Velez - The 2nd Century

Well the majority of you may not have heard of Velez, due to the dominance of Boca Junior and River Plate within the league. They are nicknamed 'el fortin' or the 'small fort', they play in the 'Estadio Jose Amalfitani' which holds 49,590 (not all seated) which is shared with the national rugby team, and was formed in 1910 which makes this its 2nd century. The Argentine Primera Divison is a wierd set up hence why abit of copy and pasting from wikipedia should do: hehe


Since 1991, the league is played with an Apertura and Clausura system, with two championships per season. The Torneo Apertura (in English: "Opening Tournament") is played in the second half of the year, while the Torneo Clausura ("Closing Tournament") is played in the first half. Therefore, there are two champions per season. However, relegation and qualification to international competitions are defined either for the full season results or other methods that involve more than just the immediate tournament's results.

CONTENT:

Start of Apertura 1: http://www.fmscout.com/t-22049-Velez--The-2nd-Century.html#22049

Start of Clausura 1: http://www.fmscout.com/t-23508-Velez--The-2nd-Century.html#23508

Start of Apertura 2: http://www.fmscout.com/t-24558-Velez--The-2nd-Century.html#24558

how long take you to upload video?
Nice results by the way.

I am loving the video idea, absolutely brilliant! Good result against Arsenal btw. From what I can gather from the screenshot you play a 4-1-2-1-2, never worked for me in the past I find it hard to control the midfield and create chances, it's going well for you though!

The upload took ages, and due to fm11 screwing me over again I will have to create a new blog (I started a game with my brother saved, and saved over the auto save without any notification?) will start new blog soon with another club

Ok due to difficulties and after a while, I decided that I will restart the blog as it is only a day, I will continue with the blog

They have won the finishing part of the season in 2009, showing their progression as a team in south America.

Noticable Notes:

1) The coaching is pretty awful, e.g. my best coaches best attribute is 14

2) I had a huge squad which required alot of release/selling

3) I have a 98% domestic player basis

4) Had a low budget, with 900k spending and 900k wages, due to amount of players

5) I have a good youth set-up

6) According to scouts my team is the best at dribbling in the league

7) The club is 3.5 mill in debt

Pre-season I did my usual stuff and bombarded my team with friendly so that the whole squad and the reserves got games e.g. 3 friendly in 5 days. I won all but 3 out of 10 friendly against fairly weak opponents. This had me comming in at fairly good steam into the first game of my fm 11 career as Velez manager and it was a rival match against Huracan Away although I was predicted favourites before the game.

August


Silva scored a brace with moralez and cristaldo scoring inbetween in what was a very god team performance, the fluidity impressed me and so did Silva with his pen and poachers finisher, the match had 6 yellow cards showing the firery temper of the derby

(Silva:)




Goal times: Silva (2) Veron (10) Fernandez (70) Dominguez (84)

also praise to youngster correa who set up the equaliser despite only being 16 years old.


I enjoyed almost total domination with early goals from LM Zapta in the 2nd min and Moralez in the 33rd, they came back through a good goal from vargas just before half time but after a fairly nervy 20 mins at the end it was a well fought 3 points

(Moralez:)



I rested a few player but it ended in a bore draw, I was very frustrated at my team for this as despite the slight edge we had in that match performance wise, 3 clear cut chance and no goals is not a great sign

September


A solid and satisfactory win from my Velez team, after the fairly embarrasing showing at mid table All Boys, with the goal his time coming from cristaldo early on, I managed to control the tempo and the game despite being away I had a 60% possesion rate.

(Cristaldo:)


Cup time (copa sudamericana): 2nd pre round 1st leg


With an goal in the 50th min which silva scored, I needed more to be moderatly safe in the next leg, but the night was for Martinez who was returning from injured to come on as a sub and snatch the best goal I have seen on fm 11 so far, a run from the half way line and a huge shot




This game had hype built up to it as I was unbeaten and 3rd and they were 1st and I think unbeaten, in the pre-match they thought my captain couldn’t handle their LM. But I had fairly big problems with Silva’s condition being only 91% due to the midweek south American game, I needed another target man, this came in the shape of 20 year old reserve striker Conti:



He was listed for loan due to his decent prospect but no takers, as shown by the following clip this turned out to be what I call a ‘Macheda moment’, which left me 2nd in the league.



