[FM10] Continental Dominance - First New Zealand Then The World

[AcidBurn]

They finished the closing stage in 3rd, 1st and 11th. They were in 8th when I joined with two games left. They have not won the play-offs since the start of the game though, something I hope to change within my first 10 games at the club. I think we have a very good side but so do some of the other teams. I am hoping after this club I get a move to Egypt, then South America and then Europe although things can change big time in games like these.

[AcidBurn]

End of the 2013/14 Season - Another Club and Another Continent

***Alternative Corset Wearing Small Panted Brunette Badge and Alternative Blondie Bikini Badge not sure why these are there but they were the first results on google search.***

My New Adventure

After failing to get a job in the USA I took the job at one of the top teams in Mexico with hopes of grabbing my third continental competition. They play at the Estadio Azteca a 105,000 capacity stadium, it's the 5th biggest football stadium in the world and is filled with history. It is the home of the hand of god and there for also the home of arguably the greatest world cup goal ever. It is also home to what some people refer to as the game of the century the 4-3 extra time Italian win over the Germans. It has also been used by the NFL, Summer Olympics and 2 World Cups, oh and even more impressively Hanson and Nsync have had concerts there.

The squad was pretty good for the level and had alot more talent than my Wellington team. Santiago Fernandez was the top scorer when I arrived despite low finishing the veteran striker still knew how to find the back of the net with ease. Despite poor stats compared to other wingers on the game this guy was one of the star players in my few games of the end of the season. There is also a rule in the Mexican league that stats the starting 11 must feature one player under the age of 21, strange rule but I suppose it forces every club to look for and bring through some youth players. Luckily for me there was already these three there when I arrived Everton Antonio was just coming back from a loan spell and would be available next season with the ability to play all the defensive positions, Devon Cieslinski was a brilliant player and has all the right stats to be the main man in the heart of the defence for the forth coming season. The last one Fransico Mejia is just class for this league and will probably start attracting interest from Europe.

The League Champions Already?

I arrived and the club were just outside the top 8, in Mexico the top 8 at the end of the closing stage of 17 games qualify for an 8 team play-off to decide the league champions. Somehow the team managed to demolish everyone put in their way, I won 8 out of 8 competitive matches to start my career by delivering the first league title to Club America since 2004 although the team had won the opening stage the year before I arrived. I was surprised that the team had the quality to pull this off.

I knew that the team despite the win was short in a few areas, Mexico has a rule of 5 foreign players. My team had only 2 so I went out and used my whole budget to sign James Brown and the legendary well at least to Wellington Phoenix Wisner. Both will arrive next season leaving me with only one spare foreign player space. I will have to use this space wisely and try to get someone on a free transfer.

[crouchaldinho]

Alternative Corset Wearing Small Panted Brunette Badge and Alternative Blondie Bikini Badge ftw!

[AcidBurn]

Alternative Corset Wearing Small Panted Brunette Badge and Alternative Blondie Bikini Badge ftw!

lol, had to post them but didn't want them on the main post. Got to love the Mexicans for sexing up something like the club badge.

[crouchaldinho]

Nice arrival in Mexico by the way. I've always wanted to play there. The league structure is pretty weird though, right?

How on earth does it work? The whole thing seems totally strange to me.

It seems that there is an 'opening' and 'closing' tournament, which basically consists of what we would call the first half of the season, followed by the second-half of the season.

The team are all put into random groups as well (are they random? I assume so), although they don't play each other that way and just the results from the ordinary league are counted, which appears to make the full table totally pointless. The top couple of teams in each group go through to a play-off, which appears to decide the Champions of that particular half of the season.

I was in Mexico in the winter of 2008 on my honeymoon and I followed the 2008 'Apertura' final on the television. I had no idea what was at stake. Is it better to win the first tournament or the second? I just didn't get it. Anyway, I remember that it was Toluca and Cruz Azul, and it was a 2-2 draw with Toluca winning on penalties.

