[FM23] Athletic Club (Bilbao) - Aupa Athletic!

[sgevolker]

I would like to use the B Team as transit between youth and the senior squad. Place there the talents who are actual not good enough for the first team. I also try to have one experienced player in defense, midfield and attack to give the younger player guidance. Ideally there playing in the second league, but that really is a tough challenge. Actual, after 30 games we're only one place up to relegation and we will fight until the end of the season. I think most of the younger players will only play maximum two years in the B-Team and then move to the senior squad or somewhere else. Because there getting to expensive. What I really like is that I can keep an eye on their development. I've got the best training ground and the best youth trainer and I can decide what they should train and how they develop. If this is possible in the highest league they could play it would be my favorite setting. 

This is my actual squad, a lot of younger players unter 18 (because you do not to register them): 

The first look after the senior team match is how they played. Makes it special for me to be responsible for this team. I like it. 

 

Edited March 13, 2023 by sgevolker

[KristianT]

Season 23-24 (second season)

La Liga: Real Madrid were back in business and Barcelona following closely behind them. We managed to secure third place.

At this point it is difficult to expect anything more than 3rd place. Real and Barca should be better and in any normal season they will be. Last year Real had an abnormal year and we came 2nd. So we confirmed ourselves as the best of the rest and that's ok. I can't help though feeling a bit disappointed because we got fewer points, scored less and conceded more compared to last season. Partly this can be explained by the fact that we never got to play the trio Williams, Williams, Muniain in attack. Muniain missed the first six months due to an injury, when he came back Inaki Williams played AFCON and when Inaki came back Nico broke his leg and was out for six months. Villalibre did his part by scoring 34 goals, but the level is slighty lower anyway. We also struggled in defense. I think it might partly be down to us playing a total of 10 more games this season between Supercopa and Champions League which teared more on the squad.

Copa del Rey: we lost against Real Madrid in the quarter finals, they went on to win it.

Supercopa: we beat Valencia and Real Madrid 2-1 to win our first trophy

Champions League: we made it through the group, but absolutely not in an impressive way. We qualified with seven points ahead of Leipzig on head-to-head. Our goal stats of 13-13 in the group stage tells us we are not at all at the level we need to be defensively. We conceded three goals in four out of six games. We went to lose 1-5 on aggregate against Man City, which was to be expected.

 

Youth intake:

Well, I was not disappointed this year either. Looking forward to seeing these guys grow, some of the guys from the 1st youth intake might make their debuts in the coming season.

 

All good news with the U19, B and C squads as the U19 became Spanish champions and both Bilbao Athletic and Basconia won promotion to level 3 and 4 respectively.

Transfers:
In a bid to mend some of the defensive issues I bought both Azpilicueta and Le Normand in January. Other than that nothing noteworthy happened.

[twoleftfeet]

On 13/03/2023 at 19:31, KristianT said:

Nico Williams did well for me last season in a similar role to that which you play him in, so you seem a bit unlucky to get so sub par performances from him. First season he played 38 games in totalt with 18 goals, 18 assists and 7.38 average rating. In the league he played 31, scored 14 and 13 assists. So far this season he has 11 games and 7 goals.

Some thoughts on the B team as well. My B team got relegated last season and now play on level 4. (I have a file with Spain to level 7 so Basconia plays in an active league and they are rocking it at level 5). My first thought on B teams is always to have them as high up in the league structure as possible in order to give the youngsters the highest possible level of competitive matches. However, for that to happen you need a few things. You need to have a constant pool of players aged about 18-22 in that squad with the quality that is need to play at level 2 and given that these players are bound to be really good you probably need to spend a lot on wages to maintain this squad. Also, many of the players in that age group and of that quality are likely to be knocking on the 1st team door, many of which probably only marginally worse or may even be better than some of the weakest players in your 1st team squad. And for every player you promote, his replacement from the u19 team will be a lot weaker, which increases the relegation threat. If a player in the B team is too good for the B team, but maybe not good enough for your 1st team, do you sell him and replace with a 18 year old with potential or do you keep him around to keep the B team afloat at level 2? Is it worth his wages?

Ideally the B team is only a team that the best talents pass by for a shorter period before they are promoted to the 1st team, so is it worth the effort to keep the B team at level 2? Basically you are looking at the need to have about 35-40 players of high quality and with corresponding wages and that the players are constantly being replaced or challenged by players coming from your U19 team

I may be echoing thoughts of old here, but it is always interesting to hear what people think. I feel that to have the B team on level 4 is too low, I'd like them at least at level 3 and then Basconia at level 4 or 5, hopefully already from next season.

I think you make some good points, I have not spent much time with B-teams so my thoughts on how to use it are more guesses and assumptions on how I think it would be used in 'Real-Life' cases. You are right with finding the right level though, it is difficult to both manage to have a competitive B-team which encourages development, and one that isn't destroying you financially, (I would say once you become champions league regulars and selling academy players regularly for big money, this would not be an issue) especially when ideally you are pulling some of these youngsters out for the first team as you said.

I like the idea of having players follow a clear pathway which I have complete control over as, one I am a bit of a control freak with my wonderkids , and two, I've never had luck with loans. That is half the challenge though and, kind of what I want to do, with my Academy propping up my B-team, which then props up my 1st team, if they aren't first team ready by 21-23 then they get sold and the whole process restarts. I like to think thats how they would actually do it at Bilbao and try to do the same.

I wish I had Basconia in a proper league, cause it just adds another tier for those youngsters coming through who aren't at the level of the B-team, but have the potential for first team football. I guess that's why it is there hey.