Sorry this is not earlier, but here is my squad, with the last game tactics wen I rested my main players



As well as the opening stage league table




Despite a 13 shots to 1 ratio my Velez team failed to make the dominance into victory, I was frustrated at this as it seemed to be a inconsistent types of performances coming from my team

Copa Sudamericana 2nd pre round (2nd leg):


Again another bore draw, I did rest like Somoza but still for fucks sake we fail to finish off teams like this, I was dominated almost but thanks to the heroics of keeper Montoya I kept a clean sheet and progressed to round 1


This was a potential banana slip as my opponents were last in the league but thanks to an early goal in the 4th min from CB Dominguez just beating the keeper to a loose ball, it meant more bore draw A sending off for one of their players and a second from dominguez, and a goal for conti in his 2nd start, followed by a corner goal to give Banfield a bit of respect, the 2nd half was cautious from both teams

(dominguez)



However to end the month on a sour note with Santiago Silva, having a damaged shoulder in training that puts him out of first team action for 4 weeks roughly, he also recenty gained argentina nationality, therefore I have no foreign players in my squad, it aso gives a chance for conti to shine in the next month

November

Copa Sudamericana Quarter Final 1st Leg


After Veron’s wonderstrike, against me meant a fightback against the most on form and top of the league team, after good work from silva he found alvarez in the center of the goal 6 yards out, he found Cristaldo who scored from a yard out just before half time, the second half was dull due to the fouls and Ortiz my key CB got sent off in injury time which was not going to be good for the home leg


An Arkward fight was on my hands due to the mid week game effect, this meant that San Lorenzo took an early lead through Alfaro in the 14th min after a good curling shot reaching the corner of Montoya’s net, however due to the excellent trio 2nd half work of Correa, Martinez, and Conti we managed the fightback, in the 73rd min after Correa’s persistence Conti latched on to his pass and rifled it in, on the 77th min this happened (a run from the half way line)


I was praised by Ortiz for my team talk

Copa Sudamericana Quarter Final 2nd Leg


Fernandez scored a brace early on and a later goal from Gonzalez, undid my dismal Velez team, I will take a portion of the responsibility as tactics were slightly off and too attackive for a team that on form in the league and cup

Notes: Maradona took over the reigns at the struggling Boca, I praised him simply cause he is a legend even though I hate him too due to ‘hand of god’.


An early goal from Ortiz in a dominant game from my velez side won the 3 points for me, they got someone sent off in the 3rd min of injury time too


Great match, spiced up by me saying river are only a mid table team after being currently 3rd about 5-6 points behind me in 2nd, anyway mid games then this happened


Goal times: 2 hat-ricks!
Funes Mori (24,53,61) Cristaldo (42,65,90+2)

I was amazed after Cubero’s cross came deep, deep in injury time Razzotti headed it in front of the keeper and Cristaldo got something on it to equalise, I did dominate the game to an extent with more shots in the game, and more on target.

Cristaldo:



Two goals from silva and a goal from cristaldo showed the great partnership between the two, and gave me 3 more points meaning my solid 2nd place gained a boost

December



Again two varied results with the season ending well the opening part, i gave my yougsters a chance at the end and they did decent. Here is the table from the opening stage in which I finished in a respectable 2nd place:



Here are the stats player wise, as you can see it shows the style of how I manage with a tackling squad and tactic I have for Velez to maintain the risky 4-4-2 diamond formation:



Pre season went by including a 2-0 win against river, and only 2 draws and about 10 wins, which put me on course for the start of the closing stage of the league.

