RasenBallsport Leipzig - The start of something big

Cheers lads the league win was a surprise to me.I was hoping for a good season but players like rebic,savitskiy and Kaiser were great especially in the run in.Attendance was 22523 colonel mustard.It will be higher I am sure in the top division.I am hoping for around 35k.



Not going be a long update as I want to get back into the game after a long day.I have already made a couple of signings which I will mention in the next update.



I personally though rebic would of got this as he was incredible.Poulsen was good though.Unfortunately for me rebic has gone back to fiorentina and several clubs are sniffing around poulsen and I have placed a 9m asking price on him.Kimmich looks like he will be on his way back to stutgaart as there is a clause in his contract he will be gone if I receive just 625k.




I could seriously do with getting more sponsorships.25m isn't enough for my liking but that is something out of my hands.At least 3 of those shirt names probably wont be here at the start of the season.Aimars contract ran out and after a poor season I didn't want to renew it.Poulsen is likely to be going as is boyd.







Very happy that in last couple of months all facilities have been upgraded and the scouting had been extended.Can only bode well for us in the long term.

Next update - Transfers and pre season

Good to get another licence or at least to start the study of another licence.I still want to do 2 per season so I can get them all quicker.



Got myself a new contract.Board must be happy with me.



One of my terms for the new contract was another link and this time I could ask for a commercial one.Very happy with this one though as it will surely bring in more money.



The media aren't giving us much hope but to attempt to avoid relegation.That is the aim for me this season but I am targeting 40 points which should steer us to safety.



I only had 12m so apart from the free transfers I sold before I bought.There is a couple on the outgoings I really didn't want to lose but I did get some decent money in.I was holding our for 9m for poulsen but only got 8.5m.Ended up losing 2 decent players to hertha berlin who I would probably in similar position with this season but the players wanted to go so I didn't have much of a choice.Marcel sabitzer went to sevilla for peanuts I think.Hespent last season at salzburg and wanted a new contract but I couldn't offer the 40k he wanted.

I did bring in some real quality though.Necid will be my main striker and albin should be good for us.Got rebic back on loan and if he is anything like last season he will be great.The biggest signing was undoubtedly tomas Martinez.He has always done good for me in previous careers.Tagliafico is a massive improvement of any other lb I had.Coates and ilori will be our starting cbs and chamarro looks class.A good window for us I think.This is likely to be all the incomings and outgoings unless someone comes in for a player and they want to move.



A poor start to the pre season fixtures.Our trip to china was appalling with us losing all our matches.I cancelled a couple of friendlies and replaced them with easier games.Might be the cowards way out but I really didn't want to be heading into the season with a squad with poor morale especially with a tricky first few games.

Next update - August

Not the best of preseasons but not the worst either, better to end off with a few good wins than a few defeats. But preseason aside, I'm sure that you'll be able to guide RB Leipzig well clear of the relegation zone and even get a respectable mid table finish with all the new signings you made. Too bad Poulsen wanted to leave, I was sure he was going to be an integral part of your side for years to come but hey, that's football i guess.

Really good summer so far mate. I think you've made quite a lot of intelligent signings that will benefit the club beyond this season. I've always really rated Necid on FM, he seems to me like a poor man's Ibra. Nice bit of experience there with Albin and Madlung as well. Looking forward to seeing how the team develops.

Are the new signings going to change the way you set your team out?

I really didn't want poulsen to leave zucc but his head got turned before the offer was even made.I was happy I got a fair bit for him.

I made the right signings as I was pretty sure where we needed to improve.I agree 100% about necid being a poor mans ibra.Madlung was going to be a starter each time but with ilori and coates coming in he has gone back to 3rd choice.I had 2 formations from the start.4-3-2-1 with 3 cms and 2 wingers which I primarily used last season but with Martinez coming in I am going to be playing the other formation I had of 4-2-3-1 with a mc moving further forward.





Played a slightly weakened team in this one and went behind but the response was good.Should of been beating these by 3 or 4 and we probably would of done if it wasn't our first match with a lot of new players.Martinez was great.



