some time as he failed to save anything all match. Meaning that, despite some great attacking play and despite absolutely dominating Porto, we come away with just a point from a game where we really needed a win. It also means that I've conceded from my last 4 shots on target in the CL. I'm also very squeamish about how Lopez will perform after Casillas' injury against Villarreal. 

1. Lille- 7
2. Real Madrid- 4
3. Porto- 3
4. Udinese- 1

We're still not in a terrible position in the group but we need to focus quickly or we could be the victims of an embarrassing early elimination from the CL. I'll admit that I would be very surprised if we won the CL this season... but getting knocked out in the group stage would still be an embarrassment particularly from what should be a fairly straightforward group. 

 

[sjg11]

November 2005

La Liga

We started the month with a routine home win against Santander. They were fairly determined opponents and they looked decent until Robinho opened the scoring and for a spell when Oscar Serrano made it 2-1 but we did enough to take the three points. 

This... was one of those classic frustrating FM games where we completely dominated but were thwarted after a brilliant performance by the Cadiz keeper. Things were thrown after this one. 

Fortunately we followed the Cadiz with an excellent performance at Malaga as we tore our opponents to shreds to secure a 5-1 victory. A red card for Alexis helped out cause but we were already looking comfortable before the red card occurred. Bad news occurred as Diego Lopez picked up an injury. An injection was required to nurse him through my midweek CL match at Udinese, details of which can be found below. 

Further injuries to Raul and Julio Baptista were our latest casualties leaving me without Ronaldo, Raul, Baptista, Zidane, Casillas and Lopez. This left me with a greyed out GK (Rodolfo Martin) playing as well as forcing me to play Pablo Garcia... who then also got injured forcing me to bring in Jotha (a random youngster). My mood was not improved when Andoni Iraola scored a free-kick to give Bilbao. However, something then happened as we poured forward and a goal from Robinho followed by a brace from Cassano gave us three very good points given our mounting injury crisis. Hopefully a few players will return soon and I'll be able to start moving forwards more effectively. 

Overall, the table is looking pretty good for us at the moment as we sit at the top of La Liga. Atleti look to be our closest challengers with Barca, Valencia and Betis also poised to launch a potential challenge. 

At the other end of the table, a whole cluster of teams could yet be involved in the relegation scrap but the teams from Cadiz down look like being the main contenders at this moment in time. 

Champions' League

This was a highly damaging defeat against Porto which could yet cost me a place in the Second Round. Once again, Lopez produced a poor goalkeeping performance and Porto came out on top after a thrilling game of football. 

This left us needing a win in Udine to keep our CL challenge alive. Fortunately Vidigal was sent off after a minute to make our job substantially easier. They held out until after half-time where Michel Salgado won the ball in midfield and charged clear before being chopped down by Valerio Bertotto. Thomas Gravesen converted the penalty before curling in a second a few minutes later. Raul and Cassano added further goals to keep our CL challenge alive. 

1. Porto- 9
2. Lille- 7
3. Real Madrid- 7
4. Udinese- 4

It's not exactly been vintage Madrid but a win against Lille in my final match will send me through. That's a win which is likely to prove somewhat nervy however and I could be left looking at an embarrassing CL performance in my first season in charge. 

[sjg11]

December 2005
La Liga

We started the month with a game against Espanyol which was definitely not one for the neutrals. Still not the worst result in the world for us. 

*Sighs*, this was a frustrating one. We created chances but didn't take and, to their credit, Sevilla were clinical on the counter-attack as we dropped points at home. I do not like dropping points at home. 

Fortunately we made up for the defeat against Sevilla by winning a dramatic encounter at the Vicente Calderon. Julio Baptista gave us the lead on the stroke of half-time before Gonzalo Colsa equalised from an Atleti corner. Guti then got clear down the left-hand side and David Beckham converted his cross to put us back in front. However, things looked to have turned against us when Fernando Torres equalised followed by a red card for Pablo Garcia for two yellow cards. Fortunately, Antonio Cassano was played in at the death and he converted to snatch a priceless three points for us. 

We finished the month with a good win against Valencia in another important match at the top of the table. This was Ronaldo's first start of the season after his injury and he made his mark by converting a Robinho cross to win the game. 

 

Well we remain on top at the end of the month but it is going to be a very interesting end to the season. To be honest, nobody is winning games on a consistent basis currently so the title race is probably going to go the distance. It looks like it's a 5-horse race between myself, Atleti, Valencia, Barca and Villarreal but Betis and even Deportivo are poised somewhat dangerously to form a top 7. Overall I'm in a position where I'm content with how we're performing and I'm aware of the limitations of my squad but I feel like this title is there for the taking if we can just find a little bit of consistency in the second half of the season. 

