FM16 - Rise of the Basque Country

[Abe Sargent]

December

Dec 4 – Away vs Granada
Dec 7 – Away vs Recreativo, Copa
Dec 11 – Away vs Villareal
Dec 14 – Home vs Recvraetivo, Copa
Dec 19 – Home vs R. Sociedad


For the Granada match, I start Yeray. We score early on a Benat corner to Laporte, who slides it to San Jose for the score. Suseata is injured and I send in Hervias. Half. We are up 1-0. Don’t get complacent! Our foes score in the 55th. I send in Viguera and Boveda. We win 2-1, and MOM is GK Kepa. Good job!

Suseata is out for two weeks. I’ll start Hervias for him.


For the Cup match, I start mostly subs, save for a few key starters here and there. We win 1-0.

I want to try something different for the Villareal match. I leave Oyarzabel at AMC and move Raul Garcia to MR. Will that work? Pick up where you left off! We don’t. 1-1 tie on the road here. We can’t be dropping points to chumps like this. Williams hit Artiz for a score.

[Abe Sargent]

The Champion’s Draw happens, and we get last year’s winner – Bayern Munich.

The next Cup match arrives. I send in a sub group, We win 3-1, and Viguera was MOM with 2 goals.

We get Espanyol next in the Copa del rey

I extend Julen Arellano’s contract by a few years and 11k/week.

I start my A Team for the R Sociedad Basque Trophy match. For the fans!!! Williams hits Artiz for a score in the 19th minute on a break away. They get one, two yellows, and then Laporte injures one of their middies, but it’s a knock and they remain in. Half. We are up 1-0. Don’t get complacent! Williams hits Artiz on another counter, and defenders are closing from both sides, so he shoots it long, 20 yards from goal and sinks it. It’s his 200th goal. Suseata picks up a knock and Hervias heads in. Rico follows. Gomez too. A third yellow for them. A fourth follows. We win 2-0, went cardless, and MOM is Artiz Aduriz. Good win! That was Gomez’s 125th appearance for us

Suseata out for 2 weeks.

[Abe Sargent]

I spend some time looking at player’s contracts given that we are done with our games for 2016, our next match is on January 1.

Contracts that end this year:

Mikel Alonso, great coach prospect, but couldn’t get him to that sort fo deal, so on a one year backup deal

Gorka E

Suseata

DC Xabi Ext

Viguera


Here’s the problem with Suseata thus far:

3 injuries
12 starts in Liga, 1 goal, 2 assists. Last year he led the liga in assists with 12.

Is that someone I want to commit to? Our coach thinks he has declined slightly as a footballer in the last few months. Would he sign a rotation contract instead of starter? He does, I offer three years at a reduced salary and rotation status from first team.

I make a three year extension offer to Borja Viguera, and this is mainly due to a lack of options right now at the ST spot.

I also get a three year rotation deal offered to Xabi Exteita

With everyone now with 17 games, here is the early table heading into the winter break:

1. Barca, 41 points
2. Athletic, 37 points
3. Valencia, 32
4. Sevilla, 32
5. At. Madrid, 30
6. Real Madrid, 28
7. R. Sociedad, 27
8. Malaga, 25
9. Espanyol, 23
10. Getafe, 23

Not bad!

All of my players sign the deals we offered.

Ready?

Andoni Santxitz is named French Manager of the Year.

I just made an offer to an expiring Basque player with an expiring contract and with a big, giant, name. Get ready if he agrees.


Garcia is injured with a cold for a few days and will miss some games. Oyarzabel will start for him until he returns.

[Abe Sargent]

January


Jan 1 – Home vs Getafe
Jan 4 – Home vs Espanyol, Copa del Rey, 1st Leg
Jan 8 – Home vs Levante
Jan 11 Away vs Espanyol, 2nd leg
Jan 15 – Home vs Valencia
Jan 22 - Away vs Barcelona
Jan 29 – Away vs Espanyol


Ozil wins World Golden Ball and World Player of the Year.

Due to our successful financial position, the board agree to give me millions more in transfer cash.

The Getafe match arrives. Keep up our run! Williams fires off a counter attack assist to Artiz in the 26th. Hervias is starting today, Suseata is better but too tired to start. Iturrasape with a yellow, and we deliver an injury to our foe. Gomez in for Muniain too, by the by. They score in the 34th, and then we force an injury another off. Half, 1-1. Show me something else! I send in Lopez, Yeary and Boveda. In the 85th, Lopez launches a beautiful cross and assist to Benat for a goal. We win 2-1.

[Abe Sargent]

I just doubled down. I spoke with my board chairman, and for a certain Basque stud, he has agreed to up our transfer kitty. After massaging my salary, I have around 25 mill prior to the cash bonus. I have made this guy an offer, and if he agrees, get ready...



We sign him!

Welcome the best Basque player in the world


Antoine Greismann



Came through the Real Sociedad ranks. Was sold to At. Madrid for 30 Mill. They almost doubled that with their sale. He is an iron man in value. His first season for AM in the liga he has 22 goals. He has loads of awards, success internationally, domestically, and continentally. Key player, 175k a week.

Now, why him?

Well, first, he is the best Basque player out there, as a French/Basque guy. No question about how powerful he is. He is a stud of a player. He is the best addition you can make, bar none. Transfer targets are limited, but no one is sad to sign Greizmann

Secondly, I expect to see him replace Artiz Aduriz next year fully as my main weapon.

Artiz? He’s 35, and will be 36 before the season finishes. He’s often been slow to drop, but that had begun a bit.

I see Griezmann starting at ST this year, and we’ll bounce Artiz or Williams beside him, although I could move Williams back to the natural place on the left or right edge. And then next year, I think a Williams/Griezmann combo at ST would be deafening.

Remember:

Raul Garcia is 30
Artiz is 35
Suseata is 29


But Griezmann is just 25.

Third, this hurts a division rival. I just signed away the best player At. Madrid have. That’s not nothing.

Fourth, I need to win the liga. That means I need to be able to beat Barcelona, Real Madrid, and At. Madrid reliably. That can’t happen without a Messi on my team. A player that just pushes, like Renaldo or Messi. I just took away AM’s Messi, and brought him over to my side. I have my Neymar, Jr or my Messi with Greizmann. This strongly increases my chance of pushing for the liga, this season, and given I am solidly in #2, with only Barca above me, this gives me a push.

Fifth, I need to compete in the Champion league. That isn’t happening with my squad the way it currently looks. Griezmann changes that dynamic. I am immediately more legitimatized to win against a Bayern or a Paris or a Tottenham.

And again, I AM ALL BASQUE. Hear my fellow Leones roar! (Leones, the Lion, is the mascot of the team)

No Basque team has ever won the Champion’s league. We have 8 liga trophies, and Real Sociedad has 2, but no one has a Champion trophy. I don’t think it happens until we get all of the great Basque options together on one team.

For example, consider this team:


GK – Kepa or Ruffier
DC Laporte, Javi Martinez
DR, DL – César Azpilicueta, Inigo Martinez
DMC – Xabi Alonso
MR Williams
MC Ander Herrera
ML Muniain
ST Griezzmann, Garcia or Artiz or Fernado Lloriente

Could that pan-Basque team win? Possibly! I think a team with Javi, Zabi, Laporte, Inaki Williams, Greizmann, Herrera, Azpilicueta and more would be rough to stop.

So considering my goal, the main question to ask instead is...

Why would I not sign Greizmann?

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

Good question!

Only 16 year olds can with Atlethic. Other teams, like Real Sociedad and Eibar can bring in someone and they will gain it after a while, but Athletic can;t even sign them. The idea with 16 year olds is that Athletic does, on occasion, bring in non-Basque players in real life through their youth ranks, and they gain it. There are also examples of non-Basque players brought onto teams like Real Sosciedad who gained Basque-ness there, and then Athletic later brought them in. But, again, being Basque is not a legal entity nor a FIFA-designated identity so it's murky at times, you know?

I'm playing FM17 and AB had a Mali player on their roster. He has Basque nationality. On further review, he's from Parla Spain which is in Madrid. He came through the Gefate youth ranks, but at 18, moved to AB. Can't tell if he gained Basque nationality or always had it.

[Abe Sargent]

One of the reasons why Greizmann mentioned he wanted to join us, for the first time since he’s been on my radar, was that we are still in the Champion’s league. We are the only Spanish team to make it out of the Group Stage. Now sure, I think we backed out in that last game and got lucky that Kobenhaven beat Porto to send us on, but still, we are still playing. Real Madrid came 3rd in a group won by Arsenal, and 2nd by Galatasaray, At. Madrid was 3rd behind Juve and Wolfburg, and Valencia was 3rd behind Man Utd and Paris. Understandable.