What a start to the season with 3 points at the veltins arena.They were all over us for long periods of the game but we went ahead through a comical own goal.They did level but we somehow managed to get a last gasp winner through denis thomalia.A fantastic start to the season.

After that win at schalke I was expecting a draw at least against Leverkusen but son heung-min was on fire with goals and an assist.Anton putilo with our 2 goals and tomas Martinez with our assists,

Another great win this time against last seasons surprise package.Tomas necid got us off to a flier when timo horns clearance rebounded back off necid into the net.They equalized before anton putilo got his 3rd goal in 2 games.Again they equalized but rani khedira scored a beauty late on to win it for us.

Another good win against stutgaart.This was a smash and grab.They deserved to win it easily but we held on and Dominik Kaiser smashed one in from 30 yards to give us all 3 points.



Fantastic start to the season and more than I could of asked but we are in 3rd place on merit.Tomas Martinez has been the standout performer for me with anton putilo also starting off his Leipzig career very well.

There was no more incomings or outgoings.

Next update - September

Great start to the season mate, the Schalke result was really impressive as well as the Koln result considering they finished 3rd last season and are currently in good form. Anton Putilo looks like a class signing and Tomas Martinez seems to be pulling all the strings in the midfield.

Martinez \o/ Fantastic start to the season

I knew Martinez from my burnley game in particular would be a great signing and if he can come on here anywhere near like he did in that one then I will have a world beater eventually.He certainly has started off great and is at the centre of practically every attack.I couldn't recommend him enough for the price you could get him for.





Fantastic point at another one of the bigger clubs.This time Wolfsburg.They did dominate and went ahead through an amazing long range thunderbolt from Fabio borini but ante rebic scored just after half time to give us a share of the spoils.

Hertha berlin couldn't cope with tomas Martinez in this 1st half.The argentine got 2 great goals and an assist for tomas necid in a great performance.Anton putilo scored a fine free kick to give us a commanding 4 goal lead at half time.In the 2nd half the lads just fell asleep but luckily enough for me hertha berlin could only manage 2.

Another good win at Freiburg to round off the month.Again I was dominated but Adrian kept me in it with a number of good saves.Tomas necid scored a late header to win the game for us and continue our great start to the season.



Still doing very well and find ourselves in 2nd place going into October.I cant help but think another defeat or 2 isn't too far away though.We have rode our luck a bit this month.October doesn't give us a tough run of fixtures on paper though so I am hoping of another undefeated month but I will be happy with 4 points from the 6 games given 2 are at home.

Next update - October

Another decent month

Cheers johno I cant complain with it.Another tough away game done and 2 good wins.





A very good win given we rested a lot of players.If we did play our full strength team I think it would of been a lot more comfortable but we got the win that sends us through to the next round of the cup.



A bore draw against hannover started the month off.This was a good chance missed against a struggling team but we weren't at the races at all and there were hardly any highlights.

Another missed chance against a struggling team but its another away game done.Tomas Martinez equalized after they went ahead very early on.Rebic then equalized a minute after modeste scored to make it 2-2.Juan albin then put us ahead with his 1st goal for the club and we were looking good until the final 3 minutes when hoffenheim bombarded us and managed an equalizer of their own in the 91st minute when modeste headed in his 2nd unmarked from a corner.I shouldn't complain given the amount of late goals we have got but it was a gutting moment.

Back to winning ways in superb fashion against mainz with tomas Martinez scoring a brilliant hat trick.Ante rebic who was also on fire with a couple of assists got one along with denis thomalia who was only playing as tomas necid is injured.



Another undefeated month means we are still in a great position but those 2 draws could and should of made the league look even better for us.Still we are in a fantastic position and near enough halfway to our target points.





More improvements on the facilities and with the way they are getting better each year we will be getting good regens through our academy in no time.

Next update - November

Bloody hell mate Martinez is on fire. Especially against Mainz, brilliant stuff. You think you will keep hold of him?

Interesting to see Dortmund struggling - where did they finish last year?

Martinez is on fire once again

Indeed lads Martinez has been incredible and better than I expected him to be to be honest.I will have the usual offers for him come the end of the season but there is certain players I try my best to keep hold of and he is one of them.Dortmund haven't been performing just like last season.They ended up down in 9th last season.





