[FM17] The Marathon

[benrollo]

Hi guys

Inspired by a recent series of Reddit posts about a simmed franchise in Madden 17 (here is part 1 if you fancy a read, it's great!), I thought I would have a go at something similar with the FM17 beta.

Not wanting to start a 'proper' save until the full game comes out, I've decided to load up leagues from seven countries, stick my flip flops on, and go on holiday - returning mid-June each year from my time in the wilderness to check out the football landscape, and reporting the findings in here.

Here are the leagues I've included:

England
France
Germany
Italy
Scotland
Spain
Switzerland

I've just gone down to default depth in each country, so no non-league action in this save. Aside from the big 5, I wanted to include Scotland to see how long it would take for Rangers to battle it out with Celtic for the league title. Switzerland are in there because I have a real soft spot for FC Vaduz (and Liechtenstein in general), so I'd like to keep an eye on how they do!

I'm running a large database, and have also included all Liechtensteiner players - I will be keeping an eye on what is sure to be their meteoric rise up the FIFA world rankings.

My first post, which will be up in a day or two, will include the first 5 years of my sim. After that, I will update the post on a yearly basis, until one of these things happen:

1. I get bored
2. I realise nobody is reading this
3. The full game comes out

In each post, I will include the following screenshots:

Top division table from each country
Player stats overview for each top division
Overview screen of the 20 highest-valued players
Top 20 club reputations worldwide
Champions League and Europa League final result
Result of any major international competitions
Liechtenstein's world ranking

I'll also be happy to post any screenshot requests

So, that's the plan. See you in a day or so with the first bumper post!

[LATB]

Should be fun, I predict Tottenham are PL champs at least once in those five years...

[benrollo]

Thanks LATB. I have seen the first two seasons...but all will be revealed soon

[dynaboyj]

Yay! Sims are more fun than real games anyway

[deltablue]

I'm rather into the idea of 'holiday' saves myself.

[benrollo]

Thanks for the comments dynaboyj and deltablue!

Season 4 is wrapped up now, so I'll be holidaying the 2020/21 season and getting the first post up tonight.

Anyone want to dip their toe in with a prediction or two?

[clarkehwbu]

I'll have a quick prediction for the Prem & Champions League:

16/17 - Manchester City & Barcelona

17/18 - Spurs & Manchester City

18/19 - Manchester United & Bayern

19/20 - Spurs & Atletico

20/21 - Spurs & PSG

[Ropotas]

20 hours ago, benrollo said:

Hi guys

Inspired by a recent series of Reddit posts about a simmed franchise in Madden 17 (here is part 1 if you fancy a read, it's great!), I thought I would have a go at something similar with the FM17 beta.

Not wanting to start a 'proper' save until the full game comes out, I've decided to load up leagues from seven countries, stick my flip flops on, and go on holiday - returning mid-June each year from my time in the wilderness to check out the football landscape, and reporting the findings in here.

Here are the leagues I've included:

England
France
Germany
Italy
Scotland
Spain
Switzerland

I've just gone down to default depth in each country, so no non-league action in this save. Aside from the big 5, I wanted to include Scotland to see how long it would take for Rangers to battle it out with Celtic for the league title. Switzerland are in there because I have a real soft spot for FC Vaduz (and Liechtenstein in general), so I'd like to keep an eye on how they do!

I'm running a large database, and have also included all Liechtensteiner players - I will be keeping an eye on what is sure to be their meteoric rise up the FIFA world rankings.

My first post, which will be up in a day or two, will include the first 5 years of my sim. After that, I will update the post on a yearly basis, until one of these things happen:

1. I get bored
2. I realise nobody is reading this
3. The full game comes out

In each post, I will include the following screenshots:

Top division table from each country
Player stats overview for each top division
Overview screen of the 20 highest-valued players
Top 20 club reputations worldwide
Champions League and Europa League final result
Result of any major international competitions
Liechtenstein's world ranking

I'll also be happy to post any screenshot requests

So, that's the plan. See you in a day or so with the first bumper post!

