[FM20] - Unofficially Official Spanish Football Thread

[karanhsingh]

Hello everyone and welcome to the FM20 Spanish football thread! It's a little late in the day, but better late than never :) 

I personally haven't managed in Spain for the last couple of editions (not too sure why) so I have just decided to give it a go for my new career save. Hoping that some of you will join me and the ones who already play in Spain will post up their progress as well. I know that we do have a Bilbao thread which is fairly popular.

So why manage in Spain then? Well, a few reasons below.

1. Quite simply it's one of the world's best leagues, home to some of the world's best players & teams (including THE world's best player). In fact, La Liga is ranked #1 in terms of UEFA co-efficient. This also comes with advantages of European places with 4 teams getting direct entry into the UEFA CL group stages.

2. The league is known for technical & attacking football which is what a lot of us FM managers like to base our tactics on! It's also a competitive league with a few big teams knocking about and the title frequently changing hands, which means there is a good possibility to add another into the mix.

3. Great for player development as there are fantastic youngsters littered around the nation and great quality of regens consistently coming through. Also Spain has always been a favored stomping ground for South American players due to similar language & culture. While there is a 3 player non-EU limit, South Americans gain Spanish nationality in just 2 years which helps a lot.

4. B teams are proper competitive clubs playing in the lower divisions including a bunch of them in the 2nd division - this again adds a unique element to a Spanish save with players moving between the 2 teams etc.

Next post I will talk about a few of the several interesting clubs to manage!

[bendixkunert2]

Nice thread. I never managed in Spain so would be an interesting challenge to take down Barcelona and Madrid. I think it might be a really good challenge also with the gap in revenue.

[karanhsingh]

Interesting teams to manage - I won't profile the big 3 which of course are Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid as everyone would know these clubs inside out. Ordinarily Atletico should be a bit more of a challenge but I believe they have been over-rated on FM for a few seasons now as they often end up winning the league in the first season itself. 

LA LIGA Clubs

Valencia - fantastic team with a great squad and a stadium. Valencia famously reached 2 CL finals in the early 2000s but never managed to win the thing. After that they unfortunately They are probably the strongest team behind the aforementioned big 3 but there is still a fair bit of work to be done in order to overhaul them.

Sevilla - again you have a strong squad with a great stadium and a fan-base. They have the most all-time UEFA/ Europa league titles, so can you be the person to get them to the next level of the Champions League?

Real Betis - the second club in Seville who share a great rivalry with Sevilla. Betis became known for their amazing attacking football under Setien before he left for Barca. They are struggling a bit IRL but have some excellent players like Fekir, along with club legend Joaquin back and still going strong. 

Real Sociedad - another club knocking on the door of the top 4, home to some amazing young players like Oyarzabal, Isak, Januzaj alongside the Brazilian striker Willian Jose, this squad should be able to do some serious damage.

Athletic Bilbao - has been a very popular club in FM over the years due to their tradition of only signing Basque players, their amazing youth academy and fantastic stadium & fan-base. This edition is no different.

Espanyol - pretty average squad this time around and they are really struggling IRL at the bottom of the table. However a lot of players enjoy taking on the smaller team in a big city, so it would be a fun challenge to try and eventually take on the might of Barcelona.

Villarreal - the yellow submarine have fantastic kits, club legend Santi Cazorla is back and kicking up a storm, plus some good young players as well. Only draw-back is they don't have a big fan-base as they are from a small town, however a good challenge to get them back consistently playing in Europe like they used to not too long ago.

Real Valladolid - been put on the map recently when Brazilian legend Ronaldo acquired a majority stake in the club and became president. Decent stadium and fan-base but no money and poor squad - a real project for those up for it.

Mallorca - island club with a rich history, one very famous fan, and just finally back in La Liga. Again expected to struggle but a good long-term challenge!

NON LA LIGA Clubs

There are some great options below Spain's top division as well!

Deportivo la Coruna - who doesn't remember their amazing side in the early 2000s, their solitary league title and that famous CL come-back against AC Milan! They have fallen onto tough times however and IRL find themselves in the relegation spots in the 2nd division. A great challenge to return the glory days to the brilliantly named La Riazor. They also have a fantastic young player Mujaid Sadick in their ranks.