But we are out! And we have to face defending champion, but we can do it, right?

So for fun, and this will not count, I go to sleep, and go on holiday until the end of the season. Just t see where the AI would get me. I finish 3rd in liga, and win the Spanish Cup again, and lose to Bayern. We also had two major injuries, including a month-long one to Kepa from a training exercise that hurt and a 3 month one by Inaki Williams.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

I'm playing FM17 and AB had a Mali player on their roster. He has Basque nationality. On further review, he's from Parla Spain which is in Madrid. He came through the Gefate youth ranks, but at 18, moved to AB. Can't tell if he gained Basque nationality or always had it.

Yeah, it's possible this player is not unlike Espericueta or Laporte with Basque linage, but immigrants. There have been players in the Athletic system that could, or did, play for African nations.

For example:

Yanis Rahmani, came through AB's youth ranks in 2011/2012 year. Born near Paris. No Basque lineage. I could n;t find if he was, or was not, living in Pays BAsque in France at some point in time or not, sorry.


Jonas Ramalho, born in Bilbao, son of Angolan immigrant and local Basque woman, came through youth academy ranks, plays for Angolan national squad.


My research into this topic picked up this SI article, in case you were wondering. One line in here that seemed relevant to the Fran question is this:

"Athletic's policy states -- except that it doesn't "state" at all, of course -- that players are eligible if they are Basque and/or formed as footballers in the Basque Country"

"Athletic also have players that they have brought from elsewhere to form part of Lezama, joining the club at a pre-professional level" (Lezama is their youth academy)

https://www.si.com/more-sports/2011/11/23/jonas


Oh, and there was a line in there that inspired some of my recent acquisitions -

"They (Athletic) have come to be considered a kind of unofficial Basque national team"


So if I am a Basque national team, I need the Javi Martinez, Ander Herrera, César Azpilicueta, Xabi Alonso, Iñigo Martínez Berridi and Antoine Greizmann, right?

[Abe Sargent]

For the Cup match, I put in Greizmann for Suseata, and then move Williams to MR, with my normal starting XI save for Oyarzabel. We open. In the 12th, Artiz is carried off the field on a stretcher. I move Williams back to ST and then in heads Suseata. In the 35th, Griezmann scores on his debut. Assist by....GK Kepa! Half, we are up 1-0. Mikel Oyarzabel is injured and Garcia heads in. Lopez for a tired Benat. Garcia finds Griezmann for a score in the 81st. Here comes Espanyol, they are not looking to fade. They score off a corner in the 86th. We win 2-0, MOM is Greizmann


Artiz injured his hamstring, and will be out for 3 months Oyarzabel is out for a month instead.

I will be playing Greizmann as a Trequista ST along Williams’ complete forward role.



The big name player I was hoping to sign for free next year was Xabi Alonso, and he has agreed to join us for the next two years! Key player, 175k/week.


For the Levante home game I am starting Yeray and Rico. We win 3-0, with two goals by Williams, one by Muniain, assists by Lopez, Gomez, and Williams. Rico was injured, Williams MOM.

Rico is out for a week.

I loan Arellano.

[Abe Sargent]

Today we have our final match vs Espanyol for the Copa del Rey. Take control of this tie! I have most of my starting XI out there right now. Goals by Williams and Muniain, assists by Williams and Garcia. We win 2-0, subs are Gomez, Boveda, and Hervias. We have some more injuries during the game to Suseata and Garcia. We win 2-0 and get through 4-1 aggregate to the next round. Good job! Williams my MOM.

We made it to the Quarter Final where we play Levante. Luckily both injuries are short term in the area of a week or so.


Remember how we began the season with a 3-0 loss on the road vs Valencia? Vengeance! I start Muniain at AMC and Gomez at ML. We get early push. Scores by Williams, Greizmann and Greizman in the first half, here in the rain in Bilbao. Half. Keep it up! They get a penalty from San Jose and take it. Gomez with a card, I send in Lopez, Boveda. They foul and Iturasspe hits the DFK. Then in the 88th, Griezmann hits goal off another Williams assist for his hat trick. Game, MOM, Griezmann, we win 5-1.

We thumped Valencia!

Inaki Williams has learned how to beat the offside trap.

[Abe Sargent]

Yeray came back learning a lot from the hook up with Mentor DC Xabi Exteite.

Starting for the Quarter Final Cup match vs Levante is DC Xabi, DMC Gorka, and Suseata is back from injury. Keep it up! You can do it! Williams picks up two early scores in the first 15 minutes. Hervias and Muniain with assists. And then we never score again. In the 51st, they score off a counter and they never score again either. I sent in Mikel Alonso, Boveda, and Lopez. MOM is Williams.

That victory sets a new club record of 8 wins in a row. Get ready because that is about to change!

I have loaned people like Lekue, Fran, and a bunch of youth this window as I didn’t use them as much as I wanted.

Garcia is back for today’s Barcelona match. Now this is one of the most important matches this year in the liga. Right now, after 20 matches, we are 2 points behind leaders Barcelona. Win this, and we move to 1st. This is Benat’s 100th liga game for us.. We have a solid game early, not a lot of action. Only twice in the first half do I think Barcelona are about to Barcelona me, but on the 2nd of those, Neymar just blows up and scores in the 37th. Half. 1-0. You can do better than that! I send in Yeray, Gomez, and Gorka. But we never get that score. We lose 1-0. Unlucky!

[Abe Sargent]

Our away game vas Levante for the Quarters 2nd leg has arrived. I have Rico start at MC for Benat, who is tired. Other than that, my players are the same as before. The first leg win here means nothing. Go get me that tie! We have a lot of close run-ins, but Muniain finds Griezmann for a goal in the 34th. They have two yellows. Half, 1-0. Don’t get complacent. We won the first leg just 2-1. Get that win! I put in Viguera for a tired and underperforming Williams, right now my worst player on the pitch with a 6.20 rating. They score in the 61st. Garcia is very tired, so I send in Gomez for him and switch Gomez and Muniain. Hervias for Suseata. From an Iturasape assist, Gomez scores in the 88th and we end that concern of a late goal and identical score on away goals. We win 2-1 here, 4-2 aggregate. Good job!

In other Copa del Rey news, Barca beat At. Madrid, Real Madrid devastate Sevilla, Real Sociedad upend Granada.

We get....Barcelona next....I was hoping to get our Rival Real Sociedad, but that was not to be.

Today, for the home Espanyol match, I start Gomez for Suseata. Benat is back in, and otherwise, our starting group remains. Controlling start, you can win this! They score, and we respond in the first ten minutes, with Laporte hitting Xabi on a corner. Half. Show me something else! I send in Boveda, Rico, and Lopez. They don’t and we tie them 1-1. MOM was Xabi Exteita. You were not good enough today!

[Abe Sargent]

February

Feb 1 – Home vs Barcelona, Semi Finals, 1st leg
Feb 5 – Away vs At. Madrid
Feb 8 – Home vs Bayern, 1st leg Champion
Feb 11 – Away vs Celta
Feb 15 – Away vs Barca, 2nd leg
Feb 19 – Home vs Real Madrid
Feb 24 – Home vs Osasuna
Feb 28 – Away vs Bayern, 2nd Leg, Champions

Big month! 2 games vs Barcelona, 2 vs Bayern, and 2 vs At. and Real Madrid in liga.



Suseata is back in my starting XI for this match. Everyone else is the same. Messi is out, injured. Vengeance! On a long range FK in the 15th from Benat to Griezmann, the goal is there, but their GK dives to block it, it falls lose and Xabi Exteita puts it away. Goal. In the 39th, Suseata drives the ball to the corner, crosses, and hits Griezmann for a goal. 2-0 half. This is Barcelona. Do not get complacent. This is not won at 2-0. Benat fires a DFK into goal in the 58th. I sub in Yeray for Laporte. Lopez for Suseata. Williams hits Griezmann for a goal in the 78th but it is called offsides. I send in Boveda for Iturrasape, and move San Jose to that spot. We win 3-0. We just dominated them on the match. We had 2x as many shots, 4x as many on target (8 to 2), more possession, better tackling and passing rates, more interceptions, etc. Xabi Exteita is MOM. Good win!


Oyarzzabel’s injury has concluded, so I am starting him for the At. Madrid match at AMC. I was looking to rest Griezmann for this match and save him, but I could not register him for Champion’s play as he already played for At. Madrid prior to us signing him, and thus can’t be double dipped. Keep our run going! I start counter style. It’s snowing today in Madrid. We have a bad start, they score a goal in eh 11th, and we get a yellow right after. Half. We aren’t really in the game thus far. Show me something else! In the 54th, At. Madrid hits us again, and I send out subs and more but nothing. We push, but nothing falls. We lose 2-0, we had 3 more shots, and 1 more on target, but just could never get going in goal.

