[FM20] - Unofficially Official Spanish Football Thread

[Ronaldo Beckham]

7 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

Hello. I am going to try and take another underachieving team to the Top. This time from Segunda League. I am thinking Malaga.

Malaga is a great shout. I look forward to seeing how you get on. I had a great save with Rayo Vallecano.

[karanhsingh]

On 17/09/2020 at 06:24, Hootieleece said:

Hello. I am going to try and take another underachieving team to the Top. This time from Segunda League. I am thinking Malaga.

 Nice one, good luck. Happy to see activity in this thread again.

[Jogo Bonito]

On 17/09/2020 at 01:54, Hootieleece said:

Hello. I am going to try and take another underachieving team to the Top. This time from Segunda League. I am thinking Malaga.

Good luck and have fun 

[Hootieleece]

On 18/09/2020 at 03:28, karanhsingh said:

 Nice one, good luck. Happy to see activity in this thread again.

 

3 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Good luck and have fun 

Malaga isn't actually the underachievers I was looking for, but I've decided to bring the Gengenpress to Spanish Football with a 4-4-2!  

I tried 4-4-2 Wing play during the First Half of the Preseason and was getting trounced by B Teams....so I decided "Heavy Metal Football" and being more Athletic than the opposition would be the thing to try. (especially since the ME rewards it.) 

[Hootieleece]

Here are the opening pics of the Malaga campaign:

The Manager: Juan Carlos Libertad

The Main Tactic:

The Club Info:

The Club is selected 4rth in Pre-Season and Looking at the Squad I think we have a fair chance of Promotion to La Liga!

The Talent:

We have a lot of talented but older players. They are good enough to get us to La Liga but will be replaced in the future.

The Pre-Season:

And Here We go!

[Hootieleece]

Season 1 : Malaga Promoted!

Season Review

Final Table:

Malaga climbed to the top of the table by Christmas but couldn't keep up with Sporting Gijon in a Title Race that came down to the last day!

Team of the Season and Fan Favorites!

Leading Scorer: Dani Pacheco

Our "Rock of Gibraltar" and Fan Favorite: Luis Hernandez

The Playmaker: Renato Santos

 

 

Edited September 22, 2020 by Hootieleece

[karanhsingh]

That was quick LOL. Well done!

[Hootieleece]

12 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

That was quick LOL. Well done!

The team was a top 4 preseason pick and since the AI can't deal with the Gengenpress...

The team isn't much different in La Liga....it's almost proof that the ME is broken.

I am playing an Asymmetrical 4-4-2 Gengengpress with a TargetMan and AF upfront....Classic British Football...LOL!

The Team is in 4rth place in LaLiga. Lost 3-0 to Barca at Camp Nou and that is worst loss in Current Season.

[Hootieleece]

Malaga Season 2 Update:

League Table:

Season Review:

Our Goalie Made the All La Liga Team!

Standout Players:

Fan Favorite, Captain, and our "Rock of Gibraltar"

Our 3rd Best Centerback that I am trying to retrain as MC-BWM-D

The Major Signing...actually a Dependable Target Man!

The Leading Goal Scorer...off the Bench!

and last our All La Liga Goalkeeper!

 

[Vivazu]

Love this thread and love La Liga! I'm in my 6th season with Betis (I'm Dutch but lived in Sevilla for a while, where Betis became one of my favourite clubs). I finally have a chance to win the title! After finishing second twice (by 1 point one of those seasons as well...) I'm ahead by 8 points after 23 games. My intensive gegenpress tactics are starting to take their toll now, though, so I hope I can keep my players healthy. 

As much as I love Spanish football, the Spanish competition, and the talents they produce, it has been a real struggle competing against the top three: there always seems to be at least one of them that doesn't lose more than 3 games a season. If they do, they just spend 200 mil on transfers the next window. I think patience is key in taking a non top 3 club to the top, and it's also inevitable to take a chance on an unproven wonderkid or two; you'll never have the budget to buy established players. 

This is my first FM save ever, so I might be a noob for not winning the title after 5 years, but I've been loving the struggle and the slow grind; I won't be quitting this save anytime soon. 

Love what you're doing with the Malaga save as well! Seems like such a huge challenge to bridge the gap with the top 3 eventually... would probably take me about 2 decades! 

