"Paint It Black" - Rio de la Plata #FM20

December 7, 2019

Previously on Rio de la Plata, Ángel Bastardo fought fatigue and won a trophy.

Intro

Nacional Vs. Peñarol is (outside of the UK) the oldest club derby in world football history, it’s an emotionally charged fixture…the way Ángel Bastardo likes it. The Montevideo police had drawn out the entry zones into the Campeón del Siglo stadium, keen to ensure the contact between both sets of fans was kept to a minimum. But these plans were futile whilst Bastardo and the Peñarol caporegime were around.

Three hours before kick-off, Bastardo had led the charge on horseback; around 150 Barra Amsterdam soldiers flanked by 27 Venezuelan Free Folk, including young Hugo Ojeda, caught the Nacional troops with a surprise attack from the fields deep into the Canelones department. Crossing Route 102 and into the stadium complex, the home fans had cheered Don Bastardo even before a ball had been kicked. It was said that going up against Peñarol often felt like starting the match 0-3 down…for Nacional fans on 27 November 2019, it was true.

Battered and bruised they would make their way into the stadium with only a few minutes to spare before kick-off. Those fans entered the Campeón del Siglo and into cauldron of black and yellow, to see a manager who was on the verge of winning his first Uruguayan Primera División title. Bastardo’s message to his players in the pre-match team talk: “Paint It Black”…

Season 2019

Domestic

Last time out on the blog I documented my near perfect start with Peñarol in the Opening Stage of the Primera División: 14 wins and 1 solitary loss (away at Nacional). I was therefore fairly confident going into the mid-season Intermedio, which FM treats as a cup competition. We could rotate the squad and hopefully get another cup final. So, I took a largely developmental squad into the seven games in order to introduce a few Peñarol youth products to the 1st team. We’ll talk more about them further on this blog post, but they are: Ezequiel Busquets (18), Agustín Canobbio (20), Matías de los Santos (20) & Ezequiel Mechoso (19).

But as I quickly learnt, one bad result can screw you’re whole mid-season campaign. We had an awful game against River Plate Montevideo (losing 2-1 at home), who went on to top the group and then beat Nacional on penalties to win the 2019 Intermedio.

Despite the Board wanting to win the Intermedio, my main target this season was to be crowned the 2019 domestic league champion. We had already secured a Champions Play-Off spot, after winning the Opening Stage…but by winning the Closing Stage I could become the outright champion and avoid the drama of a Play-Off. We were strong, perhaps not as strong as the freakishly good Opening Stage…but enough to top the league once again. The title being decided at home Vs Nacional on 27 November 2019, a 2-1 win with Captain Fantastic Cristian Rodríguez scoring the winner (more on this later):

Our 4141 / 433 system fluid-counter attack system produced a record points haul of 94 points, when tallying up the Opening, Intermedio & Closing stages:

Continental

The real challenge of this save is on the continental scene and so it proved in my knockout matches against Internacional of Porto Alegre, Brazil. I won’t come out and say we were the better team here, because ultimately I felt Internacional were better than us over the 180 minutes. But the ties were remarkably close and give us hope that we can compete against the best from Brazil going forwards.

Internacional’s run went all the way to the final, where they were beaten by real-life Copa Libertadores Champions Flamengo in an all-Brazilian encounter.

So, overall a brilliant season. A Primera División and Super Cup domestic double to cast away the Bastardo doubters. Here are some of my top performers from Year 2019 (all comps):

Goals: Agustín Canobbio (18 goals), Cristian Rodríguez (14 goals) & Luis Acevedo (11 goals)
Assists: Giovanni González (12 assists), Cristian Rodríguez (11 assists) & Gabriel Rojas (7 assists)
Average Rating: Gabriel Rojas (7.37), Giovanni González (7.22) & Agustín Canobbio (7.14)

Las Joyas de Peñarol

I really like charting the progression of a group of youngsters in Football Manager, I did something similar in FM18 with Estudiantes (read more here). In those posts, I had a mixture of youth that had either come from the Academy itself or Newgens acquired externally by poaching talents from around South America. As mentioned in my opening FM20 post, I intend to work towards the club vision of developing youth from within the Peñarol setup. Alongside that, an alternative club vision has me signing established stars for the 1st Team. For these reasons, my sole focus in terms of youth development is working with whatever the Academy produces. The scouting & transfer budgets will be used to buy 1st team ready players but the coaching & training side of Peñarol will be there to help bring through “Las joyas de Peñarol”.

Now that the brief intro is over, I’ll introduce you to the aforementioned foursome of players that were here from Day 1 of my save. All of whom have contributed significantly to Peñarol’s domestic double in 2019…

Agustín Canobbio - born 1998

Before taking on this save, I already knew that Canobbio should be one of the standout youngsters to keep an eye on. Little did I know that he’d undoubtedly be my most prolific forward with 18 goals (all comps). He won both the Player & Young Player of the Primera División awards for 2019, so it was a huge priority buy out his contract from his Agent (a common event in South America) in December 2019.

His exposure to First Team football has seen him jump from 2.5 star to 3.5 star current ability. He has a little wiggle room left before maxing out as a 4 star player, which is why it’s imperative we don’t move him on just yet:

Canobbio has been playing and training as a Winger on Attack, and I’ve been conscious not to overload him on then training ground, because he was pretty critical to our success in the 1st team.

He has also been placed in a tutoring group, and despite no great increase in Determination or personality, I hope to see further gains made here in 2020. Although I am worried that his status as a key player in our side will see him less influenced by older players.

Bastardo's reflection:

+ Huge offensive output in the First Team.
+ Removed Agent ownership and tied to a two year contract with no release clause.
- Needs a complementary player trait trained. Tutoring with Cristian Rodríguez has been largely ineffectual in year 1.

Matías de los Santos - born 1998

Next up is Matías de los Santos. Who has gone from being a fringe player to an integral part of our midfield three engine room…to the point where he is now one of the first names on the team-sheet. You’ll see from the below that we’ve been training him in the central midfield position (and in a Central Midfielder-Attack role), and he’s probably now more suited in this more advanced position than at DM. He’s grown well in both Anticipation and Off The Ball (both +2 point increases) and I’m probably going to switch his training to a CM-Support role to favour Concentration over Long Shots over 2020.

I tried to get him some traits from Walter Gargano via a mentoring group, but sadly they haven’t yet arrived…only the negative two point drop in Determination to now match Gargano’s score of 15. However, his star rating has grown from 2.5 stars to 4 stars, which now suggests that he has reached his potential. I therefore had no worries with our Director of Football adding in a minimum fee release clause of €2.2m which would be good money for us; should a club bid for him during his two year contract.

Bastardo's reflection:

+ Has almost reached his ceiling in terms of potential ability.
+ Now a preferred Central Midfielder and plays this role well in the team.
- Drop in Determination from mentoring.

Ezequiel Mechoso - born 2000
Continuing the theme of young central midfielders, we have Ezequiel Mechoso who was sitting in our under 19s on Day 1 of this save. During the second half of the 2019 season I introduced him to the First Team, he made 5 league starts in the Closing Stage and featured in 5 of the 7 Intermedio cup games. His growth is perhaps not as spectacular compared to Agustín & Matías, but he has earned a one year contract extension in Team Bastardo.

I’ve added an individual focus on Attacking movement to help accelerate Mechoso’s attacking growth in Anticipation, Decisions and Off The Ball. These are important attributes for my Central Midfielder Attack role in my side, and could be deadly when combined with Mechoso’s high scores in Passing & Vision. Doing this is effectively a 4th session of the day in training terms, so I’ll monitor whether I keep this going forward depending on how much gametime Mechoso is getting in 2020.

