[FM22] Athletic Club: Cantera-attacking our way to glory

[dothestrand]

2023-24 season is complete and we won La Liga and the Super Cup! The schedule worked out pretty nicely for me with very winnable early games, so we started out like a train. We didn't actually lose a league game 'til January and in fact we only lost three all season - all away to Barcelona, Real Madrid and Sevilla. Some tactical tweaks worked in our favour too as we developed a more proactive, attacking game without sacrificing defensive solidity. A GD of +55 was equal best, and a long way of the turgid football of the 2021-22 season. Much of this was aided by the new signings we made. Odriozola was immense, a huge upgrade on Capa. Roberto Lopez was our regular AML and scored 16 goals. We saw other players step up massively too - Karrikaburu has been hit and miss for me so far but scored 23 times (only behind Lewandowski - at Real Madrid). Simon, Vivian, Yeray, Munoz, Sangalli and Sancet all had excellent seasons. Most of the other first teamers, including Nunez, Vencedor, N Williams and Morcillo hovered around the 7 mark. NINE players in the team of the season too (Simon, Odriozola, Munoz, Yeray, Vivian, Sangalli, Sancet, N Williams and Karrikaburu - with Lopez as sub)!!!!

Besides Odriozola (25m) and Lopez (5m), the other main signings were Herrera (3m - but already declining and may move on this Summer), Ivan Martinez (90k!!!) and Zubeldia on loan from Real Madrid with a 5.25m optional fee, which I may activate. Otherwise, a few regens here and there. I mentioned before than Inaki Williams went to PSG, but other squad filler departed - Aguirregabiria, Nolaskoian, Imanol, Muniain (a serial underperformer and poor captain imo). Villalibre went on loan to Marseille but I'd hope to move him on in the Summer as Serrano can deputise for Karrikaburu. We were projected a less good set of regens than the previous two seasons, but it doesn't seem that way. Plenty of promising guys in the intake, including the full back positions, which is often rare in this game!

Next season will be more of the same. We'll see if there's any work to do this Summer. In the initial posts, we discussed where the squad should be after three seasons. I feel we're at the point where we've disposed of the squad players who aren't going to take us forward and who've been easily replaced by signings or regens/existing youth players. I may do some tinkering this Summer, but at the moment we're looking at:

GK: Simon, Ezkieta, Ivan Martinez. Other options include Agirrezabala (who could be a 2nd/3rd keeper) and a few 3* star potential regens. Simon is getting interest from clubs now, but with a 120m release fee, they'll need to activate that as the next best keeper, Alvaro Fernandez is at Valencia and would cost around 50m. But there would always be Kepa

DF: Odriozola, Yeray, Nunez, Vivian, Munoz, Pacheco. Other options include Paredes (currently on loan to Gijon) and a couple of quality regens in each of the defensive positions, especially the full backs (I am very excited about some of these).

MF: Vencedor, Herrera (could move on), Sancet, Sangalli, Moncayola. Other options include Guerrero (not really developing), Badiola, Bita (both promising and in the original youth squads), and a few impressive regens who can cover either defensive or more offensive CM positions.

AMF: Lopez, N Williams, Morcillo, Serrano (who I'm training as a CF). Other options include Vicandi (in the original youth squads and could be a contender), plus a crazy number of regens who could develop nicely. One AML has already played in some of the easier games in the back end of the season.

CF: Karrikaburu. One exceptionally promising 17yo regen in the B squad who could be at Karrikaburu's level in the next year or so. Otherwise, a bit thinner on the ground with options but most of the attacking midfielders can double up as strikers.

So, we're at the stage now where there won't be many 'real life' Basque talents to acquire, just refining the squad we have with regens from Lezama or signed from elsewhere. I'd probably say only Zurimendi, Barrenetxea and R Navarro are the only reasonable upgrades, but they're out of my price range.

Edited November 15, 2021 by dothestrand

[skybluedave]

2nd season. Opening game of CL home against Milan. Record crowd. Yeray sent off after 2 mins... 

[volt]

They say third time's a charm right? And what a blast this 3rd season was, completly surpressed my 3rd season on beta!

 

But first things first, silly season: Alvaro Fernandez is unhappy and transfer listed for 2.7M which was a no brainer. Urko Zarate is also transfer listed for 4.6M and also joins. Urko comes to train and adapt to play in the central midfield position as a defensive DLP to replace Vesga. Luca Sangalli and Ivan Martin option clauses activated for 5.25M and 9.5M respectively.

Out goes Berenguer for 20M, Vesga for 4M and Peru for 1M.

In champions we were drawn against City, Roma and Leverkusen and only managed to make 4 points and last place. Wanted to at least get 3rd place and Europa League football but we had no chance, completely obliteraded.

La Liga starts and we start.. nice, some draws but at 6th game we manage to reach 1st place. Super Copa cames and we beat Real in the final after Sociedad and bring the cup home. With only La Liga to focus on the good exibitions keep on coming and we manage to get a nice advantage of 12 points to the second place.

Nico Williams was doing a monster season, the loan to Vitesse last season did wonders on him - he's already better than his brother ! - completely carrying us, until a leg break ends is season in January and we start to tremble a bit.. thank god we had a good margin already.

In Copa del Rey final we won 3-2 against Mallorca who were 1st in 2nd league at the time, I was thinking 'pfff, second league team, easy win' but they were a worthy opponent and put up a nice fight, putting us on the losing side for two times before we turned the result. 2nd trophy of the season !

After that I still had like 9 points advantage for second place and manage to hold them, and at game 34 i'm crowned champion and finish the season with a bang, winning everything in Spain and doing a treble!

Here are some pics:

I doubt another run like this is possible, I mean, winning a cup is possible, even the league with some winning streaks and a bit of luck, but winning every trophy at home? Our players aren't that good compared to Real or Barça ones and I don't have a single regen on the squad yet even with 3 'golden generations' and some regens from rivals. What I managed here is just ridiculous, maybe one of the best seasons ever with the players at my disposal.

Talking of the players, here are our legends:

Simon, Nunez and Vivian joined Spanish squad for Euro 2024, Karrikaburu was on the 30 player list but didn't make the cut. Muniain is player of the Season in Spain.

 

Moves for next season: Need to steal Odriozola from Inter as he barelly played there becaused Capa is already declining. Maybe slot Nico Serrano in for Cordoba since this is his last contract year, and I could swap Villa for a regen if good offers show up. And that's pretty much it. Sociedad players like Merino or Oyarzabal are out of my reach, Moncayola renewed contract and buyout clause is at 40M+ so it's a no-go too, so unless someone is transfer listed i'm out of realistic upgrades here. Think i'll hold on most of the guys since they performed so good, and this way the youth can keep on playing matches and developing, i'll have time to slot them in in the future.

[Undy]

I've come to the end of the January transfer window in season 2 - finally managed to punt Inigo Martinez to Milan on deadline day for £2m after dropping him into the B team for the month. Good riddance to bad news as far as I'm concerned, average player and a terrible attitude. Unai Simon can get his well deserved raise now. Milan also snapped up Julen Jon on loan after our DoF inexplicably accepted and confirmed the deal with a playing time of "future prospect", despite the development list clearly stating he should be a regular starter for any loans. At least they're paying his wage. Ezkieta, Zarraga, and Vicenta all departed as well for a combined £1.25m. Arrivals were Alvaro Fernandez for £3.3m (he wanted the same salary as Ezkieta was asking for and is just generally the better option), and a newgen from San Ignacio with good mentals and personality but pretty poor physical & technical attributes - filler for the youth team basically. Nico Williams was recalled early from a poor loan spell (only 1 appearance) at Elche in around November and is currently splitting his time between the B team and first team again.

There were also some eyebrow-raising offers from top clubs for two of the "filler" newgens I signed on a free in the summer - Imanol Agirre and Eder Iribarren. Agirre didn't want to accept the offer than came in because he wanted to go another club instead (PSG instead of Man City or something like that) so wasn't upset when I turned it down - I immediately signed him to a new contract and upped his release clause from £10m to £150m. Iribarren got upset that I turned down Man City's offer, but he already has an £80m release clause so not too worried there - I've sent him out on loan to Zamora in the third tier instead in the hope that it'll remove his unhappiness and I can sign him to a new contract with at least a longer term and maybe a higher release clause too. Either way, it certainly seems worthwhile mining the non-league Basque clubs for talent! I'm predicted another golden generation this year so maybe FM22 is just a bit too keen at handing out wonderkids at the moment.

