Ajax/Lisbon/Celtic//Shakhtar Type Saves

[scwiffy]

 

I'm once again thinking of ditching my save this year of a top European club in a small nation. And wanted to get some advice from people who enjoy playing with these type of clubs

The reason for me ditching (once again) is the inability to compete financially against European clubs in bigger/more reputable leagues. This year at Sporting Lisbon, won the Euro cup start a new season with 20million which admittedly isn't to be dismissed, I bought two half-decent Champions League quality players after a few sales. But the biggest barrier is wages, I can't sign many of the players I wanted due to their bigger contracts at clubs in bigger leagues. I can't even get my start player (Fernandes) to sign a new contract at around 100-130k as a star player. This is also compounded by other contract renewals, players now asking for bigger salaries as "squad players" which then has a knock on effect across the whole team, everyone asking for the same amount, 50k - previously a wage of a top player at the club. Now I'm struggling to even beat teams domestically, whether they sit back and stubbornly defend or surprise me with much more attacking football than expected. I just can't see where its all going for me now.

ANYWAY. I just wanted to get some advice/opinions from the many people who clearly enjoy playing with these teams or enjoy these saves, for me I just find it frustrating, it seems being in a smaller rep league means you just can never compete financially in Europe, it just boils down to a development save but then "bigger" clubs poach your most promising players - to be expected but so frustrating after being patent with them to get them where you want. Now I'm going back to my tried and tested save in a decent rep league (England/Spain/Germany/Italy/France), where the potential to grow the club doesn't feel limited in anyway. So wheres the fun with these other type of teams???

Edited May 19, 2020 by scwiffy

[metallimuse]

I've encountered the 'glass ceiling effect' myself in my career thread.

Trying to sign Champions League quality players to take us to the next level is impossible despite taking the SPFL into the top 7 spots in Europe. 

I suppose it's realistic but it can prove frustrating and I nearly jacked the save in but I went off and played about with different saves before coming back to the Motherwell save, altering my tactics slightly and then making it to the Europa League final.

I've now sold off my star foreign imports and I'm going back to the drawing board and going to bring through some kids from home while scouting abroad for young players with great potential and having another tilt at Champions League glory in the next 5-10 years but after that I think it will be the death of the save.

 

I think the joy of the save for these nations is not going one of the big boys like you've mentioned but taking maybe mid level or lower league team up and usurping the big boys in the nation and then becoming established in Europe. For me on FM21 (before world events took effect) my thoughts were to do this type of save but to give it even more longevity I was going to take a third division club up and take them into the European arena.

[scwiffy]

44 minutes ago, metallimuse said:

I think the joy of the save for these nations is not going one of the big boys like you've mentioned but taking maybe mid level or lower league team up and usurping the big boys in the nation and then becoming established in Europe. For me on FM21 (before world events took effect) my thoughts were to do this type of save but to give it even more longevity I was going to take a third division club up and take them into the European arena.

Okay I can see the fun in that.

There seems to be swarms of FM managers who love an Ajax save, I'd love to get their take on it. 

[metallimuse]

5 hours ago, scwiffy said:

There seems to be swarms of FM managers who love an Ajax save, I'd love to get their take on it. 

I may be wrong but I think the fun in that particular save is to have a mainly youth save and try to achieve champions league glory due to their history of having such a strong youth academy who could compete in Europe up until the mid nineties.

[latrell]

Shakhtar Donetsk is a brilliant save Brazilian take over snm  

[scwiffy]

10 hours ago, dnomz said:

Saves where you are the national dominant team (e.g. Ajax) tend to get boring fast cause you only really have on goal which is winning the Champions League. Once you are eliminated you basically sit through the season bored.

Yeah thats how I feel, once I'm eliminated especially if its early in the competition, it basically just turns into a season long wait till next year. Not that the domestic teams don't offer any stern resistance, they can make it very challenging, but if you don't win the league then its basically a failure! 

I don't know maybe I'm just going about those types of saves all wrong? I play on FMT so not sure of the lack of engagement with training and minor details plays a part?

10 hours ago, dnomz said:

I've had many go's at Ajax and Red Star Belgrade. I've now settled with a 3. Liga team. Much more fun since you need every single point in your goal to promote and ultimately qualify & win the CL. By the time you reach the 1. Bundesliga and qualify CL you should have enough experience to pull it off.

Yeah thats why I usually play in the "bigger" leagues, you just never feel like you hit a glass ceiling as the domestic prize money and sponsorship is so much more accommodating for wages and thus improving your team.

[LetsNotScoreGoals]

17 hours ago, metallimuse said:

I've encountered the 'glass ceiling effect' myself in my career thread.

