FM 2009 : Official FC Barcelona Thread

[anthonyoxx]

playing as barca now but the problem in having is im playing 4-3-3 with eto'o upfront on his own but he has got 1 goal in 10 games? his rating if like 5.something hes playin really badly.

my top goal scorer if pique with 4 haha

[Cas46]

anthonyoxx: stay with Eto'o he improved for me after a bad start like that upfront on his own, I think he has about 13 in 19 games for me.

January update: Top of league halfway through now by 5 from Sevilla and 6 from Real, playing 4-4-1-1 still and getting constant machine like wins, the defence is really superb. Matias Fernandez has done brilliantly and Messi/Eto'o have improved, ended up winning the CL group and have Werder Bremen in the last 16, just played Spanish Cup Q Final first leg and won 3-2 away at Betis with Aquino getting a hattrick. I have 50m in the bank but I can't get anymore transfer money over my 2m annoyingly so January was a non event transfer wise, only Atienza in for 850k, should either be a good player or a tidy profit. Tried to sign De La Red on a free but he unsurprisingly signed a new Real contract, I think I'll be activating Camachos 20.5m release clause in the summer:)

[yonko]

Hey guys,

I've started my first save with Barca on the full game and I've been playing it like crazy - I'm already in mid January of the first season. Going strong on all fronts. Top of La Liga with 7 points ahead of Real M - beat them away 2-1. Onto the next stage in Champions League vs Fiorentina. In the Copa del Rey I'm playing Sevilla next - tough draw, I know, but Real M are playing vs Atletico M!

When I got the full game, decided to sell some players I didn't like IRL at Barca. And after reading the Good Players Forum, I chose their replacement very quickly.

Right at the start I sold Marquez, Gudjonsen and Henry. That boosted my transfer kitty to £48 million. I signed Fazio, Veloso and Giovinco. Then I was looking for fullbacks as I had around £11m left in the budget. But in the frendlies I used V.Sanchez and Silvinho and they did good, so I kept faith with them and saved my money for January.

For most of the season I've been using this line-up and subs:

GK Valdes

DR Alves

DL Abidal

DC Puyol

DC Fazio

MC Yaya Toure

MCr Xavi

MCl Veloso

AMr Messi

AMl Iniesta

FC Eto'o

Subs:

Pinto, Pique, Caceres, Keita, Hleb, Giovinco and Bojan.

Busquets, Silvinho and V.Sanchez have been playing only in the Spanish cup so far. Milito also saw some action after his injury. But right now he's on the transfer list and I have offers from Inter, AC Milan and Sevilla for £15m. I'm thinking to sell him, which will increase my transfer budget to £26m, and buy an attacking fullback that can cover both sides. Any ideas are welcommed! Let me know what you think.

[Garion]

At previous poster: I think you should try Lahm (Bayern Munchen), plays best at the left side, but he is also capable of playing at the right pretty well. My scouts recommended him in my Barca game - he should be available around 10 mlln euro (according to them, haven't bid for him myself).

I have just finished my first full season on the full game. I have brought in Huntelaar, who did OK but had some injury problems - he broke his leg and had ankle problems. Don't think he is injury prone (he shouldn't be IMO); maybe just bad luck. He did cost almost my whole budget though.

Messi had a very good season and performs very well for me on the right wing. Eto'o needed time to adjust to my 4-3-3 tactics, but when he did in the second halve of the season, he started performing well. Other standouts were Puyol, who was very solid, and Alves, who did great as a right (full) back. Henry, Bojan and Gudjohnsen (will sell him next summer) rotated pretty on the wings. A waste of talent maybe, especially concerning Henry. So therefore priorities for next season are a cover/replacement for Abidal (Sylvinho is sold and Milito is not good enough as a left back) and a winger (Henry, Eto'o, Gudjohsen, Bojan, Iniesta and even Keita can play "competent" at at least one of both wings, but we need another natural one IMO - Messi has been great as I mentioned, Hleb was dissapointing and I consider selling him).

Had a very good season, BTW, reigning La Liga with a score of 100 points (unbeaten ) and won the Champions League against Inter. Shocking match that ended in a 4-3 scoreline; Messi (the man of the match) scored a last minute goal in 120th minute of extra time. We came back from behind twice.

Did loose the Cup against Real Madrid in the final, but I did not gave the Cup that much priority (still a bit painful though...)

[ryanir]

Just starting my second season. The first season was fun to play but bitter at the end.

At the start I decided not to sell anyone of the squad, since it's the best/second best in the Liga. Just got some backups for the uncertain positions (DL and AML).

