Basque(ing) in Glory!

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PhiladelFerret

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Football Manager 2015


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Athletic Bilbao


Hello everyone, this is the first time I will be posting a save on FM-Base and after taking recommendations from friends I have decided to start as Athletic Bilbao in Spain, this is a challenge I have taken on in the last 3 FM games but I have never gone on to build a proper dynasty.


Club History


Formed in 1898, Athletic Bilbao are a Spanish league side who are located within the Basque region of Spain. Along with Barcelona and Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao are the only side not to have been relegated from the top tier of Spanish Football, a monumental achievement for a club with such unique philosophies.

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Athletic Bilbao have won the Liga BBVA 8 times & the Copa Del Ray an astonishing 23 times.

Legends and Records

Athletic Bilbao's all time top goalscorer is Telmo Zarra who scored an astonishing 251 'league goals' in 277 appearances for the club before retiring at the age of 34 (Along with a further 84 cup goals, a record club tally of 335), a league record that had gone long unbeaten until Argentinian Striker Lionel Messi came along, albeit for competitive rivals Barcelona.

However, lots of Zarra's records remain unbeaten..He remains Athletic's most prolific striker of all time and the only player to finish as the Liga's leading marksman in six different campaigns.

Hailed by UEFA as a 'Leading example', Zarra passed away from a heart attack in 2006, his name remains in the history books today.

Can we uncover the next Telmo Zarra and conquer the country as Athletic once did?

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Present Day Bilbao

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As the past few seasons have come and gone Athletic Bilbao have lost a number of key players such as Fernando Llorente to Juventus, Javi Martinez to Bayern Munich and most recently their iconic central midfielder Ander Herrera to English side Manchester United.

The policies the club follow in regards to the transfer market make these players very difficult to replace, this is why I have always had great respect for the club and look forward to managing them on Football Manager 2015.

In regards to the current squad I will strive to hold onto key players such as Wonderkid Iker Muniain, Wide man Markel Susaeta and Upcoming Center Back Aymeric Laporte who is already under a lot of clubs noses in real life following his strong performances.

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As you can see there is quality throughout the ranks, but also a lot of key players are starting to age meaning the emphasis on youth is more important than ever.


The Stadium

Athletic Bilbao moved to the San Mamés Stadium back in September 2013, the stadium which has a capacity of 53,289 really shows the size of the fan-base that are behind this Spanish side. This stadium move shows the ambition that the club show as they aim to staple themselves into the history books.

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As you can see, it truly is a beautiful stadium!


The Future

The aim for this project is to turn Athletic Bilbao into a league winning side, dethroning 'El-Trio' in the process (Athletico, Real and Barcelona). This could take anywhere from 5 to 10 years but it will be a fun ride along the way.

I also aim to win domestic cups and ultimately European Glory, I believe that winning the UEFA Champions League with Bilbao would be the pinnacle of my FM achievements, definitely keen to add it to my CV!

Finally I aim to develop a squad that has quality in depth, full of the finest young talent in the country, maybe even the World! Who knows, maybe some of these players will go on to Euro/World Cup glory and enter the history books along the way.

The Transfer Policy

Athletic Bilbao are a club who are known worldwide for their transfer policy of only signing players from the Basque region of Spain/France, for a club facing these sorts of limitations Athletic Bilbao have done incredibly well, especially in modern Football.

This means I will be restricted to signing Basque players, as well as Spanish players who are 16 or younger, again..The emphasis on youth is strong!

Basque players could include: Xabi Alonso, Antoine Griezmann, Javi Martinez, Natxo Monreal, Cesar Azpilicueta and many more top players.

It's certainly going to be difficult!


Other Bilbao saves to follow

KLIPPYBO has been doing Athletic Bilbao saves annually for the past couple of years and he is a fantastic person and a motivator for this series, so be sure to check out his save here:

http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/football-manager-2015-manager-stories/183836-basque-pride-athletic-bilbao-story.html

The Manager Profile

Aiming to make things a challenge here so I will be starting with Sunday League Footballer experience and no coaching badges, nothing like a challenge eh?

Here is the overview of my Manager!

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Enjoy the save!

Kick back, relax and enjoy the ride.

Don't forget to leave comments and advice down below, maybe start a Bilbao save of your own? I'll be sure to link it in my mentions!​
 
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Preseason and August 2014:

After evaluating the squad and staff at the club I decided to make a couple of changes to the backroom staff, Wlm Jonk came in as our new Head of Youth Development from Ajax and Rene Meulensteen came in to be our new Attacking coach.

