FM23 - VfB Stuttgart - The Swashbuckling Swabians

[Jogo Bonito]

Welcome to a new chapter in the life and times of Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (commonly known as VfB Stuttgart).

Thank goodness for the shortened version of their name, right?

The city of Stuttgart is in the centre of Swabia, where the Swabian dialect is spoken by its native inhabitants. 

Black and gold are the colors of both Stuttgart and the state of Baden-Württemberg. The relevance of black and gold, in addition to being present on the club badge, will be revealed later. These antlers on the crest were, as surely we all know, used as a symbol by the royal House of Württemberg as far back as the 13th century. The ruins of their eponymous castle are on a hill about three miles from VfB's stadium (the Mercedes-Benz Arena). Thanks Wikipedia.

The club has a substantial support and a rich history. But they haven't won the Bundesliga title since 2006/07 season.

The passionate fans are ready for more success, but competing with the mighty Bayern Munich looks well beyond the modern day version of the club.

Maybe they will need more players like those below in order to challenge. In addition to those pictured, you can add Bernd Leno, Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry, Benjamin Pavard and Filip Kostic to the list that have served Stuttgart in recent times. 

It's fair to say that Stuttgart have been particularly blessed with star strikers over the years, and finding a new goal-getting hero is going to be one of the biggest missions of the task ahead. Prior to Mario Gomez and Timo Werner, they also had prolific marksmen in the Brazilian pair Giovane Elber and Cacau, plus the great Jurgen Klinsmann. So with such heritage, it seems logical to try and bring an attractive and attacking brand of football to the Mercedes-Benz Arena.

Edited May 3, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[Jogo Bonito]

So what made Stuttgart the winner in this selection process?

There were three main contenders when looking for a club in Germany. I'd dabbled with Hamburger SV only to be thwarted by a lack of time and a laptop that made FM a chore rather than a pleasure due to slow processing speeds. With limited time, it became clear that a club outside the top flight was going to be too much to sustain.

   

VfL Wolsburg have glorious bright kits, the legend of Grafite firing them to the title in my mind, and a good squad full of players I could enjoy managing.

1. FSV Mainz are an admirable club, punching well above their weight, with a strong core of German nationals and a strong youth system to keep them rolling along.

VfB Stuttgart have a well-balanced squad, good support from a strong fan base, good facilities, and a culture and history to match. Their striker legacy inspires, as did the excellent and long-running story of @Carambau who has done wonderful work with Stuttgart in this forum.

So, Stuttgart won the race and the next step was to design some fresh kits and decide on the manager story.

Edited May 2, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[Jogo Bonito]

Returning to the club that he served so impressively, former German international striker Mario Gómez has been given his first managerial post

Chairperson Alexander Wehrle led the introductory meeting

Gómez was keen to have a look at the facilities, starting with the dressing room

And he immediately noticed the new kit designs, with a twist on the traditional styling

Mercedes-Benz Bank was replaced as main shirt sponsors by the 'EQ' branding used by the manufacturing giant's electronic vehicle arm

The symbolic black and gold of Stuttgart was taken from the badge to the shirt on the third kit

With a media prediction of 15th, Gómez is well aware of the task that lies ahead in the first test of his management credentials

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[Jogo Bonito]

Stuttgart Squad 2022/23

The inherited first team squad of 25 players was well-balanced, and no incoming transfers were made during the summer by Gómez

The group captured below was reduced by one, with the loan of striker Tiago Tomas terminated as he went back to Portugal

The new manager is not at all keen on loan players, but Serhou Guirassy was pinpointed as the main striker and will get to see out one year

Of the rest, Borna Sosa and Silas are considered by the manager to be the club's main assets 

The latter recently signed a new deal to 2026, and Gómez is keen to tie down his star left-back as soon as possible

On the negative side, winger Tanguy Coulibaly has made it clear he wants to explore other options at the end of his contract in June 2023

Edited May 2, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[Jogo Bonito]

VfB Stuttgart - Season 2022/23 - Performance part 1

Pre-season fixtures were entertaining, but early ideas on the formation did not seem to be delivering much solidity defensively

And the league campaign got off to a slow start, with no wins in the first three fixtures

However, the form began to improve and despite some heavy defeats on the road, the home performances were good

By the time of the World Cup break in mid-November, the team was sitting in a useful 8th spot in the table

The attacking numbers speak for themselves, but there is much room for improvement in the defensive region it seems

Anything else?