[KristianT]

Yeah, I also like to try and keep it realistic and do a step-by-step thing, although some players skip the Basconia step. Some of the players from my 1st intake are now 16 or turning 17 soon and are already better than the ones playing in the B team last season, so for the new season I've moved them up so they will play at L3. Some of them are even good enough for L2, according to my coaches, so maybe it is possible to get promoted once more. WIll be interesting to see their development. Also I'm happy I had the intuition to put in an extra file with lower division in Spain so that Basconia play in an active league before I started the save. In previous versions of FM I have just used Basconia as a storage facility for lost causes, but now it comes into play.

Generally coaching in Spain is interesting because you have three or four squads you can plan for. It reduces the need for loans so you can guide the development more closely and make sure the players are helped by your good facilities and coaches. You basically get a 4-for-1 deal when you get upgrades on facilities.

Edited March 15, 2023 by KristianT

[bowieinspace]

Having the B team in the second tier can be a curse sometimes - they are often battling relegation and it's better for players to be getting higher average ratings for their development. It's often better to find loan options for that higher level type of player than in a struggling B team to be honest, unless they are also in the first team squad getting some sub appearances etc.

It's a tricky balance!

[KristianT]

That's something to keep in mind. Aa I mentioned, both B and C team got promoted to L3 and L4 and one third into the season they are both battling for another promotion. We'll see how I handle this, it seems my regens are already making a massive impact on these levels.

I find the feature where you make players available for B, C and U19 very useful in that the lineup is there and you can see whether the player will start if made available. At first I tried to move the players between the teams based on whether they started the last match or not, but now I have moved all of the 8-10 best talents to the first team and then make them available for the other teams on a match-to-match basis. A bit of work, but very useful as I know they get playing time.

[Branst23]

Season 1 Recap

League Table

Tactic/The Inaki Show

Transfers

Issues going forward

Never let your DoF offer contracts to youth/2nd team players... 

A massive issue with the save, can't resign 2nd contracts to 2nd team/youth players without them asking for a crazy wage. 

Edited March 16, 2023 by Branst23

[KristianT]

Congrats on the title in 1st season! Seems you could profit from Barca and Real having underwhelming seasons.

And good to see Inaki in crazy mode.

The issue with B team players' wages is a known issue it seems. But it also adds to the challenge of the save. You can't really go on a spending spree the first 2-3 seasons, at least not if you keep all your best players. But the squad is probably good enough to qualify for a CL spot within 1-2 seasons. When you get 2-3 years in CL your finances won't be a problem anymore and by that time you may not go out and spend 60-70++ for Sociedad's best players because you see that a regen will fill that need on two years anyway so instead of spending much on one of the few real Basques who can strengthen your squad you spend it on facilities and youth coaches to make sure your regens will develop.

I have also experienced that the first team players have very reasonable wage demands. I have managed to make Herrera go down from 160k a week to 90k in one renewal. Inigo Martinez and Muniain have also accepted great wage cuts, and Nico Williams had reasonable demands when he renewed. Even Azpilicueta is far from being the best paid in my squad.

Edited March 16, 2023 by KristianT

[sgevolker]

Hi Guys,

I've changed the style of the presentation a little bit, I hope you like it?

At the end of season six we qualified again for the champions league, but didn't had a change against the big players in the league.

Unfortunately our B-Team and CD Baskonia were both relegated. The second and third league were tough challenges for both.

Take care 

Volker

 

Edited March 18, 2023 by sgevolker

[KristianT]

It is tough to break through and get ahead of Barca and Real. Good job getting into CL though. And some exciting prospects you got there.

I'm about 3/4 way into the third season and I feel I'm in an in-between stage where the players originally in the game start to decline as they age and my many young prospects are not yet ready for first team football. The board is also incredibly reluctant to let me spend money, so it is a tight squeeze at the moment. Luckily we seem to be able to get top 4 again, we are in the cup final and we made it to the first knockout round in CL. We have wasted a few points against weaker opposition, but our losses are mainly against teams that are bigger so it seems pretty clear where we are quality-wise.

[sgevolker]

Hi Guys,

14 min. -> 5 goals. Even it's only a friendly. Wow 

 

[KristianT]

I said earlier we were far of the pace, but this is the situation now...

One of the remaining matches is El Clasico...

Real ahead of me on head-to-head, I am ahead of Barca head-to-head and Barca beat Real 1-0 in the first Clasico of the season.

[sgevolker]

How to turn a nice save into something frustrating? 

1. Have a very good pre-season

2. A young promising squad

3. Beet Barca in the first league match

4. Think your tactic is solid and working

5. Come into a really bad streak and do not know the reason

6. Have no idea what to change to get out of this

 

Edited March 25, 2023 by sgevolker

[KristianT]

Very annoying! In my save Real are getting 90+ points every season, so if you have four draws and a couple of losses you are out of it by mid-season.

[sgevolker]

Well, after a bad run we've got a good run. I wish I could say why, but I take it. Curious how the season will end. 

 

[skybluedave]

Finished first season. Ended 4th. Which is a good result. But final third of the season I really dropped off form wise. Conceded a lot of goals suddenly too. Like everyone else I signed Moncayola, and also picked up Aihen Munoz for left back. Sold Dani Garcia and Balenziaga. January no major ins or outs

2nd season about to start and happy with summer, released big earners Yuri and Raul Garcia (who sadly broken his leg 3/4 into season). Vesga wanted to consider options which wasn't good as I play 2 DM's and with Ander Herrera aging I had to prioritise that position. Vesga when to Lille for 3.5mill and I bought Ander Guevara for 14mill. Along with Aimar to replace Raul Garcia and the cheap pick up of Zaldua from relegated Cadiz to replace out going De Marcos & Lekue plus the returning loan guys (Imanol & Villalibre) I was happy with my squad. But I had plenty of cash to play with after reducing wage bill a ton so ended up adding Guillamon for 26mill. Hopefully he helps sort the defence, though I kinda like him more as a midfielder

So going into 2nd season with CL football with below team/squad/formation. Full backs clearly the weakspot. Youth Intake was solid but nothing spectacular, thought did get a semi promising right back but not sure he's gonna be ready by the time Capa and Zaldua are ready to go. Odriozola went to Man City so keeping an eye on him

[basqueliverpool]

On 19/03/2023 at 19:29, KristianT said:

I said earlier we were far of the pace, but this is the situation now...

