[FM23 Console] Stepping stone bingo in Arnhem

[wearesporting]

 

 

The immediate image of Vitesse Arnhem from the Dutch Eredivisie is that of a Chelsea feeder club from the time large amounts of their players, including the likes of Mason Mount, were loaned to the club. However long before then they already had a reputation for bringing players through their team who went on to greater things and landed financial gains for the club. This is a tradition we intend to keep up here minus the long gone Chelsea connection. This will be likely at a sacrifice of success which might be also considered a hallmark of the club with their only trophy of note a cup win in 2017.

To measure our success this save has a first goal and a super goal. The first goal is to have 11 players (10 outfield, 1 goalkeeper) play for the club who go on to win a competition in game which is at least 4 stars reputation at the time, excluding the Netherlands itself should it find itself at that level. These players would have to have stayed at the club until at least the 2nd transfer window after joining the club.  The much harder super goal is to have 1 player for each position in the tactic we are going to base the club on achieve the same success. Should we fill all the positions in we can shout bingo!

The keep track of old players generally I'll also have a top 10 best performers after leaving the club using the reputation stars of the competitions they win. We'll square the number of stars and add them together. All this can include players who start at the club in game. Players on loan are not eligible for goal completion. 

The obvious tactic for doing this will be to get players as early as possible in their development so as to beat bigger clubs to them and become their stepping stone. With that in mind we will be relatively eager to sell players on. But making money is an important part of allowing the club access to the best youngsters over time so we won't be foolhardy with pricing. However for the players to reach their true potential moving on is important. The idea is to aim for 2-4 times the money we orginally paid for them plus 50% sell on clauses. For a club with better training facilities and reputation than us we will go as low as times 2. With one or the other times 3. Those worse of than us it has to be times 4.

With success on the pitch not the primary goal I'll be allowing the assistant manager to manage our games using two of the preset 'match plans'. Play To Win for most games as that is a philosophy we'll persue. On very hard games away from home we might switch to Settle For The Draw. We're able to set the tactic and pick the starting 11 and subs. If we get sacked I'll just add another manager as the stepping stone concept is the focus of the save.

The tactic that will always be in use and for which our recruitment wil be geared towards is an old preset vertical tiki taka 4-3-3 DM Wide. It provides average to moderately good results depending on the players you have.

 

It is a counter pressing and high pressing tactic. Counter and goalkeeper distribution to the center backs with kicking the keeper preference are all selected. Automatic roles should be useful to the assistant management of the game. The winger roles allow us to tap into right footed players. Players will all preferably be able to counter, work hard, move intelligently and pass and receive a ball with confidence but these may not all always be possible.

Obvious limitations of Console is the 30 season cap and only being able to load leagues from 10 nations. With that I'm going to rob the next post and check out the Vitesse players with the most potential as well as force them into the tactic.

Edited August 12, 2023 by wearesporting

[wearesporting]

Post robbed

CARDS! Top 10 to come.

Position	Success?
GK
DR
DC
DC
DL
DMC
MC
MC
AMR
AML
ST

 

Count	Progress
GK1
Player1
Player2
Player3
Player4
Player5
Player6
Player7
Player8
Player9
Player10

 

 

Player	Score
Mika Biereth	68
Million Manhoef	18
Kossi Diallo	18

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by wearesporting

[wearesporting]

Quick glance at the best potential at the club at the very start of the game according to the coach.

A midfielder with the raw talent but a lot to improve on in his mental game. If only he tried harder!

Another midfielder with what we need in the tactic but again staying awake in a game an issue. He is out on loan.

Not just one with the best potential but a star in the team. Can play anywhere on the flank, game time will not be an issue for this guy

They are the only 3 with 5 star potential ratings. While stars aren't everything when recruiting we don't seek players who will be good in the Eredivisie but who can go on to win the biggest compeitions in the world so we will be quicker to gamble on their unknown potential.

Then to what my first 11 is to start the game. I picked players using a filter which emphasises passing and movement. The ball winning DM and centre backs have a filter that cuts some slack on passing ability for an abilty to read a game coming at them. Striker position has its own to emphasise goalscoring ability where i can't find it within the regular filter as in this tactic they will be expected to score a bulk of the goals. Goalkeepers are searched for simply on the attributes for a Sweeper Keeper on support with passing attribute requirements reduced. This is the gist of the team at the start of the game before any transfers happen or friendlies are played. We have one million in transfer funds but no room on wages and a promise of a smaller wage budget next season so sales will play a big part in any purchases this season.