I just don't get the whole league structure and what it is supposed to achieve. I don't understand why they bother having a league at all if they are going to muck around with it all of the time. :confused:

That is what has always put me off managing there.

[AcidBurn]

I am just working it out as I go along. I think the purpose of the opening stage is to decide on a qualifying team for the North American Champions league. It is divided into 3 groups of 6 the results from the first 17 games are counted into these groups. The top 2 teams plus the 2 best runners up in the 6 team groups go into a play-off. Not sure if that's to get into the NA Champions League of the Libertadores.

What I do not understand is how a team qualifies for the Libertadores. From looking at last seasons table I am guessing that the team with the most points from the stages combined get into it.

I will hopefully be able to clear it up a little better once I get into it more.

[AcidBurn]

Concacaf Champions League - The champions and runnerups from the playoff stage of both the opening and closing stage qualify to this tournament. But the draw back is that winning a championship excludes you from the copa libertadores which is the most pretigious tournament over here in the americas.

Copa Santander Libertadores - The team that has the most points overall between both the opening and closing stage goes in directly. While the other 2 - 9 excluding the champions play in the interliga in which the winner of the interliga goes in directly while the runner up plays in another playoff game against a south american team to see if they still qualify for the libertadores.

This is the reply I got in GD when I asked, still not 100 percent sure though.

[crouchaldinho]

Please do Acidburn.

I think I'm going to steal your idea of doing screenshots for fixtures. Getting a bit fed up of typing them up each time.

Think it's time for a bit of a change in my thread. An Acidburn inspired change, perhaps.

[AcidBurn]

lol, I only do it through laziness really, I tried typing it out but I kept getting bored and I figured it was taking away my FM time. Glad to inspire people even in the smallest of ways.

[crouchaldinho]

I've written a new update. Let me know what you think.

It's only half 'Acidburnised' though. I still like to write too much info and I like the tables.

I really like the way you organise your thread though. It adds to the updates and makes it easy to see how you are getting on. Keep up the good work!

[AcidBurn]

2014 Year of Confusion

Mexican Opening Stage

The Mexican league is divided into two stage of 17 games plus a play-off in theory you can finish the league in 8th but still be crowned Champions. For the opening stage of 17 games all teams are divided into three groups of six teams. The results from the 17 games are placed into the full league and into the three mini leagues. The top two teams from each of the six teams groups plus the two best runners up go into a seeded play-off to decide who is crowned the Opening Stage Champion. I guess the best way is to just show you how it works.

As you can see from these screenshot's the results from the first 17 games of the main league are the same results placed into the smaller leagues. We qualified top of our group and finished the main league in 3rd meaning we were through to the play-off's with ease.

It was an up and down season with a few bad loses and some great wins, as you can see Wisner, James Brown and Santiago Fernandez scored lots of goals between them to form a formidable front three.

We headed into the play-off against Dorodos, we destroyed them 4-1 and the magic of the front three was there for all to see as they all grabbed a goal each. For the second leg I rested a few players and we lost 2-1 at home but we still went through on aggregate. Next up was Atlas the team that beat us 4-3 in the Champions Trophy over two legs at the start of the season. We lost the first leg 2-1 and won the second leg 2-1, to my surprise we did not go into penalties and we advanced due to being the higher seeded team, almost feels like I stole a win rather than got it myself. The final was against Chivas we lost 3-2 at home infront of 100,000 people, we were up against it but with an all out attack we clinched a 3-1 away win to crown us as the Opening Stage Champions.

[AcidBurn]

The Real Reason For Being In Mexico

The North American Champions League is the real aim and real reason I took this job on in the first place. The teams in our group are not that strong as we faced an American team, one from Honduras and the last team to make up the group hailed from El Salvador. As you can see we defeated everyone with ease to book a match against Montreal in the quarter finals.

As you can see it is obvious which countries teams dominate this tournament. It is also a pity in a way that as Champion I cannot enter into the Libertadores although that is why I have loaded Argentina and Brazil.

