"10 years at Ceuta" - Plazas de Soberanía #FM23

September 4, 2023

Previously on Plazas de Soberanía, Ceuta tactically evolved.

Intro

Has this been my favourite blogged FM save? Probably not, but I am ok with that. I cannot always find the most epic save ever or have the greatest in-game moments. Alternatively, this has not been a bad save either. I set out to do a One Club Save back on FM23 release day, and here I am in September 2023 concluding things with excitement building for FM24…AD Ceuta FC have kept the Football Manager flame alight for 10 months of the year. 10 in-game seasons that have held my attention.

The save has largely gone the way I had hoped too: an upward journey from Primera Federación Grupo I to LaLiga. Whilst we did not gain successive promotions, challenge for LaLiga right away or sell a Mauritanian Newgen for €90m…I did the save my way. €3-4m transfer spends on players that suited lowly Ceuta, evolving tactically and constructing a 15,000-seater new stadium in the process. I started out as the 133rd most reputable club in Spain in 2022 and now I finish with Ceuta as the 19th most reputable club in Spain in 2032.

Today’s post recaps on the 10th and final season, whether I met the save’s aims, I share my favourite FM23 player and I then reveal how the save will keeping going without me. Does any of this entice you to read on further?

Oh, and as a reminder…this is our story so far:

2022/23 - Primera Federación Grupo I - 6th
2023/24 - Primera Federación Grupo I - 4th (promoted via Playoffs) 🚀
2024/25 - LaLiga SmartBank - 13th
2025/26 - LaLiga SmartBank - 13th
2026/27 - LaLiga SmartBank - 14th
2027/28 - LaLiga SmartBank - 7th
2028/29 - LaLiga SmartBank - 1st (promoted as champions) 🏆
2029/30 - LaLiga Santander - 15th
2030/31 - LaLiga Santander - 14th
2031/32 - LaLiga Santander - ?

And all the posts so far:

The story so far...

Season 2031/32

The 10th and final season with Ceuta, in my Plazas de Soberanía series has been a blast. I completed the season quicker than I thought I would, mainly because I could see some of the progress we were making and the good football we were playing. I did not sign too many players, but Adonay Marichal is the standout signing as I channelled my inner David Moyes and recruited from the division below. Adonay arrived for €3.5m for Las Palmas and played a mixture of Deep Lying Playmaker and Attacking Midfielder (interchanging with the 🐐, Txus Alba - more on him later).

There was a brief moment where European qualification was a possibility, and part of me believed I could do it. Alas, 15 points at the end of the season was the difference and the line in the sand marked out as the next ceiling for Ceuta to breakdown:

My FM23 Aims - Revisited

The previous save aims are found here. My Ceuta side never once challenged for the LaLiga title, and I never got to hear the Champions League theme. However, I never once got sacked here at Ceuta…and we did move into the new 15,000 ‘Ceuta stadium’:

After signing 14 North Africans in this save, we finally saw one capped internationally for the first time whilst present at the club. I left it late, 2031 Summer signing Amine Mekouar (and the final North African arrival in this save) received a debut for Morocco against Rwanda in which he scored. Phew, achieving 3 out of my 5 aims isn’t bad 😎

My fav FM23 player is…

…Txus Alba. Were you expecting me to write somebody else? Sure, ‘Kevin’ was a monumental signing and I titled three posts around the Ceuta born Nigerian…but Txus Alba was iconic for me in FM23. Txus Alba joined in 2024/25 (my third season in FM), Ceuta’s debut season in LaLiga 2. He so nearly joined on loan a year before that but opted to join league rivals Linares on loan from Barcelona. When his contract was up at La Masia, I swooped in and made him my highest earner on €200k per annum.

Sometimes in FM, you get that one player whose trajectory grows alongside the growth of the club. This is something I see when managing a One-Club save such as this, and something I have experienced with Txus in my side. He’s been almost ever-present in the seven years I have managed him…either as my Deep Lying Playmaker or as one of my Attacking Midfielders. Txus has been my most used player with 330 appearances, 106 appearances more than the 2nd most used player: Luca Zidane.