Despite being 'rich' the board have a maximum weekly wage of €29,000

Three players chasing new deals already went away unhappy as we could not meet their demands, but one notable contract was eventually agreed

Many aspects of this contract are not ideal, particularly the minimum release clause the agent insisted on due to our wage cap

Talking of contracts, whilst player actions were limited, there have been some positive steps taken on staff recruitment

And finally, the performances on the pitch have probably benefitted from an early switch from 433 to 532 as shown below

This is a work very much in progress though, and there is still a long way to go with this club

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

@Jogo Bonito Welcome back, mate. Hope this one proves more engaging than other saves so far.

2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

there is much room for improvement in the defensive region

Which seems weird - looking through your squad review I thought defence looked to be an area of particular strength. But it looks as though results are on the up-turn. Good luck 

[karanhsingh]

Nice intro, welcome to Germany! I had no idea all those names had come through Stuttgart, that's pretty cool! I also like the looks of your tactic a lot. Best of luck mate. 

Btw, I've also noticed that players in Germany are asking for and annoyingly getting stuck on low release clauses. Seems like a thing, maybe even a bug. 

[Carambau]

Brillant idea to have Mario Gomez as the manager! And an even better idea to tie up Sosa´s and Silas´ contracts early! I also like the tactics - looks like you can get the most out of Sosa playing him in that CWB position. League form is picking up pace and you are in the 3rd round of the cup - great start to your career  

Keep an eye on Laurin Ulrich - i have him as a key player in my save in 2030 (but you surely know that)  

Edited May 3, 2023 by Carambau

[Hootieleece]

Egloff can turn into a nice player.  I played with Stuttgart on either FM21 or FM22. Except Your formation doesn't use his natural AM strata player. He also makes a Good deadball specialist.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Awesome opening post @Jogo Bonito I look forward to seeing who you bring in.  I reckon there is a certain hidden gem Congo striker who would be perfect for your team but I know you like to bring in your own players so I will leave that with you.

Hopefully you can buy some players I have never heard of before lol.

 

[Jogo Bonito]

15 hours ago, warlock said:

@Jogo Bonito Welcome back, mate. Hope this one proves more engaging than other saves so far. Which seems weird - looking through your squad review I thought defence looked to be an area of particular strength. But it looks as though results are on the up-turn. Good luck 

Thanks, I hope with the better laptop it can be enjoyable again. When I was reading the save of @Carambau there were many times I was surprised about the goals against. It seems we will both suffer the same way.

14 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Nice intro, welcome to Germany! I had no idea all those names had come through Stuttgart, that's pretty cool! I also like the looks of your tactic a lot. Best of luck mate. Btw, I've also noticed that players in Germany are asking for and annoyingly getting stuck on low release clauses. Seems like a thing, maybe even a bug. 

Not sure if it's a bug, maybe so. Or just unlucky. Yes they do indeed have a fairly rich history of decent ex-players. Good to be back and adding to the growing numbers in Germany.

10 hours ago, Carambau said:

Brilliant idea to have Mario Gomez as the manager! And an even better idea to tie up Sosa´s and Silas´ contracts early! I also like the tactics - looks like you can get the most out of Sosa playing him in that CWB position. League form is picking up pace and you are in the 3rd round of the cup - great start to your career  Keep an eye on Laurin Ulrich - i have him as a key player in my save in 2030 (but you surely know that)  

Thanks for the kind words and glad you approve of the manager chosen! Sosa seems well suited to that role yes. His new deal was my own work, but Silas had that contract to 2026 already. His wage is low though, so am expecting a visit to my office soon. I'm giving minutes to Ulrich and Egloff already and want any of the home grown at club players to stay in the squad if they're good enough. I did notice that Ulrich (and Seiman) seemed to be your only survivors from the original cast. Results are not bad now, but like you it seems the goals against is always going to be an issue.

6 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

Egloff can turn into a nice player.  I played with Stuttgart on either FM21 or FM22. Except Your formation doesn't use his natural AM strata player. He also makes a Good deadball specialist.

Good to know and he is getting appearances. I hope he will be around for a good few years, assuming he performs well.