Trying to sign Champions League quality players to take us to the next level is impossible despite taking the SPFL into the top 7 spots in Europe. 

I suppose it's realistic but it can prove frustrating and I nearly jacked the save in but I went off and played about with different saves before coming back to the Motherwell save, altering my tactics slightly and then making it to the Europa League final.

I've now sold off my star foreign imports and I'm going back to the drawing board and going to bring through some kids from home while scouting abroad for young players with great potential and having another tilt at Champions League glory in the next 5-10 years but after that I think it will be the death of the save.

 

I think the joy of the save for these nations is not going one of the big boys like you've mentioned but taking maybe mid level or lower league team up and usurping the big boys in the nation and then becoming established in Europe. For me on FM21 (before world events took effect) my thoughts were to do this type of save but to give it even more longevity I was going to take a third division club up and take them into the European arena.

Hey, I'm curious. Is it possible to just grab a bunch of wonderkids from some cheap nations and try to beat the Champion's League before someone else steals them away? I'm on a Bundesliga save and I realised most of my players are young dudes I stop from poorer nations and by the time their wages and value goes up, I've established myself properly and I could deal with their subsequent contract demands.

Just a stick of measure, I was bottom third in total wages before I won the CL, afterwards I'm 5th from the top.

Wonder if I could adopt this method when I got for a smaller nation.

[metallimuse]

37 minutes ago, LetsNotScoreGoals said:

Hey, I'm curious. Is it possible to just grab a bunch of wonderkids from some cheap nations and try to beat the Champion's League before someone else steals them away? I'm on a Bundesliga save and I realised most of my players are young dudes I stop from poorer nations and by the time their wages and value goes up, I've established myself properly and I could deal with their subsequent contract demands.

Just a stick of measure, I was bottom third in total wages before I won the CL, afterwards I'm 5th from the top.

Wonder if I could adopt this method when I got for a smaller nation.

Depends what you mean by ‘wonderkids’?

Trying to sign a player the game currently lists as a wonderkid will prove difficult as a team from a small nation, not impossible.

I’ve had good success with bringing in quality young players and selling them on to champions league winning teams, three have even been described as ‘wonderkids’ after a year of playing for my team.

 

[yolixeya]

31 minutes ago, metallimuse said:

Depends what you mean by ‘wonderkids’?

Trying to sign a player the game currently lists as a wonderkid will prove difficult as a team from a small nation, not impossible.

I’ve had good success with bringing in quality young players and selling them on to champions league winning teams, three have even been described as ‘wonderkids’ after a year of playing for my team.

 

Yes, being decscribed wonderkid just means that player has a high reputation for his age. You can sometimes sign a player that isn't described wonderkid yet even though he has a greater potential then some players who are described like that.

1 hour ago, LetsNotScoreGoals said:

Hey, I'm curious. Is it possible to just grab a bunch of wonderkids from some cheap nations and try to beat the Champion's League before someone else steals them away?

It is possible. I recently interacted with someone on forum who won CL with some club from Romania by bringing prospects from Balkan and South America.

Edited May 20, 2020 by yolixeya

[Garrlor]

O-zil has a Benfica thread on the tactics forum (albeit on FM18), one of the things he does is cultivate a professional team that won't throw the toys out of the pram if they arent sold to a bigger team. When it comes time to sell them, he makes sure that the fee is as high as he can get, but importantly he spreads most, if not all of it out across 3 years. This creates a revenue stream that keeps coming into the club over time, increasing cash reserves and therefore slowly increasing wages available to players. The key is, playing a so called "weaker" league - youth is king. Agressively scout them young, develop them with quality training and sell them at the right time for pots of money. The more professional you can make them the easier it is to keep them away from the big clubs once they are a champions league winning team.

As your team gets better and goes further in the CL the higher the wages you can pay and the easier it is to attract the one player that can complete the team.

[Grifty]

It's a case of slowly building your squad to be able to compete. Become the feeder club for the big teams. Find the youth players from whichever country you are in + Brazil, Argentina, Serbia, etc, develop them and sell them for big bucks.

 

[stuartsbfc]

I think everyone enjoys FM in different ways, I have never really enjoyed playing in the "Top 6" European leagues, I've always tended to play in the minor leagues I always have a Shahkter Soligorsk save, I'm on my 6th season and just won the Euro Cup 2. Slowly building the rep of the Belarus league and while getting stronger in Europe myself I try and feed the rest of the league the players I sell to boost them and the league. 

 

It's about building slowly with minor teams/leagues. I try and get players in really young 17/18, firstly to gain Home Grown Status, and the talent in Belarus is poor lol and secondly, tie them to a long contract when they are 21/22 on a fair wage. takes them to their peak 26/27 where I either sell because can't afford their wages or they've helped me progress to next level.