It’s probably fair to say that both him and Ceuta have hit a ceiling together in mid-table LaLiga. The next step is probably to phase him out of the side and part ways, and that’s another Manager’s immediate job (more on this later). But for now I want to look back at Txus’ service here:

330 Appearances, 38 Goals, 76 Assists, 7.02 Average Rating. Below is his last LaLiga assist (number 33 in Spain’s top league), and probably one of his best:

Other special players in this save are the aforementioned Kevin Carlos (51 goals in a couple of seasons) & Luca Zidane (Club Captain for many years) and Rubén Acuña (my highest goal scorer of 72 goals over four seasons). Perhaps in the tier below is Iker Losada (191 appearances, 39 goals and 38 assists) and Lorenzo Gonzalez (whose 34 goals in a single season [2022/23] was never beaten). I salute these virtual players and I will often think about them.

No El Fin…Announcing Ceuta’s New Manager…

I find that the motivation to leave a legacy wanes a little bit in a One Club Save. It might just be me, but the last few transfer windows in these kind of saves often see me just going through the motions - there’s no real desire to find that next wonderkid or leave the squad looking in a top shape. However, that all changed when CoffeehouseFM’s next top Blogger, José (@YouthIntake), got in contact with me over the Summer, asking if he could continue my save after me by loading up the save file. I was genuinely happy to share, because from that moment I had a greater motivation to conclude things with Ceuta in the best possible way.

The other added benefit for me was being able to share my save file six in-game months in advance of ending with Ceuta, in order to identify targets with José and seeing whether I could add a couple of players. After all, how often do you see new Managers IRL come in and totally disregard players that the club has only just signed? I was determined not to have this with Ceuta. The benefit for José is that he’s privy to the decision making now, meaning it is two positions he won’t have to worry about on arrival and they’ll get 6 months of football before José can come in and use them.

So, José and I got to work and we identified the Full Back positions as a place to recruit towards in January 2032, due to the players being fairly old there. These are the two players we signed:

In my current 4222, the left sided full back is the more attacking one. With Alberto Vega signing this can obviously continue. He has good physicals to get up and down the pitch, and a decent enough cross. He arrives in a cut-price deal (€115k) from Real Madrid due to his expiring contract. The next signing becomes the first non-Spanish or North African in the save so far, but he’s José’s 1st pick for RB…and I can see why. Romario Barta (signing from Cluj at €3.8m) is a solid full back, who will offer good security in the defence.

I am unsure if José will blog his journey with Ceuta (or update us someplace else), but I am happy to know the club is in safe virtual hands. His immediate focus will be to keep the team competitive with the lowest salary cap in the league (circa €29m p/a), and that should not be underestimated considering the club does not generate much in the way of match day revenue. Additionally, now that the club is established in LaLiga, developing youth is something I think José and Ceuta can push forward with too 🙂

AD Ceuta FC, good luck in the future.

Thank you for reading / sharing and caring,

Tony / FM Grasshopper

"Ceuta's Tactical Evolution" - Plazas de Soberanía #FM23

July 11, 2023

Previously on Plazas de Soberanía, Ceuta survived in LaLiga.

Intro

Despite functionality being added to FM to allow the continuation of saves cross-edition, I know that this is the beginning of the end for my Ceuta save. Season 9 (which this post covers) is my penultimate one, with the aim to finish FM23 at the conclusion of a décima season. For this reason, I thought I would have a look back on the tactical evolution we have made over the save.

Why change a tactic?

It is important to stress you don’t have to change a winning tactic in FM. If one works for you, then you’re free to simply keep using it. However, I have two main reasons why I like to review and evolve tactically year-on-year:

Changing leagues / reputation
AD Ceuta FC have been relegation favourites at various points in the save (notably Seasons 1, 3 and 8) . But in other moments, they’ve been stronger than most in the league and have been chasing promotion (Seasons 2 and 7). As a result, the tactics have had to adjust over time; and hopefully that’s evident from when you read on below.
Meeting Club Vision
Another factor for the subtle changes is the varying flavours of football desired by the Club’s Board, who enter elections every few years. For instance, they were agnostic to any style of football early on in the save. But as we have progressed, the Board have craved for more Attacking and High Tempo/Pressing styles of football. I have tried to adapt my playstyle to suit. FM Eadster has done thing similar in FM23, and has documented his approach [very well] here.

