Update: fmgrasshopper.com 2015-2021

I never meant to blog this long. Just one year in fact: Grasshopper Club Zürich in Football Manager 2016 (hence the website name). Yet my desire to write continued to grow with each subsequent edition of the game to the point where I consider my La Plata series as the current apex of my creative happiness. We have all kinds of writing styles and creativity, intertwined with a journey charting the careers of two men (Ángel Bastardo and Hugo Ojeda). La Plata: Colombia is Part II of III, so why call time on fmgrasshopper.com when the climatic edition is almost upon us?

Well, as Bruce Lee once said: “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done”. I’m lucky enough to have made really good friends through writing about FM; relationships built from the six years of fmgrasshopper.com, Twitter and on FM Slack. For at least two years now the idea of a multi-owned site has been on mine, and a few others’ radar. A shared space on the Internet where a few quality writers (and good friends) crowdfund and share the hosting & domain costs that come with blogging FM. We’ve spent a long time thinking about it, and now is the time to act on those desires. So, along with a few others we will repurpose my site from fmgrasshopper.com to coffeehousefm.com, over Summer 2021.

Writing about Football Manager is a hobby, and in my opinion can't easily be monetised like other forms of content creation. Equally, to try and do this would (again, in my opinion) adversely impact the quality of the written word. My site is therefore becoming sacrosanct to myself and a few others, a bit like the Vienna coffeehouses that paid host to the tactical discussions of old. Coffeehousefm.com will not have a content schedule, or demands placed on its writers, it will instead allow those that have joined to be themselves. That is to: write what they want, when they want and in whichever style they want.

All of my words will remain on the blog, but with a new URL: coffeehousefm.com/fmgrasshopperblog [enabled soon] and a new summary page of latest content and notable works will be published too.

I hope you will join me in my next evolution over at CoffeehouseFM HQ. Coming soon.

FM Grasshopper

"The Godzilla 4-1-3-2 Tactic" - La Plata: Colombia #FM21

Previously on La Plata: Colombia, Hugo Ojeda’s Junior won the 2023 Copa Libertadores.

 
 

Intro

All FM tactics have names, right? At least, this is what I’ve done with my tactics in FM21 anyway. For the first 18 months of the save we had El Toque, a narrow 4-2-3-1 that produced everything from the sublime to desperate stagnation. That system eventually led to the birth of the Misery 4-4-2, an effective tactic that saved my blushes and eventually led to the highest moment of this save so far: the 2023 Copa Libertadores trophy (documented last time out).

For reasons explained below, my 2024 Junior side now moves into a third tactical era with a 4-1-3-2 primary tactic. I’ve dubbed it Godzilla, because why the fuck not? Like Godzilla, we’re absolutely monstrous, and more defensively sound than 4-4-2 that came before it. However, before we take a closer look at it; I’ll first be updating you on the happenings of the first 6 months of 2024…

Season 2024: Apertura

Domestically, the traditional league season has been the strongest in the 3.5 years I’ve been at Junior Club. Godzilla was brought to life after a 2-2 draw Vs Depo Cali (which also coincided with some leaky performances in the Recopa Finals - more on that later). You can see that the switch led us to ten consecutive clean sheets, and we ended up with our highest ever points total for either Apertura or Clausura campaign with 56 points from a possible 60. Unbeaten too!

Apertura results incl. trophy number 8.

Colombian domestic football is unforgiving though, especially if you don’t bring your A Game to the Semi Final Group Stages. Frustratingly, I was without four first team players due to the 2024 Copa América - notably Argentine Goalkeeper Joaquín Blázquez, who has become No.2 to Gerónimo Rulli in the Argentina setup. I was unprepared for it to be honest, it’s another FM Life Lesson.

Anyway, my default approach in these situations now is to turn to youth. In Blázquez’s place came 17-year-old Rodrigo Vera for his debut, and I suppose the absence of clean sheets shows all too clearly. Vera was very poor, conceding the vast majority of shots he faced in a frustrating Semi Final Group Stage exit.

Frustrating draws against Caldas came back to haunt us.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom though. Several other youngsters came into the First Team for this group stage and I was particularly impressed with recently turned 17-year-old Juan Pablo Bohórquez upfront.

Juan Pablo Bohórquez - played v.well as an attacking Pressing Forward.