15 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Awesome opening post @Jogo Bonito I look forward to seeing who you bring in.  I reckon there is a certain hidden gem Congo striker who would be perfect for your team but I know you like to bring in your own players so I will leave that with you. Hopefully you can buy some players I have never heard of before lol.

Thanks for the kind words. Ideally I'll keep the core as players from Germany, but exceptions will be made. There is lots of freedom to steal young players from Africa and South America, but Europe will also be considered. This time I didn't make any signings in the summer and made no sales (just terminated one loan and that was that).. Over time it will be a case of refreshing the squad when players get older (30+) and ideally players acquired will be upgrades rather than just filling places in the squad. Maybe the odd youngster will be added to the Stuttgart 11 or youth sides too, time will tell. The wage cap is actually both difficult and to my liking. Not being able to pay more than €29,000 per week fits my approach well, but players seem to be wanting absolutely massive upgrades immediately.

[SteinkelssonFM]

Maximilian Wagner, that is all. 

An excellent intro and a nice snippet of things to come. Tying down Sosa is a smart move, his ability to cause havoc down the left would no doubt have the sharks circle, I look forward to following your journey and see some smart transfer business...even if Sven Mislintat is no longer with the club. 

[Jogo Bonito]

11 minutes ago, MattyLewis11 said:

Maximilian Wagner, that is all. 

An excellent intro and a nice snippet of things to come. Tying down Sosa is a smart move, his ability to cause havoc down the left would no doubt have the sharks circle, I look forward to following your journey and see some smart transfer business...even if Sven Mislintat is no longer with the club. 

Thanks very much mate. I'm guessing you managed Stuttgart and Wagner was your manager? Yes, delighted to keep Sosa on a better deal, but fully expect his release clause to be triggered (just had no choice). Mislintat is gone you say? Fear not my friend...

 

[SteinkelssonFM]

No mate he is an exceptional youth talent at the club, been snapped up by the hands of Bayern IRL. 

Haha the beauty of the it, Sven is it the wheel 😍

[Jogo Bonito]

5 minutes ago, MattyLewis11 said:

No mate he is an exceptional youth talent at the club, been snapped up by the hands of Bayern IRL. 

Haha the beauty of the it, Sven is it the wheel 😍

Just looked at my Stuttgart 11 side and he is there until June 2023 with no future transfer lined up.

Having checked him out on certain websites, I see he has 11 goals in 15 games this term and as you said he is going to Bayern in July. Time to offer a new Stuttgart contract then!

Sven can deal with it perhaps!

[SixPointer]

Another attempt to de throne Bayern by using a famous talent factory. Sign me up 

[Jogo Bonito]

7 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Another attempt to de throne Bayern by using a famous talent factory. Sign me up 

Thanks, welcome to yet another story from Germany 

[Jogo Bonito]

VfB Stuttgart - Season 2022/23 - Performance part 2

Due to the World Cup break from mid-November, there were no results to report on until January 2023

After a friendly win, our return saw a disappointing home defeat to FSV Mainz but we followed it up with two good away draws and a narrow DFB -Pokal victory

Not much to report on results here, but we are still in a reasonable league position and in good financial health

After a gap of six weeks, it was unlucky to see top forward Serhou Guirassy injured in training just before we got back on the pitch

We hope he returns soon, and look forward to the remaining 16 Bundesliga fixtures (the DFB-Pokal is just a bit of fun on the side)

Anything else?

Following sound advice from a Stuttgart member, we signed up promising young forward Maximilian Wagner to a long-term deal on 23rd November 2022 

On 1st December 2022, we also saw talented young goalkeeper Dennis Seimen turn professional on his 17th birthday with a deal running to 30th June 2027

On the same day, we received an unexpected boost when Alexander Wehrle provided an unsolicited early Christmas present

On 8th January 2023 we learned that want-away winger Tanguy Coulibaly had signed a pre-contract deal with FSV Mainz, so we decided to trigger the sell-now option

The rest of the transfer window was allowed to pass peacefully although we took an opportunity to raid FSV Mainz for two young left-backs for the future

We did look in to the possibility of signing a striker due to the injury to Guirassy and the fact he is only at the club on loan

However, a major incentive of this project is to allow young players a pathway in to the first team, and we have several raw but promising strikers on the books already

 

And on 31st January 2023 we also received an interesting news article explaining how our wage bill was comparing against our Bundesliga rivals

Some may see this as a negative, but we are viewing this as a proud statement of intent to maintain a sensible economic strategy

Edited May 5, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[karanhsingh]

Good start there, even if you're not in third place

Is Wagner getting plenty of game time?