Due to this post being slighty small I will do a review of my squad and how I see the players now I have got to learn their styles and ability. This post will include goalkeepers and defenders:

Goalkeeper Analysis

Firstly I have 2 goalkeepers, of similar ability (these screenshots have been taken a month in advance of this post)



The first is my current 1st choice keeper Montoya as you can see his goalkeeping attributes, all point to a very good goalkeeper, which means he is very decent in between the sticks. He is only 28 which means I can have an FM save's worth out of him and he yet has reached his peak, If I were to sell him it would be for 9-11 mill. From his attributes 14 cleansheets is a good reccord for one that hasn't finished the season yet. 2 years left on his fairly low wage contract means that I don't need to renew it until maybe the end of the season possibly longer.

My second choice keeper:



He is younger, I gave him at the start of the season a chance in a run of three games in which it did not go well as seen by the ratings below, however he is still an adequate second chiceand could possibly be a contender for th No 1 jersy in the future. I would consider selling him as some of my youth prospects could be potentially better No 2's than him. This could be realised after his contract ends this season which I am debating if it is worth renewing. Any feedback on this point?

February (as jan was pre season)


I picked the team out of their performances in the last 5 games (pre-season) and it paid off against my rivals with an early and fierce goal from martinez, and a calm finish from youngster Alvarez just after half time to set off on the closing stage a good start


A brilliant result against the opening stage champions, it helped that they had a man sent off on 51 mins, but I pushed for the winner and almost pulled off a great result but still an away draw is still good.

Copa Libertadors Group B


I completly underestimated them considering their frank failure in recent years, and my players looked slack and letargic, goals from Alvarez 45th was the only consilation for my velez side: Buonanotte (22) Funes Mori (61, 90+3) a sub brought on in the 58th min was the nail in the coffin and he was rightly made man of the match:



and a saved pen from Ferrari, was annoying to say the least, the other two teams in my group are Columbian challengers: Chico FC, and the dwindling force in Uruguay: Nacional both beatable team therefore a predicted finsih would be 2nd place




This was a good bounce back with Silva, Somoza, Correa, and Brittolo returning to the starting 11, A great team play with a low cross from Somoza (in the 36th second) gave Cristaldo a chance to redeem himself after his last display against River and he did not fluff it.



In the 63rd min Silva completed the domination over Argentinos with a good header out of the keepers reach.


The only goal of the game came from a Dominguez penalty in the 63rd min after Cristaldo went down in a packed area. I managed to maintain a control of the game with 55% possesion een though I was away playing a diamond 4-4-2. Although this did have its setbacks hence Diaz being sent off in the 89th min and 4 other bookings to my players

Defender (CB) Anaylisis



Firstly this guy has been absolutly solid and key for me at the back, he rarely lets people get past him, and is a reliable CB, He takes my penalty's sometimes due to me leaving the penalty's for the players to decide and this usually pays off, he is under contract until he is 32 at which nearing the end I will review his performances for the club, and maybe looks for a 1 year extension. He is my 2nd vice captain due to his influence.



Ortiz has been well lets say on and off he as shown by his physical attributes isn't that useful but due to his postioning he is usually in the starting 11, this is probably his last season in the starting 11/rotation, due to the prominence of the other CB's, and 3k per week is not that much money to pay for him.



Here is one of the upcomming youngsters for my Velez side, he is just learning and has given solid performances, and is going to get more game time in the closing stage, I am going to renew his contract soon as well, as to keep youngsters on long term contracts is very worth it.



Finaly the last CB considered to be strong enough for the first team squad is this guy, he is just as solid as Tobio but younger by a year, and costs less per week, again he is another contender for Ortiz's place in the starting 11.

March

Copa Libertadors Group B


This was a very up and down game with, Cristaldo and Conti gaining a 0-2 lead in the 21st min and 59th min, then Diaz pulled back the National striker which earnt him a red card, and meant they scored a pen and had a way back into the match. This was followed by a period of dominance by National and they scored a second through Ortega, however my quality was too much for the 11 men of national and Cristaldo scored from a good team move to keep me ahead. Ortega then struck again in the 85th min to equalise and I thought I had run out of puff, but Dominguez sealed the win with this goal in the 88th min:



Again another win, which keeps my confidence and the team's on top form, a corner from Correa, had the faintst of touches from Razzotti to put it beyond the keeper just before the end of the first half, to give me a boost at exactl the right time. In the second half Cristaldo got another goal, and it seems that the 22 year old is becoming one of my best players with his goalscoring form.


