Athletic Bilbao - Journey To The Top

It is always nice to read a story for Bilbao ! Keep it up my friend ! A huge fan of Muniain ha ha
 
You must have a whole team of youngsters with big potential now? Seem to buy 3 youngsters ever transfer windows! Love it
 
BarcaBoy26 said:
You must have a whole team of youngsters with big potential now? Seem to buy 3 youngsters ever transfer windows! Love it
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Yeah its looking good with some of the youth coming through, just started the new season and Ruiz at CB and Exposito on the wing are both getting game time at the moment need to build it up over time and introduce the youngsters, dont want to suddenly have to use them all at once.
 
Athletic Bilbao

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July 2018 - Part 2

Just after sell Xabi Alonso, another CM Benat picks up a bad injury

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Oh Poo, Young Striker Christian Sanz has a release clause of just £1.5Million and doesnt want to speak to me about a new deal! Its like come on you just saw Aduriz retire and are likely to play a lot more this season but you do this to me

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Spain Win the World Cup with our midfielder Ander Herrera starting

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Everyone loves Spain Manager Luis Enrique now and im thinking of looking towards a different International career now as it looks like he could be at Spain for a while, i want to complete the Under 19's Euro's as we are one of the favourites for the tournament, but like it happens after every World Cup there are loads of top jobs available like Holland, Belgium, Italy, Croatia and Portugal.

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Lyon agree to Susaeta Testimonial

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EuroU19 Group Stage
SpainU19S 1 - FranceU19S 0

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Winger Exposito one of my Athletic players gets the only goal of the game to see us start the Tournament with a big win.

EuroU19 Group Stage
FinlandU19S 0 - SpainU19S 0

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A terrible result after the France win we were all over Finland but just couldnt find the back of the net.

Muniain set to miss the start of the new season

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EuroU19 Group Stage
SpainU19S 1 - GermanyU19S 1

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We were lucky to come away from this match with a point as Germany were all over us, it took another goal from Exposito to see us ****** a draw.

We go through to the Semi Finals 2nd in our group

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In the end every big club around seem to put a bid in for Christian Sanz but he went to Chelsea

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EuroU19S Semi Finals
SpainU19S 2 - PortugalU19S 1

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Winger Paco who has done nothing all tournament suddenly comes alive and nets early on before going on to netting a very late winner to see us through to the Finals.

EuroU19S Finals
HollandU19S 0 - SpainU19S 0
(Spain Win 4-3 on Pens)

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Oh Yes! We win the Tournament and i get my 3rd piece of silverware as a Manager thanks to a penalty shoot out win.

Spain Under 19's Win Euro Under 19s Championship

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Dream Team

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Starting my Coaching course which will cost a massive £960 to complete

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Athletic Bilbao

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August 2018

Right Winger Susaeta gets his Testimonial the 3rd Testimonial since i took charge we have given

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Xabi Alonso's replacement comes in for just under £5Million in the shape of DMC Mikel Merino, Iturraspe is probably slightly ahead of him at the moment but he is closing in on 30.

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Mikel Merino - DMC

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We have moved up in the World with the Media and Bookies now believing we should finish 3rd in the league this season behind Real Madrid and Barcelona

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I forgot to take a lot of the youngsters off playing for the reserves to get their match fitness up so we havent got a lot to choose from coming into the first game of the new season

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Spanish Super Cup Final 1st Leg
Athletic 0 - Real Madrid 1

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Well this was a bit of a crazy result, Real were determined to get that goal and they managed to score it in the 90th minute after seeing 2 penalties saved minutes earlier i really thought we could hold out for the draw.

The Starting 11 for the new Season

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Youngsters Exposito, Merino and Ruiz are the players to look out for this season.

Super Cup Final 2nd Leg
Real Madrid 1 - Athletic 1

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Llorente put us ahead on the night with our only shot on target throughout the whole game! It didnt take long before Real Madrid equalized and then that was that and the game was over.

Winger Exposito makes his debut after recent years on loan hes looking a very good player whilst DMC Mikel Merino made his debut too.

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Athletic 1 - Real Betis 0

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Llorente nets the only goal of the game really early on as we dominate but cant find the back of the net again almost the complete opposite to the Real Madrid game previous.

As im looking to leave Spain U19s i decided to put all 10 of my youngsters into their next match

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10 Athletic Players in the Spain U19's Squad

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A very interesting group drawn in the Champions League, we are 3rd seeds in the group but along with Zenit and Roma we are all very similar teams so this group could go to anybody

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Villalibre finally leaves

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Spanish Summer Transfer Window

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The big deals included Thiago rejoining Barcelona and Rekik who scored that own goal for us against Real Madrid in the Cup Final in May is shipped out to PSG along with Saul joining PSG too.

Just £6Million spent whilst almost £13Million comes in.