A relatively mature starting 11 with youngsters in the front 3 positions. This will become very young over time. The winger position on the right is an obvious weakness. We have several players on loan with huge potential but they're not counted for the save as they ahve to be signed by the club.

So it's time to get playing. Posts on the save will revolve around transfers and the end of each season.

Edited August 13, 2023 by wearesporting

[wearesporting]

Having said we don't have much room to maneuver in the transfer market and 5 star potential players are preferred we came across two young players one without a contract and the other an amateur connected to Maastricht. Both completely free and worth at the very least trying to make money on them

Ruben, son of Mark, immediately becomes the back up to the inverted winger role on the left side.

 

This young man goes to Jong Vitesse in the reserve league. Decent all rounder. Might end up worth something.

[wearesporting]

The 2022 summer transfer window has ended. While i said there was no room for a signing there were some high potential players with low enough demands to be able to sign them and get the grind going. There were a number of options but we ended up spending the entire million on a right winger which bulks up that weak position we noted earlier. He becomes our starting right winger.

A tricky dribbler but he will be able to pass the ball too. 2-4 million will hopefully be seekable from his resale in the future. He was signed from Rennes. Nobody has left the club on a transfer.

Edited August 14, 2023 by wearesporting

[wearesporting]

First season has come to an end. The 2023 winter transfer window passed with no signings and no departures likely to bring to us our goals.

Well within the top half of the table which suits us fine. In the Netherlands usually the 5th-8th places play each other in playoffs to decide the last European place which we managed to come through as winners for Conference League football next season.

Our top ten performers by average rating in the league. Sambo is  youngster of small potential and done well despite this. Our loaned striker did whats expected of him in the tactic with 22 goals enough to be second top scorer. Ruben van Bommel who we signed also did well in his few games, dare i say better than Manhoef

Youth intake was average enough. Next we see what the summer 2023 transfer window brings. With several loan players heading home we will be looking to keep the squad competitive as possible.

Edited August 15, 2023 by wearesporting

[wearesporting]

SUMMER 2023 PLAYER MOVEMENTS

We lost our best 30 year old left back on a free to Zenit and as mentioned before loanees have left the club. There are suprisingly no significent outgoings. We have signed players to plug the gaps left behind and try improve the club's talent pool.

Biereth joins from Arsenal for £275k and replaces our previously loaned striker up front as first choice.

 

Mabon joins from Nantes for £1.2M replacing the previously loaned goalkeeper and despite his age has been put straight into the team as we promised him.

 

Schablas was released by Bayern Munich. He had many suitors but we convinced him that Vitesse are the club to relaunch his career from. Other clubs were beaten off as we promised him he is more than simply a hot prospect but is back up to the left back position.

 

Spileers was the most expensive coming in at £1.9M. We came across him in a hunt for a centre back while playing in Club Brugge's development team but his passing ability was noted and we thought he might be exposed in the air so he comes in to start at the defensive mid position. He will if need be play as a centre back as we have 3 ball winners at the club including him and failed to purchase a fouth centre back.

 

With that, this is the preferred 11 at the start of September. We have worked our way through the Conference League qualifiers and play in the group stages in a group with Galatasary, Genk and Dnipro. Not easy.

 

The age of the players will continue to lower but we have a few talented youngsters here ready to impress bigger clubs.

[wearesporting]

END OF SEASON 23/24

After no transfer activity of note in January we went on to finish 4th in the league and were semi finalists in the UEFA Conference League going out to Aston Villa by a large aggregate margin. 4th earns us a shot at the Europa League next season. WE scored less goals but were deefensively brilliant.

 

 

Van Ginkel missed all of last season to cruciate damage and at the start of this season did his knee in again. He returned late on to play a role in our push at the end of the season. Huisman who played the first season out on loan spent this season out for most games with various injuries affecting any future sale value. Samake really woke up this year and should draw attention. Our young goalkeeper Mabon won goalkeeper of the year and young player of the year in the Eredivisie

The youth intake:

 

Much better this year.