This is the team and as I said Wisner, James Brown and Santiago Fernandez have formed a team that scores and assists most of the teams goals. The way they play is a thing of beauty with no support from wingers as I do not used them they seem to supply each other in unselfish ways to score and help the team. The only downside is Wisner has had a few injuries that have kept him out for a couple of weeks here and there.

Hopefully they can carry on for the next half of the season. The strange thing now is that the Closing Stage resets the league so everyone starts on zero points, there are no group stages so the top 8 will go on to the Closing Stage play-off. I think now I have won the opening stage that I have booked a place in the North American Champions League for next season already. This does not mean I will take it easy as I want to be crowned double champions, I hope that each stage counts as one trophy in my manager profile.

I thought it was interesting that due to playing in leagues with foreign player limitations my domestic player bias is the highest I have ever had it. You can also tell by hands on approach that I holiday lots inbetween games and during the summer breaks.

On another note I have taken on the job as national manager of the USA, quite realistic being as I now live in Mexico. I have had short stints as manager of Jordan which lasted two matches and less than two months. I also took on the Japanese job but after 6 months I decided not to continue. The USA was offered to me after I applied at the same time as I was offered the Italian job as well. USA seemed more attractive and have just as good players, I also tried for Spain who went out of the 2014 World Cup in the group stages and were beaten 2-1 by USA who reached the first knockout round.

I will update on USA in a couple of years after any major tournament as I am not sure there will be much if any interest in a year of friendly matches.

[ToMexico!!]

Great opening stage AB but damn its still bloody confusing. Good luck with the closing stage.

[RichG]

LOL how the hell do you get a 1 for hands on approach?

You also have the goal machine James Brown. Is he a distant relative of the sex machine

And can i assume Jesus and Christian Sanchez are brothers in a very religous family

[Jason the Yank]

Carolina in the CCL?

They're in the US second division. So it's like when Millwall qualified for Europe via the FA Cup.

[AcidBurn]

LOL how the hell do you get a 1 for hands on approach?

You also have the goal machine James Brown. Is he a distant relative of the sex machine

And can i assume Jesus and Christian Sanchez are brothers in a very religous family

He is a goal and assist machine, I never get involved in my players personal lives for all we know he could a sex machine as well. I think not doing press conferences and holidaying a lot means I have got a 1, it is the lowest I have ever had though.

Carolina in the CCL?

They're in the US second division. So it's like when Millwall qualified for Europe via the FA Cup.

They have won the cup twice once in 2010 and once in 2013, not bad for a second division American side. Each time they won it they beat 2 second division sides and then 4 MLS teams, they won both finals 3-1 after extra time. They have made the quarter finals twice as well in the Champions League, surely their manager should be given a chance at a bigger club.

[AcidBurn]

Almost forgot to say I signed Jose Sosa from Bayern Munich for 375k. He is 29 but looks like he could still be a quality player for the Closing Stage and the North American Champions League, if I can register him that is.

[ToMexico!!]

Almost forgot to say I signed Jose Sosa from Bayern Munich for 375k. He is 29 but looks like he could still be a quality player for the Closing Stage and the North American Champions League, if I can register him that is.

Had he played much at Bayern? he join when he was 21? means a good 8/9 seasons in Germany. But like you say he will be a great addition to your squad and great back up for Wisner and Brown.

[AcidBurn]

He has only played 20 games or so for Bayern since the start of the my save, he went on loan to Rennais where he played 30 games and Estudiantes where he played 33 and 7 sub appearances. His contract was up at the end of the season I was going to offer him one but I saw he was listed for 375k I hadn't spent anything since Wisner and Brown and had some cash to spare.

He will be a good signing as I like to play AMC, AMC and ST or AMC and 2x ST. Means I can rest Brown, Wisner or Santiago Fernandez against easier teams and switch thing round if any of them are playing bad.

[Jason the Yank]

They have won the cup twice once in 2010 and once in 2013, not bad for a second division American side. Each time they won it they beat 2 second division sides and then 4 MLS teams, they won both finals 3-1 after extra time. They have made the quarter finals twice as well in the Champions League, surely their manager should be given a chance at a bigger club.

