Seventeen seasons in, and BFC Dynamo has climbed the rankings in Europe, we’re now a top 25 team. Our Facilities are excellent, are coaching staff is excellent, our player development is excellent, which means when a big clubs comes calling, our players want to leave, and no amount of money will keep them here…blast and damn…
Man City has decided to go the “If You can’t beat them, Buy Them!” route of improving the squad. Lucas Curbelo and Jakov Popovich both left on high money deals, of the two I am more worried about losing Popovic. Curbelo I didn’t want to lose, but bigger reputation talks, so I took the money and Curbelo walked…
The Dylan MacLennan tour ends with him going on a free to Kortrijk, meanwhile Shane Verhove moves to Genoa, Emili Martinez goes the Chelsea, and Conrad Braune leaves for RB Salzburg. Junior Meye goes to Heidenheim on a loan spell, as does Spangenberg, and maybe not so surprisingly, Edwin Tonorio. The keeper I brought in last year to be a backup and was happy signing a backup contract was upset because his lack of playing time took him out of National Team consideration. Lorient want to pay me a cool €500K for a loan spell, sure, why not.
Because I am a numpty, and forgot to take screenshots at the beginning of the season, these are from the Middle of the season save I opened in FM24, in which I am using the Mustermann Skin.
My scout in Italy/Switzerland/Austria consistently finds these good young defenders in Serie C, whose ranks Pietro Rotunno could join. A very good attacking wingback, he also possesses solid defensive skills, and with some good training should become quite capable on the left.
Alban Lüthi is a sold young midfielder, physical, defensively solid, and quick enough to make most defender worried. He’s had a rocky couple of year, moving from Young Boys to Standard, to Liverpool, and then to Berlin. His versatility is the primary reason I signed him, the fact he will probably be the team captain in the near future is also a good thing IMO
Dragan Grčić came to my attention last year, when I noticed him on the Slovenian U20 squad. When City start going after Popovic, Grčić was the only keeper I went after, because he was already very good, and at just 20 years old, could only get better. Plus he was an absolute bargain at €4.3M Euro’s. Something tells me Jakov might have been ambivalent about leaving, but when he saw Grčić arrive, he left two days later.
If Jorge Ruiz was a country not in South America, he’s be capped numerous times. Being Brazilian, he’s not World Class, just Hall of Very Good, which if we’re being honest is world class for about 85% of the other countries not named Brazil (Or Germany, England, Portugal, etc) out there. Despite being this good, at Flamengo he only started about 50% of the games each season. Did I overpay to get him? Heck no, because there were worse European players going for more…
At €46M, Alexandr Pancheka, formerly of Milan by way of Man City and Dinamo Moscow, is the player I’ve paid the most money for (so far) at Dynamo. After two seasons at Milan though, he was transfer listed, and with Curbelo leaving, I needed a capable replacement for him, and Alexandr fits that profile nicely. His Possession attributes are quite good, as are his attacking attributes, and while he’s not the strongest or best jumper, he will run circles around you all day. The midfield general I’ve been trying to develop, but they all leave before I am ready to promote them, Alexandr steps into that role, baton in hand.
One of the lessons I learned (the hard way thank you) was that midfield depth is not a bad thing, especially when you loan out younger players you could have probably played, and were forced to play wingers and striker out of position because you didn’t want to change the formation. Yell at me all you want for that, we still won the league, but as a result, when a good midfielder became available for a nice price, I took a look at them. Ignacio Fraile is one of the lucky ones to have signed, because he’s going to get playing time and opportunities despite being here on a fringe contract. A Solid all around M(C)/DM who might start most games on the bench, but finish them on the pitch.
Why sign two quality midfielder when you can sign three? Or four? OK, Just three this year. Alexandre Lacrouts is a solid, dependable midfielder that’s bounced around a few teams, but has always increased his value each time. I suspect he’s one of those players who’s good enough to do a solid job, but you think there might be better option out there so you go looking for them. I think he will be a good addition to the midfield rotation, the first half of the season hasn’t proven me wrong…
Can we 3-peat this year? I think we have a good shot. I would like to get further in the Champions League this year, that series against PSG still rankles, but as we all know, the FM Gods are fickle.
Season recap will be coming up next, I just have to type out, right after this meeting of Midfielders Anonymous…
THE FOOTBALL MANAGER BLOG OF FM_JELLICO 