Unofficial French League Superthread

[Jogo Bonito]

3 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Good work everyone, enjoying the updates! 

Sadly my game is on temporary hold, as my computer has completely crashed and is now with the IT guy who's trying to recover it. 

Meanwhile I have downloaded FM onto my wife's computer and started a new game, as you do  it's not in France though. Also weird to play it without the facepack and skins and all the other customisations (I'm realizing I'm too much of an FM geek!) 

Good luck with the fix! Poor Mrs karanhsingh 

24 minutes ago, Travis Bickle said:

I signed Moussa Dembélé from Lyon as my striker for my 3rd season at Marseille (2021-2022). I had the choice between him and Amine Gouiri, but I needed an immediate impact after letting Cavani go. Let's see how he does. Hoping his pace/finishing combination should be enough to see off most teams. 

I would expect him to be a perfect signing 

[karanhsingh]

7 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Good luck with the fix! Poor Mrs karanhsingh 

I would expect him to be a perfect signing 

Haha thank you 

Yes I hope to pick up the red star save again soon 

[karanhsingh]

34 minutes ago, Travis Bickle said:

I signed Moussa Dembélé from Lyon as my striker for my 3rd season at Marseille (2021-2022). I had the choice between him and Amine Gouiri, but I needed an immediate impact after letting Cavani go. Let's see how he does. Hoping his pace/finishing combination should be enough to see off most teams. 

He won the golden boot in Ligue 1 in my previous season outscoring the likes of Mbappe so this should work out well for you 

[Travis Bickle]

27 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

He won the golden boot in Ligue 1 in my previous season outscoring the likes of Mbappe so this should work out well for you 

Him and Asensio were my two signings so I'm hoping they link up well and we get some goals. First game 6-0 vs Toulouse.

[Travis Bickle]

Ha, he scored 2 goals in a 2-1 win over Lyon away. Including a last second penalty for the win!

[quee]

On 04/06/2020 at 05:28, Jogo Bonito said:

 

Not to worry, i did it the long way and then moved them back to the 2nd squad. Luckily it seems none of them got all precious about being promoted and demoted almost immediately.

But there must be a better way, surely.

Did you mean something like the filter on the right hand side?

You can include the B team and youth teams whilst at the first team squad page?

Unless I'm misunderstood what you meant 

[bendixkunert2]

 

update 2.1

 

As the season got underway we traveled to Ivory Coast to face Lyon. A nice last second win with a ton of players missing.

 

 

Our season has been going extremely well in the league. The only issue is that Paris is on a mission apparently. Gabriel Jesus has been absolutely stellar for them. 

 

 

 

We did not get a group of death in the UCL this time but it's a tricky group and we also have a long way to go. I hope we go through though.

 

 

standout player as expected:

 

 

We do not have a transfer policy although it is much preferred to have a healthy number of French players in this team and we will not pay massive fees and huge net transfer spends per window. There might be an exception or two but that's really how we are going to operate for the forseeable future. 

 

Our regen wonderkid might be a worldbeater in a couple of years. Wanted by City, Liverpool and United and receiving bids up to 18 million but all are getting declined.

 

Edited June 5, 2020 by bendixkunert2

[AddicksFan]

10 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@AddicksFan Great work with Sochaux to finish 4th. I tried to snatch Jessim a few times but they want 20 times more than his £64,000 value and I have alternatives at the club now anyway.

I did pick up Trabelsi at the start of my first season as I needed any right-back who met my criteria and was young enough to sit in the Under 19 squad. I like the look of Galves (who was on my shortlist) and Camele (for reasons I will explain below). But I noticed that Nebodon, Viltard, Delphis, Ngeumbeu, Alvero, Saco, Youlou and Grillot in your youth team all look great prospects. You have even more in your 2nd Team, whilst Ndiaye and Virginius are already in the first team and looking good (the latter particularly).

