Previously on La Plata: Colombia, Hugo Ojeda offered to end the War on Drugs.

Intro

Today’s post concludes the second half of 2024, my 4th season in Colombia with Atlético Junior. In the Board’s eyes it was a disappointment: they wanted a domestic title (of which there are two per calendar year) and we won neither. Yet, we did win two domestic trophies which the Board did not rate (Superliga de Colombia & Copa Colombia) and had a respectable run to the Copa Libertadores Semi Final…once again the last non-Brazilian side in the competition. We also achieved a respectable ‘Silver Place’ in the inaugural La Copa LQ, absolutely smashing Diego Mendoza’s UDM en route to a tight defeat against Adventure’s Atalanta. In my eyes, at least, 2024 was a massive success…because we continued to compete for trophies despite fielding a much younger side.

In a previous post, I introduced my 4-1-3-2 ‘Godzilla’ tactic which I hoped would make use of the plethora of young up-and-coming academy players moving into the 1st team. As I head into the 5th season, and possibly my last with Junior, I am now looking to add more younger players. I’m therefore excited to introduce to you those on the edge of seventeen in today’s post, who I hope will represent us well in May 2025’s revamped FIFA Club World Cup.

Vamos Junior…

Season 2024

2024 Clausura

Our Closing campaign was nowhere near as solid as the Opening Stage, yet we did manage to qualify for the Semi Final stage with two games to spare…finishing the Closing campaign in 6th. But, as usual, it’s all about how you find form in the Semi Final groups and we did not disappoint:

I’ll admit to being a bit nervy with the opening away draws, but four straight wins were enough to see us confidently qualify for the Closing Stage Final…a repeat of the 2023 Closing Stage: Millonarios Vs Junior Club. The 1st leg was massively disappointing, we could not capitalise on being at home…and two long rangers from Millonarios shocked us. Sadly, the 1st leg did not get the point across…we shipped five goals without a reply in the second leg and found ourselves 7-1 down on aggregate. We did improve in that second half and it ended 5-4 (7-5 on aggregate), but we only really turned up for one 45 mins out of 180. Was the team too young? Did I set it up wrong? I really don’t know. It was the first time domestically that we had conceded four goals in over a year (pre-Godzilla tactic) and I’m left wondering what could have been if we had not been so god awful in that Second Leg’s 1st half.

2024 Copa Libertadores

The updates progressively get more upbeat as we move onto the cup competitions, we came so close to making the showpiece Copa Libertadores final and defending our title! Before that topsy-turvy Semi Final, we made relatively easy work against San Lorenzo and Vasco da Gama. The scorelines show only a one nil Junior advantage, but I was pleased as to how my young team controlled both games.

Against Santos, the 3-1 away leg defeat flattered the Brazilian side. After Caraballogol put us ahead, I felt we controlled it quite well…until moments of magic appeared from their individual talents, which include ex-Gimnasia striker Matías Córdoba (vomits). The second leg was a 2-1 Junior win, I still feel pained re-watching the highlights of Lautaro Giannetti’s header smashing against the post from a corner and both Jhon Durán & Caraballogol missing easy 1v1 sitters. Still, we lost to eventual winners and came close to defending our crown.

2024 Copa Colombia

The Copa Colombia trophy win was a nice surprise. The Bucaramanga tie was a repeat final from last year, and allowed me to give minutes to players who would leave Junior club in December 2024: Club Captain Leandro Pico, ex-FM wonderkid Sherman Cárdenas and hitman Santiago Tréllez all waving goodbye to Barranquilla after years of service. The Copa Colombia is our 9th trophy of this save and something to build on as we go into 2025 seeking to get into double figures for trophies won.

Another little side challenge of the save drags on: see a single player score 50 calendar year goals (all comps). Perhaps 2025 is the year we finally do it, seeing as both Jhon Durán & Caraballogol scored 44 goals each in 2024. I just need one to be a little more selfish over the other I guess…

Edge of Seventeen

I have previously written about my approaches to youth development + training back in Season 2 (read Junior Club here). The U20 training regimes and my general approach have not changed, but we did see the special affiliate arrangement with Barranquilla FC end in 2023 with their promotion to the Colombian top league. It’s annoying that it was ended, but I can take some solace in that I used the option, when I could, to poach a few young players including Ricardo Caraballo - now our top scorer in all competitions for two years running.