As far as performances go, we're flying - currently in second place on 38 points from 18 games (W12, D2, L4). Real Madrid are up front on 46 points but have played a game more, Villarreal breathing down our necks in third on 36 points. Raul Garcia is fading after a lightening start - after five goals in the first five league games he's now still on five after 11, and becoming more of a bit-part player. Villalibre is our main man up front this season and top scorer with 9 in 16 league games (12 in 22 overall), playing up front with either Inaki Williams or Karrikaburu (who still contributes to the B team too). Imanol and Dani Vivian have filled the gap in defence left by Martinez, and Berenguer is becoming a little more of a bit-part player again. Vesga has had a couple of big injuries and with Dani Garcia ageing I'm starting to look towards a longer-term partner for Vencedor in the DM roles. Another one of the newgens Aitor Dominguez (signed for £9m from Sociedad) is nowhere near LaLiga level but as the best of the prospects has been getting some sub appearances when we're a few goals ahead and a couple of starts against lower league teams in the cup too, but mainly he's a regular starter for the B team and will likely be for the next full season too. Beñat Gerenabarrena is the only other person I think might be a candidate for the DM role; my coaches love Junior Bita and have him as a 4-5-star prospect but I don't think his physicals will ever be there for a defensive role. The "golden generation" coming through is, by the looks of things, going to be 2 CBs and maybe an AMC as far as likely first team prospects go, so I'll see when they come in whether either of the CBs might be a candidate for re-training.

 

tl;dr Inigo Martinez is my nemesis (and a wage thief) and you should sell him first opportunity you get.

Edited November 17, 2021 by Undy

[bowieinspace]

I'm going to come back to my Athletic save at some stage. For now I've decided to splinter the save and turn it into a trophy hunting save. I saved a copy so I can come back to where I left off in the future. 

I wanted to explore some tactical concepts having had success for the 3-4-3 variant with two AMC's with Athletic, while chasing trophies! So I resigned from Athletic and took a job at Roma, where I am going to try and win all the competitions available in Italy with a box 4-2-2-, before moving on to Germany, France and England. Goal to win all the major european trophies/leagues with a variety of formations. Should be fun!

[Undy]

14 hours ago, bowieinspace said:

I'm going to come back to my Athletic save at some stage. For now I've decided to splinter the save and turn it into a trophy hunting save. I saved a copy so I can come back to where I left off in the future. 

I wanted to explore some tactical concepts having had success for the 3-4-3 variant with two AMC's with Athletic, while chasing trophies! So I resigned from Athletic and took a job at Roma, where I am going to try and win all the competitions available in Italy with a box 4-2-2-, before moving on to Germany, France and England. Goal to win all the major european trophies/leagues with a variety of formations. Should be fun!

Good luck! I did something similar with FM20, left it off in charge of Corinthians playing a one at the back formation with four in the DM line - essentially an extremely high pressing tactic that took advantage of the overpowered gegenpress. Ran out of steam when Red Star continuously knocked me back even after I'd won every league I'd competed in. 

[bowieinspace]

11 hours ago, Undy said:

Good luck! I did something similar with FM20, left it off in charge of Corinthians playing a one at the back formation with four in the DM line - essentially an extremely high pressing tactic that took advantage of the overpowered gegenpress. Ran out of steam when Red Star continuously knocked me back even after I'd won every league I'd competed in. 

Yeah it’s been a while since I’ve done any saves where I wasnt just building a club and staying there, will be fun moving around and trying to use formations ive not used much in the past. Off to a great start with Roma 

[Undy]

Season 2 review: Glory to Athletic Club!

We left off in the last post at the start of February, holding second in the league secure without being too close to Real Madrid at the top. At that point we had been humbled in the Champions League, suffering the ignominy of falling into the Europa League as the "good losers" of our group. 

February started with a 1-0 loss to Sevilla, ending our progress in the Copa Del Rey at the quarter finals, which was then followed by a 2-2 draw with Levante. After that though, we went on a run of nine straight wins, including two brutal extra time wins away to Sporting and Galatasaray in the Europa League. Those single-leg knockout rounds are awful! With such a focus on maintaining our own winning run, I had taken my eye off the competition and it was a very pleasant surprise to find ourselves top of the league at the end of March. We hit a grueling schedule after that, including a triple-header against Villarreal with a league game sandwiched between two Europa League quarter final ties. We won the league game 1-0 and squeezed through in Europe by following up a 3-0 home win with a 3-1 away defeat. A lack of strength in depth was showing though, and two draws against Leganes and Valencia saw us drop behind Real Madrid again, and a 3-1 defeat away to the league leaders then a 2-2- home draw against Sevilla effectively spelled an end to our title challenge. Things proceeded to get worse as we went into the Europa League semi-final first leg away to Lazio and found ourselves 2-0 down at half time with barely a shot on target to show for ourselves. Some harsh words int the dressing room and a slight tactical tweak saw us regain our sense of self, and goals from Muniain and Karrikaburu saw us claw back to 2-2, before Mikel Vesga's first goal in four years grabbed a dramatic 94th minute winner, and a 1-1 draw in the return leg saw us into the final! Four wins and two draws in the next six league games wasn't enough to reignite our title challenge though, with Real Madrid being crowned champions with a few games to spare. Only the Europa League remained, with an all-Spanish final against Valencia. A 13th minute opener for Valencia was swiftly reversed by a double from Karrikaburu in the 22nd and 27th minutes, and from there we really took control of the game, dominating possession and chances. A rude intermission came in the 73rd minute with a thoroughly undeserved equaliser, but this was again quickly cancelled out by Inigo Cordoba in the 75th minute for what would eventually be the winner. Athletic Club had won the Europa League! On, then, to the last day of the season and a 3-2 loss in a dead rubber away to Levante may have put a dampener on the end of season, were it not for a heroic 2-1 win for the B team (the bizarrely prolific Youssouf Diarra grabbing the winner) which grabbed them the last playoff spot. This led to the most insane game of football I have ever seen - a 10-9 victory for Bilbao Athletic against Lugo in the playoff semi-final! A truly remarkable game where we came back from 4-0 down after 20 minutes and were still 9-7 down in the 88th! Youssouf Diarra scored seven(!) in that game and I almost feel bad that I'm letting him go at the end of the season. This was followed up by a slightly more sanguine 6-3 final win over Alcorcon, with Diarra once again making his point with a hat trick. Sorry Youssouf, but you'll never make it into the first team and the wonderkids need game time! I can see a tough season ahead in LaLiga 2, but hopefully one which will pay off in terms of development.

[JPKD]

My game progress has slowed as I've been a bit busy to play too much FM recently. I have however reach 2022's World CUp break and it's been an interesting season. 

Having qualified for the Champions League I knew I would have some serious juggling to do to keep on top of fitness. After a draw of Man City, AC Milan and RB Leipzig. Not quite a group of death but I'm pretty sure that Leipzig were the highest ranked team from Pot 3. The plan was to give the first 3 CL games a good go and reasses. This made for an September ficture run of Milan, Real Madrid, Leipzig, Barcelona, Man City. A loss to Milan was a bad start but a point was collected away at Barca and 4 points were gathered in the following two CL games. I was pretty pleased, until we went to Levante after this run and shipped 6 goals from 8 shots on target. 10 games in to the league season we were 6th and 3rd in our Champions League group with Leipzig stuck on 0 points. Things could go either way.

The Champions League run hung in the balance and the league form was at risk. Away to City we slipped a goal behind but kept the game tight for 60 minutes with nothing to lose we went on the attack and caught them napping, twice with goals from Sancet and substitute Raul Garcia. Suddenly Champions League destiny was in our own hands thanks to 4 points taken off City - even if we tied on points we had a superior head to head. Domestic fixture difficulty eased up and rotated teams dispatched Sporting and Elche, and after a tense 0-0 with Milan on matchday 5 any one of the top three could miss out on knockout round qualification. The equation was simple, win and progress, a draw would require a Milan victory to knock out City. Leipzig continued to be awful having recently fired their coach, but it wasn't until the 40th minute that Inaki put us ahead, and with City cruising in to 2nd place. Late pressure from the Germans was repelled and despite being the lowest ranked side in the group stage we progress to the knockout stages. We await the draw on the 12th of December as Inaiki and Unai Simon head off to Qatar.

Unai Emery's Newcastle are 5th in the Championship despite £31 million spent this season.

Edit: Spain won the World Cup with Simon everpresent in goal, Inaki pitched in with an injury time goal to beat England in the semi-final. Should also add after 13 league games we are sat 5th.

Edited November 24, 2021 by JPKD

[xabiorbaiz]

Really enjoying playing this season as Athletic. Finished 2nd first season. Started second season in a similar way. One thing that is annoying me though is, why do none of the regens speak Basque? I'd hoped to make Basque the squads first language but unfortunately only few speak it. Must be a bug if no regens ever speak it! Can someone a few seasons in have a look and see if they have any basque speaking regens?