INs:

Kim Källström £6,5M - backup for MC and AML

Aleksandar Kolarov - £4.5M - backup for DL

Daniel Opare £200K - future player at right back

Started the season well despite facing Villareal, Betis and Real in the first three matches. Won Villareal and Real 2-0 but drew Betis 1-1. Messi got injured in the Real game and was out for 5 months... Whilst Messi was out of play Hleb took the AMR position with Henry and Keita playing on the left. All of them did great and the team played better than exptected without Messi.

The Champions League seemed to be tougher since we drew the first match against PSV and lost to Spartak Moscow away. But eventually we won the rest of the group games, only to be eliminated in the 1st round against Roma (0-1 agg).

The league was pretty smooth sailing with good teamplay and performance. The only worry was Eto'o playing badly even though he lead the scoring in the league for the most of the season. But he scored a lot from penalties (which he took when Messi was out) and easy chances.

The first loss in Spain came 24th of January. Thats where the downhill started and we started drawing against easy opponents, also draws against Real and Valencia and a loss to Atletico.

Two other major injuries came about a month before the end of the season, with Valdes and Eto'o being out for 2 months and so missing the last games. Pinto on to goal and Henry to striker (Bojan hadn't done anything special the times he played).

We got to the Cup Final against Real and the game was pretty tight. Even Puyol got the red card at 46 minutes at 0-1, we managed to get to overtime at 2-2 (equalizing twice). However the pressure was too much and Higuain scored at the start of the overtime and we didn't have chances after then.

The league title was decided at the last day of the season with us chasing Real 2 points behind. We had lost only twice in the league - against Real's 4 - but drew 12 games. Both of the teams won their last match so the title went to Madrid again.

The best and the worst of the players:

Victor Valdes - played an amazing season. 51 games - 36 clean sheets - 19 goals conceded - Spanish Goalkeeper of the Year

Carles Puyol - played most of the season in the center being really solid, and covered good at the right when Alves got injured midway for 2 months. 48(1) 0+2 7.03

Milito - starting the season injured is hard, but he come over it and eventually took his place alonside Puyol in the starting lineup. 25(1) 1+3 7.11

Daniel Alves - I must say he is amazing in defence AND attack. 43 3+4 4MOM 7.23

Xavi - on of the best creating forces...and relaible as hell 49(3) 10+12 5MOM 7.01

Lionel Messi - injured at the start of the season being gone 5 months. Still managed to be second in the player of the year draw. 30(3) 13+11 11MOM 7.42

Andrés Iniesta - not that standing out but at times brilliant. 42(4) 6+7 7MOM 7.04

Kim Källström - He wasn't in the first team plan, and when he came on didn't do much. 22(17) 2+5 1MOM 6.89

Aliaksandr Hleb - replacing Messi isn't easy, but he had some brilliant moments on the right wing. 26(8) 2+2 2MOM 7.13

Seydou Keita - maybe he's a DM, but he had a great season playing as and AML backup for Henry. 29(11) 3+5 3MOM 7.10

Thierry Henry - started the season badly but got used to the tactics, brilliant at the end of the season. 29(6) 12+7 5MOM 7.20

Samuel Eto'o - he didn't live up to the expectations, but still finished as the team top scorer. 42(3) 21+5 4MOM 6.70

The players not mentioned played average..

Getting ready for the second season

After the little disappointing season, I was surprised that almost the whole squad was wanted accross Europe. So I decided to give the new transfer system a go and started offering the players I think weren't good enough. Here's the results:

OUTs:

Gudjohnsen £1.1M Man City

Rafael Marquez £19M Arsenal

Aliaksandr Hleb £20.5M Arsenal

Eric Abidal £24M Arsenal

Thierry Henry £18.75M Lyon

Seydou Keita £18.5 Valencia

Kim Källström £16.5M Arsenal

£120M total

Pretty good, huh?

Obviously the squad was pretty small then, so made a few buys:

INs:

Rafael van der Vaart £9.25M MC

Carlos Vela £17M AML

Guilherme £6.5 DL

+ 12 regens which include a English superkid who will be going straight to the first team squad with the rest going to U19s

£80M total

Now the squad is 21 players and strong in every area.

Here's the best squad for the next season:

GK: Valdes

DL: Kolarov

DR: Daniel Alves

DC: Puyol

DC: Milito

DMC: Toure

MC: Xavi

MC: Iniesta

AML: Vela

AMR: Messi

FC: Eto'o

I'm still not that sure about Eto'o, and might be looking for Torres, Adebayor etc. with £87M still left

I guess that's all, sorry for the long post

[yonko]

Go for Aguero, Fazio and Veloso. El Kun is my main target for next season - right now he has 22 goals from 20 matches for Atletico M! Fazio and Veloso play amazing for me!

