Basque-ing in Bilbao

[Klippybo]

My much threatened Newcastle save will start when Aitor decides to call it a day - but as I have said before I will keep this one going for sure!

After all I have Aranbarri now

Anywho the posts for Bilbao wont be as often obviously as if I have been this committed to them I dread to think what I would be like with my beloved Newcastle!!!!!

Seems silly to say but I have to say Bilbao are my favourite Spanish side now - overtaking Barca - such is the amazing power of FM!!!!!

 

[Andrewpage14]

Wow, this story is simply brilliant! I'll definatly follow your Newcaslte story from the start. This story encouraged me to start a save as Bilbao!

Aitor is a brilliant player, not seen many better than him I'll definatly keep an eye for your Newcastle story when that starts.

 

[Klippybo]

SEPTEMBER

Barca and Bilbao battle out a score draw
Bilbao get Ajax, Besiktas and FC Porto in the Champions League
Minnows Real Oviedo thump Barcelona 5-0!
Spain finally lose their long unbeaten run

Our good start to the season continues. We went ahead against Barcelona but will always be happy to take a point in the Nou Camp. Young striker Aranbarri didnt perform well in that game but he is learning his trade. Just looked at his profile and he is 6ft 6in!!!! Aitor Herrera made his 1st appearance of the season against Real Oviedo.

Sevilla sacked their manager - former England international Daniel Pickup - and they have appointed one of my former B team managers who left to get Elche promoted, Pepe Diaz, who is their 18th manager since the save started. Previous managers include F.de Boer, Aguero, Stoichkov, Jeffren, Mazzarri, Conte, Emery and Paulo Bento! Only de Boer left the club without being sacked.

Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Real Betis
Perez Villarroya, Rogelio, Aranbarri

UEFA Champions League Group C
Besiktas 0-4 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo 2, Busto, Alcalde

Barcelona 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza

Athletic Bilbao 4-0 Real Oviedo
Aranbarri 2, Izurza, Sesma

Cartagena 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Aranbarri, Izurza

UEFA Champions League Group C
Athletic Bilbao 5-1 Ajax
Busto, Alcalde, Meza 2, Gutierrez

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JOSE LUIS IZURZA
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SPAIN

World Cup Quals Group 4

Spain 3-2 Latvia
Perez Villarroya, Izurza, Aranbarri

Portugal 2-1 Spain
Izurza​

 

[Klippybo]

OCTOBER

Bilbao defeat Valencia and Atletico Madrid at home
Age and injuries are taking their toll on Aitor - but he stil scored!
The B team are going strong again - unbeaten in first 10 games
Spain qualify for the World Cup

A decent month with the highlight being the thrashing of Valencia. Not firing on all cylinders though so we need to improve - especially as the mighty force that is Elche are chasing us lol

Xerez 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Perez Villarroya, Garmendia

Athletic Bilbao 5-0 Valencia
Aranbarri 2, Garmendia 2, Izurza

UEFA Champions League Group C
FC Porto 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo

Athletic Bilbao 1-0 Atletico Madrid
Izurza

Copa del Rey 4th Round 1st Leg
Eibar 0-4 Athletic Bilbao
Damia, Alfredo, Gutierrez (pen), Castillejo

Deportivo La Coruna 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Vinas (pen), Herrera

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JAUME GUTIERREZ
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SPAIN

World Cup Quals Group 4

Spain 7-0 Faroe Islands
Alfredo 2, Perez Villarroya, Hvannastein (og), Garmendia, Hondo N'Dongo, Melendez

Vinas got sent off in the 2nd minute - god knows what the score would have been if he hadnt!

Spain 3-0 Austria
Perez Villarroya, Izurza, Torres
​

 

[Klippybo]

(might buy this lol)

NOVEMBER

Bilbao safely through in Europe
Running away with the league already it seems
I disagree with my assistants preferred first eleven on so many levels lol
Spain win both friendlies

We keep plodding along! The most notable thing this month was when I asked my assistant manager, Roberto Carlos, to pick his best eleven. I was shocked to see that he wouldnt pick Hondo N'Dongo, Torres, Garmendia, Aranbarri and of course Aitor!!! Would let him off with Aitor and maybe Aranbarri at a push but Garmendia?????? I am surprised he didnt pick himself to be the left back lol.

UEFA Champions League Group C
Athletic Bilbao 4-0 FC Porto
Izurza 2, Hondo N'Dongo, Meza

Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Granada
Hondo N'Dongo, Perez Villarroya, Meza

Copa del Rey 4th Round 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao 5-0 Eibar
Abel, Damia, Alfredo, Gutierrez (pen), Alcalde

Sevilla 1-3 Athletic Bilbao
Aranbarri, Perez Villarroya, Izurza

UEFA Champions League Group C
Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Besiktas
Herrera, Damia, Busto

Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Espanyol
Hondo N'Dongo, Toni, Torres

Real Zaragoza 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo, Vinas (pen)

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
OCEANO HONDO N'DONGO
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SPAIN

Friendlies

Spain 2-1 Japan
Izurza, Perez Villarroya

Spain 3-1 Egypt
Aranbarri, Perez Villarroya, Muralha
​

 

[Mads2506]

**** near every one of your attacking players have been good at corners and/or free kicks for whatever reason

 

[Klippybo]

**** near every one of your attacking players have been good at corners and/or free kicks for whatever reason

Yeah - noticed that last season when Aitor was out for a while so thought I would take a look and had at least 8 players rated 15 or above in both categories!