* I spent ages getting in suitable players under 19 for my Under 19 squad ahead of season 2. Sadly, I now find that four of them (aged 18) are too old to be eligible due to the rules which I didn't bother to check up on. I'm now having a last minute panic on to find a left-back and a couple of others as the left-back I signed just for this Under 19 squad in the summer is not allowed to play (age 18) and I have no other left-backs in that group. I've had to loan him and a couple of others out, because my 2nd Team is already properly balanced. 

. 

Thanks @Jogo Bonito Nebodon and Grillot are getting promoted to the first team this year as I am letting Daham and Moltenis go, they've done nothing but moan, Kaabouni is going as he's just not good enough now.

This guy is going to spend another season in the U18's, is probably my top prospect

[Hootieleece]

Greetings from Clermont. the team is still struggling and we are finding out just how lucky we have been the past two seasons....

I have tweaked the the TI's a bit by getting rid of play out of the back and Distribute to the CB's and lengthened the passes. All of this to combat the press that teams are now using against us. The first game with the tweak was Amiens.

Hopefully we go on a winning streak....

[Ronaldo Beckham]

53 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

Greetings from Clermont. the team is still struggling and we are finding out just how lucky we have been the past two seasons....

I have tweaked the the TI's a bit by getting rid of play out of the back and Distribute to the CB's and lengthened the passes. All of this to combat the press that teams are now using against us. The first game with the tweak was Amiens.

Hopefully we go on a winning streak....

Baiye looks good, I will check your career thread post in a minute.

[Timma]

11 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@10Sammo10 Nice () write up there. that's a very good start to the season. They do have some good players to start with (some still there from when I managed them on a couple of versions of the game) and your signings have been quite sensible. Bundu was great at Hereford, so very happy to see you sign him for this side. I seem to recall he had to leave as unable to get a work permit, but may be wrong. There's a guy called @Timma that would know much more about him than me. I like the Greek left-back you signed, a very good acquisition. The central midfield pair, the right-side options and Sarr are all very good players. Keep up the good work.

Even though we were playing in the ninth division at the time and playing against very limited opposition while he was here Bundu is definitely one of if not the most talented player I've seen while watching Hereford.  Was almost cruel watching these amateur and part-time players trying to deal with his ridiculous natural skill as well as blistering pace.

The only reason we had the opportunity to sign him was due to the fact he was in the country on a student visa which prevented him playing higher than the ninth division so when we got promoted he had to leave not that we would have had much chance in holding on to him.

Before he came to us he played once as a sub for Newquay at a similar level to and their manager said that bringing him on was like having their league equivalent of Ronaldo or Bale and he wasn't wrong as he was just far too good to be anywhere nead that level really.  In the end he scored 25 goals in 30 games in all competitions for us which was even more remarkable considering that he played out wide and it was his first season of senior football after only playing college football previously so he was still really raw.

Will be very interesting to see where he moves to in the summer as it seems certain he'll be leaving Denmark and there looks to be a lot of interest in him.

[Jogo Bonito]

54 minutes ago, Timma said:

Even though we were playing in the ninth division at the time and playing against very limited opposition while he was here Bundu is definitely one of if not the most talented player I've seen while watching Hereford.  Was almost cruel watching these amateur and part-time players trying to deal with his ridiculous natural skill as well as blistering pace.

The only reason we had the opportunity to sign him was due to the fact he was in the country on a student visa which prevented him playing higher than the ninth division so when we got promoted he had to leave not that we would have had much chance in holding on to him.

Before he came to us he played once as a sub for Newquay at a similar level to and their manager said that bringing him on was like having their league equivalent of Ronaldo or Bale and he wasn't wrong as he was just far too good to be anywhere nead that level really.  In the end he scored 25 goals in 30 games in all competitions for us which was even more remarkable considering that he played out wide and it was his first season of senior football after only playing college football previously so he was still really raw.