[Jogo Bonito]

On 06/05/2023 at 08:30, karanhsingh said:

Good start there, even if you're not in third place

Is Wagner getting plenty of game time?

They always say second is nothing. So what point is third? 

I didn't get a chance to put Wagner in the first team during the first season, but hope soon to ramp up the numbers of 'our own' youngsters in the first team squad.

[Jogo Bonito]

VfB Stuttgart - Season 2022/23 - Performance part 3

As February arrived, there were plenty of fixtures left to try and gatecrash the European places (7th would do for the Europa Conference League) 

A good start to this run of games was a false dawn though as two wins were followed up by five winless matches and a distinct lack of goals in March (none)

Form picked up a little bit in April, in no small part due to the return of striker Serhou Guirassy who had been injured during the World Cup break

By now we had also been forced to abandon our 532 formation and we were trying a 4231 in order to start scoring but also be tighter at the back

Unfortunately, as soon as we switched we lost Borna Sosa to injury for the rest of the campaign - his absence down the left flank really unbalanced the side

Borussia Dortmund (2nd) were the only side to beat us during April, and they repeated the trick again in May to end our DFB-Pokal dreams at the Semi Final stage

After that we drifted between 8th and 10th in the league, unable to win many games but at least becoming harder to beat

A narrow last day win was irrelevant by the time it came and we ended up 10th out of the 18 teams

Here is the bland-looking performance graph, player and team stat summaries, and financial position - at least that looked healthy

The league table is below, and we can break it down as: Home: W8 D4 L5 (goals for 19 and against 13) and Away: W4 D8 L5 (goals for 26 and against 34)

The player stats for the first team are as shown below - nothing exceptional really from anybody

Anything else?

Well, yes actually. And Mario himself wants to direct you towards this bizarre piece of news delivered at the end of the season

All three manager selections were strange to be honest, and there is no plausible reason that makes sense of it

However, some more tangible news was delivered by the board - and this gives the club a chance to make some very serious improvements next term

 

Edited May 7, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[Hootieleece]

25 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

 Home: W8 D4 L5 (goals for 19 and against 13)

Home has to be your Fortress when playing with a team trying to reach the heights of Bayern!

Did Dias become Sosa's replacement? 

[Jogo Bonito]

Just now, Hootieleece said:

Home has to be your Fortress when playing with a team trying to reach the heights of Bayern!

Did Dias become Sosa's replacement? 

Yes, the home form needs to be much better. And so does the away form! Home was less of a fortress and more like an 'open house' at times.

I did mostly give Dias that chance but occasionally switched Vagnoman from right to left. Dias was used a bit at DL/WBL (often from the bench) and even occasionally as the left of the central midfielders. It's fair to say he didn't really repay any faith put in him yet.

[karanhsingh]

7 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

They always say second is nothing. So what point is third? 

I didn't get a chance to put Wagner in the first team during the first season, but hope soon to ramp up the numbers of 'our own' youngsters in the first team squad.

Valid point 

[warlock]

20 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Anything else?

Congrats on the award... did you overperform on season expectations?

Having played 4231 almost exclusively in FM22, I've found it trickier to get working this year. An attacking player out of central midfield (CM-att or Mez-att) seems to do more than the AMC in both attack and defence. Anyway, I'm sure you'll make progress next season 

[Carambau]

A solid mid table finish - well done for a promoted team!

Congratulations on the award! Hopefully one of many  

Scoring seemed to be the problem this season... It looked like Silas scored all your goals! Looking forward to which players you will bring in for the new season  

[Jogo Bonito]

On 08/05/2023 at 18:42, warlock said:

Congrats on the award... did you overperform on season expectations?

Having played 4231 almost exclusively in FM22, I've found it trickier to get working this year. An attacking player out of central midfield (CM-att or Mez-att) seems to do more than the AMC in both attack and defence. Anyway, I'm sure you'll make progress next season 

Only slightly. Media prediction was 15th. Board wanted mid-table, fans were disappointed we didn't make the top half. New season planning is underway, depending on the squad we have we will evaluate what looks like the best starting formation. It usually needs a refresh part-way through the season though, as I always hit a slump and feel the opposition 'work you out' if you stay rigid.