Real Zaragoza - another club that definitely belongs in La Liga, and should be able to come back up at the first of asking! Doesn't feel that long ago that David Villa was leading the line for them, can you get them back among Spain's elite?

Sporting Gijon - they have been a yo-yo club between the two top divisions however with a strong fan-base and an excellent youth academy (including FM favorite Pelayo Morilla) they are a good prospect to manage.

Malaga - this club shot to fame when they got taken over by Qatari billionaires who had grand plans of challenging the top order in Spain. However things went pear-shaped fairly quickly and they now find themselves in the 2nd division. Recently there was news about George Clooney (!!) supposedly wanting to buy the club. A good challenge to get them back in the elite even without the unlimited funds they had earlier.

FC Andorra - the only 3rd division club on my list, this club is an FM favorite for a club & country challenge for obvious reasons. Perhaps now even more enticing since being taken over by Gerard Pique. Should be a nice long-term challenge.

If anyone has any other interesting clubs please do add to the list!!

Edited June 6, 2020 by karanhsingh

[quee]

My Spanish team is Valencia, haven't done a save since Mendieta was there. I actually had been contemplating doing a quick save (without doing updates here) in Spain or France, but I'm leaning to Valencia more as I don't really have a team that I support in France.

Going to resume my Parma save soon, and will see if I can juggle 2 saves on the go.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I am going to start a save with Rayo Vallecano just cos I like their kit, it looks a bit like River Plate's kit. My aim is to try get promoted to the Spanish La Liga and just gradually bring in Argentinian players and also in the long run I want Rayo to be the best producers of young players.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I only just realised that Rayo are from Madrid so that is another challenge to become the best team in Madrid.

Former well known players of Rayo are the following.

Franco Di Santo

Alejeandro Dominguez

Paulo Gazzaniga

Manucho

Guliherme

Gael Kakuta

Nery Castillo

Hugo Sanchez

Michu

And to my surprise Saul Niguez had a loan spell there. 

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by Ronaldo Beckham

[karanhsingh]

Yes they are from the Madrid area, one of the smaller clubs just like Getafe and Leganes. Good luck! 

Argentina I think has the best combination of good young potential players available at cheap pricing. And they also produce amazing regens.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

My expectations are to get promoted and hopefully I can do that in the first season.

Stand out players are Bebe and Ulloa. I am hoping to build a decent, young squad.

[bendixkunert2]

Good luck. Going to start with Mallorca after my Lille save.

[karanhsingh]

Is it the same Ulloa from Leicester? And Bebe  hopefully he's better than he was at united. 

[karanhsingh]

24 minutes ago, bendixkunert2 said:

Good luck. Going to start with Mallorca after my Lille save.

Great choice 

I've finished season 1 with Valladolid after taking over in January, update up soon! 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

10 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Is it the same Ulloa from Leicester? And Bebe  hopefully he's better than he was at united. 

Yeah it is, my squad is fairly old. I have no money for transfers and no room in my wage budget either so I am stuck with this squad for now.

[karanhsingh]

3 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Yeah it is, my squad is fairly old. I have no money for transfers and no room in my wage budget either so I am stuck with this squad for now.

It was the same with me. Keep us posted! 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

6 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

It was the same with me. Keep us posted! 

Yeah I will do. I was out last night so didn't play FM much yesterday.

I will update my transfers very soon as a few players are going and some coming in.

[bendixkunert2]

22 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Great choice 

I've finished season 1 with Valladolid after taking over in January, update up soon! 

yeah I like to take on a serious challenge. Valladolid and Rayo are similar difficult tasks it appears. Staying in the league would a good achievement for me.

 

An another note I'm really interested if my theory is correct. So over the months I have developed a tactic that has worked wonders in Italy (finished 2nd with Brescia in year 1) and France (won L1 in year 1 with Rennes, Lille, UEL in year 1 and UCL in year 2 with Rennes) however this tactic has really really struggled in the Premier League. Mightily. If it does work with Mallorca I have to wonder if this is country and league based. 

 

Very interested in following the rebuilds of Valladolid and Vallecano. Will be tough for sure.

[karanhsingh]

8 minutes ago, bendixkunert2 said:

yeah I like to take on a serious challenge. Valladolid and Rayo are similar difficult tasks it appears. Staying in the league would a good achievement for me.