[Abe Sargent]

For the Bayern match, I am starting Viguera at ST along Williams with an advanced forward role. It would be fine to run this with Artiz and Williams, or Greizmann and anyone, but without Artiz and Greizmann, this is going to be an unknown game. For the fans! They grab two cards before Mueller scores for them in the 40th. Half. Show me something else! Laporte carded in the 49th. Muniain carded a few minutes later. In the 52nd, Suseata feeds Williams a score. In the 58thm Viguera is injured. I change my tactic. I drop Viguera to AMC, move Garcia to a shadow striker, sub in Oyarzabal, make him an advanced playmaker, and we head back. Yeray heads in for Laporte. Gomez for Muniain. Iturraspe with a card. Game, 1-1 tie. Not our night, I suppose.

Viguera out for 10 days


For the Celta match, I am starting Rico, Hervias, Yeray, Greizmann, Oyarzabal and Lopez for my normal starters. I want to give some resting to my peoples. In the last few games, with us stumbling in liga, we have let Barcelona drive on up in the rankings above us. Get this win! It’s raining hard to day. I begin countering. We score early, with Muniain finding Greizmann for a goal. They return a score in the 22nd. Then they get a yellow and a minor injury. Half. 1-1. You can still win this! In the 61st, Oyarzabals this Williams for a counter score and we are up. I send in Boveda, Gomez, and Alonso. Score holds, and we win 2-1. Good win and Greizmann is MOM.

[Abe Sargent]

Our away match vs Barcelona arrives. Now, if you’ll recall, we thumped them good in our place 3-0. No away goals or anything, so we just need a professional result. I move back my starting lineup. This is Barcelona at home, don’t get complacent out there! Grab this tie! Suseata to Williams for a goal at the 2:44 mark is called off. Suarez hits us in the 29th. Benat fires a IFK from around the halfway mark to San Jose who just misses. And then the onslaught begins. Half. Keep it up! We clamp down defensively, and keep them from scoring, we lose 1-0, win 3-1 aggregate, and MOM is GK Kepa.

I link up Hervias and Lopez for a mentorship


I make no major changes, other than Yeray starting, in my squad for today’s home game vs Real Madrid. For the fans! A positive result here would really help. This is San Jose’s 225 league appearance for us. They are currently 3rd in the liga. Suseata hits Williams for a score in the 33rd, and then they score back in the 44th. Half. 1-1. We can do better than that! Then a goal in the 49th. I send in Gomez, Boveda, and Rico. Nothing. We lose 2-1.

Lopez upped his coaching creds and he is enrolling in another coaching course.

[Abe Sargent]

Real Sociedad beat real Madrid 3-2 aggregate to ,make it to the Copa del Rey final to face us

Gomez is injured in training and out for 2 weeks.

Viguera is back and I put him on the bench for the match vs Osasuna in case I need him. I start Oyarzabal today. Osasuna, as a reminder, is one of our, now promoted, rivals. So for the fans! Oyarzabal is assisted by Griezmann for a goal in the 15th minute of the match, with our control dynamic. Then Benat hits Griezmann in the 22nd. In the 26th, Williams is hit by Griezmann for a goal. Half. Stats, we’re odd. We have 6 shots, 3 on target, and all have sunk, so we haven’t had this massive offensive explosion on the pitch, outside of hitting goal. Very pleased, and keep it going! I sub in Gorka at DMC. In the 63rd, they foul Griezmann in the box, hard, and San Jose makes the PK easily. I send in Hervias. Rico next. Suseata finds Oyzrzabel for a goal in the 82nd. Game, we win 5-0, and MOM is Griezmann with a goal and 3 assists.


Yeray learns how to switch the ball to the other flank.

Our away game vs Bayern arrives. We have to win, or tie with a 2-2 or more score, in order to win on aggregate. I can’t play Artiz (long term injury) or Griezmann (unavailable) so I am dropping my 2nd ST< playing Williams up front alone, and running multiple AMs out there to support, such as Oyarzabal and Garcia with a shadow striker role. For the fans!!! Inaki Williams with an interception goal to get us started in the 7th, and then they score in the 12th. Cards to Xabi Etxeita and Benat in the first 15 minutes. Iturrasape is injured late in the 1st, but I keep him in for now. Half. Get me one more goal! If we can score another goal in the 2nd half, then they need two to win on aggregate. San Jose with a yellow. Bayern’s fist yellow comes at the 63 mark. I send in Yeray. Rico. I send in Lopez late for Muniain because he is really good at penalties. 1-1 at the end of regulation. Extra time. Raul Garcia gives up a penalty in the 116th minute, and they sink the pk. We lose 2-1, 3-2 aggregate. Unlucky.

We got a sweet 5.5 mill gift

[Abe Sargent]

March

Mar 6 – Away vs Betis
Mar 10 – Home vs Valladolid
Mar 15 – Away vs Eibar
Mar 18 – Home vs Malaga
Mar 28 – Youth club comes in
Mar 29 – Away vs Cordoba


Gomez is back from his injury for the Betis game. For the fans! We start out with a Greizmann to Williams goal in the 28th. Then a few yellows for them. Suseata is injured, and Hevias heads in to replace him. They score back in the 37th, and its tied at the half. You got to do better! Garcia finds Benat for a goal in the 63rd. I send in Yeray and Rico, and the score holds. We win 2-1. Suseata out for a week.


Boveda wants me to transfer him, I tell him not right now.

The Valladolid match arrives. I have Hervias, Rico, Gomez, and Yeray starting. Keep our run going! Hervias to Williams, goal, 9th minute. Yeray gashes his head. Gomez fires a DFK from long range, it rattles back off the crossbar and Williams finishes. Williams a massive break way, drives at goal, GK comes out to stop him, dives for the ball and Williams jukes away, and scores on an open net. That’s his hattrick in the first TWENTY TWO minutes! Williams to Griezmann for a goal in the 28th. Boveda for the lightly injured Yeray. Half. Wow. Keep it going! Lopez heads in. They muscle in a score in the 77th. Oyarzabal heads in. We win 4-1, MOM is Williams. Yeray out for a week.

[Abe Sargent]

The board have announced plans to expand by 12666 seats, at a cost of 107 mill, for around 14 months.


Real Madrid lost on the road to #4 Sevilla, so this win pushed us back into #2. We’d been at #3 for around a month.

Next up is Eibar. I have Oyarzabal starting, as well as Munian, Xabi Etxeita, and Hervias starting. Heavy rain. In the 5th, Williams scores, and then Benat does in the 9th. Yellow to Iturrasape. Williams scores in the 19th and then 29th,. Both off Griezmann assists Another hattrick for him. San Jose gets a yellow card for a in-the-box penalty. They make the PK. Griezmann with a score of his own in the 43rd. Good job, keep it going! I pull my DMC for Gorka. On a corner, Benat finds Laporte for a gal in the 62nd. I send in Lopez for Hervias. Boveda next. Game. We win 6-1. MOM is Williams. Great job! They had 20 shots to our 15, 10 on target to our 8, and 57% of possession. But we blew them off the carpet.

Benat won Spanish Goal of the Week

SIX of my players made the Spanish Team of the Week – Kepa, Williams, Benat, Greizmann, Xabi Ext, Laporte


On March 25th, Artiz Aduriz has finished his injury. The coach report shows he has dropped in ability during his injury, and he is not even close to match fit, so I want to ease him back into the starting lineup.

[Abe Sargent]

March 28th arrives. Any major youth players that came out of our academy? Last year we began with a solid ST that looked very, very good. Anyone else? Not really any major talent, not yet. Maybe one or two who could be on the level of a Gomez or a Exteita if they were brought up right, but not otherwise.

We reach out to other Basque youth camps and such to see if anyone is hitting my radar. The best Basque youth came out of the Real Sociedad camp, and I put him on my radar, but even he looks lesser. My scout report says he’s dumb as a rock and not interested in playing for us.


The Cordoba match arrives. We begin countering. Pick up where you left off! They score once, and then again in the first 30 minutes. Yellow for Garcia. Half. Show me something else from this 2-0 crap! In the 51st, Hervias was booked. Greizmann hits goal in the 60th off a Williams assist. Then Hervias finds Garcia in the 73rd for a score, and it’s locked up at 2-2. Finally, in extra time, Williams hits Garcia for the game winning goal, late. We had 22 shots to Cordoba’s 9, and unlike normal, we weren’t as proficient. Good comeback win! Garcia is MOM.

