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Moneyballing My Way To A Champions League Title in Every European Nation Part X: The FM23 Experiment


shaunvamos
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2026 Preseason

 

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We didn't have a lot of money to spend, so a couple of loans and some cheap signings headline our recruitment strategy this season.

 

 

 

Centre Back

 

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At 19, Jiri has excellent attributes to develop into a strong CB.

 

 

 

Right Wing Back

 

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Bartosz has no idea how to play RWB, but he'll learn. Or else.

 

 

 

Central Midfielder

 

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Marcin comes back for yet another loan stint with us, at this rate he won't even play for Rennes.

 

 

 

Striker

 

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A staple in my last two saves, we've found Talbi again and he's willing to join a lowly German club. Hopefully he'll have a great season.

 

 

 

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A short preseason, but we did well.

 

 

 

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Unsurprisingly, the bookies think we have no business here. I just want to finish 16th.

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August 2026

 

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A poor start, but an expected one.

 

 

 

Transfers (Out)

 

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Even though he was still labelled promising, Matej wanted to leave so I let him. We sell him for double what we got him, and we have a 30% sell-on just in case he develops.

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April 2027

 

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An up and down month, with a predictable loss to Bayern, but we beat both Wolfsburg and Mainz and sit in the final European spot with two games to go. Our next game is at home to Koln, and should we win that 7th is all but secured. The problem is that Koln are also in the cup final, so if they beat Gladbach they take the final European spot instead of us.

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Well, we did our part, beating Koln and sitting in 7th place. It was up to Gladbach to also beat Koln in the cup to send us into Europe in our first Bundesliga season.

 

 

 

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They did it!

 

It was touch and go for a little while, but Kaczmarek's 85th minute goal proved to be the winner, putting us in Europe.

 

 

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Oh, I was just, you know, watching and praying for Koln's demise. Nothing personal, I just wanted to be in Europe.

 

 

 

Best XI

 

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Hubert Szczypek  -  Romain Matthys  -  Ricardinho

 

 

 

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Record Breakers

 

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Award Winners

 

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Progress

 

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2027 Preseason

 

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With the huge amount of prizemoney we got from our position last year, we were finally able to spend a little money to bring in some players, as well as plenty of room in the wage budget. Probably wasn't looking to spend as much as I did, but the average transfer money we had per player still meant that we saved money, about 13 million in fact. Of course that means that some players had to leave, including our sub CB Delguel. Lomeli is deemed promising, but he won't get in our team for a while so I'm capitalising on his value now and maybe he'll get better later, allowing us to cash in on a 50% of the next sale.

 

 

 

Centre Back

 

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The Dutch U21 international from Groningen comes with a huge pricetag and therefore a huge expectations. In a starting role with improving facilities he looks set to fill some of the potential he's deemed to have.

 

 

 

Left Wing Back

 

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Our first German transfer in a long, long time, Kramer is already a natural in his position and has all the gifts to make an immediate impact.

 

 

 

Defensive Midfielder

 

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At first glance Vaclav doesn't look like much, but the attributes he had for DLP are outstanding.

 

 

 

Central Midfielder

 

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After playing a grand total of 0 games for Rennes, having spent his entire career there playing for us on loan, he joins us permanently for the second time. Pretty cheap, and we got 30% of what we spent back thanks to the sell on clause.

 

 

 

Strikers

 

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Chris Jones is immense, and I tried to sign him from Opava for compensation 4 seasons ago, but he chose to go to Slovan Liberec instead. We had to spend 2.6 million to get him, but he'll be absolutely worth it. 19 finishing! Ruas is also a strong signing, the half Belgian learning a new position during his tenure here.

 

 

 

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Strong, but we played inferior opposition.

 

 

 

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At least we're not predicted outright last this time.

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August 2027

 

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Not a bad start to the league as we sweep aside HJK to earn a spot in the Conference League group stage.

 

 

 

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Not the hardest group we could've drawn, but certainly not the easiest. I do believe we can qualify from this group though!

 

 

 

Transfers (Out)

 

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The 19 year old departs after making 2 appearances for the team.

