[FM20] The Lion of Leon

[keeper#1]

29 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

I really like him actually - hopefully he can go on and perform a little better than your other sales have!

Out of interest - who offers your young players contracts? Whilst these are very realistic, have you not thought to offer them higher deals to get around it?

I have.  After the Pedro deal in January, the minimum release fee will be increased for the 2023 intake.

[keeper#1]

Reached the 2023 Youth Intake before I went bed.  I'll give you teaser before I head to bed.

 

[keeper#1]

2023 Youth Intake Day

For the 2022-23 U19 league season, we had a best-ever 6th place finish but for this league 6th place is the same as 2nd place.  We don't advance to the league playoffs...only the eight league champions move on.

The 2022 class has the best one-year DNA improvement thus far in the save.  They improved by just over 10%.  We saw nobody regress but two players showed absolutely zero improvement.  I did a little dive into the media handling of the two 'low determination' players since one showed no improvement and the other showed 13% improvement.  Gustavo, the 13% improvement, has an unflappable media-handling style while Aitor, the 0% improvement, has a media-friendly handling style.  So that the difference right there - the hidden attributes because of the media handling style. @_Ben_

This year's class is truly a golden generation.  In fact, I think it's the best youth intake pull that I've ever had in any version of Football Manager.  It's headlined by the two first-team ready talents at the top of the class: the Spanish Sergio Bonito and the Qatari Jamal Al-Shammeri.  Bonito could skip the U19 team and B team altogether and go straight into the first team.  Al-Shammeri will have to wait until the start of the 2023-24 season because of league registration rules.  There is a lot of talent up and down this class.  Even the "weaker" players are strong and could eventually help the first team or be sold off in a nice piece of business for the club.

The club DNA average the best that I've seen thus far in the save.  The starting average is already higher than the 2022's one-year improvement average.  Al-Shammeri is the first player to have blues for his positional DNA.  There are some dark greens mixed into the positional DNA as well.  The club DNA has very few reds to go with the yellow and greens which dominate the chart.  We have already come a long way since year one of the save.

This year's class has five of the top seven players in the starting Club DNA rankings and 12 of the 18 players that are part of this year's intake have cracked the top 30 and lowest ranked player is ranked 41st out of the 64 players who have come through the intake.

AM Sergio Benito: Benito is the highest-rated player in the class based on potential.  He has a lot of good traits already 'gets into opposition area', 'comes deep to get ball', 'looks for pass.'  He is tailor-made for a career as an assist-man who always wants to find the open man.  I have been dying to have a player like this on my squad.  He can play on both the left and centrally.  Given the growing numbers we have in attack, a tactical shift will take place over the summer to find room for all of the players.  

CF Jamal Al-Shammari: Next season can not get here fast enough so I can get Al-Shammari into the starting lineup.  He is already our best center forward.  Excellent first touch, great passing and vision.  Willing to take a first-time shot, looks for open space.  He is a center forward who wants to score and help the club.  He is the perfect player for our brand of football.  Just can't wait to get him playing in the first team for us.

RF Lorenzo Jimenez: Jimenez is another attacking player who prefers to play on the right side of the formation mainly as winger.  He's going to need some time with the U19s working on the mental and technical side of his game.  The physical traits especially his pace is already there.  A good U19 player with a lot of potential and a decent personality ('balanced') to help develop that potential.

AM Agustin Perez: Another good central attacking midfielder in the class.  Perez doesn't like to float out onto the wing like Bonito.  Has a great understanding of the game and already sees the whole field.  He needs to get stronger if he wants to play in a central location and that physical development will come with age.  Gives us a different option than Bonito in the middle of the park which is a nice problem to have.

CB Antonio Ganzabal: The top five is rounded by Ganazbal who is tall (6'5") central defender.  A true stay-at-home defender who wants his only responsibility to be making sure the other team doesn't score.  Not a bad type of central defender to have on the squad but not the type that I want to see in the lineup every game since I like to build from the back and his passing and heading aren't the strongest.  But he is the type of the defender who should make the first team at Leonesa in a primarily a back-up role.

[_Ben_]

Those two at the top of your intake are fantastically good! Give them a Release Clause as big as you can and get them some minutes next year!

[keeper#1]

5 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Those two at the top of your intake are fantastically good! Give them a Release Clause as big as you can and get them some minutes next year!

Al-Shammeri: 25 million release clause

Bonito: 20 million release clause

[keeper#1]

2022-23 End of Season Update

What do you notice about that table that is different than the past two seasons?  Is it Barcelona B winning the table going away?  Nope.  They've done that the last two seasons.  Is is the tight race between positions 2-5?  Yup.  That's different but look at where we finished.  We finished in 3rd place and as a result, we skip the playoffs and get promoted directly into La Liga for the 2023-24 season.  It was on shaky ground after a scoreless draw against 6th place Real Valladoid but we were able to claim as 2-1 victory over bottom half of the table, Elche to secure our automatic promotion.  This was quite the turnaround from the early part of the season when we were down in 10th place.  It is also quite the achievement for the tiny club from Leon.

How did we get back to our winning ways?  We went back to what worked for us.  We went back to our grind it out, keep the ball, slowly prod the opposition looking for an opening and then capitalize on the few scoring chances that we get.  It does lead to scoreless droughts at times.  But we rarely lose but we are always in the game.  As a result, we don't have long losing streaks.  Here's where we ranked, as a team, in a few key categories:

Possession - 64% (1st)

Passes completed - 30,284 (721 per game, 1st)

Completion percentage - 91% (2nd)

Goals Scored - 51 (T11th)

Conversation Rate - 10% (8th)

Goals Conceded - 28 (1st)

Tackles Won Percentage - 87% (4th)

Poveda led the league in scoring for the second year in a row because he converts his shots on target (55) into goals (18).  Just under 33% of his shots turn into goals.  Not bad for a guy who averages just over one shot on target per game.  As always, most of our assists came from the wings and wingbacks.

What are putting our new found La Liga money into?  Infrastructure of course.

We are also expanding our stadium to meet La Liga capacity guidelines (minimum 15,000).

[keeper#1]

July 1, 2023 Top 10 Prospects

10. CB Antonio Ganzabal (17 years old - Leonesa U19s) 6'5" 182 lbs - Minimum Release Fee: 5 million

Ganzabal is a tall lanky center back who is buried on the depth chart but not on our top 10 rankings as he is one of four center backs on the list.  Ganzabal needs a lot of work.  He can reach a lot of balls with his head since he's 6 foot 5 inches tall but his heading is poor.  He is on the slow side which does not fit with the high line that we play.  Not the smartest defender either.  He could reach the first team with a lot of work but he has a lot of potential.  He just needs to reach that potential.

9. RF Lorenzo Jimenez (17 years old - Leonesa U19s) 5'8" 134 lbs. Minimum Release Fee: 6 million

Jimenez is another player who has a lot of untapped potential.  Not the smartest player at present and is not very strong in the air.  However, he is good on the ground and is a true winger that likes to beat the full back with pace.  Needs to spend a lot of time with the U19 team and probably a year or two on loan before reaching the first team.

8. CB Alexander Merino (19 years old - Leonesa B) 6'1" 174 lbs. Minimum Release Fee: 2.5 million

Merino has had a slow progress up the ladder.  After spending a couple seasons with the U19s, he had a successful loan spell with Zamora in the 2022-23 season.  He is a good marker and tackler but needs to work on his decision-making.  He has speed to chase down an opposing attacker if they get by him.  Merino will spend another season out on loan since our B team is still a part-time outfit and he isn't quite good enough to claim a spot on the first team.

7. CB Barragan Cortes (18 years old - Leonesa U19s) 6'3" 176 lbs. Minimum Release Fee: 5 million

Cortes was found by scouts in June during the U20 World Cup.  He was part of the LA Galaxy Academy and was bought for the low price of 11,500 euros with no future clauses.  As an 18-year old model citizen with good mental and physical stats, he was an instant buy.  Like most Americans, he needs to work on the technical side of his game.  That should come quickly now that I've taken him away from American coaching and provide him with better Spanish coaching.  He has a Spanish nationality so he won't clog up a non-EU slot either.

6. CB Babacar Faye (19 years old - Leonesa) 6'1" 169 lbs. Minimum Release Fee: 6 million

Faye barely qualifies for the rankings with his birthday on July 13.  The screen cap has him with the B team but he was promoted the first team when we sold Virgil Theresin to Italy.  Faye is 4th on the center back depth chart and needs the first team playing time to continue to develop.  

5. Luis Alberto Calonge (17 years old - Leonesa U19s) 5'10" 156 lbs. Minimum Release Fee: 1 million (in negotiations to increase to 6 million)

Calonge has shown rapid development during his time with the Leonesa U19s which is why I am attempting to increase his release clause so someone doesn't try to poach him away from us for a cut rate price.  He may also see some training as Libero as we have switched to a 5-2-2-1-2 formation for this season.  He's a small center back but also has some training as a defensive midfielder.  He is kind of a "tweener."  Too small to be a great center back.  Not a good enough passer to be a deep lying playmaker.  My hope is training him as a Libero will allow to give him a position in the first team.

