FMG Pass The Save FM24

[Derek]

Anyone up for taking the next season?

If not I might do another.

[Markitos]

Hi mates, I take this season!

[Markitos]

Season 4

I found myself with an interesting roster, but some players were unhappy due to lack of minutes and others wanted to leave.

My usual system is 4-3-3, so I started to look for possible reinforcements for this system.

There was a lot of movement, we managed to bring interesting players for the present and the future and we made up for the loss of 3 players who decided to leave even though they were important (Sowah, Kumbedi and Fraulo).

 

We are left with a squad with many options and variants to play 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 and 3-4-2-1 as used last season.

 

 

We played some friendlies, mostly with lower level opponents simply to gain playing time.

[Derek]

Can't wait to see how this season goes mate! 

[Markitos]

Starting Novenver and...

 

 

I'll decline

[Derek]

I would have been tempted by Lazio 

[Markitos]

19 hours ago, Derek said:

I would have been tempted by Lazio 

Me too, but wait until I post the mid-season recap 

 

 

[Markitos]

That's interesting

Leverkusen 12th in Bundesliga, 18th in UCL (New Format) so they will pass to next round

In squad still have Tah, Hincapie, Grimaldo, Palacios, Xhaka, Wirtz, Boniface and anothers like Hudson-Odoi, Ali Cho, Fazzini

 

I did the interview, I have 2 more games to go until January, we'll see what happens.

[Markitos]

Well, here's the situation, 1 game to go until the end of December and the January break is coming up.

 

 

We are doing great, the team is performing very well and the players have adapted very well to the scheme.

 

[Markitos]

Now the other topic

 

 

We did the interview, convinced them and they proposed changes in the staff (we would take some of the staff we have now) and they offered us a contract.

 

Bundesliga

UCL

Left 2 games (vs S. Prague and Strasbourg both away)

Squad

 

What do we do?

[Markitos]

@Derek @VyKing @a31632

[VyKing]

I'd say after the season they've just had in real life. I'd jump at the chance to emulate or atleast be at a bigger club and push on

[Derek]

I'd bite their hand off for the job mate 

I'm curious to see if Davide takes the next step 

[Markitos]

Well, I've decided to change, although I was hoping to achieve something important with Sampdoria, I think Leverkusen is a little better and we can grow more.

 

 

[Markitos]

A very complete squad, both to play "Xabi style" as well as a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3-3 scheme.

I will keep my 4-3-3, the next one to try what interests him.

 

As for signings, for the moment I don't think I'll make any, although I'll look in January to see what's available.

I will try to transfer several players, there is a lot of potential and they need minutes.

I will renew some contracts and look for some interesting free signings for next season.

[Markitos]

It was very complicated to incorporate players, we made several offers for players under 23 (the board asks us to sign players of that age for the first team) but they preferred to go to other teams.

We suffered 2 losses in defense, 19M was the clause of Kossounou and we could not do much, the last day of the market Arsenal offered 61M + objectives for Tapsoba and we had to accept it (the player wanted to leave).

Only 2 additions we were able to make

 

 

 

Callum Doyle, from Man. City, will arrive on a free next season

 

[Markitos]

 

 

Well, we have finished a historic season in Leverkusen.

The Bundesliga is very entertaining and difficult, it has been difficult for us to adapt, but we managed to do a good job that left the board and the fans satisfied. Personally I was not satisfied, we lost many games that we should have won.

 

In the UCL, however, it was a different story. The two matches we had to play as soon as we arrived were very bad (draw vs. S. Prague and defeat vs. Strasbourg) but when it came to the play-offs the team was transformed. We had great performances and surprising results that led us to WIN THE UCL!!!!

 

Squad

 

As for the players, there are few who really have the level to remain in the team in my opinion.

 

GK

Vandevoordt has had very good games and gave me the security to remain the first choice next season. Petrenko delivered when it was his turn to play.

 

Full Backs

Baku and Kister were in charge of covering the right sector. The truth is that I expected more from Baku who did not perform very well and Kister surprised me, besides he is young and can still improve. On the left side Boci was my starter and his performance was fantastic while Grimaldo was good when he played and can still perform.

CB

Hincapie and Tah have been a great duo, they understand each other very well and provide security, the problem is that Tah will be difficult to keep because he wants to leave. Monamay was a good replacement, he still needs to improve a lot and Pohl barely played enough to give a verdict.

