Previously on La Plata: Colombia, Hugo Ojeda brought Colombia’s young and old ‘El Pibe’ together.

Happy New Year. Can you ever complete Football Manager?

The answer, for most at least, is likely ‘No’. So then, what’s the closest thing to completing Football Manager? Is it a rags to riches rise up the domestic leagues, a Homegrown XI that wins the top continental prize or a MoneyBall™ assembled squad punching above its weight against oligarch owned Super Clubs? OR is it that one goal that takes your breath away…a moment so euphoric that Football Manager doesn’t get any better than that particular moment in time?

On the 15 December 2020 I believe I came close to completing Football Manager (in my way at least).

It was a goal scored from a fluid passing move that involved all outfield players, including a beautiful interchange between the young Junior Club foursome of Edwuin Cetré, Jaminton Campaz, Gabriel Fuentes and new No.9 signing Matías Arezo. 999 times out of a 1,000 it would be a move that ends with a blocked cross or misplaced pass (and I’ve probably seen that happen more than 1,000 times). But on this day (17 July 2021 in-game) the FM Gods had decided that El Toque (a style of football I’ve set about trying to impose on my virtual players) would come home to Hugo Ojeda’s Junior Club.

It signalled the start of a good domestic run for Barranquilla‘s best club side. But was it enough to earn some silverware? Read on to discover the conclusion to La Plata: Colombia’s first season in Football Manager 2021, which also contains some free childcare tips and a man’s descent into madness…

Season 2021: Clausura

Two new signings

I said goodbye to Miguel Borja last time on the blog, whilst shedding manly tears. The 28-year-old Forward had hit an astonishing 25 goals during the first 5 months of 2021 and I knew that his replacement would have to slot straight into the side and score immediately in order for us to remain competitive. Luckily I did not have a problem, our Director of Football’s new signing Matías Arezo scored with his first touch 3 minutes into this debut:

Arriving from Uruguay for €950k after being transfer listed by River Plate (Montevideo), 18-year-old ‘Arezogol’ has been a revelation. It doesn’t surprise me too much, seeing that so many FMers have had success with him previously, but there was still an element of risk about him given his young age. But after 15 goals in 24 starts (all competitions), Arezogol is the No.9 we build around. The only troublesome headache we have is the €2.5m release clause (for foreign clubs) inserted into his contract, but I am hoping that our DoF can either increase that value, or remove it, in contract renegotiations in 2022.

Our second mid-season signing was bringing in the experience of Diego Braghieri at Centre Back. He ticked all my boxes when his scout report arrived after the Short-Term Focus finished: experienced, left footed, match-fit and adaptable. Not only this, it weakened a rival: Apertura winners Atlético Nacional, who had transfer listed Braghieri for an initial €30k (rising to €70k). It’s a bizarre decision (for the AI to sell like this), given that the Argentine Centre Back was one of the best defensive performers over the first 5 months of domestic football with 0 Key Tackles.

What did I expect from these two signings? My honest answer: more clean sheets and enough goals to ease the pain of Borja’s departure. Where would it lead us? Read on.

Categoría Primera A - Clausura

A few weeks into the Clausura season we got a new FM patch (and an update to ME version 21.4.0). I decided to leave my 4-2-3-1 DM tactic unchanged in order to see how it performed (a tactic I discussed last time out) . In theory, if it’s a balanced tactic (with good variety in attack), we should not see anything too detrimental to the post-patch performances…as ME patches should fix known issues/exploits; not make things worse. Performances did improve under the new patch, and for the first time in this save I was no longer conceding from the repetitive long goalkeeper kick to advanced striker’s toe punt. My back four also appeared to be more composed on the ball, and they were able to transition the ball safely from back-to-front, perhaps helped with the two Defensive Midfielders linking up with the El Toque-like instructions to pass shorter.

A run of five games in August/September without conceding a goal saw us break free of our rivals at the top of the Clausura table. A little dip in September losing back-to-back league games against Millonarios and Envigado grounded my sense of invincibility, but a strong run of seven games without conceding (6 wins and 1 draw) saw us finish the league with a 10 point lead on rivals. Once again, Atlético Junior had topped the domestic table…but this really meant nothing, as we moved into the Semi Group Stages (recap: two groups of four playing one another home and away…with group winners playing each other home and away to determine the Clausura Winner).

I would say it was burnout that stopped us winning the Apertura last time round. We ran out of gas in the 3rd Semi Final group fixture and never recovered…I was determined not to do the same in the Clausura. So, we carefully rotated around the squad (resting those when I could) in the final few weeks of the season, and I was suitably confident in our ability to field around 15-20 different players during the course of six fixtures in a two week period.

Any hope of a good start was extinguished with three games without a win, including a 2-1 defeat to bogey side América de Cali. Sitting bottom at the halfway point was pretty damning, Young and inconsistent Arezo had been dropped for soon-to-be Inter Miami Striker Michael Rangel…his goals Vs Santa Fe and Deportivo Paso proving vital in our resurgence to set up the final round face up with Cali. An excruciatingly painful 1-1 home draw with Cali, courtesy of a Diego Braghieri 2nd half equaliser, put us top on goal difference. Phew.

Millonarios would be our opponents in the two legged final, a side who delivered similar Semi Final Group heroics (by also being bottom after three games). It perhaps shows the unpredictable nature of the Colombian later stages, and it’s refreshing to experience this league system. What probably wasn’t refreshing was a Full Match DRAWHOPPER™ streamed live on Twitch to about ten other lost souls on the Internet. The away leg finished 1-1, Michael Rangel keeping his place upfront (over Arezogol) in the side and delivering another Final Stage goal (I have FromElevenOne to thank for encouraging me to believe in form).