4. RB Gustavo (17 years old - Leonesa) 5'6" 136 lbs. Minimum Release Fee: 6 million

Gustavo is a player who will get a lot of playing time with the new formation has he is a more natural wingback than last year's first choice on the right side Angelo Gabrelli.  I need to monitor his fitness as Gustavo is not the most fit player and has a problem going the whole 90 minutes.  He gives his all when he is out there even with just a 2 rating for determination.  He is a good tackler and marker.  Not great in the air but is a very brave player who wants to see the team win.

3. CF Jamal Al-Shammari (19 years old - Leonesa) 5'11" 167 lbs. Minimum Release Fee: 60 million

Al-Shammari is a dream of a 19 year old to have come through a youth intake.  Leads by example.  Wants to give all for the team.  Wants to score goals but still gets back to defend.  A great all-around center forward.  He is in the starting center forward pairing with Dario Poveda.  I can't wait to see how he develops this season and in the coming seasons.  Already has the "promising" monkier next to his description.

2. AM Agustin Perez (17 years old - Leonesa) 5"11 156 lbs. Minimum Release Fee: 15 million

Perez is one of two attacking midfielders that make the top 2 in the rankings.  Perez is the one who is more willing to drop into the central midfielder in terms of positioning.  He is a great natural passer and smart on the ball.  Not very fast so he may not see much time at the attacking midfielder position.  I experimented with playing with two attacking midfielders in the pre-season and it did not go well.  So Perez will move into a central midfield role with our number 1 prospect staying in the attacking midfield role.

1. AM Sergio Bonito (17 years old - Leonesa) 5'10" 141 lbs. Minimum Release Fee: 50 million

Bonito is the number one prospect in this year's rankings.  Bonito is a true attacking central midfielder who likes to arrive late in the opposition box but also looks to pass before shooting.  A true assistman in the middle of the field.  Can also play out on the left wing if I revert back to the 4-1-2-2-1 formation that I had been playing for the first four seasons.  Bonito should link up with Poveda and Al-Shammari nicely in the next couple of seasons.

 

[keeper#1]

Preseason-November 2023 Update

It was a busy offseason with lots of players leaving on frees as they can't help us in either the short or long term at the La Liga level.  Too many to moves to account for in one post.  I'll sum everything up in the pre-season preview email.

We did sign two of our academy products to contract extensions which increased their minimum release fees to prevent poachers, looking at you Atletico Madrid, from buying them for peanuts.

Still on cheap per week contracts and now have very high minimum release fees.  Good pieces of work.

I did notice one retirement in my social feed that was a note.

Ronaldo is going out on a high after a 16-goal season.  Not sure why he would want to retire at this point and not cash in on a potential big-money and low-effort couple of seasons in the US but maybe that's not for him.  He usually becomes a manager in a longer-term saves.  I'll keep an eye out and see where he ends up.

Shiny new 16,000 all-seater stadium and our season tickets are sold out for the first time since I took over.  But still doesn't move us up the match ticket and game day revenue charts.

 

It's been a difficult slog through the first part of the season.  As usual, our defense is sound allowing just over one goal per game.  The problem is, also as usual, our offense which is averaging less than one goal per game....the lowest in my tenure.  I'm chalking this up to our youth up front compared to the experience that we have in the back.  Our attacking players are just too experienced to be counted on consistently at the point.  My backline is full of seasoned veterans who are used to playing against La Liga quality competition.  It goes back to my personal philosophy of, "it's a lot easier to win consistently 1-0, than to win 5-4."  But it would like us to score more than a goal per game while playing good defensive football.

 

[keeper#1]

December 2023-January 2024 Update

Youth Intake

If this youth intake is another golden generation, it will be our third golden generation in a row.  I have six academy products already in the first team and with another golden generation, I could add another one or two right away in addition to the number of academy products who are a year or two away from joining the first team.  I could have anywhere from 8 to 11 academy players on the first team roster next season depending on positional need.

On the field

It was a very successful two month stretch for Leonesa, outside of a two-week road trip to Madrid.  Atletico just absolutely abused us.  Their first team is head and shoulders above ours which makes it even funnier that they have raided my academy for their B team (why not develop your own players) but the 30+ million euros that they have pumped into the club has been greatly appreciated.  We rebounded with a three-game winning streak against a couple of struggling sides in Celta de Vigo and Real Oviedo with the Opening Round of the Copa Del Rey sandwiched in between.  For the Copa matches, I switched to a straight-up 3-4-3 formation just to see how things work with that and possible move to it next season.  

A pair of friendly draws, also using the 3-4-3 formation, we struggled against Champions League contender Valencia.  Thankfully, the Copa Del Rey was there again to help us regain our form and springboard us to a pair of league wins.  The 3-0 win against defense-challenged Rayo was expected.  Our 3-4-3 finally struggled against Almeria who knocked us out of the Copa Del Rey in the 3rd round.  We "bounced back" with a 0-0 draw against Getafe who is in a similar table situation as us.

The good is the 28 goals allowed in just 22 games.  Breaking it down a little further, we allowed 10 goals to Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid.  Take those three games out of the total, we have allowed 18 goals in 19 games (0.94/game).  The bad is the 19 goals scored in those 22 games (0.86/game).  Poveda is struggling to find any type of form in La Liga.  Al-Shammari is young and still learning how to play.  He's not ready to be the primary scorer for a La Liga club.  I searched for an upgrade at center forward in the January window but players were either too expensive to buy and the ones that I could afford wanted too much in salary demands.  So, I will continue to scout and hope to have better luck over the summer since it looks like our position in the league for the 2024-25 is all but guaranteed after the last two months. 

[_Ben_]

You've certainly taken to La Liga quicker than I did with Guadalajara, so a massive well done on that!

2 hours ago, keeper#1 said:

Poveda is struggling to find any type of form in La Liga.  Al-Shammari is young and still learning how to play.  He's not ready to be the primary scorer for a La Liga club.  I searched for an upgrade at center forward in the January window but players were either too expensive to buy and the ones that I could afford wanted too much in salary demands.

I think you've got to be in for the long haul with this kind of save! I'd stick with Al-Shammari and accept a couple of sideways years in terms of club development - if only for his development.

On 08/06/2020 at 16:47, keeper#1 said:

1. AM Sergio Bonito (17 years old - Leonesa) 5'10" 141 lbs. Minimum Release Fee: 50 million

Bonito is the number one prospect in this year's rankings.  Bonito is a true attacking central midfielder who likes to arrive late in the opposition box but also looks to pass before shooting.  A true assistman in the middle of the field.  Can also play out on the left wing if I revert back to the 4-1-2-2-1 formation that I had been playing for the first four seasons.  Bonito should link up with Poveda and Al-Shammari nicely in the next couple of seasons.

How has he started the season? I love a traditional 10, and that is what he is, but I always feel it's a bit harder to get good ratings out of an AM who can't finish that well and, like Bonito is, often is in deeper positions.

[keeper#1]

1 hour ago, _Ben_ said:

You've certainly taken to La Liga quicker than I did with Guadalajara, so a massive well done on that!

I think you've got to be in for the long haul with this kind of save! I'd stick with Al-Shammari and accept a couple of sideways years in terms of club development - if only for his development.

How has he started the season? I love a traditional 10, and that is what he is, but I always feel it's a bit harder to get good ratings out of an AM who can't finish that well and, like Bonito is, often is in deeper positions.

Bonito started slowly as I struggled to find a position and role for him.  I moved Alvaro Fidalgo, who started the season at the tip of midfield triangle as an advanced playmaker, back into the central midfielder but now as a supporting deep lying playmaker.  Bonito, initially, moved into the advanced playmaker role and struggled.  I switched him to a shadow striker and he is slowly starting to take off.

Al-Shammari will get better.  I think he needs a stronger partner, right now, than Poveda can provide.  But I can't afford that stronger partner to bridge to Al-Shammari into the number one center forward role.

[keeper#1]

February-March 2024 Update

Youth Signing

I did make one signing during the January transfer window to fill a hole on my youth team.  We keep producing goalkeepers who are actually products of the ASPIRE Academy in either Qatar or Senegal so they come in as 18 or 19-year olds and can't spend anytime in the youth team.  I bought Erol for 400,000 euros over the summer but he was just 15 years old and could not join us until January.  He will get to develop with the U19 team before hopefully moving up to the first team in a few seasons.

Our U19 team had a good season but still have a long way to go before we can push Real Madrid for the group championship.