[Abe Sargent]

April

April 3rd – Away vs Deportivo
April 8 – Home vs Sevilla
April 12 – Home vs Malaga
April 15 – Home vs Granada
April 22 – Away vs Real Sociedad
April 30 – Home vs Villareal

Benat won liga Goal of the Month for March.

Quick liga check:

1. Barcelona, 30 games, 69 points
2. Real Madrid, 31 games, 65 points
3. Athletic, 30 games, 65 points
4. Sevilla, 31 games, 61
5. At. Madrid, 31 games, 51 points
6. Valencia 31, 50 points
7. Villareal, 31 games, 48 points
8. Malaga, 31 games, 41 points
9. Espanyol, 30 games, 40 points
10. R. Sociedad, 31 games, 39 points


So, as you can see, we finished the easy run of games in March, and had the heady pressure of February with matches against Barca, RM, and Valencia. But now we have a run of upper level games, but again, no heavies. The biggest games are home vs Sevilla, at #4, and away at our rivals at #10, with the home matches against #7 and #8 in there as well.


David Lopez comes down with a long term two week virus and we let him deal with it at home.

Real Valladolid, with 6 games left, have been relegated

I move Williams to MR and move Artiz to tag team with Greizmann. Let’s see what sort of Magic they might work together. I begin countering. In the 10th minute, Artiz picks up a minor knock. I’ll play him until the half and replace him then, for fitness. They have two yellows, one from injurying Artiz. On a IFK, Benat finds Laporte for goal. A third yellow for them falls. Half. I send in Suseata for Artiz. I send in Boveda and Rico. Iturrasape with a late yellow. In the 90th, Suseata finds Griezmann on an attack run for a goal. Garcia adds a yellow in injury time. Game We win 2-0. Good job!

[Abe Sargent]

Artiz out for 2-3 weeks for a damaged foot.


Our youthers sign, and I begin some individualized training as well as offer some for loans and move some up from the U19 squad to Baskonia immediately. I have a fullback that 7 Tercera clubs want to come down and play immediately and start for them, so I accept those offers for Enrique Irbarren.


I start Yeray and Suseata for the Sevilla game. For the fans!!! I begin with a controlling pace. We’ll see if that works soon enough. They push hard, and I edge back to standard, and then countering. We survive. Half 0-0. You can still win this one! We don’t. 0-0 draw. It felt like an away game! We had 6 shots, they had 25. I tried everything I knew, from switching my middies to changing tactics, and nothing worked.


We have qualified for the Champion’s Cup, with 6 games to play. Barca dropped a game to Espanyol on the road two weeks ago (who are playing spoiler right now. The next game they went into At. Madrid and beat them 3-1).

Initial budgets are 1.75mill weekly and 36 mill transfer

Well I;ve got good news and bad news and worst news:

Good News – Barcelona just lost
Bad News – They lost to Real Madrid
Worst News – Bilbao, our B club just lost and moved into the top relegation spot from the Adalente division

I find a solid youth contract French Basque player at low level team and make him an offer to join us.

[Abe Sargent]

I start Oyarzabal for today’s Malaga match. Vengeance! I left Yeray in, btw. Muniain finds Oyarzabal for a goal in the 31st. Half. Not bad, but room for improvement! I send in Etxeita. Another Oyarzabal score in the 63rd. Another Muniain assist. In heads Boveda for an underperforming Laporte. Rico heads in for Benat. The game’s first card is for them in the 79th. Game. We win 2-0, MOM is Muniain.


David Lopez returns from his virus.


The Granada games arrives, and I make no major changes to my roster. Pick up where you left off! We have an odd...game (I left for the movie, and came back and it had finished, with subs and such intact). We win 3-2, with two assists and a goal by Greizmann, and goals by Oyarzabal, San Jose, and Gomez found Griezmann for the go-ahead score in the 63rd. Iturrassape was injured early, and he’ll be out for around a week. MOM was Griezmann.


Bilbao beat Sporting 4-2 to pull out of relegation zone for now. Every team 1-5 won their game too, no movement on the board. With four games left:

1. Barca, 76
2. Athletic, 75
3. RM, 74
4. Sevilla, 65
5. Valencia, 54
6. At. Madrid, 51


Those are the Euro qualifications right now. You can see just how in front we have blazed right now

[Abe Sargent]

Artiz is back from injury, but for the rest of the season, I see him as a sub only, replacing Viguera on the bench. I have dropped his team usage from key player to first team.

For the away Real Sociedad match, I am starting both ex-Sociedad players Greizmann and Oyarzabal. I have San Jose at DMC and Etxeita at DC with Itarraspe out on injury. He should be back for the next match. As an away game against our rival, I feel this is the last obvious land mine on the liga schedule for us. For the fans!!! And there it is. Another Oyarzabal goal in the 28th minute. A Williams shot rebound from the GK and was finished by Mikel. They hit us back the next minute. Half. No cards, quiet match. We are 10 and 7 shots on target, and they 8 and 3. We have been lethal, just not hitting. 51/49 possession. Get that win! Xabi has been not good, and I send in Boveda for him. Hervias for Suseata. In the 81st, Griezmann hits Williams for a score. Rico heads in. We have three more good shots on goal. We win 2-1, and MOM is Griezmann. Good win!

[Abe Sargent]

Yeray’s agent approaches me about getting his client a new deal...Hmm...

I make him a rotation offer for 5 years total, and 24k/week

The other teams chasing us won too.

Bilbao won 4-2 vs Rayo.

Yeray signs

Villareal is here. I keep the same XI save for Iturrasape is in. I am at home, and begin controlling. Keep up this run!!! Muniain crosses to Suseata, who leaps up and heads it to Williams for the lone score in the half by either team. Room for improvement! I sub in Gomez and Rico, and then Greizmann hits Williams for another score in the 77th. In goes Yeray. They score right back in the 83rd. That gives them a way back into the match, so we need to watch out. Game, we win 2-1. MOM is Williams. Good win!


Everyone else of import also wins. 2 games left. Eibar is relegated, one Basque team back down. I hate to see you go!

[Abe Sargent]

May

May 7 – Away vs Levante
May 13 – Real Madrid, Copa del Rey, Real Sociedad
May 21 – Away vs Getafe


The short of it. We win 2-1 on the road, MOM and two goals by Williams, assist by Griezmann and Muniain.

Everyone else won too.

[Abe Sargent]

Copa Del Rey Final




We have been in the finals three straight times, and are trying to win it in back to back years.

We begin controlling.

FOR THE FANS!!!

This is a final against our major rival. You can’t not show up for this game. They score in the 6th minute. Sixth. I ease back to Standard. We injure one of their wingers in the 14th. Half, we are down 0-1. Show me something else!!! They look motivated. In the 60th I move to attacking. I send in Yeray. I pull Oyarzabal for Garcia. On a corner in the 77th, they foul San Jose, and that;s a penalty! Can we make it....? Up steps San Jose and...yes we can make it! I hold my last sub in case we need it for extra time. Back to Standard. Game. Extra time. Go get me that goal!!! I send in Gomez for a very tired Muniain, who has just a 6.9 rating right now vs Suseata’s 7.7. They collect two yellows in extra time. At the 99:19 mark, Williams finds Greizmann on an attack run and he sinks it. Half. Can we hold onto this one-goal lead for the last 15 minutes? On a FK dangerous close, Gomez leans in and hits Benat for a score. Gomez is a professional, he often shows up in big games. Time. We win 3-1. MOM was not on my roster. Good win! We finished with 0 cards to their 4.

[Abe Sargent]

Get ready...

Inaki Williams won Spanish Player of the Year over big names like Koke, Dani Carvajal and more.

Mikel Oyarzabal won Spanish Young Player of the Year with his 11 goals, 2 assists from the midfield position in 15 liga starts. He dedicates the award to me.

David Lopez and Mikel Alonso announce their retirement from the game. Lopez is a great coach, and he’ll remain with us in that role moving forward. One of the key reasons I brought in Alonso was to mentor and coach, and now that he’s retiring, hopefully I can try and keep him as a studly coach. I make him a coach offer for us for three years.

DC Gurpegi announces he will retire. Alonso agrees to the coach job we offered him

[Abe Sargent]

Going into the final week, everyone has an easier match, save for Barca, who head to Sevilla to finish on the road with them. If we can win, and Barca falls, then we can emerge with the win

Final match vs Getafe. Here we go! I start Garcia. For the fans, let’s get them one more win! Well that was a boring 1st half. What else could I talk about? They have two yellows? Umm...Real Madrid is up 3-0 at the half? Barca is down 0-1 at the half? Get me that win! Suseata crosses to Muniain over three defender, one misses a key header, and Muniain scores in the 49th. I slide to things like tight marking and retaining possession. I put in Artiz for Garcia and swap him and Williams on the pitch. Hervias for Suseata is next. Boveda last. They have two more yellows. We win 1-0.