Will be very interesting to see where he moves to in the summer as it seems certain he'll be leaving Denmark and there looks to be a lot of interest in him.

Great insight, thanks! He played wide left at the time didn't he? I managed Hereford in FM just as he left, was so disappointed not to 'own' him! Hope he makes a good move and we might get to see more of him if we are lucky. Cheers Timma!

@Hootieleece It's good to tweak things, but mid-table is still very good. You're establishing Clermont in Ligue 1.

Nice posts from Lille & Sochaux above too 

[Hootieleece]

51 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Hootieleece It's good to tweak things, but mid-table is still very good. You're establishing Clermont in Ligue 1.

Jogo...I'm getting frustrated mostly because it is  like my players forgot how to shoot and pass....and teams are definitely pressing us hard.

Also my Assman came up with the idea to up the tempo. I just did the other tweaks because it made sense to try and beat the press without giving up our core values.

I see a million chances go begging ...either right at the goalie or headers over the Crossbar and The other team scoring two chances out of two!

[bendixkunert2]

LOSC Lille

update 2.2

 

After we did get 2 points out of 2 games in the UCL group we faced Shakthar twice. 

 

 

 

A great 2nd half in our home game and a very convincing 4-0 victory in Donezk had us sitting at 8 points and we were a draw away from qualifying for the knockout stages.

 

Then this happened at home against Milan:

 

 

Not only did this guarantee us Champions League football in the new year but also a very likely chance of finishing top of the group which is amazing after we went out as 4th in the group stages last year.

 

The league has been going well. The 2 disappointments were a home defeat to Nimes and a draw against ASSE. The only issue was that PSG had won every game to that point until this game:

 

 

Not only does this keep our title chances alive but it also means we are still undefeated against PSG in this save (3W, 1 D)

 

 

 

In the winter transfer window we will be also looking for a new striker as Zahovic as been completely rubbish.

 

 

[Timma]

3 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Great insight, thanks! He played wide left at the time didn't he? I managed Hereford in FM just as he left, was so disappointed not to 'own' him! Hope he makes a good move and we might get to see more of him if we are lucky. Cheers Timma!

@Hootieleece It's good to tweak things, but mid-table is still very good. You're establishing Clermont in Ligue 1.

Nice posts from Lille & Sochaux above too 

Yeah he mainly played out on the left while Sirdic Grant a Ghanaian winger who we signed under similar circumstances played on the right.  Would have been great if Hereford could've actually had him under contract so we could've got some money or a sell on clause for him especially given the fee's rumoured for him lately. Would've been huge especially seeing as we didn't get anything for Jarrod Bowen either, typical Hereford luck

[Jogo Bonito]

3 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

Jogo...I'm getting frustrated mostly because it is  like my players forgot how to shoot and pass....and teams are definitely pressing us hard.

Also my Assman came up with the idea to up the tempo. I just did the other tweaks because it made sense to try and beat the press without giving up our core values.

I see a million chances go begging ...either right at the goalie or headers over the Crossbar and The other team scoring two chances out of two!

I guess it's reality for a smaller side in the top flight (I expect the same for my Lorient side this season). But don't forget what you are and that you're still punching above your weight by retaining that status. The fact that you are also doing well in Europe is proof that you're doing a really good job overall. Keep it up 

26 minutes ago, Timma said:

Yeah he mainly played out on the left while Sirdic Grant a Ghanaian winger who we signed under similar circumstances played on the right.  Would have been great if Hereford could've actually had him under contract so we could've got some money or a sell on clause for him especially given the fee's rumoured for him lately. Would've been huge especially seeing as we didn't get anything for Jarrod Bowen either, typical Hereford luck

Yeah, I guess you can only be thankful you had them and enjoyed that spell, even if the club didn't get financial rewards from it. Thanks for taking time to chat about Bundu here 

[Hootieleece]

Clermont's World Cup Break went Well....