Bastardo's reflection:

+ Early signs show a technical player with some strong mental attributes.
+ Still a huge room for development, Mechoso now needs games.
- Mechoso has been added to Cristian Rodríguez’s mentoring group. I expect a drop in Determination, but I would like a Player Trait or two!

Ezequiel Busquets - born 2000

Similar in the way Ezequiel Mechoso joined the Peñarol First Team, Ezequiel Busquets was part of the developmental Intermedio squad. He’s had to be patient, seeing that 1st choice right back Giovanni González is one of our top performers.

Unfortunately Busquets out of all the four players integrated over 2019 had the hardest time to adapt. Maybe it’s the low Determination or some of the hidden attributes behind the scenes, he’s had a real issue with taking on additional training. However, we have seen a slight increase in Determination due to him being part of Walter Gargano’s mentoring group.

But in a curious tale that relates back to the opening paragraph of this blog post, Ezequiel Busquets’ played a pivot role in the title decider against Nacional on 27 November 2019. Not only did he score his second own goal of the season to bring the teams level at 1-1, he perhaps justified why you should really see youth development through in FM:

His direct running all game was a thorn in the side of Nacional, and it finally paid off with a good cross for Cristian Rodríguez to head home. Young players will make mistakes, it’s part of football, but you have to be there for them when it happens. To quote a truly great man:

“Young players need freedom of expression to develop as creative players. They should be encouraged to try skills without fear of failure” - Arsène Wenger

Bastardo's reflection:

+ Assisted the title winning goal.
+ Bastardo’s 1st choice in the Uruguayan U20 setup.
- Needs to be more determined.

Next time…

I wanted this youth development post to be concise with just the four guys over a very short window (just one year), to provide a snapshot at the decision making I go into when managing and integrating younger players. One year is no longer enough time to turn youngsters into superstars in Football Manager, progress takes time and proper management. So, I am happy with what we’ve done over 2019, but there is massive room for improvements. The good news is that there’s at least another couple of 18 year olds entering the 1st team for 2020 (Agustín Álvarez & Facundo Pellistri), plus I am fast approaching my first Youth Intake in Football Manager 2020. The excitement rises for what has, so far, been an awesome save as I look to continue the good work here at Peñarol.

Note - I have intentionally shied away from updating you on 2020 transfer dealings, updates on the happenings of the Uruguayan u20 National Team setup, Project Vincent or the Caporegime. These will all be covered in various blogs in the future.

As always, thanks for reading/sharing/caring.

FM Grasshopper

"Fighting Fatigue, Training Tactics and Familiarity"- Rio de la Plata #FM20

November 27, 2019

Previously on Rio de la Plata, Ángel Bastardo begun to assemble his Caporegime.

Intro

Football Manager 2020’s release day was a weird one. I didn’t expect to undertake so many house chores on my precious single day of annual leave without the wife and kids. This day is annually dedicated to Football Manager and only Football Manager. Yet I dusted [and then vacuumed] the house, ran the washing machine twice, made a fresh Arrabbiata dish [with crouton starter] and moisturised my face.

Of course, I gave it the bravado when Football Manager’s unpatched release arrived, adamant that I would be able to get past the vast majority of players having 1 for Determination. But alas, I grew hesitant of starting my new save on such a downbeat opening few hours. After all, I usually play my saves well into the life cycle of FM…so waiting a few more hours was painful but probably the right thing to do, right?

Luckily the patch did arrive (20 minutes before picking up my children from school), and I’ve soon enough ploughed 50 hours into Football Manager 2020. The save is back on, and I am loving it even more than I thought I would….for reasons that will probably become clear if you read on further.

Today I document the events of my pre-season, from kick-starting my Caporegime to the fitness and tactical setup of Bastardo’s Peñarol. Let’s begin…

Pre-Season

#YoPierreSnr

As previously mentioned last time out, I am starting FM20 with the first transfer window disabled. I figured that by starting in December 2018, I’d rather keep real-life squads together until at least mid-2019. So, this is pretty unusual for me as I often like to bring in a couple of my own guys to complement my starting tactic. My initial priority therefore is finding a Director of Football, who will be the guy responsible at Peñarol for transfers and contracts.

I was actually struggling to find a suitable DoF, until I realised that the African Scout I was recommending to AccordingtoFM would actually be a suitable appointment for my save too as a DoF. Pierre Aubame has a great judge of player ability and is also a fairly shrewd negotiator. It also fits in with the narrative too, having played in Colombia briefly in the mid-90s for Junior. Bastardo did not need any more convincing, Aubameyang Senior was the guy to work with at Peñarol.

Project Vincent

Having worked with Vincent van Raam on the FM20 South American guides, I really wanted to sign him as a Scout in my Football Manager 2020 save. However, I only wished to load South American players and did not want to specifically load Netherlands data just for him (sorry Vincent). So I opted to edit Vincent into the Peñarol setup before save creation. I gave him the cheapest wage in the club, a deal reflecting his relatively poor scouting attributes. But…the plan is to send Vincent around South America and generally increase his knowledge to reflect, what I feel, is a more accurate representation of his real-life South American scouting knowledge. I am dubbing it 'Project Vincent', please get behind it.

The early bit of FM20 deliberation was obviously the squad numbers and my fascination of the Uruguayan system. I like to reflect the numbering culture of the nation I am managing in, so I intend to keep these graphics going each season in order to chart the evolution of my squad. You’ll note a traditional South American ‘5’ at DM but also the unique Uruguayan Centre Back pairings of ‘3’ & ‘2’ with the ‘4’ pushed out wide, lovely stuff. Vamos!

Fighting Fatigue, Training Tactics and Familiarity

Fighting Fatigue

Jadedness is something you see quite often in Football Manager, especially if you have a squad playing a long run of games without pause; typical of a South American calendar. Uruguay is no different, at times there is no time to train mid-season and fighting fatigue will be a continual battle…it's a constant cycle of winding down from the last game and preparing for the next (and travelling in between). So, the vast majority of my fitness work needs to be done in the first few weeks of pre-season. Having taken control of all aspects of training throughout the three teams at Peñarol (read more here), I was able to put in an intense heavy schedule: lots of endurance, resistance & quickness conditioning.

A standard league and continental schedule.

Who fancies a game every two days? We do!

Now for an analogy: Imagine your players' fitness like a pint of beer. A full pint is a professional player with an extremely conditioned level of fitness at the start of the season, this athlete has had an intense fitness schedule. Now imagine a footballer who has had a weaker pre-season, it could be an injury that disrupted plans or simply a shorter fitness regime. This player isn't quite a full pint and even has a frothy head. Over time both players’ conditions will decline due to match days. The decline is given respite with Recovery sessions and Rest, but during a congested fixture list there will ultimately be a fitness deficit. Now imagine the 1/2 pint line on the glass as where players' fitness becomes jaded…the player who was our full pint will take longer to descend to that level, as opposed to the other player who will likely now be on or below it and become jaded.

Jadedness won't be my problem. Sure, I'll get the odd guy that may get it…but on the whole an intense month of fitness will see my guys cope well in the long-term. For Football Manager 2020, I took the base Pre-Season - Heavy schedule and tweaked it slightly for some tactical stuff bit, which we’ll come on to next:

Tactics

Those that followed my FM18 save with Estudiantes may remember the traditional flat 4141, which brought back-to-back Copa Libertadores titles to La Plata. The direct counter attacking style was really enjoyable to see play out in the match engine and I had a great sense of achievement from getting the best out of a relatively modest set of players.

