Basque-ing in Bilbao

SPAIN

World Cup Qualifying Group 1

Belarus 0-2 Spain
Garcia 2

Confederations Cup
GroupB

Spain 2-0 Cameroon
Barandiaran, Garcia (pen)

New Zealand 0-5 Spain
Aitor Herrera, Barandiaran, Muniain 2, Garcia

Spain 0-2 Brazil

Semi Final
Holland 3-2 Spain
Demir (og), Muniain

3/4 Place Play-Off
Spain 1-1 Mexico (aet)
San Jose
(aet Spain won 4-3 on pens)

Just avoided the sack with that penalty shoot out win. Fermin Garcia won the European Golden Boot Award during the tournament and my B team ended up finishing 3rd in the 2nd division! Reina, Busquets, Ekiza, Pique and Dominguez have all retired from international football with Dominguez being the only 1 I call up currently.

NEXT UP THE POST OF MANY SHOCKS!!!!​
 
images




JAVI MARTINEZ SOLD TO REAL MADRID FOR £30m
images

I have decided to sell my club captain! Why? Well after 10 years of managing him (15 years in total at the club) he hadnt yet even become one of the clubs favoured personnel despite being captain of such a successful team. He was also about to turn 33 and was a substitute most weeks now so decided to put him up for sale and got silly money for him (his value was £14m)! In my 10 years Javi Martinez made 444 appearances and scored 33 times. He has also got 57 caps for Spain and scored once.

ANDER HERRERA SOLD TO REAL MADRID FOR £20m
images

This deal was arranged towards the end of last season. With the emergence of Santano and Ordonez Lopez in the 1st team squad and Jose impressing in the B side I put Ander Herrera up for sale to see what fee I could get and when Real Madrid bid £20m for a player about to turn 32 shortly I gladly accepted! Once again despite being with the club for the duration of my time in Bilbao he was not seen as one of the clubs favoured personnel so I knew I wouldnt receive any flak from board or supporters. Ander Herrera made 405 appearances for the club and scored 57 goals. He has made 95 appearances for Spain and scored 5 times.

FERNANDO LLORENTE RETIRES
images

Well this wasnt a surprise. Club legend Fernando Llorente called it a day aged 36 after spending his whole career with the club. In my 10 years he made 379 appearances and scored 217 goals - a fantastic record on the whole. and he scored 34 times in 75 games for Spain also. Fernando has been key in the development of our young forwards over the years by tutoring them on and off the pitch and has helped out Fermin Garcia, Alfredo and Jose Carlos Sanz amongst others. He will now take up a coaching role at the club.

ALVARO VADILLO WANTS A NEW CHALLENGE!!!!!!
This was a shock. Apparently Alvaro wants a new challenge after 10 years with Bilbao. The only thing is nobody will even match his player value which is currently at £27m. Now I wouldnt even sell him for that as I got more than that for a 33 year old just recently plus Vadillo is only 26 and was named in the World Team of the Year in January. His contract ends at the end of next season (2023) so may just loan him out for a year and see where the land lies upon his return.​
 
images


PRE-SEASON / AUGUST

Return to Bilbao for Markel Susaeta
Unhappy return to San Mames for Ander Herrera and Javi Martinez
Vadillo loaned out to Napoli - Remirez loaned to Sevilla again
UEFA European Super Cup won once more
Real Madrid end up spending £106m - lose first 2 league games!

AIMS
Unbeaten league campaign - thats it!

PLAYERS IN
Just a couple of youngsters for the u19 squad. 2 could be not bad but time will tell. 33 y/o Markel Susaeta makes a surprise return on deadline day on a free transfer from Valencia.
TOTAL COST: £2.2m

PLAYERS OUT
In addition to Javi Martinez, Ander Herrera and Fernando Llorente I ended up loaning out want away winger Alvaro Vadillo to Napoli for a loan fee of £8.75m. No agreed price has been set and the day after he left he signed a new contract with us! Cristian Ayechu joined Las Palmas for £2m and Remirez rejoined Sevilla on loan for £1.3m and I sold some B team players
TOTAL INCOME: £64m

SQUAD SUMMARY
Andoni Santano will be picked alongside Cidoncha as my 1st choice CM and with the departure of Vadillo I will throw in 17 y/o Gomez Comas and give him a chance to flourish. Jose has been promoted from my B team to give us more depth in CM. Tried to loan out Hondo N'Dongo and Rodriguez but there were no takers and I can't give them regular games in the 1st team so will have to spend one final more year in the u19s. Brought back Markel Susaeta as cover for RW on a free as I had promised I would sell Cristian Ayechu. Not a prospect to be had who can play RW or even be trained in that position.

