Nacional da Madeira - Portuguese Power

[zacram]

Having currently invested all my FM21 time into my Wrexham save and seemingly hit a standpoint, whereby I've lost the interest to load the game. I've therefore decided to revamp with a new story, and we're heading to Portugal!

I'm going to be sticking with the theme of only signing Portuguese players as I have really enjoyed the added challenge that it creates, only this time Portugal have a much greater wealth of talent.

This will be the first time I've started a save outside of England for quite a long time so looking forward to the change.

The team I have decided to go with is Nacional Madeira!

I decided to choose Madeira, partly as I like the idea of managing a side situated on a small island, but also because it's where Portuguese superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo grew up.

They do also have really impressive facilities for and hopefully the foundation to discover the next Ronaldo

This is probably the first time I've managed in Portugal but is interesting to see a theme of club cultures all leaning towards signing Brazilian player, not Portuguese (something the board aren't going to appreciate me for!)

It's not the strongest of squads, which is to be expected considering this side was promoted last season.

Currently we only have 9 Portuguese players (Only 3 of which would be in our starting XI on paper) in the first team squad and nobody of any real talent.

The best player we have is, João Camacho. He still isn't anything special but is an academy graduate from Madeira and will hopefully be a useful asset for us out on the wing this season and probably the player to build the squad around.

It's going to be a tough season and will really just be about avoiding a relegation battle this season as we look to overhaul the squad

 

[zacram]

With regards to transfer activity, all I have done is ship one fringe non Portuguese player on. Probably not quite the excitement the fns were looking for, but I'm going to look to see what freebies I can get next Summer rather than spending the 450k transfer budget I've been granted.

Despite the lack of signings we manage to get off to a great start in our first 3 games, picking up a very respectable 7 points.

We then travelled to Porto for arguably the toughest game of the entire season and miraculously came away with a point!

We were 1-0 up against 10 men and failed to hold on for the 3 points. Annoyingly they improved after going down a man. A very positive result for us as we look to find our feet.

We then hosted another Portuguese Giant in Benfica. Whilst we didn't get the result we weren't massively outplayed and were just very wasteful with our finishing. Definitely showing we aren't an easy push over.

So after 5 games we sit 3rd in a very strange looking table. Nearly all the big sides have had questionable starts to the season leaving the door very much open for anyone. Although, with so many games to play I'm sure the table will soon starting taking its usual shape.

Just after the Benfica game our number 1 keeper picked up a rather lengthy lay off. Unfortunately the backup keeper is quite a step down but hopefully doesn't derail us too much

 

[Hampus Silverholt]

Shame to see the Wrexham story end but no point in writing about a save that you no longer have any interest in. I'm sure this save will give you a taste in European football at some point as well which should make it enjoyable

 

[zacram]

Shame to see the Wrexham story end but no point in writing about a save that you no longer have any interest in. I'm sure this save will give you a taste in European football at some point as well which should make it enjoyable

I just couldn't see us getting beyond a mid-table Premiership side at best really. It would probably take another 10 seasons or so to get a squad of decent regens that could take us to European football and just cant bring myself to commit to it (In hindsight I should have been Swansea/Cardiff to get ahead of the game a bit, but oh well).

Am intrigued to manage outside of England for a change and getting a taste of Europe for a change will be refreshing.

 

[zacram]

We started our next run of games with a loss away to Maritimo

Before we recorded our biggest victory of the season to date, thrashing P. Ferreira

I mean the scoreline was slightly flattering, but our Portuguese left winger, Camacho stole the show, bagging himself a hattrick.

As we picked up more points in the League we laboured to victory in the PT Cup. Up against a side in the 3rd tier of Portuguese football we needed extra time to avoid embarrassment and an early exit from the competition.

We then had played out a 4-4 slug fest with Portimonense in the League. It was a real end-to-end game with neither side covering themselves in glory at the back as their defender even managed to score 2 own goals.

We then took our biggest scalp to date, with a massive victory over Braga. A side that consistently qualifies fro European football and predicted to finish 4th this season. It proved to be a very assured performance and we are looking relatively comfortable in the League so far this season.

We now extend our unbeaten run to 5 in the League, whilst setting a new club record of 6 across all competitions following our cup victory.
(Not entirely sure this record can be correct but we'll take it)

That leaves us 3rd in the League as we approach a third of the way through the season.

Barring a collapse we should steer clear of a relegation scrap this season and a Top 6 finish is still very much on the cards and a place in Europe, although am expecting plenty more twists to come.