The current tactic (4222) is the one I will keep now until the end regardless of the Board…it fits the current composition of the squad and also suits our plucky underdog style too. But I’ll first start with the 442 and remember where it all began in 2022…

Ceuta’s Tactical Evolution - 442, 433, 4141/442 and 4222

Season 1 (2022) - 442

The 442 tactic is class in most editions of Football Manager. What I like about the 442 the most is that it offers both a defensive shield and also fluid attacking movements with two wide players. I used this formation as it was the tactic that best suited the skillset I inherited with wide players, Liberto & Luismi, being the two best players in the squad and with one quick striker in Lorenzo Gonzalez. 442 allowed me to play all three in their best positions. I wrote about how/why I built it like I did here.

Result: I only used it a season, but it kept Ceuta up in the Third Division (after being one the favourites to go down). Ceuta finished 6th in Primera Federación Grupo I, and I would have probably kept it for the 2nd season had it not been for losing Gonzalez to FC Basel in the Summer transfer window.

Stats (from Season 1 league campaign only):

xG For 52.5 / Goals scored 54
xG Against 45.7 / Goals conceded 37
Goals per game 1.42
Goals conceded per game 0.97
15 clean sheets (out of 38)

Seasons 2-4 (2023-2026) - 433

My next tactic was the 433 formation, because it’s a nice shape for a high press/tempo style of football - something the AD Ceuta Board added in as a 2023 Club Vision. With three forwards leading the line, the tactic I used encouraged quick and incisive passing with a three-man midfield providing a strong foundation for building attacks. One player sat deep as a Defensive Midfielder (on Defend) and two central midfielders capable of initiating attacking moves or running into advanced areas (Advanced Playmaker on Support and Mezzala on Attack). I went all-in on the data approach to rebuild the side tailored to this formation and tactic. I did this by nominating three different in-game statistics to certain roles and then used a season’s worth of data to recruit statistically the best players within the allocated budget. Underpinning it all were the following requirements:

Based: in Spain

Minutes: at least 1,000 minutes

Expiring: 3 months

Salary offered limited to €125,000 per p/a

Result: The 433 not only saw us promoted via the Playoffs, it also kept us up the following season in LaLiga SmartBank. At a time when the club was fragile with players’ minimum fee clauses being reachable for most clubs in Spain, and in that awkward transition phase of having sub-par players…the 433 earned a mid-table LaLiga2 finish in 2025/26.

Stats (from Season 2 league campaign only):

xG For 47.1 / Goals scored 46

xG Against 31.8 / Goals conceded 26
Goals per game 1.21
Goals conceded per game 0.68
21 clean sheets (out of 38)

Season 5 (2027) - 4141/442

Tactical flexibility is demonstrated well in the 4141 and 442 formations. The 4141 is defensive solid and its compactness allowed Ceuta to have greater ball retention as we looked to adjust from being the major underdog to being more of a promotion candidate within LaLiga2. By simply pushing one of the midfielders forward into a second striker role, the 4141 transitioned nicely into a 442 formation - similar to that nice 1st season in FM23 - when I felt we needed more firepower upfront.

Result: The dual-running between 4141/442 earned a 7th place LaLiga2 finish, at that point the highest finish in the save to date. But with several outgoings, and a shift to more central creative players, the days of Wingers in Ceuta were over…

Stats (from Season 5 league campaign only):

xG For 52.2 / Goals scored 54

xG Against 54.4 / Goals conceded 52
Goals per game 1.29
Goals conceded per game 1.23
13 clean sheets (out of 42)

Seasons 6-10 (2027-present) - 4222

My 4222 formation in Football Manager has been so much fun. With two defensive midfielders sitting in front of the backline, there is a solid defensive foundation to work with. But it is in advanced areas where the tactic creates FM Grasshopper euphoria. The two attacking midfielders function as creative sparks who can unlock defences with their incisive passing and quick movement off the ball (both Attacking Midfielders on Support). The pair of strikers up front form a lethal partnership, constantly posing a threat to the opposing defence with their attacking mentality and strong movement (both are Moving Into Channels). Overall, I have found the 4222 tactic to offer the most fun out of all the tactics that came before it.

The 4222 system underwent a few enhancements during Season 6, as discussed here, when Matt/Throwing Copper looked over the tactic with me.