I had initial plans to play the same way with Peñarol in FM20, but after a long reflection I've decided to make FM20 Bastardo-Ball more positive in a 4141 for the reasons below:

(1) Peñarol: the perennial winners of Uruguay

Peñarol are the biggest club in Uruguay. For the vast majority of domestic games I will face an opposition looking to dig in and grind out a result with a relatively low block. It will therefore be down to my side to take the initiative and hope our quality sees us through.

(2) Technical superiority

I don't necessarily think that playing short passing is technically superior over a glorious direct style, perhaps the fanfare of tiki-taka clouded people's perceptions on this. But playing a shorter game over a high tempo requires a degree of technical competency…and I think it's a skillset we boast over our rivals. We have a number of attacking players with high attributes scores in First Touch, Dribbling, Passing & Technique. So we ought to be willing to do more in possession than Bastardo’s Estudiantes.

(3) Tricky Wingers

Pushing the wingers further forward to the AML/AMR slots means I now cover all positional stratas on the football pitch. This is good for youth development because I will be channelling players into the additional roles of Inside Forward/Wingers, meaning that more naturally attacking youth have a chance of entering the Peñarol setup…instead of having to re-train to a deeper role at such an early age.

Despite this, there are elements of the FM18 Bastardo-Ball that I wish to retain. I still like the urgency that the counter/counter-press philosophy, and it sits well with my fibra recruitment ideas i.e. those that have high Aggression, Bravery, Determination, Teamwork & Work-Rate will press more effectively. So, gleaming bits of what I liked from FM18 and bits I feel we excel at, we require something like the tactical pre-set of a Fluid Counter Attack:

I have used a 4141, I simply can’t get away from the luxury that my No.5 Deep Lying Playmaker gives (in this case the wonderful bastard of Walter Gargano). He’ll hold and dictate the play from deep, providing license for the central two players to advance. Further on we have an Inverted Winger on attack, who originally was an Inside Forward but I couldn’t get the dynamism and output I wanted from the role, and on the right we have a traditional Winger on attack. There’s variety in the match highlights by having different roles around the team and it’s made viewing games really pleasing on the eye.

You will see that in possession we are Fairly Narrow, this facilitates our passing game and brings the team forward together. It’s probably worth pointing out how effective the full back positions are in this formation, notably the Complete Wing Back who offers the width to go outside of the Inverted Winger and who contributes so much to our attack. I’ve purposely chosen my left-hand side to be the more attacking due to the year-long loan of Gabriel Rojas, a 21 year-old Argentine fullback with strong Work Rate of 16 and more than adequate physicals to run up and down the length of the pitch.

In possession, our technical superiority is displayed in our instruction to Run At Defence. When possession is lost we will counter press immediately and I’m hoping our strong mentals will suit this part of our game. For longer periods without the ball, we will look to engage around the half way line and the full coverage of our formation (i.e. playing wide players at AML/AMR) suits this approach. Obviously, ‘Get Stuck In’ is a priority for any team of Bastardo.

The big change is switching the default mentality from Cautious to Positive. This doesn’t mean my players will suddenly play gung-ho, rather they will take more risks and play on a Higher Tempo (instead of Slightly Higher), will never waste time and will slightly raise our lines of defence & engagement for the press. As in-game scenarios play out, I am known to tweak back to a more cautious mentality if needed OR raise both the Defensive Line or Line of Engagement manually when feeling like I should overwhelm the opposition. But I generally don’t dilute this tactical style too much or make frequent changes.

Tactical Familiarity

Circling back to training for a moment, I should mention the efforts I made to ensure our tactic was familiar to the players in preparation for the prestigious Uruguayan Super Cup final Vs Nacional. This game arrives in pre-season so I really wanted to be ready for it, given that a trophy was on the line. I naturally trained the tactical style ‘Fluid Counter Attack’ and added extra sessions in which improved the elements of the tactical familiarity I was lacking in week-by-week. Here is what we looked like on Day 1 of the save:

40 days later, we had managed to increase it by a great deal via training and friendlies…

Tactical Familiarity on Opening Day of the Uruguayan season.

By training the things we were lacking in and keeping with the same tactic (therefore not training any secondary tactic), we were able to become fluid in all tactical aspects come the 1st Copa Libertadores Group Stage…our 6th game of the season:

Tactical Familiarity on the Opening Day of the Copa Libertadores campaign.

So, we’ve applied a heavy intense pre-season, we chose a tactical style that suits my players and we trained it very hard. How did it do? Read on to find out…

Season 2019

Domestic

It took 34 days for Ángel Bastardo to win silverware, the Super Cup success being the good reward for the heavy pre-season we trained. After this, we started the Primera División well with thirteen straight league wins. I knew we would be strong domestically, but I never envisaged that it would be this strong - a lovely run of seven straight clean-sheets culminated us winning the Opening Stage by mid-April.

Nacional will be the rivals in this save, and they proved hard opponents in my penultimate match. The loss hurt, but if you would have offered me an easy Opening Stage and the Super Cup trophy for the sake of this one loss…I’d have accepted it. Perhaps we can go one better for the Closing Stage and keep a 100% win record? Next up is the Intermedio tournament, where sixteen teams split into two groups of eight. The group winners play each other in a one-legged final to determine the mid-season Champion. Further reading on the inner workings of this is found in my South American league guide.

Continental

The real challenge to this save is on the continental scene, but the remarkable 4141 saw Peñarol win the first three games and take command of the group:

The Board wanted to be competitive and Bastardo’s continental success has seen them very pleased, which is a contributor to a B score in terms of Manager Performance. Only time will tell how far we can go in the 2019 Copa Libertadores, but I certainly feel a level of optimism given the fact we did so well against San Lorenzo of Argentina.

Bastardo 2020

I appreciate that I’ve rambled on quite a bit already, and there is still so much I have yet to say: about the Uruguay Under 20s, the Youth Development I’ve been doing or the Scouting targets I have for the second half of 2019. These will have to wait for a future post to avoid this one becoming unwieldy.

I have simply loved every second of this save so far, and I can’t wait to launch myself into the Intermedio, the Copa Libertadores Knockouts, the Uruguayan Closing Stage and the Transfer Market. The Board have quite rightly offered me a new deal, so Bastardo’s Peñarol will continue into 2020 for sure…I hope you can follow along with me :-)

Thanks for reading/sharing/caring,

FM Grasshopper

"The Caporegime"- Rio de la Plata #FM20

November 17, 2019

Previously on Rio de la Plata, Ángel Bastardo made a deal with the President and outlined his aims with Peñarol.

Intro

It was clear Ángel Bastardo had united the barrios. Instead of fighting each other, they were now fighting for Uruguay. Murder rates were down and drug enforcement seizures were up (arranged offerings for the Montevideo metropolitan police in order to keep the peace). Everybody was getting richer and Bastardo's Caporegime had restored order and discipline to the Uruguayan Underworld, one could therefore be forgiven for thinking everything was fine.

But it wasn't.

Bastardo's real headache was on the football field...or more precisely slightly off it. He'd promised the President a Copa Libertadores title on the condition that the asylum of the Venezuelan followers he had earned in the Colombian jungle were assured. Yet, it was clear that Peñarol were not staffed adequately to take on a continental conquest just yet. Bastardo needed his own footballing Caporegime: discipline, order and structure. A task which became the immediate Day 1 focus for Bastardo’s Peñarol…

Back to The Future?