[Cas46]

Ryanir: Sold Abidal for 24m, I need some of that in the summer:p

I need some attacking midfield/winger signings in the summer, does anyone know who is best out of Buonanotte, Di Maria, Alexis Sanchez or anyone else. I would love Silva but too expensive I have no doubt.

[Irish_Yid]

started a game with barcelona

brought in some world class staff first and then signed some players

Signed

Sergio Asenjo-7.25m from valladolid- backup for valdes

Breno-loan(fee-7.75m) from FC Bayern- backup cb

Sold

Eidur Gudjohnsen-2.5m to Mam City

Sylvinho-250k to Fulham

Jose Manuel Pinto-Free Transfer

Albert Jorquera-Free transfer

Pre-Season

Bari Away 0-2 Iniesta Eto'o

Modena Away 0-2 Keita Xavi

Napoli Away 0-0 None

Bologna Away 0-3 Pique (2) Eto'o

AC Milan Home 0-0 None

Dinamo Zagreb Uefa Champions league 3rd round Home 1-0 Pique

Al-Ittihad Away 0-6 Xavi Bojan Iniesta (2) Henry Own Goal

Now have to play champions league 3rd round 2nd leg and then the league starts

[JOHNSONFC]

Playing the game as an actualy fan i dont like to change too much so....

Pique is excellent and scores loads of goals if you put corners six yard box and him near post flick on. for the aml i made it iniesta's position in the editor, well, because its iniestas in real life for barca and hes brilliant there. sold henry and abidal because there garbage irl. signed arshavin and cudnt get a lb, playin caceres there for now.

other than that kept everyone else and bought no one else. messed with pedro, busquets in the editor to make them decent back up as is the case irl.

also as a fan i hate it when people sell good barca players toure keita ect then go and buy real madrid players!! horrible.

[guyofcricket]

Started with barca..

Sold

Albert Jorquera - Free Transfer

Antonio Longas - Loaned to sporting

Sylvinho - 350k to Fulham

Gudjohnson - 2.5M to Man City

Toure - 9.5M to Man City

Pinto - Loan to Man City

Bought

Cavani - 6M

Giovinco - 6.75M

Fredrico Fazio - 6.5M

Ustari - 3.8M

Henri Saivet - 5.75M

Vanden Borre - 3.5M

[soli]

I feel you could have got more for Toure. Excellent buys though..

[Šećer Babo]

Here are mine

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[Lisandro Lopez]

Spending spree :o

[Šećer Babo]

O yes. I have a lot of players i newer heard of, so i write next their name is he good or deacent, so if there is nothing writen he's no good, or i know him.

[soli]

You went berserk mate. Barcelona give that much money... Just hope that your team gels quick enough to challenge on all fronts this season.

[jams1234]

Wow.

Where did you get all the money from?

[guyofcricket]

Secer... u sold eTO :OOOO

[Šećer Babo]

Well, barca gives you only about 16 or 18 mil. € at the start (for me it was like this), and then after a while i got another 16-18 mil. because everything's going well.

About the team gelling. I just beat Inter 3-0 with the ball constantly infront of their goal

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I think they gelled enough.

[Šećer Babo]

Secer... u sold eTO :OOOO

Jes i did, and far to cheap, but couldn't get any offers. Sold Marquez for 43.5, and couldn't get more then 27.5 for Eto. But no regrets.

[guyofcricket]

Abidal out for 3 months nd i dont hav ny replacements :S...

[r10_magia]

Can anyone please upload a good atacking barcelona tactic? Cause i'm having a pretty tough time finding a fluid attacking style of play.

[Cas46]

Summer 2009 update:

Team now looks like this:

GKs: Asenjo, Valdes

CBs: Milito, Puyol, Pique, Caceres, Sakho

FBs: Alves, Santon, Abidal, Insua. signing a Spanish regen in Jan who has the potential to be far better than Abidal so say.