Result: The 4222 saw us promoted as Champions to LaLiga on Season 7 (the club’s first and only trophy) and it led to a 15th LaLiga finish in Season 8. Let’s now see how it performed in Season 9…

Stats (from Season 8 league campaign only):

xG For 46.1 / Goals scored 60

xG Against 70.9 / Goals conceded 72
Goals per game 1.58
Goals conceded per game 1.89
6 clean sheets (out of 38)

Season 2030/31

I am using the LaLiga TV money that comes in ‘sensibly’. However, I did meet/surpass the €3.2m transfer record on three separate occasions during the 2023/31 transfer window, although each time it was not by much…

Rubén Acuña arrived permanently from Mallorca after his successful two-year loan spell with Ceuta. 26 league goals in Season 7 to get us promoted, and a further 11 goals and 7 assists in La Liga last year solidified my belief that the 22-year-old was good enough in LaLiga. He arrived for €3.2m, the same value of transfer as Wajdi Abidi a year before. With two forwards in the 4222’s starting XI, I required at least one more interchangeable option alongside last year’s top scorer Juan José and Rubén Acuña…so I was delighted when Noel López agreed a €3.8m deal to swap Venezia for Ceuta. With the firepower then sorted for the year, I went big on a Central Defender. The Recruitment Focus was set to dial in on young Spanish CBs 23-years-old or under of any Current Ability, but with a Potential of four stars…and up came A+ rated Liam Llaneza from recently relegated Santander. The Director of Fútbol negotiated a new club record fee of €4.1m, which took Ceuta’s transfer window spending in excess of €10m for the first time in the save.

Here are the three guys mentioned:

Seeing as the general theme of this post is tactical evolution, 2030/31 would see me shift mentality down to ‘Cautious’ in order to soak up a bit more pressure and hit teams on the break a bit more. Despite scoring five fewer goals and leaking a couple more goals compared to last season…we bettered last season’s points tally by 4. The main beneficiary of the tactical change, in my opinion, has been Rubén Acuña with 19 league goals as our Advanced Forward. A sizeable amount of goals have been derived from countering the AI on a higher tempo from balls from deep and via Acuñas’s clever runs.

The 4-1 home win Vs Almería (in which Juan José scored a wondergoal - see below) secured LaLiga for third successive year, and with the party atmosphere continuing into the 2-0 win against Cádiz I could have been forgiven for dreaming of a top half finish! But six defeats in a row to end the season saw Ceuta drop from 12th to 14th. Still, the 10th (and final season) will see the new 15,000 seater ‘Ceuta stadium’ open in LaLiga. Assignment complete ✅

Juan José’s 2030 entry towards the #GIFGoals hashtag 🚀

Below are the team stats for the 4222 of Season 9. Obvious improvements from last season’s stats are evident, but we’ve been terribly let down by an xG Against-Goals Conceded swing of -14. Interestingly, Ceuta bettered their xG Against by 10 goals compared to last season…but for some reason this is the worst negative balance of xG Against/Goals Against we have seen in the save so far. I am not sure why, but forgive me for solely placing the blame on the insane opposition Newgens we are coming up against. They’ve been painfully lethal…

Stats (from Season 9 league campaign only):

xG For 52.1/ Goals scored 55

xG Against 60.8 / Goals conceded 74
Goals per game 1.45
Goals conceded per game 1.94
7 clean sheets (out of 38)

One More Year

This is it now. One more season of the FM23 Ceuta/ Plazas de soberanía save. There is a new stadium to open and some smart investment required to see us stay clear of another relegation fight once again.

Thanks for reading / sharing / caring,

Tony / FM Grasshopper

via GIPHY

"LaLiga" - Plazas de Soberanía #FM23

May 29, 2023

Previously on Plazas de Soberanía, AD Ceuta FC reached LaLiga.

Intro

Hola,

Perhaps the aim of challenging for LaLiga (with Ceuta) within 5 years was somewhat overly ambitious. But Ceuta’s rise in FM23 has been relatively upward in a short space of time, and this is where you join me…in Season 8.