Just as a side, the initial headache on save start-up is whether to start in December 2018 or December 2019. I had already decided that 2018 was the right choice for me, nevertheless a lovely chat in #fmgrasshopper occurred over on FMSlack. By starting in December 2018, I will get an extra year of youth development of real-life players i.e. the 19/20 year olds in present day will be a year younger, which means I can sculpt them a little bit more in terms of individual training, mentoring and adding player traits to their game. It will also allow me to call up a few Uruguayan youngsters to the u20 National Team squad (ICYMI - I got that job too), who would soon pass the age threshold during 2020. These include the La Liga talents of Darwin Núñez (Almería), Juan Manuel Sanabria (Atlético de Madrid) and a potential shock inclusion for Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde. So, choosing 2018 over 2019 is therefore an easy decision for me.

Once that’s done, it’s a simple a case of adding all South American out-of-the-box leagues and including all South American players of nationality. Thus taking my player count to circa 50k players. South America here we come!

The Caporegime

On the whole, the Peñarol squad is fairly balanced. In places it looks a bit stretched (central midfield & defence), but I think I can see out the Apertura campaign as we are. So, I will disable the initial transfer window and the main focus during my formative months will be recruiting to the many staff roles which are vacant. I’m calling this little side-project my ‘Caporegime’, a Mafia term to reference the crews within an organised crime syndicate. Thirty staff members make up the Peñarol Caporegime, which includes Bastardo himself. Above them all sits two Managing Directors, Carlos Sanchez & Fernando Morena in non-footballing roles.

There are two graphics that can illustrate the Caporegime, (1) a high-level overview of club structure & staff activity and then (2) a more detailed graphic that will quantify each staff member from FM: Bastardo’s Caporegime, and something I want to keep up-to-date as I progress with my save. In the short and medium future I have to accept that some inadequate staff members will occupy some staff roles, but over time I wish to micro-manage the staff to ensure Peñarol have one of South America’s best staffing setups. This means in the long-term I want every position filled and I hope to do it by bringing in a few ex-Peñarol players too. Who said romance is dead?

The high-level stuff…

The high-level structure: Bastardo & direct reports.

Like a lot of FM Bloggers this year, I will be managing overall & individual training of my FM20 squad (in my case all squads, including the u19s). It’s only fair that I delegate some other parts of the club management in order to speed up my game-play (nobody wants to see me still in 2019 in a few month’s time!). Player trading is something I will have the overall say on, approving the incoming and outgoings of all playing staff (including Reserves and U19)…however the large bulk of this work (scouting and contracts) will be done by my recruitment and scouting teams via the ‘3 lists approach’:

List 1: Transfer Targets

I will delegate the scouting responsibility to our Chief Scout, Néstor Gonçalves, who is one I want to keep within the Peñarol setup with his 15 judging player potential. Néstor will handle the assignments, hopefully by telling other scouts (currently only 1/6 filled) where to go and then collate reports into the Scouting Centre. From here, the Scouting Meetings will be delegated to the Director of Football role…he will decide if somebody is good enough. I’ll dip in from time-to-time to see scouted list and interfere when I see fit, which brings us to List 1: Transfer Targets. I’ll keep the responsibility to initiate transfer offers with Bastardo, by dropping targets into the list (whether from the Scouting Centre or manually) and ask the Director of Football to proceed with making an offer.

List 2: Unwanted List

Probably the least desirable, for me at least, part of transfer dealing is shipping off players deemed surplus to requirements. The Director of Football can have that headache. I’ll be adding players to this list and seeing what he can do. If he doesn’t perform, I’ll step in and see if I do better.

List 3: Development List

Here we have a list of players that can be bettered with game-time. I’ll be adding those above the age of 18 years to this list, in the hope that the Director of Football can find a suitable standard of football to continue their development. Those under 18-years-of-age will be remaining in the under 19s setup, who will be carefully monitored by Bastardo and the youth coaches…including Head of Youth Development, Fernando Curutchet, who is a respectable judge of player potential at 15.

Lastly, Assistant Manager Michele Fini (who is awfully average) will be taking on a few more roles I’ve previously done in past FMs. Match preparation, some media duties etc. Something to speed it all up a bit. Fini’s position is something I will look to address though, as I look to find the right Assistant Manager for Bastardo…a place up for grabs since the tragic passing of FM18 right-hand man José Luis Brown earlier this year in real life. RIP Tata.

The Bastardo-Capo…

So, out of the thirty available staff positions previously mentioned at Peñarol…we have eighteen vacancies(!). A lot of work is required, and in the short-term I can only invest €8k per month from the wage budget. Given that my high-level overview places utmost importance on the Director of Football role…that’s where my focus will be on Day 1 of this save. After that, I would like either a coach, another Scout or a Data Analyst. The Caporegime will not be built overnight, it will likely take a number of years to form the right backroom structure.

And so it begins…

I didn’t expect to publish another blog (albeit very short) before FM20’s release, then again…I didn’t expect to have such a lengthy beta period or a mid-late November release. But we’re finally here now, with my Peñarol Party kicking off on Tuesday 19 November. A lovely day of annual leave without wife or kids in the house from 0900-1700! It promises to be a great day, so keep up-to-date with the happenings of pre-season over on my Twitter feed. We’ll certainly have a Super Cup with Nacional to play and hopefully we’ll sign that Director of Football in time :-)

As always, thanks for reading/sharing/caring.

FM Grasshopper

South America: The Football Manager 2020 Ones To Watch 🌎 feat. @VincentGuzman_ #FM20

November 3, 2019

Please Note An updated series of guides about South America have been released for Football Manager 2021. Please visit:

The third and final part of our tribute to South America is providing you with a list of eleven ‘Ones To Watch’ for Football Manager 2020 players. Once again I am joined by Football Scout Vincent (@VincentGuzman_), who came to me with a list of around 40 South American players! Our aim was to shorten this down to a set of players that could be used in an XI together. We both agreed early on that we did not want to promote the well-known Wonderkids of FM19 again, instead you will see a number of players from the 2002 generation.

If the previous league & club guides did not whet your appetite, then perhaps this guide will. No matter where you play in Football Manager, you’re likely to come across South American players…so why not grab yourself a bargain below.

Disclaimer(s): There is a strong chance that you will need to load South American players for one or two of these players in order for them to be in your save game. You can do this on the ‘Advanced’ options when starting your save’s database.

If you like this post, or think it will be useful to others, please share via the link at the bottom of this page. Thanks in advance for reading.

GK – Wuilker Fariñez (Transfer value: €850k)

Caracas-born Fariñez is a player with an increasing reputation. He impressed on the continental stage with Venezuela’s youth ranks before making his NT debut at the tender age of 18. Now in Colombia, Fariñez has all the tools to become one of the best goalkeepers in the world. His incredible shot-stopping ability has earned him the nickname ‘the octopus’ and one has to wonder how Fariñez is still at Millonarios respectively.

RB – Yan Couto (Transfer value: €18.5k)

A player that is yet to make his professional debut is Yan Couto. The Brazilian fullback combines great skill on the ball with defensive discipline which made him stand out at multiple Brazilian youth tournaments. There’s a long way to go but it looks like Couto could follow into the steps of Daniel Alves as he aims to become a mainstay in the Brazilian NT.

