[FM21/22] La Liga - the home of Spanish football

[Ronaldo Beckham]

5 minutes ago, warlock said:

Boards, eh?  Looks like a pretty good season to me, and only a couple of wins away from a European spot.

Good luck next time!

Cheers buddy. I also made £60m profit in the transfer window so you would think the board would be happier with me 

I plan to make the unappreciative board happier next season.

[Jogo Bonito]

15 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Cheers buddy. I also made £60m profit in the transfer window so you would think the board would be happier with me 

I plan to make the unappreciative board happier next season.

Miserable lot aren't they. Perhaps somebody stole their San Miguel? 8th is a decent finish, a Cup win is impressive, and £60m profit is fantastic. Good job in my opinion.

Betis of the year just gone would have given you Emerson & Firpo, a fine pair of full-backs. I guess you were on a new database though?

Nsame is a really good striker who I managed at Young Boys for several seasons a few versions back. He has improved IRL since then too, and has been a reliable marksman for a while (Celtic were amongst the keen parties this year before he got injured). A little bit of a controversial history which we should not go in to but I've read his take on it and it may not be exactly as portrayed.

Interesting fact for you RB: He was on trial at Walsall a few years ago, but they terminated it early after the aforementioned incident was discovered. Not so much because of the incident, more that it had not been disclosed by player & agent.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Miserable lot aren't they. Perhaps somebody stole their San Miguel? 8th is a decent finish, a Cup win is impressive, and £60m profit is fantastic. Good job in my opinion.

Betis of the year just gone would have given you Emerson & Firpo, a fine pair of full-backs. I guess you were on a new database though?

Nsame is a really good striker who I managed at Young Boys for several seasons a few versions back. He has improved IRL since then too, and has been a reliable marksman for a while (Celtic were amongst the keen parties this year before he got injured). A little bit of a controversial history which we should not go in to but I've read his take on it and it may not be exactly as portrayed.

Interesting fact for you RB: He was on trial at Walsall a few years ago, but they terminated it early after the aforementioned incident was discovered. Not so much because of the incident, more that it had not been disclosed by player & agent.

Oh man that sucks, Imagine a strike partnership at Walsall last season of Adebayo & Nsame up front. That would of been amazing. I bet Walsall are kicking themselves now.

Yeah Nsame has been really good for me. I am hoping he steps up and scores more goals this season.

I have got an update to date database so no Firpo or Emerson.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Nsame really is hitting his stride now. He has 17 goals in 21 game already for the season. 

[warlock]

Malaga FC, November 2021

I had intended to post an update at the close of the transfer window, but our transfer business was so disappointing that I wasn't sure I'd continue the save. In the event, I've been plodding on to see if things might take a turn for the better.

Transfers

We went into the window with a budget of around £6m; now in November we have a remaining budget of... £6m. The scouting team turned up very few targets and they fell into two camps: the ones that didn't look like improvements; and the ones that wouldn't even talk to us. Before the end of the 20/21 season I had a couple of deals arranged. As an upgrade at GK I signed Antonia Sivera on a free from Alaves, and a young prospect at CB in Real Madrid's Victor Chust. After renewing the loan of leading striker Caye Quintana, I also opted to make two of last season's loans permanent - Yanis Rahmani joined for £500k from Almeria, and Cristian Rodriguez joined from Extramadura for £1.4m. We also made two loans from Barcelona's B team in LB Miranda, and DLP Monchu.

Even with those 7 signings the squad was extremely thin, so I also renewed the loan of winger Joaquin from Huesca and, desperate for a decent alternative to Quintana up front, brought in Dan N'Lundulu from Southampton, also on loan. Our final signing came after the window closed, forced on us by a long-term injury to our young star David Larrubia. Hussain Touati is a 20-year-old winger previously on the books at PSG and was signed on a free transfer.

Early form

In addition to the problems in improving the squad, we also suffered from backroom unrest, driven by the usual demands for new contracts after promotion. Most were reasonable and deals were done, but two players (both highly influential) reached meltdown. DM Escassi is 32 and wanted a new deal. A one-year extension at a higher salary would have been manageable but his agent wouldn't contemplate anything less than a 3-year contract, which the board wouldn't sanction. Wideman Jairo wanted a pay rise from £8k a week to £35k a week, which the board also wouldn't sanction. Both demanded transfers, both were listed and offered out, neither attracted a bid. Eventually Escassi was happy to stay but Jairo still has the hump because the lack of transfer bids was somehow my fault. He's still furious, and his form is abysmal but I'm having to play him anyway.

