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Post by Ben on Feb 24, 2019 22:17:12 GMT
January 2035A couple of hiccups here but we have put ourselves into a really strong position going into the second half of the season. A fantastic win over Sporting who, despite a resurgence under new boss, are still battle worn and may even struggle to make Europe, kicked off the month. We then had Andre Folha, now with 220 goals in 370 games, to thank for victories over Camacha and Portimonense before a dour draw at home to Chaves. Making the Taca da Liga final only added another game to our schedule but we weren't great and probably deserved nothing against Benfica. A few years back, I handed a lot of things over to my DoF and HoYD - well they have been busy this transfer window, with four new faces coming in. I am excited by all of them - Miranda and Bras were both signed on pre contracts, but, given the want to develop them, I paid the £10k and £95k respectively, to push through the transfers now. Miranda becomes the second centre half signed from Penafiel this year and he compliments Guedes well. I am training him as a Libero for now as I quite like his potential as a ball player. Franco cost £80k from Casa Pia of the third tier and his first job is to develop his weaker foot. He's well rounded and is training as a RPM. Luis Gomes looks a good technical number 10 but needs to work on his personality and Bras is someone I've been following myself for a few years - I like a winger who works hard. He's in the first team which now gives me a solid amount of depth on the wings - Pereira and Paulo on the left and Tinoco and Bras on the right.
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Post by ttgb on Feb 25, 2019 8:44:38 GMT
Amazing players for that sort of money. Do you find them and then get the DoF to sort the deal out?
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Post by Ben on Feb 26, 2019 19:16:35 GMT
Amazing players for that sort of money. Do you find them and then get the DoF to sort the deal out? Bras aside, he has found all of these players! In the past, I've cherry picked the 10/20 he's tried to sign but have been a lot more allowing of these - I think I cancelled one this window. I genuinely could play this game solely with player signed from the lower tiers of Portuguese football.
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Post by ttgb on Feb 26, 2019 20:27:55 GMT
Amazing players for that sort of money. Do you find them and then get the DoF to sort the deal out? Bras aside, he has found all of these players! In the past, I've cherry picked the 10/20 he's tried to sign but have been a lot more allowing of these - I think I cancelled one this window. I genuinely could play this game solely with player signed from the lower tiers of Portuguese football. Excuse my ignorance but what settings do you have for him to find the players? I have never used a DoF but in my current save in Norway it is something I want yo explore as I progress through the lower leagues. I do have strict criteria on what players I am allowed to sign
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Post by Ben on Feb 26, 2019 20:45:49 GMT
February 2035Does anyone want to win this league? We've hit a tough patch of form littered with draws and lots of leaky defences. Armando Braz, who kept 21 clean sheets last season has 10 so far this season but we've let in 23 goals, already four more than last term. We struggled somewhat against Arsenal but I have hope that we can turn this around in the home leg thanks to the away goal. A couple of days after I took the screenshot of the table - Guimaraes also won their game in hand - which then elevated us to top of the league based the three-way head to head. We play both Benfica and Porto in the coming weeks but both games are at home. I would say that we have the upper hand at this stage.
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Post by Ben on Feb 26, 2019 20:48:07 GMT
Bras aside, he has found all of these players! In the past, I've cherry picked the 10/20 he's tried to sign but have been a lot more allowing of these - I think I cancelled one this window. I genuinely could play this game solely with player signed from the lower tiers of Portuguese football. Excuse my ignorance but what settings do you have for him to find the players? I have never used a DoF but in my current save in Norway it is something I want yo explore as I progress through the lower leagues. I do have strict criteria on what players I am allowed to sign I'm using my HoYD as he has better JPA than the DoF but that could be something I look at - particularly if I can look at the 'Tends to' part of their profile. I do have the finalise deals on myself, though.