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As you can see, Wim Jonk has some fantastically rounded stats which I feel are essential for a HoYD, hopefully with him we'll have more luck on the intakes!

Transfers:

Sadly, our board was only able to supply us with £2.5m to spend in the transfer market, a very low sum for a team that just offloaded such a big name. (Herrera), due to this small budget we have not yet been able to sign any players.

However we have sold Asier Villalibre to Atleticó Madrid for £1.1m, although this was not a transfer I made on purpose as I intended to keep Villalibre in hopes that he could succeed Aduriz next season but little did I realise he had a Release clause of £1.1m which was met by Atleticó and the player himself decided to move on. Devastated!

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Asier Villalibre had 4 star potential.

Although I did manage to hold onto Ander Iturraspe amid interest from PSG, a huge relief!

Pre-season:

Despite the lack of transfer activity we did manage to have a very strong pre-season, winning 5 and drawing 1, definitely some good signs there!

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UEFA Champions League Play-Off:

In the UCL play-off we were handed the tough task of playing Arsenal, a team I would consider to be far stronger than us. Going into the game we knew we had to play well to come away with the right result, and against all odds we managed to do this!

Playing at the San Mamés in the 1st leg we managed to knock Arsenal for six by beating them 3-0, goals came in from Aduriz, Balenziaga and a rare finish from Iturraspe, fantastic!

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Not conceding an away game was an especially pleasing statistic!

In the 2nd leg we were under a lot more pressure, despite this we managed to take the lead early on through Muniain, a wonderful finish on his left foot! The Gunners quickly fired back through Koscielny before Podolski scored what proved to be the match winner, but only a consolation for Arsenal over all. But I wasn't concerned about the loss, we were through!

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After defeating Arsenal in the play-off we were seeded into the group draw along with some of Europe's finest teams in which we were grouped with: Chelsea, Zenit St. Petersburg and Anderlecht.

Not a bad draw but not an easy one by any means. Chelsea will definitely be favourites for that top spot but it'll be interesting to see who gets 2nd, we'll give it our all!

Liga BBVA:

So far we have managed to win both of our League matches, a 2-0 win over Malaga and a 1-0 win over Levante, we're yet to concede!

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Was very impressed with Erik Morán this game, an unlikely player to bag a brace but very impressive indeed!

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This game was a much tighter affair as Levante gave it there all before we eventually found the breakthrough from a corner, promising CB Aymeric Laporte firing into the net from close range, 3 more points!

Summary:

Well it's been an action packed first month at Athletic Bilbao, a month in which we've scored 7 and conceded only 2 in 4 games, a very impressive start!

As things currently stand we are sitting high in 2nd place, but we have Barcelona and Real Madrid soon so things will only get tougher!

Player of the Month:

Mikel Balenziaga (LB)

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Mikel has been very impressive during August, the left back has chipped in with one goal, one assist and 2 POTM awards in our 4 matches. Great work!

Competitions Overview:

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Now we march onto September!​
 
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NICE i enjoyed that read, seriously tough job on your hands - not made any easier by you deciding to start with the very basic of manager profiles!

Will keep track on this thread with interest!
 
Swordsman said:
so there is no one really can sell to generate funds ?
Click to expand...

I could sell players, but there is only a short list of players who I can actually bring in to replace them, most of which won't be interested in joining me (as they play for a bigger club), it's all about keeping the big names!
 
A great start there and a big 2 leg victory over Arsenal!!!!!! only early but could be a good season for you!
 
September 2014:
(Part One)

Heading into September we found ourselves currently sitting 2nd in the table, it was early days but the signs are promising!

In September we'd start our Champions League campaign, a difficult group but one we were striving to qualify from.

Liga BBVA:

2 weeks into the month, our first game of September saw us take on Barcelona at the Nou Camp, a task that seemed impossible. In the end the favourites took the spoils as they defeated us 2-0 which wasn't too bad of a result, we did manage to score a goal through Muniain only to realise that the assistant had his flag raised.
Our first loss of the season, albeit an expected one.

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I was particularly pleased with the way we prevented Barcelona from dominating the ball, lots of pressing and forcing mistakes helped our cause, 56% is average for Barcelona!

UEFA Champions League:

3 days after our defeat at the Nou Camp we had to prep ourselves for a trip to Belgium to face Anderlecht, a team renowned for their success in the Pro League.

However we managed to secure a big 3 points here, dominating the ball and creating numerous chances. Aduriz and Muniain each finding the net to send us home with a victory.