So to the competitive football:

Considering we're almost certainly the weakest - and absolutely the cheapest - squad in the league, we're doing remarkably well. Only 3 wins from 12 games, but equally only 3 defeats. We started the season with a new 442 tactic that I thought might give us opportunities on the counter but - aside from the win against Vallecano who came up with us from L2 - we looked defensively frail. The sswitch to the 4231 against Getafe looked like a solution, but when we gave up 3 goals against Eibar and then lost to a weak Grenada side, I opted to switch to the 4411 in search of better solidity at the back, and early results look promising. The equaliser against a strong Valencia side was only the result of a 90th minute penalty, and we thoroughly FM'd Real Madrid in our most recent game:

That result puts us in a remarkable position for now:

The teams around us have games in hand so I fully expect us to drop back to 13th or 14th place but, since we're odds-on favourites for relegation that will still represent a great achievement. But with the 2nd worst defence in the league, it wouldn't take much of a downturn for the season to collapse completely. 

[Jogo Bonito]

@warlockNot an easy window at all, and not helped by the usual unrealistic new contract demands. This MUST be toned down in FM22. Wage increases are OK, but they always seem to be demanding well outside what should be expected. In reality few players (unless they are an undeniable talent worthy of a bigger & better club) demand to leave after they have earned their side promotion, and the same small number expect wages to double or treble, especially if promotion clauses work).

Having said all that, it's been a very decent start. Quintana is doing very nicely again.

[warlock]

32 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

unrealistic new contract demands

Yeah, I hope SI revisit this in FM22. Not as much as I hope Quintana stays injury-free, though .

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Real Betis End Of Season 2 Review

 

A nice 5th place finish which is probably where we should be at the moment. I managed to get European football again.

The finances are terrible so I am expecting to sell a few players to help with that.

2 players I don't want to sell but might have to are star striker Jean-Pierre Nsame and Spanish League Playmaker Of The Year - Enis Bardhi who was such a good player for me this season.

Jean-Pierre Nsame

29 Goals in 35 games is really good. He is hitting his prime years now so I reckon he will get to at least 100 goals for Real Betis by the time his career is over hopefully.

Enis Bardhi

16 assists and 7 goals was really good. He is my Bruno Fernandes. I don't want to lose either of these but the finances are so bad if I get good offers for them I will have to sell them.

 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

finances are terrible

That does look problematic, despite a good season. Looks like you're in worse shape, financially, than Malaga 

Although we do have one of the smallest wage budgets in the league - about one-and-a-half Nsames.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

3 minutes ago, warlock said:

That does look problematic, despite a good season. Looks like you're in worse shape, financially, than Malaga 

Although we do have one of the smallest wage budgets in the league - about one-and-a-half Nsames.

Yeah I am hoping to sell Fekir to bring in some money. 

 

[baller94]

Pretty keen on taking over with a tiny town in either the second, third or fourth division. Any ideas? Preferably village small (<30k) but I'm not clued up on the geography or demographics of Spain. Smaller the better though. Just like the idea of doing an Eibar 2.0. Never managed in Spain before and think this will capture my attention most. Thanks guys and girls!

[warlock]

26 minutes ago, baller94 said:

a tiny town in either the second, third or fourth division

Calahora in tier 3 (2B league, I think) appears to be even smaller than Eibar - population around 25,000.

[andrewsgn]

Hello, I'm playing in Spain for the first time and wondering how people manage their B teams. I downloaded a database that includes the lower tiers so my B team is part of a league and has matches scheduled. However, I'm having trouble hiring staff because their wage demands are much higher than the board will allow.

Also, do B teams sign players on their own? Or only if you delegate responsibility? When I play in England I usually manage all aspects of transfers/contract renewals for the U23/U18 teams but not sure if I can/should do this in the same way with my B team. 

[warlock]

34 minutes ago, andrewsgn said:

Hello, I'm playing in Spain for the first time and wondering how people manage their B teams

Same here, so I'm no expert but I'll share some thoughts. Having the active leagues for your B team has to be better than the alternative. If you have a decent DoF or Technical Director, I'd make them responsible for hiring staff for the u19 and B teams but keep a power of veto so you can cancel the deal if you think the hire is wrong or you just want to keep down costs. Mine don't seem to have any trouble finding affordable, decent staff.

