[FM24] No More Neverkusen

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

July 2023.

It is time.

Time to prove we can emulate reality.

Time to prove we can beat Bayern.

Time to win the 1st Bundesliga title for Bayer Leverkusen. 

Time to add silverware to the UEFA Cup , DFB Pokal 1 and DFB Pokal 2.

 

 

And more.

Edited September 14 by Carambau

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

The Squad

A light squad in terms of sheer number you might say but I like my squads compact so I can view them on one page. We have a lot of good players that can play in the central of defense, Tah is a good example of that and thats why we will play with a back three. But we also got good quality on both sides like Grimaldo, so we are going to use wing backs there. Xhaka is a great leader and will lead our team from central midfield, alongside Palacios. In front of them we will have two attacking midfielders and here we of course cannot overlook Wirtz who will be one of those two. In Attack we only have one place, so Boniface will have to battle it out with Schick, but the latter is injured for some months now anyway so Boniface will start the season there.

 

The Tactics

We will try something different in this save. A back three with wing backs and 2 attacking midfielders up front. This is how our first eleven could look.

 

 

The Board Expectations

Not too much pressure there.

 

Edited September 17 by Carambau

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

 

First Half Of The Season

We are in 3rd after 16 games, Bayern are 6 points ahead already. We only lost 2 games though, vs Cologne and Dortmund, but had too many draws compared to them. But we also had some nice games like the win against Frankfurt. In the DFB Pokal we reached the quarter finals, after beating amateur side Oberachern comfortably, Hoffenheim after penalties and poor Frankfurt 3-0. Now we will face Bundesliga 2 outfit Karlsruhe. In the Europa League we got drawn in a managable group and surprisingly won it quite comfortably after hammering LASK and even EPL side Brighton. Next we are going to meet Serie A team Lazio in the 1st knockout round. The fans are einjoying the ride. We are playing with a solid first team with not that much rotation. Perhaps this is why a lot of players were unhappy with their playing time and we either shipped them out on loan or sold them in January to keep up the general happiness of tthe team. Maybe, just maybe we can still mount a title challenge with a good start into the new year.

 

Edited September 19 by Carambau

[warlock]

6 hours ago, Carambau said:

a lot of players were unhappy with their playing time

Before opting for Sassuolo in my latest save, I did play a couple of months with Leverkusen and found exactly that problem. There's a quite a big drop off in quality behind the obvious First XI.

Pretty good start, though, and as you say, a run at the title isn't out of the question 

[Carambau]

8 minutes ago, warlock said:

Before opting for Sassuolo in my latest save, I did play a couple of months with Leverkusen and found exactly that problem. There's a quite a big drop off in quality behind the obvious First XI.

Pretty good start, though, and as you say, a run at the title isn't out of the question 

Welcome to the new save   

Interesting that you made the same experience... Well I hope to have it sorted a bit now by shipping them out, morale seems ok, no one is unhappy anymore  

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

 

Second Half Of The Season

We made it! We imitated life! We won the title with Bayer Leverkusen! We had a great unbeaten streak from February to April which was key and we beat Bayern on the way in a fantastic match where Boniface scored 4 goals. This of course helped him becoming the Bundesliga Topscorer and Player Of The Year. Bayern finished 3rd only and the table looks very very similar to the actual 23/24 end of season table when it comes to the top 7  Looking forward to playing in the Champions League next season! 

 

 

Yes, we also won the DFB Pokal, imitating what happened in reality again. Granted, we had a rather easy way to the final, defeating both 2. Bundesliga outfits Karlsruhe and Kaiserslautern on the way. Then we met mighty Bayern in the final. A Bayern team, that had just lost the Bundesliga title which has been theirs for 11 years straight. They were dying for bloody revenge.

And then we beat them again.

 

 

No, we did not win the triple. Our European campaign was rather a story of disappointment. We marched through the group stage unbeaten and won the group, just to go out in the first knockout round against a terribly mediocre but clinical Lazio after a goalless away draw and a home defeat. I mean, just look at the shots on goal in both games and tell me we have NOT been FM´d here. 