There is precedent. Back in 1999, Rochester (before the current incarnation of the CCL) won the cup beating 4 MLS teams along the way.

Hasn't happened since though, even though MLS teams tend to deprioritize the cup. (though Charleston did reach the final in 2008 by knocking out 3 MLS teams)

[coldkohmew]

good read...

[DodgeeD]

Great career so far Acid Burn. Mexico is a great league to play but the whole opening/closing stages, groups, play-offs and continental qualificaiton is very confusing! Bes thing is just to win as many games as possible and hope for the best.

Good luck with the rest of the NACL. Be prepared to get very familiar with some of the other Mexcan teams as you reach the semis of that competition and the domestic play-offs!

[AcidBurn]

2015 The Closing Stage of Confusion

We topped the league with some ease in the end, scoring for fun and generally looked pretty good apart from towards the end of the season when our form seemed to dip a bit. This is the strange thing about Mexico, Santos Laguna came 2nd in their mini group but came 9th in the league meaning that they went into the play-off's instead of Monterrey who finished 8th. Meaning the Champions could be the team that finished 9th, very strange but those are the rules.

There are two results that you cannot see on the screenshot they were a 2-1 win over Tigres in which Wisner and Sosa scored, also a 0-0 boring draw with Atlas who I hate playing. We did well as you can see but the play-off's were disappointing as we went crashing out thanks to losing 1-0 at home infront of 100,000 people something we seem to do in big profile games. Atlas simply played better and deserved to go through. In the end it would have been nice to win but we were still Opening Stage Champions which is credited as a league win on my manager profile and this meant we were in next seasons North American Champions League already.

[AcidBurn]

Champions League and Player Stats

As you may have already read we breezed through the group stages and then faced Montreal in the quarter finals. We went past them very easily and were in good form, next up was Pumas a fellow Mexican team that had been having an extremely poor season. I looked past them and lived to regret it, we won at home but only just and then got our asses kicked at their place. The team bottled it for the second time this season. Oh well onto next years.

Fantastic season stats for James Brown, Wisner and Santiago Fernandez grabbing over 90 goals between them. The most surprising thing is for once Wisner was out scored by 3 goals although he did play 10 games less, I am confident that if he had played those 10 games then he would have easily beaten Santiago's record. Santiago Fernandez and Wisner is a strange situation, Wisner has 15 for finishing and 10 for composure and Fernandez is the opposite with 10 for finishing and 15 for composure yet both score bags of goals, I have always preferred my strikers to have both stats high but this game is proving that sometimes only one will do.

Another thing is that despite all the goals neither of them were crowned top scorer that honour went to Javier Hernandez who has signed for Man United in real life recently. He bagged 32 in the league beating both men to the award. A good thing in Mexico is that for the end of season awards all managers are able to vote for the best GK, DC, FB, DMC, AMC, Winger, Striker young player and player of the season, So naturally I voted for my guys when they were eligible.

[AcidBurn]

Relegation

It is also worth noting for those that are curious that relegation in Mexico is decided based on this average points league. It is basically what it looks like points per game over the last 3 seasons are averaged out and the team with the lowest come the end of the Closing Stage is relegated. Another strange rule in my opinion.

[acidmonkey]

yea the points thing is a bit backwards to me similar to brazil IIRC and its done to stop the big sides going down after a transitional year due to selling all their star players.

[ToMexico!!]

Some great progress again AB Have you got any screenshots of Brown, Fernandez and Wisner?

[AcidBurn]

James Brown, Wisner and Santiago Fernandez. There you go ToMexcio. Seems strange to have the two seasons before the current one to dictate if a team goes down, how can a team that wins no games in the closing stage still be allowed to be in the top league, weird.

[crouchaldinho]

So you are playing 4-3-1-2 now Acidburn? Or do you rotate between that and the Christmas Tree?

How do you tend to set up the front three in both formations? I'm curious.