[Jogo Bonito]

On 08/05/2023 at 19:34, Carambau said:

A solid mid table finish - well done for a promoted team!

Congratulations on the award! Hopefully one of many  

Scoring seemed to be the problem this season... It looked like Silas scored all your goals! Looking forward to which players you will bring in for the new season  

I think I am far away from winning regular awards, but time will tell. Scoring started off being quite easy, but a long-term injury to Guirassy in the World Cup break really slowed us down, meanwhile the defence got slightly better. Honestly, it's shameful to finish any season with a negative goal difference, I can't remember the last time I did that in FM.

I've made some sensible deals already, and just started pre-season. I haven't really spent much of the rather large transfer kitty, but there is a possibility I may go for a big signing at the end of the window if the right player becomes available. If not, I won't spend for the sake of spending. Looking forward to sharing my dealings in the coming days 

[Jogo Bonito]

Season 2023/24 preview

Here is a brief timeline summary of the first year under Mario Gómez

A new season also means new kits for VfB Stuttgart, and time to revert to a more traditional home jersey

Kicker Sportsmagazin are the new shirt sponsors, whilst the strong presence of Mercedes remains as they take their place as sleeve sponsor

Summer transfer planning was going well until 4th July 2023 when our Recruitment team summoned an emergency meeting

Despite offering star left-back Borna Sosa a much-improved and extended deal last season, Borussia Dortmund came in and triggered his absurdly low release clause 

We knew at the time this was significantly lower than it should have been, but we were forced in to it as a result of the maximum wage we could offer him 

Despite being powerless to stop the transfer, we had earmarked a replacement with similar qualities who we felt could be recruited if our star man was ever poached

Prior to that, we had been monitoring the expiring contracts of certain players with a view to snapping up some useful additions on pre-contract deals

In the end, we only managed to bag one free transfer - mainly down to a steadfast refusal to break our sensible wage structure

But overall, we were pleased with our incoming business (last season we only bought in two youngsters for the development squad)

Apart from Sosa (who we were sad to lose), we also moved on Gil Dias (2.5m), Genki Haraguchi (1.8m) and Juan Perea (750k)

We opted not to trigger the purchase option of loan striker Serhou Guirassy (for 9m), which also relieved 33k per week from the wage bill

This leaves a provisional squad of 26 players including club-grown youngsters Seimen & Wagner

This pair were promoted so they can benefit from better coaching and training, but they will still feature for the 2nd team so that leaves the core squad at 24

We also have Nartey in the 2nd team squad for now, alongside returning loanees Faghir, Massimo, Mola plus some other promising young (mainly German) players

Mensah, Adams, Dorsch, Ouwejan and Knauff will be strong starting contenders, whilst Simic and Weiper will have to wait for opportunities

The other new arrival Milosevic was loaned out to Hansa Rostock (his transfer to us was pre-agreed prior to the start of last season)

First Team Squad as at 12th August 2023

And here is the changed formation we will be starting the season with, it has worked quite well in pre-season

And now it is time for the new season, which launches with the DFB-Pokal 1st Round, followed by a home game against promoted Hamburger SV

Edited May 12, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[Hootieleece]

Good looking Unis! All ready for the next season!

 

[warlock]

31 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

And here is the changed formation

I approve (having just switched back to the 433 myself ). Very aggressive on the left - I'll be curious to see how that works in competitive games. Good luck 

[Jogo Bonito]

7 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

Good looking Unis! All ready for the next season!

Thank you, Yes, all ready. I think the performances of new striker Akor Adams will make or break us. He's a physical beast, but is raw and it's a step-up for him in quality. 

2 minutes ago, warlock said:

I approve (having just switched back to the 433 myself ). Very aggressive on the left - I'll be curious to see how that works in competitive games. Good luck 

It may work, it may not. But I wanted to get our best players on the pitch, and this style means that the squad has quality players who can come in and play the identical positions of the first choices and be comfortable in those same roles. Defensively, in the friendlies we looked OK - even the 5-3 against Anderlecht was flattering to them as they scored two late ones after being 5-1 down.