[karanhsingh]

2 hours ago, Vivazu said:

Love this thread and love La Liga! I'm in my 6th season with Betis (I'm Dutch but lived in Sevilla for a while, where Betis became one of my favourite clubs). I finally have a chance to win the title! After finishing second twice (by 1 point one of those seasons as well...) I'm ahead by 8 points after 23 games. My intensive gegenpress tactics are starting to take their toll now, though, so I hope I can keep my players healthy. 

As much as I love Spanish football, the Spanish competition, and the talents they produce, it has been a real struggle competing against the top three: there always seems to be at least one of them that doesn't lose more than 3 games a season. If they do, they just spend 200 mil on transfers the next window. I think patience is key in taking a non top 3 club to the top, and it's also inevitable to take a chance on an unproven wonderkid or two; you'll never have the budget to buy established players. 

This is my first FM save ever, so I might be a noob for not winning the title after 5 years, but I've been loving the struggle and the slow grind; I won't be quitting this save anytime soon. 

Love what you're doing with the Malaga save as well! Seems like such a huge challenge to bridge the gap with the top 3 eventually... would probably take me about 2 decades! 

That's definitely the case it's always a struggle much the same in England as well for me with my current Aston Villa save. 

The toughest part is when you get towards the top - to break the dominance of the biggest clubs. Keep at it! As you say it's a fun & rewarding experience. 

[Hootieleece]

11 hours ago, Vivazu said:

Love this thread and love La Liga! I'm in my 6th season with Betis (I'm Dutch but lived in Sevilla for a while, where Betis became one of my favourite clubs). I finally have a chance to win the title! After finishing second twice (by 1 point one of those seasons as well...) I'm ahead by 8 points after 23 games. My intensive gegenpress tactics are starting to take their toll now, though, so I hope I can keep my players healthy. 

As much as I love Spanish football, the Spanish competition, and the talents they produce, it has been a real struggle competing against the top three: there always seems to be at least one of them that doesn't lose more than 3 games a season. If they do, they just spend 200 mil on transfers the next window. I think patience is key in taking a non top 3 club to the top, and it's also inevitable to take a chance on an unproven wonderkid or two; you'll never have the budget to buy established players. 

This is my first FM save ever, so I might be a noob for not winning the title after 5 years, but I've been loving the struggle and the slow grind; I won't be quitting this save anytime soon. 

Love what you're doing with the Malaga save as well! Seems like such a huge challenge to bridge the gap with the top 3 eventually... would probably take me about 2 decades! 

I got lucky.....the Gengenpress allows for average but athletic teams to compete with the big boys, but eventually even the AI will figure you out if you don't have a Plan B!  I am in my third season(2nd in La Liga) and I lost my most consistent Striker for 7 Months...we are hanging on but it has been tough to play all the draws that used to be wins. I will be happy if we don't get sucked into a relegation fight.

9 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

That's definitely the case it's always a struggle much the same in England as well for me with my current Aston Villa save. 

The toughest part is when you get towards the top - to break the dominance of the biggest clubs. Keep at it! As you say it's a fun & rewarding experience. 

I agree I was lucky in my first season in La Liga that I made Champion's League. That will make my rebuild a little easier, but the problem is finding the right players for shoestring budgets due to the lack of League Prize Money.

[Hootieleece]

Malaga Season 3 Update:

Our table position is pretty decent but we owe it all to our goalie!

As you can see we haven't really ever got a winning streak going and those "Champions League Nights" and Trips are killing us!

Our Goalie is top 5 in La Liga and only giving up about a goal a game:

The rest of the season is shaping up to be interesting ... biggest question: Can I find a Goal scorer to replace Dani Pacheco? He was worth about 12-14 goals, but made game winners and game tying goals late his specialty.

[Vivazu]

I'd say you're doing a great job! Shout out to the goalie as well. For some reason I find it one of the hardest positions to scout for. Goalie regens especially often have some weird stats, or they're just really short. 

The other thing you said about the AI figuring out your tactics: any idea after how many months/games/seasons this usually happens? Will they always figure you out eventually? I've only had to change up my tactics once so far, and I'm in 2027. 

In my save, I just had the craziest game I think I ever had.

