Introduction:
Basically, being a Manchester United fan, i thought i'd take a smash at making Bilbao tearing teams apart like they did to us earlier this season in the Europa League. From a background where my family is split down the middle between United and City, we don't agree on much, but we all agreed that Bilbao were another level at Old Trafford. So thats what also made up my mind! Before actually managing Bilbao on football manager, i did a little bit of background research on Bilbao, and i was intrigued at the fact they cannot sign players who haven't got a Basque heritage, so i'm going to concentrate on bringing through some youngsters through the Athletic set-up, which has famously brought through talents such as Muniain, Llorente, Martinez, etc. just to name a few.
Initial Targets:
I have told the board that our initial targets are to achieve a mid-table finish in the La-Liga, i am confident that i will achieve that with the current team, but Champions League qualification may be beyond us, with Real Madrid and Barcelona most definitely going to occupy the top two places, and with Athletic Madrid, Valencia, and Malaga strengthening, it looks like the La-Liga will be very competitive. The Euro Cup (Europa League) will hopefully bring more success for this team, then the league.
The board have set the initial budgets to match my ambitions, the wage budget is more then enough, and the board have provided a rather modest transfer kitty of £3.45m - but as i'm not looking to buy it shouldn't matter too much.
Transfers:
As stated above, the board have given me a budget of £3.45m, but as soon as i took over, Toquero handed in a transfer request. I have looked into signing some youth, signing Moises and Jorge Espericueta - scouts are particularly really excited about Moises. I have also invested in a decent right back in Cesar Aspilicueta, he will almost definitely be a major part in how I play, I also have a decent right back in Iraola - but i'm going to re-train him into a left back (well hopefully).
In:
Cesar Azpilicueta - £7.0m from OM
Yago Garcia - £0.0m from Unattached
Out:
Aitor Ocio - £0.3m to Sevilla
Ander Iturraspe - £1.8m to Fulham
Gaizka Toquero - £3.0m to OM
Koikili - £0.9m to Osasuna
Iban Zubiaurre - £1.5m to Sevilla
Future Transfers (joining on 1st July 2012):
Moises - £0.45m from Villarreal - Potentially rising to £2.5 based on appearances etc.
Jorge Espericueta - £1.0m from Tigres
YAGO GARCIA
Not sure wether this is a glitch, but man this player is amazing, has bags of pace, and a cracking finish. My scouts are saying he is the next 'Raul' - he is already scoring for me. Below is a screen shot of his sheer quality. (ps. i love my scouts)
View attachment 249850
Tactics:
Now-a-days most successful teams in real-life use a tactic which encourages players to pass the ball along the floor, in short, quick movements. I wanted to incorporate this style into the Bilbao way of playing.
I going to use a unorthodox 4-4-2 formation - pushing on the wide-midfielders up as wingers. Thankfully Bilbao have an amazing winger in Muniain - who will play on the left. I also wanted to use the classic Manchester United style central midfield, with one central midfield being deployed as a Ball Winning Midfielder (Javi Martinez) and the other as an Advanced Playmaker (Ander Herrera) - The ball winning midfielder must be an absolute animal who is not scared of sticking in a foot in the midfield. The advanced playmaker on the other hand must be creative, have a good first touch, and obviously have a passing rating of 16 or more. This basically reflects the Keane & Scholes pairing in the 1998/99 season.
The forwards in the Bilbao squad are quality, Llorente is the Van Persie of Bilbao, maybe better! the young lad I signed on a free is cracking as well, so i will rotate the pair of them between the roles of Target Man and Advanced Forward.
The back four has two full backs, who are there to support in all phases of play. In the case of the central defenders, i have set one defender as a Ball Playing Defender, the other as a default central defender. My reasoning for setting one defender as a ball playing defender, is to encourage the players to play out from the back, instead of squandering possession. I will report back on whether that is the case.
Below is a screenshot of the tactic
View attachment 249851
Games:
18th August 2011 - Euro Cup 4th Qual. Round Leg 1
FK Rad Beograd 1 - 4 Athletic Bilbao
Scorers: I.Muniain, Y.Garcia (2), A.Iraola
Att: 4,506
25th August 2011 - Euro Cup 4th Qual. Round Leg 2
Athletic Bilbao 3 - 2 FK Rad Beograd
Scorers: F.Llorente, D.Lopez, V.Puric (o.g)
Att: 21,031
28th August 2011 - La Liga
Athletic Bilbao 7 - 0 Rayo Vallecano
Scorers: Y.Garcia (5), F.Amorebieta, M. San Jose
Att: 40,000
Round Up:
View attachment 249855
Rayo are poor, to another level. The press are touting them as relegation favourites, i would have to agree. I personally think that the result was just luck at this moment in time from our perspective. The FK Rad games were competitive and the passing was awesome, Llorente was a stand out performer assisting in all four goals in the first leg. Hopefully the tactics continue to be this effective for the rest of the season. I personally think as the season goes on our form will drop due to the fact there is no depth past the starting 11.
Hope you enjoy the read, after i've completed playing September, i'll post another one up! feedback please!
