Career Bilbao Beauty's. A Youth Challenge

[mcandrew003]

Hello, yes take a seat right there, that's it. This post is going to be the birthplace of one of the greatest footballing stories of all time (hopefully!) With their famed Basque system, Athletic Bilbao is the club of my choice. It all starts from here...

Rules/Conditions

Only player 20 or under allowed to sign

Use Academy players as much a possible

Create a legacy

first update will be hopefully some time this week

Edited February 13, 2017 by mcandrew003

[AndersJ]

Cool - best of luck

[Sousa_XI]

I will take a seat and will wait for your updates 

[mcandrew003]

4 minutes ago, AndersJ said:

Cool - best of luck

Thanks Mate

1 minute ago, Sousa_XI said:

I will take a seat and will wait for your updates 

Cheers, update could be Thursday or maybe Wednesday 

[Massey127]

Hi Mate, all the very best with this and I look forward to the updates.  

[madmonk]

6 hours ago, mcandrew003 said:

Hello, yes take a seat right there, that's it. This post is going to be the birthplace of one of the greatest footballing stories of all time (hopefully!) With their famed Basque system, Athletic Bilbao is the club of my choice. It all starts from here...

Rules/Conditions

Only player 20 or under allowed to sign

Use Academy players as much a possible

Create a legacy

first update will be hopefully some time this week

 

Cool, good luck. I tried it once years back with the full version. It was fun. I think you will enjoy it. Cheers!!

[mcandrew003]

7 hours ago, Massey127 said:

Hi Mate, all the very best with this and I look forward to the updates.  

Thanks a lot mate!

 

5 hours ago, feng10516 said:

Cool, good luck. I tried it once years back with the full version. It was fun. I think you will enjoy it. Cheers!!

Thanks very much!

[mcandrew003]

Change of update time

i could post the first update tonight if I get to 19 games, which should happen, so look out for that!

[mcandrew003]

Part 1 

So, welcome to the first update of the journey of Bilbao's uprising.

When Josu Urrutia, the club president, welcomed me to the San Mames, he discussed the club vision, of how European Football was the club's ambition, and with a budget of 37 million I certainly wasn't saying no !

So, here are the summer recruits, please welcome...

These are the first batch of young talent to walk through the gates and smell opportunity. Our most expensive signing, Otegui, is a real star, and the future leader of the club. None of the other player are quite up to his standard in terms of potential growth, although Zubeldia, Ezkieta and Buñuel all have bright futures here.

 

The Stars

Talented young Centre Back who I'm sure many of you have heard of, talented in a lot of ways and our best defender.

Aging Striker but has proved he still has the quality to make it this year, some quality stats, and a wealth of experience.

The way to win football matches is goals, and this lad has provided them so far this year, which we will see later. Quality all round and a very quick, versatile player. 

Now then, the results...As you can see, this season has been a mixed bag, many ups and downs, including our awful spell towards the bottom, and some very unfair results, and this is where it leaves us in the table...

It doesn't look great, however just a few weeks ago we were top of the pile, and have occupied 3rd and above for a lot of the season so far, and we were just 3 wins from topping the league again, so where did it go right, and where did it go wrong...

Right:

. We went on a unbeaten run from the October 20th to December 17th, which saw us pick up a fair few points off the big boys

. Inaki is firing on all fronts, scoring 13 so far this season

.We are reasonably solid defensively, conceding just 20 so far this season.

Wrong:

. Silly defeats have come aplenty so far this year, including this one, and it needs to be cut down.

. Inconsistensy has been a big thing this season, and the poor run we are on at the moment has left me worried for my job.

. Tactics have been reasonably sound this season, with me and my coaches working hard with the players to make sure we learn and learn quick, however the bad run has made me adjust a little, leaving uncertainty Among the faces of many players,

Tactics

Me, Jon Aspiazu, Marcos Amado, Jośe Martínez Puig and Josè Villalta have worked hard on tactics this season, but we are still uncertain on the matter.

This is the tactic we switched to after the bad run of results. The original was a 4-2-2-2, with the same roles except the Atttacking midfielder would have been a Target Man.

The only difference is that before Passing style was on Short, meaning we had the majority of possession, but couldn't seem to break the deadlock too easily.