[warlock]

Just now, Jogo Bonito said:

Defensively, in the friendlies we looked OK

Yeah, that's still a very impressive looking defensive unit.

[Jogo Bonito]

1 minute ago, warlock said:

Yeah, that's still a very impressive looking defensive unit.

We both thought that last year and it wasn't impressive on the pitch! I'm aiming for top 7 this year.

[karanhsingh]

Good luck for the new campaign - love the kits!

[Jogo Bonito]

2 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Good luck for the new campaign - love the kits!

Thanks mate. Tonight is kick-off time, and on the eve of the season here are the targets set by the VfB Stuttgart board.

Edited May 12, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[SixPointer]

That is one hell of an attacking left side! Expect to see some sensational moves going down that side. 

[Jogo Bonito]

4 hours ago, SixPointer said:

That is one hell of an attacking left side! Expect to see some sensational moves going down that side. 

Sensational may also mean scary for a side who leak goals like a sieve already. But really quite pleased how the attributes of Ouwejan are strong in the same areas as the departed star Sosa. I'm probably going to reign back the duty of the inverted left winger to 'support' in the harder games, although not sure that will make us any more solid.

I'm also toying with the idea of putting Knauff (stationed at DR but playing the role of wing-back) on attack in easier home games too, so him and Silas will be a very attack-minded right side too. When Vagnoman plays either as DL or DR, he will be on support or auto duties, so I'll tweak a little . But the masterplan of attacking on the left will remain in spirit as we have a variety of players suited to the mezzala role (Ulrich and Egloff for example can and will step in and play there easily). The versatility of Knauff also means I can play him at AMR when Silas is tired or injured, knowing that I have good quality DR options in Vagnoman and Stenzel capable of starting in defence.

I definitely feel the squad is stronger than last season despite losing Sosa and choosing not to keep Guirassy. It took a lot of patience to not sign a first-team player in the first season, but hopefully the rewards will now come.

[warlock]

4 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I definitely feel the squad is stronger than last season... hopefully the rewards will now come.

Fingers crossed. Looking forward to the first competitive results with the new system.

[13th Man]

Good work here! Missed this topic for the last few weeks but got caught up.

I like the look of the 4-3-3. I had success with a similar look a few years ago, if a bit less gegenpressing. My shape that the MEZ on the winger side and an IF instead of a IW. Seems like it’d create some nice overloads through.

[Jogo Bonito]

7 hours ago, warlock said:

Fingers crossed. Looking forward to the first competitive results with the new system.

Thanks mate, update incoming. I changed the role of the DM from BWM to Half-Back since taking that image, which has also helped make us less exposed defensively.

6 hours ago, 13th Man said:

Good work here! Missed this topic for the last few weeks but got caught up. I like the look of the 4-3-3. I had success with a similar look a few years ago, if a bit less gegenpressing. My shape that the MEZ on the winger side and an IF instead of a IW. Seems like it’d create some nice overloads through.

Thanks, good to have your input! Watching the key highlights has shown the quality of play is much better than last season (so far). 

Season 2023/24 - Part 1

The new season was met with cautious optimism for Stuttgart, but the first few months have really gone better than expected

Defensively the team seems to have improved significantly on last year, hopefully that will continue

But the midfield and attacking play is not only passing the eye test, it is producing chances, goals and results

We had some doubts about how new striker Akor Adams would adapt to a new league, country and level - but he has been exciting, clinical and impressive

With just one loss in the league so far, we are just about keeping pace with the leaders for now

Last time out we edged past Bayern Munich (helped by them receiving a red card at 0-0 after 28 minutes) which was a massive result for our young side

Below is a brief summary showing the performance graph, player and club stats, and healthy financial position

Anything else?

The below news article on 1st September 2023 shows how our business model remains astutely economical, a source of pride around the club

On 20th November 2023, we were disappointed to learn that FSV Mainz had recalled on-loan striker Nelson Weiper

The youngster had done well in pre-season and earned the 'first striker off the bench' role when competitive games came around

From there he grabbed 5 goals (3 league and 2 DFB-Pokal) from 11 cameos in just 250 minutes of action, so it was sad to lose an important cog in our machine 

On 24th November 2023, Assistant Coach Danny Röhl was approached to fill a similar role at Bayer Leverkusen

The compensation would be high, but we didn't want to lose him and asked him to stay

Three days later, the outcome was delivered

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

he has been exciting, clinical and impressive

He's doing okay, then? 

