Previously on Plazas de Soberanía, AD Ceuta FC signed Fekir and Zidane in the same transfer window.
Intro
Season 4 is complete.
“A rocking horse moves backwards and forwards, but does not make any progress”. For much of the second half of the 2025/26 season it felt like AD Ceuta FC were a rocking horse. We have met the Board visions of Higher Tempo Pressing and Possession Football, but we failed to deliver the Defensively Solid Football that they also craved. What looked like a play-off season in December 2025, turned out to be miserable few months to kick start 2026…as we laboured to equalling the 13th place league finish like the season before. The rocking horse, just kept on rocking. Our familiarity with FM progression probably means we look at this Football Manager season as a failure. But, is a season of consolidation in LaLiga 2 a backward step? Probably not.
Now that I have inexcusably spoiled my short save update, you’re welcome to click off and go do something else with your day. If you do stay for more, you might just get excited about what I plan to do next at AD Ceuta FC…
Season 2025/26
January - June 2026
Conceding 54 league goals this season was not something I had in mind when fielding a DM with flat back four, but post-January 2026 was a shitshow. Especially the months of April and May:
May 2026 can get in the bin.
Usually I am finishing FM seasons in good form, but Season 4 ended a far cry from the 4th position high of match day 27 🤮 If Diego Mendoza is reading this blog post, I expect some abuse sent my way seeing as I broke the club’s transfer and salary record this season for Goalkeeper Luca F’ing Zidane! To then be so permeable to goals is quite sickening, and there is little wonder the Board were disappointed about us failing the club vision.
AD Ceuta past positions - Season 4.
It is hard to point the one problem in the skillset of the team OR the tactic. Whilst I thought it was well-balanced, I don’t think I was getting enough xG supply to my Strikers. When we did generate it our Attacking Pressing Forward of choice, Omar Faraj, did not really live up to the Ceuta strikers that came before him. He scored 11 goals and had a xG underperformance of -0.22. Our Attacking Inside Forward Ethyan at least got double figures for the first time in his Ceuta career (15 goals) and an xG overperformance of 0.44. However, to put into context how bad this is for AD Ceuta FC - check out a couple of strikers I previously had in this save:
Lorenzo Gonzalez - 9.92 xG overperformance / 1.01 Goals Per 90 (Season 1 - 34 goals)
Kevin Carlos - 2.70 xG overperformance / 0.64 Goals Per 90 (Season 3 - 15 goals)
The joys of blogging is that I can look back and reflect that Lorenzo G was a real freak of nature, but even if I can get half of that overperformance I will be laughing. Similarly, I know I can do a lot better than Faraj for the Pressing Forward role. This leads nicely on putting these two roles together, as I wave adios to 433…
Goodbye Possession Football 👋
Over the course of 2025/26 the Board were very pleased with the high-tempo pressing and possession based football. However, for obvious reasons, they were disappointed about how defensively solid we were [not]. In the negotiations for the forthcoming season I successfully convinced the Board to ditch the obsession with possession football. I have mentioned it a few times in the last few blog posts about how I would like to return to a two-striker system…and 2026/27 season will be that year. Ditching the DM and playing out from the back in favour for an extra central Striker means possession will a bit harder to achieve, so I’m delighted to do away with it as a board vision. I believe that I can now go back a 442, which is in keeping with the current higher tempo…but not be so hung up on possession. It means that AD Ceuta FC will soon play on the Counter, which probably suits our stature a lot more in LaLiga 2 anyway.
Season 5 Mission Objectives.
Kevin Returns
To return to the 442 glory days, let’s welcome back Kevin Carlos. The 25-year-old Ceuta born forward will be re-joining on loan this time for the whole 2026/27 season…and he is a perfect fit for what I want to do going forward: a relentless engine (King Kevin, see below) feeding a goal-obsessed Poacher (Ethyan, hopefully). Parent club, Torino, previously decided against loaning Kev to Ceuta for 2025/26 season, but I am not one to easily forget those glorious 6 months Kevin and I had together…and often kept an eye on his squad status.
This is how I will fit King Kevin (Pressing Forward on Attack) back into Ceutaball…
442, similar to Season 1.
442 Q&A
Why 442? Other than, you know, two strikers?
The shape means I have a squad depth of x2 players per position. For the first time in this save we now have 22 first team players!
Why Pressing Forward + Poacher?
Not only does Poacher suit Ehtyan’s strengths (Finishing 14, Off The Ball 13 and Anticipation 12), I want to have one striker moving into channels (Pressing Forward on Attack)…and another staying central and fixated on the goal.
For games where I need to give Kevin a break, or want more link-up with midfield, I have options to field a Deep Lying Forward (Fekir & Khaloua) instead of a Pressing Forward.
Why the Wide Playmaker on the right?
Luismi (the sole remaining player from Season 1) is best when cutting side from the wing, he’s a better playmaker than winger.
I’ve also signed Argentine/Spaniard Elías Contreras on a Free. Contreras has great Flair and Off The Ball for our level (both 15) and being either footed means he can easily cut inside and cause chaos for the opposition. When Luismi plays, Contreras can be shifted to the left wing, where he can become a traditional attacking Winger.
Do I think the 442 will help achieve the Board’s vision (high-tempo + defensively solid football)?
This remains to be seen, but tempo is slightly increased and I will keep an eye on how the Board react.
Anything should be defensively more solid than last year, although I will keep an eye on the midfield two (in case they are getting murdered) and would adopt my signature move of bringing off a Striker in favour of a Defensive midfielder in order to see out games in a flat 4141.
FM23 is bloody great fun
So, another quick-fire blog post from me…where I could have easily just skipped blogging and carried on playing, FM23 is bloody great fun.
But I know in 6 months from now I will be eager to go back and see what happened in order to satisfy my failing memory 😃 Season 5 could be special, I am really happy with the recruitment to bring in Kevin once again and I think we can build on the 13th place LaLiga 2 finishes. As always, keep an eye on the site for another post to see if the 442 really does fire…or sign up to the newsletter below for other great posts from various ☕🏠 writers.
Thanks for reading/sharing and caring,
Tony / FM Grasshopper