2022/23 - Primera Federación Grupo I - 6th
2023/24 - Primera Federación Grupo I - 4th (promoted via Playoffs) 🚀
2024/25 - LaLiga SmartBank - 13th
2025/26 - LaLiga SmartBank - 13th
2026/27 - LaLiga SmartBank - 14th
2027/28 - LaLiga SmartBank - 7th
2028/29 - LaLiga SmartBank - 1st (promoted as champions) 🏆
2029/30 - LaLiga Santander - ?

Season 2029/30 Part I

Money, Money, Money 🎵

The FM News Item read “Ceuta will receive €40.49m for LaLiga TV rights for the forthcoming season”, if it not for the glass of Fernet and Coke clasped in my left hand I could have fainted. AD Ceuta FC had made it to the top of Spanish football: LaLiga. LaLiga’s annual squad salary cap is €29m, LaLiga 2’s was €3.5m. That difference is pretty wild. The Ceuta transfer kitty coffers went up to €12m too, if I wanted to I would probably be allowed more if I asked. But seeing how responsible I have been in the save, I would continue with the frugality. I'm only spending about €7m of that transfer budget, in order to take us to the 25 player squad limit, but I would break my transfer record twice in one week…

Wajdi Abidi - €3.2m from Club Africain

I’ll mention more about North African recruitment a bit later, but Abidi was not solely recruited based on his passport. He is a current international (14 caps for Tunisia) and is a solid player. He can slot in at CB if need be, but I see him more as a Defensive Midfielder in the 4222 tactic. He is a record transfer, but somebody who should recoup that with quality performance right now…and also a potential sale when he enters his peaks years.

Juan José - €3m from FC Cartagena

Another big outlay for Ceuta is the singing of Juan José. He seems perfect for the Pressing Forward role in the 4222, but also a great option when I need him as an Advanced Forward. He scored 19 LaLiga 2 goals last year for Cartagena (perhaps only outshone by Rubén Acuña as the best young striker in the league), and he’s another good mentality to have in the squad (Professional).

Wajdi Abidi (€3.2m) and Juan José (€3m).

July - December 2029

Well I knew it was going to be hard. Ceuta are really a million miles away from the likes of Atleti, Sevilla and Valencia…let alone the Super Clubs of Barcelona and Real Madrid! This season is all about picking up the points in the games that matter, there’s no fancy spreadsheet targeting those games. I’m simply looking at the fixture list and looking ahead by a few weeks to the crunch games with the likes of a Celta Vigo, Almería, Leganés, Racing de Santander and Osasuna. I’ll rest where I can and hope my Best XI is available for those games.

The four wins I have picked up have largely come against the clubs around me, which is comforting at least…but I would prefer a few more draws (who the hell predicted me ever saying that on this blog!). As a result, I am now starting games with a Cautious mentality against anybody 5 points or more above us in the league 😃 I’ll increase time wasting and ask Luca Zidane to slow it down if I am 20 minutes from any chance of a draw.

Here is how we look before entering the Winter Break:

Update: North Africa recruitment

French Algerian Jaouen Hadjam (a €190k signing from Nancy) and the aforementioned Tunisian Wajdi Abidi are the 10th and 11th North African signings of this save. The save’s aim is not something I have forced, in fact each North African signing made has generally been ‘for the moment’. What I mean by this is that the singings are for the First Team, I could easily have overloaded the B Team or Youth Squads with North Africans. Still, 11 North Africans in the eight seasons is not a bad return.

We’re currently hosting four North Africans in the squad, with Club Captain Luca Zidane the longest serving North African in the current squad.

I still need more from Libya and Mauritania.

Season 2029/30 Part II

January - May 2030

I already mentioned that we maxed out on the 25 squad for the first time in this save, so any incomings would have to rely on me shifting a player first, unless I am happy for guys to just sit around at the club. However, I would like to avoid Ceuta becoming a male crèche. The below players were not getting LaLiga gametime and thus efforts should be made to move them on, all expire in 6 month’s time. I was prepared to sever ties with them and even pay them off in the January window, seeing as that I can redistribute their wages and squad slot to better players. Obviously I would have to ensure the wage bill is kept in check too, the last thing Ceuta need is big wages if they are to be relegated.

Trimming the fat would potentially see me shave over €1 million off the annual salary bill (below) and open up some squad slots, but could we do it?

