A Girl in Every Port

[ShiftyPowers]

I want to play a Schalke game now!

I also ended up selling Balanta because of his error proneness. It was never reflected in the average ratings, but he made some very poor errors over the years and I felt like it was time to give some younger players a chance.

I'm convinced that Max Meyer will be great for you if you start giving him games. He made it to Real Madrid in my save with some very good attributes, yet you could also clearly see that he didn't develop as much as he could have; Schalke kept him on the bench until he was like 23-24 and then sold him. With that said, Draxler is a star do not sell him ever. At the very least if I was you I'd probably look to cash in on Sam to make room for Meyer (and Gotze depending on what you do with him).

I personally wouldn't go for all of those DLPs because of what I have seen in my save of Goretzka, but I guess if he's not working out for you there's not much you can do. Ginter is a total star, he also went to Madrid in my save, but he's going to end up as a Madrid legend, not a guy who had a cup of coffee in Madrid and then went elsewhere.

 

[Mandieta6]

Nevertheless, you still get my point.

That I like the Bundesliga? Yeah, I guess.

 

[Mandieta6]

Yeah, Juventino's save almost makes me wanna get the game and play a Germany save. I forget, though, if you fixed the fake.inc file, could you manage Germany?

 

[Back Door Skip]

Juventino's FM storytelling always makes me wanna play FM, but I don't quite have the dedication for it.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Yeah, Juventino's save almost makes me wanna get the game and play a Germany save. I forget, though, if you fixed the fake.inc file, could you manage Germany?

Yes, of course.

 

[Juventino]

I sold Sidney Sam and Lewis Holtby to make room for Mario Götze and Max Meyer. Sidney Sam was on all my squads, replacing Farfan at the start of the game (I made it my first priority to get rid of Farfan). He was very disappointing, Clemens easily won the battle for the starting right winger/inside forward position. Sam had some good games here and there, mostly in the meaningless DFB-Pokal, so I won't miss him. Holtby was also a little disappointing in his one and only season with me as a rotation option. He was signed for a small sum after flopping at Spurs and Liverpool, so it's not a big deal.

The GK situation could become a little tricky in the morale management department, there are no takers for Leno at the moment.

You're right, Shifty, Kovacic is a luxury signing. I also really like Goretzka, he's a beast in the making. Like Meyer, I wouldn't consider selling him. It's a little unfortunate he spent most of last season recovering from an injury, just when I signed Badelj to compete with him. It's hard to see Badelj leave the starting XI now, dude played a big part in a CL-winning campaign. We'll see how it pans out. I may be overcompensating in the DLP-department because I didn't like the original Schalke midfield of Jones-Neustädter.

Now, I played until August 1st to round up my 2016-2017 roster, but I kinda lost my motivation to play another season in the Bundesliga. Three-peating the Bundesliga and winning the CL went very fast, maybe too fast. I'm not tired of Bundesliga. IMO it's the most interesting and fun league to play considering the domestic talent, facilities and financial health of most clubs, but I'd like a new challenge.

I'm sad FM10 doesn't work on my computer anymore (Mac OSX Lion), otherwise I'd give that story another chapter.

 

[Juventino]

Oh! I made my Football Manager travelling map (from memory, I might be forgetting a few games).

Europe was impossible to do entirely on this map, so a pin requires a 10 season minimum. The rest of the continents are a one season minimum. Cuba's FC Holguin, Mexico's Xolos (they started being good IRL after Walter White btw) and North Korea's (oh wait) Luch-Energiya Vladivistok are FM Succession Games. I should probably pin down Chelmsford and Lübeck aswell.

A travelling map fits the theme of this thread, so I may think of some continental/location related challenges. I've always wanted a Scandinavian Superteam for example. Gives a new dynamic to the game anyway.

 

[Juventino]

New Chelmsford Panini cards, featuring one of Chelmsford's premier landmarks: the Iron Bridge. I made these a while ago but forgot to post them.

 

[Juventino]

Played another season with Schalke, my fourth. After my three-peat, Bayern finally managed to take the Bundesliga crown... on goal difference. That was a little sour. Bayern were cruising until February and it was entirely characteristic of them to drop an insane amount of points in the final months of the season. That's pretty much how I won the three-peat. I got close, closer... but this year it wasn't enough. The climax of the Bundesliga is always insane, I even remember that from my games in the Bundesliga in CM03/04.

Schalke were also the defending champs in the Champions League, but I didn't get past Arsenal in the 1/8 final.

This is what my team looks like for the 2017-2018 season:

Before the transfer window closed in 2016, I sold my 2015-2016 CL winning season MVP Sigurdsson to Manchester United. I simply prefered going with Götze, who is a better player. Unfortunately, Draxler and Götze both suffered several month-long injuries during the season, which did force me to rely on depth. Kovacic filled in for Götze at AMC and did a remarkable job. During the 2016-2017 season I also signed Christoph Kramer to further my team of Bundesliga's best.

Aleksandar Mitrovic had a break-out 2016-2017 season, he finished as Bundesliga top scorer with 20 goals. I finally found the striker I was looking for. In previous seasons my attacking midfielders were usually my top goalscorers.

For the new season, I integrated several youth academy prospects. Schalke's youth intake is pretty insane, I think the best I've ever seen on a team I manage. Tobias Holzer is the best prospect for an eventual key player role:

He's currently under the guidance of Lars Bender. I have faith Lars will provide him with a good example.