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Elsewhere Chelsea beat Zenit at Stamford Bridge 2-0 to pick up their first win of the campaign, two teams on 3 points and two on zero, a great start!
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September 2014:
(Part Two)

Liga BBVA:

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Our first match back in the Liga BBVA saw us take on Granada CF at Home, a team who have constantly been a bogey team for me over the years.

But this time things were much brighter, we scored 4 goals within the first 25 minutes to secure a 4-0 lead but after doing so began to become more lethargic, I think the team knew the match was over and I'm upset that we didn't go for 5 or 6.

Granada scored what proved to be a consolation goal in the 76th minute, A shame we couldn't keep the clean sheet but overall a great performance by the team!


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The following week we traveled away to take on Rayo Vallecano, a team predicted to finish 17th in the table but we knew they'd fight for the points!

Their offensive approached proved to be the cause of their downfall in this game as we hit them on the counter through Susaeta early on before our club Captain Carlos Gurpegi scored from a corner in the 29th minute, after that Rayo offered very little offensive threat and instead went on the defensive approach. Damage limitation.


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Our final game of the month saw us take on SC Eibar at Home, a game where we really were expected to take the spoils, the pressure was all on us!

In the end the game proved to be far from comfortable, we dominated possession, created numerous chances but couldn't put the game to bed..Eibar were reduced to 10 men after 69 minutes and still we couldn't find the 3rd goal, which almost proved fatal as Eibar scored an 89th minute goal but luckily we saw the game out!
Far from pleasing.

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Summary:

Overall I'm very pleased with the month of September, besides the expected loss to Barcelona we took home the win in all of our matches and played with a lot of confidence (Mostly).

Similar story to last month in that we still find ourselves sitting high in 2nd place after 6 matches! In September we managed a total of 8 goals in the league while conceding 4 in our 4 matches.

Player of the Month:

Aritz Aduriz (STC)

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A fantastic month for our Veteran Striker as he picked up 5 goals in 6 matches.
1 against Anderlecht, 2 against Granada and 2 against Eibar.

Who said aging Strikers are in decline?

Competitions Overview:

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Now we move onto October where we'll be facing both Chelsea and Real Madrid, a tough one!​
 
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hullfan123 said:
Brilliant run of form, reckon you can get top 3 this year?
Click to expand...

That'd be the dream! I think in reality we're looking at anywhere between 4th and 7th, hopefully we can get into some form of European Football next year, Bilbao's squad is much weaker than previous years so I'm really hoping on some great players from the youth intake! (Hopefully a 4-5* Striker!)
 
October 2014:

Off the back of a successful month in September we now headed into October, my first decision to make this month was to offer De Marcos and Ibai Gomez new contracts in order to keep them at the club, we definitely cannot afford to lose players of this calibre.

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And without the funding to bring in new players, keeping hold of our current ones is the aim.

UEFA Champions League:

Our first game of the month saw us take on Chelsea at the San Mamés, by far the toughest team in our group I went into this match hoping that we could come away with a point.

However we managed to take all 3! A late goal from substitute Borja Viguera sealing the victory, 3-2!

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Liga BBVA:

After our Champions League triumph we returned to domestic competition to face Real Madrid, the holders of the UEFA Champions League, one of the big boys!

This match was particularly impressive, we managed to hold Real Madrid to a 0-0 draw while allowing them very few clear cut chances, the major one being a Ronaldo shot from just inside the box which harmlessly whistled past the post.

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Granted we didn't have any shots on target, but he held firm defensively.

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International Fortnight:

After our game against Real Madrid the league took a break to allow for International matches to take place, I was keen to see if any of our players had been noticed by their Nation, to which I was pleasantly surprised!

Ander Iturraspe earned a Spain call-up after Iniesta pulled out of the squad through injury, a fantastic chance for our star midfielder to earn his place in the Spain team.

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For these two weeks Spain first took on Ukraine in a European Qualifier, Iturraspe had to settle for a place in the stands as Spains lacklustre performance saw them take a 1-0 defeat to Ukraine, Dnipro wide-man Eugene Konoplyanka finding the net.

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Spain next took on Macedonia FYR in their third qualifying match of the tournament, this time they performed as they have done throughout the past 6-7 years as they pushed Macedonia aside with a 5-1 thumping, this time Ander Iturraspe got the nod and proved vital in midfield as he kept his composure and more importantly possession for the home nation.