An another note I'm really interested if my theory is correct. So over the months I have developed a tactic that has worked wonders in Italy (finished 2nd with Brescia in year 1) and France (won L1 in year 1 with Rennes, Lille, UEL in year 1 and UCL in year 2 with Rennes) however this tactic has really really struggled in the Premier League. Mightily. If it does work with Mallorca I have to wonder if this is country and league based. 

Very interested in following the rebuilds of Valladolid and Vallecano. Will be tough for sure.

Yes it should be a good challenge!! 

Whats your tactic like? I have decided to also go in a tactically completely new direction compared to my earlier saves in order to keep things fresh. 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Rayo Vallecano Tranfer Business First Season

Transfers Out

Bebe - £3m - Al-Ahii - My assistant said he wasn't good enough and I agreed, I managed to get £3m for him which is what he was worth so I am happy with that.

Abdoulaye Ba - £1m - Al-Jazira - Again another player who wasn't good enough and got a decent amount for him. He wont be missed.

Transfers In

Melih Ibrahimoglu

An 19 year old Austrian Mezzala midfielder who has good potential. I might play him a bit this season or send him out on loan.

Vato Arveladze

A 21 year old Georgian International player, his best role is a False 9 up front or just behind the Striker as a Attacking Midfielder. He has decent to good potential. I will play him a few games and see how he does.

 

Kartal Kayra Yilmaz 

KKY for short as it would take me ages to keep typing his name lol. KKY is an 18 year old Turkish midfielder who's best role is a central midfielder. He is the best prospect I have so far with 4 star potential and could go up to 5 star if he does well.

Juaninto Lopez

Lopez who I have seen on previous saves is a very good Spanish 19 year old striker who you can sign on a free straight away. He used to play for Newcastle youth team. He has very good potential as well. He is playing for my B team for now to see how he does but I might play him soon.

I have signed a few young unknown players on free's but I wont mention them for now as no idea whether they will work out or not but if they start progressing I will mention them.

Here is my starting line up for my first game in charge in the league against Las Palmas

Hopefully the experienced Ulloa will bang the goals in to get me promoted.

[bendixkunert2]

1 minute ago, karanhsingh said:

Yes it should be a good challenge!! 

Whats your tactic like? I have decided to also go in a tactically completely new direction compared to my earlier saves in order to keep things fresh. 

4231 possession tactic with the usual gegenpress. I usually use the same tactic until I realize it doesn't work.

 

Just looking over the roster, Mallorca has an abysmal team compared to the rest of La Liga. Kubo seems to be the best but there is not a lot of quality. 

[karanhsingh]

@Ronaldo Beckham - surprised you sold Bebe! However good luck for the promotion push and those kits do look sexy 

@bendixkunert2 - yes Mallorca went down in season 1 of my save so you do have your work cut out. Try to find the next Etoo 

[Jogo Bonito]

You three are like travel buddies, all in France together and now all in Spain! Enjoy your holiday amigos 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

2 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

@Ronaldo Beckham - surprised you sold Bebe! However good luck for the promotion push and those kits do look sexy 

@bendixkunert2 - yes Mallorca went down in season 1 of my save so you do have your work cut out. Try to find the next Etoo 

Yeah Bebe got me much needed tranfer funds to upgrage in other areas and he only scored 1 goal in 30 games for Rayo last year and aint that good enough.

2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

You three are like travel buddies, all in France together and now all in Spain! Enjoy your holiday amigos 

I have been thinking of doing a save with Rayo for ages, their kits are the main reason, they remind me of River Plate and also Peru National team so I will looking at signing some Peruvian players and maybe go for the Peru national team job if it ever becomes available.

Decent start to the season so far, 2 draws and 1 win.

I think my best player is going to be Jose Pozo who was a former Real Madrid and Man City youth player.

[karanhsingh]

2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

You three are like travel buddies, all in France together and now all in Spain! Enjoy your holiday amigos 

LOL well it's the only form of travel available at the moment 

[karanhsingh]

13 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Yeah Bebe got me much needed tranfer funds to upgrage in other areas and he only scored 1 goal in 30 games for Rayo last year and aint that good enough.

I have been thinking of doing a save with Rayo for ages, their kits are the main reason, they remind me of River Plate and also Peru National team so I will looking at signing some Peruvian players and maybe go for the Peru national team job if it ever becomes available.

Decent start to the season so far, 2 draws and 1 win.