One of the remaining matches is El Clasico...

Real ahead of me on head-to-head, I am ahead of Barca head-to-head and Barca beat Real 1-0 in the first Clasico of the season.

How did this end up?

[KristianT]

22 hours ago, basqueliverpool said:

How did this end up?

Like this...

As you can see from the date on that screenshot I am now in July 2029. Real won again in 25-26 (me: runner-up), 26-27 (runner-up) and 27-28 (third), but in 28-29 I finally managed to win the league at the final matchday! Took me seven seasons!

Many of the early youth intake youngsters are now in their early 20s and are taking their spots in the lineup, so I expect the level of the team will increase even further in the coming seasons.

Edited April 3, 2023 by KristianT

[sgevolker]

Hi Guys,

Season seven is over and again we are third behind Real and Barca. We were able to beat both during the season but not constant enough to get over them in the table. I hope it's just a matter of time 

Jon Karrikaburu scored 32 goals, 24 of them in the La Liga. Also our Wonderkid Bittor Martinez played a good season with a lot of goals and assists. 

We've got a lot of promising youngsters int the team and I would like to introduce two of them to you. Both are close to the first team this season. 

• Roberto Zabala is a robust central defender and also a target in our set pieces.
• Enrique Ochoa is playing most of the time on the wings and an aggressiv ball winner with a lot of power.

In the cup competitions we struggle again and didn't have the chance to win some silverware. We had a bad run at the begin of this yeas CL campaign, survived the first play-off round against Dortmund (nice) but then lost against Milan in the round of sixteen. 

Our B-Team had a solid season, most time in the mid of the table. The U19 won the league again without any lost, but then lose in the first Playoff round against Palmas. CD Baskonia one the league and got promoted to the third league. I'm curios if the will play against our second team next season?

Last but not least again a promising Youth Intake. Inaki Bakero could be a replacement in the future for Jon Karrikaburu. 

Take care 

Volker

 

Edited April 8, 2023 by sgevolker

[sgevolker]

Hi Guys,

it took some time but finally we did it in Season 8. We won La Liga.

Finally it was a heartbreaking finish between us and Atletico. Inaki Williams is going on retirement after 535 Games. He's now a icon of the club. 

Player of the Season was Jon Karrikaburu, who was also the best goalscorer in LaLiga. There's a lot of potential in the squad now and I would like to present to very talented players who have already gained a lot of first league experiences. Jorge Arrizabalaga is a left winger and Alex Bengtoetea can play as right winger or central midfielder.  

In the Copa del Rey we reached the final for the first time but unfortunately lost against Barca. The Champions League was not so good this year, we couldn't get over the League Phase.

Our B-Team finished with place 3 and then lost in the first Playoff Match. CD Baskonia could win the league but will not get promoted due to the B-Team playing in the same league. The U19 Team one again the league and could also secure the title. 

One of the best youth intakes I ever had  A lot of potential. I'm glad and really looking forward to develop all of those players in the first team.

Season 9 ready to start. 

Take care

Volker

 

Edited May 18, 2023 by sgevolker

[Oliver Roland]

Great result Mr. sgevolker! I am going to give it a go too. Can I ask you what kind of faces do you use for your newgens? And do you use official database or some custom as you can see Baskonia in playable league? Thank you and good luck!

[amathews3416]

On 18/05/2023 at 07:08, sgevolker said:

Hi Guys,

it took some time but finally we did it in Season 8. We won La Liga.

Finally it was a heartbreaking finish between us and Atletico. Inaki Williams is going on retirement after 535 Games. He's now a icon of the club. 

Player of the Season was Jon Karrikaburu, who was also the best goalscorer in LaLiga. There's a lot of potential in the squad now and I would like to present to very talented players who have already gained a lot of first league experiences. Jorge Arrizabalaga is a left winger and Alex Bengtoetea can play as right winger or central midfielder.  

In the Copa del Rey we reached the final for the first time but unfortunately lost against Barca. The Champions League was not so good this year, we couldn't get over the League Phase.

Our B-Team finished with place 3 and then lost in the first Playoff Match. CD Baskonia could win the league but will not get promoted due to the B-Team playing in the same league. The U19 Team one again the league and could also secure the title. 

One of the best youth intakes I ever had  A lot of potential. I'm glad and really looking forward to develop all of those players in the first team.

Season 9 ready to start. 

Take care

Volker

 

Congrats, man.  Impressed with how well you have turned the squad over. I am in 28/29 and still have a bunch of the originals left, much more than you.  Only 1 regen starting and the rest are squad players.  Did you sell off Nico Williams, Simon, Vencedor, Serrano?

Thus far Karrikaburu, Aimar, and Julen Jon Guerrero have been my best signings.  I see you have Guillamon?  I have been chasing him for duration of save but he moved to Man United and they want silly money for him.  

