Club Atletico Madrid S.A.D – Another Essential Guide
First of all, thanks for Chris for his amazing Newcastle guide that inspired me into doing a similar guide for Atletico Madrid. I know there are 1 or 2 FM Stories, but they´re old and certainly not for the latest patch. This guide will also follow more or less Chris´s guide structure, since I wanted to keep some consistency.
I was planning on doing a similar guide for some time, but couldn’t decide on which team to actually do it. I wanted a team with rich history a decent squad, and ready to break the hegemony placed by Barcelona and Real Madrid. And after Atletico´s recent defeat to RM, that desire became stronger. As a matter of fact, Atletico hasn’t been able to defeat RM in the last 10 years, not even at their home stadium. Having said this, let´s go to the “goodies”.
FACTS
Nickname: Los Colchoneros
Stadium Capacity: 54581 All-seater
Media Prediction: 4th
Board Expectations: Qualify for Champions League through participation in league BBVA
Transfer Budget: Around 6 M €
Wage budget remaining: Around 15000 €
Ok, now I am gonna go through step by step, basically how I do it at beginning of every savegame, some may have better/different methods, but this one worked for me in several teams. Before I go on, this was intended for the latest patch 10.3
A) Hold meetings, reject intra-friendly game
B) Release staff not needed and players ending contract in Atletico Madrid B and C. None of them are worth keeping.
C) Hot prospects: Ibra, Borja, De Gea, Camacho, Pacheco, Bozzoni
Pacheco is already on loan. I also loan out Borja and Ibra to get some first team experience. De Gea, I use as my first back-up for Asenjo (although in real life it’s the other way aroundJ), and Camacho I keep him also in the first team. Bozzoni, is kinda good, but not enough for your long term aspirations. Sell him.
STAFF
This is the first thing I address. Get rid of the staff you don´t need. The idea is to get, 4-5 stars in each category. Finding staff is not difficult; in this very same forum are plenty of people recommending staff for different tiers. I do however have my own recommendation. These coaches, physios and scouts are all free agents and willing to join Atletico. In either case, here is a good list of recommended staff too http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/f71/staff-list-t29276.html
PHYSIOS: Gary Lewin, Magnus Forsblad, Fabio Conta
SCOUTS: Now, I know big teams have room for dozen or more scouts. The question is do we need to fill those slots? Not really, I usually need 5-7 scouts, two or three being local. The other to cover the following areas: Central Europe, South America, UK, Eastern Europe. And maybe some countries, like Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Serbia, since they have usually good regens. Who? Well, Txema Noriega, Rudi Wojtowicz, Andrea Pastorello, Ed van Stijn, Ayres Albuquerque, Oliver Bierhoff, Alan Miller, Pep Bonet. I also kept 2 scouts from the original Atletico´s scout team.
ASSISTANT MANAGER: Tough one. I usually would go with Manolo Ruiz or Pepe Grande but because of their past with Real Madrid they won´t come even near to you. So my choice was Jon Andoni Goikoetxea. Whenever I hire an Assistant Manager, beside the obvious attributes needed, he should be reserved and/or media-friendly, since I send him all the time for press conferences, except when I have to introduce a new signing. You can´t go wrong with that. Delgado Meco is also a good option (he also joins as a coach). Things to avoid here are “short-tempered, confrontational, and volatile”
COACHES: I will just name a few that should cover your 4-5 stars easily in your team. Marco Rota, Alexandre Irineu, David Lowe, Nello Malizia, Marcos Alvarez, Andy Renshaw, Paul Winsper, Robert Prosinecki, Daniele Baldini, Gian Nicola Bisciotti and Julio Tous. I know there are better coaches around, but again, these are Free Agents, and are willing to join you. Also I am sure there are other people recommending other staff which you are free to use, you could also use the FM Coach calculator, but it is much funnier to search on your own.
Team settings
The usual, I leave my Assist. Man. in charge of the youth team. I take over the contracts of everybody as well as arranging friendlies. And I also leave current tactics ON, choosing the same tactic as I will use.