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Athletic Bilbao

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September 2018

At Madrid 1 - Athletic 1

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Elustondo is out for 4 weeks which will allow some of the youngsters to get a game at CB

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18 year old Ruiz made his debut coming off the bench after the Elustondo injury

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Our next SpainU19s game sees 6 Athletic players in the Starting 11

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Friendly
SpainU19s 3 - South KoreaU19s 1

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England beat us in my final game in charge, im not sure if having this job was hindering me getting another?!? Holland have not had a Manager since the World Cup so i decided to resign to see if they finally came in for me.

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Tonkin Resigns from Spain Under 19s

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Athletic 1 - Deportivo 0

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Centre back Ruiz has looked solid at the back since getting his first game a couple of weeks ago but i certainly wasnt expecting him to net the winner

Ouch Muniain out for 3 Months!

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I finally get the Holland National Team job, they had a poor World Cup not making it out of the groups and are currently ranked 13th in the World

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Champions League Group Stages
Athletic 1 - Roma 1

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Real Sociedad 0 - Athletic 1

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All of our matches have been really close so far this season as we really miss Aduriz

Athletic 2 - Malaga 0

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Wey we finally score more than one goal in a match this season.

Striker Juan Jose makes his debut

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Racing 0 - Athletic 4

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I know the two clubs are in separate countries and not related but this result made me slightly happier after just seeing Leicester lose to Racing Metro in the Rugby.

League Table

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Joint top with Real Madrid but Celta and Sevilla are just an extra point behind.


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Well done winning the U-19 Euros! I always like playing with the U-19's, but I have a hard time ever winning anything due to inconsistency.
 
Good job by claiming the Copa del Rey yet again (it's been a while since Athletic won a Cup in real life, they even lost their "king of cups" monicker due to that title drought) and good job with the kiddos.
Will your appointment as Netherlands national team's manager act as a bridge for a future appointment as Spain's?

.P.S.: Nice to see that you signed Mikel Merino, this lad will do wonders on your midfield.
 
I see Lllorente has done well taking over as the experienced front-man from Aduriz, no need to fix what isn't broken.

And good to see you move on internationally, see what the future holds next!
 
Could you show us a screen shot of the two youngsters you mentioned to me earlier?
 
Xhaka Kahn said:
Well done winning the U-19 Euros! I always like playing with the U-19's, but I have a hard time ever winning anything due to inconsistency.
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We were so lucky to win the tournament really! With 2 draws in the groups i didnt think it would end so well!
Zlatan Lumic said:
Good job by claiming the Copa del Rey yet again (it's been a while since Athletic won a Cup in real life, they even lost their "king of cups" monicker due to that title drought) and good job with the kiddos.
Will your appointment as Netherlands national team's manager act as a bridge for a future appointment as Spain's?

.P.S.: Nice to see that you signed Mikel Merino, this lad will do wonders on your midfield.
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Not sure if being Holland will help or not but after Enrique won the the World Cup i knew the Spain job wouldnt be available for a couple of years at least.
dporter8999 said:
I see Lllorente has done well taking over as the experienced front-man from Aduriz, no need to fix what isn't broken.

And good to see you move on internationally, see what the future holds next!
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Yeah Llorente has done well so far but im still missing Aduriz! Inaki Williams doesnt seem to have kicked on either last season so we are a bit short upfront. thanks for reading
 
Love reading about Bilbao, they are such a strange side with the transfer restrictions they have, but have always been a thorn in the side of top teams. Hope the younger players can step up so there isn't a big gap between the experienced and inexperienced players.
 
Athletic Bilbao

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October 2018 Part 1

Champions League Groups
Zenit 0 - Athletic 0

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My first Holland Squad

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Holland have got some brilliant youngsters especially in the midfielder but our Striker options arent the best, we have the likes of Ghazi and Depay that can play upfront but our best out and out striker is Bas Dost.

Athletic 1 - Cordoba 0

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Another narrow 1-0 win with Llorente netting another early goal to seal all 3 points.

El Ghazi out injured and Dost comes back in

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Clasie injured and Bazoer comes in, will i get any of my Original Squad to the first game

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My first Holland game is my 194th overall as a Manager

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Gone for the same tactic as Athletic for my first game in charge of Holland

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Athletic Bilbao

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October 2018 - Part 2

European League Division A Group 2
Holland 4 - France 3

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A brilliant win to start life as Holland Manager as we grab a last gasp winner with both our wingers John and Promes having very good games.

2 Goal Hero Ola John

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19 Year Old Winger Nunnely Gets his first Cap

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Ola Johns Goals was his first in a Holland shirt

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European League Division A Group 2
Holland 3 - Croatia 1

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Depay has a poor game upfront but our attacking trio is key for the win again with Promes and John netting a goal each either side of Wijnaldum's wonder goal.

The previous manager Fred Rutten actually lost the opening game of the qualifiers to Croatia but our back to back wins send us to the top of the mini table with just France left to play

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Athletic 0 - Barcelona 1

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It was a very even game and i felt like we got the best of them for some of it but they just had the better poacher at the right time with Suarez popping up late on with a scrappy goal and it was all over.