I love that you can vote for your own players in the end of season awards in Mexico.

[AcidBurn]

The tactic was given to me by El, so all the credit must go to him, I was struggling and he sent it to me and it seems to work with just about every team I have tried it with. That's the default settings when using the Xmas tree formation although sometimes I will tweak the settings for the striker depending on who plays. I have moved the more creative AMC up to ST dropped his creative freedom to one notch above the middle, dropped his through balls and put his mentality up by one notch. I sort of rotate as I now have James Brown and Jose Sosa who play AMC but also I have three class strikers in Wisner, Fernandez and new signing Uche. Makes sense to have 2 upfront. I have also on occasion played with all three strikers up front but only when chasing a game or in dire need of a win.

[DodgeeD]

Yeah, the whole group stage within the league stages is a bit confusing... and the relegation system, as you say, is in place to protect the 'big' sides from a bad season or two.

And voting for your own players in the awards - ah, the memories. I used to vote for my own player 1st and give the players I deemed least likely to win my 2nd and 3rd picks.

Oh, and I love that you have a star player called James Brown.

[AcidBurn]

Looking To the Future

After last seasons failure in the North American Champions League I decided I may need a couple of seasons to develop the team. So I have focused on younger players and a couple of experienced players to help them along. I signed the following players ready for the new season.

Luis Trujillo for £1.8 million

Efrain Cabellos for £5 million over 48 months

Ikechukwu Uche on a free transfer from Almeria

Armando Perez For £1.5 million from Atlante

Rodolof Salinas On a free transfer after he was released by Leon

I was also excited by the prospect of Francisco Aguilar although his stats are not the best you can see by his average rating from his games in the new season how good he is playing. The assman also thinks he has the potential to be as good as Jose Sosa and to be a leading star for the team.

The American Dream

On the 20th of July I agreed to take over as manager of the USA national team, they had a reasonably impressive World Cup but were defeated in the first knockout round by Mexico. I figure it's a pretty realistic move with USA being just up the road from my Mexican job I can easily cope with travelling between the jobs.

The squad had some impressive talent with players like Robbie Regan this guy is the most impressive but seems prone to the odd injury here and there. Along with him forming my front three will be two out of Landon Donovon who has an impressive 168 caps to his name making him the most capped player currently still playing be some distance, Jose Altidore A big strong stiker should be idle for holding the ball up and bringing in his team mates as the lone striker and last but not least the former boy wonder Freddy Adu this guy looks class and should be a big asset. At the back is my main man at Club America Devon Cieslinski so on I went into national management.

As you can see the team had a couple of great results in the World Cup before I joined beating Spain and Croatia. I joined after the World Cup with the team sitting in 12th in the world rankings, I had a few friendlies to get the team ready for the Gold Cup, despite a spanking from Brazil in a game that they dominated I was pleased with the teams progress.

The Gold Cup draw gave us a group of Panama, El Salvador and next door neighbours Canada. We eased through the group stage very easily with Robbie Regan looking very impressive. Next up was quarter finals against Costa Rica in a strange game that we pretty much dominated it went to penalties where we remained cooler than the opposition we scored all our penalties and Dempsey was coolest scoring the last one after they had missed their 3rd. Next up was a game against Guatemala which was as easy as I thought we won 6-1 and could of had more.

The Gold Cup Final saw me face many players from the team I manage. As you can see from the stats it was a good even game although they had 2 more clear cut chances, despite taking a 3-0 lead we let them back into the game and did well to hold on and bag the tournament title my first on FM10 in international management.

This was my third international job but my first two jobs as Jordan and Japan manager lasted less than 3 games before I got bored. I am getting into managing America now and hope to take them into the next World Cup and do pretty well with the talent that they have. Adu and Robbie Regan will be the players I base my team around.

[DodgeeD]

Regan looks class. How has he only amassed 26 caps to date though?

Aguilar also looks like a great prospect. How do your coaches rate him?

[AcidBurn]

Regan got his first cap when he was 22 so 5 years ago, he does seem injury prone so that might not help.

