Being Basque

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So, this is a new thread. Some of you may know me from my Coventry FM Story which was a success. This time round, I'm managing Athletic Bilbao. As a keen follower of Spanish football, I have always admired Athletic Bilbao for their raucous support, stunning stadium (up until the new one built last year - not saying the new one is poor) and their approach to the transfer market. For those of you that do not know, Athletic Bilbao can only sign players who are from the Basque regions in Spain... Although the past 15 years has seen that rule expanded so that they can sign players who have Basque heritage. Regardless, their focus is on youth and they have a clear footballing identity. My aim with Athletic Bilbao is to, essentially, break the Spanish duopoly of Barcelona and Real Madrid. I don't expect to do this any time soon, especially because I cannot sign any random player to strengthen my side. This save will consist of attempts at perfecting a tactic which brings the best out of all of my players. Here are my targets for the next 3-5 seasons:

SEASON 1: Europa League qualification
SEASON 2: Push for Champions League (top 4 finish)
SEASON 3: Remain in the top 4 and focus on building the side
SEASON 4: Attempt to push for the title
SEASON 5: Attempt to push for the title.

Ideally, I would love to bring success to the Basque region and break the league's duopoly. After finishing remarkably low last season, Athletic start with no European football. My first aim to bring European football back to Bilbao straight away!
 
Good luck, I really struggled early on with a low transfer budget and minimal signing prospects, hopefully you do better than me.
 
Pre-season! (2013) - Getting to know the side.

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Pre-season, 2013


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Say hello to your new manager!

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So here are my first few games in charge! A lot of goals scored and a few conceded. I used the pre-season to test the team out using different tactics and instructions. Despite the one loss, we played superbly and were now ready for the season ahead. Here are our two tactics for the up and coming season:

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Ignore the players in the positions, this is not the full first-team. Counter-attacking is the way forward with the superb wing-pairing of Susaeta and Muniain.

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Again, this is not the full first-team. This tactic is one we will use rarely, but it is an option.

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Some extremely annoying injuries right before the season started.

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Here is our key player: Iker Muniain. He will be an extremely vital player if we are to achieve our targets over the coming 3 seasons.

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This is a youngster who excites me a lot. I have used him previously in an Arsenal save and he becomes quite an awesome midfielder. I opted against loaning him out because I want to use him as a substitute when we have already killed games off.

​


So that was pre-season and a low-down of the squad! We made no signings and just loaned out a couple of youngsters. I hope this FM story entices you all. Be sure to leave some feedback!
 
Looks great I will follow.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
 
Love Bilbao stories mate, so it's excellent now having two to follow on the forum.
 
August - A slow start!

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August, 2013

​
So, the season has begun. The squad is ready after an impressive pre-season and the players are raring to go. The season begun away at Real Valladolid...


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So, August ends with no wins. We performed well in a few of the games, plus the start of the season is always one where the players are just beginning to gel.

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This was a tight game which lacked chances. Both sides clearly looked like they were still getting used to the return of competitive football. Our goal came on the break when Herrera jinked past one player and found Susaeta on the wings with a good through ball... Susaeta smashed the ball from the edge of the area and equalised. That's probably the only talking point. We start life in La Liga with a point.

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A derby, two games in. Many will question the legitimacy of this being a derby because Osasuna are located in Pamplona, which is not connected to the Basque region of Spain. If knowledge serves me correctly, there is a huge area in Pamplona which has Basque as its first spoken dialect. Anyhow... I digress. This game was slow-paced and rough, which can be seen from Herrera's sending off in the space of three minutes. Oriol Riera's goal was due to our defence being stretched on the counter, and our goal was the exact same for Osasuna's defence. Muniain benefited from a cross-field Susaeta pass and smashed a volley home from inside the box. A good goal worthy of winning a game, but it only drew us level.

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A huge game which pretty much confirmed the fact that we would not register a win in the opening month. Despite pretty much accepting a loss, I was surprised at how well we shut Real Madrid out for the entirety of the game. We hardly attacked, so chose to focus on the defensive aspect of the game. Ronaldo's goal was one of Real Madrid's very few chances inside the box. A loss is always a loss, but we can take a lot of pride from this performance.


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Well, 16th after three games. I expected at least one win this month, but not all is doom and gloom. There are a lot of superb months ahead of us (I hope) and we now have a run of games which sees no tough opponent i.e Atleti, Barcelona etc.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH:

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Markel Susaeta.
Susaeta scored once and assisted another, therefore playing a part in both our goals. We didn't have a standout performer, so Susaeta takes the accolade due to his contributions!
​
 
September - We asked for wins... We got the wins!