Europe: 

In Europe, we breezed through the group, topping it and often using rotation players, in order to give the more experienced members of the team a good rest.

We didn't however, get a great draw....

Oh dear ....

 

Overall....

So far this season, Josu Urrutia hasn't been delighted with my work, but isn't too dissapointed.  Hopefully, we get on the right track now we are halfway there! Any tactical support is always appreciated and any comments are always read! More information will be given at the end of the season, if this was a bit stale it will be better, just getting used to it!!

 

 

 

 

Edited February 14, 2017 by mcandrew003

[mcandrew003]

Just a quick addition to that part, I would like to say sorry for the bad write up, I will go into a lot more detail about our new stars at the club, as well as tactics, stats and much more in the next update, so look forward too that !

[Sousa_XI]

Not bad start mate ..  

[mcandrew003]

@Sousa_XI cheers mate 

[AndersJ]

Very good start - and actually a GREAT team of talents :)! 

[mcandrew003]

6 hours ago, AndersJ said:

Very good start - and actually a GREAT team of talents :)! 

I agree, a fantastic group of lads , which should carry us onto success. Also thanks for the feedback great to see people enjoying it so far

[Massey127]

Hi Mate, great start under difficult circumstances.  4 points off 2nd place half way in is nothing to be disappointed with.

Just noticed on your tactic though that you are playing Munian as a Winger and playing on the left.  If I am correct he is right footed and so I genuinely think you would get the best out of him if you change his role to an IF on the left flank as his role traits include cutting inside.  He is a quality player and that simple change could easily turn some of your unlucky draws and defeats into additional points.

Might be worth a try?

[BatiGoal]

I don't think I've ever played with Bilbao but bought many Basque players over the years. A decent start and hope you can turn some losses into draws and draws into wins with a few tactical tweaks. KIU!

[mcandrew003]

7 hours ago, BatiGoal said:

I don't think I've ever played with Bilbao but bought many Basque players over the years. A decent start and hope you can turn some losses into draws and draws into wins with a few tactical tweaks. KIU!

Thanks very much, the next update could be tonight !

[tenere1982]

I love Bilbao and the whole only Basque concept, but actually never tried it myself, so this looks very intriguing.

And the squad seems very promising, I hope you manage to keep Laporte happy and make him your legend.

[mcandrew003]

Thanks for your support, I agree with the Laporte thing, that has been something I've been keeping an eye on from time to time, surprisingly it Muniain that wangs to leave, not Laporte, so it looks ok for now !

[mcandrew003]

Part 2

Welcome back, this time we travel in time to the end of the 16/17 season, where Bilbao set off on their journey.

This season was a long and hard one, with European battles as well as domestic ones, and we shall look at how our effort has been replayed here.

Fixtures

Follwing on from the last update, our fortunes had an upturn as we redound our early season form and, despite a few blips along the way, found ourselves challenging for top 4. 

As you can see however, we began to drop off near the back end of the season, and I'm not quite sure why we had this problem. Fatigue, or just a lack of work effort? I'm sure following seasons will give some insight into this. There were some major problems towards the last 10 games or so, such as poor conditioning to key players like Laporte, San Jose and Benãt, and also defensive instability, with us conceding 14 in the last 10 games, with us only conceding 9 the previous 10.

League Table

So how did we do in our first campaign as coach at the San Mames?

5th Place Finish

Not too bad, European football was secured for the San Mames faithfull, and to be fair we occupied 4th for a while, until it was unrightly stolen from our grasp by Valencia in the final game of the season. A few good and a few bad runs for us this season, but ultimately I'm satisfied with the finish, but bitterly dissapointed in the gaping hole that his Champions league football not being filled. However, I'm sure this is good enough too keep the job, isn't it...

Board Confidence

I promised Urrutia a champions league spot, which I have failed to deliver by 2 points this season, but how does he feel on my performance as Manager?

