[FM24] Just Popping Next Door: A Vaduz Story

[RaySunshine]

Introduction

So here we go with my next challenge! The idea of managing Vaduz really interested me - for those who don't know they're a Liechtensteiner side that takes part in the Swiss League as Liechenstein don't have a league of their own. They play in Liechtenstein's national stadium and I was just really interested in taking on a club that played in the league system of another country!

Vaduz's history has been mixed over the last few years - they had the 08/09 season in the top-flight and then a four-season run between 2013 and 2017. They last had one season in the Swiss top-flight in 2020/21 and it's then looked like quite a sharp descent from there! I wonder what I can do to turn it around!

The status of the Liechtensteiner clubs throws up all sorts of interesting quirks - they can't qualify for Europe via the Swiss League. They can only get into the Conference League by winning the Liechstensteiner Cup. To get any higher than the Conference League, we'd have to win so that's a pretty serious challenge as you can imagine!

[RaySunshine]

Pre-Season

Pre-season gave me the (possibly false) hope that my 4-3-3 that didn't work so well on my Exeter City save could work here. The one standout result was the game against top-flight Servette where we were thoroughly outplayed and led me to believe that we need to develop a more cautious route for when we come across the big boys!

Dobras let me know that, at the end of the season, he wants to look at his options. The 30yo Austrian is one of our better midfield players so I hope that I can convince him to stay!

It wouldn't be a pre-season without an injury blow and ours comes in the form of a knock to Fosso who would otherwise be in the starting XI. As you can see below, he's not the only long-term injuryee so I hope that that doesn't present too much of a problem!

The objectives for the board are quite interesting - spend all the club's money, develop the youth and eventually, become the biggest club in Switzerland. They really plan to take over from Liechtenstein. Can we produce the goods?!

In terms of the competitions, here's what the the board expects. The focus is on the league where we're expected to be top-half and in Europe where we need to compete. Does the world think we can do this though...

... and the answer is yes - just! 5th is the bottom of the top-half so, with the transfer window turned off, we might just scrape it. We do have a few injuries though that might come back to haunt us!

So the season begins with both legs of the Europa Conference League Quals against Arsenal from Montenegro with our final friendly inbetween. In the league, we begin against Aarau who are expected to finish 4th and recently-relegated Sion who are expected to be runaway winners! It's not an easy start that's for sure!

 

[AlfieLucas]

Goodluck with Vaduz. From what i can remember, Vaduz is the team where if you want to compete in the Champions League. You need to win the Conference League then Europa League consecutively to get into the Champions League. So i wish you the very best of luck, sounds like a hard challenge.

[RaySunshine]

That's the one @AlfieLucas! It's not going to be an easy save that's for sure but I look forward to testing how far I can get with some moneyball tactics!

Starting XI

So here is my slightly-injury-adjusted starting XI! As you can see, there's a certain amount of uneveness in the squad with our leading star, Swiss player Matteo di Giusto, still out on holiday! The tactic is the same as my ECFC save. I hope that the HB will link play with the backline to bring the ball forward to the two everywhere CMs. On the right, Fehr will get chalk on his boots and Ulrich will support behind and, on the left, Cicek will cut in while Gasser goes on the overlap. Up front, Djokic looks like the physical presence to knit it all together. Or, at least that's the plan...

Benjamin Buchel, our 34yo GK, is the club captain. He began his career in England with Bournemouth and Oxford before travelling back home. He's kept goal for Vaduz since 2017 and looks set to continue doing so.

30yo Liechtensteiner, Sandro Wiesser, is our vice-captain. He's not a guaranteed starter and will be challenging Pepsi for the HB position just in front of the backline.

The aforementioned Matteo di Giusto is our star man. The 22yo Swiss player joined on a free from Zurich in 2020 and has been a mainstay ever since. He's on holiday till the 23rd July though so we shan't see him straightaway!