 

[sgevolker]

Am 22.5.2023 um 18:18 schrieb Oliver Roland:

Great result Mr. sgevolker! I am going to give it a go too. Can I ask you what kind of faces do you use for your newgens? And do you use official database or some custom as you can see Baskonia in playable league? Thank you and good luck!

Hi,

I use this one 

https://www.viewfromthetouchline.com/2022/12/15/fmugens-newgen-facepack-fm23/ 

and I use the around the globe Megapack from Date the Editor 

https://sortitoutsi.net/user/profile/754704

I can highly recommend both. 

[sgevolker]

Am 22.5.2023 um 18:48 schrieb amathews3416:

Congrats, man.  Impressed with how well you have turned the squad over. I am in 28/29 and still have a bunch of the originals left, much more than you.  Only 1 regen starting and the rest are squad players.  Did you sell off Nico Williams, Simon, Vencedor, Serrano?

Thus far Karrikaburu, Aimar, and Julen Jon Guerrero have been my best signings.  I see you have Guillamon?  I have been chasing him for duration of save but he moved to Man United and they want silly money for him.  

 

Thanks. I sold Simon for 45 Million to Tottenham, Nico Williams for 40 Million to Bayern and Vencedor left us for 60 Million to Arsenal.

For Guillamon I only payed 33 Million to Valencia in 2023. I think this was a good deal. 

I spend a lot effort in building a good staff and expand the training facilities. By this a got really good youth intakes and every year I integrate one or two youth players into the first team squad. This pays out now and works very well for me. 

 

[dothestrand]

2030-2031 Season Update: Four In A Row

After a break, I've resumed my Athletic Club save, and taken home the La Liga titles for the fourth consecutive season. It was a bit touch and go with half a dozen games to go, when we had FIVE away matches remaining, but luckily it was us who held our nerve, whilst our closest rivals, Real, lost back to back away matches to Atletico and Espanyol respectively. This meant our last game, away to Real, was a dead rubber. A familiar tale in the cups; a QF defeat in the CL to Liverpool, lost the Super Cup Final to Villareal, and an early exit in the Spanish Cup to Mallorca. Could've done much better in the domestic cups.

In terms of the squad, we had a bit of turnover of the fringe players. Aimar Vicandi went to Saudi Arabia for 20m, Martin Zubimendi went to Nice for 8.5m, and we moved a regen winger onto Nice for 18.5m. In bigger news, we sold Unai Simon to Man Utd for 25m. Man Utd also took Dani Vivian on a Bosman.

This gave us a chance to bring some youngsters into the first team, most of whom I've already highlighted. We are approaching a transition period as we have a few guys well into their thirties; a 37yo Laporte and a 34yo Le Normand need replacing soon, which means we may need Vivian back, or else we could be light in defence as we're not blessed with regens just yet (I've a 17yo with 4.5 potential and he's been in the first team squad with the odd game).

Outside of the first team, we've got several promising players who should be first team potential soon. Loans really help them kick on. Some have had remarkable accelerations in their development. I've got a couple of decent keepers, a wonderkid LB and more right-wingers than UKIP, all knocking on the door. I'm still amused by the cheek of the wage demands of several youngsters. One RB in my under 19s - very promising but a few years off first team football - wanted 90k per week! We're well behind on the wage budget, but I was tempted to sell him with a release clause just to sting him on wages. 

A few small changes to the backline then, but otherwise not too many massive changes for the next season. 

 

[MattyC78]

22 hours ago, dothestrand said:

2030-2031 Season Update: Four In A Row

After a break, I've resumed my Athletic Club save, and taken home the La Liga titles for the fourth consecutive season. It was a bit touch and go with half a dozen games to go, when we had FIVE away matches remaining, but luckily it was us who held our nerve, whilst our closest rivals, Real, lost back to back away matches to Atletico and Espanyol respectively. This meant our last game, away to Real, was a dead rubber. A familiar tale in the cups; a QF defeat in the CL to Liverpool, lost the Super Cup Final to Villareal, and an early exit in the Spanish Cup to Mallorca. Could've done much better in the domestic cups.

In terms of the squad, we had a bit of turnover of the fringe players. Aimar Vicandi went to Saudi Arabia for 20m, Martin Zubimendi went to Nice for 8.5m, and we moved a regen winger onto Nice for 18.5m. In bigger news, we sold Unai Simon to Man Utd for 25m. Man Utd also took Dani Vivian on a Bosman.

This gave us a chance to bring some youngsters into the first team, most of whom I've already highlighted. We are approaching a transition period as we have a few guys well into their thirties; a 37yo Laporte and a 34yo Le Normand need replacing soon, which means we may need Vivian back, or else we could be light in defence as we're not blessed with regens just yet (I've a 17yo with 4.5 potential and he's been in the first team squad with the odd game).

Outside of the first team, we've got several promising players who should be first team potential soon. Loans really help them kick on. Some have had remarkable accelerations in their development. I've got a couple of decent keepers, a wonderkid LB and more right-wingers than UKIP, all knocking on the door. I'm still amused by the cheek of the wage demands of several youngsters. One RB in my under 19s - very promising but a few years off first team football - wanted 90k per week! We're well behind on the wage budget, but I was tempted to sell him with a release clause just to sting him on wages. 

A few small changes to the backline then, but otherwise not too many massive changes for the next season. 

 

Interesting.  I have just been considering this evening another go at Athletic.  I have been playing a few journeyman saves and I found myself hankering after Athletic.  I got to Summer 2030 in my original save and I am trying to decide whether to start again or to continue where I got.  I came here to see whether anyone was still progressing fun Athletic saves.  