Basically, being a Manchester United fan, i thought i'd take a smash at making Bilbao tearing teams apart like they did to us earlier this season in the Europa League. From a background where my family is split down the middle between United and City, we don't agree on much, but we all agreed that Bilbao were another level at Old Trafford. So thats what also made up my mind! Before actually managing Bilbao on football manager, i did a little bit of background research on Bilbao, and i was intrigued at the fact they cannot sign players who haven't got a Basque heritage, so i'm going to concentrate on bringing through some youngsters through the Athletic set-up, which has famously brought through talents such as Muniain, Llorente, Martinez, etc. just to name a few.
Initial Targets:
I have told the board that our initial targets are to achieve a mid-table finish in the La-Liga, i am confident that i will achieve that with the current team, but Champions League qualification may be beyond us, with Real Madrid and Barcelona most definitely going to occupy the top two places, and with Athletic Madrid, Valencia, and Malaga strengthening, it looks like the La-Liga will be very competitive. The Euro Cup (Europa League) will hopefully bring more success for this team, then the league.
The board have set the initial budgets to match my ambitions, the wage budget is more then enough, and the board have provided a rather modest transfer kitty of £3.45m - but as i'm not looking to buy it shouldn't matter too much.
Transfers:
As stated above, the board have given me a budget of £3.45m, but as soon as i took over, Toquero handed in a transfer request. I have looked into signing some youth, signing Moises and Jorge Espericueta - scouts are particularly really excited about Moises. I have also invested in a decent right back in Cesar Aspilicueta, he will almost definitely be a major part in how I play, I also have a decent right back in Iraola - but i'm going to re-train him into a left back (well hopefully).
In:
Cesar Azpilicueta - £7.0m from OM
Yago Garcia - £0.0m from Unattached
Out:
Aitor Ocio - £0.3m to Sevilla
Ander Iturraspe - £1.8m to Fulham
Gaizka Toquero - £3.0m to OM
Koikili - £0.9m to Osasuna
Iban Zubiaurre - £1.5m to Sevilla
Future Transfers (joining on 1st July 2012):
Moises - £0.45m from Villarreal - Potentially rising to £2.5 based on appearances etc.
Jorge Espericueta - £1.0m from Tigres
YAGO GARCIA
Not sure wether this is a glitch, but man this player is amazing, has bags of pace, and a cracking finish. My scouts are saying he is the next 'Raul' - he is already scoring for me. Below is a screen shot of his sheer quality. (ps. i love my scouts)
View attachment 249850
Tactics:
Now-a-days most successful teams in real-life use a tactic which encourages players to pass the ball along the floor, in short, quick movements. I wanted to incorporate this style into the Bilbao way of playing.
I going to use a unorthodox 4-4-2 formation - pushing on the wide-midfielders up as wingers. Thankfully Bilbao have an amazing winger in Muniain - who will play on the left. I also wanted to use the classic Manchester United style central midfield, with one central midfield being deployed as a Ball Winning Midfielder (Javi Martinez) and the other as an Advanced Playmaker (Ander Herrera) - The ball winning midfielder must be an absolute animal who is not scared of sticking in a foot in the midfield. The advanced playmaker on the other hand must be creative, have a good first touch, and obviously have a passing rating of 16 or more. This basically reflects the Keane & Scholes pairing in the 1998/99 season.
The forwards in the Bilbao squad are quality, Llorente is the Van Persie of Bilbao, maybe better! the young lad I signed on a free is cracking as well, so i will rotate the pair of them between the roles of Target Man and Advanced Forward.
The back four has two full backs, who are there to support in all phases of play. In the case of the central defenders, i have set one defender as a Ball Playing Defender, the other as a default central defender. My reasoning for setting one defender as a ball playing defender, is to encourage the players to play out from the back, instead of squandering possession. I will report back on whether that is the case.
Below is a screenshot of the tactic
View attachment 249851
Games:
18th August 2011 - Euro Cup 4th Qual. Round Leg 1
FK Rad Beograd 1 - 4 Athletic Bilbao
Scorers: I.Muniain, Y.Garcia (2), A.Iraola
Att: 4,506
25th August 2011 - Euro Cup 4th Qual. Round Leg 2
Athletic Bilbao 3 - 2 FK Rad Beograd
Scorers: F.Llorente, D.Lopez, V.Puric (o.g)
Att: 21,031
28th August 2011 - La Liga
Athletic Bilbao 7 - 0 Rayo Vallecano
Scorers: Y.Garcia (5), F.Amorebieta, M. San Jose
Att: 40,000
Round Up:
View attachment 249855
Rayo are poor, to another level. The press are touting them as relegation favourites, i would have to agree. I personally think that the result was just luck at this moment in time from our perspective. The FK Rad games were competitive and the passing was awesome, Llorente was a stand out performer assisting in all four goals in the first leg. Hopefully the tactics continue to be this effective for the rest of the season. I personally think as the season goes on our form will drop due to the fact there is no depth past the starting 11.
Hope you enjoy the read, after i've completed playing September, i'll post another one up! feedback please!