[RaySunshine]

July 2023

So I head into competitive action with Vaduz for the first time and it's certainly not been an easy introduction! Game one was in Europe and saw us take on Arsenal (T) (Djokic 46). We dominated the game against the Montengrin side but only scored a single goal when LB Gasser sent in a low cross for Djokic to send home with a first-touch strike.

This was pleasing news from the board who backed the start of my reign by giving me my first coaching badge.

We then had one more friendly against Aubstadt where a reserve side played the first half and a reserve reserve side played the second and we lost 1-0.

Next up was the return to Europe and we took on Arsenal (T) (Cicek 2, pen 36, Djokic 9, 14, Sasere 81). It's fair to say that we made the domination pay this time around the pick of the goals was a beauty of a through-ball from Cicek for Djokic to finish off.

Our league season opened with the game against Aarau (Djokic 13, 47). Dobras played Djokic through the middle for his first and then Ulrich crossed a ball in for him to head home his second. The scoring hadn't finished though and they were able to level up by the time the game finished.

Then in came a massive blow! Regular starter and goal-scorer Cicek finds himself ruled out for about a month. It didn't help us in the game against Levski Sofia (Vayrynen 74). Sofia took an absolute stranglehold on the game and were 2-0 up crusing. In the second half, our Norwegian substitute struck with a great header to at least give us hope.

Quite quickly, injuries have begun to mount up on injuries with three of our wingers now ruled out! This took us into the month's last game against Wil (Gasser 45+2). We withstood their early onslaught for LB Gasser to strike just before HT. They got one back in the second half and we're still waiting for a first league win.

Of course, the month couldn't leave us without at least one final injury that sees our first-choice keeper out for a month!

Two games and two draws leaves us in 7th place in the league at the moment. It's far too early to make much of anything yet!

August begins the second leg against Levski Sofia against whom we need to turn over a 2-1 deficit. That's followed by Schaffhausen who are 5th and then big-timers Sion. Finally Bellinzona are 9th and winless and Stade Nyonnais are 3rd with four points. It's a varied month so let's see what our team can get from it!

[RaySunshine]

August 2023

In terms of results, I can't say that August was a varied month but I'm not complaining either!

This was news I was complaining about though! Djokic has been a vital part of my starting XI so far and I really don't want to lose him! Do I stick or twist in January?

I'd got two draws in my first two league games and draws seemed to be the order of the day in August too! The first came in the Europa League against Levski Sofia (Gasser 40, Gaijic 49, Djokic 63). It started badly when we went 2-0 down. LB Gasser restored some hope though when he fired home across the keeper. They struck again though to make it 3-1. Vaduz didn't give up though - Gajic struck a beauty home from the edge of the box before Di Giusto slotted the ball through to Djokic to hit home. Just a goal short of going through...

This led to a return to league action and the game against Schaffhausen (Djokic 1, Rahimi 46). We got a dream start here when Djokic fired home after just 22 seconds! Di Giusto was again provider. They then got two to turn the lead round. The scoring wasn't finished though and Rahimi got up highest to head a corner home and leave the scores level.

The next match was against heavyweights Sion (Isik 78). They had made a slow start to season but still scored early to take the lead. Parity was restored though late on when sub RB Isik fired a rocket home and, once again, the points were shared!

Bellinzona were bottom of the table when we took them on. We managed to keep a clean sheet but, for the first time this season, we failed to score despite our xG domination and so the spoils were, as ever, shared!

The final game of the month saw us take on Stade Nyonnais (Cicek pen 4, Gajic 41, 73, Djokic 83). We finally found our scoring boots and prevented them from getting many either! Gajic had the part-timers on toast and his fine shot into the top corner from outside the box really lit the game up in style!

With that late win, we surge up the table to fourth making it feel like we've made a good start so far. Can we keep it up though? As you can see, it's all early days and very very tight all around!

Neuchatel Xamax find themselves in 9th so I'm certainly aiming for back-to-back wins there. Thun are above us in second and are a much harder propostion before we take on FC Baden who are in 8th. There are certainly points to be earned this season if we can get them!