[ernemann]

On 14/11/2021 at 17:11, Undy said:

Am I right that there is just no way for Basconia to ever get promoted in this year's game? 

In my test save it happened in season 2 or 3 but only when my b-team Got promoted to La Liga 2 😏

[Undy]

On 28/11/2021 at 15:26, xabiorbaiz said:

Really enjoying playing this season as Athletic. Finished 2nd first season. Started second season in a similar way. One thing that is annoying me though is, why do none of the regens speak Basque? I'd hoped to make Basque the squads first language but unfortunately only few speak it. Must be a bug if no regens ever speak it! Can someone a few seasons in have a look and see if they have any basque speaking regens?

I've had a look, and 2 regen cycles in there are no newgens with Basque as a language. Very few players in the game with it at all actually.

18 hours ago, ernemann said:

In my test save it happened in season 2 or 3 but only when my b-team Got promoted to La Liga 2 😏

I noticed midway through season 3 that Basconia are now playing in Spanish Federation 3 Gr 4 - I believe one level lower than the game allows unmodded - having started the first season without a division. This means they should now be a viable option for promotion. I'd love to have the B and C teams in the second and third divisions respectively, would provide a really great pathway for youth. Just a shame I can't see how they're doing relative to the other teams in the league just now.

[Undy]

And so ends the 2023/24 season. 

After a poor start of one point from our first three games (the first away to Real Madrid, in my defence!), we gradually found form and worked our way up the table. It seems the damage was done though, as we never mounted a serious title challenge - in fact, our season was defined by a battle to fight our way into the top four for a champions league spot. We spent the bulk of the season floating between fourth and fifth place. Two away defeats to Levante and Atletico Madrid (where we were robbed!) threatened to fatally wound our chances, but a 1-0 home victory over Sociedad followed by a 3-1 dismantling of fallen giants Barcelona kicked us into gear and we took 28 points from the final ten games of the season, moving up into third for the first time after the final game of the season.

Contrary to our poor early season league form, we did manage to follow up a 4-3 win over Real Madrid with a 2-1 defeat of Barcelona to pick up the nobody-cares Supercopa trophy, and we did well to finish second in a tough Champions League group (Liverpool, Milan, and Sporting), until that adventure was swiftly ended by the merciless PSG in the first knockout round.

All in all I'm satisfied with this season, though our lack of squad depth was really shown up. I worry about the DM partner for Vencedor, with Dani Garcia leaving at the end of this season and Vesga in a bit of a decline - one of the B team will need dropped in at the deep end next season. Speaking of the B team, after a similarly poor start (and one sacked manager later), the eventually clawed their way out of the relegation spots and survive to play another season in LaLiga 2. One of the real bright spots of their season was the development of Sergio Urritia who was one of two Urritia wonderkids in my first youth intake. Although still only 17, he now has a legitimate argument for breaking into the first team, which may necessitate me moving Nico Serrano back into midfield as Villalibre and Karrikaburu are the current top picks for the two striker roles with Nico the rotation option. I'm not against this, because Berenguer is out of his depth, Jon Morcillo has been disappointing, and Inigo Cordoba could possibly be moved on too as he comes to the last year of his contract. The other wonderkid from that intake, Raul Urritia, is somewhat further behind in his development and is still in the Basconia squad (though Man Utd are interested). I've no idea how they've done this season being outside of the simulated leagues, but fingers crossed they pop up in the third tier next season for some simulated gametime.

Very little transfer activity this season - no sales, and after a mammoth scouting operation where we assessed many hundreds of Basque teenagers only one caught my eye - a newgen from Osasuna who I signed for £11m and who will hopefully fill one of the wide midfield roles once Inaki Williams is in decline. Certainly it seems my concerns about an overabundance of wonderkids was misplaced because 2023 really seemed to be a poor season for Basque newgens. Scouting of the 2024 intake is underway. Thus far no newgens have made more than cameo appearances for me, but next season should see that start to change. 

My one major oopsie this season was Raul Garcia - I had wanted to put him into semi-retirement as player/coach at Basconia, but hadn't moved him into the C team before offering him the contract. Player/Basconia coach wasn't available in the contract options so I stupidly offered him player/U19 coach and now I can't move him to Basconia! He's a rubbish coach too. Perhaps the biggest change of this season has been my adoption of the star attributes skin, which has caused quite a shift in my attitude towards player roles and selection. There's something strangely liberating about having less data in this game, and I've been leaning more on the coach feedback which I've traditionally ignored.

[BlueMikeyP]

Great thread guys, found some very useful info ahead of starting my own save. After everyone’s experiences with Inigo Martinez I decided to cash in straight away, received £24m from Newcastle, also sold them Raul Garcia for £2.5m. Letting those two go gave me enough funds to bring in Mikel Merino.

I also used the editor to give Guillamon a Basque second nationality and signed him on a two year loan. No option to buy sadly but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I also brought in Bustinza for just over £1m to add depth having let Martinez go.

Youngsters at the club look the best they’ve been for years. Both Serrano and Nico Williams have the potential to be as good as some of my best players so they are alternating in the right inverted winger slot straight away.

Started the season with 5 league wins from 5. Favourable run of games to be honest but very happy still. Sociedad away next and the Atleti at home.

Playing a 433 with a Merino in front of the back four as the playmaker and Vencedor and Sancet ahead of him. Really like this midfield, plenty of energy for my high intensity style and quick defence to attack.

Nico and Munian as the inverted wingers and Inaki up top. Plenty of runs in behind always asking the opposition questions. I was unsure of using Inaki up front but with 5 in 5 so far I’m very happy!

Lets hope the form continues.

[Jambo98]

Some great posts in this thread and great guides in the OP(s). 

Long term Athletic fan here, started playing as them on FM in the 90s, when Joseba Etxeberria was but a promising youngster and Ismael Urzaiz was the main man. Always do several saves as them each year, of varying degrees of depth and longevity. 

Dabled a bit in the Beta, but recently after reading this thread, started my first "real" save with them on this years game. 

Like most i guess, my main business in the first window was paying the release for Karrikaburu (21.5m in my game) and selling as many fullbacks as i could. I also got Julen Jon in, a couple of other 16yr old Spaniards, the most noteable and expensive being Iker Bravo from Leverkusen who looks really great for his age. 

I adopted a 352 / 343 variation, without wingbacks as such (similar to a post i saw mid threa here - back 3 but with LM / RM). Our season has been a bit of a battle for consistency. I cannot seem to get a tune out of Inaki or Iker, who should be our key men.  On the plus side, Raul Garcia continues to age like fine wine, and is our best performer as well as being hugely versatile. Sancet has been great when played, ,and Karrikaburu has started to pick it up as the season has gone on. Defensively we are pretty solid given our high quality at CB and CDM.

In Jan though, moneybags Newcastle came in with 65m for Simon, and he wanted to go. So i let him, bit the bullet and got Kepa back - the 130k per week stings but he is by far the best alternative at this point, and young enough that he might still have sell on value in a year or two if we grab the lad from Osasuna or get a regen prospect. I used some of the surplus funds to also get Moncayola in (and will probably let Dani Garcia go at seasons end)

Trying to devlop some of the younger players at the same time as remaining competitive -  Vencedor has been starting most games, as mentioned above, Sancet has had lots of game time, more and more in place of Iker, and Nico has been rotate in quite a bit. Some of the slightly older but still could improve brigade are featuring there share - Nolaskoain, Vivian and Morcillo all getting games when it suits.

Getting into the CL is going to be a huge fight. Oddl, Villareal are absolutely running away with the league but behind them its a huge car crash of clubs all fighting for the top 4 and even for european spots.

I have also focussed on improving the staff a fair bit, so looking forward to the first youth intake soon. 

[Undy]

I'm coming up for January 2025 and some familiar patterns playing out. After signing for £3.3m in season 22/23, Alvaro Fernandez kept complaining about wanting to play games (not a chance with Simon in the team), so I sold him in the summer of 2024 to Sevilla for £11.75m (his release clause), and picked up Aitor Fernandez for £1m to take his place on the bench. Jon Morcillo went to Fenerbahce for £7.5m after a poor showing of zero goals and five assists in 26 appearances across the whole 23/24 campaign. Nico is out of the B team again and has taken his place as a regular starter on the right. Juan Artola also brought up to be an impact sub after an impressive 13 goals and 16 assists across 40 games in LaLiga 2 last season (remember the B team just struggled to avoid relegation!). He's not set the heather alight - zero goal contributions in 15 appearances so far, but I need squad depth and he's it.

