VivaGlobetrotting | A Journeyman Save

[VivaLaVidaFM]

This thread will detail a series of blog posts following the managerial career of Ken Sasaki, a Japanese-born (fictional) footballing legend who has just begun his managerial journey. Sasaki has been appointed as manager of Deportes Puerto Montt, a second-tier side in Chile, and this is where my story begins.

Here is Part 1 of my FM20 story: https://vivalavidafm.com/2019/11/20/vivaglobetrotting-fm20-1-introduction/

 

[VivaLaVidaFM]

The Chilean season is split into two main parts. There are 30 games per season, with each team playing each other twice. After 15 games, league football finishes for a month or so and Copa Chile football becomes the main priority.

In the second post of my VivaGlobetrotting series, I review the first half of the 2020 season with Puerto Montt. We see how Sasaki has performed so far in his first managerial role.

Saving The Job Already | Puerto Montt #2 | VivaGlobetrotting #2 | Football Manager 2020 Stories

The latest VivaGlobetrotting post sees Ken Sasaki take charge of Puerto Montt. How will the Japanese manager perform in his first half-a-season of football?

vivalavidafm.com

The title is 'Saving the Job Already'. It is safe to say that it has been a tricky start to my FM save!

 

[VivaLaVidaFM]

The Copa Chile provides a perfect distraction from league football for teams who are struggling. Puerto Montt were definitely struggling, with manager Sasaki having been called to the board room and given a points target. Luckily, this came at a time when things were beginning to look up and Puerto Montt smashed the target within the first three games.

https://vivalavidafm.com/2019/11/27/vivaglobetrotting-fm20-3-la-magia-de-la-copa/

This post reviews the final half of the 2020 season, focusing on the Copa Chile. Can Sasaki take the Primera B side all the way in the cup?

 

[VivaLaVidaFM]

Sasaki has been sacked from Puerto Montt! After a poor season in which Sasaki was summoned to the board room three times in a month, the club have relieved Sasaki of his duties.

VivaGlobetrotting Part 4

Check out part four of my series to see exactly what went wrong at Puerto Montt and where Sasaki might end up next.

 

[VivaLaVidaFM]

Ken Sasaki has really struggled to ignite his managerial career so far. There was a time at Puerto Montt throughout their magical cup run when Sasaki felt settled and comfortable with his managerial style. But a run of poor form, coupled with a run of poor decisions, has led to a rethink.

VivaGlobetrotting Part 5

The fifth instalment of my series looks at Sasaki's managerial identity. His identity centres around three key points: play attacking football, focus on youth, target specific attributes. The post reviews Sasaki's start at new club Coquimbo Unido before introducing the managerial identity.

 

[VivaLaVidaFM]

In the previous post, Ken Sasaki created his own managerial identity. In Part 6 of VivaGlobetrotting, we see how Sasaki has implemented it at Coquimbo Unido.

VivaGlobetrotting Part 6

Sasaki's identity has had several positive effects, including raising the level of the squad's teamwork to being the highest in the league.

However, not all aspects of the identity have gone to plan. Coquimbo Unido have so far conceded 52 clear-cut chances in 15 league matches is a sign that something needs to change. The club are sitting in 13th in the league, below the board's expectation of a mid-table finish.

 

[NewSoup]

Do you plan on showing more of the transfers?

 

[VivaLaVidaFM]

Do you plan on showing more of the transfers?

I tend to show them on my blog. On here I will show a brief summary so as not to just repeat my blog post here

 

[VivaLaVidaFM]

The seventh instalment of VivaGlobetrotting is perhaps the biggest yet.

VivaGlobetrotting Part 7

In this post, Sasaki starts trying to correct the elements of his manager identity that had negatively affected his Coquimbo Unido team. This is successful and helps the club perform above expectations in the league.

Colo-Colo, historically the most successful Chilean club, decide that Sasaki is the man for them and approach to sign the Japanese manager. They are probably the only club in Chile who could have persuaded Sasaki to leave Coquimbo Unido, and so he did.

That followed was a battle between Colo-Colo and Universidad de Chile for the league title. Who came out as victors? Read part 7 to find out!