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Post by Ben on Feb 28, 2019 21:45:08 GMT
2035 Youth IntakeSo this is my first intake since removing the stars from the screens and using my own knowledge as a judgement of ability. This focus on stars for ability makes looking at potential much harder and, as such, means I need to delve deeper to look at what is best from here. I have several tools at my disposal and the first is the inbox message - that highlights the 'best' player and a few who have come through with the coaching 'style' of my HoYD. Matias Silvestre, my member of staff, is a defensive coach (and was a solid Serie A defender in his playing career, although only three of those years came in game) and he also has 16 for DET. Firstly - here is the best player, Manuel Monteiro, who, given his preferred role, can probably be consider a good player already. The Enganche is what I would call a 'specialist' role (along with CWB, HB, RPM, T, CF, F9) and such requires a good spread of decent attributes to begin with. He also matches the club DNA reasonably well. I like Monteiro, he can already read the game pretty well and has the vision to make things happen and the passing ability to pull it off. I'm unsure why, repeatedly, player traits are given to players who really aren't suited - I will be stopping him from taking long shots in the future. I also want to work on his dribbling and finishing ability so that he can be of use in the final third. Miguel Campino rounds off what appears to be quite a weak intake but we will give them all time to develop.
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Post by Ben on Mar 1, 2019 21:34:54 GMT
March 2035
Something had to give this month - continue conceding goals or work on that, potentially losing a little bit of momentum going forward. I went for the latter and, the Arsenal result aside, it meant that we weren't really at our fluid best going forward. We didn't lose to Benfica, which could be great on head-to-head (we won the other game 3-1) and we still have Porto to come to us. We are still in with more than just a shout at this title.
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Post by Ben on Mar 3, 2019 10:13:17 GMT
April 2035League form maintains its strength but sadly giants Real Madrid were a step too far. That being said, the quarter finals of the Champions League in only our second ever entrance to it is a fantastic achievement and I envisage that Real will run away and win it, being by far the strongest side left. The eight days between the 10th and the 18th could have made or broken the whole season but, despite the struggles against the Spanish giants, we held our nerves against Porto - a time where we normally suffer from a continental hangover. That result leaves the title race in the balance - we could finish top or we could crumble and come third - we need to hold our nerve. We play Cova (17th), Sporting (5th), Camacha (18th) and Chaves (8th) so could, conceivably, take 12 points from the last month. We have also made the final of the Taca de Portugal, where we face Benfica, who beat us in the other cup final this season. A double is still on the cards!
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Post by Ben on Mar 3, 2019 21:51:26 GMT
May 2035
We executed a nearly perfect month and, even without a plucky Sporting draw, we still didn't quite have enough in us. The month starting badly, losing Folha to a torn groin in the same week I allowed Claudio Santos to leave for Vancouver (yeah, I presumed the MLS followed some kind of transfer window!) and then lost backup striker Pereira to a similar fate. We soldiered on but lined up with an unorthodox False 9 in our 3-4-3 shape against both Camacha and Chaves. We have finished 8 points worse off than last season but the same distance behind Porto - although I feel that this has been much closer run and, in another season, may well have completely ran away with the league. A full run down will follow.
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Post by Ben on Mar 5, 2019 20:31:10 GMT
2034/35 Season Review
A really good season for us, even if we did give up top spot in the end as we add two domestic cups to our trophy cabinet. I feel that we are getting very close to Porto now at the top of the table and some good succession planning may allow us to leapfrog them for a considerable amount of time - when judging by our average age, current budgets etc. Our performance in the Champions League has been really impressive and this is the key facet to the growth of this league - which still remains in sixth place in the co-efficients. As for players - here are the stats of the first team: A very solid performance from the team led by the heroics of Andre Folha - who continues to score heavily and now has 233 goals in 391 career appearances for me, as well as 3 in 2 for Portugal. Folha is also pretty clinical when in front of the goal - and that is a credit to the way we work the ball into him - with only inside forward Elson Paulo matching his shot accuracy. Further back, Guilherme and Furtado have rotated as they pose slightly different threats and both have played well - but the young Cape Verdean has edged it with more goals and assists. Tiago Silva, despite his poor-ish average rating,has done pretty much exactly what I wanted from him in the CM(d) role. I am very happy with the first team this season but want to take a closer look at the reserve and under 19 squad over the summer.