[dothestrand]

16 hours ago, MattyC78 said:

Interesting.  I have just been considering this evening another go at Athletic.  I have been playing a few journeyman saves and I found myself hankering after Athletic.  I got to Summer 2030 in my original save and I am trying to decide whether to start again or to continue where I got.  I came here to see whether anyone was still progressing fun Athletic saves.  

I'm tempted to start a homegrown only save, e.g. not buy any players and just rely on the regents. But I'd probably want to start the save a few years in to have a couple of intakes to work with. 

[MattyC78]

8 hours ago, dothestrand said:

I'm tempted to start a homegrown only save, e.g. not buy any players and just rely on the regents. But I'd probably want to start the save a few years in to have a couple of intakes to work with. 

I often feel like this when I am a few seasons in with Athletic and it starts getting easier.  I only ever buy Basque players but I often go on a purge and clear those that I have brought into the club to increase the challenge.  So far I have been reviewing where I got to and I will probably try to pick up where I left off but I may decide to focus only on the players that have come through the academy.

[amathews3416]

I am up to 2030/2031.  Battling with Real Madrid for the league each year.  I have won it 4 times but they have now gotten me two years in a row.  Interesting that Barca usually challenges for Champions League they are usually some way off the  pace for the title year over year.  
 

I am only buying Basque newgens and have found the other Basque clubs are sucking with intakes and am rarely getting anything out of there.  The AI also compete mishandles player development so anybody decent and refuses to move to me initially doesn’t really develop at those clubs.  
 

CL has been difficult.  Always finish top 8 but keep hitting PSG and City in round of 16 (bad luck).  Did make one final where I went 2-0 up at halftime and fell apart against PSG in 2nd half and lost 3-2 despite a xG advantage of like 3-1.  
 

Julen Jon Guerrero should be must buy for anybody starting out.  Kid turns world class and is first name on my team sheet along with Nico Williams.  Karrikabaru is also a great player who is Spanish international.  

[MattyC78]

I haven't posted an update in a long time so I shall try to prepare a short summary of what has happened in the last few years. In the meantime I thought I'd share how things have gone for Jon Karrikaburu as he has just eclipsed Telmo Zarra in the all-time scoring charts.   

 

 

His goalscoring record has been phenomenal and he is still only 29 with a good few years ahead of him (which is a good job as we have not been blessed with a great striker through the academy yet). 

 

 

[MattyC78]

It has been three years since I provided an up date.  In those years we have been moderately successful with three further league titles, a few cups and our first and only Champions League title.  The fun part though has been the development of the players and the evolution of the squad.  Like all Athletic saves, in my first ten years, I have been dependent on developing the youth players that come through.  The temporary fixes (Aihen Munoz, Hugo Guillamon, Andoni Gorosabel and Robin Le Normand) have all done their jobs but have all now left the club. 

We have been very reliant on the usual stars with the all time 11 dominated by Unai Simon, Dani Vivian, Unai Vencedor, Oihan Sancet, Nico Williams and Jon Karrikaburu.

I have now reached the point where I am starting succession planning to replace these stars in the coming years.  In my next update I'll show the youngsters that I will be looking to for the future of Athletic, for the next ten years.

[MattyC78]

Managing Athletic, we have focussed on youth development but we have also been fighting to maintain a sensible control of our wage expenditure.  The transfer budget has not been an issue since we started qualifying for the Champions League and currently stands around £700 million but there is no one to spend any money on.  We have had a few players that have not developed as much as hoped and we have lost a few players that have been poached by other clubs.  Arsenal (under Mikel Arteta) have had a number of our young players.  We have some very strong midfielders and a couple of players have developed into superstars. 

 

Alvaro Pascual was one of the first to break through into the first team.  He has moved around a bit in terms of position and role but has settled into the wide left role.  It may not be his best role but it is the best overall fit for the team.  

 

 

Asier Blanco is the reason that we have not moved to the diamond.  He is our best young player and can only play on the wing so whilst he remains at the club we will be playing 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1.  The development of Pascual and Blanco have meant that Nico Williams has been demoted to back-up.  

 

 

Borja Undabarrena is the exception in he is a player that we have brought into the club as we spent £24 million to bring him in from Osasuna at the age of 17.  He has played a little on the wing but has now developed into a centre midfielder as a mezzala pushing Oihan Sancet onto the bench. 

 

 

Jon Saizar developed well through various loan spells and has spent the last three years as our main attacking midfielder and saw us change from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1 

 

 

Ekain Albistegi is our utility player who has been used across midfield to get gametime but he is probably now ready to replace Unai Vencedor. 

 

 

We have been short of players coming through upfront and in defence so we relied on the old guard in these positions but a number of other youngsters are having to break through as the old guard fall away.  We have a few promising youngsters for the future, all coming through the academy.  Asier Torres is the first really promising centre back to come through. 

 

 

Javi Pereda is another midfielder top add to the list 

 

 

Ignacio Cordoba is hopefully the long awaited replacement for Jon Karrikaburu. 

 

 

Aitor Beitia is yet another promising midfielder. 

 

 

Ibon Agirre is one of two promising keepers who have come through just in time to replace Unai Simon.  He needs to get some game time (probably on loan after a spell in the B team). 

 

 

Aitor Merino is slightly older and more experienced and is already starting to be rotated in for the odd game. 

 

 

We're just hoping for some decent fullbacks now or I need to start developing a tactical system without any fullbacks.  I don't really have an abundance of wide midfielders either so it could be interesting. 

[sgevolker]

Hi Guys,

season nine is done and ends with the third place behind the big competitors Real and Barca. Real lost the last three games and was beaten by Barca. The Player with the highest rating was Oihan Sancet and the top goal scorer is Jon Karrikaburu. I will not extend his contract by the end of the season and replace him with one of our promising young striker. Let's see how this develops. 

