Los Leones - The Basque will rise again

A background introduction:
- So I needed a new challenge on FM. I haven't been playing it much lately due to work and exams, but I've been itching to find a new team to be over a long period of time, but none felt appealing to me. Then a friend of mine who also plays FM16 suggested that we'd do a separate savegame with the same teams and the same leagues to see which one of us would succeed first. Only problem was that we couldn't agree on where to start off. Then I came to thinking that the biggest challenge of them all would be to either start in Spain and try and knock off the Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid hegemony or start in Italy to try and knock off Juventus's top-spot.

After much discussion we figured that we'd start as Athletic Club Bilbao. The challenge couldn't be tougher as we're not allowed to bring in big-named players and stars because of Athletic Club's rule of being all-basque. Plus, this is a massive club with a very rich history and a club that's much bigger than most people reckognizes. So the challenge is set: Win La Liga and either Champions League or EURO League. It's a challenge that I look forward to for sure.

Playable Leagues:


My Coaching stats:


Managing a big club such as Athletic Club I needed decent stats. So I start with a Continental A License and Professional Footballer at National level-status. I also managed to talk the board into financing my Continental Pro License:





Estadio San Mamés & Club Kits:


Known as only "The Cathedral", Estadio San Mamés is located in the centre of the city of Bilbao. A total capacity of 53.332 crazy Basqueonians on the stands makes everyone know for sure which club is number one in the Basque Country.

Home:


Away:


Third:


Club Finances:



Key Players:

In order for the team to be successful I need to keep most of my players at bay, that means rejecting eventual bids that may come in for some of the players that's in my squad. I'm hoping their loyalty to Athletic Club is enough for them to stay. These are the players that I want to build this years team around:


Aritz Aduriz is a proven goalscorer although almost 34 years old. As long as he's free of injuries he'll play.


With Iker Munuain out for over half the season due to an injury, this young fella will need to step it up. I'm hoping that one of the brightest talents in Spain will do the trick. Williams is a beast in the making...



Every good midfield needs a leader to run it. Ander Iturraspe is mine... Not the quickest of players, but alot of routine and work-rate. He's definitely going to be important for me.


Aymeric Laporte probably doesn't need a closer introduction as the entire world of football knows what kind of talent he is. My problem is that he won't sign a new contract with the club as he fears Athletic isn't ambitious enough. I will do everything I can to keep him here for this season at least and try to win a title and finish top-4 so that we can play in the Champions League next year. That should do it if I can hang on to him for that long...

My Tactics:


A 4-2-3-1 tactic that I always use, just tweaking it here and there as the season goes on...

Staff Transfers:


I hired a new Chief Scout, Head Physio and Head of Youth Development along with some other scouts and coaches. Being that Athletic Club have a history with England and Blackburn in particular, what's not better than bring in David Fevre from Blackburn Rovers as head physio and Phil Cannon, former Head of Youth Department of Blackburn Rovers to fill those vacancies at Athletic Club? But truth to be told, both Fevre and Cannon has great stats so it's great that they accepted my offers.

Player Transfers:


Only one player in, a 16-year old talent as well. Pepelu came highly recommended from all of my scouts and I managed to get a bargain for him. Sold two players; one that I wasn't going to play that much (Sabin) for a decent sum of cash, and one that I didn't wanna part with, but I managed to press up the asking price so I decided to go ahead with it (Oscar De Marcos). £6M + future incentives that could see the total sum go as high as £7.5M is acceptable for him. Don't even know why Klopp wanted him so bad...

The start of the Season:


Seeing how this is only post #1 of the story, I will be more detailed next time around on how the games have been and so on. But for now:

I lost alot of the training matches, but I'm not too concerned with them as I was only looking for match-fitness and fitness in general. But when the Supercopa came, I managed to beat Barcelona at home; probably helped that Suarez got injured early and Neymar was sent off for two yellow cards early in the second half, but still... Managed to gain a draw at Nou Camp, so I'm very happy with the aggregate win which means that I have brought my first piece of silverware to the San Mamés.

Next update: EURO League and the start of La Liga...

The month of September, La Liga & Euro League:
Some tough games to start off the La Liga-season, but we started out on a real morale-booster beating FC Barcelona for the second time in three matches this season and what a way to do it... Two goals from Aritz Aduriz helped the cause as we rampled Barca 4-1 at home - a real thumping. We were up 4-0 before Barca got a consolation-goal.