And we won the liga!

[Abe Sargent]

I was not expecting that year 2, I thought Barca had it sewn up when they were 10-12 points over everyone else for much fo the season, but a few losses here and there dropped them, including losses to Espanyol, Sevilla, and such.

Final table, and this is close.

1. Athletic, 87 points
2. Real Madrid, 86
3. Barca, 85
4. Sevilla, 68
5. Valencia, 62
6. At. Madrid, 59
7. Celta, 55
8. Betis, 55
9. Espanyol, 49
10. Villareal, 49
11. Levante, 48
12. Malaga, 48
13. Granada, 45
14. Real Sociedad, 44
15. Getafe, 40
16. Osasuna, 40
17. Deportivo, 40
18. Cordoba, 35
19. Eibar, 29
20. Real Valladolid, 15


And there we go! Now, because we did the double and won both the Cup and the Liga out of nowhere (we were never 1st until the last week, and we were often 3rd), the EURO bid drops to Celta, so they will head to the Europa League next year.

This is the 9th liga win for Athletic, and the 25 Copa.

We get a lot of blood money for winning.

[Abe Sargent]

So, again for fun, I go on vacation for a year and then head to bed. What will happen next year, with the addition of Xabi Alonso to the squad?

We finish 3rd behind Real Madrid and Celta, and ahead of Barcelona at 5th, Valencia at 4th, and At. Madrid at 6th. They did make it out of a Champ Group stage that included Milan, Benfica, and Buraspor, before losing to Arsenal 4-1 aggregate the next round, won the Super Cup, lost in the Semi-Finals of the Spanish Cup to At. Madrid 4-4 aggregate on away goals. Not the best year. But obviously, not a flash in the pan either, with three separate years in a row on the Champion level even without any guidance. And of course, you never know what wound up happening. You could have players injured long term that could not be replaced by new signings and stuff like that, but they used their own tactics, and I can see they went 4 wide at the back with Boveda getting a lot of play, well, that doesn’t fit my team much in terms of talent, and I wouldn’t have done that, but still, you can see the results with a 3rd place finish in the liga remains, even with a manager on holiday handicap.

[Abe Sargent]

UD Melilla, from my other Spanish dynasty, just got promoted to Adelante...



Messi was the liga top goalscorer with 28 goals, Williams was 2nd with 25


With his 18 assists and 25 goals, ,Williams wins top goalscorer.

Andoni Santxitz was named Manager of the Year

Laporte was named in Liga Team of the Year, Williams and Greizmann subs

Players held an awards ceremony and:

Signing of the Season – Griezmann
Goal of the Season – Benat
Young Player of the Season – Williams

Fan’s Player of the Season – Greizmann




I am totally shocked that we won the liga that fast. I thought it was going to be year 3-4 instead and year 5-6 for the Champion’s League.

We have announced an upgrade of the training facilities.

Now, let’s look at stats for liga play only

Most MOM was Messi with 12, our best was Williams with 8

The best avg rating was Carvajal with 8.08. Williams was 7th with 7.72.

In goals, Messi was first with 28, Williams had 25, Griezmann was 5th with 18 goals total for us and At. Madrid.

For % fo shots on target, the best was 65% by Atletico’s Yannick Carrasico. 5th in the liga was Oyarzabal with 59% and Raul Garcia right behind him with 58%.

Three players led the league with 18 assists, Neymar, Williams, and Griezmann. Our best middle was Benat at 8.

Griezmann was 8th in key passes.

Not a great year for my middles. Not a lot of assists, dribbles, crosses, etc.

None of my defenders were top 20 in tackles/game. Laporte was 9th in number of key tackles.

San Jose 10th in key headers, Laporte 15th

Iturrasape 4th in headers won ratio

The fewest goals conceded by a GK was 20 at Real Madrid. We conceded 33 and Kepa came in 6th. 13 clean sheets, 6th best. Kepa was 2nd in saves held, and 5th in saves parried.

Kepa was clearly one of our good results. At the age of 22 was already a quality GK in one of the hardest flights in European football. He’s now worth 6 mill and a rising star. Switching to him made a lot of sense.

My midfield drops may be to the many starts I handed out to Suseata, Lopez, Gomez, Muniain, Benat, Rico, Hervias, and more, but to be fair, this is also due in part t the heavy and constant injury-ness of Suseata.

Here is Suseata’s stat line for us:

25 liga starts, 1 goal, 6 assists, which is still not bad. Muniain had 28 starts and 3 and 5.

Man Utd beat Tottenham for the Champion’s Cup

[Abe Sargent]

I get that sweet, sweet TV revenue cash for the year for Champion’s play


So I have, on my shortlist, all of the best Basque players, and every so often I scout them, to see if their interest in joining me, or not, has shifted. I am not chasing someone who has not shifted interest. Take, as a good example, Griezmann. At first there was no interest in joining our club. Then in December, as I was reviewing players with our big injection of cash from the club, and massaging my way-under-budget annual weekly budget, I did another scouting, and saw, for the first time, he’d be interested in joining our club. But they thought he’d be around 50 mill. Well, it wound up being 60, but the club was behind it, upped my transfer game, and it worked.

So, of the remaining Basque power players out there, any more interested in heading over?

Javi Martinez? At Man City right now, no
Ander Herrera? At Man Utd right now. Yes. Estimated cost, 45-65 mill. Huh.
Iñigo Martínez Berridi? At R. Sociedad. No
César Azpilicueta? At Chelsea right now. No

See why I do this?

Iraizoz retires. I make him a U19 coaching offer. He joins us. He is my only U19 GK Coach. He begins at 3.5 stars as a coach for us. I encourage him to up his coaching quals, and the board agrees to pay them.

Mikel Alonso improves our tactical coaching to 4 stars from 3.5 previously. Again, he’s good. And I want to be proactive with good Basque coaches. No, I don’t have the have the same fidelity to coaching as I do to playing....but why not?

Are there any future Alonso’s or Lopez’s I want to bring in at the coaching level?

I make offers to a new U19 physio, a new scout named Txofe,

I found him. 36 year old player, way back in the Tercera division. Looks like a strong future Ball Control coach. Now, I have two coaching gigs stuck at 3.5 stars – ball control and attacking. I suspect he’ll up our ball control coaching to four stars, and I have one open spot on my coaching roster, so I make David Malo an offer as a coach for two years.

[Abe Sargent]

I get an interesting offer for Hervias from Olympique Lyonnais for 7.5 mill.

Do I want to do this?

I have a midfielder logjam –

Suseata
Hervias
Gomez
Muniain
Benat
Garcia
Iturrasape
Merino
Unai Lopez
David Lopez (about to retire)
Rico
Oyarzabal
Espericeuta


So seriously? This is a decent way out of that mess, right?

Now, the good news is that Hervias is fully developed and still young, unlike the fully developed older players like Suseata or Rico (32).

But, the bad news is that I was considering giving Hervias a more prominent role this year and moving forward. I got him for free, so this would be all profit. He is worth 6.75 mill. Can I get that upped?

My main four transfers in last year were Hervias, Oyarzabal, Fran, and Griezmann. All but Fran were Real Sociedad youth academy folks. How much can I negotiate this too? They appear about to offer for his min release fee, 9.25 mill. So I make an offer for 9 mill, with a buyback option of 15. They agree. Ah well, maybe I should have negotiated that buyout fee more. Now it is out of my hands. But, at the time, signing a young backup middie in a crowded room for free seems like a big, 9 mill offer wasn’t coming, right?

So, in this year’s youth system, all of the best new youthers came out of Barcelona or Madrid. Any great young talent out there for me to chase? The best is a Barca DC, and that is good, because I was hoping to find a future DC to groom.

Yeray, 22
Laporte, 23
Etxeita, 29
San Jose, 28


In five years, they would be 27, 28, 34, and 33. Where are my starters then?

Hervias takes the deal and heads out. Again, I am 9 mill richer, but still.

[Abe Sargent]

Laporte now avoids use of his weaker foot

I make some more youther offers.

Last year we brought in 375 mill and made, 87 mill after expenditures, including the transfers, wages and investments in our infrastructure

I make a 625k offer to a youther on Osasuna’s squad. But I can’t talk him into joining us at this stage.

The 2022 World Cup has been moved to Morocco

Our current transfer budget is 44 mill.

We are now the 16th wealthiest club in the world, our new kit sponsorship is 2.5 mill annually.

David Malo has become our new coach.

On July 1st, Xabi Alonso and a youther arrive.

