Official FM2009 FC Shakthar 'moneybags' Donetsk thread.

skinnymalinky · December 15, 2008

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Hello and welcome to the Shakthar thread. As you may know Shakthar are one of the richest clubs outside of the UK and provide you with a huge transfer budget. Your role as coach is simple; the club seek European glory. The domestic title is mandatory if you expect to keep your job.

History

The team has played under the following names: Stakhanovets (1936-1946), Shakhtyor (1946-1992) and FC Shakhtar (since 1992).

The club was originally formed in May 1936 and was initially named Stakhanovets after Oleksiy Stakhanov, a legendary coal-miner in the Donbass distinguished for his prominently hard work. The first success for the team was in 1951, when then-renamed Shakhar took third-place in the USSR Championship.

The 'Miners’ country' team has always been famous for its willing disposition, team identity, and never-say-die attitude. Beginning in the 1960s, Shakhtar under Oleg Oshenkov’s coaching were three-time USSR Cup finalists, winning it twice in 1961 and 1962. The club was nicknamed “The Cup Team” due to Shakhtar’s success in vying for the trophy every year, however the Miners’ more notable achievements occurred later from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s.

In 1975, Shakhtar took 2nd in the USSR Championship and received the right to represent the Soviet Union in EuroCups. In 1978, Shakhtar finished third in the USSR Championship. A year later, the team once again took the honorable second place and its captain – striker Vitaliy Starukhin – was named the best player and the best forward in the USSR Championship (26 goals scored).

Shakhtar twice, in 1980 and 1983, brought home the crystal USSR Cup to Donbass and in 1983, it won the USSR Super Cup over then-domestic league champions FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

In the newly independent Ukraine, FC Shakhtar along with Dynamo Kyiv became perennial first place competitors. In part to the generosity of Ukrainian businessman Rinat Akhmetov who has run FC Shakhtar since 1996, the club has steadily improved its play and infrastructure, as promised by the club president himself (who has vowed to bring European glory to FC Shakhtar and its fans).

In 1999, an FC Shakhtar Football academy was opened and nowadays hosts football training for roughly 3000 children. The same year, a Sports Training Complex "Kirsha", considered to be one of the best in Europe,[citations needed] was opened for the senior squad's use.

Shakhtar have, to date, appeared in all three editions of the First Channel Cup, winning the 2006 edition and finishing runners up in the 2008 edition.

Honours

* Ukrainian Championship: 4

2002, 2005, 2006, 2008

* USSR Cup: 4

1961, 1962, 1980, 1983

* Ukrainian Cup: 6

1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008

* USSR Super Cup: 1

1983

* Ukrainian Super Cup: 2

2005, 2008

* La Manga Cup: 1

2007

info

Reputation: Continental

Chairman Status: Loves the club

Fierce Rivals: Dinamo Kiev, Dnipro

Other rivals: Arsenal Kiev

Finances: Rich

Average ticket price: 31 bob

Average Season ticket: 200 bobs

Estimated value: 105 million

Captain: Dario Srna

Other info

Shakthar are also know as 'the miners'.

League rules: No more than 7 foreign players in team

Lewandowski and Krvchenko are unavailable until Jan due to illness

Squad

GK Bohdan Shust

DF Tomáš Hübschman

MF Igor Duljaj

DF Oleksandr Kucher

MF Fernandinho (vice-captain)

MF Jádson

FW Evhen Seleznyov

DF Ilsinho

GK Rustam Khudzhamov

DF Vyacheslav Shevchuk

FW Luiz Adriano

DF Mariusz Lewandowski

MF Oleksiy Hai

FW Oleksandr Hladky

MF Willian

MF Konstantyn Kravchenko

FW Brandão

DF Răzvan Raţ

DF Dmytro Chyhrynskyi (vice-captain)

GK Andriy Pyatov

DF Mykola Ischenko

MF Darijo Srna (captain)

GK Yuriy Virt

DF Oleksandr Chizhov

MF Artem Fedetskyy

DF Volodymyr Yezerskiy

FW Marcelo Moreno

The squad

The suad is pretty well balanced as is strong enough to win the league but coul

d do with a few more signings to strengthen for Europe. Firstly, the goalies are more than adequate domestically, but you will ship goals on the continent. Given your huge transfer budget it would be wise to sign a real top quality keeper. Shust have poor distribution stats but is probably better than Pyatov, although it's a close call.

The squad could alo use a decent left back. Rat is really a DML, and an average one at that. Centrally, Chyhrynskyi is a rock but I'm not sure about the others on the Eurpean stage. Hübschman is probably the second best CB but both Yezerskiy, and the younger Chizhov, are both viable options to partner Chyhrynskyi.

In midfield you have a vast array of a technically gifted Brazilians. Jadson, Fernandinhio, Willian and Ilsinho would all walk into most teams from outside of the big four European leagues (Frnandinhio and Willian are Prem quality) and should serve as the creative hub of the team. However, none of these players are workman like midfielders, leaving without any real midfield steel. The squad also has no real wide players, so if you want wingers you'll have to spend before the season starts

Upfront, there is a lack of finishing quality. Seleznyov and Brandão are both fantastic in the air and work hard for the team but lack pace and finishing. Therefore it can leave the attack a bit one dimensional. You do have other options, Hladky (Gladky) looks like a very good prospect and has good finishing stats and Moreno is also a finisher but is quite yet the full rounded article.

The best players in the squad are Srna, Fernandinhio and Willian. Already I've had offers for Srna (from CHelsea and Utd) and Fernand (from Spurs). Keeping hold of them will be a priority and an integral part of the quest for European glory. Willian is a very talented AMC, who, once developed, will be on the radar of many top teams. However, given his current stats and his CA, no teams have come in for him yet. I've included these players in some screens below along with the 2 best domestic players (Chyhrynskyi, Hladky) in the squad.

Formation and tactics

I found it to be a real headache to find a good system for Shakthar. The team is strong aerial and has a great amount of creative attacking talent. Using the power of the strikers undermines the creative talent of the midfield, and playing short, neat, attacking football with such powerful forwards is a waste. Moreover, I wanted to use an AMC as Jadson, Willian and Fernandinhio can all play in the hole, and use 2 strikers. With the large amount of strikers and midfielders in the squad, it was important to try and use as many as possible to keep them all happy and playing regularly. Having no real left back came in handy to some extent. I had already decided that I'd like to give Srna a more attacking role and play to his strengths, so that, coupled with the fact I had no LB and the relative strength of the defense, made me go with a 3-2-2-1-2.

Transfers

The whole idea for me in choosing Shakthar was not only the mammoth transfer budget, but was also the opportunity to build a team with the best of the old eastern bloc. With that in mind and my formation chosen, I delved into the transfer market. My primary target was a DML, a DM, a CB and another striker that I could develop. I signed Zhevnov for 15 million Zenith to give me creativity down the flanks, Carioca from Gremio as my backup DM, Rusol from Dnipro to reinforce my backline, and Kalinic for the second half of the season. I also bought in a few Ukrainian youngsters to bolster the number of domestic players. Something that is worth noting; when starting a save with Shakthar, is that it is very important to sign domestic players. Remember, you have to have a minimum of 4 in your first team. There are some very good players to be had, and most are cheap as chips

So far

I've only played 2 games thus far. I lost the cup final (winners of the league vs. winners of the cup) on pens and beat Arsenal Kiev 1-0. I think it will take a few games before the team settles into my new system.

Squad (Att)