Aitor Herrera - Back In Bilbao

[Klippybo]

HELLO AND WELCOME

It may not (nee will not) come as a surprise to see who I have chosen to be in this new save after my super successful Newcastle one. I have come to my spiritual FM home that is Athletic Bilbao and as ever now I will manage them as one of the best ever regens Aitor Herrera and search for his successor as Bilbao's regen king.

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THE CLUB

As you may be aware the club has a transfer policy of only signing players of a Basque nationality so it really is a huge challenge to dominate world football by rearing your own home grown players. The club has a great new stadium though and excellent youth facilities plus a few decent players to start with so there is a platform to build from.

The club has won 8 league titles and 23 Spanish Cups so there is a rich history too and they have some truly famous old players that are renowned in Spanish football.

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PLEASE FOLLOW AND COMMENT

Any comments are gratefully received. My Newcastle save had a decent amount of views but I found I was posting a dozen or so updates between comments lol. Thanks for viewing though!!!

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[theflyingbird]

Loved the Newcastle save, and the dominance at the end of the save was aspiring.

I'm hoping to learn about Aitor Herrera, and hopefully he takes over the dominance from the Newcastle Save.

 

[Klippybo]

Loved the Newcastle save, and the dominance at the end of the save was aspiring.

I'm hoping to learn about Aitor Herrera, and hopefully he takes over the dominance from the Newcastle Save.

Aitor was a legend. Over 200 caps for Spain. Won every team and individual award going. Had over 1,000 appearances and was even named in Bilbao's squad in the Sky Sports News website.

Here is the link to the original story........
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/football-manager-2012-stories/95968-basque-ing-bilbao.html

Or just google image him lol

 

[Ralph2211]

Looking forward to this. Will definitely be following. I also know what you mean about comments, as I get a decent number of views but very few comments.

 

[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON & SQUAD OVERVIEW

So I take over. After creating my profile with the same stats as Aitor the player it means I am a 21 year old manager lol plus as an international footballer it says he had 16 caps and 7 goals when it was actually 20 times that lol. I always thought that you should be able to create that bit tbh but I digress.

I post this on our 1st matchday towards the end of July so there is still time in the transfer market although we wont be doing anything but I did notice that with the new update that we are going to be getting Ander Capa from Eibar at the end of the season for a couple of million - every little helps lol.

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PLAYERS IN

There have been a few but nobody that you will have heard of. Three youngsters came in for a total of £1.7m. They probably wont feature for the 1st team but they should end up being decent players for the B team. When managing Athletic it is vital that your B side is strong and is a top side in the Liga Adelante. The dream is to have a B side good enough to compete in La Liga!!!
View attachment 64227View attachment 64226View attachment 64225

I also brought in 2 regens on a free. The GK was spotted by me but Iribarren was signed by my director of football and he does actually look like a player so I have hopes for him if he develops fully.
View attachment 64224View attachment 64223

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PLAYERS OUT

None!!! Although I have transfer listed Kike Sola and Mikel Rico.

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SQUAD OVERVIEW

Strength and depth is required to be challenging right at the top and we have the strength but unfortunately no depth!!!! One good thing is the emergence of Kepa Arrizabalaga who is a top quality keeper. In previous years FM the key positions to find a regen for has been GK and CF but Kepa means that we have a great young keeper so no worries there!!!

In defence we may not have Aymeric Laporte any more but we do have Inigo Martinez who was always a near impossible signing from Real Sociedad in previous years games. Inigo Martinez is quality and hopefully Laporte will want to come back in a year or two lol. Mikel San Jose is also a decent CB while Yeray and Nunez look like good decent youngsters while Etxeita is also there.

In the full back area Oscar De Marcos is the RB who can play in midfield too and he is a key player while Mikel Balenziaga is a decent left back while the only real cover I have is Inigo Lekue who does look like a decent player but it isn't enough.

In central midfield I have 2 quality players in Benat and Ander Iturraspe but that's it!!! They really have to stay fit this season. Raul Garcia will play as my AMC and will probably play in MC if any of the first two are injured.

In the wings we are really strong. Inaki Williams on the right is a beast and such is his versatility he may play elsewhere on occasions as we have a really strong backup winger in Markel Susaeta. On the left Iker Muniain is also a really talented player while there is also Aketxe, Sabin and Inigo Cordoba who look decent.