 

 

It was a successful season for our U19 team. They won the German U19 Division 1 West and qualified for the German Youth Championship semi final where they lost against Bayern. And the annual Youth Intake brought some new talent. Especially Matthias Gorski stood out. The future looks bright!

Edited September 20 by Carambau

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

 

It is of course no question who was our best player last season. Boniface scored 41 goals in just 43 games, that speaks volumes about his finishing. Frimpong had 15 assists as a wing back, same goes for Grimaldo with 16. Hofmann had 17 assists and he is an attacking midfielder. This just shows how good our runs on the wing were. Wirtz is more a poacher than a passer and his 14 goals and only 7 assists clearly indicate this. Xhaka made sure we did not run into counters too often and Palacios controlled our game from central midfield. Schick scored 9 goals despite often coming on only as a sub. Our back three stood solid as well. We will try to make Stanisic´s loan a permanent one for next season. Andrich was the only player who disappointed a little bit. Granted, he played only half of the games but still he did not live up to our expectations. Mbamba, Milojevic, Pohl, Onyeka and Frimpong were promoted from the U19s in January to fill up the squad after the departures of the loan players and did not really feature often.  

 

2. Bundesliga

EPL

La Liga

Serie A

Ligue 1

Champions League

Europa League

Europa Conference League

 

Edited September 20 by Carambau

[warlock]

Outstanding 

[TheMartello]

Great season!

 

Did you use the same tactic all season? And does it use player instructions?

[Gee_Simpson]

Following this as I'm Leverkusen myself. Didn't do as well as you though! 1st season I finished on 71 points and 3rd place. Quarters of the Europa and I think I got put out the DFB Pokal early. Won the league 3 seasons in a row now but still not managed a Pokal. Lost in the final of the UCL and got to the semis twice. I won the league in season 2 and 3 with 75 points, but last season won it with 85 which was a nice improvement.

Edited September 15 by Gee_Simpson

[Carambau]

15 hours ago, warlock said:

Outstanding 

Thanks mate  

12 hours ago, TheMartello said:

Great season!

 

Did you use the same tactic all season? And does it use player instructions?

Yes and yes! Wirtz for example got "roam from position" and "dribble more"    

10 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Following this as I'm Leverkusen myself. Didn't do as well as you though! 1st season I finished on 71 points and 3rd place. Quarters of the Europa and I think I got put out the DFB Pokal early. Won the league 3 seasons in a row now but still not managed a Pokal. Lost in the final of the UCL and got to the semis twice. I won the league in season 2 and 3 with 75 points, but last season won it with 85 which was a nice improvement.

Nice to hear from a fellow Leverkusener  Wow that sounds like great progress there with the team - I hope I can do the same  

Edited September 16 by Carambau

[TheMartello]

2 hours ago, Carambau said:

Thanks mate  

Yes and yes! Wirtz for example got "roam from position" and "dribble more"    

Nice to hear from a fellow Leverkusener  Wow that sounds like great progress there with the team - I hope I can do the same  

Is it possible to share all the player instructions when you have time?

[Carambau]

22 minutes ago, TheMartello said:

Is it possible to share all the player instructions when you have time?

I will do when I get home and have time  

[Carambau]

7 hours ago, TheMartello said:

Is it possible to share all the player instructions when you have time?

There you go  

 

Spoiler

https://i.imgur.com/4jmM8NQ.png

 

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

Transfers 2024/25

We could not prevent Grimaldo from following the big money to the big league. 

 

We made Stanisic´s loan move permanent. We also needed a younger keeper for the future, so Meslier came in from Leeds. Our attacking midfield was strengthened with veteran Fekir and the talented Gloukh and Nakai. Alarcon comes as a backup, same goes for Mwene. Osterhage gets loaned back to Bochum for the season and Ukpeigbe, Natali and Aegerter go to the U19s because of their young age.

 

The Squad

Hradecky will remain our number one but Meslier will take his place sooner or later. Mwene and Stanisic add to our depth in defense. Alarcon provides backup in central midfield while in attacking midfield we got some more options now with Gloukh and Fekir. Nakai will need some more time to develop. Onyeka and Schlich join from our U19s.