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October 2027

 

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A slight stumble in the league against Stuttgart in which we played 80+ minutes with 10 men, but we're sitting pretty in 6th at the moment. Our result against Braga is looking more disappointing as we shoot up to top the group at the halfway point.

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December 2027

 

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Couple of tight games to end the year, including great wins over Gladbach and Leipzig, and we're in a great spot as we go into the second half.

 

 

 

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Looks okay, but will likely be worse than ones we've had previously.

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March 2028

 

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A month in which we lose in the Bundesliga more than we win, but we have a gap to 7th.

 

 

 

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We breezed past Braga much to my surprise, and we draw a tough team in Anderlecht. Should we go through we will probably play Arsenal.

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i've spent alot of my work day catching up on all this. i consider it a good use of my time :lol:

that Bayern dominance is pretty extreme, but props on your progress, challenging those European places well

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April 2028

 

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We've qualified for Europe again for next year, but our journey in Europe is more than likely over this year as Arsenal flog us. As if that wasn't enough, Gladbach wiped the floor with us as well. We've got to hope that Wolfsburg lose and Freiburg don't win by more than we do. We've got Leipzig at home, Wolfsburg have Stuttgart at home and Freiburg have Gladbach away. So we could finish 5th but will likely be 6th.

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1 hour ago, vara said:

i've spent alot of my work day catching up on all this. i consider it a good use of my time :lol:

that Bayern dominance is pretty extreme, but props on your progress, challenging those European places well

Definitely a good use of your time :lol: 

I didn't realise Bayern were so dominant either, I'm more focused on the minor European places as we aren't reaching those heights just yet!

 

Love your profile picture btw :D 

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23 minutes ago, shaunvamos said:

Definitely a good use of your time :lol: 

I didn't realise Bayern were so dominant either, I'm more focused on the minor European places as we aren't reaching those heights just yet!

 

Love your profile picture btw :D 

and fair enough too! no hurry to win the thing.. that'll take some work.

big fan of the Wilhelm Langrehr stadium too. Proper little ground that

 

thanks! made for the Aus/NZ FM community we've been building. i'll pm some details so you can get on with your show without any hijacking :)

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Out of the Conference League, but into the Europa League next year :D Bayern also went unbeaten the entire season and are in the Champions League final, but lost to 2nd division Karlsruher in the cup semi final, which will probably be won by Gladbach again.

 

 

 

Best XI

 

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Paulo Teixeira  -  Romain Matthys  -  Marcin Grzejda

 

 

 

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Record Breakers

 

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Award Winners

 

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Progress

 

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2028 Preseason

 

Before the season reset, we said goodbye to a player who was only with us for a year.

 

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It probably caused a bit of an uproar amongst the squad and the fans, but he was interested in a move, and Young Boys asked offered a fee I was comfortable with. We make 5m profit off him in one season and will make more with a 20% of next sale clause.

 

 

 

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Relatively quiet transfer window so far, as we seem to have reached a plateau where no interested players are better than what we already have, with the ones that are tied to big clubs that want exorbitant transfer fees. Still, these two will add to the team.

 

 

Centre Back

 

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A German! I had to offer the highest wage I've ever offered because Leverkusen were sniffing around, but I got him. I initially brought him in to play DM, but as a Libero he is just fantastic, so the backline is where he will play.

 

 

 

Striker

 

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I tried to bring in Navratil last season, but contract negotiations fell apart after I excluded too many of the things he wanted. It appears he's had a change of heart, and he joins us for less than he wanted last year.

 

 

 

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A strong preseason, one that I'm very happy with.

 

 

 

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Not predicted last! Yay?

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21 hours ago, zethani said:

Great job, puzzling that your average attendance is decreasing.

 

21 hours ago, TheRobert said:

Congratulations for qualifying in the Conference League semifinals

 

13 hours ago, corinthiano said:

Great season and making steady progress, hopefully you can have a good Europa League campaign next season and break into that top 4!

Thanks guys :D 

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August 2028

 

Transfers (Out)

 

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Our starting centre back leaves for Leverkusen for 11.5m more than we bought him for, which was a no-brainer really. That, added to the remaining transfer budget, set us up for an entrance into transfer deadline day for the first time, in the aim of getting some good players to boost our ranks.