LIGA BBVA TRANSFERS
Ander Herrera and Javi Martinez - Bilbao to Real Madrid £50m
Thom van der Heijden - Fiorentina to Real Madrid £27.5m
Karim Rekik - Manchester City to Real Madrid £16m
Reynald Picard - Las Palmas to Sevilla £11.25m
Edson - Atletico Pareanense to Real Betis £10m

Spanish Super Cup Final 1st Leg
Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Real Madrid
Barandiaran, Perez Vilarroya

Athletic Bilbao 3-2 Valencia
Garcia, Barandiaran, San Jose

UEFA European Super Cup Final
Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Garcia, Jose

SPAIN

Friendly
Spain 3-1 Norway
Garcia, Muniain, Aitor Herrera​
 
Last edited:
Lets all laugh at Madrid :) Hopefully you can get the unbeaten season this time.
 
Madrid the equivalent of Man city gotta spend to win. I prefer your bring the young one's in which is alot better. gd luck with the unbeaten season u should achieve it mate
 
images

(a snazzy kit from the past)

SEPTEMBER

Bilbao win Spanish Super Cup then thrash Real Madrid again in league meeting
Tough group in Europe - Roma, Bayern Munich and Sparta Prague
Barcelona looking very scary!!!!
Spain beat Northern Ireland and Moldova

Good start to the season I suppose. Unfortunately Gomez Comas is out for a month so playing new club captain Iker Muniain out of position. In the league game against Real Madrid we were down to ten men for an hour and scored 3 goals with a man short. Disappointed with the draw against Valladolid but hey ho.
Peculiar goings on against Roma - Santano hit the bar with a penalty on 29min and in the melee that followed we got another penalty which he put over the bar!

Spanish Super Cup Final 2nd Leg
Real Madrid 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Barandiaran, Herrera

Athletic Bilbao 4-0 Real Madrid
Varane (og), Alfredo, Muniain 2

UEFA Champions League Group F
Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Roma
Alfredo 2, Barandiaran

Real Valladolid 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo

Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Real Sociedad
Barandiaran, Perez Villarroya, Herrera

Real Zaragoza 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Herrera, Sanz

UEFA Champions League Group F
Sparta Prague 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Ordonez Lopez, Alfredo

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
EKAIN BARANDIARAN
View attachment 241415

View attachment 241416

SPAIN

World Cup Qualifying Group 1

Northern Ireland 1-4 Spain
Barandiaran, Cidoncha, Aitor Herrera 2

Moldova 0-6 Spain
Garcia 2, Aitor Herrera, Muniain, Cano, Alfredo
​
 
wonderkid360 said:
I only managed to get £5m for Martinez lol
Click to expand...

****** **** - I scored there then! Its pretty hit or miss in fm 12 really I find. How I can get £30m for Javi Martinez and not receive any bids for Alvaro Vadillo is beyond me. Tempted to save it and go forward a few days and see how much I can get for Aitor!
 
KLIPPYBO said:
****** **** - I scored there then! Its pretty hit or miss in fm 12 really I find. How I can get £30m for Javi Martinez and not receive any bids for Alvaro Vadillo is beyond me. Tempted to save it and go forward a few days and see how much I can get for Aitor!
Click to expand...
I recommend selling that Dos sanz guy or whatever his name is.I think he's on loan to Sevilla .Managed to get £7.5 for him.Also,I released Fernando llorente,and at one point he was linked with he espanyol manager's job but joined Liverpool as a player instead.
 
wonderkid360 said:
I recommend selling that Dos sanz guy or whatever his name is.I think he's on loan to Sevilla .Managed to get £7.5 for him.Also,I released Fernando llorente,and at one point he was linked with he espanyol manager's job but joined Liverpool as a player instead.
Click to expand...

Remirez was on loan to Sevilla. Tried to sell him but could only get loan offers again so off to Sevilla he went. Llorente just retired and I gave him a coaching role. Not a great coach - 4 stars in fitness but he is a club legend so felt I had to keep him!
 
KLIPPYBO said:
Remirez was on loan to Sevilla. Tried to sell him but could only get loan offers again so off to Sevilla he went. Llorente just retired and I gave him a coaching role. Not a great coach - 4 stars in fitness but he is a club legend so felt I had to keep him!
Click to expand...
I actually meant Jose Carlos Dos Sanz,sorry.Anyway I would just ignore that since on my save he's worth £19m
 
wonderkid360 said:
I actually meant Jose Carlos Dos Sanz,sorry.Anyway I would just ignore that since on my save he's worth £19m
Click to expand...

Yeah I wouldnt dream of selling Sanz (value £22m currently). He gets most of his starts when I rest Aitor but he can do a job up front although Alfredo is going great guns this season.
 
images


OCTOBER

Bilbao beat Barcelona in key La Liga match
Stunning win away to Bayern Munich
Bilbao B struggling in Liga Adelante
Spain qualify for World Cup

Put Barca in their place! Got some great wins especially away to Sevilla and Bayern. At home to Barca we were fairly comfortable although we had San Jose sent off in injury time. Perez Villarroya is developing very nicely. Pityhe plays in the same position as Muniain and Herrera though!