Aguilar is rated as 3 and a half stars potential by the assman and his current ability is 1 and a half so he can still improve quite alot.

I am also in the Copa Libertadores which didn't happen last time I won the league so I am not sure how the heck I have qualified for it, I doubt I could win but as it stands I have a chance of winning two of my continental titles in one season.

[crouchaldinho]

Thanks for posting the details of your tactics AB.

Awesome work with Team USA.

James Brown reminds me of this video -

[AcidBurn]

No problem Crocuhy, I am looking forward to taking USA forward cheers.

I was managing Wellington and James Brown scored against me twice, I thought that's strange I wonder if he moved from Hartlepool to Australia. Saw his stats and realised it couldn't be Stelling's James Brown, every time he scores I think of that video just gotta try not to do the dance or the missus might think I am completely nuts. Although if he were to score the winner in the North American Champions League Final I may have no choice lol.

[crouchaldinho]

Definitely.

[AcidBurn]

2016 Opening Stage, Another Season of What Happened There Then

Some great results this season and the league stage was as confusing as always, Puebla got less points in the Opening Stage than a couple of teams but due to the 3 smaller groups they went through to the pay-offs. I was very happy with all the goals we scored but I think the defence could have been a bit better but it didn't really matter with us scoring nearly double what the other teams near us got.

There was disappointment at the end of the season as we lost over two legs to rivals Chivas in the play-off finals so despite all our hard work we crumbled and let Chivas take the title of Opening Stage Champions. I was very annoyed as we had two great wins over Tigres and Cruz Azul to send us through to the finals. Sometimes the team seems to not be the best at handling pressure and they do not play to there best. This is something I will need to look into but I am not sure how to change it. Could of just been a couple of off days.

Delight In Defeat

The strange thing is we lost in the play-off's meaning Chivas went into the North American Champions League. Due to our position before the play-off's we were entered into the Copa Libertadores, along with the North American Champions League we had lots of games coming up. So it was a bonus that we lost really although we would have to win the Closing Stage Play-off's to get into the North American Champions League next season or win the current one.

[AcidBurn]

2016 Closing Stage

We did quite well in the league stage took us a few games to get kicking but after that we were in good form once again attacking brilliantly but not so good at defending. This took us into the play-off's easily and first up was Queretaro who we dispatched with ease to get a place against Atlas in the semi-final. We produced the best display of the season to hammer them 5-0 in front of over 100,000 very happy Club America fans. Chivas were on the list next for the final, they beat us in the Opening Stage Event so we needed to get some revenge. Managed to produce another great display to win 4-0 in front of a packed Azteca Stadium. Anyone who knows how I play FM knows I do not like to defend and prefer to attack as much as possible. This kind of backfired as Chivas destroyed us in the second leg 4-1, they went 3-0 up and we got one back then they went 4-1 up it was a nervy last few minutes but we held on to take the title.

As you can see Wisner was awesome this season and I will post some updates on the player stats next. I wish this forum allowed more than 4 pictures in a post.

[AcidBurn]

Continental Competition and Player Stats, The End Draws Nearer

First up was my main target the North American Champions League, after last seasons disappointment it was great to get going in the competition again. The group stage was almost too easy we scored bags of goals and progressed without much effort into the knockout stages. I started to get a good feeling until I was drawn against Chivas but in what was a remarkable performance over two legs scoring 10 goals and giving the fans a great victory against one of our fiercest rivals in all competitions and a team I dislike because they are such a pain to play against. Atlas were next and in a great game for the neutral we lost the first leg 4-3 thanks to a last minute winner from them. At home though it was a different story and we should have won with more ease.

The final I thought was a full gone conclusion how could a team from the USA with hardly any good players make any problems for me but they did more than that taking the first leg 2-0. I thought we would crumble and loss again but the lads put on a great show with Wisner proving how good he really is popping up with a hat trick just when his team needed it.