Let me introduce two of young players who already play significant roles in the past season.

Last years cup competitions doesn't went very well. We were able to qualify for the round of 16 in the champions league but the had absolutely no chance against Newcastle. 

CD Baskonia as well as our B-Team were able to win the league and secure promotion. So we're back again in La Liga Smart Bank with our second team. Our U19 Team also won the league but unfortunately lost two finals this year. The Spanish U19 final and the Uefa Youth League final. At the end very good results for all teams this season.

After the fantastic youth intake last season, this year we only got an average intake. Unai Iglesias is a promising central defender or midfielder. One of our previous youth players, Jorge Arrizabalaga, was rated as second best Wonderkid world wide. Nice 

Last but not least I decided to adapt the tactic a little bit next season. More aggressiv and higher up the pitch. I hope this might help to challenge the bigger clubs much more as in the past. 

Take care 

Volker

 

[sgevolker]

Hi Guys,

new Tactic seems to work. No goals against us. Now I'm waiting for the disappointing result in the first league match 

It's really a challenge to set the squad for the B-Team in the second league because of the limited salary space. So I've got al lot of U18n Players in the Squad right now.

Curios what we can achieve this season with the second team. 

Take care 

Volker

 

Edited June 25, 2023 by sgevolker

[basqueliverpool]

Missing these updates 

[dothestrand]

5 hours ago, basqueliverpool said:

Missing these updates 

I've set a Lezama only save (relying on youth intakes, no signings) but I forgot how depressing the first couple of seasons are as you try to clear the dead wood out. 

[sgevolker]

Am 29.7.2023 um 13:12 schrieb basqueliverpool:

Missing these updates 

Here you go,

Season 10 is done and again we finished place three. No change to beat Barca or Real. But I believe we're still making progress and our great talents are developing very well. I think it's just a matter of time. 

On of those outstanding talents is Inaki Lasarate are very promising striker and the leader of our attack. He scored 24 Goals last Season.

In last years cup competitions we had a good run and reached the Copa del Rey final against Barca. We gave them an exceptional fight but unfortunately lost on penalties.

The Champions League run brought us against Hertha BSC Berlin in the round of 16, we lost in two games against a better side.

The U19 won the leagues with only one lost, but then loose against Real in the Playoffs. Our B Team secured the league, we were never in danger for relegation. Also CD Baskonia secured the league which means we have next season again one team in league two and one team in league three. A lot of effort to handle this, but it's worst. 

Again a very good youth intake. A lot of promising young players. Xabier Agirrezabala, who is already in the first team, was named on position 2 of the best 50 Wonderkids in football. 

So next season I will focus much more on my tactic and how I can be more successful against bigger teams. I also plan to watch some matches on comprehensive or even full mode to gain my knowledge and to be better prepared. Let's see if this pays out.

Have a nice Sunday and take care 

Volker

 

[basqueliverpool]

On 06/08/2023 at 09:30, sgevolker said:

Here you go,

Season 10 is done and again we finished place three. No change to beat Barca or Real. But I believe we're still making progress and our great talents are developing very well. I think it's just a matter of time. 

On of those outstanding talents is Inaki Lasarate are very promising striker and the leader of our attack. He scored 24 Goals last Season.

In last years cup competitions we had a good run and reached the Copa del Rey final against Barca. We gave them an exceptional fight but unfortunately lost on penalties.

The Champions League run brought us against Hertha BSC Berlin in the round of 16, we lost in two games against a better side.

The U19 won the leagues with only one lost, but then loose against Real in the Playoffs. Our B Team secured the league, we were never in danger for relegation. Also CD Baskonia secured the league which means we have next season again one team in league two and one team in league three. A lot of effort to handle this, but it's worst. 

Again a very good youth intake. A lot of promising young players. Xabier Agirrezabala, who is already in the first team, was named on position 2 of the best 50 Wonderkids in football. 

So next season I will focus much more on my tactic and how I can be more successful against bigger teams. I also plan to watch some matches on comprehensive or even full mode to gain my knowledge and to be better prepared. Let's see if this pays out.

Have a nice Sunday and take care 

Volker

 

Think I may join you. 

 

Tempted to do like @dothestrandand do Lezema only. Done something similar with Liverpool this year only for the game to corrupt, probably due to a few add ons I had for competitions. Used this thread as motivation 

[dothestrand]

12 hours ago, basqueliverpool said:

Think I may join you. 

 

Tempted to do like @dothestrandand do Lezema only. Done something similar with Liverpool this year only for the game to corrupt, probably due to a few add ons I had for competitions. Used this thread as motivation 

I think that's what I'll really do in FM24 which is only a few months away I guess. Or at least be more realistic with transfers, signing only from feeder clubs or where Sociedad/Osasuna/Alaves players have moved to another club first. 

[basqueliverpool]

On 12/08/2023 at 10:36, dothestrand said:

I think that's what I'll really do in FM24 which is only a few months away I guess. Or at least be more realistic with transfers, signing only from feeder clubs or where Sociedad/Osasuna/Alaves players have moved to another club first. 

Hit the translate button on this. Great motivation for doing similar 

[basqueliverpool]

So I started with Athletic on fm23. Using the up to date database so no inigo Martinez etc.

At the world cup break and sit 4th in table on 29 points. 8 wins, 5 draws and a loss away to Barca.

 

Inaki's on fire with 13 in 13 games.

Worried about depth at centre back come January so may go into market for Jon pacheco or Hugo guillamon(linked today in the real world). Will look at Jon Guerrero in the summer. Bar that I'm happy enough with squad. Imanol getting games at left back as Yuri picking up injuries so often.