Speaking of squad depth, our lack of it is showing again. We got off to a great start to the season, fighting for top spot, but as the games came in thick and fast towards the end of the year we just didn't have the legs to play at full intensity every game. After 18 games we're now 3rd on 35 points, already comfortably behind Real Madrid in top spot on 42. The B team just about struggle to keep their head above water, sitting in 16th in LaLiga 2, two points above the relegation places. Fortunately players seem to be developing well in that team, and with no further departures planned from the first team I may leave a settled team there for a few seasons to try and fight our way up the table - salary cap is our main issue there. Some players currently in the Basconia squad will be in a position to move up too - I'm softening on the idea of trying to get Basconia into the simulated leagues as I just don't think I'll have the squad depth to sustain it - anyone who isn't able to play at least semi-regularly for the B team can go out on loan.

It hadn't really been my intention, but I'll probably play this save without recruiting any non-Basque U-16s. I spend enough time going through scout reports for the Basque intake every year, it would spread the scouts far too thin to try to catch the best Spanish-only players too.

[Jambo98]

Season 1 for me did not end well, we collapsed a bit down the stretch, my tactics were not great and we could not get consistency. We ended up sneaking into 6th with a last min equaliser on the last day of the season against Real Madrid. Our H2H record put us above our bitter rivals, Sociedad, for a place in the Europa League Groups at least.

Villareal shocking winning the league at a canter, and less shocking i guess, Barca remaining in shambles.  You can see that our defensive and offensive records were not really good enough. I played a back 3 with ML and MR all season, having sold all fullbacks, and whilst it had runs of being good it was not effective enough.

 

So to season 2 we go, with changes needed. A combo of the need to change tactically, with Inigo being into the last year of his contract, and his performances not justifying his huge wage, meant he was sold to Spurs. Only got 3m, wiith the age, high wage and 12 months remaining all factoring in, but it was the right deal.

The decision to move to a back 4 presented one big problem - we have zero fullbacks!! Given that Yuri was sold to Newcastle, so is on a huge wage, a return for him was never on the cards. Instead we managed to get Aihen Munoz from our Basque neighbours. £10m was a steep price to be honest, but there was almost no alternativess and i was suprised he was willing to cross the divide, so i dived in.  Backing him up, Imanol returns from loan and can be at least serviceable at LB, with still some potential to grow. At right back, fortunately for us , Ander Capa had not done well since we sold him to Wolves, and we get him back for £2m less than we paid, and on almost the  same wage he was before. Backing him up, we promote Alvaro Nunez from the B team, he is not really at the standard we need but can act as an emergency option. Unai Nunez or Yeray can also shift over when needed, as our backup CBs are good (Nolaskoian and Vivian).

In central midfield, we have lots of options, but many who did not stand out last year. Sancet was our best player at times last year, but his attribute development is not what i would like. Moncayola and Vencedor give us a young / prime age pairing as well but both under performed (although we fended of 20m + bids from Spurs for the later). Likely those 3 start, and a combo of Dani Garcia, Mikel Vesga backing up the more defensive roles, and newly aquired Ivan Martin to provide backup as the more attacking CM (as well as being able to cover both wings). Oier Zarraga is also on hand, but i think will be loaned out to see if he can grow with more regular game time.

We go 433 (or 41221 as the game calls it), so in wide areas, we have another go at getting the best out of our mercurial talent, Inaki - played a lot at RM last year, hoping as a more attacking focused AMR, he can shine. On the other side, my boy Iker was shockingly bad last season, and is unhappy so has requested a transfer, but with no bids, he will get a chance to reprieve himself by hopefully also playing a role he suits more (last year he switched between ML and AMC). Backing those up, Inigo Cordoba returns from loan and Jon Morcillo gets another season as back. Juan Artola gets promoted to act as depth across various positions.  Nico, arguable our best prospect, will be loaned out this year to somewhere he can start every week. If we had sold Iker, i would start Nico now, but he is best served playing games than being on the bench.

Up top, Karrikaburu and Raul Garcia (who was our best player last year, and signed a new contract on vastly reduced wages) willl rotate. Villalibre remains on hand for depth, but was poor in season 1. 

 

We have some great youth talent in the B / U19s, as always hoovering up the best Basque talent i can find, even if some are slight overpays, and also the odd 16yr old Spaniard. Future is bright but this year i am finding youth development much harder than in previous years, so i need to focus a bit more on that. 

[BlueMikeyP]

2021/22 season is done.  Couldn’t have asked for more from the team but unfortunately Real Madrid were just to good for us.

We pushed them hard all season but they always seemed to stay just ahead. Heading into the final 5 games of the season we were level on points but had a tough run with 3 of the then top 6 away from home as well as Real still to play. Sadly we could only manage draws away to Valencia and Villarreal which gave Real a 4 point advantage. We then gave away the lead in the game against Real to only get a draw which never seemed like being enough. We won our final two games of the season but sadly it wasn’t to be.

Our best performers were Inaki Williams who top scored with 21 league goals. Munian who was near the top of the average rating list and lead the team by example. Sancet who surprisingly finished the season with over 20 goal contributions from midfield. Both Capa and Yuri were very good all season as well giving us an attacking outlet out wide as well as being solid defensively.
Mikel Merino was solid if unspectacular in his debut season. I struggled to settle on anyone on the right wing. Morcillo, Nico and Serrano all flattering to deceive. This will be an area that I’ll look to strengthen, or play around with in preseason if I’m stuck with the same personnel.

I have already wrapped up summer deals for Odriozola (£11m) and Sangalli (free). I’ll be looking to cash in on Capa while his value is still high with Odriozola replacing him in the first 11. I’ll also let Dani Garcia go, he rarely played and Sangalli can cover that job next season. Lastly and importantly given Yuri’s age and lack of an obvious replacement, we have agreed a deal for a regen LB who has 4 star potential, he also has professional as his personality type so I’ll look to get him regular first team football with the B team next season in the hope that he can be ready to play a part in the first team in the next year or two.

With European football to contend with next season I can’t see us getting close to this seasons points total. Whenever we had a run of weekend-midweek fixtures the quality of our play really dipped.

Although this is a long term save. A title would have been great this year but I’m in it for the long haul. We go again next season!

[Undy]

I feel like I'm really in the minority not going for Moncayola. He's still at Osasuna in my game and while good, I didn't have the money for him in the first season and haven't been able to justify the cost since.

I have now come to the end of the 2024/25 season and what I'm about to say should come as no surprise to anyone who's read my previous posts - we put up a good fight and played some really good football, but ultimately we didn't have the squad depth to really compete. Same story every season - we have the beating of most teams but when it's two or even three games a week non-stop for a month or so we just don't have the legs to keep battling late into games. I'm going to have to be pragmatic and find a lower intensity tactic that works for us during those tough periods.

It really was a good season on balance, even though for the first time in a couple of years we won no silverware. We were rarely out of the top four in the league and eventually finished a comfortable second on 79 points - nowhere near Real Madrid on 92, but never too threatened by Sevilla in third on 74. We progressed out of our group in the CL again but were seen off by Dortmund in the first knockout round, and lost the Supercopa final to Villareal and the Copa del Rey final to Real Madrid. Jon Karrikaburu finally had a true breakout season, scoring 17 in 37 in the league, with Villalibre not far behind on 14 in 28. Karrikaburu had our highest rating but Inaki was arguably our most important attacking player with 13 goals and 13 assists having played every league game - only once as a sub. I've been giving Serrano chances but his attacking numbers so far just aren't up to scratch - 4 goals and 4 assists in 34 games although more than half were as a sub. Nico Williams finally got a sustained run in the first team, but provided only five assists and no goals in 34 games (27 starts). I'm keeping the faith in him though. Contrary to my speculation at the start of the season, I ended up with no newgens making any significant presence, though Junior Bita and Julen Jon were pulled out of the B team midway through the season and have started getting some first-team game time. Another very good youth intake, but of slight concern to me is that I still can't find any good young Basque goalkeepers. At 27 Unai Simon still has a lot of years ahead of him, but I'd like to have at least one youth prospect who I think has a fighting chance of becoming a first pick and I'm increasingly doubtful that Alex Padilla will make the grade. And on that subject...