2024 Copa Libertadores (and Recopa)

On the continental scene, a chance for an 9th FM21 trophy was taken from us by Sampaoli's Atlético Mineiro (my FM21 bogey side) in the two legged Recopa. The results meant I had not beaten them in six attempts across the save, and I was really sick at the amount of chances we gave them.

It is the one major failing of the Misery 4-4-2: it’s wild and sometimes it feels like we have to score six or seven in games (because we’d likely conceded five). So, as previously mentioned we turned to a 4-1-3-2 Godzilla tactic, and it really steadied the ship and helped us finally beat Minerio 4-1 at home - in yet another face-off against them in the Copa Libertadores Group Stage.

Topping the group and defending our Copa Libertadores crown has to be one of our major objectives this season. I am therefore delighted we could navigate this potentially difficult group which also contained fellow Colombian outfit América de Cali and Bolivian cloud toppers The Strongest.

Next up is a tie against Argentine Big 5 side San Lorenzo. Personally, it’s refreshing to have a continental knockout match that’s not a side from Brazil! San Lorenzo will be a test having finished in the top 3 of Argentina for the previous two years, and to go and take my Junior side to another iconic stadium is pretty exciting.

 

A visit to ‘El Nuevo Gasómetro’ awaits.

 

Godzilla 4-1-3-2 🦖

I said last time out that I was pretty fixed on the 4-4-2, and I had planned to use it for at least one more calendar year. It would probably win me further domestic honours, and always promised some insane high scoring games (remember those 7-5s?). However, defeats home and away in the Recopa Final showed me that Brazilian teams could embarrass me on the Continental scene, and maybe I wouldn’t be so dominant against them like last season. A further chaotic 2-2 draw at home to Depo Cali prompted me to try the new Godzilla tactic in the subsequent match, a tactic that had always been in my back or my mind [as an eventual tactic to use] having seen three top Colombian youngsters come into First XI reckoning: Asprilla, Bonilla and Padilla.

Godzilla is my way of playing them all together…

Godzilla 4-1-3-2.

I’m willing to write off the early Semi Final Group Stage exit, on the basis that I was missing four key players and did not prepare for that eventuality well enough. The youngsters in the side will hopefully learn from this experience, and I am sure they can have a strong second half of 2024 mainly because I saw such a solid three months between March, April and May.

How, and why, does this system work so well?

  1. Top class Strikers, who have a great partnership - since the Misery 4-4-2 the Durán-Caraballogol dynamic has worked well as Advanced ’n’ Pressing Forwards, I was therefore always going to keep two central strikers in my next tactical system. Both players run the channels superbly and take it in turns to run in behind. They have scored a combined 46 goals during Apertura (27 for Durán and 19 for Carabllogol), but also create for one another too. If the challenge last year was to see Caraballogol score 50 goals (he eventually got 49)…there’s potential that both could do it this year!

  2. Exceptional Wing Backs, I think one of the reasons my narrow 4-2-3-1 (El Toque) never stuck was the fact that I never had elite wing backs at the time. But now, especially with CWB-As on the right, I am blessed with Ignacio Laquintana 🇺🇾 or Cristian Arrieta 🇨🇴 to call upon - both so good that they are currently at the Copa América representing their respective nations. The CWBs on either flank ask questions of the opposition, by bombing forward and doing what Dani Alves was so adept at: that is to occupy the opposition half as much as their own. The success of any narrow tactic is down to them, and in the Godzilla 4-1-3-2 they are majestic.

  3. Naturally overloads central areas. So, the Half-Back is dropping lovely into the defence which in turn pushes the CBs wider. It’s really a back-three and we’re not easily ‘got at’ centrally, despite Anthony Padilla not being perfectly suited for the defensive demands of the role. He is however developing at an insane rate, and his high Decisions, Composure, Technique and two footedness see him assured in possession. In turn, this allows the three midfielders in front of Padilla the luxury to get forward and support the Strikers. Our primary Playmaker (Jorge Carrascal) is a roaming one, so it’s no surprise that he gets around the pitch, carries the ball with his great Dribbling and is willing to play the riskier passes (see below example of two sexy assists in the same match Vs Deportivo Pasto).

Out of Possession Vs Atlético Mineiro

It’s always good to analyse a big match against top opposition, because you’re often tested at both ends of the pitch. Are your strikers getting chances, and are you stopping the opposition from creating them against you? During the home tie Vs Atlético Mineiro in the Copa Libertadores you can see that out of possession the team is very narrow and will retreat into a back four. The central four players will press more urgently as a pack. The advantage here is that is very hard to go through the team vertically, sides will often have to go wide (even without a Team Instruction set to force opposition wide)…which is where space is scarified to the opposition inherent in the narrow formation. Generally I am happy with that, my defenders are quite beasty in the air and I have horrible memories from Season 2 where my CBs couldn’t cope with anybody in front of them playing through balls.