Midseason Squad Stats

The tweaks to the TikiTaka System seem to be going well. I think the new players are now beginning to settle in which helps as well.

and of Course France won the World Cup!

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

FC Metz End Of Season Review

I had a great season finishing 2nd in the league. pipping Lyon who were 3rd by 1 point. I was 10 points behind PSG who were top even though I beat them twice in the league. 

I think it is going to be really tough to topple them and win the French league. I also lost to Marseille 1-0 in the French Cup final.

Royer destroyed the other teams and ended up with 34 goals in 42 games.

A lot of big teams in Europe are now after Royer. I hope it doesn't unsettle him.

Djibrail Dib has been amazing this season with 26 assists and 12 goals. 

So what are my plans next then ?

Well I did say that I would do at least 10 seasons with Metz but I feel like I need a break and do another save for a bit and come back to Metz.

So where do I go next?

I am thinking of doing a save with Schalke and try get them back on good financial standing while also stopping the trend of them letting their best players go on free transfers.

Or my other idea is to manage Rayo Vallecano simply cos I really like their kit and fancy starting a Spanish league save. I might start a Spanish League thread unless @karanhsingh was thinking of starting a thread ?

[Jogo Bonito]

A great season with Metz, finishing 2nd and winning the French Cup. Enjoy your sabbatical wherever you head to.

Meanwhile, a short transfer review at Lorient has been added in my FMCU thread. Everything was sorted until an administrative error caused much disappointment...

 

[Jogo Bonito]

And a quick squad review for all Lorient players ahead of season 2.

 

 

[AddicksFan]

Season 3 - August update

Transfer Business - Quiet window really, not much in the way of in's as we look to promote a couple of the youth into the team

The season has started very well

The team - sorted by Average rating - you'll notice that King Kebbeh is sitting top of the pile....I mean who else would it be??

The table

 

The Uefa Cup draw was made, Roma the team to beat

[Jogo Bonito]

A great start, looks like another fine season ahead.

[karanhsingh]

3 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

FC Metz End Of Season Review

I had a great season finishing 2nd in the league. pipping Lyon who were 3rd by 1 point. I was 10 points behind PSG who were top even though I beat them twice in the league. 

I think it is going to be really tough to topple them and win the French league. I also lost to Marseille 1-0 in the French Cup final.

Royer destroyed the other teams and ended up with 34 goals in 42 games.

A lot of big teams in Europe are now after Royer. I hope it doesn't unsettle him.

Djibrail Dib has been amazing this season with 26 assists and 12 goals. 

So what are my plans next then ?

Well I did say that I would do at least 10 seasons with Metz but I feel like I need a break and do another save for a bit and come back to Metz.

So where do I go next?

I am thinking of doing a save with Schalke and try get them back on good financial standing while also stopping the trend of them letting their best players go on free transfers.

Or my other idea is to manage Rayo Vallecano simply cos I really like their kit and fancy starting a Spanish league save. I might start a Spanish League thread unless @karanhsingh was thinking of starting a thread ?

Super season there! I just started the Spanish thread please join Let's do this!

[Hootieleece]

Clermont's return from World Cup break.

The best player of the update....

 

We are beginning to play better....need a little more luck and less teams defending deep... Since I tweaked the tactics teams have reverted to "Parking the Bus". 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

10 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Super season there! I just started the Spanish thread please join Let's do this!

Ok cool. I will look now.

[bendixkunert2]

Some interesting things have happened. I have a full update when the transfer window is over but Wuhan just came around with a 35 million offer for Soumare and we were also able to sell Thiago Maia for 16 million pushing our transfer budget to potentially 70+ million. So we clearly have to do something but I'm not sure exactly what.

 

[Hootieleece]

Continuing our good play...

In good position...if we could beat a few team ahead of us....but we are still below 40 points!

Our Backup Left Back is player of the month...

decent skills for backup.