Another difficult year for the B team, with most of the season spent just above the relegation spots until, after taking one point from seven games, they inexplicably went on a run of 7 wins and 2 draws in their last 9 games, rocketing up the table and finishing the league in 12th place. I'm truly astounded by that because midway through the season I thought this was the year they might go down again. I don't have any explanation for that turnaround, but I like it! I can't let it detract from some of the stats though - they were the league's top scorers with 90 goals, but finished on a negative goal difference by conceding by far the most at 95. Carlos Bengoetxia (I think a season one newgen but maybe a real guy?) was the league's top scorer with 29 in 34 (12 assists), with my man Sergio Urritia finishing on 19 goals and 17 assists in 38 games. They were unsurprisingly the two top rated players in the division. Both are only 18! Sergio is the closest to pushing the first team but with such a strong attack just now I may have to farm him out on loan to a lower top division team. His development has been good in LaLiga 2 though so I'll need to weigh up who can take his place in the team before putting him out. At the other end of the pitch though, Padilla's GK performance has been far below the league average and he's only made slight progress over the season. My coaches still think he has good (3.5 star) potential, but at this rate he'll be pushing 30 before he reaches it. Kevin Rios has been playing for Basconia but on the whole may actually have got worse over the course of the game. With two seasons left on his contract, Simon was asking for a new one on bumper terms and I've not had much choice but to give him it - from £120k p/w up to £215k - but it keeps him tied until he's 33 (the next five years), so we should continue to get the best out of him.

I think I mentioned when I started out that this was my first Athletic Club save (and still my only FM22 save). Four seasons in now and honestly I have no desire to stop playing this save. The massive restrictions on the players I can take on has caused a real shift in my playing style (as has, to an equal extent in a different way, my adoption of the star attributes skin), though I am perhaps still guilty of trying to shoehorn players into a tactic. Not sure how much I'll continue to bore you with my updates, especially as updates regarding newgens become less relevant to other people, but I've found myself genuinely checking up on the team's scores and progress of players in real life and have a developing fondness for the club. I'm Scottish, I understand what it is to hold a strong, proud, national identify within a wider country with more "powerful" constituents. I recognise what Athletic Club do by representing the Basque country in their own unique way, and I love it. 

Edited December 15, 2021 by Undy

[BlueMikeyP]

I’m in preseason ahead of my second season and I’ve just signed Moncayola. I was the same as you, I wanted him but couldn’t justify the £17m release clause. Luckily my scouts let me know he was available for exactly half that at the end of the first season. I took the plunge and am now very happy with my midfield options. First choice 3 of Merino, Sancet, Vencedor being backed up by Moncayola, Sangalli and Vesga.

[Bradz FM]

I've just started a save the other day. Wanted to do one for years but always get other ideas.

Just past midway through the first season and sitting 2nd in the league, a point behind Valencia. Had the first window turned off but no plans to bring in anyone in January.

Balenziaga (€300k) and Lekue (€1.3M) departed in January. Artola and Alvaro Nunez move up from the B team.

[Undy]

I know I said I wouldn't update any more, but... We only bloody did it, and in what style!

A really hard fought title battle. Around February we were nine points clear, before a 4-2 loss away to Valencia at the end of February cut it to six. A 3-2 away defeat to Real Madrid a month later cut it to three points, and with us having won the home game 1-0 it would be down to goal difference if it finished level, and they easily had the beating of us there. The objective was simple - win. every. game.

They were coming thick and fast though. A tough April started off in the worst way with a season-ending injury to midfield mainstay Vencedor, and with not much depth in this area of the field we were reliant in the 20-year old Junior Bita in his first full season in the first team, partnered by the aging Mikel Vesga and a barely adequate Beñat Gerenabarrena. Nonetheless, home wins against Sociedad and Mallorca came alongside a Champions League quarter final against Sevilla which we just edged out, drawing Arsenal in the semis, and a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey final - then things got really nervy. A tetchy and evenly matched game against Levante ended 0-0, cutting our lead at the top to just one point. Real Madrid were demolishing all that crossed their path. We saw off Getafe in the next league game, before a 2-0 humbling at home against Arsenal made progression in the Champions League very unlikely. A tough 2-1 away win over Villarreal kept our title hopes alive, but with the squad creaking I was forced to make a big call, and something I'm not sure I've ever done in FM.

I threw a game.

The odds of beating Arsenal away by three goals were tiny, and my focus was on the daunting away game against Betis just a few days later. With our last game of the season against rock-bottom Las Palmas I knew if we got the win against Betis the league would be all but ours, so I threw the kids in against Arsenal and hoped for mercy. They battered us 1-0 with 28 shots against our one (which wasn't even on target). Who cares though? Eyes on the prize! The first team were back for the game against Betis, and an early Yeray header from a Nico Williams free kick put us in the lead. It was an evenly matched game and they fought hard (11 shots vs our 10, 1.06 xG vs our 1.00), but we held on for the win. The rest, as they say, is history.

This was such a satisfying season. After my previous complaints about burned out players, I made a slight but, as it turned out, very significant and rewarding tactical tweak. While I stuck with my preferred formation in the early part of the season and in general most of the time when I only had one game in a week, I switched to a new tactic for the gruelling periods when I would have two or even three games in a week.

In terms of player roles there were three main changes. Firstly, the WCBs were both set to defend, allowing them to pick and choose their moments to rampage up the pitch but more often than not hold back and conserve energy. Secondly, the wide midfielders were switched from hard-running IWs who were expected to be a main goal threat to a less energetic WM role where they were expected to pick up the opposition wide players defensively and feed the AMs offensively rather than storm forward themselves. Lastly, our false nine was dropped into the AM role to give us more control of possession in the middle of the park, with the pressing forward switched to an AF. The team tactic was inspired by the Barcelona of Iniesta and Xavi in their prime - a high and hard press to win the ball back quick, followed by beautifully tedious play when we're on the ball to conserve energy and force the opposition to do the running.

It worked a treat. We were the kind of team I hate playing against. The three CBs racked up insane passing stats, with the DMs and Unai Simon taking the next highest numbers. Opposition forwards would run themselves ragged chasing them down, but we always had the numbers to just keep the ball at the back until eventually they left a gap for us to exploit. Almost inevitably we would wear them down eventually. When we did finally work an opening, we became even more horrible to play against. The tempo and passing range dropped as low as they could go, and it wasn't unheard of for the time wasting to begin in the first half. Possession stats in the 60s were the norm - 70s not uncommon.

Much like the tactics, the transition in personnel was subtle but significant. Still no newgens in the first team, and it's 2026! Defence stayed as it has been for a few seasons, but in the DM role Junior Bita got his chance playing as either a regista or segundo volante depending on tactic. He's still only rated at 2.5-star CA, but my coaches have him at 4-5 star PA and he picked up young player of the year for the league. I have high hopes for his progression over the next few seasons. On the wings, Inaki had his worst season yet for me with just 5 goals and 2 assists, though this will mostly be down to the tactical shift preventing him going forward as much. Nico Williams on the other hand had his true breakout season with 6 goals and 12 assists. Sancet pulled his best numbers so far too with 10 goals and 7 assists, with Muniain on an almost identical 9 goals and 7 assists. The tactical shift again getting a tune out of the AM roles. Julen Jon was the third man in that position, but even playing more than half his games as a substitute he contributed 7 goals and 8 assists and is developing nicely. Competition for the lone striker role meant Villalibre saw less playing time this season and, while he did play well when he was on the pitch, he has asked to move on to a new challenge and will leave with all our best wishes if an acceptable offer comes in. Karrikaburu remains our main man up front and hit a career-high 20 league goals this season, though Nico Serrano is also beginning to fulfil his promise with 5 goals and 9 assists floating between the striker and wide midfield positions. 

 

The B team are having a good season as well. I finally lost patience with Alex Padilla and stumped up the £7.5m release clause for a season-one newgen from Real Sociedad who I've had on the shortlist for a few years. He's not got Unai Simon potential, but with no other Basque goalkeeping prospects in sight he falls into the "might have to do" category. He joined in the January window and went straight into the B team, with our defensive performances markedly better. With a few games left to go in their season, the B team are up in 8th with another season in LaLiga 2 to look forward to next season. I moved Sergio Urritia out on loan for some La Liga experience (more on that later), and backfilled with Ander Dominguez, an £11m signing from Osasuna a couple of season ago, and he's currently sitting on 28 goals from 31 appearances. The change in tactic wasn't so kind on our other striking sensation from last season Carlos Bengoetxea, who is currently following up last year's 29 goals and 12 assists in 34 games with 2 goals and no assists in 13, only two of which were starts. I may move him out on loan, but the coaches have dropped his potential right down to 2-3 stars so maybe last season was just an outlier for him.