 

The Tactics

The tactics worked wonders last season, so we will use them again this season.

 

Edited September 21 by Carambau

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

 

First Half Of Season 2024/25

Woah what is going on here!? 10 points ahead already after half of the season? Yes. It is what it is and we deserve it. We also won the German Supercup against RB Leipzig with their new Coach in a very convincing way. Then we went on to go undefeated domestically for the next 5 months, including a nice win against our rivals. In the DFB Pokal we have made it to the quarter finals where we will meet Eintracht Frankfurt. The Champions League was a bit different though. We won 2, drew 2 and lost 2 games and find ourselves in the playoff area of the table with 2 games to go. It was especially disappointing because of those 6 games 4 were at home. We have to improve in Europe.

Edited Tuesday at 19:30 by Carambau

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

 

Second Half Of The Season 2024/25

And we did it again! It was way easier this time, as Boniface went wild with his scoring, making him the top goalscorer with 34 goals. We shipped out 3 players in January, as they were disrupting team harmony with their constant moaning about getting more playing time and this turned out beneficial for the team as a whole. Also, we brought in 2 new players in versatile midfielder Gudmundsson and young German defender Jeltsch. I rate this title win even higher than the first one because expectations were way more demanding before the season.

 

 

No double this season. We managed to beat Eintracht Frankfurt (again) in the quarter finals but fell to our rivals Bayern in the semis. A very tight game and all it took to decide it was a late penalty taken and scored by Harry Kane. Well... better luck next season I guess.

 

 

We finished the League Stage in the playoff places and therefore had to play an extra knockout round. We met Atletic Bilbao there and rather easily disposed of them. Then we faced PSG in the round of the last 16. After drawing the 1st leg at home 1-1, we travelled to the parc-des-princes in Paris. And it did not end well for us.

 

 

Our U19 team won the German U19 Division 1 West again and just like last year qualified for the German Youth Championship semi final where they lost against RB Leipzig this time instead of Bayern. They also -and that´s an even greater achievement in my book- made it to the UEFA Youth League final, but lost against Manchester City. The annual Youth Intake brought some new talent. Especially Mostahinic stood out. 

Edited Tuesday at 19:47 by Carambau

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

Season 2024/25

Boniface again of course! He scored a massive 36 goals altogether. But close on his heels were already Frimpong with his 16 assists and new/old signing Stanisic who absolutely impressed after his permanent signing. Same can be said about midfield maestro Xhaka and veteran keeper Hradecky who did not give up fighting for his place and that resulted in many great performances. New keeper Meslier also had some very good games. Fellow new signing Fekir almost reached a double double, but still showed his class often enough. Gloukh also had glimpses of his great talent here and there despite often only coming on as a sub. For some players like Nakai and Hofmann, this could have been their last season at the club though. 

 

2. Bundesliga

EPL

La Liga

Serie A

Ligue 1

Champions League

Europa League

Europa Conference League

Edited Tuesday at 20:17 by Carambau

[Gee_Simpson]

Brilliant stuff mate, great return from Boniface! I actually play him on the left of a 4-2-3-1 and he had basically a goal per game for me too as an IF (S), which surprised me. He's a great player but has had quite a few injuries for me unfortunately. He seems to get injured every other game. It does say he is susceptible to injuries so maybe you have just got lucky so far 😅

Edited September 20 by Gee_Simpson

[Michaelinho]

What a season for both the club and monster Boniface! Looking forward to see what you can achieve in Europe next season.

[Carambau]

13 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Brilliant stuff mate, great return from Boniface! I actually play him on the left of a 4-2-3-1 and he had basically a goal per game for me too as an IF (S), which surprised me. He's a great player but has had quite a few injuries for me unfortunately. He seems to get injured every other game. It does say he is susceptible to injuries so maybe you have just got lucky so far 😅

Thanks mate  I seem to have been lucky with Boniface regarding injuries in my save... hopefully you haven´t jinxed it now

4 hours ago, Michaelinho said:

What a season for both the club and monster Boniface! Looking forward to see what you can achieve in Europe next season.