Sevilla are the only mid-table side at the moment as everyone from Racing Santander down look like they could be dragged into a relegation battle where nobody looks out of their depth but very few teams look particularly comfortable. 

Champions' League

We successfully secured our place in the Second Round of the CL with a fairly routine home win against Lille. Raul and Robinho combined well to ensure three points. Porto losing 5-1 at home to Udinese was also welcome news as it allowed us to take top spot. 

1. Real Madrid- 10
2. Porto- 9
3. Lille- 7
4. Udinese- 7

We'll face Bayern in the next round, a tricky tie but I tended to have a good record against Bayern on FM05 so we'll see if that continues here. 

[sjg11]

January 2006
First things first, transfer news. I got given £17 Million to spend which wasn't enough for the high-class addition I would have looked to bring in but was at least enough for me to bring in Kim Kallstrom to give me an extra body in midfield for £11.5 Million

La Liga

We started the month with a win at home to Vigo which was not as comfortable as the scoreline might suggest. A young David Silva gave Vigo the lead but Raul swiftly equalised. Roberto Carlos was then given a ridiculous red card but a quickfire double from Raul and Robinho means that we took the points anyway. 

This win was fairly comfortable as a quick double from Julio Baptista gave us an early 2-0 lead. Raul Bravo then conceded a penalty to allow them back into the match but Robinho swiftly responded to secure 3 more points. 

This was another somewhat nervy win. Things looked comfortable after Robinho gave us the lead and Sergio was sent-off for the Galician side. However, a great Diego Tristan free-kick brought Depor right back into the match and it took a late goal from super-sub Cassano to secure the points. 

This was a highly frustrating game against struggling Alaves. Beckham scored two great free-kicks which should have given us the points. Sadly Michel Salgado had a horrific game which allowed Ruben Navarro to score a brace and give Alaves a potentially priceless point. 

We remain top but, once again, we do not feel unbeatable in the way that some of my sides felt on FM05. Atleti, Barca and even Valencia are still in the hunt at the moment. Deportivo have fallen back a bit to turn a top 7 into a top 6 but things are still remarkably tight at the top. 

At the other end, a few sides beginning to pull away from the drop zone a little bit. Espanyol have moved into mid-table and Getafe and Athletic Bilbao are starting to look a little bit more secure. The bottom 5 really look like they'll be in the thick of things for the rest of the season along with probably another team or two from mid-table. 

Copa del Rey

We started with a tie against Celta where I played my Reserves and which was largely notable for a Roberto Soldado brace in the second leg. If this part of the save lasts for an extended period it's possible that Soldado might break into my first-team squad at some point and he's been sent on loan to Zaragoza for the rest of the season. 

Barca then dumped us out. I rested a few key players for this tie (although I wouldn't go as far as to say I played the reserves) and that probably nudged things in Barca's favour. 3 of their 4 goals were also pretty flukey. But not too upset to be out of the Copa as it allows me to focus my attention elsewhere for the rest of the season. 

 

[sjg11]

February and Early March 2006
La Liga

We started the month with a fairly routine win against Zaragoza. Beckham curled in a free-kick to give us the lead before Robinho and Ronaldo broke in the second half, with Ronaldo finishing off the move to secure three points. 

This was, in truth, a really poor game settled by an early moment of magic from Zidane who lobbed the Sociedad keeper from distance to give us the win. 

This was an annoying one. We were comfortably on top for 70 minutes and were rewarded through two Robinho goals but Eto'o and Larsson scored twice in the last 20 minutes to gain a point for Barca. 

This was an even game until Juanito's red card. From that point Gravesen fired in from the edge of the box to put us in front before Ronaldo broke away to secure the points early in the second half. 

In FM05 I had a terrible record at Mallorca, I even lost there when they got relegated in the final season. Fortunately we bucked the trend here, Ronaldo poking home from a corner to give us the lead before breaking away to double it shortly afterwards. 

Overall, we're in a good position in the title race. Which I'm pretty happy with as I think beating that Barca team with this Madrid team is a pretty good achievement for my first season. Betis have dropped out of the hunt leaving Atleti, Barca, Valencia and Villarreal competing for the top 4 places and potentially the title. At the other end, Cadiz look doomed and Sociedad and Zaragoza are probably safe now. Anyone else is still definitely in the relegation battle. 

Champions' League

Sadly Bayern dumped us out of Europe. To their credit they were excellent defensively over the two legs but, annoyingly, their two goals were pops by Ballack and Ismael. To be honest I'm not too upset though as I'm not sure that my squad is good enough to win the CL and I do think that we can win La Liga this season so it's not the end of the world to be focusing on that for the rest of the season. 

[sjg11]

Hey, having some technical problems. Will let you know if I manage to fix them and get things running again. 

[Federico]

I think you could find some used copy on ebay or even Amazon.

I bought FM05 on Amazon, still filmed, just one year ago.