[wearesporting]

SUMMER 2024 PLAYER MOVEMENTS

There continues to be a lack of offers for my players many of whom are coming along nicely. Players left but none significant bar Bero who left for free after a year of indecision on whether he wanted to play for us nor not. On players in we were quiet too as we spent near the whole transfer budget on one player.

Morgalla was picked up from Karlsruher for £5.5M and has a minimum release clause of £8M. He can be a passing threat from defence.

Wesley Dual had high potential and cost £220K from Barcelona so we took him on then sent him back on loan to Spain.

Preferred 11 as we enter September and our Europa League campaign is as so. Lots of growing talent on the bench too.

 

 

[wearesporting]

WINTER 2025 PLAYER MOVEMENTS

During this transfer window centre back Meulensteen, left inverted winger Manhoef and striker Biereth all turned down several accepted transfers for fair money. Meulensteen has rejected several moves away to various clubs over the last two years. I was starting to worry some sort of bug was afoot despite smaller players for smaller money leaving the club for fees. But finally someone actually accepted a contract offer from another club.

PLAYERS OUT

Our goalkeeper Tom Mabon is our first high potential player on the move out of the club for £5.25M to Dortmund. He has been loaned back to us to finish the season and get some more games into him.

PLAYERS IN

Tyler Fredricson is a centre back with very good pace and defensive ability. Also able to pass his weakness will be his lack of effort and awareness getting himself into position to receive a pass in the first place. We got him for £450K as his contract was soon to be running down with Manchester United. He is placed as the first centre back sub for the season remains. We got to the last 16 in the Europa League where we were thumped by Tottenham.

Edited August 19, 2023 by wearesporting

[wearesporting]

END OF SEASON 24/25

 

3rd place finish on the last day of the season gets us into the third Champions League spot in the qualifiers next season. We got to the Dutch Cup final but lost on penalties to Ajax.

Top 10 average rating Huisman with a few less injuries showed what he is capable of. Dokunmu at 18 played his bit part well. There is interest in several of the players,

 

One very good player in the intake. He might be better as an inverted winger on the other side as he can't cross a ball.

[wearesporting]

Is anyone aware of any transfer/contract bugs with the Dutch league?

It's getting a bit much, I did a dummy run on this type save with Charleroi in Belgium and big players left the club most years. Neither of these guys are near my top paid players.

[wearesporting]

SUMMER 2025 PLAYER MOVEMENTS

PLAYERS OUT

After he and others rejected several clubs once again finally someone found a club they liked. Samake went to Stuttgart for £8M. No other major sales occured.

PLAYERS IN

We were in need of a new goalkeeper and Faaris Yusufu is a perfect fit. A very good young keeper with lots more to come. Cost £8M from Schalke, a transfer record for the club apparantly.

A pair of players for the right wing role which Samake vacated. Both very high potential. Tavares is preferred for now as he is a better fit for the role though the wing is very inexperienced now on this side. Tavares came from FC Vizela in Portugal for £650K and Schon was £1.7M from Eintracht Frankfurt. We've £6.7 million transfer budget unspent for now.

The starting preferred 11 this season:

 

[wearesporting]

WINTER 2026 PLAYER MOVEMENTS

PLAYERS OUT

Biereth has scored his last goal for us and goes to Celtic for £11.75M which could rise to £14.75M

 

Manhoef, his partner on the wing, also leaves.  Red Bull Leipzig buy him for £13.5M

 

PLAYERS IN

Kossi Diallo came from our current affiliate club in Belgium, Beerschot, for £4M. Straight up top as the starter. Immense talent but could be a tiny bit lazy.

 

Youness Amrani is another Belgian talent in to replace Manhoef to cut in from the left. Oostende let him go for £2M. Insane. Will hope to use his speed to make up for his off the ball movement weakness.

 

The Belgian is not the only winger brought in to play on that left side. Esteban Diaz joins from Atletico Nacional in Colombia for £1.8M and can deputise for Amrani for starters. He will use his guile above physicality. As a result Ruben Van Bommel goes out on loan to try and show us that he can make it at the higher echelons of the game.

In game after being immediately dumped from the Champions League qualifiers by Benfica we have qualified from the Europa League first phase and await our first opponents in the knockouts and sit in a respectable 3rd position in the Eredivisie. After a poor start we've gone on a very good run to get here.