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September, 2013

​
This month was great. We finally started to see the tactics work and the players perform. We remained unbeaten throughout, which helped considering the lost points in the month prior. Here were our results:



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Two wins, two draws. Unbeaten! Let's take a look at our first win of the season against Celta Vigo (a club which I despise in real life as they are rivals of my beloved Deportivo La Coruna):

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What a superb win and performance from all involved. Not much else can be said about this game apart from the fact that Susaeta ran rampant. A hat-trick in 30 minutes practically sealed the win. Susaeta will be one of our most consistent performers this season... I can just sense it. His flairy nature and crossing ability, paired with finishing, means he is an end-product machine. 3 points, 3 goals - all from Markel Susaeta.

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A narrow result, but we really should have scored more. We were wasteful, but it's finally great to see a striker on the score sheet! Sola and Aduriz couldn't hit a barn door up until this game. Aduriz's header, from Muniain's cross, proved to be the difference once the final whistle pierced the ears of the fans!

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This was a frustrating game, not only because of the result. We struggled to score any of our SIX clear cut chances. To add insult to injury, Aymeric Laporte's injury would rule him out for three months. Our best defender, and arguably greatest prospect. What a bummer.

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Laporte's injury meant that a new man had to step in. His name? None other than Mikel San Jose. Our centre-back partnership now consisted of Carlos Gurpegui & Mikel San Jose. Not bad, but not amazing either.

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Another frustrating result. Sola scored his first goal of the season, other than that we struggled to find the back of the net all game. Fatau's goal in the 92nd minute was excruciating due to the fact that his shot could have been tamed by Iraizoz, yet our usually trusty goalkeeper decided to push the ball into his own net. Susaeta's injury would rule him out for just a few days.

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We've climbed up to 8th after an unbeaten month. I'm hoping for more of these as we aim to qualify for the Europa League!

PLAYER OF THE MONTH:

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Ander Herrera is our Player of the Month. His performances in midfield stood out as he assisted twice and made some crucial interceptions when teams looked to hit us on the break. He is generating a lot of interest from Atletico Madrid and other big sides so it's essential that we start achieving our targets in order to keep him engrossed with the club!​
 
October - Goals Galore

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October, 2013


​
This was a month which saw a lot of goals scored... And quite a few conceded. We performed at a high level and were able to exploit our attacking qualities. Here were the results:


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So we only lost once this month, but it was quite a heavy defeat. Overall, we scored 15 in 5 games and conceded 9. Let's start with the Valencia game:

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What a result against a strong Valencia side competing for a European place with us. Kike Sola scored early on, but we were pinned back 19 minutes later via a Jonas goal. I was fully expecting to struggle, but Ibai Gomez ran rampant in Susaeta's absence. Mikel San Jose's header from a corner sealed the game 5-1, deeming Alcacer's goal 3 minutes later a mere consolation.

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A high-scoring win meant that the footballing Gods got angry at us. So they delivered a high-scoring loss to our front door. Moi Gomez's hat-trick in the first-half was enough to kill off any hopes of another unbeaten month. Iraola's sending off was annoying but our squad depth in defensive areas means that it doesn't particularly hurt us.

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We returned to winning ways with this cagey result over a well-organised Getafe side. This was a tight game which lacked chances. Muniain's goal was our only clear cut chance, but thankfully our other goal came from San Jose's perfectly struck penalty. Lisandro Lopez's goal, sandwiched between the two, put a lot of pressure on us but we coped well.

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Wow. Just wow. What an emphatic result! We were 1-0 down after three minutes, which instantly triggered a thought in my head: "not another high-scoring game. Hopefully we don't lose." We scored five goals without response by the time the whistle drew and end to the first-half. Aduriz scored two excellent headers, both assisted by Muniain. Muniain went on to score his own goal via a tap-in, Benat's goal a carbon copy of Munain's. Iraola's penalty sealed the deal. Muniain would go on to assist the two final goals: a header from Gurpegui and a tap-in from Susaeta. Muniain ended the month with four assists and a goal!


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A few days later, in training, Kike Sola dislocated his shoulder. This side-lined our main man for two months. Fortunately, we have Aduriz. These injuries are getting frustrating.