 

Playing 4411

Simon/agirrezabala

De Marcos/lekue

Vivian/Prados

Yeray/santamaria

Yuri/imanol

Berenguer/adu Ares

Vesag/Garcia/de galerreta

Sancet/Herrera

Williams/morci

Munian/unai Gomez

Inaki/villabre/guruzeta

 

Want to see can I get santolaya, vicandi, bita, vizcay and olabarrieta into squad long term. Any luck with any of these?

And have vencedor coming back end of season. 

 

Aupa

 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by basqueliverpool

[dothestrand]

11 hours ago, basqueliverpool said:

So I started with Athletic on fm23. Using the up to date database so no inigo Martinez etc.

At the world cup break and sit 4th in table on 29 points. 8 wins, 5 draws and a loss away to Barca.

 

Inaki's on fire with 13 in 13 games.

Worried about depth at centre back come January so may go into market for Jon pacheco or Hugo guillamon(linked today in the real world). Will look at Jon Guerrero in the summer. Bar that I'm happy enough with squad. Imanol getting games at left back as Yuri picking up injuries so often.

 

Playing 4411

Simon/agirrezabala

De Marcos/lekue

Vivian/Prados

Yeray/santamaria

Yuri/imanol

Berenguer/adu Ares

Vesag/Garcia/de galerreta

Sancet/Herrera

Williams/morci

Munian/unai Gomez

Inaki/villabre/guruzeta

 

Want to see can I get santolaya, vicandi, bita, vizcay and olabarrieta into squad long term. Any luck with any of these?

And have vencedor coming back end of season. 

 

Aupa

 

 

What's Paredes like at CB? He has played first team games irl. In FM he often has good defensive attributes but lacks physicals. Morcillo has just gone on loan to Amorebieta. Unai Gomez Etxebarria has played some first team games this season, so would be a good player to develop. Likewise Prados, who has never kicked on for me in past games. Vicandi did well for me in my main FM game so has (variable) potential. Generally I don't think the game gives you many options with the starting young players given the clubs preference and reputation for developing youth. 

Edited August 31, 2023 by dothestrand

[sgevolker]

Hi Guys,

Season 11 is done and yes we've won some silverware  

But first a look on the season outcome. Again we finished on place three but I've got the feeling we're coming closer. We were also able to beat Real and Barca in the league games.

A very good season for our talented striker Inaki Bakero, who was one of the top strikers in Spain. 

Yes, we won Copa del Rey for the fist time. We had some really good games and deserved it. In the Champions League or run ends against Man City in the round of 16. Before we were able to beat Chelsea in the Playoffs. 

Or B-Team again secured the league with some good results against bigger teams. The U19 won the league again and on top become Spain champions  

CD Baskonia also played a very good role and stayed in the third division. 

Again a very talented youth intake. Angel Pascual is a very promising midfielder and Jon Llorente can play on the right wing. 

Last but not least the outlook of the upcoming season. Again I changed the tactic a little bit and adapted t to our strengths. We have two comebackers with Unai Simon and Unai Gabilondo. Both will help us to get more deep into the squad and should increase our overall quality.  

So long, take care 

Volker

Edited September 2, 2023 by sgevolker

[basqueliverpool]

All momentum and hopes of champs League were dashed before la liga recommenced.

 

Inaki got injured at world cup and was ruled out of for 3 months. Villalibre got injured in the cup game then for 3 months as well. Guruzeta just hasnt cut it.

Throw in Nico wanting to go arsenal (have held of depending on champs League) and Raul Garcia throwing tantrums weekly for not playing enough which has inturn deflated morale it's not been pretty since the return. 

No league win in 8 til 2 back to back wins had me under pressure. Put morci up front for the first (got injured again), then Nico for the second.

Signed Aimar Oroz for 8m near end of window as attack was offering nothing. 

 

Paredes has barely played, only 2 league starts,(1 at real Madrid) done ok. Thankfully no centre back injuries. Had forgotten about Unai Nunez, will get him back. Agreed to Sign luken Beitia from sociedad in the summer. 

 

[basqueliverpool]

On 02/09/2023 at 12:04, sgevolker said:

Hi Guys,

Season 11 is done and yes we've won some silverware  

But first a look on the season outcome. Again we finished on place three but I've got the feeling we're coming closer. We were also able to beat Real and Barca in the league games.

A very good season for our talented striker Inaki Bakero, who was one of the top strikers in Spain. 

Yes, we won Copa del Rey for the fist time. We had some really good games and deserved it. In the Champions League or run ends against Man City in the round of 16. Before we were able to beat Chelsea in the Playoffs. 

Or B-Team again secured the league with some good results against bigger teams. The U19 won the league again and on top become Spain champions  

CD Baskonia also played a very good role and stayed in the third division. 

Again a very talented youth intake. Angel Pascual is a very promising midfielder and Jon Llorente can play on the right wing. 

Last but not least the outlook of the upcoming season. Again I changed the tactic a little bit and adapted t to our strengths. We have two comebackers with Unai Simon and Unai Gabilondo. Both will help us to get more deep into the squad and should increase our overall quality.  

So long, take care 

Volker

Fair play, love reading your updates 

[basqueliverpool]

Somehow managed to finish 7th on 65 points. Inaki got 31 goals and the pichichi.

Won 3 of my last 10 games. Inconsistency is infuriating. Especially of the centre backs and Nico. Went from a 2-2 draw v real to a home defeat to getafe to a 4-1 away win at osasuna. Any run of wins tends to be followed by a loss. 