CMs: Camacho, Keita, Busquets

AMs: Iniesta, Messi, Fernandez, Pjanic, Sanchez, Marquinhos

FWs: Balotelli, Eto'o, Bojan, Aquino, Keirrison

Won the league in the end despite a slight wobble at the end, got knocked out of the CL after dominating both games against Werder as normal and not being able to score with pathetic performances from the strikers (Eto'o mainly) and lost in Cup Semi final with the youngsters. Also lost to Espanyol because of no rescheduling for international games left me with 5 players. Anyway into the second season and got every forward out injured after 2 games which was ridiculous but since Balotelli has been by far the best striker and now yes he is out injured again. Eto'o, Bojan and Keirrison are all awful constantly getting 5.somethings and can't finish the simplest chances no matter what, fortunately we tend to still win 1 or 2-0.

[kub1000]

hey, so i started playing fm 2009 with barca, my first fm series game.

Already finished 1 season in 2 weeeks , finished first in the liga, won uefa cup (got demolished by juve in cl group stages, since i didn't really change the default tactics).

anyways my line-up as of september 2009 is:

valdes/pinto - asenjo is on loan at celta

dani alves / santon

abidal / guillerme

puyol / pique

milito / marquez

xavi / busquets

camacho, iniesta or keita combination for 2 mid spots

messi / vela

arshavin or bojan / sanchez

eto or vela or balotelli

playing christmas tree formation 4-3-2-1, good possession, avg 2.3 goals a game - so i'm not really complaining

the only problem would be playing against weaker opposition, last game tied with racing.

what i'm trying to do know is focus on developing young talent and i was wondering how to sort out the shitty players in barcelona-b so i can give the promising youngsters in u-19, all of them some playing time, because luis enrique (b manager) plays players with no potential in matches.

So is there any way to get scout-reports tab on the players in b-squad? it's just that i have about 35 u-19 players and about 15 youth promising players coming up, that according to my scouts will be good/very good 1st squad players in the future.

ps. dont you think eto'o is generally dissapointing in the game, last season bojan and eto'o had same number of apps but bojan ended up with 14 goals and eto'o with 11 including 4 penalties

[guyofcricket]

^^ having played 4 months now.. i must say ive not been impressed with Eto'o in this game.. i mi8 sell him in jan window... or w8 till summer

[Purefun]

No text speak please, its in the forum rules. Thank you.

[Syntexity]

To dfucak:

Sorry for late reply, just totally forgot that I had posted here.

I have never uploaded a tactic before. So I hope this works.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V50O8KGV

You must choose how you want to set up the team yourself. On this I use Xavi as a playmaker, but you can choose to play without a playmaker. Doesnt make much of a difference other that that the playmaker has the ball more. The playmaker should be one of the central midfielders, as I said mine is Xavi and he plays on the left MC place, while Iniesta is the one with the forward runs. Be sure to have atleast one quick DC, Puyol is good enough but Caceres is also good.

Try it, but you should always set up a tactic to match your own "style". You may not want to be as attacking as this tac is, but be aware that this is also a great defensive tactic as most attacks get stopped early and therefor the opponents dont get many chances to score. But the tactic is also vulnearable on long balls. Thats why it is always good having quick DC's as the D-line is quite high.

You also need quality fullbacks. Alves and Abidal are great in the attacks and do well in defence as well. The backs are a integral part of the attacking play as they are always trying to join the attacks.

As for wings, you should try to get a AML. Use Messi on the right one and try to give Bojan as much playing time as possible, he is incredible for me. The wings get to a lot of chances so if they have good finishing that would give you some great goals.

Anyways, try it. Hopefully it will be successful for you aswell.

[kussel]

Started a save with barce, my favourite spanish side...

Bought maxwell from inter 25mil over 18 months, balotelli -15 over 24 months, capel for 12mil, demichlis(guy from Bayern Munich) for 1mil straight and 7 mil over 18 months, giovinco- 15mil over 18 months, opare- 200k santon-2mil, asenjo- 7.25m over 12months and rafael carioca for 3mil.

Sold Gudjhonson to aston villa for 2.5mil plus a few clauses and syvinho for 17mil! :O to bayern Munich.

Curently in october- top of league Valencia 2 points behind and Real Madrid 3 points behind.

Cant seem to get a consistant flow of goals from 1 person... My top scorers are messi (not suprised...) and Maxwell :O playing at left wingback :O. Both got 3 goals.

[chrome69]

i've just started with barca and i decided to sell toure as i got £20 mil!! for him from man city should i replace him with veloso who is a young DM or go for Toulalan who is slightly older and more expensive but a more creative player?

[anthonyoxx]

kussell im not saying your lying but 1. how did u get soo much money to spend and 2. how did u sell sylvinho for 17million? can u show a screenshot please

chrome69 - personally id say get veloso he is a beast and he scores a few crackers from 25-30 yards out

[Kryston]

Dear all Barca managers,

I started my FM 2009 journey with the Catalan giant as of previous rendition and I must say the team is as good as the real life version, though I would love to blow away team in the first 20 minutes on weekly basis though.