I'm only 1.5 seasons into my Malaga save but that's what I've done so far. We also have a C team that seems utterly pointless so it's a dumping ground for anyone who looks like a lost cause until their contracts expire. I've managed to get rid of a few on free deals, saving minimal wage costs but I doubt you'd get transfer fees for anyone that poor. I've also had a number of younger and B team players wanting improved contracts. Be aware that there's a minimum wage of £1,400 a week, so I need to be sure they have good potential otherwise it's easy to suddenly run up an extra £200k-£300k a year in wage increases.

I don't remember my backroom team signing players for the B team, but I have had a number of staff messages telling me an u19 player is ready for the challenge of playing B team football, or that players are so poor I should hand over control to B team staff.

It's all rather complicated and strange if you're used to British football, but I'm generally trying to run things in a British fashion - u19s for youth; B team as a reserves/u23 squad, trying to have players at an appropriate level. Of course, there's no reason you couldn't do everything yourself (or as much as you want) if you're prepared to put in the time, effort and attention to detail.

Hope that helps 

[warlock]

Malaga FC, December 2021

It's Christmas on the Costa, and Malaga continue to overachieve:

Three wins, 2 draws and one defeat in the league looks pretty good from the dugout but is even more impressive considering the opposition. Real (Betis) Hispalis are a top-four outfit, draws against Atletico Madrid and Barcelona need no explanation, and Vigo, who aren't doing particularly well this season, still boast a wealth of talent that includes the likes of Denis Suarez, Fran Beltran and Santi Mina. Only against VIllareal (in 2nd spot at the time) were we completely outclassed. And we're through to the next round of the cup after a hard-fought penalty shootout win away at Alaves.

With our best 11 on the pitch we look capable of giving anyone a game; the problems arise when we have to rotate - the second string are far below the required level. LB is a particularly troublesome area - first choice Miranda, on loan from Barcelona, is solid but he missed a month with a hamstring injury and our only alternative is Cristo Romero. He has 5* potential but just isn't showing it. When I rapped his poor performances he disagreed and told me to sell him if I wanted. Done! I also have a problem at CB where our top performer Juande suffered a broken toe back in September and hasn't recovered anything like his earlier form since returning.

Despite my expectation of a slip down the table, we've managed to hold on to 7th place, thanks largely to the goals of Quintana, the creativity of Monchu in midfield, and the heroics of GK Sivera, who fully merits his 3 PoM awards - and probably deserves another handful.

On the eve of the January window, I still have cash in the bank but I'm struggling to identify targets. The scouting team has been a disappointment and with attribute masking on it takes an age to get prospects fully scouted. But with Romero likely to leave (a host of L2 clubs are interested), we desperately need a replacement. We might also lose RB Ismael Casas - his much-touted move to Arsenal in season 1 came to nothing but he has now requested a move to a bigger club. No-one is currently interested but he is one of my best players.

Two good fullback prospects... that's all I want for Christmas.

[Jogo Bonito]

@Ronaldo BeckhamFine finish there, 5th is good. Really surprised how bad the finances are to be honest. Good luck in season 3.

@warlockReally solid stuff, massively above where you would expect to be. Sevilla are struggling.

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Really solid stuff

Cheers, yeah. We did even better after but then reality reasserted itself, as reality will 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@Ronaldo BeckhamFine finish there, 5th is good. Really surprised how bad the finances are to be honest. Good luck in season 3.

@warlockReally solid stuff, massively above where you would expect to be. Sevilla are struggling.

Yeah me too. Both seasons I have made £20-£30m profit in the transfer window in each season.

Here are my finances.

 

I only have 4 players who are on a wage of more then £50k a week. I wanted to try get rid of Fekir but the offers I got was so rubbish so I decided to keep him.

[warlock]

Malaga, May 2021

Much to the irritation of the long-suffering MrsW, I spent the last two days racing through the second half of the season. And we started the new year in excellent form:

Quintana opened the year with a sparkling performance, although it took us until the 80th minute to crack the Albacete defence. By the end of the month, though, cracks of our own started to appear. Vallecano came up from L1 with us, and would end the season returning whence they came, but we couldn't break them down. We followed that with a poor performance against high-flying Bilbao. February looked like a return to form and we hit a high-water mark with a stunning demolition of Getafe away, a result that propelled us into the Top 4. Quintana's 4 goals earned him the Player of the Month award for February, the news of which was immediately followed by a training ground injury that would keep him out of the side until the penultimate game of the season.