A confident away performance from my argentinian team, I achieved a fair amount of control yet it only broke the strong resilence of Quilmes after half time, Cristaldo again scored first, and Morallez converted a penalty with the shot being too hot to handle for the keeper, and Santiago Silva got a goal in injury time to complete the rout.

Copa Libertadors Group B


A confident performance from basicly a second strength team away was what I got in Columbia, Martinez scored early in the 6th min, after a over the top ball, and he rounded the keeper with his agilty, after that it got into a aggresive match with Chico Fc attempting to gain a foothold in the match, this was stopped on th eve of the half from a carefuly laced header from a corner from LM/LB Emiliano Papa:



After the break Conti added a third for Velez, but a lapse in the pairing of Irunio and Tobio meant Scaglio scored a conselation goal in the 58th min


this had to be my favourite part of my velez season, the team plays like champions, now don't get me wrong this is not due to velez having a good performance more the opposite. yet despite being behind in clear cut chances, shots, shots on target, and others Zapata, Silva and Somoza found the net for me

Copa Libertadors Group B


with this result I was very happy as it meant that we still had a chance of finishing top of the group if I beat National, and beat River in the last game (as I expected them to overcome Chico FC, despite them only drawing with National. I decided to rest some first teamers but not all due to the fact I wanted to see the group out, goals came from Zapata (again ), Cristaldo, Dominguez, and Conti with the first three coming inside the first half


Defender (LB/RB) Analysis

RB



Firstly we have Fabian Cubero an Icon at the club, and my club captain, he has amassed 323 appearences for the club over his career, with a spell for Tigres in 2006-2008. He is by trade a DM, but due to strength in that area, and the fact I found out he plays RB for Velez in real life fairly regulary, I put him in RB, he is a traditional RB and very solid and assured and therefore my weakness is not very often on the RB. I am also extremly surprised he has never been called up to the national side



Next we have the young prospect himself Diaz, due to my shifting Cubero to the RB stage, the regular RB for Velez according to his history ,but he is fairly reliable when called on and I expect him to step up to the plate when Cubero steps down from first team action in the next few seasons

LB



Papa is a fairly regular player in my team due to his ability to play at LB and LM, he is not my strongest performer and often gives mistakes away and gives my other LB (Brittolo) the opportunity to establish his position. He is 29 and this is a player I need to start preparing for his departure.



Brittolo is what I put into the group 'the next generation' at the age of 20 he is a bright prospect and is taking his first season in at the deep end, this is shown by last seasons appearences being 4 and this season has not finished, and has a massive 18 appearences, this is because of Papa's inconsistent performances, Brittolo still is learning and makes mistakes but is only 20 and has the ability to become a established first team player in the next few seasons

April


After the mid week win against Chico, the side looks fairly fatigued after the run and we were penned back by the Banfield team, and they played a possession game getting I think 63% of possession, in the end despite my best efforts to shore up the defence, Sardella scored past me in the 42nd min after his seemingly tame attempt was too hot for the usually reliable Montoya's hands

Copa Libertadors Group B


A comfortable performance on the comeback trail from the league defeat, a goal from Conti after a great counter attack, and an own goal from the unfortunate Cartagena, in the first half meant that my almost full strength side were in a better position in the cup, however other than qualifying the results in the group game mean nothing unless River lose to me, as they dropped points in a away defeat against Chico



This was a hard game, due to its openness, Boca pushed and pushed, but my defence and keeper kept them out and they were vulnerable to the counter from Cristaldo, Silva, and Moralez. This meant it was a gripping game and not what I liked in terms of control at home. This meant an hour through the game no goals had been scored due to lack of composure, and solid defence from both sides. However in the 73rd min after about 4 shots on Montoyas goal, making it essentially a messy pinball machine, Caruzzo scored a demoralising goal for myself and my Velez team. Yet I went attackive obviously and attempted to get a result. The velez supporters included in the large 30,088 in attendance cheered my team on, and the grit and determination of what I think Velez have been lacking if we are behind this season, it showed after a corner from Moralez, Zapata then headed it down to Irunio on the near post who snatched a equaliser.