DM and MEC

There are 4-5 very good players here who have performed wonderfully. Xhaka despite his 34 years is a starter without thinking about it, Palacios has not convinced me but has performed well, Asp-Jensen surprised me and ended up starting after Xhaka's injury at the end of the season and Wirtz is a marvel (but difficult to keep him, many teams want him). Andrich has not performed well at all, Puerta and Mbamba performed well but need more minutes and Mensah almost didn't play at all.

On the other hand, Fazzini got injured as soon as he arrived and didn't play at all.

AM

The weakest point of the team in my opinion, they look like good players but have not performed as expected.

ST

Boniface was the undisputed starter and scored goals. Cho had some good games, but he did not stand out much, the youth players played well and did little else.

 

 

Transfers

 

On the other hand, I have secured some signings for the next season, young players with interesting futures. The board fixed the budget at almost 60M for transfers
 

On the other hand, bad not to plan Sampdoria's season....

I don't know if anyone wants to continue next season or if I have no problem to continue. @Derek @VyKing  @a31632

FMG Pass The Save - Season 4.fm

 

[a31632]

On 09/05/2024 at 15:30, Markitos said:

 

 

Well, we have finished a historic season in Leverkusen.

The Bundesliga is very entertaining and difficult, it has been difficult for us to adapt, but we managed to do a good job that left the board and the fans satisfied. Personally I was not satisfied, we lost many games that we should have won.

 

In the UCL, however, it was a different story. The two matches we had to play as soon as we arrived were very bad (draw vs. S. Prague and defeat vs. Strasbourg) but when it came to the play-offs the team was transformed. We had great performances and surprising results that led us to WIN THE UCL!!!!

 

Squad

 

As for the players, there are few who really have the level to remain in the team in my opinion.

 

GK

Vandevoordt has had very good games and gave me the security to remain the first choice next season. Petrenko delivered when it was his turn to play.

 

Full Backs

Baku and Kister were in charge of covering the right sector. The truth is that I expected more from Baku who did not perform very well and Kister surprised me, besides he is young and can still improve. On the left side Boci was my starter and his performance was fantastic while Grimaldo was good when he played and can still perform.

CB

Hincapie and Tah have been a great duo, they understand each other very well and provide security, the problem is that Tah will be difficult to keep because he wants to leave. Monamay was a good replacement, he still needs to improve a lot and Pohl barely played enough to give a verdict.

DM and MEC

There are 4-5 very good players here who have performed wonderfully. Xhaka despite his 34 years is a starter without thinking about it, Palacios has not convinced me but has performed well, Asp-Jensen surprised me and ended up starting after Xhaka's injury at the end of the season and Wirtz is a marvel (but difficult to keep him, many teams want him). Andrich has not performed well at all, Puerta and Mbamba performed well but need more minutes and Mensah almost didn't play at all.

On the other hand, Fazzini got injured as soon as he arrived and didn't play at all.

AM

The weakest point of the team in my opinion, they look like good players but have not performed as expected.

ST

Boniface was the undisputed starter and scored goals. Cho had some good games, but he did not stand out much, the youth players played well and did little else.

 

 

Transfers

 

On the other hand, I have secured some signings for the next season, young players with interesting futures. The board fixed the budget at almost 60M for transfers
 

On the other hand, bad not to plan Sampdoria's season....

I don't know if anyone wants to continue next season or if I have no problem to continue. @Derek @VyKing  @a31632

FMG Pass The Save - Season 4.fm 128.93 MB · 0 downloads

 

I can take the next season, no worries. Have been looking at changing up tactics and seeing if I can succeed with a more classic possession based 4-3-3 with Bayer Leverkusen

[a31632]

Update on Marzano's first full season with Leverkusen! I play all games in "extended" mode, no holidays, and play every match with full management (no "instant results")

@Markitos signed some very promising talent, they all joined after end of season. I did feel some experienced players needed to be brought in though. As always I tried to make sure to be and stay sensible. I signed a good relatively young goalkeeper (Marco Carnesecchi,  8.5MM from Bologna), Defender (Raphael Varane, FREE), Defensive Midfielder (Yves Bissouma, FREE), Brahim Diaz (transfer listed by Real Madrid and a relative bargain for 38MM. Best addition to the squad was for sure Leon Goretzka (FREE) who is bossing midfield every week.