I think my best player is going to be Jose Pozo who was a former Real Madrid and Man City youth player.

Fair enough! Pozo does look pretty good. My scouts found a good young Peruvian player I'll look up the name in a minute. 

[Jogo Bonito]

16 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

LOL well it's the only form of travel available at the moment 

Indeed, the only holiday you can get right now! At least you are all socially distancing, spread between Mallorca and Spanish mainland outposts.

I used to be a massive follower of Spanish football years ago - watching in UK, travelling to Spain for weekend breaks and games etc. I foolishly turned down an invite from some associates at Sky to do a test for commentating on La Liga back in the day as I didn't think I had the voice for it. In retrospect, I wish I'd considered it more but I had other commitments at the time that wouldn't have worked well with the travel pattern. Ironically, after living and working in Africa and the Middle East I ended up living in glorious Barcelona for a bit. Perhaps the big attachment to Spain is conversely the reason why I've never manged more than one or two seasons of FM in Spain through all these years. That and the names and kits issue always put me off (I now have those fixes but still have unfinished business in France whilst you lot are all having siestas and beach time).

Edited June 7, 2020 by Jogo Bonito

[Ronaldo Beckham]

27 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Indeed, the only holiday you can get right now! At least you are all socially distancing, spread between Mallorca and Spanish mainland outposts.

I used to be a massive follower of Spanish football years ago - watching in UK, travelling to Spain for weekend breaks and games etc. I foolishly turned down an invite from some associates at Sky to do a test for commentating on La Liga back in the day as I didn't think I had the voice for it. In retrospect, I wish I'd considered it more but I had other commitments at the time that wouldn't have worked well with the travel pattern. Ironically, after living and working in Africa and the Middle East I ended up living in glorious Barcelona for a bit. Perhaps the big attachment to Spain is conversely the reason why I've never manged more than one or two seasons of FM in Spain through all these years. That and the names and kits issue always put me off (I now have those fixes but still have unfinished business in France whilst you lot are all having siestas and beach time).

@Jogo Bonito feel free to join us when you are ready. I am curious what team you would manage. 

[Jogo Bonito]

Thanks, but I'll just watch from afar. Enjoy yourselves in Spain amigos.

When I first got in to Spanish football just before the turn of the century, Valencia was my team, I used to go and watch Barcelona and Real Madrid though, for the bigger experience.

Curiosity just made me check what year all that Spanish stuff came up for me, and my emails tell me it was 2005 - such a long time ago! 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

4 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Thanks, but I'll just watch from afar. Enjoy yourselves in Spain amigos.

When I first got in to Spanish football just before the turn of the century, Valencia was my team, I used to go and watch Barcelona and Real Madrid though, for the bigger experience.

Curiosity just made me check what year all that Spanish stuff came up for me, and my emails tell me it was 2005 - such a long time ago! 

Yeah I had an awesome network game with Valencia many years a go. They are usually my go to club when I do a Spanish save but fancied doing something different this year. I might still do a Valencia save and post in here unless you end up managing them and posting in here lol.

[karanhsingh]

43 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Indeed, the only holiday you can get right now! At least you are all socially distancing, spread between Mallorca and Spanish mainland outposts.

I used to be a massive follower of Spanish football years ago - watching in UK, travelling to Spain for weekend breaks and games etc. I foolishly turned down an invite from some associates at Sky to do a test for commentating on La Liga back in the day as I didn't think I had the voice for it. In retrospect, I wish I'd considered it more but I had other commitments at the time that wouldn't have worked well with the travel pattern. Ironically, after living and working in Africa and the Middle East I ended up living in glorious Barcelona for a bit. Perhaps the big attachment to Spain is conversely the reason why I've never manged more than one or two seasons of FM in Spain through all these years. That and the names and kits issue always put me off (I now have those fixes but still have unfinished business in France whilst you lot are all having siestas and beach time).

Wow that's quite the story! Also you seem to have been all over where in the middle east?

The Bernabeu is one of the few stadiums I have been to outside of England and indeed it was quite a sight to behold. And also I do remember when I lived in London (2003-06) that Spanish football was a pretty big deal on sky sports! 