Finally up top is the main problem. Aritz Aduriz is a great striker no doubt but at 35y/o he is only likely to be here for a season so unless Williams replaces him I need to get a quality regen forward quick! Asier Villalibre is out on loan so hopefully he will push on but at the moment Kike Sola is the only other option.

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AIMS FOR THE SEASON

Top 4 and a long run in the Europa League!!!
​

 

[Tracz]

Looking forward to this mate.
What are your finances like?
Any chance of signing a half decent cf?

 

[Klippybo]

JULY/AUGUST

UEFA Europa League 3rd Qualifying Round 1st Leg
v
​​Athletic Bilbao 7 (Inigo Martinez 4, Cordoba 21, 36, 42pen, Aduriz 45, Iturraspe 74, Susaeta 79)
KV Oostende 2 (Zivkovic 55, Gano 64)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos (Lekue), San Jose, Inigo Martinez, Balenziaga, Benat, Iturraspe, Williams, Raul Garcia (Aketxe), Cordoba*, Aduriz (Susaeta)

Not a bad way to welcome Aitor back into the fold!!!! I must admit that when they scored their 2 goals they missed a few chances and we were all over the place but we stepped up a gear and put the tie to bed.

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UEFA Europa League 3rd Qualifying Round 2nd Leg
v
​​KV Oostende 1 (Capon 85pen)
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Cordoba 12, Aduriz 15, Susaeta 48)
(Agg: 3-10)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Lekue, Etxeita (Gil), Nunez, Balenziaga, Benat, Iturraspe, Susaeta*, Aketxe, Cordoba (Merino), Aduriz

Safely through and I took the opportunity to see how some of my backups are although I know all about Susaeta's quality.

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UEFA Europa League Play-off 1st Leg
v
​​Hapoel Be'er-Sheva 1 (Nitzan 29)
Athletic Bilbao 4 (Williams 16, 45, Muniain 27, Aduriz 40)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos, San Jose, Inigo Martinez, Balenziaga (Isma Lopez), Benat, Iturraspe, Williams*, Raul Garcia (Cordoba), Muniain, Aduriz (Susaeta)

The key to any success this season will be decided by the amount of goals that Muniain, Aduriz and Williams so it was nice to see all 3 get on the scoresheet here.

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v
​​Celta Vigo 2 (M.Gomez 7, Radoja 42)
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Aduriz 35, Susaeta 90)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos (Lekue), San Jose, Inigo Martinez, Balenziaga, Benat, Iturraspe, Williams (Susaeta), Raul Garcia, Muniain (Cordoba), Aduriz*

Not the perfect start to the league campaign but an acceptable one. Susaeta's stoppage time goal rescues a point for us in an entertaining game.

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UEFA Europa League Play-off Round 2nd Leg
v
​​Athletic Bilbao 1 (Vesga 43)
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 0

(Agg: 5-1)​

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Lekue, Etxeita (Gil), Nunez, Isma Lopez, Vesga*, Benat, Susaeta (Zarraga), Aketxe (Raul Garcia), Cordoba, Merino

Our came the backups and while it wasn't overly convincing we got the job done as we qualify for the group stages.

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v
​​Athletic Bilbao 2 (Aduriz 41, Raul Garcia 55)
Alaves 0

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos, San Jose, Inigo Martinez, Balenziaga, Banat (Aketxe), Iturraspe, Williams*, Raul Garcia, Muniain (Cordoba), Aduriz

Alaves are a fellowe Basque side so to win in a minor derby match is pleasing. A clean sheet is pleasing too!

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SUMMARY

That is the first month over with and it was very successful! We progressed in Europe by thumping Oostende and Hapoel Be'er Sheva and got 4pts out of 6 in our opening league games which is decent. Real Madrid have drawn already and Barcelona have lost - not that we will be challenging them at the end of things!!!

In the Europa League we have been given a very favourable group as we have been drawn against Malmo, Zorya and Braga.