We started February on a high with a 5-0 thrashing of Villarreal but that high was short-lived as we started to slide back into our routine of going long stretches without scoring.  We ended March hosting both Madrid sides.  We held our own against Atletico by losing "only" 1-0.  The good news about the Real game was we have scored one of the eight goals that they have allowed all season and we were losing "only" 2-1 with 15 minutes to go before we completely collapsed and lost 5-1.  Real, Atletico, and Barcelona are really in a class by themselves.  Real doesn't let you score with just eight goals allowed in 31 matches.  Atletico and Barcelona score goals for fun and average over three goals per game.  It's a big drop off to fourth place Valencia.  I haven't finished April yet so that write up won't come until the season review.  We started the month at Barcelona and I'll just leave this here.

Sometimes you get "FMed." Other times, you can "FM" the game.

[keeper#1]

2024 Youth Intake

2023 One Year Review

It's time to see how our 2023 Golden Generation performed with one year of training at the club.

We had two players who had personality changes.  Both changes occurred in players that spent the entire 2023-24 season with the first team.  Agustin Perez went from Light-Hearted to Spirited.  Sergio Benito went from Professional to Resolute.  Both moves are positive moves even with the Spirited personality.  As a complete group, they showed about 10% improvement over the course of the year and there are A LOT of potential first team players in this group even if some of them will be back-up/squad players with the first team.

2024 Youth Intake

Not quite as good on paper as the 2023 intake where my WORST player as a 2* potential.  It is still very good at the top and because I'm getting more Spaniards at the top, I can let these guys develop with the U19s so they enter the first team as a more polished product.  The high CA Qataris, because of squad registration rules, will have to spend some time training with the first team but playing with the B team.  Maybe our B will get out of the lower tiers of the Spanish leagues because of this.

The positional and core DNA flesh out the lack of depth that this class has.  The forwards, as a group, are hot garbage.  The midfielders are a mixed bag.  The defenders and goalkeeper are solid and this is an area of depth for me so these players will be allowed to develop with the U19s.  As a group, they are the best-ever in terms of technical and physical abilities while the mental ability took a step backwards.  This is also seen in the Core DNA which took a step back from last year's class but still outperforms the 2022 class.  A couple of greens, a lot of yellows, and a red makes an appearance again.  A mixed bag of personalities too.

Three players, Al-Amarri, Muftah, and Vila, crack the Core DNA top 10 rankings.  Five players in the top 12 but the sixth ranked player is all the way down in 21st.  Last year's class had 12 players in the top 30.  This class only has seven players in the top 30.  But we can see how the classes have improved since the start of the save as the top two players from the first intake in 2020 have fallen all the way down to 28th and 29th respectively.

Top Players from the intake

LB Denis Saenz: A true left back will be training to be a complete wing back and moved up into the band with the defensive midfielders to help us with the hybrid 3-4-3 formation that we play in attack and 5-2-2-1 we play in defense.  A smart and brave player who can run for days which is very important since the wing-back/defensive winger is the only winger in the formation so they have to run the entire length of the field.  At 16 years old, he has plenty of time to develop a complete player before getting called up into the first team.

LW Carlos Telletxea: A natural left winger who could have a hard time finding a position in our formation.  He doesn't have the technical skills to move to the inside of the formation as an attacking midfielder or the finishing skills to become a center forward.  He doesn't have the defensive skills to be a complete wing-back or even a defensive winger.  At present, he works best as a winger in a 4-2-3-1 formation.  He will need a year or two of shaping into a new position and then a year or two of developing before moving into the first team.

GK Saleh Klalid Muftah: An heir to the back-up goalkeeper role when my current Qatari back-up demands too much money.  Muftah could even push for the starter role in a few seasons.  These registration rules are really tough with all of these Qataris coming through in the youth intakes.  It would be nice if I got a break for a year or two but they are coming through as finished products so I won't complain about that.

CM Cesar Javier Vila: Finally a central midfielder makes his way into these top five initial rankings, we are in desperate need of a quality central midfielder to come through an intake.  Vila is a very smart player who is willing to help the team in any way that he can.  He is one of the few players from the intake that doesn't need work on his mental game.  However, he does need work on his physical and technical game.  But that development will come with time in the program.  He is one of the few players from this intake that I am not worried about.  I will have a place for him when he is ready.

CB Hassan Al-Amarri: Another Qatari to give me squad registration headaches.  He could make the first team as a depth central defender but I really don't want to waste one of the my three non-EU player slots on a depth player.  So, he could spend most of his time in the B team and hopefully he develops into a player that could take a first team place and deserve using one of those non-EU slots on him.  He is a strong marker and tackler but needs to spend some time working on the mental side of his game and getting a little bit quicker to cope with playing in our high line.

[keeper#1]

2023-24 Season Review

A true mixed bag of results to end the season.  A close loss to surprise outfit, Granada, started the month of April followed by a trio of draws.  We came back to tie Real Betis and then gave away a 1-0 lead to Levante to "earn" that third draw.  We kicked off May against a pair of bottom tier clubs in Espanol and Malaga, who had a very poor season on their way to getting relegated, with a pair of wins.  Then, the second tier big boys re-appeared on the schedule.  Bilbao secured seventh place when they thrashed us 3-0.  Sevilla jumped out to a 2-0 lead and held off our comeback attempt so we closed out our season with back-to-back losses.  Our defense kept us away from the relegation zone for most of the season.  We finished the season with only 39 goals scored (1.03 per game) which ranked us 13th in the league.  Our 48 goals allowed (1.26 per game) which was seventh best in the league.

The league was dominated by three teams: league champions Real Madrid, who allowed just 11 goals (0.29 per game) all season, Barcelona, finished the season unbeaten but had nine draws which cost them the title, Atletico Madrid, scored a league high 113 goals (2.97 per game).  These three clubs really distanced themselves from the rest of the league.  It's a big gulf to try to bridge and it will take one of the bigger clubs (Valencia, Sevilla, etc.) a couple of seasons bridge it.  We need to bridge the gap to these second-tier clubs before we can start bridging the gap to the top three in the country.

Most goals (all competitions): Dario Poveda - 10 goals (leading scorer for the third season in a row)

Assist leader: RB Angelo Gabrielli - 6 assists

Best Defender: CB Manu Hernando - 80 interceptions (2.11/90 minutes), 92% tackles won, 14 key tackles, 3.08 headers won/90 minutes 74% headers won

Highest Average Rating: CM Mauro Arambarri - 7.17

Team Stats

Possession: 58% (2nd)

Goals Scored: 39 (13th)

Chances Created: 66 (14th)

Conversation Rate: 11% (8th)

Pass Completed: 22,596 (1st)

Pass Completion Percentage: 89% (5th)

Goals Conceded: 48 (7th)

Tackles Won: 87% (2nd)

Headers Won: 814 (20th)

Headers Won %: 61% (11th)

Yellow Cards: 81 (1st)

Red Cards: 4 (T 2nd)

We were an offensively challenged team all season.  Poveda saw his goal total get cut by more than half.  We had zero depth in attack and got lucky with Poveda and Al-Shammari staying healthy all season.  The midfield did very little to help the offense in terms of service.  The defense, thankfully, was rock solid (outside of the matches against the top clubs) and kept us in almost every game which helped to a higher finish than our offensive output would merit.

I ran this formation most of the season.  I'm thinking about using this formation, in addition, to a more attack-minded formation to  help - more on that in my next post.

Qatar started the save with a completely greyed out national team.  After five seasons, Leonesa and Leonesa products are starting to fill in the national team.  This is the Qatar roster for the 2024 Copa America.  There are seven non-grayed out players on the national team.  Six of them came through our academy.

We continue to pour money into our youth academy since it is the easiest way for our club to get talent that we can afford as we are in that stage when players are interested in us but they are too expensive either in a transfer fee or weekly wage for us to bring them into the club.

Edited June 12, 2020 by keeper#1

[keeper#1]

Tactical Thoughts

For the first five seasons of the save, I've been playing either a 4-1-2-2-1 or a 3-2-2-1-2 (this can be seen my most recent post).  While they have produced solid defensive results, they have been very lackluster in terms of offense.  With that in mind, I went to the one of the greatest offensive minds in American football, Anson Dorrance.  Dorrance is a firm believer of the 3-4-3 formation.  Now he freely admits that he used this because he had the best college team in the United States (University of North Carolina's women team) and the best women's team in the world.  But his theories on the formation and what it brings to the attack make a lot of sense.

On defending:

1. The three-front system allows a team to apply pressure closer to the opponent’s goal. The three-front does not steer the opposing team’s attack as a two-front does, but attempts to intercept the ball immediately.

2. This system puts tremendous pressure on a weak opponent. It is particularly effective against a team that cannot serve long balls to strikers. It is also considered to be a good system against players who cannot hit long passes that get behind defenses.

3. The system encourages opposing teams to play the ball forward predictably – making it difficult to play the ball sideways and change the point.[/quote]

A three-man front can excel at pressing the defense.  You can have one person pressing the ball with the on-side winger cutting off a short pass to a wide player.  On the backside, the other two center forwards can close off the space to attempt a square pass to another member of the backline.  This makes it difficult to build from the back.  The player with the ball is forced to either make a backwards pass to the goalkeeper or lump a long ball forward (make the opposition play the ball predictably).