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Finally Spain took on Uruguay in a Friendly match, Iturraspe once again starting after his impressive outing against Macedonia, this time Spain taking the victory with a 3-1 scoreline, very impressive!

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(I didn't mention it last month, but Aymeric Laporte earned his first cap for France in a 2-1 victory over Brazil in a Friendly match, he was however out of the squad for their Friendlies in October).

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Liga BBVA:

Returning from the International matches we took on Celta Vigo, a team who were carrying on where they left off last year finding themselves in the top 6, it was going to be a tough one!

But again we were held to a 0-0 draw, which wasn't a bad result seeing as Celta were doing so well, I was pleased we kept them out but also disappointed that we couldn't find the net ourselves.

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Stalemate!

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UEFA Champions League:

After our back to back league draws we returned to European action to take on Russian side Zenit St. Petersburg at the San Mamés, this time we were looking to capitalise and take all 3 points to maintain our 100% record.

However things didn't go as planned, despite Aduriz putting us 1-0 up after 15 seconds we quickly found ourselves under pressure and before we knew it Danny had struck the net twice to put Zenit 2-1 up heading into half time.

2nd half we came out firing and were awarded a penalty in the 47th minute after Susaeta was taken down inside the Zenit box, a penalty that was calmly tucked away by Veteran RB Iraola, 2-2!

After our equaliser the game became flat and very few chances were created, the end result a 2-2 draw. At least we were still unbeaten, top of the group as well!

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However 2/3 of our remaining games are tough away games, the match at home to Anderlecht is a vital game, 3 points and we should be through!

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Liga BBVA:

Finally we took on Almeria in our final match of October, the relegation candidates surprising flying high in 5th position, a team who took us by surprise as we fell to a 2-1 defeat, very disappointing as they leapfrogged us in the table.

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Other News:

Our affiliated club Bilbao Athletic have sacked their Manager as they find themselves in 20th place in the Spanish Second Divison B2, rock bottom!

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Not a good sign for the players we are hoping to develop there.

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Summary:

Overall this month was pleasing, we only managed to fall to defeat once against one of the weaker sides, nonetheless I was impressed that we managed to remain unbeaten in Europe and held Madrid to a draw.

However this month we only managed to score 6 goals in our 5 matches while conceding 6, not a very impressive month in that regard but we'll look to improve in November.

Player of the Month:

Erik Morán (CM)

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Our 23 year old midfielder takes the award this month after impressing throughout the 5 appearances, the youngster maintained a pass ratio of 88% while chipping in with a goal and an assist, he's certainly impressed me so far and has proved to be a decent replacement for Ander Herrera.

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Competition Overview:

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Overall I'm disappointed that we've slipped down to 5th, but it's still early days and we just need to put that behind us and knuckle down with the upcoming matches, Atleticó are beginning to form quite the gap and are looking confident of retaining their title.

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Next Months Fixtures:

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Should be an interesting Month!​
 
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It looked so promising at the start with that massive win against Chelsea but im sure you can build the players back up and get them going again!! and lets hope that the B side get a new manager quick who can produce the players you need for the future
 
November 2014:

After a bright start in November our results somewhat began to decline as the month went on, we didn't manage a single league win which caused us to slide down to 5th place, it was in this time that I was responsible for raising the morale in the locker room, we were playing well but we needed to win more games.

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News:

We began the month by making a few board requests, seeing as we have such healthy finances I figured we could benefit from some investment into the youth/training facilities, they were 4 1/2* but 5* is where we as a club would like to be, after all we need the best regens possible!

The board decided to approve our requests for upgrades and work began immediately with the completion date set to be the 22nd of October, 2015. (Next season)

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Promising signs that show our ambition here at Bilbao.

Next our board decided to invest some funds of their own, once again this was down to our incredibly pleasing finances, an extra £10m added to the transfer budget, we might be able to sign some players some January!

I can only presume that the progression into the group stage of the UCL aided our cause here, very pleasing indeed.

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And finally, our B side 'Bilbao Athletic' have hired a new manager following the sacking of Ziganda last month, Former Celta Vigo player and B-side manager Pichi Lucas taking the hot seat, good luck to him!

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Liga BBVA:

We began this month with a game against Europa League winners Sevilla at the San Mamés, this was never going to be an easy game but due to Sevilla's poor form I was ambitious about our chances.

However, our recent form seemed to play part in this game too as once again the game finished goal-less, again we dominated the possession but failed to create any clear cut chances and with Aduriz on a goal drought, there was no sign of improvement on the horizon.