A 5-4 aggregate win against Liverpool! Weirdest thing ever... Haaland scored after 3 min so I kind of gave up: didn't even watch any match highlights. Took off some of my players to give them a rest for important competition matches and the upcoming Spanish cup final (which we've won as well!!). Then Klopp and his guys absolutely choked it. Look at their team as well. 

Both of my strikers scored, usually they don't really show up in the big games. So proud of them, tears in my eyes.

As for the competition:

I have no idea how we did this well (of course I used some overpowered tactic but I have been for some seasons now: haven't won any trophies in four seasons). Most of the wonderkids I bought in my first seasons finally started to play some wonderful football, and most of the players in my starting XI can only improve. We're making good progress towards our final goal: making Real Betis the biggest club in Spanish football (and maybe the world). 

For now though, let's see if we can pull two more upsets and actually win the treble. "We've had some nice things said about our game recently, so we need to guard against complacency going forward" x10!!

 

[Hootieleece]

Doing Great with Real Hispalis! Looks like you are ready to put a dent in the Big Three!

 

As for the AI getting wise to the tactic (This might be confirmation Bias), but it seems that teams press my players more and defend better in season three of playing same tactic thus the "terrible" results. It seems to happen in all my saves....the 3rd year slump or 2nd after promotion.

[Hootieleece]

Malaga Season 3 Update:

not bad for a team of 2nd Division castoffs.

Team Summary from both Homescreen and LeagueScreen.

Team Sorted by most appearances:

Our Goalkeeper made 45 APPS! He personally kept us up with a little help of our new Striker Stiven Plaza.

The second Half of our schedule:

Notice the almost 3 month long winless streak!

Malaga's Best XI:

and Fan Awards:

 

and Champion's Cup....was won by Liverpool!

Not shown they beat PSG 7-1! without Mane who plays for Barcelona and PSG is without Mbappe who turns out for Real Madrid.

 

 

[karanhsingh]

Well done both... enjoying the renewed activity in Spain

[Ronaldo Beckham]

3 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

• Members+
•  310
• 1,571 posts
• Team: Liverpool, New England
• Managing: Malaga

 

•  

Posted 1 minute ago

Malaga Update: 2022-2023 Season

Season Results:

[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/pm0gesrDj][IMG]https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q90/922/0gesrD.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Team Awards:

[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/pm8sj8fFj][IMG]https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/800x600q90/922/8sj8fF.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

A particularly good week for my team....

[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/pmeawVhdj][IMG]https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/922/eawVhd.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Individual Awards:

[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/po1KlOMhj][IMG]https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/924/1KlOMh.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/pm3WclS3j][IMG]https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/922/3WclS3.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

and the player screen:

[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/pmKAUudTj][IMG]https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/922/KAUudT.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

I paid 24 million for him and he scored 20 League goals. He is a monster...I have started the next season and Arsenal is coming for him!

World Cup was won by Italy over England...

[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/pmmE8VSWj][IMG]https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/922/mE8VSW.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

 

Something went wrong there mate. Nothing is showing up.

[Hootieleece]

1 minute ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Something went wrong there mate. Nothing is showing up.

I know I don't know what is going on this is how I normally post.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Just now, Hootieleece said:

I know I don't know what is going on this is how I normally post.

 

Sorry mate I just thought I would tell you in case it showed up fine for you but not for the rest of us.

[Hootieleece]

Malaga Season 2022-2023:

Season wasn't bad but we were carried by our new Star Striker.

As one can see he is the man!

Individual Awards:

and here is his profile:

We paid 24M for him and he has a 60M Release Clause....Arsenal came after him over the summer.

We had one or two good games but this team of the week brings tears to my eyes.

and the winner of the 2022 World Cup was Italy!

[Mackem742]

I havent managed in Spain on this version of the game but I recently started a save with Sevilla, predicted to finish 4th behind the usual big 3 and after a 3rd of the season im predictably 4th behind the big 3. Ive only played one of the top sides and I got smashed on my own turf 0-4 by Real but that has been my only defeat so far. A couple of disappointing draws against rivals Betis (0-0) at home and then Valladolid (0-0) away. On a decent run now though, including qualifying for the Europa league knockout stage with 2 games to spare, although I had quite an easy group of FC Utrecht, Sparta Prague and Ludogorets.