He hedges himself in the second point.  "Puts tremendous pressure on a weak opponent."  Right now, Leonesa doesn't face many weak opponents.  In a lot of cases, we could be considered the weak opponent.  In 2024-25, we aren't going to out-Barcelona a squad like Barcelona.  They will tear us apart and give us a real ass ripping.  But we can start to put the building blocks in place, now, so we can unleash hell on the league once we have the talent on the team to put this formation into widespread use.

On attacking: 

1. The front line is already positioned to attack when the ball is won.

2. It is easier to play directly with three targets rather than two.

5. The three-front creates immediate width as forwards going wide have a shorter run to make. The width provided by a three-front makes it effective against lowpressure defenses since width is a fundamental building block in breaking down bunkers and packed defenses.

6. A three-front sweeping to one side can pull a man-to-man defense to one side, exposing an opponent’s weak side and with the same concept of “flooding zones” can cause zonal defenses “numbers down” issues.

The key to playing with a three-front in Dorrance's mind is play more directly than what I have been playing with Leonesa for the first five years.  Teams have a harder time playing with a low block against a three-man front back the three forwards spread the backline out horizontally which can make it easier to attack vertically since the gaps between defenders should, in theory, be wider.  If they do play with a low block, the midfield can move the ball from side-to-side and pull the defense out of position while creating an odd-man situation "on the back door" with the weak side winger open on the back post.

On weaknesses:

 1. Three players can be played out of a game immediately with one forward pass.

2. Three players receive the ball with their back to goal.

3. Team can be out numbered in midfield if opponents play with five.

Points one and three are the important ones listed here.  One accurate forward pass can quickly play our three forwards out of the game and force our four midfielders to scramble back quickly to help the defense.  The four midfielders creates a weakness in the midfield especially with more and more teams playing with a five-man midfield.  This puts even more pressure on our attacking three and three-man defensive line to be solid.

This 3-4-3 will not be something that I use on a weekly basis.  I have already used it to help us recover draws from losing positions. We just aren't good enough to use it consistently.  But it is something that I will use more and more in the coming seasons as we get stronger.  The 3-2-2-1-2 will be used to close out games in winning positions as I know it is a defensively solid formation.  Even need be, I can move it to a 3-3-2-2 formation with a defensive midfielder inside the two wingbacks and in front of the back three if the opposition really starts to push the pedal on the offense.

To read Dorrence's complete thoughts on the 3-4-3: Dorrence's 3-4-3

Edited June 12, 2020 by keeper#1

[karanhsingh]

Just caught up with this. What a great read! Very interesting club as well with the foreign links. 

Seems like you're doing a fantastic job and a couple of the players who have come through the academy look stupendous. 

Can you link me to your position wise DNA calculations? I made up my own but would love to have a look. 

Edited June 13, 2020 by karanhsingh

[karanhsingh]

On the tactical front - interesting thoughts but as you said the biggest risk is that you may get exposed in the middle of the park. Basically this makes sense if both your attack and defence are strong. 

Personally I have recently tried a 3-5-2 but couldn't make it work, I actually found wing backs to be more effective in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 because they combine with the attacking wide player to create space. When there is no other wide player the wing backs usually receive the ball one on one with the opponents full back, and they often don't have the skill required to take them on. That was my biggest grouse. 

[keeper#1]

1 hour ago, karanhsingh said:

On the tactical front - interesting thoughts but as you said the biggest risk is that you may get exposed in the middle of the park. Basically this makes sense if both your attack and defence are strong. 

Personally I have recently tried a 3-5-2 but couldn't make it work, I actually found wing backs to be more effective in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 because they combine with the attacking wide player to create space. When there is no other wide player the wing backs usually receive the ball one on one with the opponents full back, and they often don't have the skill required to take them on. That was my biggest grouse. 

You mentioned two of the flaws that Dorrence brings up with the 3-4-3.  The first one is it can get outnumbered by a five-man midfielder.  It requires one of the forwards to track back and help the midfield and create a five-man midfield in defense.  The other is it creates a lot of 1v1 situations which is great if you are better than your opposition.  If not, you are going to get exposed on the counter when you give the ball away.  He mentioned that it works best against weak opponents which is why he used it UNC and with USWNT.  His players were far better than opposition 99% of the time.  It's likely the same reason Barcelona uses it as well.  They are rarely the weaker side.

When I open the game again today, I'll post the 3-4-3 and the 3-2-2-1-2 that I'm using for the save.  The 3-4-3 is the attacking formation.  The 3-2-2-1-2 is more defensively sound but still morphs into a 3-4-3 in attack.  I've noticed that Barcelona uses the 3-4-3 to take control of the game and once they have a two-goal lead, they drop back into a 4-1-2-2-1 formation as their defensive option and moves back to a 3-4-3 if they feel that their lead is threatened.

[keeper#1]

More Tactical Thoughts

I'm going to start this post out with full disclosure.  I'm not the greatest FM tactician and everything about 3-4-3 here are in the very early stages so bear with me.  This is 3-4-3 formation that I used during the 2024 summer friendly season.

A true 3-4-3 formation with a flat three-man backline as all ball playing central defenders, a flat four in the midfield with two defensive wingers and a double pivot in the middle, and a flat three up to with the two "wing forwards" in support roles and linking with the point of the triangle at the top.  The goal of the formation is to build from the back into the double pivot midfield with the two defensive wingers providing width for the three center forwards.  We want to play the ball into the space on the wings or into the space behind the back line to get the three center forwards into a 1v1 situations with the opposing backline.

The weakness of the formation is primarily on the wings which is why we have chosen to defend wider.  The lone defensive winger can get overwhelmed on the flanks dealing with two wing players if the opposition plays with a true attacking winger with a wing back bombing forward.  It creates an overload situation where we are outnumbered.  We can get outnumbered in the midfield with only four players in there if the opposition plays with five midfielders.  It's a very risk-reward formation that it predicated in getting the lead and forcing the opposition to chase the game which potentially creates odd man situations for our offense against their defense.  If it gets late in the game, we can switch to this formation.

We drop the defensive wingers into the wingback position and make them inverted wingbacks and drop the central forward into the attacking midfield as a shadow striker.  It provides a little more defensive stability.  The IWBs have less ground to cover defensively and better support the center backs.  There is still enough offensive push to keep the opposition honest and if we really need to play defensive, I can take the shadow striker off in favor of a defensive midfielder and really pack things in with six players back on defensive.

We played eight friendlies with the 3-4-3 formation.  Four at home and four on the road.  We went 1-0-3 on the road and 3-1-0 at home.  So it's not ready for primetime, in terms of every game use.  Here's the breakdown of the chances created with the formation

4 road games (similar reputation opponents): Leonesa CCC - 7, Leonesa Half Chances - 10; Opponent CCC - 6, Opponent Half Chances - 9

4 home games (weaker opponents to build confidence heading into the season): Leonesa CCC - 13, Leonesa Half Chances - 8; Opponent CCC - 1, Opponent Half Chances - 2

It really puts pressure on weaker opponents as by design.  It struggles on the road against similar competition which was also expected.

[_Ben_]

Bento as a DLF could be a masterstroke!

Just caught up on your end of season and a massive congratulations to a really good step up! Hopefully the money you're pouring into the youth facilities will mean that you'll be reaping the rewards in three to five seasons and having a multitude of talented 20 year old's and a class Qatari team!

[keeper#1]

4 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Bento as a DLF could be a masterstroke!

Just caught up on your end of season and a massive congratulations to a really good step up! Hopefully the money you're pouring into the youth facilities will mean that you'll be reaping the rewards in three to five seasons and having a multitude of talented 20 year old's and a class Qatari team!

Bonito or Bento  has the following traits: "comes deep to get ball" and "gets into opposition area" so he likes to put in the work up and down the field.  He also looks for the pass instead of looking to score.  Watching him in the open field is fun because the advanced forward knows he is going to get the ball.

[_Ben_]

10 minutes ago, keeper#1 said:

Bonito or Bento  has the following traits: "comes deep to get ball" and "gets into opposition area" so he likes to put in the work up and down the field.  He also looks for the pass instead of looking to score.  Watching him in the open field is fun because the advanced forward knows he is going to get the ball.

You know who I meant! Those are an interesting pair of traits and I guess it relies on a hardworking, and physically good, player to pull them off.

I hope he makes a good partner for Al-Shammari but does that mean Poveda is very much the weak-link?

[keeper#1]

2 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

You know who I meant! Those are an interesting pair of traits and I guess it relies on a hardworking, and physically good, player to pull them off.

I hope he makes a good partner for Al-Shammari but does that mean Poveda is very much the weak-link?

He is but he could be moving into a rotational role due to a summer signing.  