The club I had inherited from Guardiola (love to have him as my assistant but he is not interested to rejoin his former club) is very sound as all of you might had known for now.

The softbelly of the team might have been goalkeeping but Victor Valdes had been A+++ for me for the past season and the half.

His back-up in Jorquera and Pinto aren't good enough...whined too much for my liking.

Bought Vicenzo Fiorillo (spelling) from Sampdoria but it's still a raw, uncut diamond with fans skeptical of my signing.

Defense-wise, I must say having 6 quality CBs is a luxury but equal playing time for all is a problem.

I would say the pick of the lot has to be Gabriel Milito.

The 28 year old younger brother of Diego from Genoa surely is a quality Argentine international (Argentina surely have alot of good CBs in the game Fazio (sp) from Sevilla and Garay from Real are two others).

Gerard Pique is sound and surely will be a Catalan legend, Caceres is one for the future (retraining him to be a RB)

However Puyol aren't really as good as I had hoped, tend to falter against smaller sides.

I feel Marquez is a peripheral figure and nowadays surplus. Despite being a loyal servant, 30 years old mean he is not one for the future. Don't really play well as a DMC as well. Tends to do better for the national team than for club.

I really dunno how Henrique the Brazilian will turn out to be. Been pretty good for those few games he played but when Valencia came asking at 18 Million Euro, I couldn't resist; hope it doesn't shoot back on me.

Wonder if I need another CB if I sell Marquez...

As for fullbacks, I think Daniel Alves is a gem, scored like 10 from his signature powerful freekicks this season. But the lack of a good backup is a problem. Puyol surely ain't of the same caliber in turns of supporting attack.

I tried playing Toure, Marquez, youngster Montoya but with mixed success.

As for leftback, Eric Abidal is pretty erratic at times but usually sound, however I do want a long term successor, so i signed Mexican international Edgar Castillo but he seems rather plain for now.

I have also retrained Seydou Keita as a wingback and perhaps Christian Valle could make a promotion to first team?

The engine of the squad comes in the midfield and with Xavi, Iniesta, Toure, Keita and Busquets, there are healthy competition (unless when African Cup of Nations arrived).

Xavi is a class above the rest but Iniesta doesn't seem to perform as consistent as his international colleague, and he ain't the man behind the strikers for sure. I have hope for Busquets but wonder how far can he go.

The Africans are great at times but surely not a first eleven caliber. Keita is already 28, so not many years left as well.

Is Ignacio Camacho from At. Madrid a good replacement?

How about the youngsters in the academy like Thiago, Jonathon Dos Santos (Giovanni's brother), Abraham etc? Are they any good?

How about Longas? Doubt he will make it far despite rather good stats...

I love to play with width and with Barcelona, I am empowered by some pretty good wingers.

Messi's class is already well documented while former Gunner Hleb seemed to make the right wing a position of his own.

I have signed highly acclaimed young winger Buonanotte from River Plate but after a spectacular first season, seems to have a lukewarm 2nd season.

Youngsters Pedro Rodriquez and Jeffren seems ok for Spanish Cup ties but surely not long term 1st eleven, how are they doing for you guys?

Have great hope for young Israeli, Assulin but don't want to rush him into the first team as yet.

Although Barca plays with a lone man up front these days, I still like to have a strike partnership, and I think Eto and Bojan would be the best option but somehow they can do a Jekyll and Hyde...great for one game, miserable for another.

Henry is good as well but I'm thinking of offloading the 31 years old French international.

Already rid of Icelandi Gudjonsson and bought Guiseppe Rossi from Villareal and he is already making an impact. He should really be a conventional ST but was AM/FC in my game.

There are a couple in the "B" squad like Marin and Norlito that caught my eyes but the young strikers in the U19 just aren't good enough.

Will try to sign Aquino from Murcia and Balotelli from Inter, both can play as wingers so they aren't as redundant as Henry when the other forwards are available.

How many first team forwards you all have to combat all fronts?

My tactic is the classic Barca domination 4-4-2 with the first choice first eleven as below:

Valdes

D. Alves Puyol © Milito Abidal

l l

\/ \/

Xavi (VC) Iniesta

Hleb Messi

l l

\/ \/

Eto'o Bojan

I have some good result with a lone striker supported by Messi as well, so a backup plan when most strikers are injured (which seem very common)

Have won almost everything with the team in my first season as well as the Super Cups and World Club Cup in the 2nd season, but still feel the team lacks something...