To be honest I didn't even realise I was in the Libertadores until the draw suddenly popped up on the news screen. This caused me to go checking Wikipedia to see how I managed to get into it. The group we were given was relatively easily with only Corinthians being able to make any problems for us, I was happy with the 4 points we took from them and the 6-0 win to avenge Colo Colo holding us to a draw.

The knock out stages put us first up against Cruz Azul who we beat easily to book a place against Santos in the next round. For a moment I thought that I might have been able to get two continental competitions done in one season in my quest for a trophy in all of them. I was wrong though we were held 1-1 at home by a very good Santos side. We travelled to Brazil and were 2-0 up but then the second half happened and we were totally destroyed by their constant attacking sending us back to Mexico with our tail between our legs.

For a man who loves attacking football like me these stats had me drooling with pleasure, 5 players Jose Sosa, Uche, James Brown, Santiago Fernandez and Wisner hitting over 20 goals. My personal favourite Wisner hit an incredible 56 goals over the season with Jose Sosa setting up 36 goals and scoring 27 that is some brilliant football from the AMC.

However I had now achieved my goals and half way through the play-off's I was approached by another club too good to turn down. I accepted the offer but delayed it until the end of the season leaving Club America with a league title and leaving them as the reigning champions of North America.

Biggest Club in the World - The History

On the 21st of May 2016 Real Madrid announced that they had sacked Manuel Pellegrini thanks to his poor 6th place finish in the league. The team had not won the title for 4 seasons and Pellegrini failed to win the Champions League Title losing in 4 finals over the last 6 seasons. In 2013-14 season they experienced complete embarrassment losing in the qualifying round against Torino. I am surprised that he lasted this long really. The team is getting old but is still a huge name obviously.

On 22nd of May 2016 I was asked about my interest in the job I said I was extremely interested in taking over. This led to an offer with a wage budget of £3.7 million a week along with £121 million to spend on new players. Now the pressure will really be on as failure cannot be accepted at a club the size of Real Madrid.

To be honest I had wanted a move to Brazil or Argentina but nothing at all came up in the 6 months I was looking. I accepted Real Madrid as it is my last chance to spend some cash on players I have heard of, with my lack of knowledge about the Brazilian and Argentinian leagues having a team full of regens will be just as fun once I do move to South America. I am hoping to win the European Champions League within the next 3 or 4 years but with Man City about it may be a hard task, they have knocked out Real Madrid on at least 3 different occasions.

[Jason the Yank]

From Auckland City to Real Madrid.

Nice work.

[rancer890]

Real Madrid AcidBurn!

Best of luck there and hope you get some trophies next season.

[AcidBurn]

Cheers people, their expectations have really dropped. You can even pick continental qualification I have never seen that for Madrid or Barcelona usually the minimum is to win the league. My wages have risen from a few thousand to 220k a week.

[acidmonkey]

lol congrats on landing the real job so are you going to go with youth, a galacticos policy or a mix?

[AcidBurn]

Cheers acid, well the bank balance is £378 million, when I signed I got a transfer budget of £121 million I so I spent quite a bit of it. The new season came and I got £150 million plus a wage budget of £3.7 million but we were £1.7 million a week under, with all that cash a few galacticos are bound to arrive I don't think I can resist lol.

I might be going a bit mad but also arriving at the Santiago Bernabéu is my main man Wisner, I figure with all the talent that the team can carry one player not quite up to it stats wise. There are also 3 or 4 transfers already arranged for younger players, I would like to try and bring in some Spanish players under 25 to go with the big players.

[AcidBurn]

2016/17 - Let the Money Flow

Non Galactico Transfers In

Vicente £9.75 million from Nantes, the young Spaniard loved returning to Spain and I think he will play a big part this season in rotation with Sergio Ramos, eventually replacing him.

Daniel Majola Young CB his transfer was arranged before I arrived but he does look like a good prospect, will get him tutored by a few of the more experienced CB's and I have high hopes for him.

Xabier Macias Not quite a Galactico but he will be cost £30 million but he is the best Spanish midfielder under the age of 25. Osasuna must know my budget as they held out for a big deal before they agreed to sell him.