 

Edited June 13, 2020 by keeper#1

[keeper#1]

Top 10 Leonesa Prospects as of July 1, 2024

10. CM Cesar Javier Vila (16 years old - Leonesa U19s) - 6'3" 171 lbs. - Last Year: NR

Vila is a big lumbering midfielder who opens up this year's rankings in the #10 slot.  He is a prototypical ball winning central midfielder.  Big and strong to push the opposition off the ball.  Willing to put in the work and do the little things that his teammates either aren't willing to do or the things that don't appear on the scoresheet.  He is a bit on the slow side which could hinder him in doing those little things but even if he develops to have average speed, he will be a midfielder who could find a place in the first team at some point.

9. CB Barragan Cortes (19 years old - Leonesa U19s with promotion to Leonesa) - 6'3" 180 lbs. - Last Year: 7 (-2)

Cortes is one of three center backs who are getting promoted to the first team from the U19 team this season.  Cortes joined us last year from the LA Galaxy Academy and had a decent year of development as he adapted to the way we play and from moving from America to his native Spain.  He is a quick center back who is good in the air.  He, like the other three center backs, are getting promoted as we shift to a three-man backline on a full-time basis and we have a need for more center backs.  Cortes is quick, good in the air, and smart with his marking, tackling and positioning.  Needs to work on the mental side of his game before he can move from a back-up role to a rotational/starting role.

8. CB Antonio Ganzabel (18 years old - Leonesa U19s with promotion to Leonesa) - 6'6" 194 lbs. - Last Year: 10 (+2)

The second promoted center back provides us with a really different look along the back.  He is a giant at 6'6" and a 194 pounds which makes him much bigger than the rest of our center backs so it won't be hard to find a place for him along the back line.  He really doesn't have a drop off in pace for his size.  Like most kids, he needs to work on the mental side of the game but the physical and technical tools are in place for him to use in a back-up role this season.

7. GK Erhan Erol (16 years old - Leonesa U19s) - 6'2" 158 lbs. Last Year: NR

Erol has anot5. her season or two with the U19s as he needs the time with the youth team.  He is the goalkeeper with the highest potential but because of his young age he has the lowest current ability.  So, he gets the time with the U19 team to develop his game before moving to the B team or into the #3 goalkeeper/cup goalkeeper role with the first team but those are a couple years away.  He has all the tools to potentially rapidly develop with the U19 playing time.

6. GK Saleh Khalid Muftah (19 years old - Leonesa B) - 6'4" 176 lbs. Last Year: NR

Muftah was part of the 2024 youth intake and came in as 18/19 year old (can't remember which).  As a 19 year old now, he is ineligible for the U19 team and moving into the first team who take away a non-EU slot from a more deserving player so he slots into the B team as hopefully the starter.  As a very developed game for a 19 year old and could become the backup first time goalkeeper if my current backup has salary demands that are too high and I'm forced to sell.

5. LW Carlos Telletxea (17 years old - Leonesa U19s with promotion to Leonesa) 6'0" 154 lbs Last Year: NR

Telletxea fits what I am looking for on the left wing as I slowly move toward the 3-4-3 formation.  He has to work on the defensive side of his game as he is more of an attack-minded winger.  He needs to learn how to become a better defender and will train with the defensive unit this season to help aid that development.  He's fast and willing to take on the defender 1v1 which what we need as part of this transition to the 3-4-3.  When we play the 3-4-3, he will be the starter.  When we don't, the number 4 prospect will get the start.

4. LB Denis Saenz (16 years old - Leonesa U19s with promotion to Leonesa) 6'1" 149 lbs. Last Year: NR

Saenz is also part of the 2024 youth intake and is a very defensive minded wingback/winger.  He is a 16 year old who only has to work on his technical game.  He's strong physically and very smart for a 16 year old.  He could get trained with offensive unit to work on that offensive game and I could have two strong options on the left side with Telletxea.  Trying to create some positional flexibility with our players to fit the formations that we will playing going forward.

3. CB Luis Alberto Calonge (18 years old - Leonesa U19s with promotion to Leonesa) 5'11" 163 lbs. Last Year: 5 (+3)

Calonge was our biggest mover in this year's rankings.  He really had a lot of development over the season with the U19s.  He's a small center back but he could be the type of center back that could push up into the midfield and help support the attack while getting back to cover the two "holding defenders" in the back line.  A very fast and smart center back could push for a starting place by the end of the season.  That's how good he could be.

2. Agustin Perez (18 years old - Leonesa) 6'0" 165 lbs Last Year: 2 (no change)

Perez is one of the many attacking midfield/deep lying center forwards that I am trying to develop for flexibility of formation with my players.  He can play as a deep lying center forward in the 3-4-3 formation and he can play as a shadow striker in a 5-2-1-2 formation.  Perez is a true ball distributing player.  Wants to make the key pass to put the center forward in a position to score.  I have even thought about pushing him further back in the formation as an advanced playmaker but, at present, he's getting developed as another hybrid AMC/CF.

1. Sergio Bonito (18 years old - Leonesa) 5'10" 152 lbs Last Year: 1 (no change)

Bonito is the top prospect for the second year in a row.  He has been developed into a deep lying forward but, like Perez, can play as an attacking midfielder if needed.  He also likes to see other people do the scoring but also wants to get back and get the ball and bring it forward.  He is a terror to see dribbling down the field in a 1v1 situation.  He will make you pay either with a pass or with a shot.  Averaged 1.0 key pass/90 last season as a 17 year old.  He will only get better from here.  

[keeper#1]

Summer 2024 Transfers and Notes

The following three backline/defensive-minded players came in on July 1st.  All will see significant playing time this season.

A couple of weeks later, we brought another attacking midfielder/center forward from Argentina and filled our 3rd non-EU slot on the roster.

Toward the end of the transfer window.  Real Madrid stripped us of our best center midfielder.  I tacked on a next sale clause because I fully expect him to get frustrated by a lack of playing time at Real and want to move to a club that will play him more.

We went to Poland to bring a replacement that is eight years younger than Arambarri.

When scouting for new players, I found what I think is the first-ever wonderkid from the Faroe Islands playing for Inter after they bought him from Copenhagen.

Euro 2024

Champions: Germany

Runners-up: Spain

Biggest Surprise: Norway

Biggest Disappointment: Czech Republic

Match of the Tournament: Spain 2 Norway 1 - semifinal #1

[keeper#1]

August-October 2024 Update

The first couple months of the season can best be described as "get a clean sheet, win the game."  We have five wins on the season and we have clean sheets in four of them.  We got a really crappy draw with getting road trips to Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in back to back games.  We open November with a road trip to Real Madrid so that's another loss staring us in the face.  I'm proud of the 1-0 grinding wins we got after the Barcelona-Atletico double.  That could be one of those things that really saves our season when we get to the spring.  Sitting nicely just inside the playoff places.  Now, can we be in those places at the end of the season?

Al-Shammari wanted a new deal and he is still getting paid far below market value and he now has a nine-figure release clause.  He has also gone from "promising forward" to "wonderkid."  Our first wonderkid.

[keeper#1]

November-December 2024 Update

Real Madrid are running away with the league title again this season.  They pulled us apart in a 4-1 thrashing before we "bounced" back with back-to-back draws.  The concerning thing, from the first half of the season, is our inability to play tight defense.  We've gotten behind early and had to open things up which has either resulted in a tie game or we get down even further.  The one thing it hasn't done is provide us with a lot of wins.  That said, we have more wins than losses but all against lower level competition.  We are punching way above our weight this season as shown by our 6th place standing but -2 goal difference.  That is more representative of being a mid-table club not a club fighting for a European place.  Do we continue to punch above our weight or do we "regress to the mean?"

Another golden generation coming in.  Looks like that I'm finally going to get that help in the center of the midfield that I need.  Though, I am getting tired of getting my goalkeepers from Qatar.  They are potentially clogging up my non-EU slots.

[keeper#1]

January-March 2025 Update

Transfer Activity

Valencia discovered the low minimum release fee on Cortes and signed him away.  I attempted to sign him to a new contract once Valencia came in for him, initially with a low ball offer, but Valencia activated his release fee and he left for Valencia.  On paper, it's a hit to lose one of top defensive prospects but he was having a difficult time adapting to life at Leonesa and it was impacting his play on the field.  Center back is one of the few positions where I have a lot of young depth so the loss of Cortes will sting but not set us back much in the long term.

This was not what I was hoping for, in terms of the sell on fee, when Atletico finally sold Tarik Abdulaziz Kardeen.  They took a massive bath in the sale.  They bought him for 8.75 million euros and sold him for only 325k with 95k of that amount coming to me.  I was hoping for, at minimum, a seven figure sale.  But Atletico, like they have done with many of my signings, never played him in the first team.  He got only two first-team matches and scored in one of them before they "cashed in" on his sale.  He had not really developed much after he left Leonesa.  Chalk this one up as a failure for the Atletico coaching staff.

This is what can happen when I'm allowed to keep my players and develop my players.  Al-Shammari named the Asian Young Footballer of the Year.  Looks like I'll need to renegotiate his contract again the summer just to boost his release fee.

A job interview request that was quickly declined.