Anyway my question is, how do I get the best out of Munir? He started the season well, 3 goals in his first 2 games but has only scored twice since, Im currently playing a 4-2-3-1 formation with him up front and all of my goals are coming from the wingers and midfield. Even Regulon my left back has scored more goals than him recently. Ive tried using him as a Advanced forward and pressing forward so far as they are his more favoured roles.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

20 minutes ago, Mackem742 said:

I havent managed in Spain on this version of the game but I recently started a save with Sevilla, predicted to finish 4th behind the usual big 3 and after a 3rd of the season im predictably 4th behind the big 3. Ive only played one of the top sides and I got smashed on my own turf 0-4 by Real but that has been my only defeat so far. A couple of disappointing draws against rivals Betis (0-0) at home and then Valladolid (0-0) away. On a decent run now though, including qualifying for the Europa league knockout stage with 2 games to spare, although I had quite an easy group of FC Utrecht, Sparta Prague and Ludogorets.

Anyway my question is, how do I get the best out of Munir? He started the season well, 3 goals in his first 2 games but has only scored twice since, Im currently playing a 4-2-3-1 formation with him up front and all of my goals are coming from the wingers and midfield. Even Regulon my left back has scored more goals than him recently. Ive tried using him as a Advanced forward and pressing forward so far as they are his more favoured roles.

Have you tried criticizing his form as that might help give him a kick in the backside he needs.

[Mackem742]

27 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Have you tried criticizing his form as that might help give him a kick in the backside he needs.

Yeah he just keeps saying he will buck his ideas up but then never does. Im already on the look out for another striker for January, however Ive only got £8 million so may just have to cling on and rely on the rest of the side to get me through this season.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 minute ago, Mackem742 said:

Yeah he just keeps saying he will buck his ideas up but then never does. Im already on the look out for another striker for January, however Ive only got £8 million so may just have to cling on and rely on the rest of the side to get me through this season.

Yeah just get rid of him. Plenty of better players out there.

[Mackem742]

Quick Sevilla update. After a poor run of form which saw me exit the Europa League in the 1st knockout stage to Basel (3-2 on aggregate) I switched formation to 2 up top (Munir and Aboubaker, who I brought in from Porto in January). Almada playing just behind them with Oliver playing on the left wing, Suso on the right and Rakitic as a defensive midfielder (Backup being Aranguiz). I went on a good run towards the back end of the season, including winning the Spanish Cup against Vigo who shocked Real in the semi final. I secured 3rd place with 4 games to go and then proceeded to lose 1-0 to Levante (who are challenging for 6th spot themselves) and then a 1-1 draw at home to Alaves. Munir has gone back to his ratings of anywhere between 6.2 and 6.4 and seems to have downed tools so he is on his way out to Leicester in the summer.

Ive now got 2 games left before the season finishes and a big rebuild needed in the summer. A number of players have disappointed me, also quite a few high value and high earning players which are around the 30 years and above mark so I will be looking into getting rid of some of them. Not Rakitic though, he has been superb and throughout the season, cant remember a game where he dropped below a 7.0 rating. Ill keep him until he retires now I think.

Top target in the summer is Dembele from Lyon, Ive been trying to unsettle him all season but it will be an expensive transfer for us, Ive only been given £14 million budget for next season so he will have to be funded by player sales.

[Mackem742]

Despite our disappointment of a poor end to the season it was a tremendous last day at the top of the league. Real and Barca were battling it out at the top. Barca had been top all season and had only lost 1 game, Real were 10 points behind at one point but going into the last game Real were 2 points behind Barca. Barca were away at Valencia, who were battling it out with me for 3rd. Valencia beat Barca while Madrid won their game and we could only draw which resulted in Real winning the league by 1 point. The final day was the only day that Real were top and Valencia leapfrogged me to finish 3rd.

Anyway season is now over and the squad has been ripped apart. Munir, Rony Lopes, Banega, and several others have departed. In has come Tonali, Esposito, Talles Magno and a few other squad fillers. I know my signings are very boring as everyone signs them but its only until I get the squad firing and then I will properly start scouting. Ive already started looking through under 21 squads of various nations, mostly South America and Europe. I gave up on signing Dembele from Lyon as he was too expensive and every time I personally watched a game he was playing he had a poor game. Esposito was cheaper and so far has 3 in 3 games. Currently sat 2nd after 3 games, 2 wins against Espanyol and Leganes, as well as a home draw against Atletico.