 

[HugoCaldeira1234]

Hey you doing an good job keep going

 

[zacram]

The board had set me the minimum requirement of reaching the 5th round of the PT Cup, but unfortunately we have fallen short of that objective after losing to fellow Premier League side, Gil Vicente.

It wasn't our best performance and clearly the fans don't care that much about the competition with just 293 people turning up to watch, of which only 14 were ours...

Our run of fixtures then included a penalty shootout victory over Sporting in the League Cup, following defeat to them in the League just 2 days prior. We also managed to get some revenge on Gil Vicente with a stoppage time winner.

That means we now sit 8th in the League, although the fixture scheduling has been all over the place so we do still have a few games in hand on a number of teams as we attempt to stay in the hunt for European football.

We the beat Vit. Guimarães in just our second game in the League Cup, which turned out to be a semi-final.... So we are now in the Final of the League Cup having played just 2 games!

You have to play 2 Portuguese U-21s in the starting lineup, of which we literally have 2 in the entire squad. So with my hand forced I had to drag Rocha up out of the U19s and amazingly he got the winner and is now the youngest ever League Cup Goalscorer, not a bad debut for the kid.

Unfortunately he is unlikely to be in my long term plans, but we shall see.

So we now go on to play Porto in the Final of the League Cup. We will be massive underdogs but a chance of silverware in my first season at the club.

I'm still very confused by this tournament as apparently these were the only 8 teams to have entered this year. Having googled it, it does sound like more teams should be present so I really don't know, but we are in the final so who really cares...

I went to the board asking them to improve the Youth Recruitment and am delighted to say that they agreed....

 

[zacram]

We have found ourselves in a bit of a rut in the Premier League, going on a 5 game winless run. So having picked up just 3 points out of 15 we find ourselves slipping down the table to 11th. It's still very tight in the mid-table battle and a few victories would likely get us right back into Top 6 contention.

Unfortunately, this means we head into our League Cup final against Porto winless in 5 and having just suffered defeat to them in the League a few days prior.

This is how we line up for the Final and whilst Porto still have a strong side, they have rested a number of key players as clearly this competition has very little value in Portugal. Although I did field our strongest XI...

We are League Cup Champions!

It may well be a nothing tournament, but we have won silverware in my first season in management and always a nice occasion for the team and fans alike. It was a very close game and we thoroughly deserved to win the game on the day.

Not many fans to see us lift the trophy but oh well.

We may not win a European spot through the League Cup, but we did earn just shy of half a million, which is extremely handy for our clubs finances.

​

 

[zacram]

Winning the League Cup appears to transformed our season as we go on a 7 game unbeaten run in the Premier League, putting us right in the mix for a European spot next season. We managed a couple of impressive draws away to both Benfica and Braga, although must admit we were rather fortunate not to be defeated in both fixtures.

It now looks like a 3 way race between ourselves Rio Ave and P. Ferreira (a side we thrashed 4-0 not long a go!). With 6 games left it's going to be close, but we are in terrific form atm so fingers crossed we can keep the momentum going.

I had to love the loyalty of my assistant manager, saying he would prefer Camacho to Neymar. I mean he has been good for us this season, but you can see from the stats below it's not much of a comparison. Clearly my assistant gets the all Portuguese Team we are trying to assemble.

We got our first batch of Youth Prospects coming through the academy this season.

A few decent looking players, but Francisco Pereira looks to be the pick of the bunch. Hopefully he can develop to his full potential with us over the next few years.

The board also agreed to upgrade our Junior Coaching Budget, which is another positive step forwards for the club. I think realistically now we wont have any money for upgrades until we reach European Football.

Our run in for the season is actually pretty good, with the exception of Sporting. Our home form has been really good this season and with 4 out of 6 in our own back yard I'd say we have a real chance. We also host Rio Ave on the final day of the season which could potentially be a decider !

​

 

[zacram]

We managed to get our season run-in off to a good start with a win over Boavista, before a defeat away to Sporting.

The game against Sporting was one that we were never likely to win and despite the 3-1 scoreline we were right in the game right to the end and the third goal only came as we pushed for the equaliser.

We bounced back with a couple of big wins at home to keep us in the hunt for a European spot and despite the loss to Gil Vicente we were now 3 pints clear of Rio Ave heading into our final game.... against them.

Despite our superior goal difference, Portugal factor in the head-to-head record and as we lost to them 3-1 earlier in the season it's a game we cannot lose - So we just need a draw or a win.

Despite a very nervy end to the game we managed to hold off Rio Aves's late fightback and hold on for the all important draw!