Edited August 22, 2023 by wearesporting

[wearesporting]

End of Season 25/26

Another 3rd place finish for a Champions League qualifier. Ajax knocked us out of the cup and Midtjylland ended our Europa League participation in the last 16. Feyenoord have won the league each year and are currently unstoppable.

 

Best 10 players by average rating. Diallo has been insane since joining. Amrani also very good

 

We had Diallo and Biereth play half seasons for us and both finished in the top 3 scorers.

 

A couple good players in the intake.

[wearesporting]

SUMMER 2026 PLAYER MOVEMENTS

PLAYERS OUT

Our only player of note to leave. Yusufu thankful for our help makes a move to Aston Villa for 10.5M. His value now treble that immediately.

 

PLAYERS IN

We've been busy. First obvious in was a young talented keeper. Theo Sander cost us 5.5M from Aalborg. He a big lad but can move better than you'd think.

 

Denmark has been well scouted.  Broderson has some work to do as our new backup right back. But he is hard working, can run all day, can cross, and also defend. He was 6.5M from Midtjylland who knocked us out of the Europa League last year.

 

After the success of Diallo we return to our feeder club, Beerschot, looking for more. Davids was bought at a cool 8M and is probably the first real risky purchase. However he is a very intelligent player who has the potential to push on. He'll be back up left back for now.

 

5.5M from Vallecano, Otero is ready for the first team already at a young age. He will challenge Huisman for that most forward center mid position. Absolute handful to deal  with on the pitch.

 

We wanted a new up and coming back up to Spileers in the defensive midfield role and for 3M Mohammed came from Leverkusen. He will need to become a better passer of the ball.

 

While we were putting out feelers for a new goalkeeper Alhassan was said to be having issues at Leipzig. For 275K we took him on to impress for the future for little risk.

 

The preferred 11 for the start of this year:

A couple of players will likely have suitors in the winter. Tronstad must feel ancient but i find a lot of games go down the drain when he's not playing. Him and the captain Meulensteen are the fathers of this team.

We once again failed at the first hurdle in the Champions League qualifiers and once again it was Benfica who done us in. One day! Europa League again this season.

[wearesporting]

END OF SEASON 26/27

After no major transfer activity in the winter we had the worst season since the first, points wise, but we're in the Europa League once more. Feyenoord being squeezed gradually by Ajax. We were knocked out of the Europa League at the quarter finals by Mainz. Mainz went on to win the competition beating Ajax in the final. Had Ajax won we would have fluked a 4th Champions League team for the Netherlands i think.

Top 10 guys. Diallo was a monster. 33 goals in 33 games in the league. He only missed one game. Having already won European Golden Boy he won the Golden Boot in the league, was top goalscorer in both the league and the Europa League. He was also top of the NXGN in the world. Otero and Diaz are growing into something special too. Brodersen creeped into the NXGN this year.

Diallo was also the Dutch league young player of the year and we filled the 3 slots confirming our commitment to develop youngsters for greater things.

We're a bit slower producing our own from within. I'm off to probably sell Diallo now. Summer update will be next.

 

While our bingo cards remain untouched two players have finally won something while at their clubs for at least one year. Mika Biereth won the Scottish League with Celtic and Million Manhoef won the Portugese Cup with Benfica. So we start our little league.

Player	Score
Biereth Mika	25
Manhoef Million	18

Edited August 26, 2023 by wearesporting

[wearesporting]

SUMMER 2027 PLAYER MOVEMENTS

PLAYERS OUT

Predictably Diallo went. He rejected quite a few suitors before joining Everton for his transfer clause of 24.5M. Vitesse's biggest sale since Wilfried Bony to Swansea several years back.

 

PLAYERS IN

Tronsted left us on a free leavng a spot in midfield for a very young and aggressive Lee Rogers who cost 6M from Luton. He'll start.

 

Tom Leopold came from Schalke for 1.2M to sit in the wings. Something of a gamble but a cheap one.

 

Thomas Kurz joins on loan from Stuttgart. He'll cost 1.2M on loan with an optional buy of another 6.5M if he plays well in central defence when he gets the chance. Decent potential.

 

Fabio Silva joins on loan from Wolves to take up the daunting task of following Diallo. We had another player in mind but Ross County pulled out of the deal late and Silva was our backup in case of failure. We are working on a deal for January for the other striker to compete for the spot. The loan just costs us half his wages and has an optional fee of just under £1 Million should we wish to continue with him.

