I’m fond of an inside joke, I won’t lie. Those who know me will know what the title of the blog represents.
After being sacked by Bastia I really didn’t take that long to decide on what I was doing next. As FMRensie said - I had a new save before he even had a chance to read that the old save had ended! The reason for this is that the choice was relatively simple and not too far from where I was. Another island team that I had previously had a long term save with. I landed on the virtual shores of the Balearic isle of Mallorca.
Truthfully, this is now the third save I will have start with Mallorca over the last few years. Mallorca (the original save) is one that I really enjoyed. Without going too personal, FM17 was a difficult time for me and this Mallorca save became a good distraction. It was the last FM save that I truly couldn’t get enough of - that’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed each year since, otherwise I wouldn’t be playing it, but it really did land differently for me.
FM17 was the save that ignited my love for Carles Aleña and Borja Mayoral. It was also the last time I experienced trophy success in a European competition - the video below is still an absolute joy to watch! Who doesn’t love a 90th minute winner?!
RCD MALLORCA - FM22
Similarly the Mallorca I inherit today is in a different situation to the one I inherited previously. Mallorca are now a La Liga team although expected to have a difficult battle against relegation.
The board set very few demands on me. The Club Culture calls for signing players under the age of 23 for the first team and the 5 year plan is simply to work within the budget. The former is the bread and butter of how I play FM and the latter is just simple logic. Although that budget being ~£275k per week was ever so slightly restrictive.
The squad I inherited is one I would suggest is still not really a premier division team bar a few higher quality players - goalkeeper Dominik Grief, defender Martin Valjent and winger Kang-In Lee a few of the standout individuals.
On arrival Mallorca had four players on loan. Wingback Pablo Maffeo (another former fmadventure signing) from Stuttgart, midfielder Rodrigo Battaglia from Sporting CP, winger Take Kubo from Real Madrid and striker Fer Niño from Villarreal.
IMPROVING THE SQUAD
I decided against making any signings in the Summer but made moves come January. Firstly I had to raise funds and free up room in the wage budget - that was done by selling three of the fringe players from the squad. Dani Rodríguez (£750k) and Abdón Prats (£500k) swapped the Balearics for the Canaries as they joined Las Palmas and Salva Sevilla (£40k) went to Marítimo. Jordi Mboula also left the club but only on loa to Eibar for the remainder of the season.
Coming in to Mallorca were three players:
First up was Nico Williams from Athletic Club (Bilbao). He was signed initially to replace Jordi Mboula as one of my back up wide men but when Take Kubo picked up a lengthy injury, Nico ended up stepping in to fill the void. Nico Williams was a loan in for the remainder of the season, Athletic insisted on an optional fee of £34m - something I would obviously not be able to afford. Nevertheless, he’s one I’ll definitely be chasing to try and get in on loan again next season.
The second signing was another wide man in 19 year old Nigerian Akinkunmi Amoo from Hammarby IF. As his crossing attribute indicates, he’s very much more in the line of an inside forward than a traditional winger. He has plenty of potential and with that pace/acceleration I can see him training up as a winger in the future. For £1.7m it feels like a shrewd buy, if he doesn’t make it for me then there’s definitely profit to be had from him.
The last signing of the season was that of Filip Rønningen Jørgensen. You may know him from Samo’s FM21 stint with Vålerenga and Norway. At £2m (rising to £2.9m) and at just 19 years old he’s another excellent signing who will either star for me or net me some tidy profits in the future.
THE PERFECT THERAPY
It was indeed the perfect therapy after that disastrous spell with Bastia. After a mediocre pre-season (which I took to be a good omen) we started the season with a win in the league before going through what I can only describe as a consistently inconsistent season.
We finished the season in 12th place - exceeding the board’s (and my own) expectations. It’s easy to see where our faults lay as we conceded 79 goals over the season - the second worst defensive record in the league. Although we did manage to score 61 goals which made us the 8th best scorers in the league.
We blew it in the Copa De Su Majestad El Rey (Copa del Rey for the less articulate) and were knocked out by Getafe in the third round. I didn’t see it as a massive issue and neither did the board. All good here.
Fer Niño ended the season as our top goal scorer, we’ll find it difficult to replace him as he returns to Villarreal on conclusion of his loan deal.
LOOKING AHEAD
I always find that I don’t have too much to say within my first season at a club. It’s all about consolidating my place there and getting to know the squad - or more to the point, finding where our weaknesses lie and planning recruitment for the next summer.
It’s clear that we have a lot of work to do defensively, recruiting another solid centre back to accompany Martin Valjent is an absolute must. an experienced head in midfield is also high up the agenda along with attempting to replace Fer Niño’s goals obviously. Ideally, I’d like to bring in a set piece specialist of some sort too.
Tactically I’m not quite settled yet - I started out with a 5-2-3 with wingbacks, two central midfielders, an AML and AMR and one up top but ended up moving to a flat 4-4-2 by the end of the season. I want to revisit three at the back whenever we get the right players in the facilitate it. Maybe as things progress next season I’ll be able to talk more deeply about the tactical set up I’m working with.
For now, it’s a summer of heavy recruitment ahead, both on and off the pitch as I also look to beef up my backroom staff. The aim for 2022/23 is simply to stay the course and establish ourselves within La Liga. Maybe even push on a bit in the Copa if we get the luck of the draw.
There’s much to be said for having a comfort save to fall back on. Viva Mallorca!