The month started off with a poor game against hamburg.It wasn't a good performance at all and we deserved to lose.

A great win against werder Bremen followed.A boring goalless 1st half was followed by a fantastic 2nd half when goals from tomas Martinez,Denis thomalia and an ante rebic double secured all 3 points for us and helped our goal difference a bit.

3 points were given up in the dusseldorf game.We were 3 up by the 50th minute thanks to Tomas Martinez (2) and Tomas necid but we just fell apart after that and gifted them 2 goals thanks to defensive mistakes and an own goal by lukas klostermann.Not happy about this match.

After the dusseldorf game I was fearing the worst against an in form Bayern team but after going behind we responded well and got a share of the spoils thanks to tomas necid.They did have the lions share of the chances but we held on to claim a good point.



5 points from 4 games sees us keep our 3rd place but there are some signs that results might start going against us more.A poor December could see us drop a few places and to be honest I am looking forward to the winter break where I will be sorting out some decent fixtures in the hope of getting morale high for the new year.



Extra money has been made available and has already pretty much been spent.Have one massive incoming signing for cm and a good young striker coming in.

Next update - December

Still doing brilliant HSV are a tough team to beat.

Cheers johno.Hamburg themselves are having a decent season so it wasn't much of a shock.I was most annoyed at the manner of the loss as we didn't create anything and could of lost by more.





Right at the beginning of the month we had mainz in the cup.We destroyed them 5-1 in the league and were equally good in this one even though we rested practically all the defenders,gk and tomas Martinez.Dominik Kaiser got himself a stunning strike from range sandwiched between 2 goals from the impressive denis thomalia.Done well to get to the quart finals I think but we have Dortmund at home in the next round so it will be tricky.



If we do get through against dormund I don't really fear any of the others.Worst case scenario would be a trip to schalke but I have already won there.



A poor start to the month against Borrusia Monchengladbach as we gave them a 4 goal lead in the first 50 minutes.Diobolical game until the 60th minute when it was all us Another denis thomalia double and tomas Martinez strike gave us a good chance to get something from the game but we just couldn't get that 4th.

Another poor result at home to Augsburg.Again we gave them a lead this time 2 goals and we looked poor.Anton putilo scored a nice free kick but lucas boye put them further ahead not long after half time and we never looked like getting back into it.

Same story for the month in the 1st half against Dortmund as we gave them 2 goals in the 7th and 8th minute and they controlled the rest of the half but what a response in the 2nd half.Tomas Martinez pulled one back right after half time before a very funny own goal got us level.Denis thomalia continued his impressive month with the winner.



It is only when you look at the league table you see how important that fightback against Dortmund was.Form has started to get a bit sketchy but we are in 4th and we can be very proud of that.If we can get mid table I will be happy but I am expecting a spot in Europe.Koln have again been very impressive and can be the blueprint of what we want to do.We are conceding too many though and ilori and coates haven't been very good so I am looking at other options.



Not surprised in the slightest with this.11 assists and 12 goals in his opening 18 games for us.

As I said I have already made a couple of signings and I am looking at a couple more.They will be shown in the next update.

Next update - January transfers and friendlies

Made some very important signings this window.Brought in Michael keane again on loan until the end of the season.If he does as well as last season he will be very important to our quest for a European place.Brought in gaston gil romero and he will be important to add steel to that central midfield.Marouane fellaini has also been brought in for the same reason and if both fit they will be starters.One of our problem position has been lb with tagliafica not being very good.I am putting that down to it being his debut season so luke shaw has been brought in again on loan from man utd.Siebe schrijvers is our only attacking signing.A lad with very good potential.With necid seeming to of his a brick wall he could be important.Denis thomalia has hit a bit of form recently but I dont think it would be wise to continue without another striking option.It has been an expensive window but I will be fine until the summer.



Had a decent enough tour of turkey with a good win against antalyaspor before draws against tarsus and kirikhanspor.Back on home shores we got a great win against gent before a demolition of DHMi.We go into the 2nd half of the season in good spirits and hopefully that will transfer onto the pitch.

Next update - January matches

Good transfer window mate. I've had Schrijvers on fifa before and he was quality - really good signing for where your club is at for the moment.

