It’s the 5th of March 2024 and the 1st season of the SuperClub Diaries save is over. There’s obviously still two and a half months left of the Ligue 1 season, but the whole save hinges on the performance of the UEFA Champions League. Yet here we are out at the Last 16 knockouts stage against Manchester United or Englandshire. Pass the bucket, je suis malade. It is unsure at this stage if I will keep my job here at Paris Saint Germain. We are strolling to the title and will probably win it by 15-20 points, but I sit on a Board Approval rating of C+.

So this post is carefully positioned between being a potential farewell to PSG, and also a look ahead to a possible second season of retribution. Who knows what our Qatari owners will decide to do next…

Selling to Saudi

I disabled the 1st Transfer Window on save startup, so my first taste of Saudi transfer action came in January 2024. Three of the Public Investment Fund came in for Presnel Kimpembe, a good defender but my 3rd best (imo) behind Marquinhos and Milan Škriniar. A relatively easy choice was made even easier by taking into account Presnel’s real-life injury problems AND the straight up offer of €60m from Al-Hilal.

A sizeable chunk of that transfer deal was reinvested into Fluminense’s André, who I would look to rotate with Manual Ugarte at DM. However, André is technically proficient enough to also play further up the field in my 433 (either as CM-A or AP-S). I am happy with him, and still am, even if his first meaningful moment in a PSG shirt was so cataclysmic for us…

The League of Champions

This save is defined by my performance in Europe’s elite club competition. I’ll be honest, if I go out in the Last 16 ever again with this side…I’d have to do the right thing and walk. But the Last 16 tie versus Manchester United is quite laughable. It’s not a case of PSG not turning up, we absolutely smashed them. I could sit here and write about Super ‘Keepers all day long after seeing what André Onana did during these two games (20 shots faced, 4 held, 12 parried and 2 tipped)…

We won the xG battle [a metric that my ex-stream partner often recites as a validation of a team’s superiority], but somehow we were taken to a penalty shootout with the sides level at 2-2 AET. Oh, and how did Manchester United get back into it with a minute of extra-time to go? Well, a different kind of André happened…

Good job we practised penalties then right? No, we were dreadful at them..despite the scheduled training session the day before. Paris Saint Germain were out. At the Last 16 stage. Merde.

Faire un come-back

I had to take a couple of nights off from FM24, I was hurt. It’s not strictly the PSG André’s fault either. He is, after all, just a few numbers dancing around in old code. With this in mind, I thought about switching to a 442, but a fancy 442 with Liberos and Inverted Wing Backs. But I quickly went back to a tweaked 433 DM hackz (below) after the 442 lost 3-0 away in Marseille.

It’s now June 2024, I have finished the season, and the 433 has shown me that I need to carry on in Paris (and I hope the Board agrees too). A rainy night in Manchester was just a blip, honest. Paris Saint Germain finished 22 points clear in Ligue 1, scoring 99 goals in the process, and then there’s #WelcomeXaviSimons to come. Who will arrive back in Paris soon…and it was always my intention to build around one of the best young midfielders in the game for Season 2.

To be really ambitious as a SuperClub though, and that’s the intention with this save, you need to go against sound logic and the status quo. I could go and get the likes of Roony Bardghji on a cut-price deal…but a SuperClub does more than that (and it’s reflected in the FM24 club vision of ‘Spend the original transfer budget’ which I really enjoyed seeing). I’m going to sign the best I can get, so please welcome Yeremy Pino for €80m. It’s a different style of playing FM, I’ll admit…but I really enjoyed making that signing and just that feeling of being unleashed. Crème de la crème and all that.

Now let’s look elsewhere in SuperClub Diaries to see if there’s been any more fucks up (other than my own)…

England

Manchester City rule supreme in England, winning their fourth straight Premier League title. They also came close to retaining the Champions League, beating city rivals Manchester United in the Semi Final before coming up short in a penalty shootout Vs fellow SuperClub Bayern Munich. Despite a 5th place finish for Manchester United, they won the FA Cup on penalties against rivals Liverpool who will not complain too much having won the Europa League three days before against RB Leipzig (with Dominik Szoboszlai returning to haunt his old club with the match winning goal). Meanwhile, Chelsea continue the trophy theme with a League Cup victory and finish 3rd in the league (behind Liverpool and Manchester City).

France

Kylian Mbappé took his total career club goals to 278, with a 35-goal-campaign in 2023/24 for PSG. His Parisian outfit disappointed in Europe with a Last 16 exit to Manchester United, but a successful third straight Ligue 1 title means the 25-year-old now has seven league titles to his name.

Germany

Harry Kane’s 25 goals were not enough for Bayern Munich to retain the Bundesliga, who finished 2nd to winners RB Leipzig. Bayern did win the DFB-Pokal cup with a thumping 5-1 win against rivals Dortmund, however the best was yet to come…as on 01-June-2024 Bayern beat Manchester City on penalties to win their 7th European Cup.

Italy

Italian SuperClubs Juventus and Inter Milan fail to secure qualification to next year’s Champions League, finishing 5th and 6th in Serie A respectively. AC Milan won the Copa Italia but only finished 3rd in the league, as last season’s winners, Napoli, lost out to shock Serie A winners Lazio.

Spain

Barcelona won the title with a 95 point haul, and Robert Lewandowski once again the elite marksman in Spain with 25 league goals. In 2nd place is Real Madrid who slipped up to an Antoine Griezmann inspired Atlético Madrid in the Copa del Rey final. Diego Simeone’s men also secure Champions League football next term with a 3rd place finish.

So, that’s Season 1 complete in SuperClub Diaries. I may have done just enough to crawl into a second season in the French capital, but the pressure is now on.

As always, thank you for reading/sharing and caring,

Tony / FM Grasshopper