CB – Saúl Salcedo (Transfer value: €2m)

He started his career for Paraguayan giants Olimpia Asuncion before making the switch to Buenos Aires-based Huracan. Salcedo is a typical South American defender in his way of defending and at 22-years old he’s more than capable of making a step up.

CB – Bruno Amione (Transfer value: €750k)

Quality left-footed defenders are hard to come by and with Argentina’s struggles in defence, the rise of Amione looks to be a very welcome one. Amione likes to play the ball out of the back whilst being defensively more than sound. At 17, he has recently made his debut for Belgrano. Los Piratas got relegated last season which means you may be able to snap up one of the most promising South American defenders for a relatively cheap fee.

LB – Jaminton Campaz (Transfer value: €77k)

Part of The Guardian’s NextGen series back in 2017, Jaminton Campaz is a player with a wide variety of skills. He started as a defender but has been playing more and more as a winger and successfully so. He missed out on Colombia’s U20 squad for their World Cup campaign in 2019 but his recent performances have been top-notch. His pace, trickery and general athleticism will be a threat for every opposing defender.

DM – Santiago Cartagena (Transfer value: €35k)

With just under 3.5 million inhabitants Uruguay continue to produce world-class footballers. Rodrigo Bentancur, Lucas Torreira and Federico Valverde are some recent graduates who like to sit deep in midfield and Santiago Cartagena looks to be the next in line. The 2002-born midfielder is yet to make his debut for Nacional in his native Uruguay but has shown promise across South America’s youth tournaments. He combines ball-winning ability with skill on the ball and just like many other Uruguayans he possesses that ‘Garra Charúa’ to make sure his side get the win over the line.

RM – Pedro de la Vega (Transfer value: €800k)

Dribbles, flair, assists and goals: Pedro de la Vega is a player who has had a meteoric rise. He went back to school the day after his first-team debut at Lanus and is now a mainstay both at club as well as at U20 level for Argentina. A player that draws fans to the stadium and with the right guidance he could go right to the top of European football. He won’t come cheap but his Spanish passport will help you surpass potential league restrictions.

LM – Talles Magno (Transfer value: €2.4m)

Another player who is undergoing a meteoric rise is Talles Magno. Making his first-team debut for Vasco da Gama in 2019, Talles Magno has been one of the rising stars in Brazilian football. He’s capable of taking defenders on and dancing around them like they aren’t even there: Talles Magno looks to be another fantastic wide player in the never-ending production line of Brazilian football. His slightly bigger body type also allows him to play up front which makes it even harder to not shortlist him if you can.

AM – Reinier (Transfer value: €240k)

THE biggest South American talent. Reinier looks set to reach the absolute pinnacle. Only 17, he has already made his debut for one of the most prestigious and wealthiest sides on the continent in Flamengo. He can score goals, he’s a great passer of the ball but is his general ball control and ability to dribble in tight spaces that make him stand out. He has captained various Brazilian youth sides and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if he’d eventually captain the Seleção. An absolute must-have if you are aiming to strengthen your side with a high-potential player.

ST – Jan Hurtado (Transfer value: €1.8m)

If you are looking for a striker who is strong, fast and direct, you should look no further. Hurtado can bully any type of defence in front of him which he combines with some decent technical ability. He was close to moving to Europe in 2018 and 2019 but ended up at South American heavyweights Boca Juniors. He won’t come cheap but Hurtado should be able to lead the line for plenty of European sides.

ST – Juan Manuel Gutiérrez (Transfer value: €79k)

The youngest ever debutant for Danubio at 16 years, 3 months and 12 days and Gutierrez has been in the spotlights ever since. He may not have scored many goals in his 19 cameos so far but his performances have been good for a struggling Danubio. At just 17-years old, Gutierrez seems to have the potential to replace Uruguay’s ageing strike force in Cavani and Suarez. It may not be a bad idea to sign him up as soon as he turns 18 as big European clubs will be monitoring him closely.

This brings an end to a comprehensive look at South America in Football Manager 2020. These posts will sit on my /fm20 page, and I hope players will make use of them. Once again, I would like to thank Vincent for his dedication and sheer passion for the continent. We both went into this little project with the aim of showcasing South America as an attractive place to manage in, and I feel we did this.

Thanks for reading,

FM Grasshopper

South America: The Football Manager 2020 Club Guide 🌎 feat. @VincentGuzman_ #FM20

November 2, 2019

Please Note An updated series of guides about South America have been released for Football Manager 2021. Please visit:

Hi, this time we’re back in South America to recommend clubs from the six out-of-the-box leagues in Football Manager 2020: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru & Uruguay. To undertake this task, I am joined by Football Scout Vincent (@VincentGuzman_). For each country, Vincent will recommend three clubs based on how hard we envisage them as a challenge (Hard, Medium & Easy) on Football Manager 2020.

This post is a sequel to the league guide I previously put together (part one here). The idea is that these two posts complement one another to form a comprehensive guide for people who are unsure or unfamiliar with South American saves. If you like this post, or think it will be useful to others, please exercise your right to share via the link at the bottom of this page. Thanks in advance for reading.

Argentina

Hard – Newell’s Old Boys

(1) Background & Expectation

Just like many clubs in Argentina, Newell’s have UK heritage as they were founded by the England-born Isaac Newell. But if you mention history and Newell’s Old Boys there’s only one man to be named: Marcelo Bielsa. The current Leeds United coach has a bright history at the club both as a player and as a manager, with Newell’s never reaching the heights they reached with ‘El Loco’ in control. It has gone a lot worse in recent years and Newell’s will find themselves in a big relegation scrap in your first season in charge. Incidentally, the other Rosario-based team, Rosario Central, will be in the same boat as they are also threatened by relegation. You won’t survive long if this relegation scrap doesn’t go the right way… But don’t worry, you’ve got a great academy who have produced the likes of Gabriel Batistuta, Walter Samuel, Gabriel Heinze and of course Lionel Messi, to rely on. Talking about the latter... He has openly spoken about a return to the Estadio Marcelo Bielsa, can you make it happen whilst returning to the glory days under Marcelo Bielsa?

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

Develop players using the club’s youth system.
Play attacking football.
Predicted to finish 10th.

(3) Key Players: Maxí Rodriguez, Alan Aguerre & Cristian Lema.

(4) Young Talents: Jerónimo Cacciabue, Aníbal Moreno & Juan Sforza.

Medium – San Lorenzo

(1) Background & Expectation

One of the big five in Argentina, San Lorenzo are a team with high expectations. They’ve, however, gone downhill after they won the prestigious Copa Libertadores back in 2014. The 2018 season is a season no ‘Ciclon’ fan would like to look back to. They finished in 23rd place with just 3 wins in all of their games. Their manager Jorge Almirón managed to sign an abundance of mediocre players. Most have left, some of them are still there. But most importantly: San Lorenzo have strengthened a lot during this transfer window. If you can get things going from the start, you’ll have a very solid foundation to build on to bring the club back to the pinnacle of South American football. There will be an incredible fan-base to back you up. They have one of the most creative ‘banderas’ who have produced songs that are being sung on the terraces from Buenos Aires to Bangkok. A great blend of experience, talent and an incredible fan base. What more could you ask for?

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

Develop players using the club’s youth system.
Predicted to finish 5th.

(3) Key Players: Fernando Belluschi, Ángel Romero, Fabricio Coloccini.

(4) Young Talents: Adolfo Gaich, Nahuel Barrios, Matías Palacios.