 

[VivaLaVidaFM]

Ken Sasaki won the league with Colo-Colo last season after joining the club mid-season. They trailed Universidad de Chile in the title race and Sasaki managed to overhaul a six-point gap with three games remaining.

This would surely secure Sasaki his job for the foreseeable future, right?

Well no. The board decided to sell up and the new owners brought with them uncertainty for Sasaki. Not only was Sasaki on the verge of being replaced, the club were also banned from making transfers whilst the takeover was happening.

This left Colo-Colo short of experience and quality in several areas of the pitch.

Sasaki would have a job to take his Colo-Colo side to the same heights as last season

VivaGlobetrotting Part 8

Read the entire blog post through the link above, enjoy!

 

[VivaLaVidaFM]

It's Wednesday, meaning another VivaGlobetrotting post! Ken Sasaki makes the most of his transfer window where he can only sign three players and manages to lead Colo-Colo to more league success.

It is continental football in which will determine how successful Sasaki is in his time with Colo-Colo. The aim of his time with Colo-Colo must be to achieve continental glory.

VivaGlobetrotting Part 9

Read the full post above

 

[VivaLaVidaFM]

Part 10 of VivaGlobetrotting completes five years of the save. Ken Sasaki is managing Colo-Colo in Chile after a rocky start to his managerial career.

VivaGlobetrotting Part 10

This post reviews all five seasons, including the latest season in greater detail. I'm loving this save and the writing makes it even more enjoyable. Hopefully you are enjoying the journey alongside me!

 

[VivaLaVidaFM]

Ken Sasaki developed a managerial identity including three key elements: attacking mindset, target specific attributes and focus on youth.

The latest post is all about the latter, focus on youth. Ken Sasaki is categorising his youth players into four groups.

1) Signed as 1st team squad members
2) Signed for future profit
3) Youth academy graduate – potential for 1st team
4) Youth academy graduate – potential for lower-ranked Chilean club

By organising the youngsters in such a way, Sasaki is better able to plan for the future in terms of which players leave the club on loan and which deserve some first-team football.

This image shows how young the Colo-Colo first team squad is, with the majority of the squad under the age of 25. Sasaki is building for the future.

VivaGlobetrotting Part 11

 

[VivaLaVidaFM]

The latest VivaGlobetrotting post reviews the 2025 season with Colo-Colo. Ken Sasaki has transformed this Chilean club into a truly dominant force in domestic football.

VivaGlobetrotting Part 12

The next post in this series will look at HOW Ken Sasaki has turned his team into this dominant force domestically. It will also consider what he can do to make more of an impact in the Copa Libertadores.

 

[VivaLaVidaFM]

Ken Sasaki has made Colo-Colo dominant.

In the league he has focused on the foreign player limit, implemented an attacking style of play and benefitted from a lack of quality from rivals Universidad Catolica and Universidad de Chile. These three key aspects have led to the dominance of Colo-Colo in domestic football.

Continentally, however, it is a different story with Brazilian and Argentine sides proving too strong for Colo-Colo.

This post looks in detail at how Sasaki became dominant domestically and what he could do to improve the club's fortunes in the Copa Libertadores.

VivaGlobetrotting Part 13

 

[VivaLaVidaFM]

The latest instalment in my VivaGlobetrotting save sees Ken Sasaki take Colo-Colo further in the Copa Libertadores whilst maintaining their domestic dominance.

Colo-Colo went unbeaten in the 2026 domestic season, winning both the league title and the Copa Chile with relative ease.

Incredibly, Colo-Colo finished 30 points ahead of bitter rival Universidad Catolica, highlighting how they have struggled to keep up with the rise of Sasaki's side. Neither Catolica or Universidad de Chile have provided any sort of threat for a while now.

In the Copa Libertadores Colo-Colo reached the final! Wins against Atletico Nacional, Palmeiras and Flamengo saw the side reach the final and face off against Gremio.

VivaGlobetrotting Part 14

Sadly, a 2-1 defeat after extra time meant Sasaki would not be lifting his maiden continental title. And with this defeat came some time for reflection. Had Sasaki taken Colo-Colo as far as he could? Could they realistically challenge again for the Copa Libertadores? Possibly, but the feeling was that it was time to move on.

Ken Sasaki has left Colo-Colo.