I agree to a loan offer for Lekue. I also agree to a Adelante team’s offer of key player ST for Perez.

The U21 Euro championship dream team announced Williams as one of their players chosen.

Carlos Gurpegi joins our U19 coaching ranks

[Abe Sargent]

I have two major offers for first team players from Genoa for Espericueta and AS Monaco for Unai Lopez. AS Monoco just won the Ligue 1 last year, so that is a good first team loan offer. Lopez, last year, starting in the liga, was 33 starts for Espanyol, 4 goals, 9 assists, 4 MOM, 7.13 rating. Can’t fault that.

I want to keep Unai Lopez here though, and use him much like I used Hervias or the other Lopez last year. I also want to up his determination with a good mentorship. I pull him off loan.

What about Espericueta? Mikel Merino?

Gorka E has left the club.

I just pored over my youth, Baskonia, Bilbao squads to make offers for people I want to retain past 2018.







Long Term, 3 years later:

GK Kepa
DC Laporte, Yeray either San Jose or Etxeita
DMC Kepa
AMC Oyarzabal?
MR Unai Lopez
ML Muniain
MC Merino or Espericueta
ST Williams, Griezmann, Perez?

But we have a lot of natural AMs. Espericueta, Merino, Muniain, Williams, Oyarzabal, Garcia, Lopez, Griezmann, etc.

Could I do a system where I have three AMs behind 1 ST?

Let me see if I can create that strength as a long term tactic to begin to study. Can I make that work on the pitch if that is where our future strength as Basque nation is? Basically a 3-6-1? Let me look that up.

There are a few ways I think we could make that work:

3-2-4-1 – With 2 DMCs, 2 LR, 2 AMCs, 1 ST. Another would be to run both wing backs and AMs on the R and L spots, but that would give me just two middles in the middle with one ST.

How about what would essentially be a 3-1-2-3-1? 1 ST, AMC, AMR, AML, DMC, 2 MC. Would that work? Another option might be, 3-1-3-2-1 where I just pull a ST back to AMC. I have a lot of future AM players that will be at or better than liga starters – Merino, Oyarzabal, Espericueta, in addition to Williams, Muniain, etc.

Could a long term plan work with Perez as my key ST? Assuming he develops as I hope? I could see a Perez-led ST team with Greizmann, Williams, Oyarzabal and many more just blowing up Europe. But that is a long time coming.

[Abe Sargent]

For last year, I basically rotated Garcia and Oyarzabal. Now, what I could have done was just send Oyarzabal out on loan full time somewhere, and left my team as is. But we ran him here and there, and by the end of the season, he was looking good. Now, Garcia is no joke. He can’t be playing on the wing, his skill set doesn’t match. And he is a fully developed 30 year old guy who can blow stuff up all day long.

But here, let’s compare for Oyarzabal:

Other than stamina, Oyarzabal is either even (they both have STR of 14) or better than Garcia at every physical stat. This includes 15/15 speed to 13/11. Garcia has 6 better fitness.

Oyarzabal is 2 better at dribbling and 1 better at technique. Other than those, Garcia is better technically. That includes 3 better first touch, 4 better heading, 1 better finishing, 2 better passing, 1 better long shots, 2 better tackling, etc.

Mentally, Oyarzabal is 8 better determination, and slightly better vision and anticipation. Garcia is better at most other stats (they are even on some like work rate)

So, overall, Oyarzabal is more physically gifted worse technically and mentally. But he is only 20 and still growing. Here’s an interesting stat:

Garcia has had about 350 liga games. In his career, he has 53 goals. An average of 1 goal every 7 games.

Oyarzabal, granted from a small sample size, 21 apps, 14 goals.

Now, let’s look at in this specific role with me:

Two years ago:

Garcia, 34 liga games, 2 goals, 9 assists, was 2nd most in assists on my team

Last year:

Garcia, 23 liga games, 6 goals, 3 assists

Oyarzabal, 16 games, 11 goals, 2 assists


Combined – 17 goals, 5 assists for my AMC spot last year. Not bad, right?

Am I going to continue this? I mean, if we assume that Oyarzabal slows down, and got just double those stats over a year of 38 games, then that’s 22 and 4. He had clearly did better in this role that Garcia, with a bit of a note. I eased him into the role, and early on, his starts often came against weaker teams in the league, so we want to make sure that is on the table too,

So, where do I go from here?

[Abe Sargent]

New Signing:



114 caps, 16 goals

Best position is DMC


175k, 2 years, with an extension for another if he wants,

You know him! 20 passing! Won three Champions Cups with three separate teams - Real Madrid, Liverpool, Bayern, world World Cup and Euro 2008 and 2012. Xabi Alonso heads back home. Came through Real Sociedad ranks, then was sold to Liverpool, then to Real Madrid, then to Bayern, and now joins us for free.

Welcome back ho,me Xabi! I hope he'll retire with us. He's 35 right now. And he is still a stud. 17 technique? 15 first touch? He's savyy, smart, great at set pieces, and more.

Welcome!

[Abe Sargent]

And how about DMC? Obviously, Xabi is going to replace Iturrasape there for the year, although I expect to move him in here and there. I went ahead and bumped him to rotation so there won’t be any major surprises.

I will be calling Xabi Etxeita just Etxeita for the duration, and Xabi Alonso as Xabi. We’ve had multiple Alonsos and Xabis, but I wanted to be fair there.


I go ahead and loan out Merino and Espericueta, with the understanding that they are still a part of my long-term plans. Merino is pissed I am loaning him out, he wants to play for me this year, but I talk him into it. There is still room for his development, and I don’t think 5-6 starts, and 15 subs is going to make it happen.

Would Fran benefit from linking up with Xabi Alonso?

I loan out Lekue and Merino officially.

I have a bid for one of my backup STs on the Bilbao squad. Gorka Santamaria. Came through our youth ranks. I take a 2 mill now, 1.750m for the next year, 30% of next sale, from a liga Adelante team. He’s been playing for a Adelante team already in Bilbao, so they know him there. That’s about what he is worth (2.75) right now, so I am okay with that move, get some cash, and have plenty of other ST options as well.

ST Perez, Arellano, Espericueta heads out, another few youthers head out too.

We sell Santamaria

We got 35 mill in TV rights for liga

I reject the loan offers for Fran and pull him off the loan list as I connected him and Xabi. That’ll be a big deal.

We have the gauntlet of 8 friendlies coming up, all away, all with chump teams we have affiliates with.

[Abe Sargent]

Anyone I want to make an offer to? I have a ton of cash I can splash, around 49 mill in transfer kitty.

Right now:

Budget – 1.7 mill, spending 1.556 mill

Transfer – 48.75 mill

The one area I feel week is in long-term DC.

I check out my major prospects. Here are ones I LIKE:


16 years old –

DR Irbarren
MR Prieto

17 years old –

Fran, MC, DMC
Perez, ST
Unai Zabala, ML
Alain Martinez, MR




20 –

Unai Nunez, DR
Julen Arellano, DR/L


Notice the lack of a quality DC there.

I have found an issue with the youth club. I cannot sign French/Spanish youth players. I have the 15 year old in France named Paco Figueroa to my team. Why not? We’ve brought French players into our youth group before? And he is French and Spanish. I check to see if there is a workshop fix for that bug, given he is Spanish too.

I see no fixes. Why can’t I sign a French/Spanish player who is still Spanish, if they are of age? Isn’t that a bug? Again, Athletic have brought many French-only players, one who has split parentage should be no issue, right?

So I open up the player editor and grab the worst player that exists, a Frenchie with a 15 potential from some scrub team and I try to add Basque nationality to him. It does not work. I can’t find Basque, or Pays Basque or anything else in the system to add. I can’t find anything in the workshop either.

My guess is that Basque-ness is a hidden, unedit-able toggle for a player in the game. That would have been one way to make it work. Change them to Basque, and then if they sign, leave it, and if not, change it back. Something like that.

I sign a Basque youther, for 155k, Gorka, from Sestao River, who is, at best, not a starter in the Liga, but maybe more of a backup. I move him to my U19 squad.

I loan off a few more youth here and there.

Friendly scores thus far are 3-1, 1-0, 5-2,

I have an offer to sell a youth player who never developed to Rayo. I take it, for 75k and 50% of next sale. He’s worth 35k right now.

Gomez is injured in a friendly that we win 7-0. He is out for 6-7 weeks.

[Abe Sargent]

August

Aug 1 – Friendly
Aug 3 – Fr
Aug 5- Fr
Aug 7 – FR
Aug 12 – Super Cup Leg One, Away vs Real Sociedad
Aug 15 – Leg Two, Home
Aug 20 – Home vs Rayo
Aug 27 – Away vs Celta


We win 3-0, 5-0, 6-0, and 07.