This was a tough match in which was even, but it was about who took their chances that counted, Montoya was good as always, but Correa scored from a good piece of possession football and Bella scored a rareish goal, in which he was like 1 cm away from the goal line :



Copa Libertadors Group B


Without doubt the best performance of my fm 11 career, in a game that was pivitol in future success of Velez in this cup, we dominated due to every member of the team performing, from an 8.2 from captain Cubero, to a 8.9 of star striker Cristaldo, we had the better match stats in shots by a huge amount River had 8 and I had 17, but strangely the had more possesion I guess it was due to the key and decisive counters from my side, Cristaldo started off the scoring with a well positioned team move in the 20th min, again great off the ball movement and positioning made him in the right place at the right time to score in the 49th min, Zapata scored a diving header to make it 3 within minutes, and Pavone scored a consolation goal against the run of play. This left me top of the group after a memorable away win




This was a rollercoaster struggle of a match, as after the big win, again my Velez team started to stutter, this begun with an own goal from my keeper Montoya which wasn't anything to do with him just the post and hit his back goal. Then we then came back into it with their own layer getting an unfortunate deflect to make it 2x own goals and 1-1, we then pressured the opposition with them going deeper and deeper, until a Zapata deep cross found Cristaldo at the back post who tapped it in to secure the victory, Montoya also got injured in this game with a hamstring problem I think, but I put him on painkillers as I felt we needed a regular first team keeper for the Fluminense cup game



Copa Libertadors 2nd round Leg 1


This was a tough fixture, apparently they were among the worst 2nd placed teams, despite their dominant position in the Brazil top tier, and the players like Deco and such, looking at their history this was because of their abysmal performance away in the Copa Libertadors, but a squeaky clean performance bill in every other fixture. To be honest my team did pretty awful, this result could have been 3-0 if it wasn't for the re-emergence of Silva to goal scoring. I am annoyed and the whole Fluminense team did well, and no point mentioning more detail

Winger Analysis



Well firstly we have Moralez, he was at the beginning of the season used as a AMC but due to the emergence of young Correa, and his adaptability in my team he plays on either wing depending on injuries, and can cover Correa when needed he is a creative player, who Is used primarily on the wing to get past his player and get the cross in, but he also has the option to cut inside with some limited effect, he has played a key role for me this season with assists, and general performance, and due to his age he still will be in the future.



Zapata well lets get started with this guy, he is perhaps one of the best wide midfielders Velez could possibly have, yet in the first half of the season he was a bit part player (due to Papa, Moralez, and Bella in better form, so I let him go to Nurnberg at the end of the season (I will discuss transfers after the season has been wrapped up), but in the second half on the season its like he wants to go away on a high, and his general play has assists and got forward and never really had a bad game in the closing part of the season



Fernandez is a up and down type of player, he was very good in the inial part of the season but he has took a major blip in his form in the second part, and lost his place to Moralez, and is gradualy retuning to form currently, he is the type of winger that can dribble down the wing and sticks to the line, he rarel cuts inside and he is a valuable member of my squad considering he is only 25



Bella well he's hopefully going to turn into a Zapata over time, he is just 21 and deserve to be a part of this team, but other that, I play him just as much as I should and to be honest I don't know that much about his style of play, but it is similar to that of Zapata

May


This was again showing my teams best traits, and a game that included all firstly the game was a fairly tense affair with chances at either end until in the 15th min my 2nd choice DM Razzotti (due to resting Somoza for International cup comp) did this:



I was like for about a minute, as Emiliano Papa was sent off for a questionable last man challenge, anyway this shifted the power struggle again and the ongoing pressure came in the 31st min through a tame Diego Morales shot, I held on till half time though, and I fixed the leak, then after bringing on Tobio, and Fernandez I kicked into gear pressuring them like I had 12 men and in injury time the unmarked Ortiz scored a header from a curling Moralez free-kick

Copa Libertadors 2nd round Leg 2


Well I took a chance and again my aggresive team was not the right tactic, as I put in the excellent Razzotti instead of the rested Somoza and within 22 mins he had recived two bookings and was sent off, the rest of the game Fluminese dominated, and took their time just scoring 1 goal, From Robert but not letting me have more than a few chances, and I left the competition

Tobio and Cristaldo:



this is a part of my blog in that I do not just dominate everything due to setting my past experience as high or downloading tools, I experience success and failure but in the end the learning curve is there, and I will overcome difficulties and react how a rational manager would at a football club


I refuse to change my system despite getting another red card in this match,as changing the system could result in a backlash in performances, so I would prepare to be more versitile next season, they scored first then Razzotti scored to equalise and get a tight grip on the game followed by another sending off by the inexperienced Irunio, to make sure that the game finished a bore draw.


In my exprimental 4-3-3 formation(due to the up-and-down sort of form) it got off to a good start with a excellent header in the very top right corner of the net from Conti in the 24th min this was followed by a unnessicarily fragile game until a Tobio header from a corner wrapped up the points on the 83rd min


In all fairness I didn't think that the league has been that agressive this season, maybe a card-happy ref looked over all my games, However in this case in worked in my favour rather than against it, First off Cristaldo scored a wonderful goal from a run from the half way line, its no surprise SC Heerenveen, and German clubs were after him with his goalscoring form for me



Anyway then they became sloppy and got a man sent off for a proffesional foul, then after half time Conti scored to do a slide tackle goal from about half way in the box, a few mins later they did another foul in the box this time, another sending off and a goal from Silva on the spot, but Tobio did another proffesional foul a few mins after that after an Arsenal break away. and there were 19 players on the pitch, however that did not stop Silva from scoring another pen after he was brought down in the box


A surprise result for me, after a flat-lining River decided to get back to normal after a terrible closing season, 13 yellow cards shown roughly 60-40 to me in that aspect, Silva sent off for second yellow late on but game had be lost in 2 mins of the game, with good strikes from Matias Abelairas in the 25th and 27th min, this gave Estudiantes the marginal lead in the closing stage after they drew, and also 30 year old Silva got his first call up for Uruguay after this game for some reason

DM and AMC Anylisis



Ok well firstly we have Somoza, he is generally imo the better out of the two main DM's availibe, he got a average rating of 7.06 this season, and I will not be renewing his contract further, due to my policy that I nicked off sir-alex regarding over 30's



Next we have Razzotti the succesor to Somoza and possibly sooner rather than later with an average rating of 7.11 in this season, I am unsure who to play next season, but due to possible squad changes he and Somoza may bot play alongside, although its abit like playing Gerrard and Lampard with two DM's in this senario



ok well as well as Moralez mentioned in the post above, we have perhaps the prodigy of Velez, which at the end of this season I got him to sign a long and new contract shooing off the vultures of A.C Milan intrest and a Sevilla offer, he only got 6.92 rating last year (25 appearences) but he was 16 which shows his promise, and I intend to keep faith in the guy



Well I only have one person left on this Anylisis, Alvarez he is 23 and got an average rating of 6.85 in about 17 appearences, due to my choice to give Correa the oppotunity that meant Alvarez had to play bench, and he is solid, and perhaps a good Utility player in the future

June

For some reason Somoza said this (check the last sentance out), it must be a bug or something? unless he is the dumbist player ever to have played football




I got actually dominated in this match, hanging on by my fingertips and the Colon players inability to get shots on target, yet in the 84th min out of nowhere Martinez sprint up from a counter-attack and scored a wonderful lobbed effort

Zapata, Silva, and Martinez:




I was overjoyed and won the game, I will show you a screenshot of the match stats to show you readers how dominated my side was doing, yet I hung in there like a team that is full of winners!:



Sorry for the vast amount of screenshots in this post btw, but I felt it nessecary to gain what actually happened in June, This left the table looking like this:




I had a total of 24 shots, Martinez scored in consecutive games with a tidy under the diving keeper finish on 40 mins or so, and Ortiz finished the scoring after out jumping two defenders on a corner, and steering the header underneath the outstretched keepers hands. My team all seemed to be uniting, and making sure that I got the closing stage champions belt, although a overall win seems out of the picutre, as shown by the rules in the first post, the champion is the latest one out of the closing or opening seasons, and the overall is to gain a few extra bits of money. Here is the table with 1 game to go :



A match against Lanius at home was the last hurdle, the potential banana slip, and this is how it played out, I managed to take control of the match just, and it played out with few shots compared to the last game, the defisite was broken in the 35th min after a powerful Dominguez header from a Fernandez corner:




OMG Estudiantes are losing I thought, this means that I win the closing and overall so extra money bonuses, this was hanging on a knife edge and I hoped that it would last, yet in the 83rd min this came up on my screen :



This meant Estudiantes won on goal difference, but the extra money mattered little as I hung on to win the closing title on the last day of the season

The fans take:



The closing stage table:



The Overall League Table:



ST Anylisis



Firstly we have Cristaldo he is quick on his feet, as well as fairly strong, he is normaly used in advanced forward position this season, and is probably my biggest asset along with Correa, he scored 18 goals in 42 appearences (inclunding south american cup)



Next we have Silva who is more of a bulky player than cristaldo I generally use him as a target man, but he has had a on and off season, where his better season was the opening part, he is 30 so perhaps has only 1-2 seasons left in him.



Next we have Conti who is essentialy a rough diamond in my squad, he is used mainly as a backup for silva in target man, but he isn't built around it attribute wise, although on his first proper season in 28 appearences he scored 12 (including south american comp)



Lastly we have Martinez who is an attacking midfielder but a striker he came up with vital goals, but only 24 appearences and 8 goals whic is an ok return but I expected better things from him something similar to Cristaldo

1) The coaching is pretty awful, e.g. my best coaches best attribute is 14

This was not solved due the standing of Velez in the world, I am curently trying to make the best mediocre coaching team possible

2) I had a huge squad which required alot of release/selling

This was not solved that much due to contracts but the process is ongoing into dwindling down my squad especially the reserves

3) I have a 98% domestic player basis

Want to keep this at a high level by only having a few out of argentina nationities in the squad, it helps now that silva has gained it, givingme the flexibility to sign another forgeign player

4) Had a low budget, with 900k spending and 900k wages, due to amount of players

I bought no-one in the first season for that very reason, my youth was fine, and due to the massive depth it gave me not much reason to buy players.

5) I have a good youth set-up

I keep on getting good youth players so this is a bonus, and I always intend to have as many home-grown players as possible in my squad.

6) According to scouts my team is the best at dribbling in the league

They are also technicaly sound, and becoming in terms of quaity 2nd or 3rd in the league, and hopefully over the coming years the undisputed in quality and form.

7) The club is 3.5 mill in debt

This was solved after a year of being cautious at the begining of the new season this is how the finances looked:



Transfers:



The main selling was Diego Cellis to Barca for a large amount of money, this also came wit I think 20-40 % of his next transfer fee, he is currently in the barca squad, as rotation/backup , after a season in the U18's, also I did leave Zapata's contract to run out although that shows on the next transfer screenshot which I will post in he new season, he went to Hamburg I think, ths was mainly due to his poor opening season, yet when he was confirmed to leave he became an intergral part of my squad.

And here is my best 11 for the season, Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!

Well Pre-season went awful tbh with losses and such, Here is my squad list I will explain absences later:



Selling/Loaning

Tobio was loaned to Racing in order to gain some much needed experience in the top level of spainish football, This left a gap in defence for Maximiliano who I employed as a backup, to end his career at a club which he liked and kicked his career off in the first place. Also due to my reserve goalkeepers being of a decent quality, and Montoya being solid enough. I sold Barovero to Bayern for 1.8 mill

Buying

I bought Maximiliano as a CB as shown below:



Arro is a good prospect ST although his finishing and composure is a shit attribute for some reason: his is my only foriegn player I have, and a backup for cristaldo and martinez:



And a backup player and youth prospect I bought this guy:



I was predicted to come 2nd in the league which I expect to be a minimum tagtfor my Velez team, I also wanted this season to try to boost the internal finances and also got the board to expand the outh system which will take forever to complete