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Just look at us! 5th in the league - I would take that right now as our final position when the season ends. Europa League qualification is the target, 5th place would be perfect.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH:
Iker Muniain.

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Muniain was superb this month, scoring two goals and assisting five. He's reeling in a lot of interest from the big clubs - these performances won't hide him from the eyes of the evil clubs.​
 
Apologies for the attachments instead of pictures. I cocked up posting the October update. Boo!
 
November - Tough opposition!

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November, 2013.

​
This month was tough because we found ourselves playing against giants Barcelona and Atleti. Here are the results:


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As you can see, we kick-started the month and ended it against the elite sides in the league. Let's start with Atleti:

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Two second half goals were enough to down us in this game. We didn't create much and struggled heavily. Moving on...

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Aduriz stepping up in Sola's absence! What a superb striker as a target man. Two goals in either half meant that he was replacing Sola well. Gurpegi, who has been a wall in defence all season, scored from a Muniain corner in between Aduriz's goal. 3 goals, 3 points.

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Another win, another clean-sheet. Two goals in the space of two minutes. Aduriz benefited from a Benat cross to head past ***** Caballero and Muniain prospered from another Benat pass two minutes later to slot past Caballero. Aduriz's injury had me praying to the Gods for it not to be bad...

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4 months. Four ****** months. We are now stuck with the hard-working, yet utterly useless, Gaizka Toquero as our centre-forward. I was incredibly annoyed. Our two main strikers both out for a long period.

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What an annoying result! We actually outplayed Barcelona and, if not for Balenziaga idiotically giving a penalty away, we may have ended the game with at least a point. Barcelona hardly created because we restricted them to chances from outside the box. Herrera's injury keeps him out for 8 days whereas Balenziaga had a game to forget ending in a red card. A poor way to lose in a game you dominated.

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We're still 5th, which is great considering we lost twice this month!

PLAYER OF THE MONTH:

MIKEL SAN JOSE.

View attachment 386036San Jose was superb this month. He has been incredible in Laporte's absence, and will definitely keep his place in the side once Laporte returns. Two clean-sheets this month and an impeccable performance against Barcelona meant that San Jose won this month's accolade!​
 
mate loving this so far! Hard luck with both Aduriz and Sola! Muniain is the key man as he is proving, do your best to keep a hold of him at any cost!
 
A good start to bounce back to 5th so quickly. Keep up the form!!


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
 
December - Poor Rayo!

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December, 2013.
​

This month saw our first run in the Copa del Rey where we played against Rayo. Unfortunately, they had to endure playing us once in the league and twice in the cup. By using the word "unfortunately", you can deduce that we triumphed over them. Let's look at this month's results:


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Another unbeaten month, which is great! Not only were the results great, but we also did this...

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After a lot of speculation surrounding his future, we tied Muniain down on a long-term contract. This kills Man City's hopes as the player is happy here and performing well. This month was a great month. Now, the games...

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The first leg of the cup was cagey. Both sides defended well and there were hardly any clear-cut chances. Unai Lopez, our youth player, made a darting run into the box where he was upended by Alex Galvez. The referee blew the whistle for a penalty and San Jose did what he has done all season - score from the spot. A narrow lead that we will need to expand on in the second leg.

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What a result against 3rd placed Sevilla. I was expecting us to lose here, possibly ****** a draw. But this was amazing. Sola scored twice from headers and Ibai Gomez is doing his best in keeping Susaeta out of the team by constantly scoring or assisting. Benat's goal was a superb header from just inside the box. A gigantic three points after a performance to remember from all involved. Off we go to the second leg of the cup now...

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Phew. This was close. We were close to getting knocked out via away goals as Lass Bangoura smashed a first-half double either side of Ibai Gomez's goal from a free-kick. Fortunately, Kike Sola came off the bench to score with his first touch of the game to confirm our place in the 5th round of the cup where we will face Villarreal. This game was end-to-end for the entirety of the 90 minutes. Pulsating stuff!

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Poor Rayo. We've beaten them again! Mikel San Jose scored another penalty against them after an extremely close encounter. Muniain's goal made the score line look comfortable, but the overall performance was far from it. Rayo looked dangerous. Almost as though they wanted to rip our heads off for knocking them out of the cup. We held our own and registered another 3 points!

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Unfortunately, Herrera picked up another ****** injury. Our best central-midfielder is now out for 5 weeks. Lovely. An awful way to end such a perfect month.

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Benat's superb header won him the Goal of the Month award.