A result that secures us 6th place, but we have one final hurdle to overcome in the qualifying for Europe... The winner of the PT Cup.

Fortunately Benfica managed to coast past Maritimo in the Final and deny them from snatching our European spot - It would have been extremely unlucky had they pulled off a shock result.

However, all this means that we will be in Europe next season.

Here is our Best XI of the season.

Most of our goals have come from the flanks, so securing a decent striker is going to be important next season.

Just a quick look at the Annual Revenue generated this season and should be higher next season with some European money on the way.

​

 

[HugoCaldeira1234]

Oh my god V Guimaraes qualify from Champions league group stage and congratulations to Nacional from qualify Conference League maybe it gonna be too easy or too hard from them

 

[zacram]

Oh my god V Guimaraes qualify from Champions league group stage and congratulations to Nacional from qualify Conference League maybe it gonna be too easy or too hard from them

I know Vit Guimaraes had an incredible season. Hopefully we can give a good account for ourselves this season

 

[zacram]

On the transfer front it has mostly been me trying to gradually overhaul the squad and bring in some Portuguese faces. It's been all free transfers and loan deals to date, so I wouldn't really say the squad has improved much on last season.

Gonçalo Ramos is probably the biggest star we managed to secure on a loan deal from Benfica. He is capped at U21 level and am hoping he can solve our striker problems from last season and take some pressure off the wingers.

So this is the extended squad I currently have at my disposal. Still trying to offload a couple of fringe players just to reduce our wage expenditure, but it's perhaps marginally stronger than last season.

We do now have 15 Portuguese players in the first team squad, although a few aren't good enough to be playing at this level.

We entered the Euro Cup II at the second qualifying round and managed a rather comfortable victory over an Armenian side I've never heard of.

To only win 5-2 on aggregate is actually rather poor and does raise a few questions going into the new season.

We now face a much sterner test in the next qualifying round, up against Bulgarian side, CSKA Sofia. I feel like we should be winning the tie, but don't have much confidence following our last game....

 

[HugoCaldeira1234]

So did you sign some players to make Nacional challenge from Europa League and how V Guimaraes is doing did they sign some new players in order to challenge europa league too,did jorge jesus stay at benfica if case benfica lose the title will jesus been sacked and be replace by someone else right

 

[zacram]

So did you sign some players to make Nacional challenge from Europa League and how V Guimaraes is doing did they sign some new players in order to challenge europa league too,did jorge jesus stay at benfica if case benfica lose the title will jesus been sacked and be replace by someone else right

As i'm only signing Portuguese players and had a relatively low transfer budget, i've really just been trying to pick players up on free transfers or loan moves. Having said that I did splash out a bit of cash on a CB that I'm about to reveal.

I'll post the major Portuguese transfers on the update below mate.

Benfica sacked Jorge Jesus at the end of the season and brought Maurizio Sarri in to replace him for this season.

 

[zacram]

We managed to secure a massive 3-0 home victory over CSKA Sofia in the first leg, all but securing our place in the next round. Fortuntely we were clinical in front of goal and have given us a great chance of progressing.

The second leg wasn't quite so comfortable, and despite losing we had done enough last time out to secure our progression to the final qualifying round .

I then decided to splash out some cash, as I look to sure up our defence, forking out £475k on centre-back, Fábio Cardoso. He was refusing to sign a new deal with Santa Clara so they decided to transfer list him. We really needed a first team CB and of the realistic options I had at my disposal, felt he was the right man to bring in.

He arrived in time to start in yet another 3-0 drumming, this time against AZ Alkmaar in our final qualifying round. They finished 3rd in the Eredivisie last season and have some very good players at their disposal. So securing such a dominant win in our opening game breeds a lot of confidence for the return leg.

It turned out to be a complete replica of our previous qualifying round, as we lost 1-0 in the return fixture. We actually dominated possession yet again, but just struggled to create chances but that means we are now in the group stage of the competition.

We have been drawn against sides with much more European experience than ourselves and will probably be a tricky group to qualify from. We just need to make the most of our home fixtures and pick up what we can on the road.

In between our qualifying fixtures we have been slotting in domestic games as well, playing 9 games throughout August in all competitions.

Despite the congestion, we have performed incredibly well on all fronts. Dropped just 2 points in the League thus far and won our opening game of our League Cup defence (albeit in a shootout against lower league opposition).

Having had to play just 3 fixtures to win the trophy last season, we have had to qualify for a group stage this time around in the League Cup. So plenty more teams in the competition this year and many more fixtures that need to be won. However, this is going to be our lowest priority for sure this season.