On the field

A couple of tactical tweaks, more on that in a future post, and we have just taken off in the last three months.  Just two losses between January and March - a 2-1 loss to Real Sociedad in the 4th round of the Copa del Rey and another 2-1 loss to Sporting Gijon.  The offense has really started to take off.  We've got a solid attacking triangle with Al-Shammari on the left side, Sergio Bonito on the right side and Elias Cabrera playing right behind them as an attacking playmaker.  Al-Shammari has been on fire with 10 goals in 15 matches.  The great run of form has seen us solidify our 6th place position.  We aren't too far away from battling for a Champions League place though if given the choice of the Champions League or Europa League, I would take the Europa League right now.  We are a little too young and experienced to face the big Champions League clubs whereas we could make some noise in the Europa League and use it as a springboard for future Champions League runs.  I like where we stand in the league.  Hopefully, we can maintain that place over the last eight matches of the season. 

[_Ben_]

2 hours ago, keeper#1 said:

This was not what I was hoping for, in terms of the sell on fee, when Atletico finally sold Tarik Abdulaziz Kardeen.  They took a massive bath in the sale.  They bought him for 8.75 million euros and sold him for only 325k with 95k of that amount coming to me.  I was hoping for, at minimum, a seven figure sale.  But Atletico, like they have done with many of my signings, never played him in the first team.  He got only two first-team matches and scored in one of them before they "cashed in" on his sale.  He had not really developed much after he left Leonesa.  Chalk this one up as a failure for the Atletico coaching staff.

This is terrible!

Have they had many changes in management since he was signed? Has he developed much over that time?

I don't think I've ever signed a player for that much and just given up on him!

[keeper#1]

1 hour ago, _Ben_ said:

This is terrible!

Have they had many changes in management since he was signed? Has he developed much over that time?

I don't think I've ever signed a player for that much and just given up on him!

I just logged off from FM so I can step out and grab dinner.  I'll take a look when I log on again.  I don't think he developed a lot.  He just sat in the B team for years.

[keeper#1]

2 hours ago, keeper#1 said:

3 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

This is terrible!

Have they had many changes in management since he was signed? Has he developed much over that time?

I don't think I've ever signed a player for that much and just given up on him!

I just logged off from FM so I can step out and grab dinner.  I'll take a look when I log on again.  I don't think he developed a lot.  He just sat in the B team for years.

Here we go.

This is Tarik when he joined Leonesa as a youth player.

Primarily a ball-winning midfielder.  Had one trait: runs with ball through center.  Leonesa DNA attributes: Anticipation - 11, Composure - 9, Concentration - 9, Decisions - 16, Determination - 9

Balanced personality.

Now, here's what he looks like at Marseille.

Played 38 matches for Atletico Madrid B team and three matches for the Atletico Madrid first team before moving to Marseille.

Still a balanced personality.

Leonesa DNA attributes: Anticipation - 14-16 (+3-5), Composure - 8-11 (anywhere from -1 to +2), Concentration - 10-13 (+1-4), Decisions - 16-18 (0-+2), Determination - 10 (+1)

His best increase was in anticipation and concentration but everything else stay relatively flat.  His passing did not improve.  His tackling did not improve.  His marking improved slightly.  Most physical attributed increased.  

Don't know why Atletico Madrid let him waste away in the B team for 3+ seasons.

 

[keeper#1]

2025 Youth Intake

2024 One Year Later

One year late and we have a class that showed a lot of improvement (just over 10%).  One player spent the season with the first team: Carlos Telletxea and he showed 17.5% improvement in the club DNA over the course of the season.  Three players, Muftah, Al-Amarri and Diop, spent the year with the B team or on loan.  Al-Amarri had the best improvement even with his high floor.  Muftah did not have a lot of improvement but he had a very high floor.  Diop showed averaged improvement.  The rest of the group spent the year with the U19 team and all had varying degrees of improvement.

2025 Intake

 

Another golden generation highlighted by another left back and a pair of Qatari internationals.  Al-Ansari could help us in the midfield next season but I will need to clear a non-EU slot for him.  The back-up goalkeeper who is eating up the 3rd non-EU slot is the most likely candidate to move.  Some MLS clubs sniffed around for him during the winter window but he did not want to leave.  Now, he will be forced out the door.  Behind those three players is a couple more young Spanish defenders.  Not a lot of offense in this intake but our offense, right now, is looking as good as it ever has been.

The positional DNA shows that we have a great incoming goalkeeper in Al-Yahri, the midfield gets a boost from Al-Ansari, and Valenzuela (our first 'model citizen') comes in to provide support to the backline.

LB Luis Fernando: A slow-footed wing player who is more of a "stay-at-home" fullback than the wingbacks that we use in our formations.  He's tall at 6'1" so a move into the center of the backline could be made.  He is a very smart and determined player.  I will find a place for him in our formations.  He has the skills to play for us.  Just may take a bit longer for him to move him if I switch his position.

CM Khalid Al-Ansari: A very smart center midfielder.  Will likely go straight from the youth team to the first team when the 2025-26 season starts.  Not the greatest passer but he makes for it with a solid long shot, decision making, and determination ratings.  Very smart player.  Looking forward to having him in the first team next season.

GK Ali Awad Al-Yahri: Getting a decent Qatari goalkeeper in just about every intake is killing him.  Al-Yahri is a ready made back-up goalkeeper for the first team but if I put him there and I'm wasting a non-EU spot on a back-up keeper again.  Al-Yahri will likely go into the B team right away and start there or, hopefully, get loaned out to the La LIga 123 club for the 2025-26 season until I can find a spot for him in the first team.

CB Adrian Valenzuela: Valenzuela will get some time to develop with the U19 team before he becomes part of the first team at Leonesa.  A mountain of man at 6'5" and 182 lbs.  With that size comes a lack of speed which doesn't jibe with the high line which we use.  I always have a place in the team for a model citizen even if that place is as a back-up as he learns the game.

LB Rodrigo: Another left back to add to our collection.  Rodrigo is more of wingback type of fullback which fits the way that we try to play.  Rodrigo will get to spend some time to develop his game with the U19 team before he gets the call to the first team in a couple of seasons.

Four players in the top ten, six in the top twelve and seven in the top 15.  After that, no one else from this intake cracked the top 30.

[karanhsingh]

6 hours ago, keeper#1 said:

I just logged off from FM so I can step out and grab dinner.  I'll take a look when I log on again.  I don't think he developed a lot.  He just sat in the B team for years.

Big teams do this a lot to be honest. They'll sign really young players who will proceed to rot in their reserves and then move them on after they give up on them. 

Anyhow you are getting some solid intakes there! Very good progress. 

I may also borrow your top 10 youngsters format for my thread if that's okay 

[_Ben_]

8 hours ago, keeper#1 said:

Don't know why Atletico Madrid let him waste away in the B team for 3+ seasons.

I guess that it's the old 'if we have them, nobody else can do' approach!

---

How are you finding constantly producing top Qatari newgens? I guess you are treading carefully along the lines of realism here (well, 2020 realism as I can't name a single Qatari international in world football) but then again, all the infrastructure may come good in the future. 

[WillHoward42]

Just read through, really good progress.

Don't think I've seen someone get such high quality youth intakes on such a constant cycle!

[keeper#1]

5 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

I guess that it's the old 'if we have them, nobody else can do' approach!

---

How are you finding constantly producing top Qatari newgens? I guess you are treading carefully along the lines of realism here (well, 2020 realism as I can't name a single Qatari international in world football) but then again, all the infrastructure may come good in the future. 

Getting top Qatari newgens was easy at first because they were better than any other non-EU option that wanted to play for me so I could fill those non-EU slots.  Now, it's getting hard.  I only have three non-EU slots.  One is being used on Al-Shammari, obviously, the second is used on Saqr Al-Thani, who is our backup keeper.  The last slot is used on Elias Cabrera from Argentina.

In general, Qatar is turning out good second division talent.  I've got another three or four Qataris sitting in the B-team because I can't put them in the first team.  It's a hard juggling act right now.

Looking further at Atletico, Rodri, who was the first talent they bought from me, has finally cracked the first team after 4+ years with the U19s and B Team.

10 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Big teams do this a lot to be honest. They'll sign really young players who will proceed to rot in their reserves and then move them on after they give up on them. 

Anyhow you are getting some solid intakes there! Very good progress. 

I may also borrow your top 10 youngsters format for my thread if that's okay 

Go right ahead

4 hours ago, WillHoward42 said:

Just read through, really good progress.

Don't think I've seen someone get such high quality youth intakes on such a constant cycle!

Thanks to Atletico blowing money on players that they never use, I've been able to upgrade the facilities almost every season.  So, each intake has been better than the last which gives it the "golden generation" tag.  I expect that to slow down in the next few years as the facilities get maxed out.