Easy – Vélez Sarsfield

(1) Background & Expectation

If you are looking for a club where you can include youth players into your main squad you should look no further than Vélez Sarsfield. Vélez have one of the best and well-known academies in Argentina and have plenty of players who have played across the continent or overseas in Europe. One of the most sought-after youngsters in the world of football is Thiago Almada and he happens to be a Vélez player. He’s technically gifted and with big clubs such as Manchester City already taking a keen interest in him, you’ll have to try your best to keep him as long as possible in Buenos Aires. Wearing Vélez’s iconic white and blue kits, you’ll be able to play your games in the fantastic ‘José Amalfitani’ stadium which holds just under 50,000 spectators. Vélez are one of the 7 Argentine teams to have won the Copa Libertadores (1994). There’s less pressure for immediate success and combine that with some fantastic youth prospects and you may have the perfect recipe for a long-term save where you can aim to relive their success from 1994.

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

Develop players using the club’s youth system.
Play attacking football.
Predicted to finish 8th.

(3) Key players: Nicolás Dominguez (loan from Bologna), Lucas Robertone, Fernando Gago.

(4) Young Talents: Thiago Almada, Álvaro Barreal, Maximiliano Romero (loan from PSV).

Brazil

Hard – EC Bahia

(1) Background & Expectation

Most of the pinnacle of Brazilian football is geographically speaking located in the south of the country. With Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Porto-Alegre delivering some of the best teams in the country. The doze grandes are the 12 biggest and most successful teams in Brazil and all come from one of these cities. Slightly further up north however lays the city of Salvador which is host to Esporte Clube Bahia. A side that has won two Brasileirão titles but has spent most of their recent years outside of the top 11 and are considered to be the ‘13th’ team of Brazil. Salvador is the 4th most populated city in Brazil and with a brand new 48,000 capacity stadium, you’ll be able to count on a loyal fan base. Dani Alves is Bahia’s biggest youth prospect and whilst he’s currently playing for Sao Paulo it may be good enough of a reason to bring him back home. One player that has joined his boyhood club this summer is Fernandão. The somewhat lanky target man made furore in Turkey and will be a key asset to your attack. Can you beat the south and return Bahia to the top of Brazilian football?

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

Develop players using the club’s youth system.
Predicted to finish 14th.

(3) Key Players: Fernandão, Gilberto, Nino Paraíba.

(4) Young Talents: Artur (loan from Palmeiras), Flavio.

Medium – Vasco da Gama

(1) Background & Expectation

Named after the Portuguese explorer, Vasco are part of the aforementioned doze grandes. They have won the Brasileirão 4 times whilst winning the Copa Libertadores once (1998). They have however only participated 4 times since then in the equivalent of the European Champions League and finished just above the relegation zone in 2018. A big club but financial issues and some poor management has seen the club decline over the last decade. They even spent some time in the Serie B in 13/14 and 15/16 but are now back at the highest level. Whilst they are not as known for their youth players as the likes of Sao Paulo and Santos, Vasco have a history of producing talented players. The most recent example being Paulinho, who made a multi-million move to Bayer Leverkusen. What makes Vasco an interesting pick is that next to their stature, they possess two incredibly talented Brazilian forwards in Marrony (1999) and Talles Magno (2002). These players can become key figures and will surely net you a hefty sum, which will be happily received by the Vasco board. You may have to avoid a relegation scrap at first but there’s a good base to build on over at Vasco.

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

Develop players using the club’s youth system.

Predicted to finish 12th.

(3) Key Players: Yago Pikachu, Leandro Castán, Rossi.

(4) Young Talents: Marrony, Talles Magno, Tiago Reis.

Easy – Flamengo

(1) Background & Expectation

With over 32 million fans, Flamengo are one of the wealthiest and biggest club on the South American continent. A record 35 Campeonato Carioca (state championship) titles, 5 Brasileirao titles and 1 Copa Libertadores title are present in FLA’s trophy cabinet. A great mixture of experience and talent at the club will give you the power to challenge for all possible titles from the get-go. Gabriel Barbosa who flopped at Inter Milan has found his goalscoring boots and guarantees goals. You’ve got the experienced Diego and Uruguayan international Giorgian De Arrascaeta to feed him whilst having serious pace out wide. Filipe Luis has joined the club from Atletico Madrid on a free to lead the backline and you have the most promising wonderkid in the entirety of South America: Reinier. The 17-year old has all the assets to reach the absolute pinnacle but it will be up you to get the most out of him. Will you start him early on and shift Diego and/or de Arrascaeta out wide or will you closely monitor him in Football Manager’s 2020 new Development Centre?

If you’re not happy with any of the positions you will have a decent amount of money to invest. All in all, Flamengo are the perfect club if you want to win trophies whilst trying something slightly out of your comfort zone.

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

Sign high-reputation players.
Develop players using the club’s youth system.
Predicted to finish 1st.

(3) Key Players: Gabriel Barbosa (loan from Inter), Giorgian de Arrascaeta, Diego Alves.

(4) Young Talents: Reinier, Lincoln & Yuri Oliveira.

Chile

Hard - CD Cobresal

(1) Background & Expectation

Located at 2,600m above sea level in the city of El Salvador, Cobresal are a unique team in every single sense of the word. El Salvador is a tiny village in the Atacama Desert which originated from the mines in and around the village. At the moment of writing, El Salvador has a population of roughly 7,000 inhabitants. Quite special that a club from such a small village plays their trade at the top level, isn’t it? What makes it even more special is that their stadium has had over 21,000 spectators at its peak. That’s 3x times the population of its entire city! With 1 title and 1 cup win, Cobresal are one of the most successful sides in the North of Chile. Admittedly, their rivals Cobreloa who stem from the same region and have a similar background, have been more successful and have generally been able to attract larger crowds. They have reached the Copa Libertadores final back-to-back in 1981 & 1982 and have 7 league titles. But the truth is that Cobreloa are still stuck in the second division meaning that the Clásico del Cobre won’t take place for a while unless you meet in the cup. There doesn’t seem to be a better time to take charge of Cobresal. You should be able to win enough games at home too. It’s unlikely that Europe’s toughest grounds can match the dryness of the Atacama Desert whilst playing at 2,600m above sea level. The training facilities are below average, there’s not a lot of money and there are barely any standout youngsters from the start. One of the hardest challenges in this guide.

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

Sign players under the age of 23 for the first team.
Do not sign players over the age of 30.
Predicted to finish 16th.

(3) Key Players: Israel Poblete, Marcelo Jorquera & Rodrigo Cabrera.

(4) Young Talents: Pablo Cárdenas

Medium – CD O’Higgins

(1) Background & Expectation

A lovely little throwback to Irish heritage here, as O’Higgins was named after Bernardo O’Higgins…a descent of the noble Irish Family. Unlike Colo Colo (more on them below), O’Higgins are by no means one of the title contenders but usually finish in mid-table instead. What makes them exciting is that, next to their relatively high-quality facilities, that there are some very talented players coming through. Matías Sepulveda and Tomás Alarcón especially have been great for Chile’s U20 side and are making regular minutes for O’Higgins domestically. David Salazar is another player worth keeping an eye on. Any Chelsea fans may remember the name of Cristián Cuevas. The now 24-year old fullback joined The Blues at the tender age of 18 after impressing in Chile’s youth ranks. He has, like many others at Chelsea, spent his last few seasons on loan at various places throughout Europe. At 24 he will still have a lot to offer to your O’Higgins side and he should be the first player on your shortlist in an attempt to bring him home to his boyhood club. Located just south of Chilean capital Santiago, O’Higgins have a healthy base to build on. Can you take them to the top of Chilean and eventually South American football?