Impressive start to you career mate! I used to love Pablo Aimar on some of the older FM's

Good luck in the Bundesliga!

Cheers cm i am hopingall the signings made this window will help us push on for a European spot.With the standard of teams around us the cl could be out of reach but theres no reason with the signings this window and current squad that I cant achieve one of the Europa league spots.





Exactly the same thing happened in the Leverkusen match as did the Monchengladbach game where we gave them a 4 goal lead after 52 minutes this time though.Only in this game we could fight back and get a draw.It could of been a win but for a missed opportunity in the 93rd minute by valdez chamoro.Denis thomalia again helped himself to a good double with Valdez Chamorro and tomas Martinez getting the other goals in a very impressive fightback.

Not the best of games against koln but a good point on the whole.Siebe schrijvers scored a stunning acrobatic first goal for the club to put us ahead but they levelled pretty much right away and the game ended up in a draw.

We weren't in the best of form really going into the trip to stutgaart but we put in a great performance as tomas necid showed his anticipation skills to score twice on the rebound after the stutgaart gk saved shots on goal.Great result considering we rested a few with the Dortmund cup game coming up soon after.



Things are still going well but with those 2 draws we have dropped out of the top 4.I cant complain too much as we are still in a European spot and are well above the 16th place the media thought we would be in and around the 10th place I thought we would be in.

Next update - February

Cheers for comment pippadoc.I am enjoying the save so far and hope to improve even more in the coming seasons.Aimar has always been one of my fave fm players but he was terrible for me on this one.

Good 2 months Decent signings you have brought in, hopefully Romero will do well for you like he did with Moscow and Burnely (can't remember if he did join you?)


No surprise to see Martinez won Golden boy award

Cheers johno.Yeah I have had gil romero with both burnley and spartak.It might seem boring going after the same players but I know the players well and how to get good performances out of them so its a case of stick to what you know does well and its always gone well for me so why change it?Admittedly both fellaini and shaw have been poor for us and neither of them are starters.After a few games I now rotate them with the other lads.The other signings have performed pretty well but if I could terminate the man utd lads loans I would.






6 minutes in and a man down thanks to a stupid challenge from fellaini which highlights what I just mentioned.3 minutes later and they went ahead and I thought we were going to be on the end of a drubbing.They were all over us like a tramp on chips and we were surviving.Just after half time denis thomalia got an equalizer and it was game on but they continued to dominate.Anton putilo then put us ahead completely against the run of play and we were on cloud 9.Our defence and gk were holding firm and I went to counter.It backfired and they got an equalizer.They continued to batter us but a sending off of their own changed the game and after that it was more equal with chances for both teams.It went to the dreaded penalties though and after 9 penalties scored they missed and we were in the semi final of the german cup.



A very good draw for us against an underperforming stutgaart coming up.At home too.



Not sure if I am too happy with the draw against schalke.We raced to a 2 goal early lead with strikes from putilo and Martinez but they scored 2 2nd half goals to draw the game.Games against the teams around us are important and it is very very tight around us in the league.

Fantastic win in berlin next.Everything we tried seemed to come off and we took most of our chances.Martinez again impressed with 2 goals and an assist.Rebic and schrijvers with the other goals.

Another fine game this time against Freiburg.Braces from both schrijvers and albin with goals also coming from putio and madlung.Hard to believe a 7 goal match was goalless at half time.

A terrible way to end the month.It was a good month and I was very confidant going into the game against the 2nd bottom of the table who had scored only
18 goals in 24 games but they managed to score 5 against us.This match highlights our biggest problem as our attack is great and up there with some of the best in the league but our defence has been poor.Schrijvers scored 2 early on and Martinez also got another goal.



That one defeat sees us slide down to 6th.Still in a good spot which would see us qualify for Europe.3 points is the difference between us and 2nd place dortmind who I travel to on the final day of the season.

Next update - March

March started off with a good win against hoffenheim.Tomas necid scored a header on the stroke of half time to ensure we went into the 2nd half in front.Luke shaw scored a nice finish to make it 2-0 and that's how it finished.Given our main problem lies in the defence I may take a look at hoffenheims niklas sule or eder alvarez balanta.Both or either would be massive signings for us.