With the transfer window closing, the majority of big deals have been out of Portugal rather than in, as top European sides begin to cherry pick some of the league's top stars.

​

 

[HugoCaldeira1234]

**** Braga are in first place and Benfica And Porto are 7th and 8th places without european place what is going on here

 

[zacram]

We pulled off an incredible result at the Estádio da Luz against Benfica, recording a 2-0 victory in the League. This is undoubtably our best result to date in the Premier League and a big statement of intent that we can mix it with the top sides. Benfica have been rather poor the last few seasons and even with Sarri in charge seem to be struggling for form.

Adding insult to injury the man that scored our 2 goals is actually on loan.... from Benfica!

Ramos has been terrific for us this season and already has 7 this season, which is more than our best striker last season. Unfortunately we have no chance of signing him, with a release clause of £110M I don't think we'll be able to afford him somehow.

I think Benfica may have to rethink their Loan Clauses in future....

Despite seemingly playing 2 games a week, we have only managed 2 more games in the League in this update. We are currently playing across 3 other competitions so the Premier League seems to be on the back burners, with just 3 more games to be played in the next 2 months!

So the League standings are changing around quite a bit, with an imbalance of fixtures, but we are looking very good after just 6 games.

The PT Cup got underway and we avoided an embarrassing early exit against lower League opposition, with a remarkable stoppage time fightback. When they scored a second in the 88th minute the game looked all but over but 2 goals in 3 minutes took it to extra time where we managed to get the job done.

We certainly made hard work of it!

As we reach the half way stage of the Europa Conference League, we are still in with a good chance of progressing. Whilst Slavia Prague have run away with the group we are in a 3 way battle for 2nd.

We also had a couple of games in our League Cup defence. Due to fixture congestion I am practically playing a B team for this tournament at the moment, so to be on 4 points after 2 games is very pleasing. Although I always want to win silverware, this season is all about securing a place in Europe again next year and this competition doesn't provide that luxury.

The added revenue from Europe has led to the board investing more money into the club, as improvements into Youth Recruitment, Junior Coaching and Training Facilities are all put in place.

​

 

[HugoCaldeira1234]

We pulled off an incredible result at the Estádio da Luz against Benfica, recording a 2-0 victory in the League. This is undoubtably our best result to date in the Premier League and a big statement of intent that we can mix it with the top sides. Benfica have been rather poor the last few seasons and even with Sarri in charge seem to be struggling for form.

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Adding insult to injury the man that scored our 2 goals is actually on loan.... from Benfica!

Ramos has been terrific for us this season and already has 7 this season, which is more than our best striker last season. Unfortunately we have no chance of signing him, with a release clause of £110M I don't think we'll be able to afford him somehow.


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I think Benfica may have to rethink their Loan Clauses in future....

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Despite seemingly playing 2 games a week, we have only managed 2 more games in the League in this update. We are currently playing across 3 other competitions so the Premier League seems to be on the back burners, with just 3 more games to be played in the next 2 months!

So the League standings are changing around quite a bit, with an imbalance of fixtures, but we are looking very good after just 6 games.


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The PT Cup got underway and we avoided an embarrassing early exit against lower League opposition, with a remarkable stoppage time fightback. When they scored a second in the 88th minute the game looked all but over but 2 goals in 3 minutes took it to extra time where we managed to get the job done.

We certainly made hard work of it!

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As we reach the half way stage of the Europa Conference League, we are still in with a good chance of progressing. Whilst Slavia Prague have run away with the group we are in a 3 way battle for 2nd.

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We also had a couple of games in our League Cup defence. Due to fixture congestion I am practically playing a B team for this tournament at the moment, so to be on 4 points after 2 games is very pleasing. Although I always want to win silverware, this season is all about securing a place in Europe again next year and this competition doesn't provide that luxury.

View attachment 553406
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The added revenue from Europe has led to the board investing more money into the club, as improvements into Youth Recruitment, Junior Coaching and Training Facilities are all put in place.


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So first it was V Guimaraes been in first place and now it was Vilafranquense been in first place and challenge from Champions league Places
anyways WTF is going on is just FM have an chaos mod or just the game is too easy from that

 

[zacram]

So first it was V Guimaraes been in first place and now it was Vilafranquense been in first place and challenge from Champions league Places
anyways WTF is going on is just FM have an chaos mod or just the game is too easy from that

Yeah, I really don't know what is happening. Last season was similar though, the big teams got off to a really bad start and then came strong at the end of the season. Still early days and is already starting to take more of a familiar shape in the League.