Away goals do not count in these fixtures, so we went into the 2nd leg on a Positive Mentality, as I felt we needed to exert our home advantage. Streamed live on Twitch, with Scottish FM Co-Commentator @FM_Samo, we decided to start with Michael RanGOL once again. The big headache was the fitness of Enganche (Sherman Cárdenas) and Wide Players (Edwuin Cetré & Jaminton Campaz). Given that this was the 70th and final game of the calendar year…we’d just go for it. One last push and hope there is something left in the tank to beat Millonarios…and…

…we did it! Mostly thanks to Cárdenas (and not VAR who cruelly ruled out a majestic Cetré strike). Sherman scored an early golazo and created the 2nd in what Samo described as “a great time to score a second goal”. Michael Rangel once again proving his worth to the side with a vital goal, his fourth goal in 5 games. In terms of Cárdenas, our Colombian No.10’s condition was close to breaking point on the hour mark; and we therefore subbed him off. I would be lying if I said the last 10-15 minutes were in no way nervy, especially with Millonarios getting a goal back and climbing the xG charts to near parity by Full Time…but we did it!

Hugo Ojeda has delivered a league title to Junior Club of Baranquilla and El Toque had been central to it.

Copa Colombia

Before that league title win (and subsequent qualification to the Copa Libertadores), the Copa Colombia was my easiest route into the 2022 Copa Libertadores Group Stages (with the winner gaining automatic entry), so it’s a trophy I was taking very seriously. We had the romance of going back to Carlos Valderrama’s home side of Unión Magdalena, where we saw them put in a spirited 2nd leg performance against us that El Pibe would have been proud of. The heartache came against Cali though. Leading the tie and going into the last 4 minutes, we conceded and went on to lose the penalty shootout. 2-0 up and cruising at HT and then to go on and lose like that, sickening 🤮!

The Benefits Of The Mix

So, it was a successful domestic Closing campaign, rounding off a very solid 2021…but what’s the main reason in my opinion? Ok, stick with me…

FM Grasshopper Childcare Scenario 1: Imagine eleven toddlers (2-year-olds if we want to be precise) going up a large flight of stairs with just the one carer guiding them. A small majority make decent advances, a few struggle in the early steps…and one or two outright refuse and have a tantrum. The carer is in Hell right now. Understandably.

FM Grasshopper Childcare Scenario 2: Now let’s imagine the scene differently. In the eleven young adventurers, we now have a couple of 4-year-olds and a trio of 3-year olds in place of some of the 2-year-olds. Whilst the carer is ready to help the youngest, he/she can instruct the eldest to give helping hands to guide the rest. We still have eleven kids, but the carer is no longer stretched.

It’s not often you compare the advantages to mixing toddler age groups with that of your Football Manager First XI is it? But that’s what I am about to do. You see, by chance I’ve discovered that my 2021 Atlético Junior side was perfect in the way it found the balance with youth and experience. Not just in terms of the split in ages either, even the distribution of ages around the team’s positions matched up well too. In my First XI, there’s often been an experienced head alongside a younger one.

I like to think that this partly explains our good Clausura performances, which contained a great balance of defensive solidarity and offensive flair. During the 2021, we conceded on average 0.7 goals a game…and still top the league scoring charts with 103 goals (1.9 per game). The defence was commanded well by Goalkeeper/Captain/Legend Sebastián Viera with Defenders Diego Braghieri and Marlon Piedrahita also in regular attendance…a combined 49 years of pro football between those three guys. Were they barking orders and keeping the younger guys partnering them in check? In Attack, the experience of Sherman Cárdenas as our Enganche had the exuberance of youth around him as options to pass towards. Did we benefit from having a level and consistent head linking up with Ojeda’s young guns? I like to think so.

We will probably never know the full extent of the ‘benefits of the mix’, nor would I really want to know. But it’s a fun observation, and something I hadn’t deliberately tried to do on the onset of my first season with Atlético Junior. But equally something I now want to keep up going forward.

A Death Foretold

Staring out into Barranquilla’s sunset coastline, Hugo Ojeda took time to look back at the whirlwind 12 months he had spent in Colombia. His mind during the darker stage of twilight raced relentlessly around the issues of allies and enemies, business deals to conclude and associates to remove. But his thoughts would often end up on Father Martínez, the religious zealot who met his end back in the jungle.

The old man had always said he would die in the jungle, and he was proved right, Hugo Ojeda reflected. Father Martínez’s death signalled the start of Hugo’s night-time headaches, eased only by the medication prescribed by his personal Doctor. The drugs did their best in allowing Ojeda to deliver on-field success to Caribbean’s top club…but would the remedy last forever?

Hugo turned to the stained glass window that had been made in his image. The exceptional piece of craftsmanship had been removed from the same Chapel whilst Father Martínez laid chained to his alter, and was now hidden away in Hugo’s private office; with only Hugo and his most trusted associates able to lay their eyes on it. The window’s yellow colour appeared to be slightly tainted by the fire in places, with some tiles becoming a darker shade of orange and red. Odd, Hugo thought, considering it was removed before the fire had even started…yet the sun’s embers reflecting from the window’s surface reminded Hugo of the murder that took place that night in God’s room.

The effects from the medication were now starting to kick in, and Hugo felt tired.

He closed his eyes and felt the warmth of the jungle fire once more.

An epic 1st season finally completed in Football Manager 2021, I must say that it was enjoyable! As always, thanks for reading/sharing & caring. I wish everybody a healthy and safe 2021.

Speak soon.

FM Grasshopper