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I don't believe it! We are 4th in the league. I don't expect it to last but finishing in that position would be a massive over-achievement considering our initial targets! Long may this run of form continue!

PLAYER OF THE MONTH:

MIKEL SAN JOSE.

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San Jose scored two crucial penalties and was part of a defence that kept three clean-sheets this month. He has, undeniably, been our best defender this season. And arguably our best player.
​
 
not a bad start - should finish in the top 4

first season is the worst in my eyes as no European football - my current save kicked on from season 2
 
January - Our worst month!

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January, 2014.
​

This month was frustrating: we played a high amount of fixtures, including two cup games, and performed quite poorly. Let's look at the results:


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As you can see, we only registered one win in six games this month. We lost the big Basque derby which was incredibly frustrating. We also made a signing due to a recurring theme this season... That signing will be revealed after the Real Sociedad game.

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This game was great up until the 56th minute. We were dominating and it seemed like only a matter of time before we scored... Real Sociedad hit us on the counter and scored twice in a matter of two minutes. These two goals were pushed in by our own goalkeeper Iraizoz who has a knack of handling the ball poorly; it's not the first time this season that something like this happened. Despite pulling one back, we shot ourselves in the foot by giving a penalty away. 3 points dropped against our biggest rivals, who are also near us in the table. Let's see who we signed:

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I couldn't help but buy him when I was scouting the market for a goalkeeper. Iraizoz is good, but not if we want to start challenging for European spots. We signed Ruffier for ?6.3m which chewed up a lot of our transfer budget. He would be our only signing this season. Ruffier was a necessity, not a commodity. We also sold Inigo Perez:

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5th round of the cup, 1st leg, away at Villarreal. I hate playing Villarreal - they utilise width so well and always end up destroying me in wide areas. This game, we nullified their wing-play excellently and put in a superb defensive performance. We lacked clear cut chances, but I was happy with this result going into the second leg at home.

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What an awful result against a side whom we really should have just swept aside. Despite opening the scoreline via a superb Muniain volley, we fell victim to Almeria's incisiveness in the final third. Rodri ran us ragged and practically delivered Almeria the three points.

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Out on away goals. How ****** annoying! We dominated this game but failed to finish off our chances. Muniain was impressive, creating chance after chance but Sola and Ibai Gomez would continuously miss chances. Sola's goal came via a Muniain assist; after then, we began to slow the game down and control the midfield. Villarreal's only real chance came from a corner, and that was enough to knock us out of a cup which I was confident of going far in.

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Finally, a win! We destroyed Valladolid. I'm beginning to struggle between choosing Ibai or Susaeta for the first-team. Ibai is a superb set-piece taker and scores frequently, but Susaeta is more consistent. Ibai scored from two free-kicks in this game and Muniain proceeded to scoring one and assisting - he is, undoubtedly, our best player.

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Another derby loss. Another game lacking chances where we fall victims to a header from a set-piece. This was a month to forget, and it wasn't about to get any better...

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Another Sola injury. Unbelievable.

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We've fallen down to 8th, but the gap between 8th and 4th is slim. I'm still hopeful of a top 6 finish.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH:

IKER MUNIAIN.


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Muniain was our most consistent performer in a month packed with awful performances from the entire squad.


​
 
February - A month of variety!

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February, 2014.
​

February was a month of variety in terms of results. We had some good, some poor and some predictable results. Without further ado, let's see who we played and how the games ended:


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A predictable loss, a poor draw and two good wins. Let's start with that inevitable loss:

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Well, we never really had a chance. Real Madrid came out all guns blazing and, if not for Ruffier, they probably would have ended up scoring 4 or 5. We didn't create, and focused solely on the defensive aspect of this game. A loss was expected... Moving on:

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A routine win against bottom of the league Celta Vigo. 3 goals in the first-half downed Celta as we proceeded to just consume energy and knock the ball around in the second half. Aduriz bagged two headers and Ibai Gomez scored from yet another free-kick. Balenziaga's sending off was annoying, but it gives us a chance to play youngster Enric Saborit for a game or two. 3 points in the bag!

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What an annoying result! Youngster Unai Lopez, who has been superb in his appearances this season, opened the scoring... We were pegged back four minutes later via a Moreno header from a corner. The game was quiet until Julian Luque scored in the 63rd minute. I amped up the tactics to attacking, and it paid dividends when Susaeta, who had just come off the bench, scored with a wonderful close-range volley. I then changed to overload to find the win, and even that paid off as Muniain scored after the ball was parried into his path by Espanyol goalkeeper Kiko Casilla. We were so close to a remarkable win... And then Moreno struck again from a corner. This was, by far, the most annoying result this season. A bitter one point.