Many would mince their words saying there's no challenge taking on a team like Barcelona but I'm sure you guys don't mind squashing Real Madrid as often as myself would be

[anthonyoxx]

great post kryston

uve got everything pretty much sorted however if u need sum players that could fit in your team here are some that i brought that are doing extrenly well:

davide santon - rb/rm/amr - youngster only 18 i think and he is going to be a legend in a few years he is great cover for all the right side and at the moment he is keeping daniel alves out of my team!

guilherme - lb - potential to be better than abidal, and he already is on my game (2nd season) better rating and better goal record

i sold milito + marquez for 14 million and 9 million because they wernt performing and brought in fazio who is younger and better and who im time will form the greatest partnership with either pique or caceres!

for your midfield question yes camacho is a good replacement but if you cant get him have a look at veloso, kuzmanovic or palombo all quality and just as good, in my opinion veloso is the best there is. busquets is ok not world class but he does a job and as for longas i sold him for 1million because he jsut wasnt very good. havent tried the youngsters but they are getting good reviews from the games they play in the u19s

as for wingers, people were saying sell hleb because hes not good enough, but he was fans player of the year first season, i brought in matias fernandez to challenge messi for a place and balotelli for the right. i also retrained bojan to play amr and iniesta to play aml.

right strikers now my strikers all but one of my strikers in the first season blew hot and cold, except for cardozo who i had on loan he scored 34 in 36 games so i brought him for 5 milion (loan to buy fee agreed) as soon as i could and i sold henry for 16,5million to arsenal?? thinking of selling eto'o next as he is just not playing as well as he should be and with cardozo, bojan, balotelli, cavani and a regen i have i dont need that many strikers.

so i have a good mix of tall and fast strikers to go against anything the oppositions throws at me lol

hope some of that helped mate let us know how ur gettin on

[Kryston]

Wow anthonyoxx... 16.5 million for an ageing Henry...I wish I can get half that sum...heehee

Yah as brilliant as Eto'o is, he just not that free scoring in the game hitting hot and cold constantly.. especially aren't spectacular in the European scene.

I will surely look at the players you have recommended...as youth is something I always stay truth to.

Too bad I didn't treat Fazio properly and I think Inter bought him for 34 million or something...

[anthonyoxx]

yeh mate i was really suprised aresenal came in with the bid and i just had to accept it 16.5million but that was in the first season

yeh if u need anyone have a look at those players, atm in my squad everyone is under 30 except for puyol and abidal but they are tutoring some impressive regens i got through my youth system this season, i sent ansulin out on loan he looks like with the right training and experienmce could be a star

eto'o is having another rubbish season so thinking about selling him at the end of the season if i get the right price for him

but yeh unlucky with fazio hes imense and he scores a few too

[Qeroz]

Yonko, I have two questions for you:

Firstly, does your striker score a lot of goals? For me (currently playing as Chelsea, using a similar tactic as yours), my striker doesn't score many goals at all, my midfielders score much more.

Secondly, can you please upload your tactic? It would be great fun to try it!

[i_lendl]

6 games into 2009/10 season and my side currently looks like this...

GK: Valdes

RB: Alves/César Azpilicueta

LB: Abidol/Guilherme

CB: Puyol/Caraces/Pique/Marquez/Carlos Tordoya

DM: Ignacio Camacho/Toure

CM: Xavi/Iniesta/Van der Vaart/Busquets

RW: Messi/Hleb/Assulin

LW: Guardado/Aquino

CF: Henry/Eto'o/Bojan

Players In:

Carlos Tordoya - Bolivar (£70k)

Cesar Azpilicueta - Osasuna (£7.75m)

Guilherme - Almeria (£3.6m)

Daniel Aquino - Murcia (£2.3m)

Rafael Van der Vaart - Real Madrid (£12.5m)

Andres Guardado - Deportivo (£18.5m)

Ignacio Camacho - Atletico (£19.25m)

Players Out:

Eidur Gudjohnsen - Aston Villa (£2.5m)

Gabriel Milito - AC Milan (£4.4m)

Seydou Keita - AC Milan (£10m)

Jeffren - Arminia Bielefeld (£2.2m)

Henrique - Juventus (£7.5m)

Sylvinho - PSV (£250k)

I'm playing the Barca 4-3-3 formation with my mentality set to all out attack, the highest amount of creative freedom and a short passing game, target man set to run onto ball. It was quite successful in the first season where I lost just 4 times in all competitions - won the league by 11 points from Real, semis of the champions league and quarter finals of the spanish cup. I scored just over 2 goals a game (Messi and Bojan each scoring 22, Henry 11, Xavi 10 and Daniel Alves 10 each) and conceded less than a goal a game (half of which seemed to be down to Puyol's idiocy, I thought better of selling such a Barca figurehead though).