I name Benat and Xabi Alonso my Captain and Vice


Ready for the first leg of the Super Cup? I have Xabi Alonso fully invested in my side’s tactics. For the Fans! I begin countering as we are on the road. They score in the 5th minute off a counter, after a great shot by Williams was turned aside. They score again in the 35th. Half. We are down 2-0. Show me something else! Williams finds Benat for a score in the 49th. They injure Benat, and I pull him for Iturrasape. Williams finds Greizmann for a score in the 55th. , and now we are tied 2-2. I send in Yeray. They score in the 65th. Then in the 68th, they foul Williams hard in the box, and Xabi Alonso, who is an amazing PK specialist, puts it away easily. Then they score in the 73rd. I send in Artiz for a tired and underperforming Suseata and move Williams to MR. They score again in the 80th, 5-3. Then Williams scores off a shot that rebounded to him and he put away in the 85. And that is the final score, we lose, 5-4, MOM is Williams. They had 5 cards. Wow.

[Abe Sargent]

Benat out for 2-3 weeks, and I will start Iturrasape in that spot today in the home match vs our rival. Vengeance! I begin standard. Griezmann scores in the 25th. Then they get a yellow and that’s it. Quiet half. 1-0 half. Don’t get complacent, go out there and take ahold of this tie. Garcia scores in the 51st, and then Suseata follows. I send in Rico and Yeray. Then in the 73rd, they score, and it’s 3-1. Boveda in. In the 79th, they score again, and suddenly, we are tied on aggregate, so I move to counter expecting them to pull forward hard. No additional scores, and we survive, 7-7 tied, win on away goals, MOM is Griezmann. Congrats on the win!

Now I am a little concerned, statistically, on defense

At home: Sociedad had 9 shots, 6 on target. (We had 26 and 15). They got 2 goals from that.

Away, in their place, they had 14 shots, 8 on target, with 5 goals from that

So, in two games, they scored 7 goals with 14 shots on target, an average of 50%. That is horrible. And that’s not in one game, but in two. The only way we were in contention was our good offense, and a gift penalty in the box Williams scores off a shot that rebounded to him and he put away in the 55th

We cannot sustain that level of goals allowed. I’m not sure what happened. Maybe R. Sociedad just had our number.

[Abe Sargent]

David Lopez completed a coaching license.

My hope this season is that the Williams and Greizmann show continue to just blow up the goal-scoring charts.
For the opening Rayo game, I start Yeray and Unai Lopez for Suseata. For the fans! In the 16th minute, Griezmann finds Williams for a score. Then Unai does so 14 minutes later in the 30th. Nothing else happens. Keep it up! Unai just launches a beautiful ball that carves the defense and Williams puts it away in the 55th and that it is hattrick. Rayo are getting frustrated and fouling now. I send in Rico. Etxeita follows. Unai with a yellow. They wound Garcia a bit and I send in Viguera. We win 3-0, MOM is Williams. Good job everyone!
Three players named in team of the week, Yeray, and my strikers

We get 12 mill for making it to the Champ Group Stage

The Champ Group Draw is here. We are seeded first.

Group B

Athletic
Benfica
Gelsenkirchen
BATE (Belarus)

That’s doable I think.

In the first two matches, Barca have two losses. Rough start for them. It is not impossible by any means, but losing two earlier will make it a lot harder to win the liga.

[Abe Sargent]

For today’s Celta game, I am starting Oyarzabel, and Rico. Yeary and Unai Lopez remain in, given how good they did. Benat is back from his injury today, but still tired, so he won’t be on our roster, and Rico has his back. I begin countering, Celta is not a team to take lightly. Pick up where you left off! We open up with a Griezmann to Williams goal in the 15th. Then in the 31st, Williams hits Rico for a goal. They score in the 39th, and then Lopez hits Williams in extra time. Half 3-1 us. Keep it up! In the 2nd half, it’s quiet, and I send in Boveda, and then Williams is knocked around, and loses some stamina, and I send in Artiz. In the 74th, they score, and ratchet it up to 3-2. Then I send in Viguera for a tired and underperforming Muniain, and move Greizmann to ML. In the 85th, they score again, and we tie, 3-3 on the road. MOM is Williams. I am far from pleased with that result! Celta was 21 shots, and 14 on target, and we were 18 and 9, so that was not unreasonable to tie, but again, I feel like we are allowing too many goals thus far.

I am keeping Unai Lopez in the starting MR role for now, given his 3 assists in two games. I move Suseata to a rotation option. Nevermind, he already was. You already know my concerns here, about his dropping assist numbers and frequent injuries. Hervias wasn’t this great replacement, but perhaps Unai Lopez is precisely that person.

It’s transfer deadline day. Any moves I want to make? Got him. The youther agrees to come to me from Barca. I also have a scout point out a young 16 year old ST who’s good too. I make offer to him as well.

I sign him for 7.5 mill. ST Pedro Santamaria. From Real Madrid.

I sign the Barca wonderkid on defense Xavier Mora. Barca would not come in under his min release fee of 24.5 mill, so that’s what I spent.

At 16, Mora is already 14 mark, tack, 10 head, 11 jump. Plays DC, DM, and MC. Coach summary is versatile, determined, ambitious, good at marking, ability to be in the right place is best attribute. I link Etxeita and him for mentoring, and hope to bring that 13 determination up to a 16. Mora is considered to be the best Spanish player in his year graduating from all academies last year.

I also link up Santamaria and Artiz.

My transfer budget is down to a measly 15 mill

I get a late offer for GK Herrain, but that is not happening. I need him, as Kepa is getting international call ups now. At. Madrid signed two huge players, each for 30+ mill.

At the end of the transfer window, I have 25 players out for loan! All of those are first team or key player deals and should get planet of play,

[Abe Sargent]

September

Sept 9 – Home vs Osasuna
Sept 12 – Home vs BATE, Champion
Sept 16 – Away vs Malaga
Sept 19 – Away vs Las Palmas
Sept 24 – Home vs Real Sociedad
Sept 28 – Away vs Benfica, Champion

I make an offer to extend GK Herrein’s backup deal by a year and raise his salary by 5k/week.

Gomez is back from his injury. Benat is back in the starting lineup for the Osasuna match. I am running Garcia today at AMC. For the fans! I begin controlling. Griezmann to Williams in the 15th on a lovely counter. Then Williams returns the favor and Griezmann gest goal in the 27th, and Benat finds Xabi Alonso for goal. Half, 3-0. Nicely done, don’t let up. I send in Gomez. Xavier Mora, the new signee, heads in next. Williams to Alonso for another score. Artiz for Griezmann. We win 4-0. MOM is Xabi Alonso. Mora is the youngest player to ever play for Athletic, which seems odd given how much youth matters. Actually, Mora was just one day younger than Muniain when he set the youngest player record!

The third game of the season coming up for Barca is hard, as they head to face Real Madrid at home. What will happen? Real Madrid win 2-0, and Barca is now 0 for 3.

Xabi and Williams in Team of Week

Ready for Europe play? Benat is suspended and I start Iturraspe. I start Oyarzabal as well. Here we go! For the fans!!! I have begun controlling. Let’s do this simply, because there would otherwise be too much:

5th minute, Goal Williams
16 – Goal Williams
24 – Goal Williams
33rd – 2nd yellow, red, BATE player sent off
37th – Griezmann injured lightly, Artiz sent in. before he heads off...
38th – Goal Griezmann
44th – Goal Williams
Half time. We have more goals (5) then they have shots (1).
55th – Goal Williams
64th – Rico subs in for DC Etzeita
66th – Goal Williams
73rd – Sub, Gomez for Muniain
78th – Goal, Artiz

We win 8-0. MOM is obvious Williams and his six goal show

Holy crap!

Williams set a record. The most goals in a Champion’s game was previously 5 in 2012 for Barcelona’s Messi vs Leverkusen.
Greizmann is out for a week with a gashed hand

[Abe Sargent]

For the away match vs Malaga, I start Artiz and Garcia. Pick up from where you left off! I begin countering. I respect Malaga too much. They start the scoring in the 12th. San Jose gave away a penalty and they got the PK. We follow when Unai Lopez sets up Williams for a goal. Half. 1-1. We can still win this game! I want to get a goal from Artiz, but he’s not doing much, so I send in recent signee Santamaria in the 68th, to give him some experience. Yellows by Xabi and San Jose. I send in Yeray and Gomez. In the 81st, Santamaria shoots, the GK pushes back, he shoots again and scores. Then they score back in the 88th. 2-2 draw. I’m displeased.

