Previously on La Plata: Mexico, Hugo Ojeda was appointed Manager of Murciélagos FC, Sinaloa.

Intro

I am not sure which holds more significance: a 20-year-old Hugo Ojeda surviving a season in the Mexican 2nd Division OR Hugo Ojeda surviving a year in the middle of the Sinaloa-Tijuana Cartel War. Certainly both projects have come with loses & struggles, but Murciélagos FC and Sinaloa appear to be on the rise. The year is 2024 and here is an update…

Home & Away

Having Home & Away formations divides opinion, not just in FM circles…but also in real-world football. The great Arsène Wenger was once very dismissive about the difference between home & away in 2011:

“I never in my life could understand the difference between home and away, for me it’s a football match and no matter where you play you try to play well. I never could understand why in peoples’ heads there is a difference between away and home”.

But six years later, Wenger could not answer why Arsenal were unable to win against their top rivals away from home for so long. Playing the same approach (regardless of the principles around aesthetics) between home and away games could have been his undoing; something was amiss. My usual approach in FM has often been something similar: use a single formation that works in the majority of matches and only make tweaks. But I felt we needed to do something more drastic in away games with Murciélagos FC. In the Opening Stage we went the entire campaign without a single away win, the worst record in the league and a bit of a laughing stock.

The Mexican league adds further justification for seeking the away win too, because an extra bonus point is awarded. A sudden jump of a few +4s would not only guarantee survival, but also put us in contention of a Play-Off place. So, after speaking to good friend and ally Diego Mendoza…I was motivated to try a 4-4-2 away tactic, to push two men up top and really ‘go for it’. Crash and burn, we’d eventually get a win right? Wrong, another 5 away games during the Closing Stage without a win (and non-existent sexy Ojeda-ball) left me wondering what I had to do…so I went back to the 4-3-3 Home formation but with a really simple change:

Swap CF-S to AF-A.

It suddenly meant that Murciélagos FC had a persistent runner on a more aggressive mentality. Not only a goal threat but a guy to offer up the ball to and relieve pressure on our defenders. The first away game: a 1-0 Vs Potros, with the goal coming from the Advanced Forward. Then the last two away games ending unbeaten…a 0-0 with La Piedad and a 1-0 win at Celaya. Sometimes a simple switch of role can have a noticeable effect!

Season 2023/24

Because I blogged before the conclusion to the Opening Stage, here is me finishing strongly to secure 11th place!

Building on our Opening Stage ‘success’, we were once again solid at home. The aforementioned problems away from home continued, but the little switch to Advanced Forward has given me hope for next season. We came a whisker away from reaching the Promotion Playoffs. I also saw the best and the worst of my team in the final two games of the season. A surprising, but merited win, away at Celaya…left me with real hope of a dream playoff appearance. Miguel Ávila, my loan signing from Club América who I introduced last time on the blog, heading home a near post corner routine giving me false hope of a first season fairy tale. But his yellow card later on in that game meant he would be suspended for our final match, where we were cruelly ripped apart at home by Club Irapuato 0-3. A deflating end to a largely productive season, where we were tipped to go down:

Our combined tally of 45 points means I am in a really strong position next year to once again survive, as we’ve got a 13 point head start (& alphabetical advantage) on teams like Zacatecas and Zacatepec. So, we’ll probably do away with looking at Average Points next season and have a stretch goal instead; achieve a playoff spot in either of the split stages.

New Signings

In order to push on and make the playoffs, I feel we need to strengthen in a few key areas. I’m not one for masses of new signings each season (as a lot of FMers seem to do), instead I like to focus on bringing one or two marquee signings that would improve us; and then maybe an additional youngster or two to comply with any Club Vision.

New budgets attributed to managers are often described as ‘war chests’, and that’s what it feels like with Hugo Ojeda’s new 2024/25 budget. But instead of investing heavily in the playing squad, I’ve taken this opportunity to flesh out the backroom staff. We now have an assortment of staffing roles, with a scouting setup in place and an Assistant Manager to ease the burden on our young manager’s shoulders. Including Hugo Ojeda himself, six Venezuelans are now also part of the backroom staff at Murciélagos FC…una revolución in process!

In terms of player signings, I’ve been quite dismissive of a few Full Backs/Wing Backs scout reports sent to me to fill Left Back…and therefore missed out on bringing anybody here. So we’ll go with Soria, my make-shift right footed LB until the next Transfer Window. The standout 2024 signing is Free Transfer 26-year-old Fredy Vera, a one-time youth international with Paraguay. Vera has a lovely mixture of Composure, Flair, Finishing & First Touch. He can play across the front line in each of the roles within my 4-3-3 and could be the decisive factor for us (remember I need those +4s away from home). I’m actually going to tweak a few instructions for the games he’ll play as an Advanced Forward or as an Attacking Winger. As I plan to be a bit more direct with our passing and make quicker transitions from back to front…utilising his modest quickness and good Off The Ball attribute. So maybe expect a 4-3-3- v1.2 in my next post.

My other Free Signing is Sinaloan Francisco Contreras, who has spent all of his career with rivals Dorados. You can’t be too picky in terms of what players to go for at this level, so I focused on a few specific attributes. I wanted somebody who was (1) fast and (2) hard working for a Central Midfielder Attack role. Contreras fits both criteria well (with great Determination, Quickness, Teamwork and Work Rate) and I really like his player trait of getting forward whenever possible. There will be lots of space to drive into, with the Advanced Forward pushing on, and I am hoping he can be an offensive threat for us.

Closing Comments

It took a fair amount of time to complete a single Mexican season during the pandemic lockdown, but I can’t wait to get going again for Season 2. Facing off against new clubs and getting to grips in a new league has certainly been a great challenge so far, and if anybody is feeling the need to switch up their save…don’t overlook adding new leagues within a current save as I did. Fully recommend it!

Thanks for reading/sharing/caring. Stay safe and stay alert.

FM Grasshopper