[Jogo Bonito]

@Hootieleece Good progress with Clermont

[raymondafc]

So I ended up switching to Touch, Full Fat is way too time consuming! Having said that, if my pre-season is anything to go by so far, my manager will have plenty of time to spare very soon 

[Jogo Bonito]

20 minutes ago, raymondafc said:

So I ended up switching to Touch, Full Fat is way too time consuming! Having said that, if my pre-season is anything to go by so far, my manager will have plenty of time to spare very soon 

You might call that a slow start 

I wish I could go on Touch but I just hate not having the player database I want. So I prefer to suffer with the full game and play slowly, just let my Assistant Manager do all press conferences.

FWIW, the first time I ever managed ASSE about five or six years ago, I raised the board expectations and got sacked after a month or two (somewhere around mid-table). I started again, toned my promises down and ended up enjoying about four decent seasons with them. So if you can get through this, that would be nice.

[raymondafc]

A formation and tactical change led to an upturn in results. Was nice to end Pre-Season with a win against the local safari park team as well lol

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by raymondafc

[raymondafc]

About to get the season underway. If I make it to the end of the season, this is what is expected of me:

[AddicksFan]

Sochaux - Season 3 - September update

Great posts on all the saves chaps, keep em coming

September was a really good month, the only blip being the home draw against Strasbourg, the start to our European adventure couldn't have gone any better, thumping Roma 5-0 at home was particularly pleasing

The League Table

Ligue 1 - Player of the Month

Europa League

[Jogo Bonito]

6 minutes ago, AddicksFan said:

Sochaux - Season 3 - September update

Great posts on all the saves chaps, keep em coming

September was a really good month, the only blip being the home draw against Strasbourg, the start to our European adventure couldn't have gone any better, thumping Roma 5-0 at home was particularly pleasing

A very solid start again, and great results in Europe. Pellissard is delivering, good to see.

32 minutes ago, raymondafc said:

About to get the season underway. If I make it to the end of the season, this is what is expected of me:

Good to get some friendly wins on the board, hopefully you can meet their expectations now.

Edited June 6, 2020 by Jogo Bonito

[raymondafc]

1 minute ago, Jogo Bonito said:

A very solid start again, and great results in Europe. Pellissard is delivering, good to see.

Good to get some friendly wins on the board, hopefully you can meet their expectations now.

Yeah was a relief to get a couple of wins! I hadn't paid attention, but my second league game is the Rhone Derby! Nothing like a baptism of fire...

[raymondafc]

A month down and it's been a steady start. To be honest, we were never in the derby and did well to lose by only one goal really. The game against Amiens was a strange one, we were 2-0 down after 25 minutes but a couple of minor tweaks saw us come back to take the win. We go into the international break in third place, but obviously very early days!

 

Elsewhere, I'm cautiously optimistic with our Europa League group.

[Hootieleece]

March 2023

A pivotal month if we are to attain European Football.

Without our goalie we wouldn't have had a successful month.

Edited June 6, 2020 by Hootieleece

[Hootieleece]

31 minutes ago, raymondafc said:

A month down and it's been a steady start. To be honest, we were never in the derby and did well to lose by only one goal really. The game against Amiens was a strange one, we were 2-0 down after 25 minutes but a couple of minor tweaks saw us come back to take the win. We go into the international break in third place, but obviously very early days!

 

Elsewhere, I'm cautiously optimistic with our Europa League group.

You should do well in Europe. Just make sure you win the matches you should in Ligue1.  The Relegation teams seem to have a real talent for stealing points from the midtable lower Euro place team in the League.

[Jogo Bonito]

I've just posted an update to my FC Lorient career. Things started awkwardly, but we seem to have found a way to hold our own now in Ligue 1.

Great start for you @raymondafc especially I was fearing for your longevity in pre-season!

@Hootieleece now that I have done my update, I will take a look at your progress too.