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

No starting Club Culture.

Predicted to finish 10th.

(3) Key Players: Facundo Castro (Loan from Necaxa), Paulo Magalhaes & Ramón Fernández.

(4) Young Talents: Tomás Alarcón, Matías Sepúlveda & David Salazar.

Easy – Colo Colo

(1) Background & Expectation

You may have heard of them or recognised their badge but Colo Colo are a big name in the world of South American football. With 32 league titles and even 1 Copa Libertadores title to their name, Colo Colo are the most successful team in Chile. Some poor management has hindered the club’s progression in the last few years with early exits in the Copa Libertadores as a consequence. It’s a big deal for everyone at the club involved and something that needs to change…and it needs to change soon. You’ll have club icon Esteban Paredes to lead the line. At 39 years old he’s the all-time top scorer of the Chilean league with over 200 goals, whilst netting a total of 357 goals throughout his career. I can assure you that there would be no better thing in life for the Colo Colo fans than Paredes lifting that famous Libertadores trophy. You better be quick… Colo Colo could do with a big overhaul in their squad but one player that’s able to feed Esteban Paredes is Jorge Valdivia. He’s as technically gifted as South American ‘10s’ get but refuses to defend at the same time. It will be a great challenge to link a pure Enganche with the veteran Paredes up top but you can count on some magic if you make it work.

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

Sign high-reputation players.
Play attacking football.
Predicted to finish 1st.

(3) Key Players: Esteban Paredes, Jorge Valdivia & Oscar Opazo.

(4) Young Talents: Gabriel Suazo, Ivan Morales & Williams Alarcon.

Colombia

Hard – Atlético Bucaramanga

(1) Background & Expectation

In the northeast of Colombia lays the city of Bucaramanga. Atlético Bucaramanga aren’t known for their domestic or continental success and they don’t have an incredible youth academy like Envigado. Instead, they’ve got a player who was a must-buy in earlier editions of Football Manager. I’m talking about Sherman Cárdenas. His career may not have gone as it has in many of your FM saves but he’s still a very good player for the Colombian league. At 30 years old, you’ll still be able to get a good few years out of him. With a newly renovated stadium and an up-and-coming city with the lowest unemployment rate, Bucaramanga may be the perfect choice if you want to truly build a club from scratch. You won’t have much to spend and you won’t be able to rely on state-of-the-art facilities. There’ll be pressure on your shoulders from the start but who knows what can happen with Sherman Cárdenas at the heart of your team.

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

Sign players under the age of 23 for the first team.
Predicted to finish 9th.

(3) Key Players: Sherman Cárdenas & Jean Paul Pineda.

(4) Young Talents: Carlos Ibarguën.

Medium - Independiente Santa Fe

(1) Background & Expectation

Whilst Colombian football is usually linked with a game full of flair, trickery and skills, there’s a club within Colombia on the opposite polar of those attractiveness charts. Santa Fe are based in the capital Bogotá and are known for grinding out results in a not-so spectacular way. The 1-0 scoreline is more than common for El Cardenal. They share their stadium with their archenemies Millonarios but El Campin provides more than 40,000 seats with an incredible backdrop over Bogotá. Santa Fe were the first Colombian side ever to win the Copa Sudamericana but their domestic success has been limited despite a few Apertura/Clausura titles. Can you take them to the top of Colombian football in the most ‘Santa Fe way’? You may have to incorporate some young faces since there’s certainly no lack of experience in Santa Fe’s squad.

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

Sign players under the age of 23 for the first team.
Do not sign players over the age of 30.
Predicted to finish 2nd.

(3) Key Players: Leandro Castellanos, Juan Daniel Roa & Jefferson Duque.

(4) Young Talents: Edwin Herrera, Dylan Borrero & José Caicedo.

Easy – Junior

(1) Background & Expectation

Nicknamed Los Tiburones (The Sharks) and based in the always humid Barranquilla, Junior FC are the biggest club in the north of Colombia. The sheer level of quality throughout their squad is stupendous. Experienced Uruguayan stalwart Sebastián Vera is a reliable option and has over 350 caps for Junior. Victor Cantillo is arguably the best defensive midfielder in the league and ahead of him plays the technically gifted Matías Fernández who, on his day, is just a joy to watch. You’ll also have a top striker in your squad in Teófilo Gutiérrez who has spent his career at top clubs in Latin America as well as Sporting Lisbon. If you can keep both him and Matías Fernández fit you’re bound to score goals for fun. Despite their quality, Junior have never won a continental trophy. It’s obvious where your challenge lays, but can you overcome the riches of Brazil and Argentina before your ageing starlets hang up their boots?

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

Sign players under the age of 23 for the first team.
Do not sign players over the age of 30.
Predicted to finish 3rd.

(3) Key Players: Victor Cantillo, Matías Fernández & Teófilo Gutiérrez.

(4) Young Talents: Gabriel Fuentes, Luis Sandoval & César Haydar.

Peru

Hard – Club Sport Boys

(1) Background & Expectation

If their club name or their enticing pink kits aren’t enough to convince you, their background surely will. Based in Callao, a seaside city on the Pacific Ocean, Sport Boys are one of the best-supported teams in the country. The now-famous Jorge Sampaoli spent his first job abroad at Juan Aurich (Now in Peru’s Segunda division) before joining Sport Boys where he earned 2.000 dollars a month whilst sleeping in the local fire department. The club’s 75th anniversary was somewhat of a disappointment with Sampaoli’s Sport Boys failing to win any silverware. They have won silverware in the past before Sampaoli’s stint at the club. 6 domestic titles to be precise, which is the 4th best in the country. It has however been over 25 years since Sport Boys last got their hands on silverware with them spending most of the last decade in the second division. They are back at the top level in 2019 but a relegation battle awaits after Sport Boys’ financial restrictions limited them from strengthening the team at all desired positions. Sport Boys are on the rise but there must be a clever manager in charge to continue their upward trend. You’ll need to make profits whilst staying competitive in the Primera División. Have you what it takes to bring Sport Boys back to the top?

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

Sign players under the age of 23 for the first team.
Predicted to finish 7th.

(3) Key Players: Reimond Manco, Adán Balbin & Jhon Mondragón.

(4) Young Talents: Pedro García, Sebastián Gonzáles & Pierro Ratto.

Medium – Universidad de San Martin (USMP)

(1) Background & Expectation

If you are looking for a long-term save where you can make the best out of your youth players you should look no further. USMP’s 30-men squad has an average age of 22 years which includes some of the best Peruvian talent available. They are a relatively newly-formed club, being founded in 2004 but they’ve won 3 Primera División titles already in their short existence. It’s a club very much on the rise and this should be a perfect time to take charge of this promising project. They haven’t been as successful outside of Peru as they’ve been domestically but with the right guidance of their promising squad, you should eventually be able to impress the bigger audiences in Argentina and Brazil.

What’s interesting is that USMP have successfully found their way into the African market. Aké Loba being a prime example: The at-the-time 19-year-old striker joined straight from a club in his native Ivory Coast. He then went on to score 18 goals in 32 matches in 2018 and got a big move to Querétaro where he’s showing his skills in the Mexican top flight. Other noteworthy mentions are Koffi Dakoi (now at Tigres, Mexico) and Sunday Afolabi who’s still at the club. It’s unique that African footballers make their way to Latin American football but USMP have been successful in finding diamonds in the rough. Can you follow up on that whilst producing a high number of quality youth players yourself? There is one downside to USMP: They don’t have their own stadium! They play in various stadiums in their hometown Lima and it will be up to you to make enough profit to eventually buy USMP’s own stadium. An incredibly exciting pick if you are looking for a long-term save outside of your comfort-zone.