The starting 11 for now:

 

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by wearesporting

[wearesporting]

WINTER 2028 PLAYER MOVEMENTS

Players Out

It's been a busy winter. Brodersen left us for £16.25 to Celtic to join Biereth there. A sideways move in league but a bigger club and better facilities.

 

He wasn't the only right back to leave with Tabi Manga leaving for 7.25M after several years at the club. Borussia Monchengladbach his destination.

 

They weren't done with us also buying Mohammed for 11M after he made massive improvements this summer. Left just as he was handed the DM spot as his.

 

The 2027 European Golden Boy winner also left us. Otero went to our league rivals Ajax. They have far better facilities than us and gave us £24M so we relented.

 

Players In

We paid £6.5M to make Thomas Kurz's loan permanent after he impressed. Other than him...

Shenanigans from Ross County meant we couldn't get this Stuart Smith in August but we continued to harrass them and picked him up on loan from January with a deal to buy him in the summer. The total cost between loan and transfer will be £12.75M, higher than the £8M we thought we got him for in August. With Fabio Silva having no interest in joining us after his loan, Smith will soon be the starting striker.

 

Luan Ferreira joins for 6M from Atletico Clube Goianiense as a Mohammed replacement to back up the DM position and develop from there. Could also play right back. Our reach has found South America.

Ozgur was signed as a right back replacement. Where Ferreira could play in the right back spot Ozgur could play in DM. Some flexibility within the team. He cost a cheap 2M from Stuttgart.

 

Casal is a left back we found playing for Valencia B and bought for £13M. He also became our highest earner and has immense potential though his wage disappearing from the budget won't be lamented.

 

The Dutch Cup is a hex on us as we slid out early again. We are about to play the Playoff Round of the League Phase of the Europa League against Hadjuk Split who happen to be one of our feeder clubs.

[wearesporting]

END OF SEASON 2027/28

Back to third, just beaten into it by Ajax. But with a drop in coefficient it's only worth the Europa League now. What do you do with a problem like Feyenoord? Goal machines. We defeated Hadjuk convincingly only to be drawn against Manchester United in the last 16 of the Europa League. We surprised them 2-0 at home before being butchered 5-0 in the 2nd leg.

 

10 of the best. Fabio Silva was way too good for this league and probably single handedly dragged us to nearly 2nd place. Stuart Smith however should hopefully push on from his few games with us since January. Amrani had a good season but broke his leg before the last game. Young Lee Rogers from Luton is shaping up to be a monster. Huisman never lets you down in this league.

 

Nice intake.

 

Mika Biereth won a double with Celtic. Kossi Diallo won the Europa Conference League with Everton. Updated score below, still no 4 star wins.

Player	Score
Mika Biereth	68
Million Manhoef	18
Kossi Diallo	18

Edited August 30, 2023 by wearesporting

[wearesporting]

SUMMER 2028 PLAYER MOVEMENTS

Players In

Kiankaulua cost £8.75M from fellow Dutch side Cambuur. He was bought with the intention of Diaz covering the striker position as well as the attacking left wing. He has brilliant potential and though he has no knowledge of the right wing he can well play there as a straight up winger I'd imagine.

 

As a quiet transfer window came to an end this talented 16 year old was picked up for £1.2M from Vejle Boldklub in Denmark. Lots of room for improvement for Thomsen.

 

Players Out

My grand plans for covering positions fell apart when Anderlecht hit Esteban Diaz's transfer clause of £26.5M on the 6th of September. While our transfer window ends in August the Belgian one goes into September. So for now we'll just have to make do. In the winter we might seek a striker for the future with the money from this transfer.

 

The preferred starting 11 so far this season is so:

 

[wearesporting]

END SEASON 2028/2029

Worst season of the save points and position wise with 7th. We lost out in the European qualification playoff to PSV. We beat Midtjylland in the Europa League League playoff but were beaten by Wolfsburg in the last 16. Feyenoord had a harder time of it with Arne Slot gone but still won the league. Nijmegen the surprise package.

 

Best 10. Stuart Smith came of age. Huisman again what can i say? Bobson did well, an academy product.

 

The intake was bad bad.

Brodersen and Biereth won the Scottish League again but nobody won big enough competitions again.

Player	Score
Mika Biereth	93
Victor Brodersen	25
Million Manhoef	18
Kossi Diallo	18