In his absence, the home defeat to Alaves was not unexpected but, hopefully, a minor blip. Unfortunately, it was rather more a harbinger of things to come:

The derby defeat to Granada wasn't as bad as the scoreline suggests, but the fixture computer had setup a brutal sequence for us, precisely as injuries started to mount. Valencia, Real Madrid, Betis/Hispalis, Atletico Madrid would be a tough challenge for anyone. For us it was a test too far. Losses mounted and morale plunged, and our lack of squad depth took its toll. We played most of April with no natural fullbacks. Without Quintana we struggled for goals, and backup Dan N'Lundulu, on loan from Southampton was simply hopeless... after opening his account in August with a hat-trick, and adding 4 more by the beginning of November, he never scored again in more than 20 appearances.

By the time we faced Barca away, we had dropped to 10th in the league and, despite taking the lead, that game took its inevitable course.

We had just two games to play in May, and I feared the season would end with a whimper. Instead, the players rallied, Quintana returned and although he didn't score, he did lead the line and we produced two creditable performances:

In other circumstances I might be unhappy with a home draw. But against a Villareal side who were pushing hard for a Champion's League spot, the result was a pleasure, particularly as we fought to the finish to secure the draw with a 91st minute equaliser. To conclude the season with a win was a bonus.

Those final 4pts were enough to lift us above Valencia to finish 9th. For a first season back in the top flight, that was a fantastic achievement even if, as the board were quick to point out in my end-of-season appraisal, we had spent a long period occupying a European spot. Despite his long absence at the end of the season, no-one came close to matching Quintana's goal return, and Monchu remained our most reliable creative force in central midfield. We finished as the 5th best attack in the league, but with an abysmal defensive record, hence our final GD of just +4.

Transfer business

The January window saw some personnel changes as expected: backup LB Cristo Romero and want-away winger Jairo both signed for Zaragoza for £350k and £725k, respectively. First-choice RB Ismael Casas eventually got his move, signing for RB Leipzig for £15m. jairo was replaced by Real San Sebastian's Robert Novarro who joined for £1.6m; promising CM Christian Rivera joined for £1.8m from Las Palmas; and David Carmona was a desperation signing from Coruna for £500k at RB. The first two have been solid, Carmona - a player I've signed several times for English Premiership sides - has been awful. The problem position at LB remains problematical - my top target, a young Swedish prospect looked to be heading for La Rosaleda but ultimately decided to accept an offer from Italian side Empoli.

Looking ahead to the summer, the board have given me a transfer budget of £17m and a doubling of the wage budget to £300k, I've already renewed our three key loans - Quintana, Monchu and fellow-Barca prospect LB Miranda. But my shopping list remains rather lengthy - we desperately need better quality backups at LB and CB, and a first-choice RB. We also need a striker who can serve as understudy to Quintana and, hopefully, replace him. For my Christmas list I asked for two decent fullbacks... Santa delivered neither. Now my list is longer, and I hope I don't have to wait until next Christmas to get them!

[Jogo Bonito]

@Ronaldo Beckham Wage expenses seem reasonable, transfer business has been modest, I'm not quite sure what more you can do really.

@warlock Really solid form and 9th is an excellent finish. Healthy budgets for next season too. Don't forget that in Spain, the Cotonou agreement means you can raid Africa or African players abroad if you need to find talent on a budget. South America would be a better region but you're limited on foreign players even if (Brazil apart) they all speak the lingo. 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

5 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@Ronaldo Beckham Wage expenses seem reasonable, transfer business has been modest, I'm not quite sure what more you can do really.

@warlock Really solid form and 9th is an excellent finish. Healthy budgets for next season too. Don't forget that in Spain, the Cotonou agreement means you can raid Africa or African players abroad if you need to find talent on a budget. South America would be a better region but you're limited on foreign players even if (Brazil apart) they all speak the lingo. 

Yeah I am just hoping for a board takeover soon to help with the finances.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Things getting bleaker financially at Real Betis 

 

[warlock]

10 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Things getting bleaker financially at Real Betis

It would be interesting to see what happens. As has been discussed in several of the 'rebuilding Barca' threads, FM has a bad habit of simply magicking up a money tree that solves all the problems - a sugar daddy takeover, or a mysterious consolidation loan that piles on more debt but pushes it a few years down the line.