I find it challenging to shift unwanted players in FM, am I alone? My three step process is usually:

Step 1 - Offer Out To Clubs?
Step 2 - Mutual Termination?
Step 3 - Release on a Free? (albeit this has no/limited financial gain).

Step 1 was almost an instant fail for the likes of Fali (boom) and Vigaray, who announced their intentions to retire at the end of the season…meaning that they were happy to sit on their contracts and reject Step 2. Step 3 is also a solution, but it would not save the club any money. Immediately after Step 1, Ethyan earned a €200k bid from Castellón and wanted to leave…before he decided to reject their contract. The two big earners, Melero and Obeng would not attract offers and were unwilling to mutually terminate.

However, Andoni López was a good guy. He agreed a move to L'Hospitalet to see out his days. Ceuta got nothing in return, but it’s a free slot at least and some fat off the wage bill. Ceuta’s 3rd Division Spanish playoff hero Iker Kortajarena also agreed to move on loan to Eibar for 6-months before he would leave Ceuta for good. 70% of his wage would be paid by Eibar.

All in all, 2/7 payers have left Ceuta in the January Transfer Window which equates to about €150k p/a saved. I would now look to recruit two more players…

The Director of Fútbol managed to get 1st choice RB target in Sergi Palencia for €170k. An experienced pro who has solid Mental attributes and a decent cross, he should do well here. The other addition was the 12th North African of the save, Mehdi Ayouni. The French/Tunisian came for a cut-price deal of €25k from Braga…having been signed a year before from Brest at a significant €400k. Ayouni certainly needs a bit of work, but Scouts see a 3.5 star potential Pressing Forward in him…and who am I to argue?

Now to the moment you’ve been waiting for…

Even with 20 defeats, there were still a few teams worse than Ceuta! Relegation avoided and another year in LaLiga beckons 😎 In fact, LaLiga is so boring that the top 4 and bottom 3 all stayed as they were from January through to May…pretty dull! My favourite result was beating Barcelona at home with 33% possession and one shot on target, in front of our 6,500 capacity crowd. But special mention must go to the away win in the Metropolitano de Madrid to seal our LaLiga survival, kickstarting a three-match sabbatical where we played like idiots again!

If we’re looking for heroes, we need to look no further than people like Juan José, who hit 20 league goals in his first season here, and Ceuta legendary playmaker Txus Alba…who topped the teams’ Assists (12) and Chances Created per90 (0.60) as our DLP-S. An honourable mention should also go to new signing Sergi Palencia who came in and played 19 league games and pretty much bossed the right flank with Dribbles per90 (3.28) and was third best in Ceuta for Tackles per90 (2.77).

Go BIG or Go home?

Despite the club not really earning much in the way of match day revenues (until the new 15k capacity stadium arrives in 12 month’s time), the thought of another €40m LaLiga TV payment landing in the club coffers makes me giddy with excitement. There was nothing to lose this season, but absolutely everything to gain…and we did just that. For Season 9, I could effectively double my wage bill to €16m per annum and spend €25m on transfers and still be financially secure. But where is the fun in that?

I am not going to promise that I won’t break the Ceuta transfer record of €3.2m, but we’ll continue with the plucky Ceuta underdog spirit of signing bargain finds and exciting youth prospects. Join me for Season 9, soon…

Thanks for reading/sharing and caring,

Tony / FM Grasshopper

"Top at Christmas" - Plazas de Soberanía #FM23

April 29, 2023

Previously on Plazas de Soberanía, AD Ceuta FC narrowly missed out on LaLiga playoffs and had a fire sale.

Intro

As an Arsenal fan, there is something about being top at Christmas that sends a little shiver down my spine. It is usually seen as an indicator that the side topping the English Premier League on Christmas Day goes on to win the title. That’s not the case for Arsenal, who on each of the last five occasions where they’ve topped the league on Christmas Day have gone on to miss out on the greatest domestic prize. In 2022/23 they’re going to make that six aren’t they?

The good news is that my AD Ceuta FC FM save can be a welcome distraction compared to my real-life fandom. My FM23 side topped LaLiga 2 on Christmas Day 2028/29 (my 7th season), an impressive feat for such a small club. But can Ceuta see it through and reach the promised land of LaLiga? Today’s update is a first for the Plazas de soberanía series whereby I’ve recapped an entire season in one go (mental, eh?), instead of two posts per season. Why? I figured that there was not a lot to say at the midpoint this time round (other than we’re top of course), so I simply carried on playing FM23 and enjoyed myself with the 4222 formation.