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Post by Ben on Mar 5, 2019 20:58:30 GMT
2035 Transfers - OUTI have moved a lot of players on over the course of the summer as I look to streamline my squad and use the more limited recruitment to really target players who will fit my system or spend resources more wisely developing those that I have. I have moved the below players on, largely for face below or below, but all including a 50% of next sale clause. Whilst these players may go on to turn into really good signings and prove my wrong - they have all been sold for one of three reasons a) not fitting into my approach for the squad b) not developing well enough over the last couple of years with first team football at the club c) performing really poorly out on loan at significantly weaker clubs. I will go through each, one by one: Has been unable to re-train his one-footedness and lacks finishing and passing ability to be a good winger for me. Two years ago, he went on loan to second tier Famalicao and averaged 6.92 from 33 games before moving to Primeira Liga side Gil Vicente last year - where he averaged over 7 with ten assists. This is a good return but his overall attributes and personality are not enough for me to be convinced and, at 21, with time in the top tier under his belt, should be a better player on paper than he actually is. Signed from the USA at 18 so already behind those who had been at the club since 15 or 16. He spent half a season at Leiria where he only played four times but scored 10 in 24 for second tier Covilha last year. He is a good player, on paper, but is lacking any stand out attributes. Sacavanense will play him, as they are a mid-table team, and he may develop into a good all round striker. Signed for £150k but has had two spells in the third tier, where he played very poorly. He's not a bad player, but very one footed and isn't enough of a grafter to fit in to the MC role I play. Porto won't play him and I envisage he'll rot in their reserve team. A pittance for a wonderkid but he scored just twice in 25 games whilst on loan for Braga last season. He's got a great personality and has a really good skill set but just wasn't able to do it whilst playing in this league. Granted, I play a different kind of football to Braga and I didn't give him the chance but the ex-Padroense striker didn't do enough to warrant me wanting to keep him. Cristian Luque has not developed the way I wanted him to and, after two loans and a combined 32 games in the third tier, moves on. He never retrained his one-footedness and also failed to develop his attributes too much. He'll probably get some football at second tier Maritimo and I'll keep an eye out for him. Two very poor spells out on loan and a lack of growth sees academy product Pahiama move on. I could have sold him for much more but he's really under performed on loan in the third tier and his attributes have actually taken a backward step. His heading is poor and isn't good enough on the ball for what I need at centre half. Two years at Real Sociedad but ousted by others sees him move on too. Not a great technical player which has held him back. Some more poor loan spells and an awful attempt at turning a competent DL to accomplished over two years sees him move on and back to the MLS. Also moving back to the MLS.
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Post by Ben on Mar 5, 2019 22:16:39 GMT
2035 Transfers - INI have been fairly busy in the market this summer. I say 'I' but the above list is largely made up with signings made by my DoF, with only Eusebio, Tutinho, Tomaz and Mario Rodriguez being fully sanctioned by me. However - I am now developing 'teams' for the youth ages whereby I hope to directly promote into the first team. Firstly, Mario Rodriguez is the only player to directly join the first team. I have Pereira and Tinoco as first choice wingers and Elson Paulo was the standout last year, but with new signing Bras a little raw, I wanted some experience. Mario spent last year in Germany but is unhappy and wants a new deal. I was manage to snag a loan with only a 30% wage contribution. He's a classy player than can play anywhere in the final third. He won't be preferred to my own players but could be really useful. Carlos Azevedo was the first brought in by Angel Di Maria and I like his overall game if he lacks a little in both offensive and defensive play. Secondly, Carlos Sanha has a fantastic personality and that will hopefully help him develop as a striker and his all round game as a striker. Leo Jaime signs after a good season in the third tier and is actually a pretty solid looking defender and Di Maria closed the summer signings with a deal for Pedro Rosario who could be ok. I have spent a lot of time analysing players that my scouts found but also looking at data that I feel would be available to 'real life recruitment teams' such as U19 league top scorers and the like. My first deal was for youngster Tutinho - not rated too well by the scouts (much better by my coaches) but performing well following his 'intake day' in the third division. He's got a really good base of attributes, as signalled by his best position being a wing back as opposed to a full back and he's got a great personality to boot. Next up came Joao Tomaz on a deal which can be seen as a snip from another, solid, Primeira Liga team. He's got a good all round game and he's being trained as a RPM. Lastly, and my best find is generational talent Eusebio - he's Leixoes Trabulo (if you remember that far back in the save) where he is clearly far far too good for the team who generated him. I have purchased him and will be making him into the best PF(a) I can. I am always in the market for other players but really like the squad depth that we have now - more will be explained in the next couple of posts.