Hopefully can push on next season and win a trophy. Celta finished above me so concerned won't get unai Nunez back. Raul garcia and Dani Garcia will be heading off. Guruzeta free to go too. Vencedor could be massive for me moving forward. 

[MattyC78]

It has been a while since I have provided an update after flirting with a few saves I have come back to my Athletic save.  We have just finished 2036/37.  Dani Vivian and Oihan Sancet retired last year.  Nico Williams and Jon Karrikaburu departed in January as they wanted more came time.  This just left Unai Vencedor from the real life players and when he retires this summer I will be living in a purely newgen world.

 

I like to move players on before they need new contracts if they are not going to make it, to bolster the coffers and clear room for the next crop of youngsters.  Before the season began we moved on a few players who were not going to make it: Ibon Aranburu moved for £16.75M to Benfica, Iosu Alvarez moved to PSG for £5.5M, Iker Orbegozo went to Arsenal for £7.75M and Immanol Larrazabal for £18.5M to Southampton.  Larrazabal wouldn't sign a new contract so I decided I would let him go and may look to buy him back in the futrure.  I generally get it right but it does give me a transfer interest if they go on to prove me wrong or we are desperate for a particular position in the future.  

 

In 2036 we won the Spanish Super Cup and we went out in the quarter finals of the Spanish Cup to Espanyol.  We won the league for the 11th year in a row. 

 

 

We moved to a 4-4-2 narrow diamond in February with the loss of Asier Blanco to injury for two months but returned to our standard 4-2-3-1 once he was back to fitness.  

 

In the Champions League, we got revenge on Espanyol, before beating, Bayern and Real to earn a place in the our third final in a row hoping to get over last year's disappointment.  We faced of with Marcelo Gallardo's Inter and were in control for the whole match as we won 3-1.

 

 

We are now very much reliant on the first tranche of newgens.  The team is built around Zigor Perez, Jon Saizar, Alvaro Pascual and Asier Blanco.  They are all 29 so we need to think about succession planning to ensure that there players ready to step into their shoes in three years or our run of success could come to a crashing halt.

 

[basqueliverpool]

My laptop hasn't been able to handle the latest windows update and packed in. New one ordered. Hopefully be back for fm24

[TheMartello]

On 11/09/2023 at 20:18, MattyC78 said:

It has been a while since I have provided an update after flirting with a few saves I have come back to my Athletic save.  We have just finished 2036/37.  Dani Vivian and Oihan Sancet retired last year.  Nico Williams and Jon Karrikaburu departed in January as they wanted more came time.  This just left Unai Vencedor from the real life players and when he retires this summer I will be living in a purely newgen world.

 

I like to move players on before they need new contracts if they are not going to make it, to bolster the coffers and clear room for the next crop of youngsters.  Before the season began we moved on a few players who were not going to make it: Ibon Aranburu moved for £16.75M to Benfica, Iosu Alvarez moved to PSG for £5.5M, Iker Orbegozo went to Arsenal for £7.75M and Immanol Larrazabal for £18.5M to Southampton.  Larrazabal wouldn't sign a new contract so I decided I would let him go and may look to buy him back in the futrure.  I generally get it right but it does give me a transfer interest if they go on to prove me wrong or we are desperate for a particular position in the future.  

 

In 2036 we won the Spanish Super Cup and we went out in the quarter finals of the Spanish Cup to Espanyol.  We won the league for the 11th year in a row. 

 

 

We moved to a 4-4-2 narrow diamond in February with the loss of Asier Blanco to injury for two months but returned to our standard 4-2-3-1 once he was back to fitness.  

 

In the Champions League, we got revenge on Espanyol, before beating, Bayern and Real to earn a place in the our third final in a row hoping to get over last year's disappointment.  We faced of with Marcelo Gallardo's Inter and were in control for the whole match as we won 3-1.

 

 

We are now very much reliant on the first tranche of newgens.  The team is built around Zigor Perez, Jon Saizar, Alvaro Pascual and Asier Blanco.  They are all 29 so we need to think about succession planning to ensure that there players ready to step into their shoes in three years or our run of success could come to a crashing halt.

 

That looks like a great save to me!

Is it possible for you to upload your savegame file somewhere and share it with me? Would love to take a look around in it!

[bowieinspace]

Who's excited for FM24? What are your expectations/points of interest for Athletic? Here's my 2 cents, expectations or things I am simply keen to see:

1) They're talking about improved AI squad building, transfers and team selections. Athletic being a long term save I've found has been plagued by poor AI squad building in recent years. I am hoping these changes provide more long term competition from the big teams in Spain. 
2) Aitor Paredes, Inigo Ruis de Galarreta, Gorka Guruzeta, Unai Gomez to name a few have all stepped into the first team, but none of these guys were really capable in FM23... I wonder how they will look in FM24.
3) Vencedor has been largely discarded by Valverde but has had amazing potential in recent FMs... maybe a drop here
4) Vesga boost maybe? 
5) Will it be possible to retain Nico Williams? This is a scary one! I'm going to be looking at that contract straight away when I load up my save.
6) Raul Garcia 37, Oscar De Marcos 34, Ander Herrera 34, Yuri 33, Dani Garcia 33, Muniain 30, De Galarreta 30, Lekue 30, Vesga 30, Inaki 29.... quite a lot of work to be done here in the first few seasons. I hope there's been decent bumps to some of the younger players to help with the transition! We've already seen this season there's a bit of a shift in terms of players... Guruzeta and Paredes have been ever present so far this season, Muniain has been in and out, Raul Garcia an impact sub at most. I'll be a a bit disappointed if Paredes is still super low CA given he's keeping Yeray out of the team, and Guruzeta needs a bump!