The previous Youth Development blog post introduced three young players: Jhon Durán, Juan Aragón & Pabue Casiani. I do not feel the need to re-introduce them here today, but just know that they will feature in the First Team in 2025. Likewise, I feel no need to re-post the mercurial talents of the ‘three ‘illas’ as outlined in my Godzilla post. The likes of Charles Asprilla, Mauricio Bonilla and Antony Padilla are already virtual household names by now. Instead, I will introduce three more younger players; who I hope will breakthrough and make a name for themselves in 2025. I’ll then conclude by showing you my final squad number graphic for the year, only this time…also showing you the depth in positions as the young players interchange with the establish stars. I am hoping that a near Homegrown* XI can become a regular thing in my 5th and final season.

*Note - ‘Homegrown’ to me is two things: (1) ‘Homegrown’ as in Colombian nationality and also (2) ‘Homegrown At Club’ which, in my mind, includes those guys signed from the Barranquilla FC arrangement and anybody signed at the age of 15-years-old (e.g. Charles Asprilla and Mauricio Bonilla). Don’t like this? Stop reading.

(1) Juan Pablo Bohórquez

Brave, hardworking and speedy. Juan Pablo Bohórquez was introduced to the 1st team briefly in the Opening Stage of 2024 before impressing. In the Closing Stage he has built on his form and become our replacement Pressing Forward when Caraballogol needed a rest. The statistics are shown in the tweaked Rensie Skin above, absolutely lethal domestically in the league and our 3rd best scorer in 2024 with 17 goals (all comps). There is not a lot I will do with him now, other than train him in the Pressing Forward role on double intensity. There is absolutely no need to sign a replacement for Santiago Tréllez either, JPB is oven ready!

(2) Estebán Alcázar

Based on coach reports, Estebán Alcázar is one of our most highly rated players for potential ability at Junior Club. I therefore feel compelled to use him in 2025, as he enters adulthood which sees his demands for 1st Team football grow. But, where do I use him? My midfield this season has been stacked for talent, so I’ve shoehorned him in briefly at Right Back as our Complete Wing Back on Attack. But longer term I probably would like to use him as a left sided attacking Mezzala in the 4-1-3-2, seeing as I don’t play with wide attackers. His either footedness attracts me too, and if I can get him up near the penalty area with his silky dribbling then I think he could be the surprise Junior player of 2025.

(3) Edgar Mora

Lastly, Edgar Mora is one I want to introduce to you in today’s post. In a reverse of the standard Barranquilla FC arrangement, I loaned Mora in order to increase his game time over 2024. Played as a Deep Lying Playmaker at MC, he’s been a solid performer for Barranquilla FC back in Colombia’s second league. He now returns to Junior Club with a chance of entering our side as a utility player in midfield. I really need a holding player at DM to relieve Antony Padilla from time-to-time now that Leandro Pico has left. Edgar could be that help, but can he play Half Back and drop into our backline? Personally, I’d like better Positioning, but I’ll surely be able to give him adequate minutes at either HB or CM-S.

Squad Evolution 2021-2025

I thought I would update my First XI squad number graphic and compare it with the previous two from earlier on in the save (2021 and 2023). After four years of management, the team is almost completely different from Day 1 of the save. Only Winger Edwuin Cetré and Left Back Gabriel Fuentes now remain from that original squad, with the latter occupying #6 in each squad number graphic of the save.

In addition to the usual squad number graphic, I thought I would create one to also show squad depth and the various homegrown options I have at my disposal for Season 2025. Perhaps this endeavour is more of an aide-mémoire in future [real-life] years to see how far Junior Club came with regards to Youth Development. The ‘Homegrown At Club XI’ has always been a holy grail for me in Football Manager series, and I am incredibly close in FM21 to achieving it. Certainly some games over the course of the calendar year will feature 6 or 7 in the starting XI. But certainly a ‘Homegrown XI’ is more easily achievable on the regular, given that the domestic league rules dictate only three foreign players in the starting XI anyway. Therefore: Vamos Colombia!

One More Year…

So, that’s my 2024 update and I now look ahead to 2025. It is a season I am looking forward to, with the revamped FIFA Club World Cup (held in Greece) taking place in May making the season feel somewhat different and fresh. Still, I am relatively sure that this will be my last season in this save, but there are little ‘titbits’ that are still keeping the save interesting: the quest for a ‘50 goal-a-season striker’, the Homegrown XI and that coveted 10th FM21 career trophy. I hope you can continue to support Junior Club for one more year…

Thanks for reading/sharing and caring,

FM Grasshopper