Thank you  Hopefully we can improve our performances in Europe!

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

Transfers 2025/26

We had to let Stanisic go and will miss him. Meslier left after just one season but he never fit in here so it´s the best solution for both sides. Adli left for Marseille as we play without offensive wingers. The rest are mostly loans for match practice and to prevent the players from getting unhappy because they dont play.

 

Darvich has a bright future ahead of him, Nebel is another prospect for that position, as is uber-talented Ouedraogo. Seimen should be become our number one once Hradecky retires but will be loaned back to Stuttgart for the season to get games. Torkildsen is another young goalkeeper who will be Hradecky´s deputy this season, maybe more than that if he performs well. Torunarigha provides cover on the central defender position, as does Maehle for both wing back positions. And saving the most prominent name for last: We signed Thomas Müller on a free! He wanted surprisingly low wages and so we snapped him up! I think he can still work as a super sub and foremost as a mentor for our younger players.

 

The Squad

Thomas Müller and Lukas Hradecky are both 35 years old and will have to lead the younger players this season. Ouedraogo looks like he could go into the first team right away and Torkildsen will give Hradecky a hard fight in goal. Osterhage is back from his loan to Bochum and offers more options in defense and midfield as he can play almost everywhere. Hofmann is still there but just because we could not find any club that wanted to sign him.

 

The Tactics

The tactics work, but I am also thinking about a 2-striker system as an alternative.

Edited Wednesday at 13:39 by Carambau

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

 

First Half Of Season 2025/26

It looks like it is going to be a two horse race again this season. We both already have a nice cushion of 9 respectively 10 points. It´s going to be a tough fight, thats for sure. We managed to beat Bayern on home soil, but they will have that advantage on their side when we will meet them in February in Munich... Our two defeats came against Dortmund and ****ing Hoffenheim - of all teams! However, We have already won the German Supercup against Dortmund! This might be a good omen. Or not. In the DFB Pokal, we made it to the quarter final, where we will AGAIN meet our old friends Eintracht Frankfurt. Europe is different like always: We again won 2, drew 2 and lost 2 games and sit in 18th place. 3 more points should see us through though.

Edited Wednesday at 14:04 by Carambau

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

 

Second Half Of The Season 2025/26

Three in a row! In the end it was our game in Munich which decided this title fight. We defended well and were clinical with our counter attacks. Boniface again won the top goalscorer crown and our new signing Ouedraogo won the Player Of The Year Award. He had a nearly faultless season. Youngster Jeltsch won the U19 Player Of The Year Award. No real surprises this season.

 

 

We did the double again! After defeating Frankfurt and our title rivals Bayern in the previous rounds, we then met underdogs Gladbach in the cup final. It was over after 38 minutes.

 

 

We managed only ONE point in our last 2 matches and therefore only just made the knock out phase! A single goal separated us from Juventus, who were eliminated. We were drawn against FC Kobenhavn and rather easily disposed of them. Then we met Liverpool in the round of 16 and failed to score in the home leg. This of course wasn´t enough. They defeated us 3-0 at Anfield.

 

 

Our U19 team only finished only 6th this season in the German U19 Division West and failed to qualify for the playoffs. In the UEFA Youth League they also didn´t make it out of the League Phase. The annual Youth Intake brought some good players. Nedzat Nedzibovic looks like the brightest talent.

Edited Thursday at 07:20 by Carambau

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

Season 2025/26

Boniface again has the best average rating but our player of the year definitely was Ouedraogo, who quickly became the undisputed schemer in our central midfield. Apart from those 2, the usual suspects are up there with them again. Veteran Thomas Müller didn´t play much but performed outstandingly when he did. And he managed to score 3 beautiful goals. Oscar Gloukh seemed to fall off the edge somewhat rating-wise, but he played the most games this season. Gudmundsson proved a surprise package with impressive 12 goals and 7 assists but you never knew what kind of performance you would get from him, he could be a world beater one day and be anonymous on the next. We will not extend the contracts of veterans Andrich, Hradecky, Müller, Alarcon, Fekir, Mwene and Nakai.