I did dip into the transfer market unexpectedly though. I was aware that I needed a left back to challenge Balenziaga so while doing a cursory check on the peeps that were interested I noticed Isma Lopez and paid £4.5m to bring him in from Sporting Gijon. This is his 3rd spell with us and while he is no world beater he should be a solid squad member.
View attachment 64212


I also brought in a 16y/o on loan from Sporting Gijon. I did offer to buy him but didn't want to stump up the £2m to get him so I arranged a loan deal to bring him in and since he is 16 that means he now gains Basque nationality.
View attachment 64213

That was that and then on deadline day Barcelona bid £15m for Ander Iturraspe. Now that offer was reasonable but I could not afford to sell him as he is one of only 2 quality CMs that I have so now I have a very unhappy key player in my squad since I denied him his move.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
INAKI WILLIAMS
View attachment 64214
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[Klippybo]

Looking forward to this mate.
What are your finances like?
Any chance of signing a half decent cf?

The only striker out there is Griezmann so not a chance lol.

Only got £10m anyway so I need to generate a whole load of cash before I can think of bringing in any top targets. Mikel Merino - who was amazing in my Newcastle save - is realistic target No1.

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Any comments are gratefully received. My Newcastle save had a decent amount of views but I found I was posting a dozen or so updates between comments lol. Thanks for viewing though!!!

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Those days are gone. 5 years ago as i'm sure you remember twitch was in its infancy, they would get views by going live but nothing compared to now where thats so much more popular and easily accessible. Twitter & youtube pages have taken so many viewers from FmBase

 

[bamosteel]

Isma Lopez was for some reason great for me in a trophy-less 4 seasons Athletic Save in FM17. He would score worldies from LM position (was playing 343). I actually never understood why he was so solid.

Regarding CF, How about Jon Bautista ? He didn't have good attributes. Physicals were decent though I think.

Sent from my SM-G900H using Tapatalk

 

[Klippybo]

​​

​​SEPTEMBER


​​v
​​Villarreal 0
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Iturraspe 10, Muniain 16, Williams 48)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos, San Jose, Inigo Martinez (Nunez), Balenziaga, Benat, Iturraspe*, Williams, Raul Garcia, Muniain, Aduriz (Susaeta)

If this result is a true reflection of where we are then we are in for a great season as we put Villarreal to the sword here as we thump them 3-0 away. Ander Iturraspe scored a screamer from the edge of the area to get us underway.

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UEFA Europa League Group L

v
Zorya Luhansk 1 (Melnychuk 90)
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Aketxe 7, Vesga 50)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Lekue, Etxeita, Nunez, Isma Lopez, Benat (Rico), Vesga, Susaeta (Zarraga), Aketxe*, Cordoba, Merino

A decent victory as my backups perform once again. Ager Aketxe was influential and starred but Sabin Merino struggled up front.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Aduriz 47, 79, Cordoba 81)
Getafe 1 (Fajr 10)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos, San Jose, Inigo Martinez, Balenziaga, Benat, Iturraspe, Williams, Raul Garcia (Aketxe), Muniain (Cordoba), Aduriz*

We battered Getafe throughout here but somehow found ourselves a goal down at half-time but we quickly levelled after the break and got 2 goals towards the end to claim all 3pts.

--

v
​​Levante 1 (Morales 52)
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Aduriz 49)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos, Nunez, Inigo Martinez, Balenziaga (Isma Lopez), Benat (Aketxe), Iturraspe, Williams, Raul Garcia, Muniain (Merino), Aduriz

I cant complain about this result as Levante matched us step for step. Hey ho. A bigger challenge awaits!

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 0
Barcelona 3 (Suarez 19, 63, Parejo 50pen)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos, San Jose, Inigo Martinez, Balenziaga (Isma Lopez), Benat, Iturraspe, Williams, Raul Garcia (Aketxe), Muniain, Aduriz (Susaeta)

We went toe to toe with Barcelona here and actually matched them but they were ruthless in front of goal whereas Aduriz missed 2 sitters early on before they scored. Muniain got injured and is out for 4 weeks too which is a blow.

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UEFA Europa League Group L
v

​​Athletic Bilbao 4 (Susaeta 26, Merino 30, 84, Nunez 44)
Braga 0

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Lekue, Etxeita, Nunez, Isma Lopez*, Benat (Raul Garcia), Vesga (Rico), Susaeta, Aketxe, Cordoba, Merino

This was a convincing victory as we take a strong grip of our group. Malmo have also won 2 out of 2 so its them and us going through it looks like.