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However, we did avoid defeat, so that's something to build on at least.

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UEFA Champions League:

After our match against Sevilla we travelled across Europe to face Russian side Zenit St. Petersburg, a team we managed to draw 2-2 with at home, this was going to be a massive fixture as defeat here would put our qualification ambitions in jeopardy.

In the end we managed to battle our way to a 1-0 victory, a fantastic result! We approached this game on the Counter as we knew Zenit would be a strong side at home with the likes of Hulk, Danny and Kerzhakov, this approach paid dividends in the end as Iker Muniain scored on the breakaway, slotting the ball past Malafeev to make it 1-0.

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As you can see we far from dominated this match, we were under constant pressure but our defensive solidity prevented Zenit from creating any clear cut chances.

With this result we had indeed qualified from our UEFA Champions League group, a brilliant feat seeing as our group was far from easy, and we still have 2 games to play!

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It was now a battle between us and Chelsea for that top spot.

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Liga BBVA:

On the back of our UCL qualification we returned to Spain to face Spanish high-flyers Valencia at the Mestalla, a side who were once filled by an array of talent, the likes of David Villa, David Silva and Juan Mata among others.

This game proved to be disappointing as we were clearly still jet-lagged from our trip to Russia, a poor performance as we slumped to a 2-0 defeat which caused Valencia to leapfrog us in the table, we were down to 9th at this point!

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We now needed league victories more than ever!

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International Break:

Following our league defeat toValencia we once again split-up for the International fortnight. Lots of our players have been under the eye of Del Bosque lately as the Spanish Veteran was spotted in our game against Zenit watching 4 or 5 of our players.

Spain's first match was against Belarus in the European Qualifiers as they produced a clinical edge to breeze past the European outfit with a 2-0 victory, Iker Muniain only managing to make the bench, he did however play the final 9 minutes of the match but failed to get involved in the game.

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Iturraspe failed to get into the squad for this match which I felt was disappointing as he's been a key part in our midfield this season, just goes to show what our recent form has done to our players International hopes.

Spain next took on South American side Chile in a Friendly, the opposition who were very impressive in the 2014 World Cup seemed to provide a similar feat as they once again beat Spain, this time the result being 1-0, Waldo Ponce with the only goal of the game.

This time Ander Iturrraspe did make the starting XI and achieved a 6.80 rating, the joint highest besides GK Iker Casillas.

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France were in action too against Armenia and Germany in Friendly matches but Aymeric Laporte failed to make the squad, Varane and Koscielny keeping the youngster out of the team.

At the end of the International break this is how Spain's qualifying group is looking, Ukraine still holding strong at the top. Maybe one day we'll be able to manage Spain!

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Liga BBVA:

The end of the International break saw us prepare for the visit of mid-table side Espanyol, a side who have some decent players in Caicedo, Suso and Hector Moreno, but we needed the win!

In the end our hunger paid off as we managed to take the spoils in a 2-1 victory, goals coming from unlikely sources in Balenziaga and Morán, Aduriz still on a drought!

Panicked when we found ourselves 1-0 down but our domination of the ball proved to be the deciding factor in the 2nd half.

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This win helped us climb to 5th in the table.

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UEFA Champions League:

With qualification from our group confirmed there was still plenty to play for as we took on Belgian side Anderlechtat the San Mamés, a win in sight to help us move closer to confirming that top spot as our own.

This match was pure domination, we kept the ball very well and created multiple chances while allowing Anderlecht very little time. I feel slightly disappointed that we only managed 2 goals, but we kept the clean sheet and more importantly the 3 points.

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Elsewhere Chelsea drew 0-0 to Zenit meaning we were now 3 points clear at the top of the group heading into our final match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, if my thoughts are correct they would be required to put 4 past us in order to beat us on the head-to-head record.

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Liga BBVA:

Our final game of the month saw us playGetafe, a side with a stop and start form recently. Although we were confident on the back of two successive wins that we could make it three, and in the end this confidence paid off as we managed a 2-1 victory although Aduriz once again failing to find the net, he has now failed to score in every match in November, worrying signs!

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Summary:

The month of November has proven to be a very good one for our Club, we've not only managed to qualify from a tricky UCL group but we've also climbed back to 3rd in the table, once again playing with confidence and flair.

The only negative aspect is that Aduriz is on a drought, something that needs to be corrected if we're to hold onto our position in the top 4. Maybe it's time to give Kike Sola or Borja Viguera a chance in the side?