You're right about the names, kits and lack of faces. I'm finding it frustrating as well since all of that was downloaded on my main laptop. I feel like installing the main game on my wife's computer was one thing but downloading 10+ GB of faces, logos and skins would be a whole other 

Enjoy France and do keep checking back in on us 

[Jogo Bonito]

8 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Yeah I had an awesome network game with Valencia many years a go. They are usually my go to club when I do a Spanish save but fancied doing something different this year. I might still do a Valencia save and post in here unless you end up managing them and posting in here lol.

I don't really have any strong affection for any of the clubs now, so no idea who I would pick. I have never managed Valencia, hypothetically it would probably be Villarreal (maybe).

3 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Wow that's quite the story! Also you seem to have been all over where in the middle east?

The Bernabeu is one of the few stadiums I have been to outside of England and indeed it was quite a sight to behold. And also I do remember when I lived in London (2003-06) that Spanish football was a pretty big deal on sky sports! 

You're right about the names, kits and lack of faces. I'm finding it frustrating as well since all of that was downloaded on my main laptop. I feel like installing the main game on my wife's computer was one thing but downloading 10+ GB of faces, logos and skins would be a whole other 

Enjoy France and do keep checking back in on us 

I'm old, there are lots of stories haha. In fact, I've only ever lived and worked in UK, East Africa, Middle East (worked in Saudi, lived in Bahrain, long daily commute) and lived in Spain. 

The Spanish match atmosphere was quite different I found. Even before the Madrid v Barca game I attended, there was literally no atmosphere outside the stadium, it kind of got switched on at the start of the game. Travelling far for games can be tricky, you could get bad weather and a cracker, great weather and a boring game, you just have t take chances and hope for the best. Sometimes you'd get much more enjoyment from a big team against a minnow than the top sides playing each other too. The big stadiums are iconic, the stadium tours are good, but if you get a cheaper seat, you might not see much action (like Newcastle for any away fan that has been)

I totally agree about face packs, logos, kits etc. I really can't play without all that so feel your pain. I could survive the name fixes being missing unless it affected the league I was managing in.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Rayo Vallecano September & October Results

I had a good September and October, only losing once and that was to UD Almeria.

Jose Pozo continues to destroy the division by getting 8 goals in 9 games so far. I managed to get him to sign a new contract but his agent wouldn't let me up the minimium release fee clause so he can go for £13.25m. I am hoping in a few months to change that.

I am currently 9th in the league with 16 points but I have had 2 games postponed for some reason so I should be able to catch up with the rest soon enough.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Rayo Vallecano November & December Results

I only lost twice and that was cos I had players sent off in the match.

Other then them losses I have been winning literally every game. 

I am currently 2nd in the league and 19 games, just 1 point behind Girona.

Pozo continues to score with 17 goals in 18 games. He has improved in training as well, improving in his Anticipation, Decision Making, Composure, Positioning, Accelerating, Agility, Balance and Strength.

 

[karanhsingh]

Good progress there. It's top 2 who go up and then playoffs right? 

BTW are you guys having trouble with hiring Staff in Spain? I believe there's some issue with their wage demands. First I couldn't get a single physio to sign up, now I can't hire anyone at all for my U19 side. We can't offer more than 1k a week and they all want 3k no matter what their ability or reputation. 

[Muttley84]

Been aching for a while to start a save with Deportivo, considering I have visited A Coruna last year and what a mess they are in now in real life. Not sure I will have the time for such an effort, rebuilding a team to come even close to what Super-Depor once was. Good luck to everyone playing in Spain, will be following closely. 

[karanhsingh]

36 minutes ago, Muttley84 said:

Been aching for a while to start a save with Deportivo, considering I have visited A Coruna last year and what a mess they are in now in real life. Not sure I will have the time for such an effort, rebuilding a team to come even close to what Super-Depor once was. Good luck to everyone playing in Spain, will be following closely. 

Do it! Would be an excellent choice of club 

[karanhsingh]

14 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I don't really have any strong affection for any of the clubs now, so no idea who I would pick. I have never managed Valencia, hypothetically it would probably be Villarreal (maybe).

I'm old, there are lots of stories haha. In fact, I've only ever lived and worked in UK, East Africa, Middle East (worked in Saudi, lived in Bahrain, long daily commute) and lived in Spain. 