Of the arrived talents, I'm starting to get disappointed with Max Meyer. Granted, over the years he had to compete with (among others) Sigurdsson, Götze and Kovacic. Compared to Schalke prodigy Draxler, who is a mainstay in the starting XI, Meyer just doesn't cut it for a starting spot. I may consider selling him (and it will probably bite me in the ass, but that makes the game interesting, haha).

 

[Juventino]

Did some research for a new quirky save and found out about the gem that is the Gibraltar Premier League. All clubs in the league play in Victoria Stadium on Winston Churchill Avenue, right off an airport runway.

Imagine that scene. They won't let Sergio Ramos take penalties in the stadium, that's for sure. Potential aviation disasters. Ideal traveling arrangements for away teams, naturally.

The Lincoln Red Imps are currently owning the league with 11 consecutive championships.

This save won't happen, but I thought it'd be fun to share.

 

[yoyo913]

Did you look up if a downloadable league exists?

 

[Juventino]

There is one for FM14 available on Steam, but I only just found that out.

 

[Juventino]

I saw this for the first time in a pretty regular Juve save.

A stadium in construction. And palm trees in Turin.

Recently I've been thinking of starting a new save with two managers. I'd manage two clubs of similar stature, but with different philosophies. I also like the durable rivalry it would create, although I'm not sure how it'd feel to be my own worst enemy. I think it could be interesting. Any suggestions for clubs/countries?

 

[ShiftyPowers]

That's really interesting. So you would control the substitutions of both teams when playing? I feel like you'd naturally start to favor one team, but it's an outstanding concept. Fit for a story on one of the big FM Story boards if they exist anymore, which I'm not sure they do.

I see it that you need a possession club and a counter attack club, and even better if one of them develops its own players and one of them buys its own players. Sporting/Benfica and Ajax/PSV could be okay. PSG/Lyon maybe. You could also try out a derby like Red Star/Partizan, Lazio/Roma, Bilbao/Sociedad.

Sporting/Benfica would be pretty cool because it's got all the factors plus there's Porto in there that could put you under the threat of getting fired if they were to win the league. Benfica starts out at a pretty big advantage though, maybe Porto/Benfica would be better.

 

[Juventino]

I've never played a match as both managers before, but I think I'd be able to control both sides.

I like your suggestions, especially Bilbao/Sociedad. I also thought of Tenerife/Las Palmas, I like the island vs. island rivalry. I definitely agree with the home grown vs. buying players and possession vs. counter attack philosophies. It'll take some time to develop both. I may add a sugar daddy for one and a 20 for youth recruitment and youth facilities for the other.

 

[Juventino]

I'm playing as Athletic for the first time and it's fun. Not so much for the long term challenge of the all-Basque team policy that drew me to this save game initially, but the success of the strikerless tactic I found on FM Base. Credit where it's due. It's the first time I'm using one and it's damn entertaining football. Old man star striker Aduriz is marginalized, but this team is perfect for it. It's still the first season and I'm already challenging for a championship, I'm in the Copa del Rey final and the KO stages of the Europa League will start soon.

This might be my biggest upset in FM, ever:

I also beat Barcelona four times this season: 5-2, 5-3, 2-0, 3-1.

My usual line-up:

 

[Juventino]

Lost the title on goal difference.

Cruel. Perhaps winning the title in my first season in charge would've been too soon...

... but man, so close.

I did end up winning the Copa del Rey versus Atletico. At least some silverware to show for this amazing season. Man Utd knocked me out of the Europa League in the 2nd KO round.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

I'm also using an FM Base tactic at the moment. Went online looking because I've had such bad luck in Europe with Ajax. In my 5th season now and never made it past the first knockout stage.

 

[Juventino]

I'd be curious to see your Ajax team, especially to see which youth players made it.

In the summer of 2017 Laporte, San José and my starting goalkeeper Kepa were all unhappy. Big European teams were trying to get into their minds all season long and it worked. They didn't want to extend their contracts with me. Chelsea activated Laporte's 65M release clause, Everton activated Kepa's 18M clause and Juve stole San José one hour before the transfer deadline on August 31st for 35M. Major bummer.

Laporte's sale did enable me to buy Mikel Merino from Dortmund for 40M. He was on loan in the first season, great young player. I also signed Ander Herrera for 50M. The transfer sums are massive, but these are the only major signings I'm able to make for now. Griezmann, Javi Martinez, Azpilicueta, Inigo Martinez, etc. won't consider Athletic anytime soon, I suspect.

Anyway, my defense is depleted. Etxeita is decent, but all my other CB's are Segunda Division quality. I'm trying to mold full back Boveda into a CB, I saw he plays there in real life as well. I also got some decent players in the youth set-up, but their development will take a few more years.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

I'd be curious to see your Ajax team, especially to see which youth players made it.

The only ones still with me who have cracked the first team are Donny van de Beek and Kasper Dolberg. Onana has been my backup for the entire time (maybe had 1 year as the starter) and Noa Lang is getting his chance with the first team this year, but just not good enough. Frenkie de Jong is still around, although not playing much, as is Antonucci.

E: Nouri is still around too, but just a fringe player.

Some guys that I thought were good, but was forced to sell for one reason or another:

Zeefuik
Klaasen
Bazoer
Veltman
Ziyech
Sanchez