I made a post for Vaduz who cant quilify to CL through EL victory and they want from an upload to see it,i made the upload and lets hope they fix it from Fm 2017..;-)

[benrollo]

Thanks for the predictions clarkehwbu - I can say you have got at least one of those right!

Thanks for the comment ropotas, although I fear we won't have much luck with Vaduz there. As Liechtenstein does not have a league, FCV aren't eligible for the Champions League, even if they win the Europa League. They get that EL slot by winning the Liechtenstein Cup (which I believe they have won 17 times in the last 18 years!)

[benrollo]

The Marathon - The First Five Years - Part 1

OK, I thought about doing a write up for each season, but that's going to take ages! So instead, I've posted the league tables and stats for each of the first 5 seasons, along with a summary for each country. Part 1 contains write ups for England, France, Germany and Italy. Part 2 will contain Scotland, Spain, Switzerland and a summary of international competitions, Champions League and Europa League finals. Enjoy!

England
2016/17 Table | Stats
2017/18 Table | Stats
2018/19 Table | Stats
2019/20 Table | Stats
2020/21 Table | Stats

In these 5 years, there have only been two Premier League winning teams - Arsenal and Manchester United. Arsenal went back to back in 2017/18 and 2018/19, but since then United have been back on top and don't look like slowing down. Interestingly, the title has only been decided by a solitary point in each of the first four seasons. United romped home by a massive 3 points in 2020/21.

On the stats front, Troy Deeney has been a standout performer, finishing in the top 3 goalscorers in the league in four of the five seasons (and winning the golden boot in 2017/18!). Meszut Ozil finished with the highest average rating of anyone in the Premier League for 3 seasons, before Chelsea's Aymeric Laporte stepped in to win the award in 2019/20 and 2020/21.

My question for the next sim: Can anyone break the United/Arsenal duopoly at the top of the Premier League? And can Troy Deeney keep banging them in?!

France
2016/17 Table | Stats
2017/18 Table | Stats
2018/19 Table | Stats
2019/20 Table | Stats
2020/21 Table | Stats

So, turns out Paris St Germain are pretty good. Monaco got close to them in 2018/19, losing out by 2 points, but otherwise, it has been plain sailing. That shouldn't be too much of a surprise when you look at their squad. Their team is so good collectively, that they haven't even had a player finish in the top 5 of the scorers charts in the last 3 seasons (OK, Embolo was joint 5th but I'm trying to make a dramatic point here).

My question for the next sim: How many points will PSG win the league by next year?

Germany
2016/17 Table | Stats
2017/18 Table | Stats
2018/19 Table | Stats
2019/20 Table | Stats
2020/21 Table | Stats

Is the tide turning in German football? After three straight league titles for Bayern, Dortmund finally found the winning formula and have taken home the last two Bundesliga titles. Schalke have looked the likeliest team to finish above the big two, finishing 3rd for the last two seasons. But have they got enough to overhaul the big boys?

Stats wise, props to Lewandowski for still banging them in, but the real impressive performance has come from Mats Hummels. He has finished with the highest average rating every year!

My question for the next sim: Can Schalke go one better and break into the top 2?

Italy
2016/17 Table | Stats
2017/18 Table | Stats
2018/19 Table | Stats
2019/20 Table | Stats
2020/21 Table | Stats

Turns out Juventus are pretty good as well. Five straight titles, although they were run very close in 2018/19, when they won the title on goal difference from Inter (and only by 4 goals!). AC Milan's youth revolution that is currently taking hold in real life looks like it could pay off - consecutive 2nd place finishes show the future is bright for the red side of Milan. Palermo would be my team to watch - after finishing bottom of Serie A in 2016/17, they bounced straight back and have finished higher up the table in each of the following years. They could be an outside tip for a top 3 finish.

On the stats front, several defenders are consistent finishers in the top average ratings charts, as you would expect in Italy I guess!

My question for the next sim: Can Milan overhaul the Bianconeri at long last?

 

So there you have Part 1 of my first five years. I'll be working to get the second part out this evening. In the meantime, if anyone has any screenshot requests or questions please let me know!