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SUMMARY

September was more tricky but overall it was a decent month and we are still in good shape. In the league we got a great win away to Villarreal while we also defeated Getafe and drew with Levante but we did lose to Barcelona.

In the Europa League we have comfortably won our opening 2 games of the group stage and have given some of our backups game time so that will hopefully prove to be beneficial to the likes of Nunez, Aketxe and Cordoba.

In the Copa del Rey we will play Mallorca who have fallen on hard times it seems.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ARITZ ADURIZ
View attachment 64198

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LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 64197
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[Klippybo]

Isma Lopez was for some reason great for me in a trophy-less 4 seasons Athletic Save in FM17. He would score worldies from LM position (was playing 343). I actually never understood why he was so solid.

Regarding CF, How about Jon Bautista ? He didn't have good attributes. Physicals were decent though I think.

Sent from my SM-G900H using Tapatalk

Bautista looks not bad but with him being at Real Sociedad it is unlikely that I will get him. Cheers for the shout though as I had forgotten about him!

 

[Hampus Silverholt]

Only joined FM-Base a few months ago and I'm ashamed to say that I was unaware of Aitor Herrera's existence until I saw this thread and then looked at your FM12 story. When you say he was on the Sky Sports News website... like did they actually think he was a real player? And there's a profile for Aitor Herrera on ESPN that says he's played one game in the Europa League in 2011.. is this THE Aitor Herrera?

 

[Klippybo]

Only joined FM-Base a few months ago and I'm ashamed to say that I was unaware of Aitor Herrera's existence until I saw this thread and then looked at your FM12 story. When you say he was on the Sky Sports News website... like did they actually think he was a real player? And there's a profile for Aitor Herrera on ESPN that says he's played one game in the Europa League in 2011.. is this THE Aitor Herrera?

Yeah they did. Just appeared out of nowhere and I think they said he played in a Europa League qualifier against Trabzonspor or Besiktas or someone but it was Ander Herrera and he played twice anyway and was also listed in the squad alongside Aitor in the website

 

[Klippybo]

OCTOBER

​​v
​​Real Betis 1 (Bartra 9)
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Susaeta 75)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos (Lekue), San Jose, Inigo Martinez, Isma Lopez, Benat, Iturraspe (Aketxe), Susaeta, Raul Garcia, Williams (Cordoba), Aduriz

That's 3 league games without a victory now which is worrying and with Atletico Madrid up next it is going to be a struggle not to make it 4. Iturraspe got injured and is out for a few weeks.

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v
​​Atletico Madrid 1 (Gameiro 10)
Athletic Bilbao 0

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos, San Jose, Inigo Martinez*, Isma Lopez, Benat, Vesga, Susaeta (Aketxe), Raul Garcia (Merino), Williams, Aduriz (Cordoba)

And 4 games without a win in the league it is and the top 4 are breaking away from us it seems. They were the better side but annoyingly they scored from a horrendous pass back which should have been avoided.

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UEFA Europa League Group L
v
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Dahlin og15, Merino 40, Nunez 89)
Malmo FF 0

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Lekue, Etxeita (Gil), Isma Lopez, Benat, Vesga, Susaeta, Aketxe (Zarraga), Cordoba*, Merino (Sola)

Another easy win in this group stage. Nunez also had a goal disallowed.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Muniain 22, Aduriz 68, Nunez 72)
Malaga 0

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos, San Jose, Balenziaga, Benat (Nunez), Iturraspe, Williams, Raul Garcia (Susaeta), Muniain*, Aduriz

Malaga had moved 5pts clear of us so it was vital for us to claim all 3pts here and we did so in fine fashion. Nunez came off the bench and scored with his 1st touch!

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Copa del Rey 4th Round 1st Leg
v
​​Mallorca 0
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Vesga 19, Susaeta 34)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Lekue, Etxeita (Gil), Nunez, Isma Lopez, Aketxe, Vesga*, Susaeta, Iribarren (Zarraga) (Seguin), Cordoba, Merino

A boring but easy victory here. I gave young regen Iribarren his debut here but he got injured in the 1st half unfortunately but he becomes Athletic Bilbao's youngest ever player.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 4 (Williams 34, 45, Aduriz 76, San Jose 84)
Deportivo La Coruna 1 (Andone 44)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos, San Jose, Inigo Martinez (Nunez), Balenziaga, Benat, Iturraspe, Williams*, Raul Garcia (Aketxe), Muniain, Aduriz (Susaeta)

That's two convincing wins in a row in the league now as we are finding our form. I was delighted that Inaki Williams got a double. In my Newcastle save I had D'Amico on the RW scoring 20+ goals and while I am not expecting that from Inaki now I want him to get at least 10 league goals.