Season 7 then, did we get promoted? Read on to find out…

Season 2028/29

July - December 2028

Last time out on the blog I wrote about the player sales which curbed my expectations going into the 2028/29 season. The 4222 Grasscopper tactic was great, but I had to hurry a few signings through and replace 57 goals worth of attacking output that had left us! Txus Alba, one of the Ceuta greats in this save, was pushed into AMC alongside Iker Losada. Up top, we had Eythan partnering Newgen loanee Rubén Acuña…and it worked really well for us:

January - May 2029

There was no wriggle room in the salary cap to bring anybody in during January’s transfer window, until the AI once again met a minimum fee release clause. This time 1st-choice Right Back, Emmanuel Attipoe departed for €900k to Metz in France. Emmanuel clocked 201 appearances for Ceuta, and was the longest serving member of the squad. This sale took transfer income to €8m for the year, with only €575k going the other way on transfer expenditure…MONEYBALL. As I’m a tight arse, I never replaced Attipoe…instead I would take the risk and use Jérémy Mellot more; who had previously joined in the Summer. Again, MONEYBALL.

Being a man down for the rest of the season did not stop Ceuta continuing with the title push. The 4222 delivering when it matter most in the month of May with four straight wins, three of them away from home! Whilst the tactic is certainly strong (24 wins and 80 goals), Ceuta were no doubt fortunate to have played their first-choice attacking quartet for nearly the entire campaign - they all played over 3,000 minutes. MONEYB…stop Tony.

The biggest surprise has been the success of Mallorca loanee Advanced Forward Rubén Acuña, who was the league’s top scorer with 26 LaLiga 2 goals. Not matter the opposition he faced, Acuña would consistently score and it is proof you don’t need too much other than raw speed and solid Off The Ball to score goals if the tactic fits. The good news is that he is still only half way into his loan, with another season still to run…can he continue to perform in Spain’s top league? It’s certainly going to be interesting to see how he does.

With a game to spare, AD Ceuta FC were crowned champions of LaLiga 2 🏆

Major Save Milestones

I felt my interest in the save waning a little bit recently, but the LaLiga promotion represents a major milestone from my original FM23 checklist, and it’s hopefully a springboard for better things to come. Notably a new stadium, seeing as the current 6,500 capacity Estadio Alfonso Murube does not meet LaLiga requirements. Ceuta for the next two years will therefore need to find a costly groundshare arrangement (TBA), but a new 15,000 Ceuta Stadium is on its way! Hooray:

Season 10 (2031/32) will be the Ceuta Stadium’s debut season.

With the stadium now in construction, I’m going to tick off that FM23 save milestone in advance. It is therefore time to start progressing with item 2. Admittedly I am 2-3 years behind schedule on challenging for LaLiga, but I am at least now in the right league to complete this objective…

Seasonal Updates

Season recaps in one blog post (rather than two per season) are probably going to continue in the Plazas de Soberanía series, as I generally play [and blog] less over real-life Summer months. Season 7 represents my greatest FM23 achievement so far and, as mentioned above, I think the promotion has breathed new life into the save. I am hoping to reach a Decima Season in FM23, something I have not reached since the dizzy heights of FM16 when I first started blogging FM!

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, there’s the mother of all relegation fights to come.

As always thanks for reading/sharing and caring,

Tony / FM Grasshopper

AD Ceuta FC’s first ever trophy klaxon 🚨

"Ceuta Has Fallen" - Plazas de Soberanía #FM23

March 30, 2023

Previously on Plazas de Soberanía, AD Ceuta FC assembled their attacking talent into a 4222.

Intro

The busyness of work and life meant I had to take a little break from blogging the climax of Season 6…and that’s probably a good thing. AD Ceuta FC occupied a playoff spot in 24 of the 42 gameweeks of 2027/28…yet on the final day they slipped from 6th to 7th, and crucially out of the playoff places. A closely fought 3-2 defeat at home to Barcelona’s B team took the gloss off an historic season for the boys from North Africa. That short break from the game was a good time to reflect, and through details explained in the below...this save continues to challenge my fortitude.