 

 

 

Transfers (In)

 

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Centre Back

 

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Met his release clause at Frankfurt, who lose money on the deal. He's not the tallest CB out there, but he definitely has the ability to do the job.

 

 

 

Left Wing Back

 

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Took a bit out of the budget, but it appears to be the right decision as he's now worth 24-30m. He's got no idea how to play his position, but he'll learn.

 

 

 

Central Midfielder

 

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He's listed as a striker, but he'll be playing as a Mezzala. He was probably not going to play for Bayern for a long, long time, but we still have to pay him a whole lot.

 

 

 

Striker

 

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Thibaut made Angers a lot of money when we paid for him, and we're looking for him to be the creator of the two strikers.

 

 

 

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A very sluggish start in the Bundesliga, but they were tough fixtures.

 

 

 

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It's a tough group, but I think we'll beat LASK and be able to drop down into the Conference League.

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reasonable start i guess, considering two comps to navigate.

away form clearly causing you some grief. but that EL group is atleast in your hands with the big Everton double ahead. good luck

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October 2028

 

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A very favourable month and we've fought out way back into the top 6, but a few poor results will see us move straight back down. In the cups, we've finally beaten Freiburg in a cup competition, and it's tight in the Europa League.

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18 minutes ago, vara said:

reasonable start i guess, considering two comps to navigate.

away form clearly causing you some grief. but that EL group is atleast in your hands with the big Everton double ahead. good luck

Yeah, plus we had to accommodate the new signings and their new positions, but we seem to be settling now.

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November 2028

 

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A brutal month, losing all four of our away games. But at least in the league all these games will be at home for the 2nd half, and in the Europa League all we need is a draw at home against LASK to ensure knockout football.

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December 2028

 

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Our injured, tired and depleted team couldn't handle Bayern or Mainz, but we recovered to beat Leverkusen. It's going to take a monumental second half performance to qualify for Europe, even by our standards.

 

 

 

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We should have enough quality to see off Anorthosis.

 

 

 

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This has been our best preview yet! But will it mean anything?

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ooooh a golden generation. fills you with such optimism... 

congrats on your Europe target, should hopefully have enough to progress beyond this round too. how is the bank balance looking now?

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26 minutes ago, vara said:

ooooh a golden generation. fills you with such optimism... 

congrats on your Europe target, should hopefully have enough to progress beyond this round too. how is the bank balance looking now?

Still not expecting much, I've had a disappointing run in Germany regarding intakes. We currently have 17m in the bank, and steadily going down. The massive finances the Bundesliga gives us at the end of the season is what keeps us afloat.

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February 2029

 

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We finally lose in the Bundesliga, but not before we've made some good ground. We have 3 home games next month against teams we should beat (and RB Leipzig) so we could jump into the top 4 if we're lucky.

 

 

 

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We got past Anorthosis with little issue, and now we face a side we're familiar with in Braga. We beat them at this stage last year comfortably, and we're stronger than we were last year (I think). Th other good news is that at first glance the pool of remaining teams is not as strong as last year. We'll see how wrong that is.

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March 2029

 

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Imperious at home in this month, winning all the matches we needed to and even sneaking in a victory over Leipzig. 2nd place is still theoretically up for grabs, but I think 3rd would be a nice aim.

 

 

 

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We were far from impressive against Braga, and now we face the team that loves to knock us out of cups: Freiburg. The good news here is that the winner is probably going to the final as they play either Brondby or Midtjylland in the semi, avoiding Napoli, Lille and Southampton.

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April 2029

 

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With a Champions League spot potentially up for grabs it was the perfect time to fall apart, which we did. Back to back 3-0 defeats and Freiburg knocking us out of a cup (surprise, surprise) sees us needing a win against Leverkusen at Leverkusen to avoid relying on Bayern to win the cup. Granted, they're playing Wolfsburg so should win comfortably, but still.

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A strong performance ends our season on a high, but inconsistency was a real problem. The top 3 is a reachable target, but consistency needs to improve. Perhaps some depth defensively too, as when we rest our starters we tend to fall apart.

 

 

 

Best XI

 

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Ricardinho  -  Romain Matthys  -  David Fischer

 

 

 

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Record Breakers

 

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Awards

 

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Progress

 

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