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This was a tight encounter. Sola's opener was a superb solo goal, but 12 minutes later Leo Baptistao would equalise. Muniain's darting run saw Paulao bring him down... The referee pointed to the spot and Sola doubled his goal tally for the game. Little happened after this goal as we dominated possession and cruised toward the three points. A good way to end the month!

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7th, only four points off 4th. The European dream is still within touching distance.

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Just some player stats so that you guys know who is topping what. Our superstar, Iker Muniain, tops the assists chart ahead of maestros such as Iniesta, Messi, Ronaldo, Rakitic and so on. Muniain is also 2nd placed in distance covered. What a player!


PLAYER OF THE MONTH:

Unai Lopez.

Lopez came into the side, playing in the AMC role, and performed as though he has been playing in La Liga for years. He is such a promising player and this month he picked up one goal and two assists. Some great numbers for an 18-year-old who has featured very little this season.
​
 
March - Bring the points!

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March, 2014.
​
This was a great month where we had a superb comeback, won a load of games and even upset the odds by getting a decent result against one of the best sides in the league (based on their players, not current league standings). Let's look at the results:


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As you can see, only one loss this month!

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We started the month off with a mauling of Andalucian club, Granada. Ibai Gomez scored a hat-trick with only three shots all game. Clinical! Muniain turned on the style as he scored one and assisted another goal. Ibai's finishes were all quite simple: latch onto a through-ball, peel off the fullback and smash one past the goalkeeper. He has been a consistent goal scorer this season.

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What a comeback! Jonas was destroying our defence and, with 15 minutes left, the Brazilian forward had already scored two to bury us... But we rose from the rubble and shook the Mestalla stadium! Susaeta, who came on in the 80th minute, scored two goals in the space of 7 minutes after coming on to bring us level. His goals were a product of his pace and energy against the tired Valencia full-backs. What a turnaround and what a performance from Susaeta with just 10 minutes to go!

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Our first and only loss this month. I hate Villarreal... And Moi Gomez. He always kills us off. Gomez's goal in the 89th minute was probably deserved for Villarreal, who threatened all game but were thwarted time and time again by Aymeric Laporte and Mikel San Jose. A late goal to lose the game was annoying, but I was expecting not to do well against Villarreal before-hand.

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A great win, and another clean-sheet this month. Unai Lopez scored a back-ward header after a scramble in the box and Susaeta struck a free-kick past Getafe's goalkeeper who was well beaten. Unfortunately, Unai Lopez would pick up an injury and miss a couple of games. Regardless, this was an important 3 points!

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This was a tight game, despite what the score line says. Jose Angel Alonso opened the scoring... For us... As he scored an own-goal. The defender would later redeem himself by scoring at the other end. A second-half double substitution of Aduriz and Benat was a masterstroke as the two went on to score two wonderful goals to deliver the three points. Benat struck a thunderbolt from about 28 yards out and Aduriz scored with a powerful shot after a lovely passing move.

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This was a great way to end the month. I expected Atletico to overpower us with the likes of Diego Costa, Koke, Turan etc. but, instead, we defended outstandingly. Oscar De Marcos, filling in at LB due to Balenziaga's suspension and Saborit's early injury, performed superbly to nullify the threat of Arda Turan. San Jose and Laporte united to shut down Diego Costa and Adrian. We didn't create, but the defensive performance was excellent. A strong way to end the month; I'm happy with just one point from this game.

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3rd in the league, just look at that. It's all still tight and, with seven games to go, a lot can change. We could still miss out on a Europa League spot, but we could also finish with a place in the Champions League! These final seven games are crucial.

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Athletic Bilbao rewarded my management of the side with a new 3-year contract. I didn't change any philosophies. I'm happy to continue at this club and will not leave until I am driven out by the president! On a side note, it was youth intake day this month and a few decent players popped up... Especially this guy:

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Expect to see young Mikel Monasterio around the senior squad in the next 2-3 years. Just look at those mental stats.


PLAYER OF THE MONTH:

Markel Susaeta.


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Susaeta scored three goals this month, assisting one too, but the main reason for him being here is because he was our most consistent player even off the bench! His two goals against Valencia will probably never be forgotten by the fans and not having him as this month's best player would have been a travesty!​
 
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