 

[Klippybo]

DECEMBER

FIFA Club World Cup won yet again
10 man easily defeat Real Madrid
Bilbao's backup players lose to Ajax but still top the group and we will play Bordeaux
Spain to play Turkey, USA and Uruguay in the World Cup

Not a good month at all with 1 draw and 2 defeats. We did as usual win the Club World Cup though so that was good. Didnt enjoy this month at all apart from the game against Real Madrid.

Sporting Gijon 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Gutierrez

UEFA Champions League Group C
Ajax 2-0 Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Real Madrid
Aranbarri, Vinas (pen), Izurza

FIFA Club World Cup SF
Cruz Azul 0-3 Athletic Bilbao
Sesma, Busto, Rivas (og)

FIFA Club World Cup Final
Vasco da Gama 1-3 Athletic Bilbao (aet)
Aranbarri 2, Alcalde

Copa del Rey 5th Round 1st Leg
Real Betis 2-1 Athletic Bilbao
Garmendia

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
KOLDO SESMA
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​

 

[Sam91]

Apparently Bielsa has resigned, you should defo send this a link for this story to the Owners of Bilbao with your CV attached

 

[Klippybo]

JANUARY

Izurza wins both World Player of the Year awards
Bilbao snap up young winger Herrero - almost another Herrera! lol
Transfer window goes crazy as Real Madrid spend £80m
Spain will play Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Romania and Cyprus in the Euro quals

What a month for Jose Luis Izurza as he won both World Player of the Year gongs and then banged in 8 goals for good measure. He is really playing out of his skin. Picked up a half decent young winger from Osasuna for £1.7m but he will be playing for the B team.

Copa del Rey 5th Round 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao 4-0 Real Betis
Aranbarri 2, Izurza, Toni

Elche 0-1 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza

Copa del Rey QF 1st Leg
Valencia 2-1 Athletic Bilbao
Toni

Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Real Sociedad
Izurza, Aranbarri, Torres

Copa del Rey QF 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao 3-0 Valencia
Izurza 3

Malaga 0-1 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza

Copa del Rey SF 1st Leg
Deportivo La Coruna 3-5 Athletic Bilbao
Perez Villarroya, Garmendia 4(1pen)

Alaves 1-3 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza, Vinas (pen), Aranbarri

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JOSE LUIS IZURZA
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[Klippybo]

FEBRUARY

Bilbao to face Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final
Barca and Bilbao fight out a draw
Gutierrez wants a new challenge - considering it
THE BILBAO SABOTEUR STRIKES AGAIN - (sort of)

Posts coming quicker a bit as I was playing while at work and met up with my mate who when I did this last time I went through the worst run ever. This time he gets Aitor injured! lol.

Anyway - we are through to another Copa del Rey final and we thrashed Barca but didnt take our chances but I still have faith in young Aranbarri!

Copa del Rey SF 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Deportivo La Coruna
Gutierrez, Busto 2

Athletic Bilbao 5-0 Real Zaragoza
Garmendia, Ruiz, Moraes (og), Torres, Gutierrez

Real Betis 0-3 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza, Garmendia, Damia

Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Barcelona
Garmendia

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg
Bordeaux 2-4 Athletic Bilbao
Perez Villarroya, Aranbarri, Lang (og), Izurza

Real Oviedo 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza, Vinas

Real Valladolid 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Rogelio, Izurza

Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Xerez
Toni, Aranbarri

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
UNAI GARMENDIA
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[CantGetEnoughOfJelavic]

Keep it up!

 

[Klippybo]

MARCH

Bilbao lose first league game of their season
Bilbao knock out Bordeaux and have the edge over Inter
Half decent youth intake
Spain get a disappointing draw with Sweden

A good month despite losing our first league game of the season to Athletic Bilbao rejects - I mean Atletico Madrid lol. They have Martinez Cid, Garcia (aged 36) and Ibanez. Garcia and Martinez Cid were amongst the scorers.

Jose Luis Izurza is having an absolutely amazing season, so much so I am struggling to remember if Garcia, Muniain or even god himself Aitor, had a season as good!