Santamaria is Athletics’ youngest ever goalscorer.

Today we are playing a fun game. It’s called, guess how many losses in a row Barca can rack up before they fire their manager. Unfortunately, they beat the mighty Almeria in their place 3-0 to get their first win

I have a few tired people benching for the Las Palmas match. We are starting Suseata, Itrrasape at DMC, Yeray for San Jose. Greizmann is back from injury. This is the 225 league appearance for Iturrasape for us. I begin countering. Quiet first half. 5 shots, 1 on target by us. Do better! In the 53rd, they lightly injure Williams, so I send in Artiz. I send in San Jose. I send in Gomez. Artiz scores in the 84th, and we win 1-0. Yellow late to Etxeita. MOM is Garcia
Williams has a wounded toe, and will be out for a week.

Barca beat the mighty Deportivo 2-0 in Barcelona. Then they lose 2-0 to At. Madrid.

[Abe Sargent]

We host our rivals. I start our best XI. Artiz for Williams, who should be back for the Benfica match. For the FaNs! Quiet first half. Half. Show me something else! They do! Garcia hits Artiz in the 51st. I send in Suseata. Griezmann hits Xabi Alonso for a goal. In goes Iturrasape. Greizmann hits Garcia for a goal. Rico in. Game, we win 3-0, MOM is Garcia.

Good win!

Benfica match is here, and we are away and countering. I make no changes to my squad. Pick up from where you left off last match! Once again, we’ll have a lot of fast stuff here:

7th – Williams goal
12th – Muniain Goal
19th – Williams Goal
40th – Garcia goal
Half, 4-0 score
55th – Sub Gomez for Muniain
57th – Goal for Benfica
61st – Goal for Benfica
68th – Sub Yeray for San Jose
76th – Penalty given by Yeray. Kepa blocks PK
78th – Goal by Garcia
79th – Sub, Rico for Benat
86th – Yellow for Yeray

Game, 5-2, MOM is Garcia. They had 24 shots, 10 on target, we had 14 and 10.


The Granada match is here. Quick results, we win 4-0, with goals by Williams, Oyarzabal, Griezmann, and Williams. Assists by Garcia, Garcia, and Williams. MOM is Williams.

[Abe Sargent]

October

Oct 15 – Away vs Valencia
Oct 18 – Away vs Gelsenkirchen, Champ’s
Oct 22 – Away vs Real Madrid
Oct 25 – Home vs Barcelona
Oct 28 – Home vs Almeria
Oct 31 – Home vs Gelsenkirchen, Champs

Now that is rough patch. Away games against Valencia, Gelsenkirchen, Real Madrid, and home vs Barca and Gelsen. Only Almeria looks okay there, and even Barcelona beat Almeria.

We draw Lugo in the Copa del Rey

Barca has two more losses, on the road vs Sevilla and hosting Real Betis., With 8 games, they are currently 17th in the Liga.

Pick up where you left off vs Valencia! I begin countering. We injure a Valencian in the 9th minute of play. Valencia have been all over our side of the pitch. They get a yellow in the 27th. Another in the 29th. Half, 0-0. Keep going, we can win this one! I send in Rico, Boveda, and Iturrasape. We tie 0-0. They had 32 shots, 14 on target, to our 7 and 2. MOM is Etxeita

Upgrade for training facilities completed.

The away match vs Gelsenkirchen is here. I begin countering, and Oyarzabal is starting. We have a big set of pressure early, but it settles around the 11th minute and things dial back to normal. Oyarzabal to Muniain for a goal in the 33rd. Then in the 44th, he hits Williams for a score. 2-0 half. Don’t get complacent out there! And apparently, they do not, because Benat feeds Williams a goal in the 57th. I send in Suseata, Yeray, and Iturrasape. We hold off, and win 3-0. Mom is Oyarzabal. Good win!

We are dominating our group. As is Real Madrid. They were in a very very tough draw, Real Madrid, Kobenhaven, Bayern and Juve. The group of death, but they have 9 points in three games and are looking quality to win.

[Abe Sargent]

I put Boveda on the transfer list and then place him on a backup role. He wants big boy football, and he deserves it. And I need a sub who’s better at DC than him. So I transfer list him

We have not beaten Real Madrid in the last six games against them. I have 1 win in 8 games against them. I have my best XI for this away match. We lose 4-1.

The Barca match is here, and in prep, I handed out a day of rests to keep ,my starting Xi vs them. We have a much better Barcelona record than a Real Madrid one. This is Inaki Williams 100th game for us, and the 225th for Muniain. I want to see a much better performance than last time! Muniain to Griezmann for goal in the 33rd. U. Lopez to Williams in the 43rd. Half, we are up 2-0. Don’t get complacent out there! Lopez to Muniain for a goal in the 47. Neymar grabs a goal in the 56th. I San Jose gifts a penalty in the 59th, and messi of course sinks it. I immediately pull him for Yeray and Iturrasape heads in too. Rico later. Can we hold on? We can! We win 3-2. Good job.

And, as expected, Barca have just sacked their manager. Barcelona, this season is 18th in the liga after 10 games. They have 9 points from 3 wins over Almeria, Deportivo, and barely over Getafe. They have lost to Atletico, Athletic, Real Madrid, Villareal, Valencia, Real Betis and Sevilla. Now, to be fair, those are all of the good teams. Last year, Barca, RM, AM, us, Val and Sev were 1-6, right. Celta was 7th. Right now Betis is 4th and having a good early start, and very much in form. But still, I imagine that it is clearly time for a managerial change.

That is the second time in my dynasty that a defeat over Barcelona by us led to a managerial change, the first was after the Copa del Rey final where we beat them and they didn’t make it to Europe that year as a result of their poor Liga placement.

[Abe Sargent]

For the Almeria match, I start Yeray, Gomez, Rico, and Suseata. Gomez to Garcia, 21st, Gomez to Williams, 22nd, Gomez to Suseata, 41st, half. We are up 3-0. In a desperation to score, they sink a long shot from way out in the 52nd. Garcia to Williams in the 61st. I send in San Jose, Iturraspe. We win 4-1. Gomez was MOM.

Our Gelsenkirchen match here here. I send in my lads controlling and with my starting XI again. We are pushed early. We give up a penalty in the 7th but Kepa blocks it. Then we give up a goal in the 12th. I push back to Standard. They keep coming forward, and eventually I slide back to countering just before the half. In extra time, Greizzman gets a counter on from Muniain and sinks it Half, we are down 1-1. They have considerably more possession and shots that we do. I tell them to get another goal! We head out. They score in the 55th. I send in two subs, and then Williams gets a goal from Lopez n the 69th. I send in Oyarzabal. We tie them 2-2. Well, I could have slid to countering earlier when I saw how the match was going, so that could have been my fault.

[Abe Sargent]

November

Nov 5 – Home vs Deportivo
Nov 19 Away vs At. Madrid
Nov 22 – Away vs BATE, Champ
Nov 26 – Away vs Sevilla
Nov 29 – Away vs Lugo

Deportivo is here, and I run out Oyarzabal. Match? 4-1 to us. 2 goals by Greizmann, 1 by Williams, 1 by Muniian. 2 assists by Oyarzabal, 1 by Williams, MOM is Griezmann. We were down 1-0 at the half and came back and just trounced the 2nd half.

Etxeita injures his knee in training and is out for 2-3 weeks.

Nov 14 – Spain loses to Wales in the World Cup Quals elimination round and is eliminated. They will not be playing in the 2018 World Cup. Their manager was sacked.

Andoni Santxitz calls a press conference....let’s join that already in progress...

“And I think part of the Spanish squad problem was due to two fatal errors. The first was on the selection of the squad itself. There were players not chosen, and those chosen, that never worked together. A team is more than a group of the best eleven players you have. They have to work together, and support each other. How do you have each other’s backs when something goes wrong? How can you deal with the top flight talent from other squads if you aren’t in tune? It’s more than mere numbers. And the selection policy was never there.

The second major issue was tactically. The previous management assumed that the Spanish squad was the same it has already been. It’s not. It has improved and grown better in some ways, and yet worsened in others. Spain today is not Spain yesterday, and the current management was totally unable to understand that.

I could have taken my Athletic club, added in the best Basque stars not currently playing for us, and won qualification to the World Cup with the same group and matches as Spain. In the group, Spain dropped games to Albania among others, while getting just a playoff appearance, and then lost to Wales twice, 2-1 and 1-0 to lose 3-1 aggregate. If you cannot put a good performance together and get qualified against a team currently ranked 42nd in the FIFA rankings, then I have to question your management, selection, and tactics.

And that is why I have officially applied for the Spanish National Manager position...”