If we do regain possession, both AF and PF are matching up against the opposition centre backs - who can easily put one another through on goal during a quick counter attack. As mentioned previously, both are instructed to run the channels and it’s often one doing it whilst the other runs into the space created. Glorious.

Out Of Possession example.

In Possession Vs Atlético Mineiro

Like any good formation though, it’s how the tactic morphs when in possession in order to create an attacking opportunity. Below is an attack Vs Mineiro, which sees the midfield move the ball quickly & vertically…whilst the Complete Wing Backs bomb forward at either side of the pitch. As long as the players are technically capable at moving it forward to feet at this speed, you can bypass the opposition and then have two wing backs crossing towards a front three (as the CM-A pushes up).

Typical attacking move, with the HB currently in possession.

Getting numbers into the box is what it’s all about, as Jhon Durán goal to make it 3-1 on the night showed. You can see my CM-A (in this game: Ángel) lurking about and being a problem. CM-A is where I think Bonilla is best out of the three illas, due to his higher Off The Ball Rating and trait to Get Into The Opposition Area. Although I may change CM-A to Mez-A to see if I can get even better outputs for goals and assists, as he’d have a greater free role in this side. But I originally opted for CM-A as I’d already have a player roaming next to him (Roaming Playmaker).

Durán-Durán.

Download the tactic, if you can’t be bothered to copy or need it quickly translated into another language…

Next Steps

I’ll be taking the 4-1-3-2 Godzilla with me to La Copa LQ, a prestigious knockout competition that will feature as part of Issue 7 Latte Quarterly. Watch out to see how that fares against some of FM21’s greatest club sides: Universidad de Mendoza of Chile and Atalanta of Italy.

In addition to that, I’ll be looking for a backup Goalkeeper (in the event of more problematic International call-ups for Joaquín Blázquez) during the off-season (10 days)…before we begin 2024 Clausura.

As always, thanks for reading/sharing and caring.

FM Grasshopper

"Campeones" - La Plata: Colombia #FM21

Previously on La Plata: Colombia, Hugo Ojeda made the sacrifice and unified Mexico.

 

“We're flying high

We're watching the world pass us by

Never want to come down

Never want to put my feet back down on the ground”

(Depeche Mode - Never Let Me Down Again - 1987)

 

Intro

Winning a Copa Libertadores with a club outside of Argentina or Brazil is no easy task. There’s a huge gulf in money, facilities and the quality of player between the two bigger footballing nations and their post-colonial cousins. For example, I had tried to do this in the four seasons with Peñarol in FM20 and only got as far as a single Quarter Final appearance.

Yet by 2023, in FM21, my Barranquilla Boys had done it! Junior Club 2-0 São Paulo, and in our own stadium too: El Metro (an increasingly rare situation given CONMEBOL’s decision to have neutral venue single finals). It’s probably the best way to win the greatest South American club prize, and I couldn’t have scripted it any better even if I had tried.

Today’s post reflects on the successful trophy laden second half of 2023, and I’ll be discussing exactly what this means for the save going forward. Are there heights still to reach? Can I still find a challenge on the shores of the Caribbean Coast? I guess you have to read on to find out…

Season 2023

It’s been the most successful 6-month period in Junior Club’s 99-year history, and I’m going to introduce the 2023 competitions in the chronological order we won them. So, first up is the 2023 Copa Colombia which was won in early November. The win had ended a 5 year wait for Junior fans to toast domestic cup success, and it was all relatively straight forward with only Millonarios testing us…

Hugo Ojeda’s 5th trophy was secured with a 4-1 aggerate win Vs Atlético Bucaramanga.

The second trophy in the month of November was the BIG one: the 2023 Copa Libertadores. Prior to the showpiece final in front of our own fans, we had been on a really exciting run against the strongest clubs from Brazil (being the only side outside of Brazil from the Quarter Final onwards). The watershed moment, where I really started to believe we might just be able to do something special, came in that QF 1st leg Vs tournament favourites Flamengo. A man down after 13 minutes due to Fabián Ángel’s straight red, we rallied to a 2-1 victory with Caraballo & Laquintana scoring. My belief was reinforced with a solid 1-0 away win in the Maracanã 2nd leg.