The Spanish match atmosphere was quite different I found. Even before the Madrid v Barca game I attended, there was literally no atmosphere outside the stadium, it kind of got switched on at the start of the game. Travelling far for games can be tricky, you could get bad weather and a cracker, great weather and a boring game, you just have t take chances and hope for the best. Sometimes you'd get much more enjoyment from a big team against a minnow than the top sides playing each other too. The big stadiums are iconic, the stadium tours are good, but if you get a cheaper seat, you might not see much action (like Newcastle for any away fan that has been)

I totally agree about face packs, logos, kits etc. I really can't play without all that so feel your pain. I could survive the name fixes being missing unless it affected the league I was managing in.

Villarreal would be an interesting one  hopefully we can tempt you to join us soon

Yes the match atmosphere is a lot different and I think one of the main reasons is the lack of away fans, it's usually just a couple of hundred compared to a few thousand say in England. I am not quite sure why that is actually...

I may have to soup up FM on my wife's laptop at this rate, will at least get the name fixes going and worry about the rest later.

[karanhsingh]

REAL VALLADOLID

Here we go! Meet Lucimar Ferreira da Silva (or Lúcio).

Starting attributes (that preference for route one should change fairly quickly )

And here is the League Table when Ronaldo decided to bring in his friend and former international team-mate to try and save the club from relegation!

With just 2 wins in the first half of the season, the challenge was set out. I was quietly confident that we would be able to climb up the league as I have undertaken this sort of challenge a few times before, however at the same time I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Spanish football.

[karanhsingh]

As you can see, we actually had an excellent start, notching up 4 straight wins including 3 in the league which already saw us climbing up the positions. January could not have gone much better, even with the cup exit and home loss to Madrid. At that point I thought to myself, this Spanish football is easy

February was also decent as we picked up 8 points from 5 games, again I had to be happy with that. What followed however was disastrous. 1 win in 6 games in March and April. A home defeat to our primary competitor for the relegation spots in Mallorca. Literally the only highlight being the hard-fought away win at Sociedad. Relegation form.

As someone who is generally fairly good at this game, this is the first time in a while I have had to deal with inconsistency, poor form, and slipping morale. It made for quite the fresh challenge! We were defending alright but literally could not hit a barn door with a banjo. Our two star strikers Guardiola and Sandro were both on long barren runs.

And this is how it all left us.

We definitely needed say another 2 wins to guarantee safety. Looking at our last 3 fixtures, I earmarked the first two - Granada at home and bottom of the league Leganes away.

[karanhsingh]

Granada at home:

We were pretty sh*t truth be told, got away with one there. However I think it was a bit of deserved luck after all the unlucky defeats we had in the previous few months. A huge 3 points which put some daylight between us and Mallorca.

Leganes away:

Wow. No words. Actually before this game, relegation was confirmed for Leganes. As sometimes happens I guess that freed the shackles for them and they put on a show for the fans. Unfortunately, we were at the receiving end. A big defeat which saw our rivals edge closer to us.

Sevilla home:

Absolutely terrible, listless performance. As usual we just cannot convert our chances. That is our biggest problem. 

Going into our last 2 fixtures, we were 3 points ahead of Mallorca which meant we still needed some positive results. Also in Spain with head to head results sorting teams, if we finished even on points with Mallorca, we would go below them. They had Villarreal at home on the last day of the season which was a winnable game, so we had to put some more points on the board somehow. And up next was a nice easy fixture in Atletico Madrid!

[karanhsingh]

Atletico Madrid at home:

I have no words... this team is ridiculous  It's been a while since I physically punched the air during an FM game, but this match provided a couple of those moments! It probably helped us that Atletico were guaranteed to finish in 3rd place and out of the title race, but still, our players certainly turned up for this one.

Which meant,

PHEW. With that, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. It almost went down to the final day...

Remember how I was saying that conversion was our problem, our strikers were just unable to put chances away. Well, I decided to have a look at the stats for the season.

Rock-bottom. This is when I decided to not renew Sandro's loan and that we would be selling Sergi Guardiola in the summer.

[Jogo Bonito]

Well done on survival @karanhsingh. Happy you chose Lucio and not the absolutely loathsome Pepe!

[karanhsingh]

So that brings us to Season 2, which is where the save really begins for us in earnest. I will hopefully have an update up on the first half of season 2 soon, currently the save is in October 2020.

A few of my aims and plans for the save, now that we successfully staved off the threat of relegation in the first year. Essentially Ronaldo's vision when he took over the club.