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

just one loss in the league so far

Now that's what we want to see! Also interested that you switched that DM role from BWM - I was sooo tempted to suggest that but even-more-so reluctant to hand out unasked-for tactical advice.

Shame about Weiper but hopefully the excellent start can be extended for a while!

[Carambau]

Great signings there! Especially Adams, Mensah and Ouwejan look steals! And you too got Simic  Sad to see Weiper have his loan terminated but I am sure you can find a replacement in the winter window (if you need to that is). 4th place and only 1 defeat is impressive - keeping my fingers crossed for you to keep this up until the end of the season  

Edited May 14, 2023 by Carambau

[karanhsingh]

Brilliant season so far - Adams seems to be on fire! Great find 

[SixPointer]

Solid start! Nice to see Bayern trailing as well. 

[Jogo Bonito]

On 14/05/2023 at 02:01, warlock said:

He's doing okay, then? 

Now that's what we want to see! Also interested that you switched that DM role from BWM - I was sooo tempted to suggest that but even-more-so reluctant to hand out unasked-for tactical advice.

Shame about Weiper but hopefully the excellent start can be extended for a while!

Haha, yes Adams is definitely doing OK  

You must have sent a subliminal message about the HB, which I acted upon. It was indeed a shame about Weiper, he has an excellent youth team goals record IRL and has broken in to the first team at Mainz, definitely a disappointment for my side to lose him early as I had plans to make a permanent bid. After his short spell with us, his value rocketed to around 30 million though so unlikely to ever have him in the future.

On 14/05/2023 at 05:55, karanhsingh said:

Brilliant season so far - Adams seems to be on fire! Great find 

Thanks, going well to this point. True, Adams has really been good and I'm happy with the recruitment and low fee paid.

On 14/05/2023 at 02:15, Carambau said:

Great signings there! Especially Adams, Mensah and Ouwejan look steals! And you too got Simic  Sad to see Weiper have his loan terminated but I am sure you can find a replacement in the winter window (if you need to that is). 4th place and only 1 defeat is impressive - keeping my fingers crossed for you to keep this up until the end of the season  

I'm clearly delighted with Adams (doing well IRL too with 6 goals in 6 games in Norway so far this season). Mensah has been better than expected, he really plays his role well. Ouwejan has stepped seamlessly in to the shoes of Sosa and offers plenty to the team going forward. Simic was a low cost sensible move, bringing him back to Stuttgart will be worthwhile if/when we get in to Europe. As for Weiper, yes there wasn't much behind Adams apart from raw and unproven youngsters - and Pfeiffer who I was content with but hadn't shown much in terms of training or attitude in this second season.

On 14/05/2023 at 15:21, SixPointer said:

Solid start! Nice to see Bayern trailing as well. 

Thank you. Yes a much better start and Bayern at least have some competition this season. It may not be from us, but it would be good to see them overtaken.

I've hit February 2024 which means we played some more games and dealt with the winter transfer window. Will try to add an update tomorrow evening, as there is a bit to go through 

Edited May 15, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[Jogo Bonito]

Season 2023/24 - Part 2

Heading in to December, we were well-placed in the table and on a decent unbeaten run of 10 games (including a DFB-Pokal win)

But after a draw at Freiburg, injuries hit Akor Adams and Silas at the same time and we tamely succumbed to RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund in their absence

Missing Adams exposed our lack of 'ready' understudies, but the absence of Silas was the real blow as we had planned to play him as the central striker for that period

Before Silas was fit enough to return, we discovered that he would miss all of January on AFCON duty for DR Congo (and Dan-Axel Zagadou for Ivory Coast)

But at least Adams was only out for a couple of matches, and his return inspired a return to winning ways with the support of Bernard Mensah

It could have been worse, as the goals Adams was scoring for us had alerted Nigeria - but luckily they didn't call him in to the squad for a first senior cap

Last time out we lost narrowly to Hoffenheim, but we seem to have navigated our way through a tricky spell in reasonable order as players return

So by the end of January, we sat 6th in the Bundesliga rankings, which we feel is a healthy enough position

As you can see, Bayern Munich are not having it all their own way and are currently 'languishing' in 4th behind an impressive Eintracht Frankfurt

The top two are having a remarkable campaign though, and we take this chance to give a special mention to FSV Mainz for really out-performing expectations

We're still one of the best supported sides in Germany (5th highest average attendance of 53,637), but you will see finances have taken a bit of a hit

Anything else?