A few personnel changes expected for next season already. Vesga will be allowed to leave on a free at the end of his contract, with his place in the squad going to Aitor Dominguez who will be my first newgen first-team regular. At 20 years old and just off a season on loan at Mallorca as a regular starter in La Liga, his time is now. If I can shift Villalibre in the summer transfer window then I may replace him in the squad with Sergio Urritia, but his season on loan at Granada has me unconvinced. Again like Dominguez he was a regular starter for a La Liga team, but 5 goals and 4 assists in 33 games doesn't have me excited so I will need to reassess at the start of next season. I am also faced with the uncomfortable question of whether to try cashing in on Inaki Williams. I'd love him to see out his career at the club, but he's no longer the standout star of the squad that he was. He's 31 with two years still left on his £190k/week contract, and is asking for a new one at a whopping £350k, without actually extending the terms. Not a chance mate. It's either sell him now, or let him fade into a squad player. A slightly more difficult decision I'll have to make eventually is about Sancet. He has 3 years left on his £80k/week contract and is wanting £300k/week to extend it. It's a lot of money, but he'd be a hard player to replace and still has his best years ahead of him. 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Undy

[Bradz FM]

Just curious what is the state of others finances at the end of the first season.

I won the league first season and had the budgets turned off for first window. I sold €1.6M worth of players in January and we are spending €1.3M p/w on wages.

We are €20M in the red and got a transfer budget of €4M. I know the TV money has to come in but the finances aren't great

[Undy]

23 minutes ago, Trevomac said:

Just curious what is the state of others finances at the end of the first season.

I won the league first season and had the budgets turned off for first window. I sold €1.6M worth of players in January and we are spending €1.3M p/w on wages.

We are €20M in the red and got a transfer budget of €4M. I know the TV money has to come in but the finances aren't great

You'll run at a fairly big deficit month to month but once TV and competition money comes in you'll be fine. Don't expect much increase in transfer budget for the second or third seasons though. It does pick up, especially if you can get the champions league money. In 2025/26 we bought the stadium just so I had something to spend money on. You're unlikely to spend big sums on transfers after the initial squad building period if you're just hoovering up the best newgens from other Basque clubs every year. 

[Bradz FM]

Cheers. I just seen a few get Karrikaburu in the first window but i've never had more than 4M budget

[Undy]

4 hours ago, Trevomac said:

Cheers. I just seen a few get Karrikaburu in the first window but i've never had more than 4M budget

You should have started the game with about a £20m transfer budget? I got him and Julen Jon Guerrero with my first season's transfer budget without making any major sales, but I think their release clauses can vary at the start of the game. Certainly I got Julen Jon a lot cheaper than some others did. The next season or two though most of my transfer budget came from sales. My advice if you're short of money for Karrikaburu is to sell Inigo Martinez (you may have picked up that I really bloody hate him) to free up funds. It's not a disaster if you don't get him though, Villalibre has been more than serviceable for me, and Serrano can easily develop into a top striker. Inaki can move up top too if you need. 

[Bradz FM]

13 minutes ago, Undy said:

You should have started the game with about a £20m transfer budget? I got him and Julen Jon Guerrero with my first season's transfer budget without making any major sales, but I think their release clauses can vary at the start of the game. Certainly I got Julen Jon a lot cheaper than some others did. The next season or two though most of my transfer budget came from sales. My advice if you're short of money for Karrikaburu is to sell Inigo Martinez (you may have picked up that I really bloody hate him) to free up funds. It's not a disaster if you don't get him though, Villalibre has been more than serviceable for me, and Serrano can easily develop into a top striker. Inaki can move up top too if you need. 

Yeah I disabled the first window and got €4.5M in Jan. I sold players to raise it to €6, spent nothing and now only have €4M in the Summer. Got ripped off.

 

Yeah I seen your hate for Inigo but I made him sign a new deal straight away and he got a 7.4 average rating in the league. Can't complain!

[ernemann]

You dont really need money in Athletic. You Got the best talents so just focus on Them - I dont buy players just get the best staff and your talents Will be good 😏

[Bradz FM]

15 hours ago, ernemann said:

You dont really need money in Athletic. You Got the best talents so just focus on Them - I dont buy players just get the best staff and your talents Will be good 😏

I haven't signed anyone yet. Problem is I can't renew half of the B and U19 staff contracts as we don't have enough money to ask for an increase

[ernemann]

15 minutes ago, Trevomac said:

I haven't signed anyone yet. Problem is I can't renew half of the B and U19 staff contracts as we don't have enough money to ask for an increase

Thats crazy how far are you? 

[Bradz FM]

Ok so some TV Revenue and season tickets have come in and we have €28M balance now.

 

I'm just wondering though if you start with budgets disabled is the bank balance different?

[ernemann]

45 minutes ago, Trevomac said:

Ok so some TV Revenue and season tickets have come in and we have €28M balance now.

 

I'm just wondering though if you start with budgets disabled is the bank balance different?

No thats the same I can see 32 mio €

[ernemann]

Finished our first season and ended at second place which is very good as we were predicted as the eight best team in the league We won the Spanish Supercup against Real and we also beat them in the Copa del Rey-Final, but they won the league instead!

So a really good season and we have said goodbye to quite a few players, so we can begin to build the new powerhouse! Out of the door left Mikel Vesga who joined Al-Ain for 10 mio €, Mikel Balenziaga left for SD Huesca for 115,000 €, Oscar de Marcos for 215,000 € for Fenerbahce, Inigo Cordoba have joined Nice on a free transfer, Peru Nolaskoain have joined Levante for 2.3 mio €, Inigo Vicente joined Rayo for 600,000 €, Alex Berenguer have joined Zenit for 11.5 mio € and finally Raul Garcia have joined FC Porto on a free transfer

Moved to our first-team is leftback Imanol very good player, Oier Zarraga and ofcourse Nico Serrano and we then have signed new contracts with a few of our best including Unai Simon who now has a release clausul at 585 mio € - Good luck buying him now

Our B-Team also got promoted to La Liga Smartbank while our C-Team (Basconia) will play in the fourth tier, so not a bad season By the way we ended up in a very tough Champions League group with AC Milan, AFC Ajax and Olympiacos - I think we are all good

[Bradz FM]

6 hours ago, ernemann said:

Finished our first season and ended at second place which is very good as we were predicted as the eight best team in the league We won the Spanish Supercup against Real and we also beat them in the Copa del Rey-Final, but they won the league instead!

So a really good season and we have said goodbye to quite a few players, so we can begin to build the new powerhouse! Out of the door left Mikel Vesga who joined Al-Ain for 10 mio €, Mikel Balenziaga left for SD Huesca for 115,000 €, Oscar de Marcos for 215,000 € for Fenerbahce, Inigo Cordoba have joined Nice on a free transfer, Peru Nolaskoain have joined Levante for 2.3 mio €, Inigo Vicente joined Rayo for 600,000 €, Alex Berenguer have joined Zenit for 11.5 mio € and finally Raul Garcia have joined FC Porto on a free transfer

Moved to our first-team is leftback Imanol very good player, Oier Zarraga and ofcourse Nico Serrano and we then have signed new contracts with a few of our best including Unai Simon who now has a release clausul at 585 mio € - Good luck buying him now

Our B-Team also got promoted to La Liga Smartbank while our C-Team (Basconia) will play in the fourth tier, so not a bad season By the way we ended up in a very tough Champions League group with AC Milan, AFC Ajax and Olympiacos - I think we are all good

Unlucky, still a great achievement. Hopefully you can get them next year!

 

Does your Basconia side use your tactics? Mine don't and cant figure out why

[ernemann]

41 minutes ago, Trevomac said:

Unlucky, still a great achievement. Hopefully you can get them next year!

 

Does your Basconia side use your tactics? Mine don't and cant figure out why

They normally do or I change it when you get that message you Want any player in the next reserve match. Or try  look at preferences maybe you Can choose it there maybe 

[MattyC78]

Season's greetings to all

Great opening posts as usual and I've been enjoying catching up with how you all have been doing.   I only ever get FM at Christmas so I have been finishing a few seasons with my Athletic FM21 save after a failed experiment operating as a Director of Football I've been enjoying getting back into it and I'm excited about getting FM22 and getting going with Athletic again. 

It's good to see the approach that others have taken and I'm just weighing up the type of save I want; Basque only or Lezama only players.  I shall update as I get into the game.  Bring on Christmas.  

[Undy]

17 hours ago, ernemann said:

They normally do or I change it when you get that message you Want any player in the next reserve match. Or try  look at preferences maybe you Can choose it there maybe 

I've never been able to get Basconia to play with my first team tactic, which is pretty frustrating as the B team use it no problem. I'm considering giving up on Basconia as any sort of serious development team as I just can't seem to get them promoted into the simulated leagues despite the players in the team showing individual ratings and performance stats that suggest they should easily be getting promoted. In the future I'd probably not play an Athletic Club save again unless I could get the lower leagues loaded in.