A decent look point at mainz came next thanks to 2 siebe schrijvers goals.It should of been a win but they equalized with a dodgy penalty late on but I am happy with the point.

A very good win against hamburg wrapped up an unbeaten march with a free kick from Dominik Kaiser and a siebe schrijvers goal shortly after.They pulled one back straight from kick off but there was only going to be one winner and we were unlucky not to add to the goals in the 2nd half.



The league is looking very promising for us now but we certainly have the hardest running of anyone in the top 6 and I think theabove 3 will pull further ahead in the final 6 games.Its just a matter of trying to keep koln and schalke at bay to secure cl football next season.I think a European spot is pretty much secured so we have had a great season.Tomas Martinez is joint top of the scoring charts with Robert lewandowski and tops the assist charts by 5.He has been incredible for us.



Another very good link set up this time with chinas Shandong.Can only be a good thing for the finances.

Next update - April

Decent results Not far off for CL spot

Good link up with Shandong.

Yeah we have had a very good season johno.cl is a real possibility.I like setting up the commercial links asap so as to bring more money in quicker.Already got Japanese and Chinese links but its a shame new York red bulls are the senior affiliate as that means we don't get much money from that deal.





A very good month started off with a stunning 4-0 victory over dusseldorf.valdez Chamorro and Martinez got a goal apiece before schrijvers got a double in a great 1st half performance.We did slacken off a bit in the 2nd half but the damage was done and we got the 3 points.

A horrible game for us at the Allianz arena.I never expected to get much out of the game but I didn't expect a 5-0 defeat.The least said about this one the better.

A very good recovery from the Bayern massacre with a good 3-0 win over borrusia Monchengladbach.Schrijvers,valdez Chamorro and klostermann with out goals.

Another decent win to round off the month away to Augsburg.We went ahead early on through Michael keane but they turned the match around and found themselves 2-1 up by half time.After the hairdryer treatment my boys came out and got an equalizer pretty quickly though an own goal by they're gk before schrijvers won it for us not long after.A massive 3 points for us.



On that final match day of the month we won and both schalke and koln lost which means we got 4th place at least and will be playing cl football next season.I thought at the beginning euopean football was a possibility at best but to finish 4th at worst is fantastic.I doubt it will be higher as our 1 remaining game is a trip to Dortmund.



We are also through to the clubs 1st ever final in the german cup.Diame got sent off but they still managed to go in front.Harsh words were said at half time and our boys turned it around and we got the win through a zakaria bakkali goal and a tomas Martinez double.



And I am pretty confidant we can get the clubs 1st major trophy.Werder Bremen beat schalke to reach the final but they are a team who aren't anywhere near the top of the league.It also might help a bit that we haven't lost against them though that doesn't count for very much.

Next update - May and the season rounup

Ouch, a stuffing against Bayern Congrats on getting CL spot with a game to spare

Good luck against Werder!

That Bayern defeat was a killer and shows us how far we still have to go before thinking of the league title.The champions league wasn't expected for another couple of seasons but I am happy to of qualified for next season.





Not the best ending to the season but we didn't do that badly really.They did dominate at times but when we equalized just before half time I thought we might of claimed a point but it wasn't to be.



A quality season but for all the goals we scored we did concede way too much.It is something I will have to address in the summer.Bayern ran away with it in the end.Freiburg also got relegated but I took the screenshot before that happened.My aim for next season is qualification for the cl again.



Chuffed to bits for klostermann getting this award.He isn't the best rb in the league but the lad has a lot of potential to maybe be the national teams rb.He is already our starting rb.





A couple of awards for Martinez but that wasn't much of a surprise when you see this...



Easily the best player in the league last season.





A couple of awards for me too.



No real surprise there.Martinez has been my best signing on this game and dominates the fans poll.



Good that the facilities are again getting better.



A new licence will be coming my way soon too.

There will be big changes again to the playing squad.Players who didn't perform are either on their way to being sold or have already agreed a move and there is a fair few amount of players already on their way in.

Next update - pre season games and transfers

No surprise to see Martinez winning awards