Player of the Month:

Andoni Iraola (RB)

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The veteran right-back has proved to be a constant threat down the right wing with his bombing runs and savvy link up play with Susaeta, Iraola has managed to chip in with 3 assists this month raising his total to 5 along with an average match rating of 7.20. Well deserved!

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Competition Overview:

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As you can see, we've climbed to 3rd in the table and 1st in the UCL group, a very confident string of performances aiding our cause, well, besides that poor showing against Valencia.

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Next Months Fixtures:

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The Vasco derby! I know you're all excited for that one!​
 
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The month started off slow but picked up and ended great for you! and congrats with the CL qualification to the Knockout Stages, good luck with next month!
 
December 2014:

Off the back of a very successful month in November we now headed into December full of confidence, a month where cup competitions would feature the most.

And with only a month until the transfer window now was the time to see where our weaknesses were lying.

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News:

We began the month by offering our Wonderkid Iker Muniain a new elusive contract to keep him at the San Mamés, a player of his ability/potential is sure to attract some big teams and we're looking to keep that from happening.

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Spanish Cup (Copa Del Ray?):

We began this month with a trip to Zaragoza to take on the Liga Adelante side in the first leg of our 4th round tie in the Spanish Cup, a win here was definitely the expectation.

And indeed this was how it went, albeit an equaliser from the home side we were awarded a penalty late on after Kike Sola was caught with a high foot, a penalty that Defensive Midfielder Mikel Rico slotted past the Zaragoza keeper.

a 2-1 lead to take back to the San Mamés.

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We did feature a somewhat rotated squad and I was very pleased to see Kike Sola find the net, with Aduriz's recent form there's definitely a chance for him to force his way into the squad.

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UEFA Champions League:

Heading into our final game of the UCL group stage we took on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, by far the toughest game we would face in this group. We set the team up with the strongest XI, with the intent to play highly-structured counter-attacking Football as our defence has been incredibly strong so far this campaign.

We ended up taking the spoils in this game with a 1-0 victory against all odds! It was a game of very few highlights and the only one to come our way was a Muniain shot that stung the fingers of Belgian GK Thibaut Courtois before Erik Morán slotted home the rebound.

Chelsea were restricted to long shots from 20-30 yards, none of which truly tested Iraizoz as we held strong to take home the 3 points, a total of 16/18 in the group. We were unbeaten and kept 4/6 clean sheets!

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Here's a look at our final standings in our UCL group:

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As you can see Chelsea qualified in 2nd place, Zenit move into the Europa League while Anderlecht had a terrible campaign, losing all 6 and conceding an average of almost 3 goals a game.

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Liga BBVA:

Our first league match of the month saw us take on our local rivals Real Sociedad in the first Vasco derby of the save, a game we had to win, not just for me or the team but for the fans!

We played brilliantly in this game, counter attacking with our pace down the wings through Susaeta and Muniain but we struggled to get most of our chances on target, although two of our three shots on target resulted in goals!

Aduriz netted the brace, a player who has been under a lot of scrutiny lately not just from me, but from the media for his lack of goals in the past 6 weeks. But this performance was definitely one to savour!

Real Sociedad were awarded a penalty late on when San José took down Gonzalo Castro inside the box, but Veteran keeper Iraizoz denied Xabi Prieto at full-stretch, a fantastic save and a well deserved clean sheet.

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Spanish Cup (Copa Del Ray):

Next we took on Real Zaragoza in the 2nd leg of our 4th round tie in the Spanish Cup, we currently held a 2-1 lead over our opposition heading into this game which gave us plenty of confidence in qualifying.

However, we were very poor in the 2nd leg as we were held to a 1-1 draw at home and although we had qualified I wasn't impressed with how we went about doing it, when Zaragoza took the lead late on they could have easily nicked a 2nd and gone through instead.

Perhaps a bit of complacency in the cup...

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After progressing into the 5th round we will now be facing Valencia, a tough draw and we'll do well to go through.

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UEFA Champions League:

Friday 19th December came and passed in which we participated in the draw for the 1st Knock-out stage of the UEFA Champions League, and with plenty of top teams still in the competition we were always going to face tough opposition.

In the end we were drawn against Portuguese side S.L. Benfica, a tough draw against a side who reached the final of the Europa League last campaign.

But overall I was happy with this draw as there were plenty of tougher teams on show, as you can see Chelsea got AS Monaco so I'm very glad we topped our group.

