Palmeiras: FM24 Story

This is my first FM24 save! I decided to start with Palmeiras for one obvious reason, Endrick. I want to use him while he is young and also give playing time to all the other promising young players at the club. I want to try and win the league and Copa Libertadores in Brazil then move on.

The season began with the Brazilian São Paulo State Championship. It didn’t take long, Endrick tapped in - a poachers goal - for the first goal of the save against Ituano Futebol Clube. Gabriel Menino scored a left foot screamer to give us a 2-0 lead. Raphael Veiga came off the bench at half time to secure the win seven minutes after coming on, 3-0. Estêvão became the youngest player in club history after his debut. Another record was broken, Endrick becoming the youngest goalscorer in Palmeiras history, a historic night!

Endrick doubled his season tally, rifling a penalty into the top right corner. Another teenager was on the scoresheet - Luís Guilherme - scored his first goal of his senior career, I showed trust in youth and it is paying off. Vega made it 3-0. Guiherme wasn’t done though, he scored his second, capping off the game, 4-0 and a man of the match performance from the 16 year old. The teenagers are running the São Paulo State Championship for Palmeiras.

Although the season had started exactly as I wanted, the real challenge was yet to begin. The toughest competition this season was going to be the Copa Libertadores. Palmeiras were drawn against Barcelona!, no not the Spanish giant, but their Ecuadorian namesakes. Peruvian club Alianza Lima would be our other competitor. A favourable draw, in which we were the most likely to progress into the next stage - we will come back to this later.

Derby Paulista, one of the biggest rivalries in Brazil. This was the stage for our next match, we faced Corinthians. Our rivals. First place vs second place.

1 minute in, all our excitement popped like a helium balloon. 19 year old defender, João Pedro Tchoca, headed in from a corner to give Corinthians an unexpected lead and the first goal conceded since I took over. We relentlessly attacked to equalize, their keeper making save after save, we rocked the woodwork and were struggling to break through. Then it got worse, before halftime Corinthians scored again, 2-0. Bahia was their scorer, only 16 years old. Corinthians teenagers were making the most of their chances, unlike ours - showing the inconsistency of developing young footballers. At half-time, every stat was in our favor, possession, shots, XG, but not the one that mattered. We had to make a change and so we went more attacking, moving our attacking midfield to a striker. 4-2-4, Palmeiras are going for it!

Guilherme headed in from a cross to bring us back into the match, we had a sniff and could smell the three points. Just three minutes later… Endrick scored! A clinical finish to equalize. In the 72nd minute, José Manuel López put us 3-2 up! An incredible comeback, capped off by an unlikely source, as this was López first appearance this season - as he came on at halftime to partner Endrick as a pressing forward. Could we hold on? Zé Rafael made things difficult as he lunged in recklessly and got a straight red card. 15 minutes to go. We decided to park the bus, 4-4-1, yet another tactical change. 6 minutes added time… and we did it! A thrilling encounter ended with 3 more points for Palmeiras and my early tenure continues with a perfect 100% win record intact.

After beating Corinthians, confidence was at an all time high. The next team would be in trouble, and that was in the São Paulo State Championship against Esporte Clube Água Santa. Endrick opened the scoring, a penalty, his fourth of the season. He then doubled the lead. 15 year old ​​Estêvão scored his first goal for the club to secure the three points. Then Endrick scored his hat-trick just two minutes later. Right before half time, Endrick scored his fourth goal in the first half! 16 year old - Luís Guilherme - scored the goal of the game, with a rocket from the edge of the box. The match ended 6-0 and we faced a tougher challenge next, Santos.

An unlikely scorer - Uruguayan left back Joaquín Piquerez - provided the opening goal in the Saudade Derby. But it was our rising star who stole the headlines. Endrick scored another hat-trick. First a penalty powered into the top corner, then a clinical finish when one on one with the keeper, and finally a mazy run past four players before nutmegging the goalkeeper. Our 16 year old future Galactico now has 10 goals this season and 7 in his last two appearances. Our young attackers are absolutely cooking in Brazil!

