The team is really starting to come together. We’ve found good starters at most of the positions, capable backups at most positions, and a few youngsters I am eager to see how they do on the field. The FM24 Beta came out as I started this season, and with the new ability to play your FM23 Save in FM24, that’s what I did. I’d like to think some of the scores we would have achieved in FM23, but who knows for sure?
I switched formations in the 34/35 season, to a 4-2DM-2-2 that has really started to pay off, especially with all the talented AM(C)’s I have at the club.
Losing the SuperCup to Bayern was a bit of a letdown, especially as it was a Lucas goal in the 93rd minute that gave them the win. We had our chances, we just didn’t take them. A 7-1 thrashing of Regional team Flensburg, with a pretty rotated side, was a nice way to start the season off. We rode a hot strreak all the way to Villareal, where we drew, then on the short turnaround time lost to Koln with a team that should have beaten them, even if it was a little rotated.
Our Champions League group was tough, even if the scores don’t reflect it. Villareal, Lens, Volos (A Greek Squad that’s had a steady buildup since the save started), Man City, Standard, and Mitjylland, the only team the truly scares me is Man City, but all of them are capable of beating us. What I really liked about the first three months of games was everyone was involved. We weren’t relying on Tatsuki to carry us, and when he had an off game Javier or Lucas was there to pick up the slack. Sago Ohayon isn’t scoring as much as I would like, but he is a good 3rd option now, with Javier and Tasuki starting. We finished out OCtober undefeated, including a victory over our former East German frenemies Hansa Rostock.
Drawing to Man City is good, but to be honest both of us weren’t trying to win, we were just trying to not lose. We had 10/4 and an xG of .94, they had 10/2 with an xG of .88. The turnaround against Hertha wasn’t as short as some of the other weeks we’ve played, but we were absolutely listless against them, they just couldn’t find the net (16 Shots, only 2 on target with 1 clear cut chance and a half chance.)
We absolutely FM’s Standard, with goals in the 91st and 93rd minute to win. It shouldn’t have fallen to that, because from the first whistle we dominated them. Tessari missed a PK in the 17th minute, in the 20th minute they had a player sent off on a straight red, and then in the 87th minute they scored. They had 7/2 for the game, we had 16/5 with a 2.67 xG, and it took them trying not to lose for us to win. Four days layer we eked out a win against Bayer 04, then four days after that we crashed out of the Pokal, having been trounced by a BvB team that brought their a game while we brought or C- one.
The highlight of December was beating a very good Hoffenheim team, and drawing against Bayern Munich thanks to a well struck Ben Dahan goal.
January Transfer’s
We brought in two players in January.
First up is Omar Mchedlishvili, a German International who fell out with the coaching staff ant Hertha and wanted to leave. The transfer fee was €14M, and the instant he became available I jumped on it, because he’s a very good wingback who can play either side very well, and him leaving Hertha hurts them and helps us.
With GK injuries becoming a thing in FM24, I wanted a bit more depth, and Wolves made Edwin Tenorio available. The Ecuadorian international is a very capable GK, and while there is a drop off from Popovic to him, it’s not as great as it was from Popovic to Almansa. The good news is he was cheap, and he’s happy being a backup.
Leaving in January:
Young Constantin Ulreich needs playing time against good competition, and he’ll get it at Darmstadt. Matti Schutz, Conrad Braune, Josue Levy, and Victor Manuel Roca were players who found themselves on the bench, and while they weren’t exactly agitating for time, when I started getting offers for them I let them go.
Losing Boris Castillo was frustrating. It was the same situation that happened before, I offered him a new contract, he accepted, but before he signed Man City, in a fit of ‘If you can’t beat them buy them” made an offer that met his existing release clause, and because they are Man City and we aren’t he left. The good news is we made a €20 Million profit on him, but this happened the last day of the window, and I may regret letting some of the other defensive players leaving.
Schedule wise the New Year got off to a fabulous start, as we beat all of our german competition, and drew with Man City and Milan (who have kicked out out of a couple of European tournaments in recent years) that had us finish 7th in the League Phase, setting us up for a Round of 16 battle against….PSG.
The came the games in March:
They beat us 3-1 the first game. We beat them 7-6 in the second game, in extra time, losing on goal differential 9-8.
Do not tempt the FM gods, for they will find a way to stab the in the chest with a smile on their face…
We still hadn’t recovered from the loss when we faced Augsburg and lost…but we got ourselves right against Hertha Berlin.
We clinched the League winning away at Hoffenheim, setting new Dynamo records for games won and goals scored:
What’s amazing to me is the dropoff between 4th and 5th place, heck even 1st to 5th place. Even more amazing was how well the players did:
Two players with 20+ goals, another four with 10+, 3 players with double digit assists, including Dahan. Tenorio is quietly turning into one of the best AM(C)’s in the game I think, and I’m still trying to find out how Palacios had 14 assists as well. The kicker is Tatsuki didn’t lead the league in goals, a regen by the name of Ivan Leiva who plays for Hertha had 31…
+18, -13, +26. Pundits. Hah.
In better news, thanks to our transfer moves, we led the league in profit:
And with that, the season ended. The players left on vacation, I started scouring the lists, and then out of the blue:
Look, I’m a Palace fan, they are the club I have followed the longest (since the early 80’s) and I always have a private save with them going on, except this year. In this universe, the best they’ve done is a 3rd place finish in 29/30and won the ECL in 28 after winning the FA Cup in 27/28. Since then, with the exception of a 5th place finish, they have been very Palace Like: Solidly Midtable and well away from relegation. Joshua Kimmich is their current coach. And they have the pull to not only give my good young DM €64M, but the reputation to get him to leave?
OK…
And now the other teams are circling us as well. Next transfer window is going to be lit….
THE FOOTBALL MANAGER BLOG OF FM_JELLICO 