 

Hugo Ojeda’s 6th Junior trophy was seen by a maximum capacity crowd of 49,612 spectators (24,806 away).

 

There was a lot to be fearful of São Paulo going into the party final. Not only had they steamrolled through the knockout stages with ease, they had the Brazilian Goldenboy Brenner at their disposal. The 23-year-old had, at that point, scored 33 goals in the 2023 year and looked destined to get his hands on South America’s greatest continental trophy. Cue some insanity from the AI, who omitted him from the Match Day squad (presumably on the basis that he was slightly fatigued from playing 3 days earlier).

The decision once again opened the floodgates in my mind: we could do this! I’d honestly get no better chance, and with Ed Wilson and FM Samo at my virtual side on Twitch…we smashed it. A deserved 2-0 performance, and with no real drama…just a solid and professional piece of game management from the help of two of the best England-based FM Bloggers. Personally, the result is up there with the Estudiantes Copa Libertadores wins of FM18, and I’m still feeling the effects of this particular FM high! Here are the GIFGoals…

Lautaro Giannetti making great use of the trait: “Tries Long Range Passes”.

Lautaro Giannetti’s 1st goal for Junior, securing his place in Junior legend.

2023 Clausura

The Copa Colombia win had already guaranteed 2024 Copa Libertadores Group Stage participation, so there was less pressure on us to go ahead and win the 2023 Closing Stage. It also meant I could rotate and rest players ahead of the Copa Libertadores Final, seeing as this important game was sandwiched in the middle of the [already congested] Semi Final Group Stage period. The really promising thing is that some games had as many as seven academy players in them and they never really once looked out-of-place:

Despite there being less fmpressure on me, it’s still a title up for grabs, and having lost the previous two finals (2022 Closing and 2023 Opening)…I really wanted to win. I guess Millonarios really wanted it too, we had beaten them in two league finals in this save already (2021 Closing and 2022 Opening). There is definitely a bitter rivalry developing here, and we kept up tradition with a third consecutive final win Vs the capital club:

Hugo Ojeda’s 7th trophy and third league title.

My favourite goal of the finals came from 49 goal Ricardo Caraballo. Why? Well, it just highlights the confidence he has when put through and with a man, or two, to beat. I’ve already raved about him in a previous blog post, and I asked you whether he’d surpass 50 goals. 54% of votes (55) were proved right, having chosen 32-50 goals. Well done if you were one of these visionaries, I’m really proud of you.

Caraballogol: 49 goals in 2023, so close to the bastard half century!

My FM21 Checklist + Next Steps

Remember this checklist from my FM21 save introduction? Don’t worry if not, it’s been a while. I like setting objectives or parameters for my FM saves, it grounds the realism a bit more and helps me keep at a save long-term. Back in November 2020 I set myself seven aims, and I am delighted to complete three of them already. I’ll update on each one below…

 
 

Trophies and Legacies (Aims 1-3)

Essentially these three aims were carryovers from FM20. As alluded in my introduction, FM20 Peñarol left me thirsty for continental glory…the Copa Libertadores is the trophy in South America and I am delighted to win Junior’s 1st ever continental honours. The Club World Cup is the next logical super trophy to acquire, and this is going to be tough. Not only because I have to wait two years (until Summer 2025) to enter into FIFA’s new format, but also because we could look like a completely different side by then.

Why? Because (3) is all about using Academy players and I accept that I am going to have to break up this team in one or two areas to allow a really talented crop of youngsters to flourish. I already mentioned it previously, but over the tail end of 2023 I was playing many 16-17 year olds…and I will surely look to carry this tradition into 2024 and beyond. As-it-stands, Willer Ditta (now with Club América) is the only FM21 Academy payer to get an international cap. But please, watch this space.

Tactics and Training (Aims 4 and 5)

These two aims are subjective, but this is my blog after all. I say how I feel, and do as I say. For me, I feel as if I delivered on key elements of ‘El Toque’: the Colombian system made famous by Francisco Maturana. During the first 18 months of this save, I played in a 4-2-3-1 system. It had two defensive midfielders and Sherman Cárdenas as the No.10. We had sexy football, notably the fine team goal scored Vs Deportes Tolima on 17 July 2021.