Well, yes actually - and that leads us to the winter transfer window and it is time to explain the reducing financial strength of the club

We went in to the window looking for a prime-age striker capable of supporting the reliance on Adams, and a left-back to understudy the excellent Ouwejan

We had to pitch these deals at the right level though, cautious not to bring players in demanding starts who might upset our rhythm or dressing room

To balance things out, our various squads had a couple of players we were willing to offload (and some who will leave in the summer) if the money was right

Ironically, before either of these focus areas were addressed, we were alerted to an opportunity to sign a central midfielder in his prime years

So the first arrival was Amadou Haidara (26) from RB Lepizig on 3rd January 2024 for what we feel is a bargain fee of 7.5m Euros  

Admittedly, we were forced in to paying him a weekly wage of 50,000 Euros (our next highest earner is 37,000 Euros, but no others over the 30,000 Euro mark yet)

Haidara has also been away on AFCON duty since signing, so has not yet been with our squad or involved for his new club

We then moved on to the two areas we wanted to strengthen, and considered (or made) bids for a variety of potential signings

As the preferred striker targets dragged on, our next deal saw a left-back sign on 23rd January 2024 for a fee of 5.75m Euros

That man was Kai Wagner (also 26), a German who had moved to Philadelphia some years earlier and earned a good reputation at MLS level 

We toyed with a few other options, but in terms of wages and playing time expectations, Wagner seems a better fit for our current situation

We were also keen to have as many German nationals or home grown in Germany players in the squad as part of our self-imposed philosophy

The striker deal took a little longer than we would have liked, finally ending on deadline day 31st January 2024 

We had been pursuing a couple of targets on 'approach to sign' deals and although one was secured for next season we still wanted some cover for this year

That need was heightened by a lack of effort from Pfeiffer, who complained about a lack of minutes, then played poorly when called from the bench a couple of times

So the initial plan to keep him as 'first reserve' since Weiper had been recalled became complicated and he eventually asked to be transfer-listed

On deadline day, we accepted a cut-price 1m Euros from FC Nordsjaelland to free up his slot, and let young (2nd team) striker Alou Kuol head back to Australia on loan 

So, with one successful pre-contract deal lined up for the summer, we signed another German on deadline day who we felt could contribute in a variety of ways

That man was Kevin Schade (22) who had been on loan at Brentford but somehow found his way back to SC Freiburg ahead of our 6.5m Euros swoop

The plan for him is to be used as central understudy to Adams this season, with a view to using him on the flank positions next year when our other central striker joins

Here is a summary of the January transfer business conducted

The squad now sits at 27 including three goalkeepers, but it's really 25 as two youngsters just sit there for senior training benefits

We already know there will be a few departures in the summer, either as contracts expire or those who don't have the manager's utmost confidence to remain and play

The last word on Schade is best described by the below - he sits 2nd (just above Adams) in the league goal charts, despite the lowly position of SC Freiburg

The final piece of news from this update is a summary of where we sit in the wage rankings on 1st February 2024

Despite several (much-increased) new contracts and a number of new signings, we only raised from 17th to 16th in this study - justification for our methods

The next update will follow once the remaining 14 league games are played - we are excited about trying to secure some form of European spot for next season

Edited May 16, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[Hootieleece]

Winning on a Shoestring Budget. I should take notes!

 

[warlock]

4 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

justification for our methods

Yup . Good management all round, I think.

I have grown to hate the African Cup, since it often takes players away for ages at a time when you're already struggling with injuries and fixture congestion.

I terminated Schade's loan early in the Brentford save. Couldn't get a tune out of him in AM roles - seems like I should have playing him as a striker.

I assume you've one eye on a European spot, so I wish you well with that while recognising that European football too early can be a huge burden on the squad.

[karanhsingh]

Good going - you are continuing with the strong form. I've actually scouted Schade a couple of times too, look forward to seeing how he does for you. And lastly, i had to pinch myself when i saw where Bayern are on your save! What in the world is going on there!?