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

Do not sign players over the age of 30.
Predicted to finish 15th.

(3) Key Players: Jairo Concha, Jordan Guivin & José Luján.

(4) Young Talents: Carlos Huerto, José Bolivar & Oslimg Mora (Loan from Sporting Cristal).

Easy – Universitario

(1) Background & Expectation

They were runners up in the Copa Libertadores back in 1972, they have won 26 league titles and have the biggest stadium in the entirety of South America. The Estadio Monumental is capable of hosting 80,000 (!) spectators. The truth is however that La U were on the brink of relegation earlier in 2019 and that the average attendances are lower than 15,000. To add to that, 23 of their 26 league titles were won before the 21st century as the biggest club in Peru has been undergoing a slow decline. Someone needs to take charge to restore their reputation… You may not have the most financial firepower compared to teams outside of Peru but the quality in your squad should provide enough of a foundation to compete for the title early on. If you do better than your real-life counterparts there’s a big chance that the Monumental will start to fill up sooner rather than later. If you are looking for a sleeping giant, Universitario should be your pick.

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

Sign players under the age of 23 for the first team.

Predicted to finish 3rd.

(3) Key Players: Aldo Corzo, Christian Ramos & Pablo Lavandeira.

(4) Young Talents: Emmanuel Páucar, Henry Vaca & José Zevallos.

Uruguay

Hard – Rampla Juniors

(1) Background & Expectation

One of the great stories of South American football is that Boca Juniors took their colours from the Swedish flag of a ship they spotted just outside Buenos Aires. Rampla Juniors have a similar story, implementing the red and green from the Italian flag after an Italian ship arrived in the bay of Montevideo. Rampla Juniors are a team who haven’t won all that much. In fact, they haven’t won a single trophy since the forming of the Uruguayan top flight. They don’t have a great youth set-up either. So why should you choose them? It’s simple: Their stadium. The Estadio Olímpico de Montevideo is located next to the Rio de la Plata which creates a unique and picturesque view from the stands. With many balls disappearing in the Rio de la Plata your finances may have to go elsewhere rather than your facilities...a club ready to be built up all the way from the ground.

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

No starting Club Culture.
Predicted to finish 16th.

(3) Key Players: Claudio Servetti, Delis Vargas & Rodrigo Odriozola.

(4) Young Talents: Rodrigo Piñeiro, Diego Rosa & Lucas Rodríguez.

Medium – Defensor Sporting Club

(1) Background & Expectation

Defensor and Danubio are both part of the clásico de los medianos: The middle group, who are less successful than the grandes (Nacional & Peñarol) but have generally been much better than the chicos (translates to boys and means the other remaining teams). The name Defensor may ring a bell if you have ever bought a newgen from Uruguay in previous FM editions. They arguably have the best producing academy in the country with their players playing all over South America and Europe. Defensor could be a perfect choice for a long-term save. You’ll have a lot of catching up to do if you want to better los grandes but your youth academy should be able to form a solid foundation for just that. There’s an incredible set of players currently at your disposal with a lot of players having the potential to reach Europe. Defensor have won the Uruguayan championship on 4 occasions but are yet to win any continental silverware. With the right guidance of your current squad, Defensor could become a mainstay at the top of South American football.

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

Develop players using the club’s youth system.
Sign high-reputation players.
Predicted to finish 4th.

(3) Key Players: Mariano Pavone, Martín Rabunal & Álvaro González.

(4) Young Talents: Facundo Milán, Emiliano Gómez & Ignacio Laquintana.

Easy – Club Atlético Peñarol

(1) Background & Expectation

With 50 (!) domestic titles and 5 Copa Libertadores wins, Peñarol are a household name in the world of South American football. Peñarol are the third most successful club in this prestigious tournament with only Boca Juniors (6) and Independiente (7) having won more Libertadores titles. A superb accomplishment given the financial differences between Uruguay and their neighbours. Their continental success, however, does stretch back to 1987. With a great academy, a fantastic stadium and the loyal Barra Amsterdam, which was named after Uruguay’s gold medal in the Olympics back in 1928, Peñarol deserve to be back on top of the South American football ladder. The financial gap with Brazil and Argentina is getting bigger by the year which means the clock is ticking… Can you take the aurinegros (yellow & blacks) to the top whilst staying ahead of your biggest rival Club Nacional?

(2) Club Vision & Media Prediction:

Sign high-reputation players.
Develop players using the club’s youth system.
Predicted to finish 1st.

(3) Key Players: Cristían Rodriguez, Walter Gargano & Xisco.

(4) Young Talents: Ezequiel Busquets, Agustín Canobbio & Facundo Pellistri.

This brings to an end the most comprehensive Football Manager league & guide to South America that I’ve ever seen written. Big thanks to Vincent for thoroughly researching these clubs and meticulously scouring the continent to give you the best club guide around. I am incredibly fortunate to have his presence on the blog, so please do go follow his exceptional coverage of South American football. Together with the previous league guide, there’s no excuses for not taking the plunge into South America for Football Manager 2020.

Next up on the blog is: South American ‘Ones To Watch’ in Football Manager 2020, which concludes this tribute to South America.

¡Vamos!

FM Grasshopper

Intro

Season 2019

Las Joyas de Peñarol

Next time…

Intro

Pre-Season

Fighting Fatigue, Training Tactics and Familiarity

Season 2019

Bastardo 2020

Intro

Back to The Future?

The Caporegime

And so it begins…

***Please Note*** An updated series of guides about South America have been released for Football Manager 2021. Please visit:

Club﻿

GK – Wuilker Fariñez (Transfer value: €850k)

RB – Yan Couto (Transfer value: €18.5k)

CB – Saúl Salcedo (Transfer value: €2m)

CB – Bruno Amione (Transfer value: €750k)

LB – Jaminton Campaz (Transfer value: €77k)

DM – Santiago Cartagena (Transfer value: €35k)

RM – Pedro de la Vega (Transfer value: €800k)

LM – Talles Magno (Transfer value: €2.4m)

AM – Reinier (Transfer value: €240k)

ST – Jan Hurtado (Transfer value: €1.8m)

ST – Juan Manuel Gutiérrez (Transfer value: €79k)

***Please Note*** An updated series of guides about South America have been released for Football Manager 2021. Please visit:

Argentina

Hard – Newell’s Old Boys

Medium – San Lorenzo

Easy – Vélez Sarsfield

Brazil

Hard – EC Bahia

Medium – Vasco da Gama

Easy – Flamengo

Chile

Hard - CD Cobresal

Medium – CD O’Higgins

Easy – Colo Colo

Colombia

Hard – Atlético Bucaramanga

Medium - Independiente Santa Fe

Easy – Junior

Peru

Hard – Club Sport Boys

Medium – Universidad de San Martin (USMP)

Easy – Universitario

Uruguay

Hard – Rampla Juniors

Medium – Defensor Sporting Club

Easy – Club Atlético Peñarol

Please Note An updated series of guides about South America have been released for Football Manager 2021. Please visit:

Club

Please Note An updated series of guides about South America have been released for Football Manager 2021. Please visit: