[FM24] Turning a bunch of kids into the next Greek heroes - Youth Only in Greece

[BillHoudini24]

Season 2044, Part 2: Missed opportunities and recovery

After getting eliminated from the cup, my main focus was making a huge step forward in the Champions League, especially after our flying start. Unfortunately, we lost both of our final games in the league phase against Dortmund and Southampton, undoing all the great results that we got in the start of the competition.

In the knockout stage, we were very lucky to draw our Turkish neighbours Galatasaray, which would be my no.1 pick while looking at the rest of our options. Ultimately, that hybris came back to bite me, as Galatasaray proved to be a tough team with a huge will to win, knocking us out on penalties in our home ground, after getting two 1-1 draws. They ended up getting smashed by Chelsea in the Round of 16, but it still feels like a massive missed opportunity for more income and reputation.

This took its toll on us, we started losing games (after a huge 46-game unbeaten streak) and Olympiacos was getting too close for comfort. Luckily, with 2 games to spare, Olympiacos slipped against Niki Volou and we were crowned Greek champions for the third time in a row!

I don't see us winning a European title with the new format, as there is no way to drop down to Europa League without losing the league, but at least we can try to properly become a member of the Greek "Big 4" and throw PAOK out of the conversation. 3 league titles to go

I finally made it into the top 3 of the Greek Hall of Fame, but it's going to be a while before reaching the top.

At the player level, it goes without saying that they had a very good season, with some of them being the center of attention:

Chaniotis has been a very long-term project of mine, I saw some potential in him in 2040 and started thinking how he could fit into our plans. Litainas leaving forced my hand and Chaniotis totally exploded, getting the highest average rating in the team, while having some stretches during the season that he looked unplayable.

Toptidis had another good season, scoring important goals, especially in the Champions League and the Greek championship playoffs. Part of my strategy in squad management is to heavily rotate now that the average level of the squad has increased, so his numbers would have been better if he played whenever he was available. Unfortunately, he's unhappy and wants to leave for a stronger squad, reinforcing my belief that his time with us will be limited.

Award domination continues, with Bajrami being the first Panionios player to win the "Foreign Player of the Year" award, while Chaniotis and Barkosis were in the top 2 for the "Greek Player of the Year" award.

Finally, after 22 years at the club, we managed to surpass the 100M mark in our overall financial balance and that is without any major sales in the last 3-4 years. Playing and winning some games in the Champions League was the catalyst for that.

During the summer I will start working on a totally new tactical shape, sell some players who didn't make the cut, loan the new batch that reached 18 and hopefully convince Toptidis to reconsider. I can't stand having unhappy strikers, most of the time is like playing with 10 men.

Edited August 15 by BillHoudini24

[_Ben_]

1 hour ago, BillHoudini24 said:

During the summer I will start working on a totally new tactical shape, sell some players who didn't make the cut, loan the new batch that reached 18 and hopefully convince Toptidis to reconsider. I can't stand having unhappy strikers, most of the time is like playing with 10 men.

Congrats on the league win! Despite the disappointment in the CL, it's probably helped you and building the domestic level of dominance is always important. The above part, though, is absolutely my favourite part of the game and I'd love to see how you approach it!

[BillHoudini24]

9 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Congrats on the league win! Despite the disappointment in the CL, it's probably helped you and building the domestic level of dominance is always important. The above part, though, is absolutely my favourite part of the game and I'd love to see how you approach it!

Thanks for tagging along all this time!

Actually, I've been working on a tactical shape very similar to your Messina side, it just follows the Xabi Alonso principles a bit more in terms of roles and instructions.

 

This allows me to try to achieve three things:

• Try something different, as I've never played with 3 at the back before.
• Continue playing without Wingers/IFs.
• Move away from the mid-block into a Higher Defensive line, something that is a fundamental part of my philosophy but was not able to achieve with my previous squads.

A preview (but also a work in progress):

[_Ben_]

5 minutes ago, BillHoudini24 said:

Thanks for tagging along all this time!

Actually, I've been working on a tactical shape very similar to your Messina side, it just follows the Xabi Alonso principles a bit more in terms of roles and instructions.

 

This allows me to try to achieve three things:

• Try something different, as I've never played with 3 at the back before.
• Continue playing without Wingers/IFs.
• Move away from the mid-block into a Higher Defensive line, something that is a fundamental part of my philosophy but was not able to achieve with my previous squads.

A preview (but also a work in progress):

Lots of similarities - particularly the DLP/VOL combo there! Also love the vanilla AM roles - are you going to use PI's to adapt them along with player traits and styles?

 

[BillHoudini24]

4 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Lots of similarities - particularly the DLP/VOL combo there! Also love the vanilla AM roles - are you going to use PI's to adapt them along with player traits and styles?

Exactly! And this is the main area I've been having problems so far. Previously, in my narrow 4-2-3-1, I had a clear facilitator in the middle of the three AMCs. Now that I'm missing that player, I've been trying to find a way to allow both AMCs to switch between facilitation and attacking the space.

This problem, along with Toptidis' unhappiness has led to some dry performances where Toptidis was completely invisible, but luckily we were bailed out by the team's overall quality.

[naufal husain]

I need my daily dose this bunch of kids 😅😅😅

[Deisler26]

Have you considered a DM/VOL tandem?

[BillHoudini24]

5 hours ago, naufal husain said:

I need my daily dose this bunch of kids 😅😅😅

3 hours ago, Deisler26 said:

Have you considered a DM/VOL tandem?

The save has spiralled a bit out of control because of my choice to try this new formation, so I've paused it for now, while I'm scratching an FM itch I had for Dutch lower leagues since FM2021.

What is happening is a combination of 4 elements:

Didn't have enough Natural or Accomplished WBLs for the Alonso-inspired 3-4-3.

Players complained about the lack of depth in this position, even though I have at least 3 players with the right attributes for the role, they are just not "Green" there yet.

Since I cannot sign anyone, I promised to use players from the youth academy at WBL, to appease them.

I started using a clearly not ready 16 year old, who's obviously not performing at this level, leading to an underperforming team overall.

 

All this, combined with tactical unfamiliarity and low morale because of the complaints and the bad results have led to a season and an environment I don't particularly enjoy at this point.

 

With the board's expectations being sky high, I am left with two options:

Insist with the 3-4-3, accept a season that would take us back a couple of steps and hope that my "Legend" status will help me keep the job.

Go back to my narrow 4-2-3-1 and fix everything by winning more and playing "Morale Manager". 

 

Not wanting to deal with all this for the moment led me to a new save in the country I immigrated to in 2021.

Edited August 23 by BillHoudini24

[KrKAlex]

Coming back to this thread after quite some time, nice to see that you kept playing this save even if sometimes it was hard ... You truely deserved these league titles ! Always nice to read about your tactics and management insights