[10Sammo10]

Lille - Season review 2019/20

 

Results

The second half of the season was strong, but not quite as strong as the first half of the season. A strong result against Lyon got us off to a strong start to February. Unfortunately we dropped points against Brest and Marseille. Draws were non-existent in the second half of the season and despite winning a strong amount of games, there were defeats against Montpellier and PSG that  caused us some harm. We made some very good progress in the French cup and managed to reach the Final with a Yoane Wissa inspired semi final victory against PSG. Wissa was sensational in 2020 for us. Him and Dolberg forged a great partnership and they really carried us in some games. 

 

The cup final was a tough, tough game. Amiens put up a seriously strong effort in a game we were favourites in. They took us into extra time and once again it was Wissa who secured our first trophy, with Claude-Maurice scoring the other for us. 

 

League table

Unfortunately we missed out on the title. We pushed PSG to the end but they were too strong for us in the end. Their goal difference was huge as well, so even if results went in our favour on the final day, it would not have been enough. Champions League football though is an achievement I am very pleased with and I look forward to going for it next season. 

Squad

Benitez had a solid season for us. No errors at all, but not really and match winning performances either. At the back Wague, Herelle, Sarr and Tsimikas formed the regular back 4. They were very good and an area I am pleased with. Cyprien and Lees Melou were incredible in the central midfield partnership. I'll be surprised if I can keep them, but it is an area I need to improve depth in as we only have very inexperienced cover, but a lot of potential there. Atal and Claude-Maurice delivered on the wings. Claude-Maurice hit double figures for goals and they both racked up a large number of assists. Bundu really started to look like an asset, even scoring a couple of GOTS contenders. As mentioned above, Dolber and Wissa were superb. 44 goals between them. Dolberg was so unlucky but to miss out on the golden boot. Dembele pipped him by one with 26 goals. 

[Jogo Bonito]

@10Sammo10 That's an incredibly good season. Coming so close to PSG and finishing 2nd, plus a cup win (thanks to two Lorient players).

Great to see you manage them so well and it will be nice (sorry, had to) to see how you get on in season two.

[Hootieleece]

Nice job with OGC Nice!

 

[Hootieleece]

Nael Jaby is a Star... might never become an international but definitely not far from it. He dominates the midfield.

I had to develop him...mentoring and ppm's, but the raw ability was there since the beginning of the save.

[Jogo Bonito]

3 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

Nael Jaby is a Star... might never become an international but definitely not far from it. He dominates the midfield.

I had to develop him...mentoring and ppm's, but the raw ability was there since the beginning of the save.

It's great when time and effort developing a player pays such dividends.

[Travis Bickle]

3rd Season with Marseille saw us win the Trophée des Champions, Coupe de France and Ligue 1 again. We lost in the CL SF to Real Madrid, the finalists were PSG...(who I am sure I would have beaten). Rough.

I'm looking at just signing a star striker for season 4. Lautaro Martinez is a possibility but he looks injury prone to me. Would love Haaland but can't afford him. So I might go for Tammy Abraham. Moussa Dembele has been good but I can go elite imo. 

[10Sammo10]

@Jogo Bonito Haha. Nice puns. I am enjoying them.  The two Lorient boys have been great. Both now have a lot of interest in them and Wissa is kicking up a fuss about a contract. About to catch up on your updates. Looking forward to seeing the progress. 

@Hootieleece Thanks! You're doing a great job with Clermont and Jabi especially. 

[Hootieleece]

End of Season 2023

[Travis Bickle]

Hi guys, do you know, the French cup doesn't run 2022-2023 because of the World Cup right?

[Hootieleece]

47 minutes ago, Travis Bickle said:

Hi guys, do you know, the French cup doesn't run 2022-2023 because of the World Cup right?

It ran in my save. OM won it.

[Travis Bickle]

1 minute ago, Hootieleece said:

It ran in my save. OM won it.

I think it schedules later than usual which is why I am not seeing it yet.