 

5 hours ago, MattyC78 said:

Season's greetings to all

Great opening posts as usual and I've been enjoying catching up with how you all have been doing.   I only ever get FM at Christmas so I have been finishing a few seasons with my Athletic FM21 save after a failed experiment operating as a Director of Football I've been enjoying getting back into it and I'm excited about getting FM22 and getting going with Athletic again. 

It's good to see the approach that others have taken and I'm just weighing up the type of save I want; Basque only or Lezama only players.  I shall update as I get into the game.  Bring on Christmas.  

I've been playing Basque only but with the quality of newgens I've had through I could probably have got away with Lezama only - Karrikaburu being the only signing that's made any significant impact in the five seasons I've played so far. The only thing that may force your hand is if you just can't get a good successor for Unai Simon through your own youth system. 

[MattyC78]

16 hours ago, Undy said:

I've never been able to get Basconia to play with my first team tactic, which is pretty frustrating as the B team use it no problem. I'm considering giving up on Basconia as any sort of serious development team as I just can't seem to get them promoted into the simulated leagues despite the players in the team showing individual ratings and performance stats that suggest they should easily be getting promoted. In the future I'd probably not play an Athletic Club save again unless I could get the lower leagues loaded in.

 

I've been playing Basque only but with the quality of newgens I've had through I could probably have got away with Lezama only - Karrikaburu being the only signing that's made any significant impact in the five seasons I've played so far. The only thing that may force your hand is if you just can't get a good successor for Unai Simon through your own youth system. 

I do like to do a little trading and I find it helps keep a lid on the obscene wages for the squad players but there is something fun about a Lezama only save which I did for a while in FM21.  Unai Simon was a problem that concerned me for years.  In the end I didn't get to the point he retired but he was 35 and I had two good 17 year olds so I'd have had to through them in early.  I suppose that is part of the charm of making do with what you had got.

[ernemann]

On 24/12/2021 at 00:14, ernemann said:

They normally do or I change it when you get that message you Want any player in the next reserve match. Or try  look at preferences maybe you Can choose it there maybe 

Well you Can choose it under Athletic Club C tactics as showed in my picture. It works with me but have no idea how Long it Will be like this 😏

[Jambo98]

Season 2 for me, brought slight incremental improvement but somewhat disapointment in the end. After barely scraping into the Euro spots in season 1, in Season 2 we were in the CL battle all season, never really threatening to win it, other than a great first 6 games.  We slipped agian late, as our lack of quality in depth hit us, but we secured P4 on the final day with a great win away at Barca. 

In terms of the playing squad, the changes from my last post were minimal. After bringing in fullbacks, we did zero inbound business in Jan besides some regens. Mikel Vesga was let go for £5m to Montpellier as he was well down the depth chart, and Villalibre was allowed to move to Rennes for £3m, as he never really contributed and i wanted to give a regen striker from our first youth intake some first team game time. 

Through the season we alternated 433 and 4231, mainly settling on the later as our shape as we move forward. Getting into the CL sets up the finances fairly well, we have a huge group of youths from both 2 very good intakes (i have been upgrading anything i can anytime i can in terms of facilities etc) and also hoovering up basque and 16yr old spaniards. The issue is, very few are actually developing at any noticeable rate. I know this is a feature of this years  game, and its a fair one, just quite a challenge to get used to the fact that many of my high PA stars regens will never really develop. We are trying a mix of using the B team, some loans and some players im trying to give minutes to in the  first team, but low success thus far.

As we move into Season 3,  there is some early transfer business. Dani Garcia was already declining and not really a player i need, so off to St Gallen with him, for £250k. Inigo Cordoba was unhappy with his playing time, and was not going to get any more, so i punted him to Bournemouth for a nice £5m, and finally Peru Nolaskoain was sold to Levante for just £1.5m - A sore one, as i liked him but he never developed, and our first choice CBs are not going anywhere, whilst Vivian had established him as our best 3rd choice CB, so Nolas was surplus to requirements. Jon Morcillo was also released as his contract expired, never really produced for us and we are well stacked in the wide areas. 

The biggest bit of new however, came late in the window. I adore Iker Munian as a player in real life, but on this save, he was just awful for me, never produced no matter where i played him. So i had to accept £15.5m from Man Utd and let a true club icon move on - happy that he is at least joining a "big club".

Inward transfers, other than regens, very minimal for season 3. Yuri was on the transfer list at Newcastle, and not only would they let me have him back for much less than i sold him for, they are kindly paying half his wages for a season. I had no burning need at his position, but a bit of quality in depth is no bad thing, and lets me loan out Imanol again to see if he can kick on. The only other deal we made, was a slight overpay - £15m for Ander Guerva from our bitter rivals. We were a bit short of CDM / CM cover and whilst its an overpay, he is in his prime and has resale value, with the afore mentioned problems with Regen development, i felt i had to beef up the squad a little.

 

 

 

[Jambo98]

State of the squad - December 2023 (mid Season 3)

Goalkeepers

Kepa remains our first choice and has performed well for us since returning, and is back to being #2 for Spain.  Ezkeita also remains on hand as a more than capable backup, and in the B team Agirrezabala would also be fine as a backup if needed. Regen wise, its a tough position to find good potential, our best is a 3* from our season 1 intake

Left Back

As mentioned above, this is now a timeshare between the returned Yuri, and Aihen Munoz, with the later of course being younger and looking a solid if not amazing option for years to come. Imanol is out on loan, and has developed a bit but at age 23 looks no better than a backup.  Regen wise, we have 2 x 4 star regens, both bought from elsewhere (one from barca, one from Sporting), but neither has developed in the year or so we have had them. Both are under 17 still, so plenty tme

Right Back

Ander Capa is our only starting level option here, backup is 23yr old Alvaro Nunez, but he is no more than emergency cover really. Lacks the quailty for this level. In reality, when our worst nightmare hit and Capa broke his leg, we have to resort to playing Unai Nunez at RB, which he is fine for, but it weakens our CB corps. On the regen side, we have one 4.5 star prospect, but although he can play RB, his future is probably at MR / AMR, we have another 2 x 4 star prospects though, again both lack any kind of decent current attributes, so much development needed. 

Centre Back

Here we have 3 very good options now. Yeray is solid and dependable, surprisingly never capped and at 28yrs old is probably entering the end of his prime, We have been fighting off 25m bids from Athletico for 6 months. Unai Nunez is a very similar profile, not world class but very good for our level, dependable and of course a couple of years younger.  Dani Vivian is one of those players who has really developed for us. Could equally play CDM but for us has emerged as an oft used rotational CB. A god send this season with Unai having to spend the best part of 6 months covering RB. For 4th choice CB, i always use a relatively low PA non prospect, at the moment it is 23yr old Aitor Paredes - B Team fodder in reality, but a capable emergency 4th CB when the need arises.  Prospect wise, we have 3 good prospects, one home grown and 2 nabbed from Real Sporting, all 3 need more time to develop and grow to even be ready for B team duty

CDM / CM

At the moment we play 4231 with a pair of CM pivots, Unai Vencedor and Jon Moncayola are our first choice pairing, and whilst both are very good, and have still some potential to grow i think, they are maybe not an ideal pairing for my current tactic, as ideal i want one CM to be more progressive, both those 2 are more suited to traditional "pivote" type roles, but it is what we have. Ander Guerva, from Sociedad, represents out first backup, and notionaly, our 4th player here is the ageing Raul Garcia, but at times we shift players around and use Sancet as a CM.  We have a 4.5 star prospect CDM who i have high hopes for but he is of course no where near ready for us.  A 4 star in our B team compliments him, another picked up from Real Sporting. 