Diego Oubina another youngish Spanish player I think can develop a bit more and become a solid player at the back for us, he lacks some mental attributes but his strength and decent speed make up for it.

Potential Galactico's

Jack Rodwell One of my favourite players on FM10, he arrives with a huge price tag of £33 million but he can fill in at the back and plays DMC very well.

Jack Wilshere Another reasonably young English player arrives for a decent £15 million price tag the lad is versatile being able to play down the middle or on either flank.

Frederico Fazio Got to love this guy physically great and mentally strong should make a great tutor for the younger CB's that I have at the club. Cost £24 million he is 29 but has at least 4 strong years in him before he starts to decline.

Wisner This guy has helped me to league titles in two different countries and continental competition wins in Asia and North America. He probably isn't good enough but I thought what the hell, with the cash Real Madrid have £7.5 million is nothing at all. I am hoping to get him to 15 plus goals this season he scored 56 last year but is against players at least twice as good this season.

The Galactico Signings

Moody but extremely talented, I have never had him on FM so thought I might as well give him a shot, at only £15 million seems like he could be a good deal if I can control his wayward attitude.

[url=]Cesc Fabregas £92 million straight up with no clauses or monthly payments, Cesc may be 30 at the end of the season but he is a genius and will be our answer to Xavi or Iniesta. Arguably the best Spanish player on the game I am hoping he can run the midfield for at least 5 seasons yet before he leaves the game.

Another player I have never managed and despite reports on these forums that he sometimes doesn't perform it didn't put me off spending £60 million on the 30 year old to make him a Galactico. Could backfire but he has started well in the first couple of games.

Altogether with the signings of some youth players whose deals were done before I arrived the total spending was £303 million. This still left us with a bank balance of £178 million although with the wages I expect that number to dwindle by the end of the season. Amazingly Madrid make £72 million a year from sponsorship along with £40 million a season from the TV deal. All the cash from gates and price money the cash really does flow.

One thing is despite moving to a much much bigger club I will be watching my team in front of smaller crowds. Club America averaged 84,000 a game and for big matches regularly attracted 105,000, Madrid attract just under 76,000 a game.

Missed Out Signings

I missed out on a few targets I got a £120 million offer for Leo Messi accepted but he would not leave his current employers and our biggest most hated rivals. The same situation happened with Pique he has a £43.5 million release clause but wouldn't agree to sign I offered him 200k a week and he currently earns 78k but his love of Pep had him reject us. Sergio Aguero was another player I wanted so I activated his £52 million release clause but he also rejected 200k a week in favour of 91k a week at our city rivals.

Three Lions

After victory in the North American Gold Cup and 3 friendlies I agreed my deal to join Real Madrid. During this time I managed the USA to a 10-3 aggregate victory over Aruba to place them into the group stages of qualifying for the World Cup.

I arrived at Real Madrid and after failing to qualify for the knock out stages of the European Championships, I saw the English FA had sacked Stuart Pearce. Now it was obvious that managing in Spain my missus would be upset at me having to travel to the USA every couple of months. So I applied for the job as manager of the England team and was accepted straight away.

I have gone from Auckland City to Real Madrid and from one game international careers with Japan and Jordan to manager of England.

[crouchaldinho]

Awesome stuff AB!

Good luck in Madrid and best of luck with the Three Lions!

[rancer890]

Real Madrid and England manager? Good luck with both jobs Acidburn!

[bartley_m]

Loving this thread. Best of luck with Real, what's the state of Barca et al in your save? KUTGW

[AcidBurn]

Cheers people, I think I will need some luck at Madrid due to Barcelona being so good. Barcelona are the dominant force in Spain having won 3 out of the last 4 titles with Valencia winning the other one. They have some great players still obviously Messi is still godlike and Neymar is just brilliant. I am currently in Feb and it's close between us both, will post an update as soon as I finish the season. Seems strange playing as Madrid but only being in the Europa League.