 

2. Bundesliga

EPL

La Liga

Serie A

Ligue 1

Champions League

Europa League

Europa Conference League

Edited Thursday at 08:31 by Carambau

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

Transfers 2026/27

The best news first: We were able to keep Florian Wirtz for at least until the January transfer window! Or, HE was able as he rejected the contract offer from Man City after they triggered his release clause of 109M! We DID sell Kossounou and Schick though, for some nice money. And we sold the players we wouldn´t need anymore. And the usual loans for match practice of course.

 

Baldo is a young attacking midfielder with bags of talent, but he was loaned out right away. We went for more youth with the signing of 17 year old Norwegian Left Wingback Kragelund and young German Striker Ramsak, who we loaned out to Hoffenheim. Oliveira is a young Wingback who can play on both sides and our most expensive signing of the window, Maximilian Beier, can play on both wings and in attack.

 

The Squad

Xhaka is the senior of the team and also still the Captain who will lead this horde of young players. Kurowski joins from our U19s and Nebel came back from his loan. The target for this season should be retaining the Bundesliga title and maybe win the DFB Pokal again. In Europe, I would be happy if we made it past the last 16 for once.

 

The Tactics

Why change working tactics?

Edited 23 hours ago by Carambau

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

 

First Half Of Season 2026/27

Looks pretty familiar. With the exception of Frankfurt. And Koln. We are trailing Bayern by 4 points but they still can feel our breath in their necks. We lost 2 times, to both lowly Wolfsburg and Hamburg, and drew with our rivals at their place. This result could give us the edge in the end. They defeated us in the German Supercup final though, but who gives a **** about that anyway. In the DFB Pokal, it was all smooth sailing into the quarter finals, we even beat Dortmund comfortably. We will meet Eintracht Fr RB Leipzig there this time. Europe was fun up to now, with 3 wins and only one defeat, leaving us sitting in a comfortable 9th place with 11 points and 2 games remaining. Qualification for the knockout rounds should already be secured with this.

Edited 23 hours ago by Carambau

[Hootieleece]

Never Kuesen, No More!  doing good work with them. Just need to get lucky in the Champion's League.

[Carambau]

2 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

Never Kuesen, No More!  doing good work with them. Just need to get lucky in the Champion's League.

Hey! Nice to see you here  Yeah we had our share of success domestically by now, but Europe still looks unconquerable to us...

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

 

Second Half Of The Season 2026/27

 

January Transfers

Florian Wirtz has finally left the building. This time he decided to accept Man City´s offer and so we got 109M for him. On top, keeper Jesper Torkildsen also left us. We had to bring in a replacement in goal for backup and in came Niklas Hedl from Rapid. Also, we signed winger Fabian Reese and Attacking midfielder talent Maximiliano Zurita as some kind of combined "compensation" for Wirtz.

 

To compensate for the Wirtz departure, we had to change our tactics a bit: We employed wingers again instead of 2 attacking midfielders and reintroduced a back four line. We will see how this works out in the long term.

 

 

Bayern are back on top of the Bundesliga. Our draws made the difference. If you draw TEN times in 34 games, you do not deserve to win the title. And with performances like that you can´t expect to challenge either. At least Boniface AGAIN won the Player Of The Year award with Ouedraogo coming third and he also scored the most goals once more. Darvich won the Newcomer Of The Year award. Wirtz still managed to top the Average Rating chart despite not being here anymore. All those player achievements looks fine on first sight, but in the end we didn´t win the title.

 

 

At least some compensation and a nice farewell present for Xhaka! We retained the DFB Pokal! We had a tough nut to crack in Leipzig in the quarter final but the comfortably beat 2. Bundesliga outfit Düsseldorf to reach the final again. And guess who we met there? Exactly. Our old rivals. It was a great game with the better ending for us. Celebrate, boys!