Unfortunately we were unable to keep Florian Wirtz at Leverkusen, when Chelsea came knocking on the door and offered a total of 155MM and Florian indicated he was expecting to leave we made the decision to "cash in" and we were able to attract all the mentioned players with the funds available. These additions added more depth and experience and we mixed the match squad  up regularly, rotating the team and playing some of the promising youngsters whenever possible .

As mentioned Marzano adapted a solid 4-3-3 (quite a lot of changes from the 4-3-3 that @Markitos used, made some tweaks to the tactic after a short run of consecutive defeats (against RB Leipzig 1-2 and 0-3 at home against Bayern München). The game against Bayern was a very even match with xG very similar, but somehow they ran away with a 0-3 win............................................For the rest there was absolutely NO REASON to be sad. The team worked together and play is flowing really well. I have always felt completely in control, the one defeat at RB Leipzig was the only one where I was outplayed. 

In the Champions League results were even better, Leverkusen won all first 6 matches in a row, most notably a 3-1 win against Manchester City and a 2-1 win against Real Madrid. The match against Sampdoria at home for the Champions League was a special occasion for Marzano, he forced himself not to cheer even though he humiliated his old team with a massive 7-0 result. Qualification for the next phase was easy after this. I'm now in a short break at the end of December and when looking back Marzano has just renewed his contract with Leverkusen. Leading the Bundesliga with only 2 defeats so far and beautiful attacking football made the board ecstatic and eager to keep him for as long as possible at Leverkusen.

Below some screenshots, to get an idea on the progress and tactical set up (lots of individual tweaks added where Inside Forwards take on defensive duties when out of possession and mark the oppositions WB/FB as an example).

Will take a short break and continue my quest on Sunday!

 

 

 

[a31632]

UPDATE: We had a quiet January transfer window, was able to sign Chukwuemeka from Chelsea on a free transfer, with midfield options limited I decided to pay $1.8 Million to get him right away and he has been a good addition so far. Leon Goretzka was unwilling to extend his contract and will leave in the new transfer window to make some big money in Saudi Arabia at Al-Hilal............

The team is not as "undefeatable" as in real life, but as before really nothing to complain about!  Sitting in first place in the Bundesliga with only a few more matches to play. Lost 4 matches, drew 1 and won 24 of the 29 matches. 11 points clear of Bayern Munich. In the Champions League made it to the Semi Finals after getting a huge scare in the Quarter Finals against Internazionale Milan. Lost 0-3 in the away match (xG was similar but as always it's the goals that count!) in the home match Marzano was going "all-in" and with 3-0 ahead the game went into extra time. 6-1 win with 4 goals all together in the added time . In the Semi-final Real Madrid awaits so that will be a real challenge. Still competing in the DFB Pokal too (semi-finals coming up). 3 prices still up for grabs for Marzano's team.

I am using the training schedules that @Markitos used in his previous save and they are working very well, much better than the ones I used prior.

Marzano's team is playing attacking football with a 4-3-3, 4th highest possession% at 56% in the Bundesliga and all the other stats are pretty solid too (see screenshots)

Next week will have finished the whole season and will share how Marzano's quest with Bayer Leverkusen in his first full season ended!!!

 

[a31632]

Marzano finished his first season with Bayer Leverkusen with some big successes. Winning a domestic double (Bundesliga title and DFB Pokal), while only being predicted #4 in the league. Unfortunately knocked out of the Champions League in the semi-final after two 1-0 defeats against Real Madrid.Needless to say that the board is absolutely delighted with Marzano as a new manager and likely even bigger clubs might be knocking on his door to ask for his signature

I have added some screenshots showing the Bundesliga season summary, the tactic I used with Bayer Leverkusen this season which is an attacking 4-3-3, average 57% possession in the Bundesliga.

Looking for  someone to take over Marzano's reign, the download link to the save game for the end of the season is included too.

 

 

Bayer Leverkusen 4-3-3 v2.fmf

 

 

FMG Pass The Save - Season 4 BAYER LEVERKUSEN.fm

[Markitos]

Excellent season mate! the first full season of Marzano  has been a marvel. Very good signings, I liked the tactics and I can see that it has performed well.