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Liga BBVA:

Returning to domestic competition we now took on Atleticó Madrid, the league leaders who have gone on to build a large gap between themselves and Levante (Crazy...). Simeone and his men are certainly confident of retaining their title!

This game was incredible! The first half was a half of very few chances as both teams battled for possession in the middle of the park, but early into the 2nd half Mexican Striker Raúl Jiménez fired home from a corner, slotting the ball through the legs of Balenziaga who couldn't get the ball off the line in time.

Straight from kick-off we attacked down the left wing through skillful teenager Iker Muniain who whipped the ball into the box with the outside of his right boot which was met by Veteran striker Aritz Aduriz who sliced the ball home past Slovenian GK Jan Oblak.

Winger Ibai Gómez latched onto a through ball from Aduriz and rifled the ball past Jan Oblak before noticing that he'd been waved offside prior to the goal, the score remaining 1-1.

However his persistence paid off as the young winger had his shot deflected off an Atleticó body before wrong footing Jan Oblak, this time the flag stayed down and we took the spoils with a 2-1 victory!

Incredible!

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Friendly:

With a two week break between now and our next League match we took on affiliated club Barakaldo in a friendly to keep the team fitness at a high, there's not much to comment on this post as the result wasn't an important statistic.

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Summary:

Once again we had a very impressive month, this time taking home 4 wins in our 5 matches with the other being a poor draw against Zaragoza in the cup.

Player of the Month:

Aritz Aduriz (STC)

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The Veteran striker has been in fantastic form this month bagging 3 goals and an assist, his average match rating over the 5 games he's played being a very respectable 7.42, a very much needed month for a player who has been under the spotlight in recent weeks.

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Competition Overview:

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As you can see, we're sitting in a very promising position in the table, exceeding expectations!
As are Levante..Which is a little bit odd!

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January Fixtures:

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January should be an interesting month, we have the 5th round of the cup and 3 home games, if we can take maximum points in those 3 games we'll be putting ourselves in a very good position!

Let's go see if we can make some transfers!​
 
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SamPeters said:
The month started off slow but picked up and ended great for you! and congrats with the CL qualification to the Knockout Stages, good luck with next month!
Click to expand...

It definitely did! I'm very happy with the qualification but it got even better in December! I've been ill and therefore playing FM a lot more, enjoy the extra updates. :D
 
January 2015:

With the start of the new year we enter the transfer market, a chance to sell and bring in players that I feel can improve the squad, although as you know with Bilbao that's no easy task...

I began the month by renewing the contracts of Veteran players Aritz Aduriz and Carlos Gurpegi, trigger their one year extension clause.

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Transfers:

Despite having £10m to spend, I was unable to find many players who we could bring in but instead focused on renewing expiring contracts.

We did however bring in Mikel Arteta from Arsenal for a fee of £2m, he may be 32 now but he's a great passer of the ball and his experience will be a valuable asset to us at Bilbao.

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Liga BBVA:

We began the month with a trip to struggling sideDeportivoon the 3rd of January, with the confidence flying high and our opposition finding it tough we went into this game with the intention of getting the 3 points.

Which we did! A strong performance from the side produced a 2-1 victory, goals coming from Iker Muniain and Aritz Aduriz who looks as though he's back to scoring ways.

Our cause was aided in the 33rd minute when Deportivowere reduced to 10-men after Aduriz was pulled down when he was through on goal. This man advantage proved to be too much for our opposition as we played them off the park.

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This win launched us ahead of Levante as we now found ourselves in 2nd place, only 2 points behind league leaders Atleticó!

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Spanish Cup:

In the 5th round of the Spanish Cup we were drawn against high-flyersValenciain what should be a very entertaining affair.

We began the match horribly, our Captain Carlos Gurpegi hacking out Piatti after 1 minute and 40 seconds resulting in a red card, and with 89 minutes to play with 10-men, I feared we were going to be battered.

Despite this we did take the lead after 12 minutes, Winger Ibai Gómez slotting the ball past Yoel to make it 1-0, a brilliant counter attack!

Valencia'sman advantage began to show signs of what was expected, the Spanish side quickly scoring twice in 13 minutes, firstly Manchester Cityloanee Álvaro Negredo powering the ball past Iraizoz before setting upBenfica loanee Rodrigo for the second, an incisive finish from the young Spaniard.

After taking the leadValenciabegan to sit back a bit allowing us possession, this lead to a great attack which produced a corner after Muniain's shot stung the fingers of Yoel. The corner whipped in by Muniain and GOAL, Mikel San José with a bullet header into the top right corner, I was going crazy!