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Post by socrates81 on Mar 6, 2019 5:50:14 GMT
Wow I would have found it difficult to let go of Baptista, especially to a rival. Understand your reasoning though.
New to the boards and been catching up on this btw, a great read!
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ianf
New Member
Posts: 92
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Post by ianf on Mar 10, 2019 1:03:47 GMT
Yeah pretty ruthless on Baptista at only 20y old!
Eusebio could be mint!
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Post by Ben on Mar 10, 2019 9:29:51 GMT
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Post by shrewnaldo on Mar 10, 2019 21:09:04 GMT
Even if it is Cape Verde, 19 goals in 30 caps by age 20 is pretty special
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Post by Ben on Mar 13, 2019 18:09:13 GMT
Even if it is Cape Verde, 19 goals in 30 caps by age 20 is pretty special Certainly! I'm unsure as to why he has chosen Cape Verde over Portugal as he generated at Portimonense with a dual nationality. He could, certainly, reach well over 100 caps in his international career and Cape Verde are a national team on the up, with a few good players, too.
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Post by Ben on Mar 13, 2019 18:17:39 GMT
August and September 2035One trophy and just one blemish to an otherwise perfect two months to the season. We look fantastic going forward and, despite a couple of silly mistakes, most notably at two up against Gil Vicente, solid at the back. The use of structured U23 and U19 squads has allowed me to rotate well, bringing a player to the first team for a week or two and directly replacing him with his 'understudy' - this has led to plenty of minutes for my youngsters, already. The below picture shows just how well a variety of my players are playing: Rodriguez has nine goals from just four starts, Furtado has ten assists from his nine appearances thus far and even perennial slow starter Andre Folha has eight from his first ten games. As seen above, we have Dinamo in our CL group, along with Liverpool and Bayern. Third could be a great shot at winning a European trophy but I might be able to sneak through if the giants take points off each other.
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Post by Ben on Mar 18, 2019 20:51:07 GMT
October 2035We march on! 24 games unbeaten now and we are looking very strong in the league, albeit with a few defensive worries in the last three games on the month.
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Post by Robson on Mar 19, 2019 21:58:59 GMT
I'm going to take a guess that this is a lightweight, flippant sort of save with little to no thinking about the minutiae (Ben will love that word as a teacher) of modern FM. Anyone care to summarise 11 pages of forum? Just kidding.
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Post by Ben on Mar 21, 2019 20:16:17 GMT
I'm going to take a guess that this is a lightweight, flippant sort of save with little to no thinking about the minutiae (Ben will love that word as a teacher) of modern FM. Anyone care to summarise 11 pages of forum? Just kidding. Hi Robson! Yeah, you guessed it - win a few games, get a few promotions, bumble along with no real care over what is going on with the team or on the pitch. Still not managed to win the league after eleven seasons in the top flight!
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Post by Ben on Mar 21, 2019 20:24:22 GMT
November and December 2035
Double month update as I forgot the last month. We are currently riding high on a fantastic bit of form - having last suffered defeat in a competitive match way back in April against Real Madrid. Whilst Porto have two games in hand, which would see them leapfrog us - we do have points on the board and to enter the new year at the top is a real sign of our ambitions this season. We also coasted through our CL group on 16 points, sending Liverpool out. We face a tough test in Atletico Madrid but I fancy our chances given our formidable home form of late. Squad rotation, as such, hasn't really been happening of late - rather I have just been playing a first and second choice squad and then a youth squad for cup games. They have had a decent amount of minutes and this has helped their development:
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Post by Robson on Mar 21, 2019 21:10:17 GMT
Hi Robson! Yeah, you guessed it - win a few games, get a few promotions, bumble along with no real care over what is going on with the team or on the pitch. Still not managed to win the league after eleven seasons in the top flight! Form is looking good. Its fab to revisit your intense and detailed way of playing and see the great success it brings you. What are the key ingredients do you think to this save and most recent FM versions? How have you tailored and adapted?