Athletic Bilbao 5-0 Cartagena
Damia 2, Izurza, Gutierrez, Torres

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Bordeaux
Izurza, Perez Villarroya

Valencia 2-2 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza 2

Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Real Valladolid
Alfredo, Meza

Atletico Madrid 4-3 Athletic Bilbao
Izurza (pen), Curcic (og), Perez Villarroya

Athletic Bilbao 4-1 Deportivo La Coruna
Izurza 2, Aranbarri 2

UEFA Champions League QF 1st Leg
Athletic Bilbao 4-2 Inter Milan
Garmendia, Damia, Perez Villarroya, Zocco (og)

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JOSE LUIS IZURZA
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SPAIN

Friendly

Spain 0-0 Sweden


​

 

[kailinscer]

What tactics are you using at the moments maybe a screenshot or two?

 

[Klippybo]

What tactics are you using at the moments maybe a screenshot or two?

Just the same tactics I have used from the very beginning - I may change a players role/mentality at an odd ocassion (normally finals) but otherwise it is as so-

View attachment 258601View attachment 258602

Dont pay much attention to the players I have picked as missing so many players but that is the formation I always use with the team instructions

 

[meguel]

Just the same tactics I have used from the very beginning - I may change a players role/mentality at an odd ocassion (normally finals) but otherwise it is as so-

View attachment 258601View attachment 258602

Dont pay much attention to the players I have picked as missing so many players but that is the formation I always use with the team instructions

Is that not ridiculously off balance with the lack of a ball winner in the midfield?

 

[Klippybo]

Is that not ridiculously off balance with the lack of a ball winner in the midfield?

When Vinas plays (where Meza is) he is used as a deep lying playmaker with a support duty. Thats what I have always used whether it was Javi Martinez,Cidoncha or now Vinas but I noticed Meza likes playing as an advanced playmaker with a support duty so I play him in his favourite role when he is picked.

I suppose I dont need a ball winner because I always have it lol.

 

[kailinscer]

just started so im going to keep the ballwinning midfielder in but gonna go by your series for as long as i do this save also like to put on counter when im away works wonders for both u19 squad and main squad

 

[Klippybo]

APRIL

Bilbao confirmed as title winners
Through to the Champions League final to face Man Utd
Backup players thumped by Real Madrid
Bilbao B appoint new manager - Oscar Garcia

A successful month I suppose. We knocked out Inter and PSV to make the Champions League Final and when we beat Sporting Gijon we confirmend the title win. Ignore the defeat by Real Madrid as played a really young side (apart from Alfredo lol).

Once again the success of my B team means the manager is getting poached - this time he is off to Levante. However new manager Oscar Garcia has appointed Bojan as an assistant manager and Raul as his coach. Add that to Muniain, Azpilicueta, Villa, Ramos, Llorente and San Jose and we have some Spanish legends amongst our coaching ranks. Aitor hasnt been given a coaching job yet......

Granada 0-2 Athletic Bilbao
Gutierrez, Garmendia

UEFA Champions League QF 2nd Leg
Inter Milan 2-2 Athletic Bilbao
Perez Villarroya, Torres

Espanyol 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Gutierrez, Aranbarri

Athletic Bilbao 3-2 Sevilla
Torres, Gutierrez, Garmendia

Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Sporting Gijon
Aranbarri 3

UEFA Champions League SF 1st Leg
PSV Eindhoven 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Zimakov (og), Aranbarri

Real Madrid 4-1 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo

UEFA Champions League SF 2nd Leg
Athletic Bilbao 2-1 PSV Eindhoven
Westerberg (og), Izurza

Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Elche
Alfredo 3

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ALFONSO ARANBARRI
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​

 

[Klippybo]

MAY - END OF SEASON

10 man Bilbao get lucky against Man Utd
Real Madrid easily beaten in the Copa del Rey
Barca and Real Madrid both fail to qualify for next years Champions League
Bilbao dominate the awards

A fine end to the season. We easily won the Copa del Rey final despite going down to ten men and Real Madrid were pretty useless to be fair. Got 4 goals in the last game of the season to reach the 100 mark. Cant remember the last time we didnt get at least 100 goals in the league.

In the Champions League final we took an early lead but then Vinas got a straight red card. Man Utd then dominated and had 2 goals disallowed, including a last minute one and in the resulting protests their star striker got sent off!

Copa del Rey Final
Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Real Madrid
Toni, Izurza, Alcalde

Real Sociedad 1-1 Athletic Bilbao
Alfredo

Athletic Bilbao 4-0 Malaga
Alcalde 2, Aranbarri, Herrera

UEFA Champions League Final
Manchester United 0-1 Athletic Bilbao
Aranbarri

PLAYER OF THE SEASON
JOSE LUIS IZURZA
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THE PICS WONT UPLOAD SHOWING END OF SEASON STATS ETC!!!!!


AWARDS
Spanish/Liga BBVA Player of the Year: Jose Luis Izurza
Spanish Top Scorer: Jose Luis Izurza
Spanish Young Player of the Year: Alfonso Aranbarri
Liga BBVA Top Goalkeeper: David
Manager of the Year

AITOR HERRERA WATCH
Once again the pic wont load up but he scored 3 and got 13 assists in 30 games. Will try and post a screenie later.

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