TEAM
Goalkeepers: De Gea, Asenjo, Joel, Roberto
Easy one, Ansejo first choice, De Gea is backup. Joel, I try to loan out or if you can, sell him. Roberto is on loan. Now, this is a tricky one. Having only 2 GK, may be risky. Maybe you could loan an experienced GK as a third. Up to you. Recommendations: 1 signing
Left Backs: Mariano Pernia (injured long term), Antonio Lopez, Leandro Cabrera
Definitely try to buy or loan 1 or 2 players. Antonio Lopez is good, but could be better. Mariano Pernia, will take some time to recover. Besides Pernia´s contract is ending at the end of the season and it´s not one I am willing to extend. Cabrera is not good enough, sell it if you can, if not, loan out. Plus he uses a Non-EU spot. Recommendations: 2 signings
Right Backs: Luis Perea, Tomas Ujfalusi, Juan Valera
Even though Perea and Ujfalusi are better as DC, you might reinforce that area. I must remember you, that Atletico doesn´t have a lot of cash to buy class players, so spend it wisely. Recommendations: 1 signing
Central Defenders: Ujfalusi, Perea, Juanito, Pablo, Leandro Cabrera
Well, again, not class, but should do. There are other areas that need more investment. Cabrera is out of the question. Recommendations: 0 signings
Defensive Midfielders: Paulo Assuncao, Raul Garcia, Ignacio Camacho
Both are quite good comparing with what you have in general terms. You might want to get a player on loan or buy one. Recommendations: 1 signing needed (if you plan to rotate with MC positions)
Central Midfielders: Tiago, Raul Garcia, Assuncao, Ignacio Camacho, Jurado and even Aguero
Definitely a place to sign somebody. Aguero is better as a striker, and the others can cover those positions well. Recommendations: 1 signings (if you can combine that with a DM, perfect)
Right Wingers: Simao, Salvio
Now, I have to mention that my tactic does not use wingers, so these players are not required. Still I would try to sell Simao, and loan out Salvio since he just recently joined the club. Note, Fans will be very angry by selling Simao, since most probably he will join Barcelona, RM or Sevilla, all rivals. If you get rid of Salvio (Sell/Loan) you free up a Non-EU slot, quite useful too.
Left Wingers: Simao, Jurado, and Reyes
Same as above except that Jurado can play as MC/AMC so I keep him. Reyes can and will be used as a Striker.
Strikers: Forlan, Reyes, Aguero and Salvio.
Forlan, Reyes and Aguero are needed. Salvio, well it’s not his natural position so again I would loan him out. Since my formation includes 3 strikers, this is definitely a place to get some backups. Recommendation: 2 or 3 Signings
SUMMARY: Quite decent squad, being Goalkeeping and Strikers their main strength. Nevertheless it seemed to me that there was quite a lack of depth in all categories, considering you have to play the Copa del Rey and Champions League/Euro Cup you better find some decent backup. Let me remind you that you can only have 3 Non-EU players. Atletico has currently 1 (considering you loan out or sell Salvio and Cabrera), which means you can sign another two. Don’t start signing all South American players, Africans, Eastern European, because you won´t be able to use them. Nevertheless, Aguero gets a Spanish citizenship on Augut 31st. So that will leave you with 3 spots to play around. Also by selling Simao, you free up quite a bit the wage budget. Which later you might edit, and get more transfer budget instead.
TACTICS
Depends on what you like. I used Mr. Hough´s Wonder Tactic, the classic version. The GCS version it’s also fun to use, I highly recommend not to use King Eric’s version, since it will be all too easy. I also recommend using Goals Galore Glutter. However, for that one, you will need wingers, and have to reinforce there as well. Simplifying formations takes less space in your squad, therefore, less wages, and rotation can be extremely simple. Besides with Goals Galore, you will have to re-structure your squad a bit more. Too many MC´s, DM´s and AM´s... Too many new signings needed.