In game two vs Eibar we were down 2-0 at half time away. Aduriz scored the 2-1 goal early and a new signing, promising youngster Pau Miguélez (more information on him to come later on) scored two goals on his debut including the game-winner after 88 minutes to seal a magnificent comeback. A 4-0 beating over Getafe at home meant that we were 3 for 3 in the league before facing Villarreal away. Due to many fixtures in a limited period of time I had to use squad rotation for what it was worth and we lost 1-0, although we had a goal disallowed late on. With Real Madrid waiting at The Cathedral only three days later I had to prioritize.

And one man took charge vs the mighty Real Madrid; former Atletico-man Raúl Garcia. He bagged two goals and we ended up beating Real 2-1 at home. A great start to the season for us, better than we could've dreamed of in fact. The month closed out with the Vasco Derby vs Real Sociedad away in San Sébastian. A great defensive effort and Aduriz and Iñaki Williams, who by the way has had a great start to the season, helped us win 2-1 away to our arch-rivals...



Europa League:
After beating Vaduz in the EL-playoffs the groups for the 2016 Europa League was drawn:



A draw away at Red Bull Salzburg was followed up by a solid 2-0 win at home vs Bordeaux. That means that we're 4 points from two games, a solid return I'd say. Bottom-feeders FC Groningen awaits in Holland in the next game...

Overview:


Transfers:
I managed to keep Aymeric Laporte from leaving in this window. Aritz Aduriz is wanted by Benfica and Tottenham Hotspurs, but their bid was politely rejected as they came in. Mikel San José is also wanted by Tottenham Hotspurs. Their bid of £8.75M wasn't good enough for me to let him go. He's valued at £11.25M with a release clause of £25M. Honestly; not gonna sell him either unless the release clause is met.

Three players joined:


Borja Ekiza is no stranger to Athletic Club Bilbao having grown up there. He's not a starting-11 defender, but a decent bacup for San José and Laporte. Fee: £1.3M from Eibar


This one is a real talent that I have high hopes for. Came highly recommended from all my scouts and Porto, Sevilla and Deportivo La Coruña all wanted him, but I managed to sign him from Racing Santander. Got his league-debut vs. Eibar away and turned the game around with two goals securing a magnificent comeback:


This kid is definitely one for the future, but with Aduriz turning 34 and counting the days as a top-level player I might end up using him more and more as time goes by. Fee: £750k from Racing Santander


Alberto Ródenas is another young striker that came recommended from my scouting department and I decided to act on their recommendations. Only 16 years of age, he's got plenty of time to develop. Sent on loan instantly to affiliate Baskonia. Fee: £275k from Elche (release clause)

Injuries:


Some long-term injuries there that we could do without. Unai López is 21 years old and a big talent, but this is the third time so far this year he's gotten injured, so that's something to keep tabs on...


All in all a great month, I need to keep this up going into October...

The month of October, La Liga & Euro League:


The month kicked off with a solid 2-0 win at home vs. Valencia. Deportivo has been one of the pleasant surprises of the La Liga so far and find themselves currently on the top-half of the table so it was a tough away-game that awaited. A solid defensive efford and a Aduriz-goal sealed the deal at the Riazor stadium. Sporting find themselves with their backs against the La Liga-wall and a comfortably 3-1 victory at home, which in all honesty should have been bigger, made sure that we are still undefeated through October. The final game of the month took place in Andalucia and Sevilla as we travelled to face Los Verdes; Real Betis. Betis have really been struggling this year and don't be surprised if their manager gets the boot sooner rather than later. A 1-3 away-win helped us go undefeated...

In the EL we secured an early advancement through to the knock-out stages thanks to two solid wins vs. dutch side FC Groningen. All in all it has been a solid month of football for Athletic Club Bilbao!



Team News:
Thanks to a great campaign so far I managed to convince Aymeric Laporte to sign a new deal with Athletic Club. It comes with a hefty long-term contract, but it'll be worth it, I'm sure of it. And more importantly: His relatively low release fee of "only" £24M is now set at £72M which can come in handy as the mighty Manchester United have been showing growing interest of his services. They've had a season so far that's been nothing short of catastophical which ended with LvG getting the sack and Jose Mourinho taking over the reigns at Old Trafford. Apparently he's got big interest in my golden boy.




Another one of my players that got a contract-renewal is Ibai Gómez. He's been in the shadows of Williams so far, but I still consider him important for our team's success so I handed him a new deal. Stuttgart has been taking interest in him as well, so good to get one down on paper:



The last one to get a new contract handed to him is... ME! I got a three year extension which includes bonuses, so I'm happy to stay put:



Part of the deal for a new contract is that the club will expand the already excellent youth facilities:



So all in all a great month for me, looking forward for the continuance...