CAM

Here is where one of our star starting "prospects" is found - Oihan Sancet is our first choice, but to be honest, his return in terms of performance has not always stood out as i would hope. First 2 seasions, he bounced arouond positionally, but this year he has had a mostly true run at CAM and not run games as i hoped. He has on occasion had to move deeper and ideally he probably would play as an attacking CM, but our other options at CAM are not great. Our backup here is Ivan Martin, who is a decent and versatile squad player but lacks the key attribute to stand out at any one position. Julen Jon Guerrero should be our star prospect, and our coaches still love his PA, but in 2.5 years split between the B team and 2 loans, he has hardly developed at all and has never performed. Lately i have promoted him to the main squad and thrown him in for some game time, sink or swim sort of stuff. We have several other "good" prospects, the stand out being a 3.5 star lad we got from Racing, and is one of the very few who has actually really developed attribute wise whilst in the B team, so may be in line for a promotion next year

AML / AMR

Our wide areas are of course now dominated by the Williams brothers. Inaki remains a bit of an enigma at times, never really delivering the goal return i would like, but he is also still our best CA rated player by stars and clearly someone who should be a key player. After a season out on loan at Alaves, Nico returns to grab a starting berth and i hope to see more development. I need to tinker i think with the roles and instructions to get the best out of these 2 stars.  Backing them up, B team graduates Juan Artola and Nico Serrano both fit that annoyin mould of "decent but not top 8 La Liga" type players. Both still could grow, but neither has shone when given opportunities this year. In youth terms Aimar Vicandi (a real life prospect i believe) is highly rated and valued by my coaches, but his attributes are very mixed, and looks no where near good enough at 18yrs old. We have our best overall prospect - a 5 star lad who i paid £8m to Espanyol for, and have great hopes for, and a smattering of other 3.5 and even a couple of 4* prospects

ST

After an up and down first 2 seasons, Jon Karrikaburu has really taken off this year with 20 goals in 18 games. Clearly a star who we want to keep hold of and keep feeding chances.  With players like Inaki and Raul Garcia able to cover when needed, we took the risk of not having a senior true backup ST, instead the star of my season 1 youth intake, a regen who already has first team squad level attributes, Jonathan Diez has taken on that responsibility. He already scored in season 2 to become the youngest ever La Liga scorer, and i am hoping he can keep developing to support Karri.  We also have our 2nd 5* prospect, who i paid £4m to Real Oviedo to nab, in the B team, he is raw but shows real potential. 

 

 

[ernemann]

Season 2 ended and we were crowned Champions after a crazy hard fight with Real Madrid, while we went out in the Semis in the Champions League to Liverpool, who beat us 3-0 at Anfield. With four games left in the league we were even with Real at 82 points, both games were ended 1-1 and Real had a 3 goal better goal difference, but suddenly they slipped and we had a decent easy four games left and were the Champions on the final day, were Real lost again away to Villarreal.

We won the Spanish Supercup against Real with 4-1, while Valencia were beaten 3-1 in the final so a nice season with the treble and our young guns are getting better. After the season Zarraga were unhappy and we let him go to Copenhagen for 5.6 mio Euro and we insteaad moved Junior Bita up from our C-team and a young rightback Joselu who can play all 3 positions at the back, so a really nice player with huge potential. We also got Andoni Pena at 17 years who is getting ready to replace Yuri after next season were his contracts runs out and he will fight with Imanol, and after the new season we also have a young keeper ready to replace Jokin Ezkieta who is no were near to be good enough.

Besides those I have allready wrote about, we also have a very good striker Eduardo Aguirre and a very good prospect in the central defence Ion Pena, so the future looks very promising. As this is a real Lezema only as always, we havent bought any players - and my board dont like that I think

[Undy]

Don't worry too much if players aren't developing quickly. If they go a full year with no real progress you'll want to reexamine their playing time and level, but if they're just ticking along it's fine. I thought Julen Jon might have been a wasted investment for me after limited progress, but in the fifth season in his stats rocketed up. Same with the two Nicos. It's refreshing not having all players maxed out before they're 20 to be honest. 

[dothestrand]

Having won the league within a couple of seasons, I'm going to do what I did in FM21 and restart as a Lezama only save. So no signings from other clubs, either youth players or established players. I'll start from one season in as before.

My aim here is to make more use of our own academy, rather than poaching talented Basques when the intakes roll in each Spring. So, that will mean developing and using the players I didn't make much use of before - players like Rios, Arenal, Paredes, Nolaskoian, Imanol, Prados, Badiola, Bita, Rego, Zarraga, Artola, Cordoba et al. And with some good intakes, we should have a production line of talents I can bring through. The first intake has a couple of good RBs, a good AML and two good strikers. As always, the early work is to get contracts for the likes of Simon, Vivian, Vencedor, Sancet and Nico locked down, then start the process of phasing those past their best out. So, it may be a save without short-term success, but I felt that about five seasons in, the game was getting too easy if you could just sign any Basques, including regens.

[ernemann]

3 hours ago, dothestrand said:

Having won the league within a couple of seasons, I'm going to do what I did in FM21 and restart as a Lezama only save. So no signings from other clubs, either youth players or established players. I'll start from one season in as before.

My aim here is to make more use of our own academy, rather than poaching talented Basques when the intakes roll in each Spring. So, that will mean developing and using the players I didn't make much use of before - players like Rios, Arenal, Paredes, Nolaskoian, Imanol, Prados, Badiola, Bita, Rego, Zarraga, Artola, Cordoba et al. And with some good intakes, we should have a production line of talents I can bring through. The first intake has a couple of good RBs, a good AML and two good strikers. As always, the early work is to get contracts for the likes of Simon, Vivian, Vencedor, Sancet and Nico locked down, then start the process of phasing those past their best out. So, it may be a save without short-term success, but I felt that about five seasons in, the game was getting too easy if you could just sign any Basques, including regens.

Thats very good with another one that goes in this direction. Right now it’s a fun save for me, but once the vinter Update comes i’ll make that huge save - maybe I’ll try make 50 seasons this time 😏

[Bradz FM]

I think I'm pretty much going Lezama only unless somebody really catches my eye.

 

Having a wobbly start to season 2 and currently only 10th at the World Cup break but there's not a huge amount in it. B side are in a comfortable midtable position in LaLiga 2. The Basconia side are top of their group in the 4th division. Would be amazing if they got another promotion.

 

 

[MattyC78]

2 hours ago, Trevomac said:

I think I'm pretty much going Lezama only unless somebody really catches my eye.

 

Having a wobbly start to season 2 and currently only 10th at the World Cup break but there's not a huge amount in it. B side are in a comfortable midtable position in LaLiga 2. The Basconia side are top of their group in the 4th division. Would be amazing if they got another promotion.

 

 

I think I'm taking a similar approach.  I'm only going to sign players in areas where I haven't got options from the youth team.  I have only just completed the first transfer window.  I have scouted lots of players but there aren't many that take my fancy so I have decided to retain the funds for a bit.  I'm not saying never but right now I don't see a need to make a purchase.  

In previous years I have used plug and play tactics but I'm giving it a go myself this year.  Athletic are perfect for this as you have to make the best of what you've got.  I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with the squad.  The first few games have been positive.  

I have tried to build a tactic around the better players and fill in around them with the others but I'm looking forward to getting my wingbacks returned to fitness.

[Undy]

In a nice bonus extra at the end of my 25/26 season, Basconia were finally promoted to the fourth tier. I don't think there's terribly much between the squad there and the B team who held their own in the upper half of LaLiga 2 so hopefully another promotion will take them up to the third tier next season and we'll finally have a good through-the-leagues pathway to the first team. 

[Bradz FM]

6 hours ago, MattyC78 said:

I think I'm taking a similar approach.  I'm only going to sign players in areas where I haven't got options from the youth team.  I have only just completed the first transfer window.  I have scouted lots of players but there aren't many that take my fancy so I have decided to retain the funds for a bit.  I'm not saying never but right now I don't see a need to make a purchase.  

In previous years I have used plug and play tactics but I'm giving it a go myself this year.  Athletic are perfect for this as you have to make the best of what you've got.  I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do with the squad.  The first few games have been positive.  

I have tried to build a tactic around the better players and fill in around them with the others but I'm looking forward to getting my wingbacks returned to fitness.

Yeah that's exactly it. Sometimes I make rules in saves that I am too strict on but if I really need something I'll go for it. Great start BTW

 

Basconia are looking good for promotion to 3rd tier so may need to dip into the market to keep them there of we are barren in certain postions

[Bradz FM]

Finished season 2 and it was quiet disappointing. We lacked the consistency in season 1 and never hit the same heights.

Finished 4th in the league but only after some tweaks saw us win 7 on the bounce.

Finished runners up in Copa del Rey. The final against Sevilla came at the worst possible time in the midst of a terrible run f form.

Knocked out in CL group stage and then disappointingly in 1st knockout round of Europa League (I didn't realise it was a single leg game)

Having still not spent any money on transfers since I started, I got a whopping €2M budget, not that it matters really.

Raul Garcia retires so I'm going to promote Youssouf Diarra who has performed well for B side the past 2 years.

B side retained their place in 2nd division and Bosconia won the 4th tier meaning promotion to third tier. I now have a perfect development pathway for players.U19s topped the division lsing only 1 game all season.

Had another golden generation youth intake but we probably have too many wide players in general.

Edited December 31, 2021 by Trevomac