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Post by Ben on Mar 22, 2019 20:49:45 GMT
Landmark
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Post by Ben on Mar 22, 2019 20:51:57 GMT
Hi Robson! Yeah, you guessed it - win a few games, get a few promotions, bumble along with no real care over what is going on with the team or on the pitch. Still not managed to win the league after eleven seasons in the top flight! Form is looking good. Its fab to revisit your intense and detailed way of playing and see the great success it brings you. What are the key ingredients do you think to this save and most recent FM versions? How have you tailored and adapted? Thanks - hopefully we can hold off Porto this season. Key ingredients, for me, this year have been building a base that fits in with your tactical style. I don't see as many people having success by just buying players at random. My general style is that of gegenpress but with added composure on the ball and being able to build from the back so all of my (limited) recruitment has been in that as well as my training styles. In terms of adaptations - obviously the way to develop players has changed hugely and that's something I am still getting to grips with now.
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Post by Ben on Mar 22, 2019 21:53:19 GMT
TransfersThe January transfer window has seen me strengthen my squad with two new recruits with only one senior member of the squad departing. With Diogo Vargas, now in his third loan spell at Portimonense, behind Valderrama and Silva and Bolas and Vieira, the elder statesman of the team, not up to scratch - I really need some new blood in the middle of the park. £240k was enough to convince Leon to sell me this man, who stands out for his fantastic personality and reasonably well rounded game. He's got a bit of everything about him - he can win the ball back and then move it on. He is a little on the short side and lacks the ability to do something out of the ordinary but I have a good feeling that he could develop well for me. The big one. A club with a previous record signing of just £3.7m and one that wants to win the league would indicate that such a meagre record wouldn't last too long. £9.5m was paid for the acquisition of Chilean Franco Gutierrez. Like his Chilean team mate Cristina Medina, he has arguably the best personality in the game and a great set of attributes to back it up. Whilst I always want to see my own players develop, I felt that Elson Paulo had probably reached his peak and was moved on for £2.6m. He's probably been undervalued by me given our weaker league rating to that of Germany but he offered too little in the team work and work rate area and his concentration (or lack of) was noticeable as he'd disappear out of games. Gutierrez offers me a much more hardworking attacker who is a little more robust and has world class decision making. His only major weakness comes when he gets to the player, as his tackling is awful. He could maybe do with some natural development on his concentration but there is little else I would change. I will plan to train him as an IF(A) and will give him chance to develop a finishing player trait, although I am unsure of which one yet. My scouts and coaches came back with a glowing report on him - he's a current international, versatile, enjoys big matches and there was no red markers on his dirtiness, consistency or ability to settle in a new country. The lad first came on to my radar whilst playing in Chile but I didn't feel that his attributes, at 18, warranted the £5m that took him to the east coast of the USA but I watched as he performed pretty well in the MLS, earning a move to Germany. I pounced as he became unhappy with his contract at Mainz and paid just over his market value to get him. I was surprised that such a low deal was accepted and, based on his current market value, feel that I have got a bargain and one that could continue to improve. With the arrival of him - I feel that my best XI is as seen below. I have put a lot of effort into developing players from my club and, unfortunately, there is a lack of those within my team - Guilherme Marques, Tiago Silva, Pedro Tinoco and Andre Folha are the only players who have come through my academy here so, whilst the signing of Gutierrez is fantastic - it does somewhat go against what I want to achieve in the long term. However - if he can be a protagonist towards my growth as a club, every penny of the £9.5m outlay will be worth it and he could, single handedly, fund the development of many many new academy graduates.
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Post by Ben on Mar 22, 2019 22:12:42 GMT
January 2036Porto are scared of us buy just that little bit better than us right now. We dominated them - outshooting them 35/8 and they literally sat back in their 5-4-1 shape - scoring from a set piece. Howeer, we have dropped points against Leiria and Cova, giving them a two point cushion which could grow to five. We are still unbeaten and in fantastic form but so are Porto and we will go to them close to the end of the season. A tough month on the legs where we added the Taca da Liga to our trophy cabinet - once again showing that we can beat the big guns. A lot will come down to how we can manage our time between the league and our Champions League endeavours.
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Post by fmamerican on Mar 23, 2019 2:32:13 GMT
A Philadelphia Union player! My MLS team!!!! Too bad they would never have a player good enough for the Portuguese LigaNOS in real life via Germany.
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Post by Ben on Mar 24, 2019 9:51:08 GMT
February 2036Our defeats were nearly ten months to the day apart - losing last April to Real Madrid and we suffer the same fate in the Spanish capital this year. However, the rest of the month was perfect and we are doing all we can to remain in this title fight.
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