[Wilson7]

just wondering about barcelona b side , how do i promote players from there?

[avatarofwoe]

upload the best tactic !!

[soli]

Hello Barcelona fans..

This is my first Barcelona save on FM 09. I had a Barca save on FM 08 as well which I had enjoyed immensely.

The first thing that I noticed was that the first team squad is extremely strong. However the quality of back-ups was not that good. Additionally there was essentially no left winger although Messi and Keita could play there.

Some rules that I set for myself were:

1.No non-Spanish above the age of 22 can be bought. If a player has Spanish as second nationality or will gain one immediately after coming to the club or is already eligible but is not interested he can be counted as a valid player. All players not following this rule and a part of the first team squad should be sold off in 3 seasons.

2.Players under age of 20 of any nationality can be bought.

3.Same rules apply for loans.

I wanted to try out a basic 4-4-2 system. The first thing was to sell out all the dead wood.

So,

OUTS:

Gudjohnsen: £25M to Man City. Although I was short of a striker, I let him go as I needed the money as I had been given only £12M to spend.

Pinto: Loan £75k to Panathinaikos. He was not required.

Longas: Loan £170k to Bielefeld. Not required as well

Pedro: £2.5M to Wolves. Great deal for a useless player.

Gai Assulin: Loan to Celta in January

Many players allowed to go for free.

Total: £28M

INS:

Capel: £11M from Sevilla. I needed a left winger badly and he fit the bill so splashed the cash on him. He played superbly the entire season and became a wonderkid. Was my leading assist getter with 20 assists. Popped up with some wonder goals at crucial moments.

Asenjo: £7M from Vallodolid. Young keeper with great potential. Became wonderkid immediately after coming. 16 clean sheets in 20 appearances. ‘nuff said.

Santon: £1.6M from Inter. As a back-up to Alves. Only non- Spanish signing. Plays better as a winger and gave some superlative performances. Was declared the best signing of the season.

Insua : Loan from Liverpool. Terrific as back-up. Fans love him. Has Spanish as second nationality.

Merida: Loan from arsenal. Just as a back-up. Send him back in January to give some playing time to Busquets.

Total: £20M

PERFORMANCE:

League:

Won it comfortably by garnering 100 points. Won 32, drew 4 and lost 2. Real Madrid were a distant second with 88 points and Vallodolid were third with 64. In fact Valencia and Racing also got 64 points while Sevilla could manage only 63. Scored 82 goals and conceded 17.

Awards:

Manager of the year: Me(1st)

Player of the year: Messi(1st), Daniel Alves(3rd)

Spanish player of the year: Xavi(3rd)

Young player of the year: Messi (1st), Bojan(2nd)

Top goalscorer: Henry(3rd)

Top Spanish goalscorer: Bojan(1st)

Team of the year: Alves, Abidal, Puyol, Messi, Capel, Bojan in first team; Valdes, Henry on bench.

Champions league:

Won it after a tough run of games against Porto, Real, Juventus and Man Utd in the final. Beat Man U 2-1 to claim the title.

ECC best player: Messi(2nd)

Dream Team: Xavi, Messi, Alves.

Spanish Cup:

Won it by beating Villareal 3-1.

Current team: ( There have been a lot of changes this season )

GKs: Valdes, Asenjo

DCs : Marquez, Puyol, Pique, Caceres, Milito, Henrique

FBs: Abidal, Insua, Alves, Regen, Santon

wingers: Capel, Messi, Gai Assulin, Santon, Guardado, Mata(available for £10m )

Mid. : Xavi, Iniesta, Toure, Busquets, Regens (potential 5 stars)

FWs : Eto'o, Bojan, Vela

9.1.0 patch, second season start

£120M transfer budget remaining after sales.

You can recommend only players with Spanish as first or second nationality.

Only players not fulfilling that criteria are Toure and Abidal. So I require suggestions??

Also was thinking of buying Aguero for £38.5M thoughts???

[jams1234]

Looks like you've had a terrific season soli. I would definitely go for Aguero.

[RealMeanDigsy]

First team is quite light on strenght in depth, isn't it?

[RealMeanDigsy]

Sheesh!!! In my pre-season I've lost, Keita, Et'oo, Abidal and Xavi, Milito and Jorquera are already injured.