 

 

In retrospect, it was a good European campaign for us. We actually lost against the eventually winners of the competition, so there is no shame in that. We qualified from the League Phase as 8th, sparing us one knockout round which was nice. So we directly went to the round of last 16, where we met European heavyweights Barcelona. After losing the 1st leg 1-2 at the Nou Camp, we were able to overcome them at home in extra time with a remarkable 3-1 win to reach the quarter final of the Champions League! There we met Arsenal and again played the 1st leg away and again lost it, this time 2-4. The 2nd leg was heartbreaking. We lead 1-0 after 20 minutes and just couldn´t seem to score the vital second goal which would send the game into extra time. But then, in the 90th minute, Tah headed in a corner from Ouedraogo and sent the BayArena into ectasy! Not for long, though. When everyone was waiting for the whistle to confirm extra time, Declan Rice decided to shoot from 30m out and scored the goal of the year. Alas, I guess this is how you win the Champions League. At least one of our players won the Best Player award of this year´s competition after scoring 10 goals in 10 matches.

 

 

Our U19 team only finished only 6th again this season in the German U19 Division West and once more failed to qualify for the playoffs. The annual Youth Intake brought some good players. Michel Erlmann looks like the brightest talent.

 

 

It is strange that the board has sanctioned this. The current stadium, the BayArena has been renovated in 2009, not too long ago and it is a decent home for us. But the capacity is only 30.000, so I guess that was the vital argument to build a new one. We will see in 3 years. If the plans don´t collapse in the meantime.

Edited Thursday at 08:20 by Carambau

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

Season 2026/27

I wonder how long we can hold on to Boniface. He again tops our Average Rating chart, closely followed by Darvich, who had a very impressive season now that he has more freedom because of Wirtz´ departure. Frimpong, Ouedraogo, Palacios, Hincapie... the players you would expect up there again. Also, Reese suprised me a bit with his consistent respectable performances. Kragelund made his debut for Denmark, and our out on loan-striker Ramsak also debuted for Germany. Maybe it is time to give him a chance next season. Speaking of next season - Xhaka will get no new contract, same goes for youngster Kurowski who just isn´t good enough for this level. And speaking of not good enough - Our goalkeeper Seimen made 36 appearances, yes, but I still think we can do better in this department. 

 

2. Bundesliga

EPL

La Liga

Serie A

Ligue 1

Champions League

Europa League

Europa Conference League

World Cup Winners

EURO Winners

Ballon d´Or Winners

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

Transfers 2027/28

The 13.75M for Arthur surprised me a bit, I didn´t expect to get so much money for a player that literally never played for us in 4 years. Xhaka went to Saudi Arabia to end his career there, Torunarigha never got going here anyway. Somehow our German full international Ramsak went on loan AGAIN, this time to a 2. Bundesliga outfit. He should excel on that level. 

 

Ter Stegen! Yes, it is the German national team goalkeeper! Despite his 35 years, we spent a hefty 40M for him. Because we have the money. Another "bargain" is Michael Olise from The Eagles - he should go right into the starting eleven on the right wing.  Laimer provides more options on the defensive CM position, while Kilian should be a backup for the central defenders. Brierre and Kabichi are players for our U19 team.

 

The Squad

Ter Stegen brings our quality in goal on a whole new level as Seimen just didn´t progress far enough by now. He can mentor him and Hedl too though. With Olise on the right wing we can attack with even more pressure now. Gloukh will have to fight hard for his place in the first team though.

 

The Tactics

We will stick to our new tactics.

Edited 23 hours ago by Carambau

[Carambau]

No More Neverkusen

 

 

First Half Of Season 2027/28

Lying in 3rd. We still should be able to challenge from there, it´s only a 4 point gap. Despite some great results, we stumbled into a crisis in december, so there is no reason to complain about 3rd place. We lost the German Supercup final again, but again no one cared. The DFB Pokal again was plain sailing into the quarter finals where we will travel to Bochum. In Europe we once more impressed with 4 wins and only 2 defeats, resulting in 8th place in the table after 6 games with 2 to go.