This is how the game ended as we switched to a more defensive approach, a 2-2 draw in a game played almost entirely 10 men gave us a great chance of progressing, well played lads!

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As you can see, despite Valencia having the man advantage they didn't exactly dominate possession, we were very good when we had the ball.

Although there was some bad news, Aritz Aduriz, our only goal-scoring Striker broke ribs in the game against Valencia meaning he would now miss what looks to be the entire month of January.

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Liga BBVA:

After our cup encounter we took on Elche the league at the San Mamés, a victory was the expectation to help bolster our fantastic campaign so far.

We won this game 1-0, a game in which we really should have scored more but failed to find the net. New signing Mikel Arteta slicing wide of the post on the breakaway early on.

However Aritz Aduriz's replacement Kike Sola found the net in the 32nd minute, glancing home a header from Muniain's cross, a lovely goal!

This was how the game finished, not an exciting performance but the points were the most important factor as we maintained our 2nd spot in the table.

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Pretty poor performance..We lacked the attacking outfit!

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Spanish Cup:

We next took on Valencia at the San Mamés in the Spanish Cup, we managed a 2-2 draw in the first leg away from home which put us in a very commanding position, but now it was time to build on our first leg result.

This game was incredible, we were 5-1 up after 39 minutes in what proved to be a battering for reasons I'm unsure of..Valencia are usually a well structured side, they did originally take the lead consolation when Laporte sliced the ball into his own net.

Rodrigo scored late on to add a bit more respect to the scoreline, overall, a 7-4 victory!

I was also very impressed with Borja Viguera's performance, he's definitely earned a place in the starting XI for our next match.

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We will now face Cordoba in the Quarter Finals.


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Liga BBVA:

Our next match saw us take on Villareal away from home, a side with plenty of young talent although they were struggling down in 17th place.

It was a game of very few highlights in which the only real one was a super goal, Markel Susaeta weaving his way through 3 or 4 bodies before pinging a low ball to Iker Muniain who smashed it home with a first time show. A lovely move!

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Once again we put ourselves in a good position to maintain our place in the top 2.

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Spanish Cup:

We next traveled to Cordoba to participate in the first leg of the Quarter-Finals of the Spanish Cup, an easier draw in the scheme of things but a challenge nonetheless.

This game was nothing but a disappointment..We turned up took relaxed and got punished 2-1 by our opposition, this was our first loss in 14 competitive matches.

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Much work ahead for the second leg if we want to progress!

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Liga BBVA:

Back in league action we took on mid-table side Malaga at the San Mamés with the intention of continuing our winning run.

This game was very end-to-end, both teams creating chances and having spells of possession, but in the end we proved the better team as we took the spoils in a 3-2 victory, goals coming from San José, Benat and Muniain.

Muniain has had a truly magnificent month, chipping in with goals and assists in most matches.

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We seem to have a knack of conceding early on, something we need to improve on if we want to stay at the top end of the table.

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Spanish Cup:

Our final game of the month saw us take on Cordoba in the second leg of the Spanish Cup Quarter-Finals, being 2-1 down from the first leg we needed to come out strong if we were to progress into the semi-finals.

This is exactly what happened, the squad were fired up and we came out like a lightning bolt taking the lead through San José on 11 minutes, a strong header from a corner. Susaeta added a 2nd on the 45+4th minute despite having a knock he was able to turn his man and curl the ball past the Cordoba keeper. The game had a lull after half time before LB Balenziaga fired home from an acute angle in the 74th minute. Impressive midfielder Erik Morán notched another goal for the season on the stroke of the 86th minute as he fired home a free-kick from 22 yards, a great finish!
Finally, our leading cup goalscorer Borja Viguera chipped in with a calm finish in the 91st minute as he tapped the ball home from close range to complete a 5-0 thumping!

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After our progression into the next found we will now face Real Madrid in the semi-finals, a very tough ask indeed!

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Summary:

This month has proved to be another successful month as we remain on a good run of form despite the hiccup in the Spanish Cup 1st leg.

Currently sitting in 2nd we take on League leaders Levante in our next fixture.

Player of the Month:

Iker Muniain (AML)

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A great month for Iker Muniain as he chips in with 3 goals and a couple of assists, exactly what we need when our leading goalscorer is out injured.

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Competition Overview:

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Despite the large amount of fixture congestion we've managed to maintain a great winning record.

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Next Months Fixtures:

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Next month is going to a very hectic month, looking very forward to our Champions League fixtures!​
 
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