[Jogo Bonito]

@Ronaldo Beckham Wow, those losses are epic at Betis. Did 'bestbrother' steal your log-in?

@warlock If they want to keep it really in tune with reality, going forward the game could send more clubs in to to admin or suffering an embargo or points deduction if finances were as bad as that. Personally if it wasn't overkill I would enjoy the challenge, but if overdone it would become as annoying as 'player demands 400% pay rise' to sign a new contract.

Perhaps this might be achieved by having a tick box at start up saying 'will/will not allow clubs to go in to admin, have a transfer embargo or suffer points deductions' and then the player can decide at the outset. Like on the page of masking attributes, adding players and/or staff to teams etc.  

[warlock]

37 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

the game could send more clubs in to to admin or suffering an embargo or points deduction if finances were as bad as that

Indeed, and like you, I'd quite like the challenge. But I can hear the howls of outrage about having saves ruined. As for adding on/off checkboxes, that would be a solution but I imagine it takes quite a bit of extra coding (and even more bug-testing) to add multiple scenarios. With financial rules getting tougher in real life (sometimes!) it'll be interesting to see what SI do in game.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

12 hours ago, warlock said:

It would be interesting to see what happens. As has been discussed in several of the 'rebuilding Barca' threads, FM has a bad habit of simply magicking up a money tree that solves all the problems - a sugar daddy takeover, or a mysterious consolidation loan that piles on more debt but pushes it a few years down the line.

Yeah no magic fix just yet but on the bright side I have just qualified for the Champions League so hopefully that will help with the finances a bit.

 

11 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@Ronaldo Beckham Wow, those losses are epic at Betis. Did 'bestbrother' steal your log-in?

@warlock If they want to keep it really in tune with reality, going forward the game could send more clubs in to to admin or suffering an embargo or points deduction if finances were as bad as that. Personally if it wasn't overkill I would enjoy the challenge, but if overdone it would become as annoying as 'player demands 400% pay rise' to sign a new contract.

Perhaps this might be achieved by having a tick box at start up saying 'will/will not allow clubs to go in to admin, have a transfer embargo or suffer points deductions' and then the player can decide at the outset. Like on the page of masking attributes, adding players and/or staff to teams etc.  

 

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I had a good season with Real Betis finishing 2nd in the Spanish league and getting all the way to the Europa League final with us losing to Chelsea 3-0 in the final.

 

Here is my best overall 11

I am debating on whether to do 1 more season with Betis or start a new EFL save. 

I will let everyone know in due time.

 

[Jogo Bonito]

9 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I had a good season with Real Betis finishing 2nd in the Spanish league and getting all the way to the Europa League final with us losing to Chelsea 3-0 in the final.

 I am debating on whether to do 1 more season with Betis or start a new EFL save. I will let everyone know in due time.

Excellent season there, nice one. Great returns from Nsame again 

[warlock]

12 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

had a good season with Real Betis

Indeed, nicely done.

12 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I am debating on whether to do 1 more season with Betis or start a new EFL save

Yeah, having said I'd done English football to death this year, I'm feeling the pull of one more EFL save myself. I blame @smplfc123 and his Forest save. Having got Hull promoted in a recent save, I might try the updated database @Jogo Bonito linked me to and take them on in the Championship. I kinda regret ending that save early.

[Jogo Bonito]

5 hours ago, warlock said:

Indeed, nicely done.

Yeah, having said I'd done English football to death this year, I'm feeling the pull of one more EFL save myself. I blame @smplfc123 and his Forest save. Having got Hull promoted in a recent save, I might try the updated database @Jogo Bonito linked me to and take them on in the Championship. I kinda regret ending that save early.

The link I sent you would have been good for Spain as it had the squad updates and competition/club name change files within. If you're doing a new EFL one, there might be a better file than that (check pr0 files in the editors hideaway forum).

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Cheers for the kind words guys. I appreciate the feedback. I have decided to do one more season with Betis with a weaker squad after selling literally most of my best players.

Nabil Fekir - £33m to Juventus

Anel Ahmedhodzic - £40m to PSG

Dani Martin - £18.75m to Rangers

Andreas Chistensen - £15m to New York Red Bulls

Guido Rodriguez - £14.5m to Toronto

Eder Alvarez Balanta - £12.5m to LA Galaxy

Kieran Trippier - £10m to Crystal Palace

Juan Miranda - £9m to Torino

Adam Ounas - £4.5m to Fiorentina

I even tried to sell star players Nsame and Bardhi but there was no takers.