 

[RaySunshine]

September/October 2023

I got rather carried away in this save and so there are two months for the price of one here!

I'd expected to do well in the game against Neuchatel Xamax but what I did was quite the opposite! Both sides had chances galore in the game but they took theirs to hand us a drubbing!

We sought a win in our next match against Thun (Ulrich 74) but didn't get it. Ulrich gave us the lead when a corner he took came back to him and he struck it home. They finished off a neat passing move with a cross and a goal though to level the game.

I'd hoped that Sasere would be the player to take on the LW slot if Di Giusto struggled for form. This however, set him back from that course.

Game three in September saw us take on FC Baden (Djokic 12, Cicek 65, Xhemajili 71). Djokic gave us the lead with a great strike from the edge of the box but they then levelled things up. Cicek then restored the lead by firing a strong shot home of his own - a daisycutter this time. CB Xhemajili then made that a 3-1 lead by heading home Di Giusto's near-post corner. They got one more goal to make it a squeaky finish but the side came good with the win.

Wieser is a regular bench option far more than a starter but it thins the squad out rather to have him injured too!

October began with a game against Sion (Djokic 49, 87, Cicek 68, pen 77). This was a close-run game against the league's heavyweights but it was an amazing win to get. Djokic headed home the first of our goals. Cicek curled in a worldie for the second. Cicek's pen was the third before Djokic finished off with a low, hard finish across the keeper. A dramatic and memorable win for the ages!

Game two in October saw us take on high-flying Aarau and come away with no reward whatsoever!

The same was true in our next game against Schaffhausen (Djokic 57) who scored goals either side of HT to get a cushion. Djokic struck to get one back but it simply wasn't enough.

This was another bench-thinner. Ospelt is not our regular starter but he was the keeper on the bench!

Struggling Bellinzona (Xhemajili 83) came up next and looked like they were going to take shock win and hand us our third defeat in a row but, even though we'd missed a pen, Xhemajili saved the day by bundling home a corner at the third time of asking to level the score.

The month's final game came in Leichtenstein's main cup competition and our route to Europe. A completely-rotated side took on Triesenberg (Vayrynen 31, Traber 90+5). Vayrynen put away a neat volley for his first goal but then missed a penalty. They got a shock leveller and it looked like that was how 90 mins would finish until CB Traber, playing in RB, got the ball just inside the box and fired a low shot home to send us into the next round.

We've had a tough couple of months and are now three points behind the fourth-place spot we had held. Second place are now eleven points clear of us so we're really in the mid-table scrap!

November has three games in it. Wil are 2nd and represent a tough opponent. Stade Nyonnais are 8th and only three points behind us while Neuchatel Xamax handed us a thrashing the last time we took them on. People are happy enough with my reign at the moment but if I want it to last, I need to start impressing!

[RaySunshine]

November 2023

I had expected to get some points in November but it's fair to say that it didn't at all play out the way that I wanted it to!

The month's first tie was against high-flying Wil (Di Giusto 46, Pepsi 51). We took a two-goal league courtesy of strikes by Di Giusto who made the most of a defensive mix-up to slot home and Pepsi who smashed home a fierce effort. Wil should have scored a hatful against us but a penalty was all they could manage so we wound up 2-1 winners!

Then it all went wrong. Against struggling Stade Nyonnais (Cicek pen 45+1), it was level going into the break and we were doing well. We failed to score our chances though and they took theirs to hand us a thrashing.

Then came some more bad news with another first teamer not thinking about sticking around.

This was the good news though with the board approving my strudy for another coaching licence having just got my last.

The game against Neauchatel Xamax was a re-run of the last. We had the better xG but didn't put it away. They did though with plenty of help from Buchel, our keeper, to hand us two thrashings in a row!

Morale in the squad has plunged and I have had to promise to improve things soon. Can I turn it around or will this be another short save failure?!

We've now dropped in the league and are four points short of our target in fifth. It's not too far away but it feels like I'm going into a crucial time in the season to prevent collapse here.