TRAINING
The ever debate which training you should you use. Dan´s or Tug´s. Or even your own. I have been using Dan´s with great success so I see no reason to change it. I know there are some more complex and useful training in the SI Forum. Again, up to you. Like Alf Ramsey said once, never change a winning team (surely he meant tactic, training as well
)TEAMTALKS
I am sure most of you have read different threads here, so I will not go too much into that. I tell you what has worked for me following the Chris´s guide at Newcastle. For good/decent players, performing well, “have faith”, “don’t let your performance drop”. For Class Players (Forlan, Aguero) “I expect a performance”. For new signings, “no pressure” for the first 3-5 games. For the friendlies “result is no important” and “no pressure”
Recommended TRANSFERS OUT
Simao – Sell
Borja – Loan
Ibra – Loan
Salvio - Loan/Sell
Cabrera - Loan/Sell. If you can´t, put him in Under 19 Squad. Free up that Non-Eu spot. You never know when it might come in handy.
Recommended TRANSFERS IN
Ivan Cuellar (GK) – Decent Backup, and AM has buy back clause at 1 M €
Danut Coman (GK) – Amazing goalkeeper from FC Brasov - Loan
Diego Costa (ST) – Another decent backup for a buy back clause at 1M € (He is worth 4,4M€!!) Can be bought only in the winter transfer though.
Miguel de las Cuevas (AML/C) – If you play with wingers, it’s a must buy – 1M€ buy back clause
Javier Garrido – D/WBL
Vegard Forren – DC/
Yannick Djalo – FC
Helder Postiga – ST
Hedwidges Maduro – DM/MC
James Rodriguez (Favorite player) – AML/C
Rivaldo – AM/FC (used as striker) Decent backup for 1 season
Marquinhos – AM/FC Loan
Fernando Gago – DM/MC Loan to buy
Sandro – DM/MC (World Class) Loan to buy
Tomas Necid – ST Loan to buy
Bernardo – AMR/ST Loan to buy
Fabio Coentrao – AML Loan to buy
Salvador Cabañas – ST (If you can buy only 1 Non-EU, this must be it, or James Rodriguez!!!)
Milan Badelj – AMLRC
Felipe Baloy – DC
Donny Neyra – AMC , another bargain
Danko Lazovic –AMR/ST -1.4 M€
Freddy Guarin – DM
Anthony Anann –DM
Javier Arizmendi – ST
Marco Verratti – AMRLC (DUH!!! Obvious)
Vaclav Kadlec – FC
Lacina Traore – ST
Mario Mandzukic – AM/FC
These are just a few ones that I found useful after some testing. I am sure you all have other recommendations and would welcome any feedback, so that I can add them to this list. If you noticed, I also added some wingers in case you want to play a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-2. I think with 4 or 5 signings covering the basic needs should do fine for your squad. Make sure you renew the contracts of players expiring at the end of the season and don´t extend contract to players that are not worth their wages or performance wise. E.g.1 Ignacio Camacho, E.g.2 Mariano Pernia. I also recommend Raikan´s recommendation list if you are too lazy to search your own players. Bear in mind that most of the buy back players will only join you during the winter transfer window or later.
POSSIBLE TEAM
GK- Asenjo
DR-Valera/Perea
DL-Antonio López/Javier Garrido
DC-Ujfalusi, Pablo, Perea, Juanito
DC- Ujfalusi, Pablo, Perea, Juanito
DM-Maduro, Assuncao, Camacho
CM-Tiago, Jurado, Raul Garcia, Assuncao, Camacho
STL-Reyes, Forlan, Postiga
STC- Forlan, Lacina Traore
STR- Postiga, Agüero, Forlan
USEFUL TIPS
After 2 or three months and then ongoing, check your selling clauses, and if you need some cash for transfer sell those. Especially the buy-back clauses, if you don’t intend to buy them back.
As for visual effects. I have the typical Ad Boards package, the Regen Hairpack. 3D Kits, and all of SilySideways Logo´s which are very nice. I tend to switch from Skin_Skin to Steklo. I have myself modified these skins, changing the background picture and attribute colors. I like dark themed skins, in which the contrast of the attributes is quite visible. All these can be found in the download section.
Personal Note: I usually try to loan out my hot prospects to Newcastle if I can. I am an avid fan of the Magpies, and wouldn’t want to hurt any chances to get a promotion to the Premier. P.S. They just signed Salvador Cabañas, LOL!!! (A)
Thank you Chris again for the inspiration, and also to all who have contributed in his guide in one way or another. I hope you all enjoyed reading this guide and wish you good luck. If this one goes well, it will certainly encourage me to publish another I plan to make on Napoli.
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