I have managed to get the debt down a bit but the projection is still not good.

When I do start an EFL save I am thinking of managing Portsmouth and only signing players from nations outside the top 30 rankings as I have a file that gets rid of work permits so I can sign who I want in theory.

Pompey also have a tycoon in charge of the club in real life so there will hopefully be funds to buy players if I get promoted to the Prem.

But first I have unfinished business with Betis.

 

 

 

[Jogo Bonito]

On 26/09/2021 at 00:45, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Cheers for the kind words guys. I appreciate the feedback. I have decided to do one more season with Betis with a weaker squad after selling literally most of my best players. I have managed to get the debt down a bit but the projection is still not good.

When I do start an EFL save I am thinking of managing Portsmouth and only signing players from nations outside the top 30 rankings as I have a file that gets rid of work permits so I can sign who I want in theory. Pompey also have a tycoon in charge of the club in real life so there will hopefully be funds to buy players if I get promoted to the Prem.

But first I have unfinished business with Betis.

That's quote a fire sale! How have you adapted to that? I still can't work out how the club got in that financial position, but doesn't seem to be anything you did. 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

3 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

That's quote a fire sale! How have you adapted to that? I still can't work out how the club got in that financial position, but doesn't seem to be anything you did. 

Yeah I have no idea how it got like that as well.

I am at the end of January and currently 6th in the league. I got Mattias Arezo who is doing well for me. I signed him I think in my first season in charge but I have only just thrown him into the first team after Nsame lost form.

I will probably finish the season and call it a day with Betis and start a save with Portsmouth or Middlesborough and just sign players from nations outside the top 30 nations. 

 

[karanhsingh]

Just caught up with all the Spanish adventures... great stuff

Why are the finances at Betis so bad? is this from the start of the game?

[Ronaldo Beckham]

9 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Just caught up with all the Spanish adventures... great stuff

Why are the finances at Betis so bad? is this from the start of the game?

No idea. It was baffling me. 

I quit the save and started a save with Portsmouth. I will have another crack with Real Betis on FM2022.

Cheers for the kind words buddy.

 

[Jogo Bonito]

A one-season 'Farewell to FM21' save and a rare opportunity for me to manage a big club 

I've taken over at FC Barcelona, a club I have never managed before despite previously living in the city

I've got a database updated which sees me inherit the 2021/22 squad for the start of season 1 in 2020/21

I sold Braithwaite (£10m), Araujo (£21.5m) and Memphis (£28m) and terminated the loan of Luuk De Jong immediately

Two new players joined - Carlos Soler from Valencia on 20th August 2020, and Andrea Belotti from Torino on 6th September 2020 

The inherited squad had a long-term injury to Marc-Andre ter Stegen, whilst both Sergio Aguero and Samuel Umtii were also out until well beyond pre-season

Iñaki Peña was called upon in goal for most of the friendlies, and left-back Alejandro Balde (17) was promoted from the U19 squad

Pre-season went well with some difficult opponents seen off, the draw against Deportivo was when only seven senior players were available due to international calls

The official opener was at home to Atletico Madrid, not the easiest of starts for new manager Lorenzo Cabanes 

But the league form got off to a blistering start with Belotti (who had not been on the pitch at all in pre-season) scoring six in his first two La Liga games

The form both domestically and in Europe was excellent until the end of November, with only a handful of draws and everything else being victorious 

December started a bit more modestly, and Real Madrid dished out a 3-0 hammering in La Liga

Next up was Manchester City away and a 3-3 draw after being 3-0 down after 36 minutes was a fantastic recovery

That game also saw Sergio Aguero score his first goal for the club against his former side

Until then he had made 10 cameo appearances from the bench without a goal, but this time he came on and made a difference

He repeated the trick next time out against Celta Vigo in a game that saw Belotti go off injured, and from then on he had the starting role as the only fit striker at the club

During this spell he was a changed man, and kept up a prolific run of scoring which was only ended in the Super Copa de Espana final in Saudi Arabia

Luckily that was also the day that Belotti came back - and he scored a 96th minute winner from the bench to see the trophy lifted  

Since that day the form has continued to be impressive, although Atletico Madrid just served up a second La Liga defeat with a narrow 1-0 win last time out

La Liga is close, with Real Madrid just three points adrift and Athletic Bilbao having a good run too

There were no more new signings in the winter transfer window, and no permanent sales made (Serginho Dest went on loan to FC Porto for 50% wages and £20k per month)

Jordi Alba has been ruled out for some weeks (with a number more to come) so Balde has been starting games and he trains and plays very well

Financially the club isn't in the best shape, but competition money should balance that out by the end of the season

 

[warlock]

@Jogo Bonito Not much to complain about there . Glad to see Belotti working out for you, and Soler has been on my Christmas list all year but never had the chance to sign him. Goals conceded may be a teeny cause for concern - is that tactical or simply the absence of a top-class GK, do you think?