[benrollo]

The Marathon - The First Five Years - Part 2

Welcome to part 2! Along with the remaining leagues (Scotland, Spain and Switzerland), you will also find the results from major international competitions and every Champions League and Europa League final. To round off the post, we have some Liechtenstein news (!!!) and overviews of the top 20 most expensive players from each season. Let's get to it!

Scotland
2016/17 Table | Stats
2017/18 Table | Stats
2018/19 Table | Stats
2019/20 Table | Stats
2020/21 Table | Stats

Ah, Scotland. One of the easiest write ups surely. Hold on...Celtic finished 4th in 2017/18??!  AND IN 2018/19??! Wow. They did manage to get themselves back above Rangers in 2020/21, but that was a rocky few years there. After finishing 5th in the opening season, there was no looking back for Rangers for quite some time. You have to feel for Hearts in 2017/18 though - missing out on the title on goal difference by one goal! Bjorn Johnsen of Hearts looks a decent goal scorer, finishing in the top 3 scorers in seasons 1-3, then 4th in 2019/20.

Also, take a look at who was the best at hitting the target in the 2019/20 season - quite the transfer deal for Rangers!

My question for the next sim: Could Yannick Drichel become our first regen to top the goal charts? (no, see Switzerland!)

Spain
2016/17 Table | Stats
2017/18 Table | Stats
2018/19 Table | Stats
2019/20 Table | Stats
2020/21 Table | Stats

Wahey, we have our first league with more than two different winners! No surprises that those three teams are Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Maybe a surprise in that Barca have only won one of the five titles on offer, with Real picking up three. Interesting that Real Betis' name hasn't changed after using the fake names fix - they are in here as Real Hispalis.

On the goalscoring front, it's pretty much standard fare until the 2020/21 season, when an up and coming whippersnapper in the form of 35-year old Mario Mandzukic finished top scorer with an impressive 25 goals in 33 games. One to watch!

My question for the next sim: Will Leo Messi actually have a season with an average rating below 8?

Switzerland
2016/17 Table | Stats
2017/18 Table | Stats
2018/19 Table | Stats
2019/20 Table | Stats | Challenge League 2019/20 Table
2020/21 Table | Stats

I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to say much about the Swiss Super League. It was going to be an FC Vaduz watch, and not much else. But look what happened in 2019/20! Yes, FCV were in the Challenge League after finishing bottom in 2018/19. But look at the top of the table! Not only did a team not called FC Basel win the league, it was FC Wil - a team who were promoted from the Challenge League only two years earlier!!

We have our first regen top scorer! Loic Duval of FC Sion looks a decent player. Will a move to a bigger club be on the cards? Find out in the next episode!

My question for the next sim: will FC Vaduz do a 'Wil' and win the league in two years time? My heart says yes.

Phew. Leagues done. On to some competitions...

Champions League
2016/17 (Barcelona 3-1 Real Madrid)
2017/18 (Chelsea 1-2 Barcelona)
2018/19 (Manchester City 0-0 Barcelona, City win 4-2 on pens)
2019/20 (Manchester United 1-0 Atletico Madrid)
2020/21 (Manchester United 1-0 Manchester City)

Yep, Man Utd have won the last two Champions League titles, and the city of Manchester is responsible for the last three wins. Barcelona won the first two, despite being beaten to the title by Real Madrid on both occasions.

Europa League
2016/17 (Schalke 0-1 Bayern Munich)
2017/18 (Monaco 0-1 Manchester CIty)
2018/19 (Monaco 0-0 Napoli, Napoli win 9-8 on pens)
2019/20 (Chelsea 1-0 Wolfsburg)
2020/21 (Tottenham 1-0 Roma)

Gotta love a marathon penalty shootout! Both keepers scored their penalties. Tottenham complete a tidy double of FA Cup and Europa League in the 2020/21 season.

World Cup 2018
Portugal 1-1 England, Portugal win 5-3 on penalties

So near, yet so far for England. Theo Walcott (he of Rangers fame) missed the decisive penalty and condemned England to at least two more years of hurt.

European Championships 2020
Netherlands 0-3 England

They've only gone and bloody done it! A comfortable win for England ends the 54 years of hurt. Now, can the build on this and get themselves a second World Cup?