With one year left on the contract, is it the beginning of the end for my time here? OR is the new-look 4222 a system that can take us to the unreal heights of LaLiga? If these musings may interest you, stick around. If not, thanks so much for the hit and be on your way…

Season 2027/28

The top three deservedly rose to the top of the Spanish footballing pyramid, Alavés were a class apart but Leganés and Levante were not too far away from them. Ceuta’s undoing was probably the series of draws over January and February…but I also question the mentality with three games to go. Simply put, don’t lose to Las Palmas or Barcelona B and a playoff berth would have been secured for the 2027/28 playoffs…

But I am hopeful for the future. As mentioned in my intro, I have one more year left and I think we will keep with 4222 and see how far we can go with a full season using it. The attack is clearly functioning in terms of Goals/Assists, it’s the defence we need to tighten up a bit…

Ceuta Has Fallen

69 goals from a front four is fairly decent, and I’m sure we would better it next season with a full year of 4222 under our belts…only there is one rule leaving us open to vultures: the mandatory minimum fee release clause in Spain. The AI ruthlessly stripped away 57 goals from that iconic 4222 attack, €7m worth of talent gone in a wild two-week period on the North African coast. Say goodbye to:

Theo Zidane - €2.5m sale to Grenada

Kevin Carlos - €1.5m sale to Rayo Vallecano

Miguel - €3m sale to Cádiz

It’s a shame we only got to see the Kevin-Miguel relationship for one year, as neither wanted to extend their deals and warn off potential suitors. Whilst it’s sad to see Theo Zidane go too, he merited the upward move to LaLiga after a stunning season with Ceuta. Merci mon cœur.

Recruitment Focuses

It’s a bloody good feature isn’t it? Having them setup and tailored to the 4222 mid-season meant that I was ready-to-go with a list of targets. My initial top two areas, which became Recruitment Focusses targeted a left-sided Full-Back and a right footed CB all within the Board’s original €300k transfer budget. Shoring up the defence, having seen the attack do so well, could be the final step for this side. However, after all of the above transpired, money was no real issue…but rather time. We had around €4m available to spend, gaping holes in the attack…and only a few days before the season started.

The previous Board Culture only had a transfer philosophy for more younger players, but they’ve obviously enjoyed the 4222 and now appear to want cultures around it 😃 I’m not overly concerned, the 422 is hitting a lot of those cultures already, but I do think I need to look again at my set pieces as I can’t recall many corner/free-kick routines working (brb calling my mate Ondrej).

What happened?

€575k was invested back into the squad through nine signings. The biggest outlay was €400k on 31-year-old Samuel Obeng, who came very close to joining Ceuta about two-years previous before the option to loan Kevin Carlos appeared initially. The new-look forward line is boosted with a two-year loan of Rubén Acuña from Mallorca. The 19-year-old is suited to the Advanced Forward role and I feel the Obeng-Acuña is very much a close enough fit to Kevin-Miguel.

Theo Zidane proved to be a very difficult man to replace, and I’m going to surprise reader(s) by not replacing him for another Zidane! Instead I opted for 34-year-old Gonzalo Melero on a Free Transfer, who played in LaLiga last year for Almería. It is my intention to use Melero interchangeably with Txus Alba in the second AMC role alongside Iker Losada.

As for the other six guys, I’ll avoid making this post screenshot heavy and spamming them all in…but I’m particularly delighted with French Full-Backs: Pierre Cornud & Jérémy Mellot to give depth to Left Back and Right Back positions respectively. Centre-Back now also has more depth too in ex-Catalan B player Fali and two Newgens who you’ll meet if they come good this season. Overall, the recruitment has gone well despite it being pretty rushed…with 2-3 league games of 2028/29 already played before I felt comfortable of having a full squad!

Endjourney

I started this post with a burning Ceuta, courtesy of Midjourney AI image creation. So, I thought it only fair to end with a slightly more upbeat image of a Ralph McQuarrie inspired Ceuta stadium in the sun. I’ve rebuilt the squad for the third time in this save already, can it fire Ceuta to glory? As always, check back here in April/May to see what happens.

Thanks for reading/sharing and caring,

Tony / FM Grasshopper