Hard to solve the financial crisis while the club is paying out more than £3m a week for players, but in a one-season save I guess it isn't really your problem 

[karanhsingh]

Barcelona seems to be en vogue these days! I saw a few people doing the 4 season challenge with them to clear off the 1 billion debt. Good luck with this, you will definitely do a better job than Koeman at least 

[Jogo Bonito]

You are right again @warlock. Two sensible but effective signings.

I had the chance to acquire Martinez again in January for only £42m (even with clauses it was less than £50m) but it would have been hard to rotate three strikers in to just one slot. He went to Man City in the end.

I nearly got the £210k weekly wage of Umtiti off the books but he failed to get a WP on a £20m move to Chelsea. And I could have sold Coutinho to Man City but with no suitable replacement it made no sense even for a fee of £25m and saving £400k wages per week.

I've only ever managed one of these players before in FM, which was Lenglet when he was breaking through in France.

@karanhsinghYes it does seem a popular destination at the end of the FM21 cycle. Great for me to finish the term off managing good players though.

[warlock]

2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Great for me to finish the term off managing good players though

Definitely a different experience from the likes of Ipswich 

[Jogo Bonito]

Entering February 2021 with all to play for domestically and in Europe, this was how it panned out

La Liga was fairly routine with a string of good victories and the occasional blip (losses away from home)

You will note a pivotal week in April which saw the CL Quarter Final second leg against Borussia Dortmund, the Copa del Rey Final and El Clasico against Real Madrid 

Dortmund edged us out as a result of their late goal in our home leg, had we finished 3-1 in that then we probably would not have been eliminated in the second leg

The Copa del Rey Final was very tight too, and only penalty drama saw us lifting the trophy in Seville

And finally, a late equaliser was gifted to Real Madrid as they kept the pressure on at the top of the table with a 2-2 draw

However, after that things got back on track quickly with Real and then Atletico cracking under the pressure that had seen them within 4 points of us in April

The final table sees an eight point gap to Real Madrid by the season end - Atletico only managed one win in their final five games to drop to 3rd

100 goals for the season was brought up thanks to a fine final flourish in the Catalan derby against Espanyol

The performance graph shows dominance and stability, the financial graph shows completely the opposite despite doing my best to be pragmatic

That's been further addressed in the summer transfer window as some difficult economic decisions have been made already

Despite the Champions League Quarter Final disappointment, three trophies headed to Camp Nou

 

And here are the player stats across all competitions

I took a firm stance on Umtiti not to use him at all after his failed transfer, poor training and attitude

In 56 games, you will see how Aguero and Belotti shared the lone striker role - I started 4231 in every single match in all competitions so their 56 starts combined reflects that

Fati gave great returns from an inverted winger role on the left, and special mention to Balde who played well after being promoted from the youth team in pre-season

Edited October 17, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

5 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

three trophies headed to Camp Nou

Not bad at all - looks like you comfortably met the board requirements, and a touch unlucky not to progress in the Champions League.

5 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

as some difficult economic decisions have been made already

Another season on the cards? Will you try to fix the finances completely, or just leave them better off than you found them?

[Jogo Bonito]

1 hour ago, warlock said:

Not bad at all - looks like you comfortably met the board requirements, and a touch unlucky not to progress in the Champions League.

Another season on the cards? Will you try to fix the finances completely, or just leave them better off than you found them?

Thanks, yes it was nice to win something and manage some good players.

I'm not sure if there will be another season, but I vowed to sort them financially as best I could with a player cull ahead of the 21/22 season. I'll see what the squad is ahead of the start and decide from there.

Lots of other stuff going on away from FM recently and sensibly I should give myself a week or two break so that FM22 meets me with a fresh mind. I'm expecting some big (positive) lifestyle changes will interfere with that plan a little, as I'll have lots of other things to focus on soon enough. But even then, free time is mine to dive in to FM when I can.