[keeper#1]

2024-25 End of Season Update

Another solid month in April with no lost game as the formation was really clicking.  May was a different story.  A "good" 1-0 loss to Barcelona but we rebounded with a 4-0 win over relegation candidate Getafe before limping down the stretch with a pair of losses.  When everything was said and done, we finished in 5th place and earned a trip to the Europa League for the 2025-26 season which is really big achievement in just our second season of La Liga play.  We could have pushed Bilbao for the final Champions League slot but we faded down the stretch and they were able to gap us in those last two games.

Our player of the season, by far, was the "unpredictable striker" Jamal Al-Shammari.  He led the team with 23 goals in all competitions and finish in a tie with Haaland with 20 goals in La Liga play.  Haaland pipped him for the Golden Boot due to the "fewer minutes" play tiebreaker.  Al-Shammari got a whopping 69% of his shots on target and led the team with 77 shots on target so he had a personal goal conversion rate of 29.8%.  We finally got some assists from the middle of park.  Attacking midfielder Elias Cabrera led the team with 13 assists while Sergio Bonito was right behind with 10 assists.  That's 23 assists coming from the other two legs of our attacking triangle.  Cabrera and Bonito set Al-Shammari up and Al-Shammari knocks them in.  Defensively, we struggled a bit more this year.  We aren't strong in the air.  Add in a little bit of youth and we can pull apart if we aren't careful.  We tightened up in the second half of the season.  We allowed 25 goals in the first half of the season while allowing just 19 in the second half.  Cut that total to less than a goal per game and we could push hard for those Champions League places.

Two of our youngsters (one internal and one external) were named to the Spain U-21 team for the upcoming UEFA U-21 Championships.  Not too bad for our tiny club.

I saw this coming as soon as they came in to sign him.  He's just not good enough to get the playing time he wants at Real Madrid.  I knew he would get pissy and ask to leave.  But I'm not paying 20.5 million to bring him back to Leonesa.

This is the formation that we settled on and started to run through the league.  The formation started with the middle of the three center backs pushed ahead of the flanking center backs.  The problem that arose was the center forward would get behind the middle center back and the two flanking center backs were too wide to deal with him which led to a lot of 1v1s on the goalkeeper.  I switched the middle center back from a stopper role to a cover role in hopes of that solving the center forward getting behind the line easily.  The center forward had a harder time breaking free because the middle center back would mark him longer which reduced the 1v1s.

The inverted wingbacks stayed as is.  The next change was the in the center of the midfield.  The right side featured a deep lying playmaker on a defend role.  I switched to a roaming playmaker on a support role.  This allowed the playmaker to flow toward the ball which created some overload situations on one side of the pitch allowing the inverted wingback to run free down the weak side and set up a cross or pass into the advanced playmaker at the base of the inverted attacking triangle at the top of the formation.  The left-side center midfielder went from a central midfielder to mezzela.  This gave the roaming playmaker another short option along with the advanced playmaker and created a playmaking triangle as the ball moved up the field. 

The roles for the two forwards did not change but the changes behind them created better service to them which led to more goals.

New stadium in the works.  I'll be interested in learning its size and how much the loan repayments will be once it gets build.

[karanhsingh]

How do the IWBs work in that system, I would have thought you'd use them to provide some width. Looks interesting. 

Excellent season there in any case! 

[keeper#1]

They get wide with the overlap left and right instructions.  They don't get all the way out to the sidelines but they do get wide enough to drag the opposing fullbacks out wide to provide gaps for the supporting midfielders and center forwards to exploit.

[karanhsingh]

3 hours ago, keeper#1 said:

They get wide with the overlap left and right instructions.  They don't get all the way out to the sidelines but they do get wide enough to drag the opposing fullbacks out wide to provide gaps for the supporting midfielders and center forwards to exploit.

Interesting  KUTGW

[keeper#1]

Top 10 Prospects as July 1, 2025

10. GK Ertan Erol (17 years old - Leonesa U19s promoted to Leonesa) 6'2" 167 lbs. Last Year: 7 (-3)

Ertan Erol, brought from France a couple of seasons ago, will get promoted to the first team when the season ticks over to the 2025-26 season.  He's getting promoted because, with the addition of midfielder Khalid Al-Ansari to the first team, I need to use all three non-EU slots on field players.  So, Saqi Al-Thani is getting shipped out.  The third string keeper, Mor Faye, is getting promoted to the back up and Erol moves up to the 3rd string keeper role with availability for U19 matches as well.  Erol will get some valuable experience training with the first team while getting a game or two in the Copa del Rey.  A great future talent.

9. CB Hassan Al-Amarri (18 years old - Leonesa B) 6'3" 178 lbs. Last Year: NR

 

The center back train continues with Hassan Al-Amarri coming into the rankings at the number 9 slot.  Al-Amarri spent last season on loan at Real Murica and had a good loan spell there.  As a Qatari citizen, he's good enough to play in the first team for somebody but just not for us.  He's one of those 2nd or 3rd tier players who would have a slot on our first team in a back-up role but has to either sit in our B team or loaned out to get first team experience.  He is the perfect example, @_Ben_ of the non-EU players that I have to juggle and can't find room for in our first team.

8. CM Cesar Javier Vila (17 years old - Leonesa U19s) 6'3" 174 lbs. Last Year: 10 (+2)

Vila is slowly working his way up the prospect rankings as he moves from 10th in 2024 to 8th in this year's edition.  Our midfield is very crowded so he will get another year with the U19s before a likely promotion to the first team next season.  He is a good all around midfielder with good marking abilities and willing his to do anything to help the team.  Needs to work getting faster.  The two midfielders, in my system, need to cover a lot of ground and a lot of ground quickly.

7. GK Ali Amad Al-Yahri (19 years old - Leonesa B) 6'3" 171 lbs Last Year: NR

Al-Yahri could easily push for a spot in the first team but because of the non-EU rules, he will have to spend his first full season with Leonesa in the B team or out on loan.  He has the potential to become our starting goalkeeper as well as the starting goalkeeper for Qatar.  Good ball handler, commands the box, makes good decisions.  Has all of the key attributes that I look for in goalkeeper but no place to put him in our first team roster.

6. CM Khalid Al-Ansari (19 years old - Leonesa) 5'6" 141 lbs. Last Year: NR

Al-Ansari takes the third non-EU slot for Leonesa this season.  He is a small but complete midfielder at just 19 years old.  Al-Ansari has tons of potential to go with his current ability.  He will enter the first team as rotation option in the midfield since we have European matches to deal with the first time in addition to the 38 La Liga games.  He will get plenty of playing time to grow into the position and, hopefully, become a starting midfielder in the future.

5. LB Denis Saenz (18 years old - Leonesa U19s) 6'1" 158 lbs. Last Year: 4 (-1)

Saenz is part of the logjam at left back.  I'm trying to ease some of this congestion by training one of the many left backs in the system at the right back position.  Saenz could be that player since he is adept at playing with both feet.  He is a tall wingback which will cause matchup problems with opposing wingers.  Given his lack of pace, he could also slide inside as well.  A very versatile defender who, due to his position, is stuck in the U19s for another season.

4. LB Luis Fernando (16 years old - Leonesa U19s) 6'1" 158 lbs Last Year: NR

I can't have enough left backs apparently.  Fernando is the fourth left back to come through the youth system in the last two years.  Fernando could also see some time training as a right back to help ease the left back congestion.  A good defender who is smart on the ball and willing to make a tackle.  Another player will get to spend some time with the U19s before getting a promotion to the first team.

3. LB Carlos Telletxea (18 years old - Leonesa) 6'0" 158 lbs Last Year: 5 (+2)

Telletxea is the best left back in the system but is the weakest defender of the group.  But is the best attacker of the group.  He got lots of first team time against weaker competition and when we need to push forward to score a game-tying or game-winning goal.  If he could improve his defensive game, he could be an every game left back for us for a long time.  Will he develop that defensive game? Only time will tell.

2. AM/CF Agustin Perez (19 years old - Leonesa) 6'0" 169 lbs Last Year: 2 (NC)

Perez got 16 first team appearances last season.  Eight as a starter and eight off the bench.  He scored two goals and provided zero assists from the advanced playmaker role.  The goals were a bonus but I would have liked to have gotten some assists from him.  Right now, he is a solid bench option and spot starter in that playmaker role.  If he could make some more key passes that lead to assists, he could get some more playing time.  Until that happens, he will be in that bench/spot starter role.

1. AM/CF Sergio Bonito (18 years old - Leonesa) 5'10 156 lbs. Last Year: 1 (NC)

Bonito was an every game starter for us last season and got 34 starts in league play.  He rewarded us with nine goals and nine assists from the deep lying forward role.  Not too bad for someone who was re-trained for the position.  The nice thing about Bonito is that he will only get better since he is already a La Liga starter at just 18 years old.  He got called up to play with the Spain U21s at the UEFA U21 Championship so he is on the path to becoming our first Spanish national team player in a few seasons if he is still with us when that happens.

 

[keeper#1]

August-September 2025 Update

Sorry for the delay in updates, my work came back to life on Monday and everything promptly **** the bed so I've had very little FM time in the last 48 hours.  But I'm here with an early season update Leonesa update.