Liechtenstein Update
Well, this happened

And that was about it. Liechtenstein are lingering around the 140s in the FIFA Rankings. Not much to report here yet!

And finally...

Here are the screens of the top 20 most expensive players for each of the first five years. No regens in the list yet. Could next year see the first one?

2016/17 (sorry for not including current club, I didn't think to add it until the second screenshot!)
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
2020/21

And that's where we are up to! I will be simming the 2021/22 season in the next couple of days, so stay tuned. In the meantime, feel free to hit me up with any questions or screenshot requests  

[LATB]

I was wrong

[Jason the Yank]

So England are still overrated then.

 

[benrollo]

LATB - close, but no cigar! They seem to have a decent side though based on their cup wins. Could a title be on the horizon?

Jason - yeah...I thought that after they got to the World Cup final!

Thanks for the comments chaps

[deltablue]

Nice simple summaries, as well as the talking points looking ahead to the following set of seasons.

[benrollo]

Thanks deltablue. I think with the single year summaries I'll include more screenshots rather than just links to images, make it a bit prettier!

[clarkehwbu]

Predictions weren't too bad, I had Man City winning the champs league the year before they won it and got Barca correct, and also got man utd winning prem the year Arsenal did

[Ropotas]

Great win for liechtenstein...Vaduz in europe anything different from last years??

[clarkehwbu]

Can we get a screenshot of Iheanacho's stats?

[benrollo]

Cheers for the comments chaps.

Once I get home I'll have a look at how Vaduz got on in Europe. Have they finally managed to reach the group stages..? (I'm going to go with no).

Will get a screenshot of Ihenacho as well. I finished simming the 2021/22 season last night so it will be another year on, but I'm sure he's still a beast. If I get the time, I'll get screens of all the top 20 players

[Bedese]

I love stuff like this. Four CL finals in a row with at least one English team? If only  

[clarkehwbu]

Thanks Ben, will be interesting to see what he's like on the game as in real life, in my honest opinion he's the best young striker (other than Dybala) in the world right now.

Just a shame he's at Man City and they have Aguero

[benrollo]

Good to have you on board jupjamie! 

Hopefully I'll be able to get the 2021/22 update on tonight, but in the meantime here are a couple of updates.

FC Vaduz's European adventures haven't quite taken them into the group stages, as they have fallen at the 3rd qualifying round in 5 of the 6 seasons so far.  Vaduz Europa League History

Kelechi Iheanacho is a monster. Look at that international record! And £400k a week is a pretty tidy wage for the lad.

[Ropotas]

3 hours ago, benrollo said:

Good to have you on board jupjamie! 

Hopefully I'll be able to get the 2021/22 update on tonight, but in the meantime here are a couple of updates.

FC Vaduz's European adventures haven't quite taken them into the group stages, as they have fallen at the 3rd qualifying round in 5 of the 6 seasons so far.  Vaduz Europa League History

Kelechi Iheanacho is a monster. Look at that international record! And £400k a week is a pretty tidy wage for the lad.

Thanks man..Draws was very difficult so at least they tried... ;-)

[benrollo]

The Marathon - 2021/22 Update

Now with added logos and faces! (Although, my facepack seems to have gone a bit weird and not given everyone a face!)

England
League Table | Stats

So my question was answered - we do have a team breaking up the Arsenal-United duopoly in the Premier League at last. Chelsea take the title by a single point from Man Utd, with Arsenal just a point behind them. Behind Eden Hazard's 21 goals, and a rather impressive regen (more on him later), the London club are back on top.

Kelechi Ihenacho finishes as the top scorer in the league. 

France
League Table | Stats

Death, taxes, and PSG winning the league. Some things in life are inevitable. Just the 11 point margin back to Monaco this time around. 

We have a regen top scorer! Senan Kilic is on loan from Atletico Madrid and looks a very nice prospect. Once again, PSG don't need a scorer in the top 5, yet still finish with the most team goals!