• First step is to get the finances in better shape as we have some debt piled up and are losing money, this may mean selling some of the high-earners and replacing them with younger players.
• Start making our way up the league table, slowly but gradually, secure a top-half finish next season at least and then start aiming for European qualification.
• Over time as we start hopefully making more money, we will invest that back into the facilities of the club and look to build a better youth academy.
• Set up an extensive scouting network in Brazil and look to recruit heavily from there, as well as other parts of South America (except Argentina because Ronaldo doesn't like them).
• The ultimate goal would be to find and recruit the next "El Fenomeno" from Brazil, fingers crossed we can find the right man. 
• Tactically we will be going in a new direction and looking to emulate the Brazilian side of the 2002 World Cup with a 3-5-2 formation.
• Eventually we would also like to buy & expand our current stadium or build a new one as we already have a loyal fan-base (20k season tickets) which can surely be developed further.

This for me means the following:

- recruit only the following nationalities - Spanish, Brazilian, and other South American nations with the exception of Argentina (I excluded Argentina because the kind of wonderkids present there and the prices at which they are available is almost like a cheat on this game)

- find the next Ronaldo in Brazil. Preferably a new-gen.

- tactically I am building off the Nagelsmann inspired 3-5-2 formation that I found on the FTCS blog (https://www.fmcheapseats.com/index.php/2020/03/10/those-who-do-not-move/) and I have been intrigued by it ever since I read about @ManUtd1 playing this style on his amazing Nearly Men save.

- for the first couple of seasons we will be spending less than we are making, looking for cheap bargain deals while trying to improve the clubs finances and invest into our facilities

- consciously look to the academy as a source for first-team talent and try to integrate at least a couple of players into the squad

Phew, I think that's enough for today  thanks for reading!!

[karanhsingh]

2 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Well done on survival @karanhsingh. Happy you chose Lucio and not the absolutely loathsome Pepe!

Never Pepe  

I wanted to choose someone who was in the Brazil 2002 squad, but also someone who was young then hence who would be beginning their managerial career about now. Lucio was perfect. 

[Jogo Bonito]

18 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

So that brings us to Season 2, which is where the save really begins for us in earnest. I will hopefully have an update up on the first half of season 2 soon, currently the save is in October 2020.

A few of my aims and plans for the save, now that we successfully staved off the threat of relegation in the first year. Essentially Ronaldo's vision when he took over the club.

• First step is to get the finances in better shape as we have some debt piled up and are losing money, this may mean selling some of the high-earners and replacing them with younger players.
• Start making our way up the league table, slowly but gradually, secure a top-half finish next season at least and then start aiming for European qualification.
• Over time as we start hopefully making more money, we will invest that back into the facilities of the club and look to build a better youth academy.
• Set up an extensive scouting network in Brazil and look to recruit heavily from there, as well as other parts of South America (except Argentina because Ronaldo doesn't like them).
• The ultimate goal would be to find and recruit the next "El Fenomeno" from Brazil, fingers crossed we can find the right man. 
• Tactically we will be going in a new direction and looking to emulate the Brazilian side of the 2002 World Cup with a 3-5-2 formation.
• Eventually we would also like to buy & expand our current stadium or build a new one as we already have a loyal fan-base (20k season tickets) which can surely be developed further.

This for me means the following:

- recruit only the following nationalities - Spanish, Brazilian, and other South American nations with the exception of Argentina (I excluded Argentina because the kind of wonderkids present there and the prices at which they are available is almost like a cheat on this game)

- find the next Ronaldo in Brazil. Preferably a new-gen.

- tactically I am building off the Nagelsmann inspired 3-5-2 formation that I found on the FTCS blog (https://www.fmcheapseats.com/index.php/2020/03/10/those-who-do-not-move/) and I have been intrigued by it ever since I read about @ManUtd1 playing this style on his amazing Nearly Men save.

- for the first couple of seasons we will be spending less than we are making, looking for cheap bargain deals while trying to improve the clubs finances and invest into our facilities

- consciously look to the academy as a source for first-team talent and try to integrate at least a couple of players into the squad

Phew, I think that's enough for today  thanks for reading!!