Al-Shammeri enters the season as one of the odds-on favorites to win the Golden Boot in Spain.  He finished tied with Haaland last season with 20 goals but Haaland took the title on the "fewer minutes played" tiebreaker.

We got off to a slow start as always because I struggle to figure how and where the new players (both transfers and academy promotions) fit into the team which leads to a lot of rotation and subsequently choppy play.  We started to right the ship after the September international break as the defense started to tighten up.  Al-Shammeri has started slowly as well.  He was unsettled by the big name German clubs (Schalke, Dortmund, etc.) interested in his services but they never came forward with an offer.  After the transfer window, he still doesn't want to sign a new contract (but he's signed through '29) so I have plenty of time to sell him or improve the club's standing to where he wants to resign with us.  

The Europa League draw looks tough but we breezed through the first match against Dinamo Zagreb without much trouble and then found a way to topple Club Brugge in Matchday Two.  This put us in the qualification places along with Hoffenheim.  Matchdays Three and Four will determine if we will have to battle Zagreb and Brugge for the 2nd qualification place or if we will cruise into the knockout stages.

This is why I put a next sale clause on Armabarri's transfer to Real Madrid.  I knew he wouldn't be happy there and would want out.  He wanted out after just one season and got his wish.  I got an extra three million euros in transfer fees.

[keeper#1]

October-December 2025 Update

I got to spend NINE hours on hold with Disney yesterday so what do you do when you spend that amount of time on hold, you play A LOT of FM.  I'm all the way into early February but I'll just update through the end of the calendar year.

A lot of matches where a whole lot of nothing occurred.  A lot of player rotation due to the European matches and then the addition of the Copa del Rey at the end of the year.  November was the best month as we went through that month without a loss but had four draws.  The rotation is placing a toll on our ability to generate a consistent offensive attack.  Averaging just over a goal per game and allowing just over a goal per game.  Though Real Madrid and Barcelona account for nine of those 20 goals.  This puts us at a much more respectable 11 goals allowed in 16 matches (.69/game).  But the offense is still lacking to my liking.

We did better than expected in the Europa League.  I was fully expecting a third place finish behind Club Brugge but a 2-0 victory over them in Matchday Two was enough to see us through as the 2nd place team.  In the First Knockout Round, we will face FC Porto.  A very tough ask.

Al-Shammari continues to rake in the awards.

Another golden generation appears to incoming when March rolls around.

[karanhsingh]

9 hours  not sure I wanna ask what for!

Solid form there and the intake sounds very promising

[keeper#1]

On 27/06/2020 at 01:24, karanhsingh said:

9 hours  not sure I wanna ask what for!

Solid form there and the intake sounds very promising

I work as a travel planner.  On Wednesday, Disney announced that 2021 Walt Disney World packages were available.  Phone lines opened at 8:20 am (eastern US time).  Phone system crashed at 8:25 am.  When it reopened, those would could get through were left with long hold times.  A lot of clients are moving their 2020 reservations to 2021 and the only way you could do it was by calling in.  

This week has sucked big time for me which has led to the lack of updates.

[karanhsingh]

2 hours ago, keeper#1 said:

I work as a travel planner.  On Wednesday, Disney announced that 2021 Walt Disney World packages were available.  Phone lines opened at 8:20 am (eastern US time).  Phone system crashed at 8:25 am.  When it reopened, those would could get through were left with long hold times.  A lot of clients are moving their 2020 reservations to 2021 and the only way you could do it was by calling in.  

This week has sucked big time for me which has led to the lack of updates.

I can imagine! Real life getting in the way of my FM time as well since the past week or so. Look forward to your next update. 

[keeper#1]

2026 Youth Intake Day

As always, we start the youth intake post by taking a look back at last year's class.  The 2025 class had no personality changes which is disappointing because there are a few poor personalities in the group.  It's also a good thing because none of the great personalities got "downgraded" as they spent a year with the club.  Al-Ansari is the biggest disappointment for me, this season, he has spent the entire season with the first team to help his development and he hasn't really developed.  A few of the players have really developed and will likely see some first team time next season.  My B team needs to start pulling it's weight and move up the unseen divisions so they can upgrade from semi-pro to professional status.

This year's class is a significant step back from the past few intakes.  The club DNA is down around 2023/2024 levels.  Those players, that are ready, are at positions where I have a back log of talent.  I got ANOTHER quality Qatari goalkeeper because the ones that I received in 2024 and 2025 weren't enough.  I, now, have three Qatari goalkeepers who could all take the back-up or even starting goalkeeper slot....if I had a non-EU slot to use for them.  Right now, they are loaned out at third-tier clubs so they can get playing time and aid their development but they are first time ready.

Prendes is a player worth keeping an eye on.  He could fill a center forward-attacking midfielder hybrid role to provide me with some positional flexibility.  Mohammedi is another Qatari player who could push for a first team place but needs some seasoning out on loan before I can bring him back into the first team fold.

The top 30 rankings is proof that this class is not up to the standards that the previous classes have set.  No players in the top 15 (highest ranked player is 16th) and only four players in the top 30.  Not expecting a lot from this group but they could surprise.

Al-Shmmari is the best player from this year's intake but even with that status, he won't go straight into the first team.  He has some developing to do.  His mentals are good but needs to work on his distribution from the back and setting up our offense.  Will likely spent the 2026-27 season out on loan with a second or third division club.

Prendes is a tiny attacking midfielder-center forward hybrid.  I don't think he could handle dropping deeper into the formation where his lack of size and physicality would be exposed.  At the top of the formation, he could use his pace to run around defenders so he will get trained as a false nine/deep lying forward forward as his game grows during a season with the U19s.

Mohammed is a pacy winger who wants to run past his opposing full back.  He fills a couple of needs for the club: 1) he can beat his marker 1v1 (something we need as we transition to a more "open" forward as teams pack the box against us) and 2) he is a solid free kick taker something that the team desperately needs.  All that said, he is still very raw and will need some time out on loan to aid in his development.

Herraro is a very raw central defender who will need a few years of seasoning before reaching the first team.  He's not very tall, not very fast, but he is very smart and makes good decisions on the ball.  This good decision making will serve him well even if he doesn't develop as expected.  His decision making could make him, at worst, a solid back-up/injury fill-in for the club.

Guyeye is a left-sided blazer with lots of upside.  A good crosser of the ball something else that the club needs as our crossing has been poor over the last couple of seasons.  Needs to work on the mental side of his game and that alone will earn him a couple of seasons with the U19s.

[keeper#1]

2025-26 End of Season Review

Sorry for the lack of updates.  My work as a travel planner crashed hard in March when everything basically shut down.  It started to pick up last week with Walt Disney World finally announcing their re-opening plan which led to my workload going from 0-60 as fast as it went from 60-0.  I spent nine straight hours on hold one day when Disney's travel agent website completely **** the bed.  I was able to get a lot of FM time in while on hold but it sucked a lot of energy out of me so...no updates until I finished the season.

We came out of the short winter break strong before things started to completely come apart in February with four straight losses which included us getting knocked out of the Europa League by Porto.  March and the first part of April wasn't much better.  Things improved when I made a big tactical shift and took another swing at an Anson Dorrance-style formation.  Not quite the 3-4-3 that he played with North Carolina and with the USWNT but more of a 4-3-3.  We closed the season undefeated in our last six games including five wins and a 4-1 win over Atletico Madrid.

The hallmark of the new formation.  Pressure and lots of it.  Squeeze the opposition back into their half of the field where we can take the ball and get easier chances.  When we build from the back, we want to run at the defense and force them to play us one-on-one.  We, finally, have the horses to attack the opposition.  It's time to take advantage of that situation.  In possession, the half back drops back with the two center back and the IWBs push up to support the central midfielders which creates a 3-4-3 in attack and a more compact 4-1-4-1 in defense.

Our six match unbeaten run to end the season was enough to push us into the Champions League places for the 2026-27 season as we pipped Villarreal for the fourth place slot.  But as you can see with the goals scored and goals against, there are things that we need to improve on both sides of the ball.  We had a big dip in our offense though our defense did improve slightly.  Our conversion rate dropped by around 4% from last season.  It's still a big gap between us and the big three of Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid.

Key team statistics:

Possession: 57% (2nd)

Goals Scored: 49 (8th) - down 8 from last season

Chances Created: 99 (2nd) - up 13 from last season

Conversion Rate: 10% (7th) - down 4% from last season

Passes Completed: 21,394 (1st)

Completion Percentage: 89% (6th)

Shots on Target: 246 (T7th)

Shots on Target %: 51% (4th)

Goal Conceded: 40 (T7th) - 4 fewer than last season

Tackles Won: 87% (3rd)

U19 Team

It was a great season for our U19 team with a runner-up finish in league play and a semi-final run in the Youth Copa del Rey

 

New Stadium

We will be playing in a new stadium for the 2029-30 season and have a sizable debt to pay down to show for it.