Germany
League Table | Stats

Another new league winner! It's not perennial nearly-men Schalke, but Leverkusen who take the title. Just 1 point separate the top 3, and Dortmund only pip Bayern to second by virtue of most goals scored! Leverkusen didn't score many goals, but their ability to grind out results (winning 14 Bundesliga games by a single goal) got them over the finish line. Malcolm and Marco Asensio appear to be their best players, but Real Madrid are sniffing around the Spaniard...

Death, taxes, PSG winning the league, and Mats Hummels finishing with the highest average rating in the Bundesliga.

Italy
League Table | Stats

Death, taxes...you get it. Juventus win the league again, recording a 16 point margin of victory over second-placed Napoli. AC Milan drop back to 5th, whilst Palermo - my outside tip for a top-3 finish - can only manage 9th. I'm not a great gambler. Juve stormed to the title behind the goals of Paulo Dybala and the tackles (and average rating) of Leonardo Bonucci.

Morgan Schneiderlin, his legs now surely worn down to nubs, covers the most distance per game for the second straight season.

Scotland
League Table | Stats

Well, looks like Celtic are back! A huge 21 point cushion back to Rangers (who in turn have a 23 point cushion over third) seems to signal that the green half of Glasgow is firmly back on top. Lewis Vaughan, who went from Raith, to Motherwell, to Celtic, looks tidy, and his 22 goals in 32 games put him just ahead of 'Pea Head' Leigh Griffiths (also of Celtic) in the scoring charts.

Spain
League Table | Stats

Real Madrid return to the top of the table, finishing an impressive 7 points ahead of Barcelona. Valencia just about manage to stave off relegation for another season, and Real Betis are still called Real Hispalis. Romanian Florin Andone finishes as the top scorer in the league, and neither Real Madrid or Barca have a player in the top 6 scorers! This looks to be a trend across a couple of the leagues - teams are scoring goals from all areas rather than relying on a superstar up top to bang them in.

In other news, get your violins out - Leo Messi has finished a season with an average rating below 8. Never rated him to be honest.

Switzerland
League Table | Stats

FC Wil really are making this league interesting. They win the league by 3 points from Basel, in what is starting to become an annual two-horse race. Can they go one better than their last league win and repeat?

Loic Duval is still banging the goals in for Sion, although this year he is beaten to the golden boot by FC Wil's Franco Acosta, who was signed from Villareal for less than £1m, and ridiculously banged in a goal every 93 minutes.

Disappointingly, FC Vaduz could only manage a 4th place finish in the Challenge League. I'm so disappointed, I didn't even bother screenshotting it   

Phew, this is getting long. I will detail European competition wins, top 20 players and a few other bits in a second post!

[benrollo]

The Marathon - 2021/22 Update - Admin bits!

Champions League

Manchester City ensure the Champions League trophy returns to Manchester for the 4th straight year!

Europa League

PSG get themselves a European trophy to go with their league, French Cup, and League Cup trophies.

World Cup 2022

Another final for England. I can't wait for this to happen in real life! France dominate the final and deserve their win.

Top 20 Players

Look at that contingent of PSG players! We also have our first regen appearing on the list - Chelsea's Dariusz Pawlak (the oldest looking 20 year old in history).

Liechtenstein Update
Saving the best (?) for last. Liechtenstein are still rubbish, sitting at 142 in the world at present. They should probably think about their fixture scheduling after this debacle though. At least they obviously got enough knowledge from that first game to work out how to score.

And that's it! Finally managed to get some screenshots in! Next post will be up in the next couple of days - stay tuned 

[Nobby_McDonald]

Interesting concept. I wonder how long it will take for Stoke to win the league.

[Ropotas]

On 20/10/2016 at 19:20, benrollo said:

Thanks for the predictions clarkehwbu - I can say you have got at least one of those right!

Thanks for the comment ropotas, although I fear we won't have much luck with Vaduz there. As Liechtenstein does not have a league, FCV aren't eligible for the Champions League, even if they win the Europa League. They get that EL slot by winning the Liechtenstein Cup (which I believe they have won 17 times in the last 18 years!)

I upload pictures about this my friend(after europa league victory and then after 1st quilifier draw( and the say to me that is a bug and they need a upload from the savefile to fix it so hope throuth the EL victory we can get a CL spot... ;-)