Grêmio Novorizontino were comfortably swept aside 2-0 in our next match. Left winger Rony scored his first goal of the season and of course Endrick scored again. The next match would be the toughest yet, as we face the only other unbeaten side in the São Paulo State Championship… São Paulo.

This game is huge. We have a 100% win record and so do they. São Paulo are our rivals and we are desperate to win the Choque Rei Derby. At full strength and with the best eleven now clearly apparent we were confident we could and would win the game. Left back Piquerez has been a star this season, and he set up the first goal of the game. Rony, who scored his first goal in our last outing, was on the scoresheet again with a wonderfully driven finish into the roof of the net. Just one minute after halftime we doubled our lead. Through Endrick as he converted from the penalty spot in his customary fashion, Adriano-esque, as he smashed the ball into the top corner. Less than a minute later, Endricks shot power proved too much again as he beat the São Paulo goalkeeper at his near post, 3-0 and surely game over? 16 year old Luís Guilherme made it four, and now we were embarrassing our rivals. The game ended 4-0 and we asserted ourselves as the front runners in the competition.

We qualified for the quarter finals of the São Paulo State Championship with two comfortable wins over our latest opponents. São Bernardo were beaten 4-0 and Portuguesa 2-0. Our attention quickly shifted as silverware was on offer in our next game - the Supercopa do Brasil Final in which we were runners up in 2021. This time around we wanted to be the top dogs.

Flamengos central defender Léo Pereira opened the scoring in a fairly uneventful Final. Flamengo had the edge until Luís Guilherme equalised with his seventh goal of the season. After 90 minutes the score ended 1-1 and with no extra-time scheduled it would be settled by the lottery that is a penalty shootout. Flamengo missed two penalties, Palmeiras missed three and the crucial seventh sudden death. It was our defensive midfielder Richard Ríos who squandered his spotkick and handed the trophy to Malvadão (The evil one). The defeat was painful as it was my first defeat of the save, in the most important game too! But we will be back stronger - like Crouchy would say.

Although we had qualified for the quarter finals of the São Paulo State Championship, we still had three games left to play. Mirassol were beaten comfortably with 15 year old Estêvão running the show. He was man of the match with two goals and an assist. Estêvão has 4 goals and 4 assists in 7 appearances so far this season, incredible really considering he is only 15! We suffered our first league defeat against Bragantino in a dismal performance. We were 3-0 down and scored a consolation to make it 3-1. A proper bad day at the office. Another sub par performance, this time against Associação Atlética Ponte Preta, ended in a 1-0 win. That was the end of the group phase and now we are into the quarter final, against Botafogo.

Estêvão was the star again, in a 3-0 drubbing of Botafogo. We faced our rivals, Santos, in the semi-final and the result was shocking… 8-0!! We absolutely demolished Santos and cruised to the final of the São Paulo State Championship against Bragantino, who beat us 3-1 last time we faced them, a chance for revenge was on the cards.

After some ongoing negotiations, our first signing of the save finally arrived. We bought in a player who had European experience and recently played alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. A Brazilian attacking midfielder joined to bolster our squad - Anderson Talisca. Estêvão was still going to be the first choice attacking midfielder but Talisca as a back-up was too good to turn down. Talisca will also be another option up front, to rest Endrick when we are winning games. He joined as a free agent, signing a 2 year deal on $90k (NZ dollars) per week making him the second highest earner at the club. On transfer deadline day, backup right back - Mayke - left the club for $4.8 million (rising to $6 million) and squad player Garcia for $500k. A fairly uneventful transfer window, but I was very happy with our current squad and didn’t want to add too many new faces as this would limit my youngsters chances to impress.

While the transfer window had come to a close, the Copa Libertadores was beginning. In a group alongside Club Alianza Lima (Peru), Barcelona Sporting Club (Ecuador), and Atletico Mineiro (Brazil), anything less than top spot would be a failure. Mineiro are a top side with quality players like Hulk, Pavon and Eduardo Vargas, but we were the favorites in the group. The curtain raiser for the competition began with a comfortable 4-0 win. Anderson Talisca made his debut, starting on the right as Endrick scored a brace, as did our central defender - Gustavo Gómez.

The São Paulo State Championship was a chance for silverware. We were up against Bragantino, who we were desperate to avenge. Our defensive midfielder - 29 year old Zé Rafael - scored the opening goal of the game, his first of the season and we looked like we were cruising to a 1-0 victory. But… in the 56th minute, our right back received a straight red card and our backs were against the wall. We shifted to a 4-4-1 formation with Talisca up front on his own, Endrick was subbed off as he was performing poorly under pressure. The time was ticking down and we looked like we had done it, however in the 90th minute Eduardo Sasha scored for Bragantino! Penalties once again would be the deciding factor if we won a trophy or not. But unlike the unfortunate events against Flamengo, this time luck was in our favor. We scored all of our penalties and Bragantino missed their fifth which meant, we were… São Paulo State Championship winners! This was my first trophy in FM24 and the board were delighted as we retained the title and the bragging rights as the best time in São Paulo.

We avenged Flamengo too for our Supercopa do Brasil final defeat. Flamengo were beaten 3-0 in our first leg of the Copa do Brasil third round. Endrick scored from the penalty spot, his 20th goal of the season in all competitions. This also made him the youngest goalscorer in the competition's history.

Unbelievably the actual league season was yet to begin! The Brasileirão Assaí Série A (Brazilian Serie A) was about to begin, and we would face rivals Corinthians in the opening match. Flamengo were the odds makers favorites to win the league (6-4), with Palmeiras close behind (2-1). An early red card for Corinthians, just 27 minutes in, meant we were able to cruise to a win on the opening day. We didn’t perform awfully well, but won the match 3-1 nonetheless. Murillo, Dudu and Anderson Talisca were on the scoresheet - his first of the season - a great way to start the league campaign.

Atlético Mineiro were going to be our toughest opponents in our Copa Libertadores group. They proved this by taking the lead through their midfielder Pedrinho - on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk. However after a naive start reverting to 4-1-2-3, we changed to our usual 4-2-3-1 and the goals started flowing again. An inspired Endrick scored a brace before defender Gustavo Gómez scored his 6th goal of the season to complete the comeback! An important win in our road to the Copa Libertadores knockout stages.

Fortaleza shocked us in the league as they beat us 3-1. The only positive to take away from that game was Endrick scored again and Weverton made a great penalty save to prevent the scoreline from being even worse. Back to the drawing board to make some tweaks to our tactic. In the next match we faced Flamengo who we beat 3-0 in the first leg of the knockout cup tie. There was less pressure in this game and we started slow, losing 1-0 just after half time. Gustavo Gómez pulled a goal back and then there was some late drama. 17 year old right back (newgen) Cláudio Henrique came off the bench to score in the 90+4 min. He scored a driven goal, with his weak foot past the goalkeeper into the far post! An incredible moment for the young defender and another name for the Palmeiras fans to cheer for - yet another academy product.

The next league game was against São Paulo who had some familiar names in their squad. Former Real Madrid/Bayern Munich star James Rodríguez, former Tottenham winger Lucas Moura and upcoming talent Pablo Maia. They had another player who at one point in his career looked like he was destined to win a Ballon D'or, Alexandre Pato. This game was full of drama. We took an early 2-0 lead, before São Paulo pulled the game back to 2-2 through goals from striker Calleri and a James Rodríguez screamer. Calleri scored his second goal of the game in the 88th minute which looked like it would be the winner. But late substitute Talisca came on to equalize from a corner in the 89th minute. We salvaged a point in a tough game, but the start to the season has been inconsistent. 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. We need to pick up more wins to stay near the front runners in the league.

In a dominant display statistically, the scoreline didn’t reflect the stats. Barcelona of Ecuador completed a comeback after they went down 1-0 in the Copa Libertadores. Their winner came in the 92nd minute. We now only have one win in the last four games.

A shocking 3-2 loss to Fluminense raised alarm bells. Just four games into the league campaign and we are in the bottom half of the table in 12th place. Were our young players not ready for this type of competition? Or does the tactic I have setup not suit league football? Maybe both? It’s time to go back to the drawing board and look at some other tactical styles and formations. Endrick also hasn’t scored in the last four games, so I want to try and set up a new tactic to provide him with more scoring opportunities.