[Marty01]

Secer Babo,

I played barcelona in demo. Eto was scoring to the right and left. Fantastic player. I bought Aguero later. He didn't really want to come so I edited my money and offered him load of cash and he finally agreed. He was ok but nowhere near of Eto, though I played him usually as AMC. Perhaps hold on to Eto, he started slow but got better and better as the game progressed.

[didders1991]

just started my barce file any recomendations on who 2 sell obvious eidur and who 2 bring in cheers

[The Slacker]

Does anybody know how I can get my B team to stop bidding for players? They've just bought a guy on a free transfer with a PA of 130. Not so bad you might think but they've given him a £73,000 per week contract.

I like to buy youngsters and put them in the b team with a blend of players on the way out of my first team. This used to be possible with FM08 etc but the new way in which the B team is set up in FM09 makes things much more difficult.

[briancloughisthebest]

after finally getting the hang of how to get a good tactic i'm starting a game with barcelona:)

[JHilly5]

Does anybody know how I can get my B team to stop bidding for players? They've just bought a guy on a free transfer with a PA of 130. Not so bad you might think but they've given him a £73,000 per week contract.

I like to buy youngsters and put them in the b team with a blend of players on the way out of my first team. This used to be possible with FM08 etc but the new way in which the B team is set up in FM09 makes things much more difficult.

I think you can change the settings for this on 'team settings' from the menu.

[ballinisahabit]

hey people,

Thought i would let you all know how my first season as barcelona manger has gone.

I decided to create my own tactic which was a 4-3-3, 1 DM 2 MC 2 Wingers and CF.

OUTS:

Gudjonsen - Man City 8 Mill

Slyvinho - Sunderland 600K

INS:

Davide Santon - Inter 1.2 Mill + 10% of profit from next sale

Joe Mattock - Liecester City 2.5 Mill

Andres Guardado - Deportivo 6 Mill upfront and 7.5 Mill over 24 months

January OUTS:

Oier Olazabal - Osasuna Loan fee 8K

Jose Manual Pinto - Fiorentina Loan fee 55k 1.7 Mill to make move permanent

January INS:

Sergio Asenjo - Vallodlid 7.25 Mill (for some reason isnt arriving untill the 1st of July even though i set transfer date to next available)

Angel Di Maria - Benfica 7.5 Mill

LIGA BBVA:

We dominated the league from start to finish without losing a game all season and conceeding just 9 goals.

http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=laligaxf1.jpg

Awards:

Goalkeeper of the year - Valdes - http://img227.imageshack.us/my.php?image=valdesjg2.jpg - he has been incredible.

Manager of the year - Me

Player of the year - Xavi

Young player of the year - Messi

Spanish league player of the year - Messi - http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=messiis1.jpg

Team of the season - http://img227.imageshack.us/my.php?image=teamofseasonke2.jpg

Spanish Cup:

We were knocked out in the QF by At. Madrid after they beat us 1-0 in the first leg (our first and only loss of the season) and drew 2-2 in the second leg. They went through on away goals.

Champions Cup:

Ill let the screenshot do the talking

http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=championscupev1.jpg

Awards:

Best Player

2nd Xavi

3rd Andres Guardado

Golden Boot

2nd Sammy Eto

Dream team - Valdes, Alves, Abidal, Pique, Puyol, Guardado and Xavi

Squad Overall:

Sammy eto was my top goalscorer with only 22 goals in all competitions which is pretty *****, but saying that messi got 18 from the right wing.

Guardarado set up most of my goals with 17 assists

Messi was my best average rater at 7.45

Messi also had the most MOM'S at 8

Next Season:

http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=teamwt6.jpg

This is how my team currently looks, im looking to get rid of marquez, keita and possibly yaya and hopefully bring in essien. How does everyone else think i could improve this team, comments and suggestions are welcome.

I have 72 mill to spend!

chhers for readin guys!

[soli]

Sell Marquez as you have too many Center Backs. Sell Keita as well and give more playing time to Busquets. Sell Hleb as well as Santon as a back-up is enough and Bojan can cover up if necessary. If you want to sell off Toure you will need to buy in a replacement. Essien would be awesome but why not keep it Spanish and bring in Camacho.

[ballinisahabit]

Hey Soli cheers for your input mate. What would you say is a reasonable price for keita and marquez?

[soli]

I sold Keita for £25M to Valencia and could have sold Marquez for £20M before he got injured. I could have sent you the SS but that save got corrupted so I have started a new one.