December is another three-game month. Thun are third so represent a real challenge while FC Baden are bottom so we really need to get points off them at home! Struggling Sion are picking up. They're now fourth and won't be an easy game for sure!

[RaySunshine]

December 2023

December only had three games in but it's fair to say that few points were gained in them!

This was sadly familiar news and added to the number of players that were going to be sizing up the chances to go at the end of the season. Some serious rebuilding would be needed.

Game one saw us take on Thun (Djokic 8). Djokic scored early when Cicek played a great ball across from the left-hand side. They came back into it though and got the equaliser. I was still happy with the points shared.

Just before our next game, I was able to make the first signing of the save. Getting in a young, high-potential CB seemed like the perfect moneyball approach. Especially with it being on a free transfer! We might have to wait til June but hopefully it'll be worth it.

This was the sort of news I could do without though lol. Sasere is due to be sold when I can get a good bid for him and I hope that the injury is not going to set me back on that course.

Game two saw us take on struggling FC Baden where we suffered a shock defeat. We dominated the xG battle throughout the match but, once again, failed to score and then let in two from the few shots that they had. This is not good news!

Vayrnen's contract is running out soon and, after this injury, it seems that he might have played his last game for us!

Then there was an interesting meeting with the board! Sando Weiser had not been playing regularly and managed to persuade the board that he should be. I ended up promising him a run of regular starts. Let's hope he proves his worth!

I certainly didn't see it in the game against Sion (Di Giusto 65). They got the early goal through a certain Balotelli and then a second not long after. Di Giusto came on to get a goal back but we couldn't do enough.

After the Sion game, we were able to make our first immediate signing when young Zamani with all his potential was snapped up! The youngster hasn't made an impression in either Italy or Holland yet. Can he do it in Leichtenstein?

I'm not quite sure what the excellence is but I'm sure looking forward to seeing it!

We have moved anywhere in the table but our target sure has. We're now a good seven points behind where we want to be! It's not a great look for sure!

There's only one game in January but it's against top-of-the-table Aarau. Considering we've not won in our last five, it's not ideal!

 

[RaySunshine]

January 2024

There were no games in January but there was still plenty going on in the month for Vaduz!

In a true moneyball approach, the first action of the window was a departure that put £11k into the Vaduz coffers. Omverovic is a good player but we didn't have space for him and so he moves on with a club having met his value.

This was not in my plans though as another first teamer announces that want to consider their options at the end of the season.

Then we had a real blow - Gajic is a regular star in our midfield and now he's certainly moving on at the end of the season. It looks like we're going to have some serious rebuilding to do.

The same came true again and this really was a blow. Fosso is young, got high potential and should be earning us some serious moneyball dough when he moves on... but he isn't.

Then we received a double-whammy of injuries. Sasere is meant to be leaving the club and we can't sell him while he's injured and Dobras has been a regular starter so we don't want to see him in the medic's room for such a long period of time.

After all that came the only game of the month. We took on top-of-the-table Aarau (Djokic 67). We simply weren't in the game and didn't create anything until the second half. By the time we started shooting, we were already three goals down. Djokic's goal came when Di Giusto played a ball that allowed Djokic to peel off his man and put the ball home.

But di Giusto will do no more of the sort! Eintracht Frankfurt put in a £2 million bit for the Vaduz star and he goes on his way. It's good for the coffers but will it do harm to the team?

Vaduz remain 7th but are now ten points off where they should be. For the first time in the save, there is pressure on my shoulders as my job status drops down to insecure.

February begins with a game against 8th-placed Schaffhausen and we could really do with the points to pick things up. Bellinzona and 9th and I really want to get points there too to get the pressure off and get us looking up. We then face Wil who will be a tough, tough tie before we take on Stade Nyonnais who are just above us.

[RaySunshine]

February 2024

And so it stops! The board had asked me to play Weiser more and he started every game since the promise was made. This still was apparently not enough for the board and I get the chop. I don't know what more I could have done!