Great ideas and good luck with the vision. You're almost at the same date as me in France already 

[karanhsingh]

28 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Great ideas and good luck with the vision. You're almost at the same date as me in France already 

but to be fair I started off in Jan 2020

[Ronaldo Beckham]

4 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Good progress there. It's top 2 who go up and then playoffs right? 

BTW are you guys having trouble with hiring Staff in Spain? I believe there's some issue with their wage demands. First I couldn't get a single physio to sign up, now I can't hire anyone at all for my U19 side. We can't offer more than 1k a week and they all want 3k no matter what their ability or reputation. 

I never had many issues hiring staff personally on the game. I just hire the best staff I can and will just upgrade on them in the summer.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 hour ago, karanhsingh said:

Atletico Madrid at home:

I have no words... this team is ridiculous  It's been a while since I physically punched the air during an FM game, but this match provided a couple of those moments! It probably helped us that Atletico were guaranteed to finish in 3rd place and out of the title race, but still, our players certainly turned up for this one.

Which meant,

PHEW. With that, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. It almost went down to the final day...

Remember how I was saying that conversion was our problem, our strikers were just unable to put chances away. Well, I decided to have a look at the stats for the season.

Rock-bottom. This is when I decided to not renew Sandro's loan and that we would be selling Sergi Guardiola in the summer.

Well done staying in the league. I look forward to seeing how you do next season and hopefully get some more firepower. You should buy Loba or Diallo lol.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 hour ago, karanhsingh said:

So that brings us to Season 2, which is where the save really begins for us in earnest. I will hopefully have an update up on the first half of season 2 soon, currently the save is in October 2020.

A few of my aims and plans for the save, now that we successfully staved off the threat of relegation in the first year. Essentially Ronaldo's vision when he took over the club.

• First step is to get the finances in better shape as we have some debt piled up and are losing money, this may mean selling some of the high-earners and replacing them with younger players.
• Start making our way up the league table, slowly but gradually, secure a top-half finish next season at least and then start aiming for European qualification.
• Over time as we start hopefully making more money, we will invest that back into the facilities of the club and look to build a better youth academy.
• Set up an extensive scouting network in Brazil and look to recruit heavily from there, as well as other parts of South America (except Argentina because Ronaldo doesn't like them).
• The ultimate goal would be to find and recruit the next "El Fenomeno" from Brazil, fingers crossed we can find the right man. 
• Tactically we will be going in a new direction and looking to emulate the Brazilian side of the 2002 World Cup with a 3-5-2 formation.
• Eventually we would also like to buy & expand our current stadium or build a new one as we already have a loyal fan-base (20k season tickets) which can surely be developed further.

This for me means the following:

- recruit only the following nationalities - Spanish, Brazilian, and other South American nations with the exception of Argentina (I excluded Argentina because the kind of wonderkids present there and the prices at which they are available is almost like a cheat on this game)

- find the next Ronaldo in Brazil. Preferably a new-gen.

- tactically I am building off the Nagelsmann inspired 3-5-2 formation that I found on the FTCS blog (https://www.fmcheapseats.com/index.php/2020/03/10/those-who-do-not-move/) and I have been intrigued by it ever since I read about @ManUtd1 playing this style on his amazing Nearly Men save.

- for the first couple of seasons we will be spending less than we are making, looking for cheap bargain deals while trying to improve the clubs finances and invest into our facilities

- consciously look to the academy as a source for first-team talent and try to integrate at least a couple of players into the squad

Phew, I think that's enough for today  thanks for reading!!

Sounds like a good method of doing things. I hope it goes well. I look forward to seeing who you bring in.

[karanhsingh]

1 hour ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Well done staying in the league. I look forward to seeing how you do next season and hopefully get some more firepower. You should buy Loba or Diallo lol.

Thanks! As you see from my next post following a pretty specific recruitment policy once again 

1 hour ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Sounds like a good method of doing things. I hope it goes well. I look forward to seeing who you bring in.

We had a fairly busy summer window, letting go of 8 players for a total of 11.5 million, and bringing in 5 players for a total of 4.4 million. Details coming up very soon!

[Ronaldo Beckham]

49 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Thanks! As you see from my next post following a pretty specific recruitment policy once again 

We had a fairly busy summer window, letting go of 8 players for a total of 11.5 million, and bringing in 5 players for a total of 4.4 million. Details coming up very soon!

Cool, I look forward to your next update.