Athletic Bilbao 6-0 Elche
San Jose 2, Herrera 3, Perez Villarroya

Sevilla 0-3 Athletic Bilbao
Garcia, Santano, Susaeta

UEFA Champions League Group F
Bayern Munich 2-4 Athletic Bilbao
Garcia 4(1pen)

Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Barcelona
Muniain, Gomez Comas

Copa del Rey 4th Round 1st Leg
Sanse 0-3 Athletic Bilbao
Perez Villarroya, Alfredo, Ugalde

Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Las Palmas
Garcia, Gomez Comas, Herrera

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
FERMIN GARCIA
View attachment 241512

View attachment 241513

SPAIN

World Cup Qualifying Group 1

Spain 3-1 Switzerland
Barandiaran, Cidoncha, Garcia

Spain 0-0 Turkey​
 
images


NOVEMBER

Bilbao crush Bayern Munich 6-1
Bilbao still unbeaten but lie in 4th place
Mourinho sacked by Atletico Madrid - Quique Flores takes over
Spain win both friendlies easily

Fantastic start to the month with an amazing 6-1 win over Bayern Munich. We were then 2 down with 10min left against Mallorca but battled back thankfully to keep our unbeaten league record. We were also behind twice when we faced up against Atletico Madrid. 4th place is a false position hopefully as we have 2 games in hand.

UEFA Champions League Group F
Athletic Bilbao 6-1 Bayern Munich
Muniain, Garcia, Ordonez Lopez, Herrera, Gomez Comas, Jose (pen)

Mallorca 2-2 Athletic Bilbao
Garcia 2

Copa del Rey 4th Round 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao 6-1 Sanse
Alfredo, Ordonez Lopez, Moises (og), Perez Villarroya 2, Ruiz Canelada

Athletic Bilbao 5-0 Osasuna
Garcia, Gomez Comas, Herrera, Rubio (og), San Jose

UEFA Champions League Group F
Roma 3-2 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo 2

Atletico Madrid 2-2 Athletic Bilbao
Herrera, Cidoncha

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
GASPAR PEREZ VILLARROYA
View attachment 241548


View attachment 241549

SPAIN

Friendlies

Spain 3-2 USA
Sanz, Cidoncha, Juan Carlos

Cyprus 0-5 Spain
Sanz 2, Garcia 2, San Jose

​
 
images


DECEMBER

Bilbao win FIFA World Club Cup
Old foes Manchester City are Bilbao's next opponents in Champions League
Managerial merry-go-round continues in Spain - Mazzarri clinging on in Madrid
World Cup draw has Spain facing Australia, Paraguay and Russia

Had to laugh at the Champions League draw - Man City again! Must be near double figuresthe amount of times we have drawn against them. In the World Club Cup we cruised it really, I thought Sao Paulo would put up a bit more of a fight. Several players have had their agents coming to me for new contracts after their superb displays -the price to pay I suppose.

UEFA Champions League Group F
Athletic Bilbao 4-1 Sparta Prague
Alfredo, Susaeta, Ordonez Lopez 2

Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Villarreal
Muniain 3

Granada 1-3 Athletic Bilbao
Herrera, Cidoncha, Santano

FIFA Club World Cup
Semi Final
Wydad Casablanca 0-5 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo, Sanz 2, Santano, Alonso

Final
Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Sao Paulo
Militinho (og), Herrera, Gomez Comas

Copa del Rey 5th Round 1st Leg
Athletic Bilbao 4-0 Osasuna
Garcia, Santano, Muniain, San Jose

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ANDONI SANTANO
View attachment 241571

View attachment 241572
​
 
Last edited:
OMG - Just noticed Mallorca have only 4pts and we gave them one of them!!!!!! How embarrasing
 
images


JANUARY

Herrera wins both World Player awards again!
Bilbao eliminate Osasuna and Granada from Copa del Rey
Bilbao B struggling against relegation still so sack Manolo Jimenez

9 games in the month begs the question - why have the winter break? lol. We did well though and are still unbeaten in the league where it looks as though our reign as champions is under threat. We got an injury time equaliser against Valencia which I was chuffed to bits about as they are looking like serious challengers.

Tenerife 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Santano 2(1pen)

Copa del Rey 5th Round 2nd Leg
Osasuna 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Sanz, Ugalde

Sporting Gijon 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
San Jose, Perez Villarroya

Copa del Rey QF 1st Leg
Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Granada
Herrera

Espanyol 1-4 Athletic Bilbao
Cidoncha, Moreno (og), Herrera, Garcia

Copa del Rey QF 2nd Leg
Granada 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Herrera, Garcia

Valencia 2-2 Athletic Bilbao
Herrera, Perez Villarroya

Copa del Rey SF 1st Leg
Real Valladolid 1-3 Athletic Bilbao
Herrera, Ordonez Lopez, Garcia

Athletic Bilbao 5-1 Tenerife
San Jose, Campabadal (og), Herrera, Cidoncha, Gomez Comas

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
AITOR HERRERA
View attachment 241649


View attachment 241658​
 
Just lost 2-0 to Valencia :/ I'm not surprised Herrera's won it again I don't know why the even bother to have it. lol
 
It's insane how well you've done! Are you on the legends list yet?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

FMBase

Beta

Resources

Top