[warlock]

6 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I'm expecting some big (positive) lifestyle changes will interfere with that plan a little

Sounds good. Life is always swings and roundabouts, but it's all good if you enjoy the ride 

[Jogo Bonito]

Thanks my friend. I've made four new signings and so far six sales, which has drastically reduced the wage bill by about £1m per week.

Currently on a pre-season tour of Portugal and the squad is virtually defined. I had three marquee signings in mind as I aimed to go 'younger and more Spanish' but none of them came off.

[karanhsingh]

Looks like this is developing into a fun save at Barca. I hope you can get another season out of it.

I am in a similar boat to you I think with work finally picking up - next few months may be busier than indeed all of the last year has been. I'm almost already getting "worried" I won't have as much time for FM22 as I did for FM21, which is a really silly thing to even worry about of course. But I am sure it will continue to be a good escape as it always has been.

[Jogo Bonito]

2 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Looks like this is developing into a fun save at Barca. I hope you can get another season out of it.

I am in a similar boat to you I think with work finally picking up - next few months may be busier than indeed all of the last year has been. I'm almost already getting "worried" I won't have as much time for FM22 as I did for FM21, which is a really silly thing to even worry about of course. But I am sure it will continue to be a good escape as it always has been.

Yes it's been a nice break from the norm in charge of Barcelona, quite unexpectedly pleasant in fact. I'm not sure I'll get another season out of it, that's lots of action for me in such a short space of time!

I think I agree. FM should be an escape from 'real life'. It served a very good purpose during lockdown(s) but some of us will probably become less reliant on it. Perhaps play is going to be more rare, but it could even be a more enjoyable experience when those moments actually allow it.

Hopefully the world will tick along with people staying more safe than when FM21 launched, despite the ongoing health situation. 

[karanhsingh]

2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Yes it's been a nice break from the norm in charge of Barcelona, quite unexpectedly pleasant in fact. I'm not sure I'll get another season out of it, that's lots of action for me in such a short space of time!

I think I agree. FM should be an escape from 'real life'. It served a very good purpose during lockdown(s) but some of us will probably become less reliant on it. Perhaps play is going to be more rare, but it could even be a more enjoyable experience when those moments actually allow it.

Hopefully the world will tick along with people staying more safe than when FM21 launched, despite the ongoing health situation. 

Absolutely agree. I definitely look forward to seeing you across a number of threads during FM22 season

[Jogo Bonito]

5 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Absolutely agree. I definitely look forward to seeing you across a number of threads during FM22 season

Thank you, likewise 

It looks like I will at least start the second season, just one more friendly to go and only two or three players remain that I would like to move on. One outfield player who came back from loan and is on massive wages considering he won't even be registered by me, plus either of the two main goalkeepers. Other than that, I think I am sorted.

[Jogo Bonito]

FC Barcelona (Transfer) Market 2021-22 

Leaving the club this summer were Dembele (£210k p/w), Coutinho (£400k p/w), Wague (£9.75k p/w), Alba (£210k p/w), Umtiti (£210k p/w) and Aguero (£145k p/w)

I certainly had no performance complaints on Dembele (24), Coutinho (29), Alba (32) or Aguero (33) - but all four were on big money and only the former had age on his side

I ensured I made no wage contributions on any of them and felt I could replace them with younger, cheaper (and more Spanish) - and that's pretty much what I did

This exercise saved me around £1m in weekly wages, and I don't think the squad will be any weaker for it

Jordan (£15m & £36k p/w), Galan (£12m & £35k p/w), Oyarzabal (£69m & £190k p/w) and Nunez (£24m & £42k p/w) were the four replacements

Some of the B-Team players were sold for about £3m combined, and loan extensions for Dest & Griezmann were also valuable sources of income

As you can see below, the latter was incredibly important - saving £600k p/w from my wage bill and paying us £761k per month loan fee on top of that

The loan extension for Dest sees FC Porto continue to pay 50% of his £70k p/w wages and a £100k per month loan fee on top of that

In fact, apart from my two senior goalkeepers (happy to sacrifice either one of them, but no takers) it's only returning loan man Pjanic (£275k p/w) who is now surplus stock

I've promoted a few more Spanish youngsters in to the main squad, but Pjanic is not registered as I try to force him out

Here is the 24-man registered squad that will start the 2021-22 season (Trincao could be allowed to go if a suitable bid came in)