Champions League Groups
Dinamo 0 - Athletic 3

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So i made a whole host of changes for this match giving some of the youngsters a game and Williams a chance upfront but he didnt take it and it was Raul Garcia one of the players who stayed in the starting 11 who netted a Hattrick.

Levante 1 - Athletic 3

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Garcia opens the scoring before young striker Juan Jose netted his first goal for the club as i tried him as an option upfront before Inaki Williams netted the 3rd goal from the wing showing hes happier out there.

Eibar 0 - Athletic 1

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Oscar De Marcos gets the only goal of the game just 8 minutes in whilst striker Juan Jose didnt have a good game and was hauled off around an hour in but centre back Ruiz has started to feel at home in that spot next to Laporte.

League Table

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I feel like we have had a very good start to the new season with 8 wins from 10 games but Real Madrid have played a game less but are on the same points.​
 
jonnyharb said:
Any chance u can upload your tactic? I love the story
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The original tactic was downloaded on this website not long after FM 2016 came out but since then i have adapted it to each team i have used it with, main differences on this one being the likes of using a Poacher upfront and the deep lying and advanced playmaker roles

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Athletic Bilbao

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November 2018

200 Games in Management with Athletic Bilbao, Spain Under 19's and Holland

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Athletic 2 - Sevilla 0

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Exposito comes off the bench to net the first goal before Inaki Williams nets another late on to secure the win.

Champions League Groups
Athletic 4 - Dinamo 1

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Half the side is full of youngsters given a chance and most of them took it with Merino and Jose both getting goals.

The other centre back called Ruiz makes his debut

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Holland Squad Announced - Not a single player in the squad plays their club football in Holland!

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Inaki Williams gives up on playing for Spain and decides to go for Liberia!

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Villareal 3 - Athletic 4

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2-0 up at half time and we were cruising, that is until Denis Suarez netted a 7 minute Hattrick early on in the second half to put us behind! Llorente got his second of the game to equalize before Captain Raul Garcia got a last gasp winner.

European League Division A Group 2
France 3 - Holland 4

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The same highscoring game as the previous encounter but even more impressive as we were away from home, Depay finally had a decent game upfront for us to netting a brace.

We top our group and will play in the Semi Finals of the tournament next summer with Germany, England and Spain

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Holland 2 - Ecuador 2

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A poor result even if it was only a friendly, we seem to be able to score a lot of goals but just cant keep them out of our own net either.

Van Der Wiel breaks his own Assists Record

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Depay breaks his goals in a season Record

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Real Oviedo 0 - Athletic 2

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Herrera nets the opener from a penalty around half an hour in before young AMC Marin nets the second to seal the 3 points

Champions League Groups
Roma 2 - Athletic 2

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Llorente puts us ahead twice but they had Dzeko to peg us back both times and we have to settle for another draw.

League Table

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Still 3 points behind Real Madrid who are Unbeaten in the opening 13 games whilst Barcelona are a further 2 points behind us.


​
 
Athletic Bilbao

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December 2018

Athletic 1 - Real Madrid 1

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We manage to ****** a 1-1 draw against main Rivals Real Madrid, Luka Modric netted for them early on before Llorente netted the equalizer just before half time, Since i started this save we have faced Real Madrid 12 times and beaten them just the once when we won the Spanish Cup last season thanks to that own goal.

Spanish Cup 4th rnd 1st Leg
Sabadell 0 - Athletic 2

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I forgot to change some of the first team out but they were disappointing against such lower league opposition, it took youngsters Exposito and Merino coming off the bench to change the game with two quick goals to seal the win.

Athletic 2 - Granada 0

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Well the referee really loved us as we got 3 penalties in this match to help us along to win 2-0 with Llorente netting the first one early on before Laporte missed his penalty in injury time before Herrera scored his penalty just 1 minute later.

Champions League Groups
Athletic 1 - Zenit 1

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Yet another draw as Danny scores for them just after the hour mark but Llorente got his 12th goal just 2 minutes later to secure a point.

We make the Knockout stages of the Champions League despite all of these draws

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Elche 1 - Athletic 2

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Elche netted very early on before 19 year old Exposito netted his 4th goal of the season to equalize in the second half before Captain Garcia netted the winner.

We get a tough draw facing PSG in the Champions League Knockout stages

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Spanish Cup 4th rnd 3nd leg
Athletic 0 - Sabadell 1

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Our second team was all over them but they got the only goal of the game to secure the win but we won the tie 2-1 on aggregate to make the next round, 4 shots to our 28 but they win!

A very easy qualifying group for Holland for the next Euro's with our main rivals Turkey all the way down in 48th in the World Rankings.

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Almeria 0 - Athletic 3

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It was a pretty even game but our attacking trio of Muniain, Garcia and Williams all got a goal to gain all 3 points.

League Table

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Despite another impressive month in the league we are still 3 points off Real Madrid with nearly half the season gone, the 14th of April is the date to look out for as we face Real Madrid in a huge match if this continues.

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