I can agree with him on several aspects of this report, including the match form part. In the last 5 or 6 games we were awful, maybe except 1 game, so that's not unexpected. I think I achieved a reasonable amount this season with Bilbao, reaching a good stage of the Europa League and having an ok Cup run, so I am satisfied with the competitions bar. Transfers is a funny one, as the board nor fans ever liked my buisness In the marker, however it is quite high...? I agree with finances, having a very large wage budget. Squad harmony is at a good level, with a couple of transfer requests but most importantly the big stars are happy, for now.

Player Statistics

This season has had some star performers for us in all positions, with each squad member doing a sufficient job to keep the team rolling. These our the stats of this seasons squad.

As you can see, Iñigo Lekue stole the show this season if Average rating is anything to go by, securing a 7.48 over 33 appearances since taking over from our usual left back, Balenziaga, after injury. Both Aritz Aduriz and Iñaki Williams secured 23 goals, and with Raul Garcia with 13 we had a good tally to go with. 

The title goes to Aduriz however, who secured his goals in 2 less games than Williams. Muniain was our creative force, laying on 12 for players like Aduriz and Williams, and despite wanting to leave earlier in the season, he pushed on and took the assist title. All other records are visible above the text. Aduriz managed that amount of goals at 36! Anybody else had a goal scorer that old?

Rising Stars

This section is a check up on the stars we signed in the summer. I have only got screenshots of 2 players as they are the only 2 to feature this season.

Antonio Otegui

As you can see, a rise in quality for this young spainard, who featured a fair few times for us this season, playing +25 games. He has developed beautifully, and can really push on next season. Nice to finally see some greens on his attributes! With 16 Decisions and 14 Passing, he has an eye for a killer ball, and can even be a flair player with 15 Technique! 

Like I said, good passer, as well as many other fantastic aspects to his game. The future is bright for this lad!

Aitor Buñuel

Not anywhere as much game time as Otegui this season because of the excellent form of Oscar De Marcos, but has taken his chances when they have came, if you look at the bottom right of his page. I think he has increased slightly, but nothing major to report here. However good Tackling and Technique for a Right Back of this age!

Not quite as impressive as Otegui, and with no Positives or Negatives there isn't much to talk about either!

Europe

In the Europa League, we achieved a reasonable round, but were beat by underdog opponents, meaning I can't be too pleased with our performance.

As seen in the fixtures screenshot, we beat Roma comfortably before moving onto the big boys of the competition, Manchester United. And it's fair too say we kinda smashed them!

Away from home, against possibly the biggest team in the tournament, this was a result for the archives. The return leg ended 0-0, meaning we moved onto our next opposition...

Saint Ettienne!

In the first Leg, we were suprisingly beaten 1-0 in a game we were superior in (as I remember) The second leg was very tough, but we fell, and they conducted a European comeback Liverpool would be proud of!

We were beaten as they scored 2 goals in 3 minutes! This didn't excactly help our fatigue situation either!

Tactics

I can tell you that we stuck mostly with the tactic we started using at the last update, and it mostly worked! Well.... in a way I guess!

In Conclusion...

I think this season was always going to be a tester, but I think we have created something to build on, and I look forward to recruiting new talent to replace the old! Hopefully, Urrutia see's a future in me and backs me! Thanks for reading, fell free to leave suggestions or tactics or thoughts! 

[mcandrew003]

22 hours ago, Massey127 said:

Hi Mate, great start under difficult circumstances.  4 points off 2nd place half way in is nothing to be disappointed with.

Just noticed on your tactic though that you are playing Munian as a Winger and playing on the left.  If I am correct he is right footed and so I genuinely think you would get the best out of him if you change his role to an IF on the left flank as his role traits include cutting inside.  He is a quality player and that simple change could easily turn some of your unlucky draws and defeats into additional points.

Might be worth a try?

Sorry mate, only just saw this, great shout with Muniain, will give it a go in pre-season, thanks very much! @Massey127

[BatiGoal]

To repeat your own words.. you created something to build on. Solid first campaign, very nice EL run, and a very promising group of youngsters. Best of luck in your 2nd season.

[mcandrew003]

 

6 hours ago, BatiGoal said:

To repeat your own words.. you created something to build on. Solid first campaign, very nice EL run, and a very promising group of youngsters. Best of luck in your 2nd season.

Thanks very much ! @BatiGoal

Edited February 17, 2017 by mcandrew003