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SUMMARY

This month didn't start off too great as with the results at the end of September coupled with a draw and a defeat at the start of October it meant we slipped a bit in the league but we have managed to battle back by winning our last 2 and finish the month in the top 6 which is decent enough.

In the cups we have a solid lead against Mallorca while our Europa League Group is just a precession really as we are walking it.

I must admit I am still getting used to the lack of quality in my squad! In my Newcastle save I had £50-60m valued players on the bench as well as a sprinkling of wonderkids but here I have some talent but mainly just a group of solid pros. That should change in time (a long time lol) however!!!

My youngster that I signed on loan from Sporting Gijon has been called back as I didn't give him enough football. Well Mr Manager of Gijon - I don't care as he is Basque now lol.
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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
UNAI NUNEZ
View attachment 64119

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LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 64118
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[Hampus Silverholt]

Yeah they did. Just appeared out of nowhere and I think they said he played in a Europa League qualifier against Trabzonspor or Besiktas or someone but it was Ander Herrera and he played twice anyway and was also listed in the squad alongside Aitor in the website

Hahaha that's amazing and yeah ESPN have got a profile for Aitor Herrera who appeared once against Trabzonspor, love it! All that my favourite regen got was a profile named after him on FM-Base...

 

[Klippybo]

NOVEMBER

UEFA Europa League Group L
v
​​Malmo FF 0
Athletic Bilbao 1 (Susaeta 62)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Lekue, Gil, Nunez, Isma Lopez, Benat (Zarraga), Vesga (Rico), Susaeta*, Aketxe, Cordoba, Merino (Sola)

This win secures qualification for the knockout stages. Another point wins us the group.

--

v
​​Sevilla 0
Athletic Bilbao 2 (Muniain 28, 47)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos, San Jose, Inigo Martinez, Balenziaga (Lekue), Benat, Iturraspe, Williams (Susaeta), Raul Garcia (Aketxe), Muniain*, Aduriz

This is a fantastic victory although Sevilla are struggling in mid table but its 3 wins in a row now in the league which is pleasing.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 2 (Benat 27, Aketxe 47)
Las Palmas 1 (San Jose og77)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos, San Jose, Inigo Martinez, Balenziaga (Isma Lopez), Benat, Iturraspe (Vesga), Williams, Aketxe*, Muniain, Aduriz (Cordoba)

--

UEFA Europa League Group L
v

​​Athletic Bilbao 1 (Vesga 35)
Zorya Luhansk 0

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Lekue, Yeray (Gil), Nunez, Isma Lopez, Benat (Rico), Vesga*, Susaeta (Zarraga), Aketxe, Cordoba, Merino

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Williams 67, Cordoba 70, Raul Garcia 78)
Leganes 0

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos, San Jose, Inigo Martinez (Etxeita), Balenziaga, Benat, Iturraspe, Williams, Raul Garcia*, Muniain (Aketxe), Aduriz (Cordoba)

We were expecting the victory and on the hour we got a penalty and they had a man sent-off but Aduriz was wasteful and he was subbed immediately for Cordoba. That proved to be pivotal as he scored one and set up one as we won comfortably.

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Copa del Rey 4th Round 2nd Leg
v
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Iribarren 28, Aketxe 32pen, Sola 88)
Mallorca 2 (Sabater 39, Omoigui 75)
(Agg: 5-2)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Lekue, Yeray, Nunez, Isma Lopez, Aketxe*, Vesga (Gil), Susaeta, Iribarren, Cordoba (Sola), Merino (Zarraga)

Through we go and although Mallorca almost got a result we deserved the win. Iribarren scored a screamer from distance while Yeray had a goal disallowed.

--

SUMMARY

A fantastic month as we won all of our games. We have won our last 5 league games which has propelled us up to 4th in the table - 3pts clear of 5th placed Villarreal so I am happy with that.

In cup football we have 1 match left in the Europa League groups but we are already through having won 5 out of 5 and in the Copa del Rey we defeated Mallorca and will face Malaga in the next round.

A quick update from the B side. They are going great guns in the league and are in 3rd place (despite losing their last game 5-0!) with Racing Santander leading the way but in the U23 International Cup when they faced Man Utd they only lost 1-0 which is fantastic considering Man Utd fielded Lukaku (who scored), Herrera, Rojo and Romero!!!!!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
AGER AKETXE
View attachment 64056
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LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 64055
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[ScottT]

Great month for you there, you're definitely pushing to break the top three.

 

[Tracz]

A great month mate.
Keeping up that form should atleast get you the top 4.

 

[Klippybo]

DECEMBER

​​v
​​Girona 0
Athletic Bilbao 4 (Aduriz 2, 5, Raul Garcia 27, Iturraspe 33)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos, San Jose, Inigo Martinez (Yeray), Balenziaga, Benat, Iturraspe, Williams, Raul Garcia, Muniain, Aduriz*

Girona are rock bottom and were out of it within 5min here. I am a bit peeved that we didn't get 5 or 6 but 4 will do and that's 6 wins in a row now in La Liga.

--

UEFA Europa League Group L

v
​​Braga 0
Athletic Bilbao 4 (Cordoba 11, Merino 22, Nunez 56, Zarraga 69)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, Lekue, Yeray, Nunez, Isma Lopez, Benat (Gil), Iturraspe, Susaeta (Zarraga), Aketxe*, Cordoba, Merino

This makes it 6 wins out of 6 as we finish the group stages in fine style here.

--

v
Valencia 3 (Vietto 13, 14, Zaza 20)
Athletic Bilbao 0

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos (Lekue), San Jose, Inigo Martinez, Balenziaga (Isma Lopez), Benat, Iturraspe, Williams, Raul Garcia, Muniain, Aduriz (Susaeta)

Terrible. We were 3 down in 20min and I am grateful it stopped there. This defeat ends our 6 game winning streak in the league and 12 games in total.

--

v
​​Real Sociedad 1 (Willian Jose 34)
Athletic Bilbao 3 (Aduriz 71, Williams 73, Raul Garcia 90)

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos, San Jose, Inigo Martinez, Balenziaga (Isma Lopez), Benat, Iturraspe (Aketxe), Williams*, Raul Garcia, Muniain (Cordoba), Aduriz

DERBY DAY JOY!!!

At 1-0 down and with our best player so far, Iturraspe, off injured I thought we were doomed but 2 goals in 3 minutes turned the match around and Raul Garcia added gloss to the scoreline deep into stoppage time.

Aduriz's goal makes him the clubs oldest ever goalscorer.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 3 (Muniain 20, Williams 25, Aduriz 30)
Espanyol 0

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos, San Jose (Nunez), Inigo Martinez, Balenziaga, Benat, Vesga, Williams* (Susaeta), Raul Garcia (Aketxe), Muniain, Aduriz

Up to 3rd in the table we go!!! Real Madrid have 2 games in hand though. For half an hour we were irresistible and then we took our foot off the pedal.

--

v
​​Athletic Bilbao 4 (Aduriz 1, 48pen, Benat 15, Muniain 38)
Eibar 0

Lineup - Arrizabalaga, De Marcos, Yeray, Inigo Martinez, Balenziaga, Benat*, Iturraspe, Williams, Raul Garcia (Merino), Muniain, Aduriz

Eibar are a fellow Basque side and we thumped them here for our 3rd straight league win and 9 wins out of 10 in the league also.

--

SUMMARY

We ended the calendar year in fine style as we scored 4 goals 3 times and 3 goals once but we did get humped by Valencia in the league. The highlight of the month undoubtedly was the derby match against Real Sociedad where we won 3-1.

In the Europa League we finished our group with a 100% record and will play PSV Eindhoven in the next round - an awkward tie but I fancy our chances.

The big clubs of Europe are circling around my big players which is a worry. They aren't going anywhere as most signed new long term contracts with high release clauses when I took over (task No1 when taking over Athletic) but it can lead to an unhappy dressing room.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ARITZ ADURIZ
View attachment 64005

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LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 64004
​