But whether it was the odd match engine patch taking away some of the fun from the outputs of that system, or the fact that maybe we were not as swashbuckling as I thought at the time. We became stale. It birthed FM Misery and I am now like a 1990s Carlo Ancelotti…completely wedded to a 4-4-2 and it’s going to take a Zizou to move me away from it to be honest. I like how we now play, it’s not El Toque…it’s not ‘between the lines’ as the previous 4-2-3-1 had us playing. Instead, we’re more lateral in passing/movement. The Advanced Forward and Pressing Forward are relentless (I mean, my front two have scored 86 goals between them this season) and I have wide players bombing forward really well. It’s simple and effective.

But that does not mean it’s at the expense of technique. In fact, we’re really starting to see some of the fruits of our labour with regards to the technical training programme I have implemented across both the U20 and First Team squads. I wrote about my Team Training here. Trust me, the routines are good and I’m really surprised at how some of my youngsters are flying into the First Team squad and displaying some lovely Colombian magic. I’ve always had dreams of a Homegrown XI, and this might just be the save that does it.

Long Term Ambitions (Aims 6 and 7)

So, it’s pretty clear from reading the above that I am still invested in this save for the long-haul. Aims (6) and (7) are probably a little way off. Yes, I’ve won a Copa Libertadores…but my Colombian brothers haven’t made waves just yet on the continental scene. In 2023, as mentioned previously, the Libertadores was dominated by Brazil and the lesser Sudamericana also had a Brazilian Final. El Dorado may take a bit longer to deliver.

(7) is all about the domestic league titles. Sadly, Atlético Nacional (the team I am trying to chase) has won two league titles so far in the save. Their total is now 18. Our three league titles means we gain on them slightly but we are still six behind them:

  • Atlético Nacional - 18 domestic titles

  • Atlético Junior - 12 domestic titles

It’s a really good stretch goal to have, even though I remain dubious I can play long enough to catch them (I see my wife and children).

Even if all of the above had somehow been achieved by 2023, I think I would have carried on for at least for one more season to see if either Caraballogol or Durán-Durán could break that 50 calendar goal target. 2024, we are ready for you.

As always, thanks for reading/sharing/caring.

FM Grasshopper

"El Sacrificio" - La Plata: Colombia #FM21

 
 

The recent seizure of the Orinoco Belt (Faja Petrolífera del Orinoco), the largest petroleum deposit in the World, had allowed Hugo Ojeda to acquire unimaginable wealth. Oil had many uses: from the unrefined exports to the US, to the more refined manufacture of drugs itself. It was a versatile commodity, and it now belonged to Junior Club Head Coach, Don Hugo Ojeda.

To celebrate, he had invited the Guadalajara, Juárez, Sinaloa, Tijuana and Gulf Cartels to the 2023 Copa Libertadores Final in Barranquilla: Junior Club Vs São Paulo. On the eve of the club's biggest match in its 99-year-existence, Ojeda and the heads of the Mexican Cartel gathered in a warehouse that shipped the Orinoco petrol to the United States. Tens of thousands of barrels were moved daily to the land of the Free World, but now the warehouse acted as an auditorium for Latin America's most wanted.

It was here that Hugo Ojeda would make the sacrifice which, in his mind at least, would ensure a Junior Club victory. Placing his golden El Silencio pistol down on a barrel at the warehouse’s entrance, he headed to the central assortment of barrels where a mob associate handed a machete. The blade’s hilt was enamelled in the club colours of Junior: red, white and blue. Hugo Ojeda lifted the machete to the audience with his left hand, as his right reached into a black bag to reveal a Sinaloan milk snake. Hugo pinned his fingers over the red snake’s trachea region, as it wriggled around frantically, but its efforts were powerless to escape the grasp of the Venezuelan drug trafficker turned Football Manager.

"Associates and Friends. Witness my sacrifice. The snake of Sinaloa dies tonight and Junior will win tomorrow!" Hugo screamed to his bewildered audience, who stood close to the petrol barrels in silence. Hugo cut short any potential muttering from the crowd, as the machete was thrust down upon the snake in one swift motion. It's head completely severed from the body in one hit, as Hugo lifted the snake back up to the confused crowd.

At that precise moment, a noise from the high ceiling of the warehouse could be heard. A noise that followed no rhythm, which grew louder and louder. The uneasiness in the room developed further, as the Mexican Cartel reached for their sidearms. Bats. Like in Tijuana a decade or so before it, bats had come to Hugo's aid. They descended around Hugo, as he dropped the snake and fell to the floor. The snake had grown back three heads as it slithered away to hide between two barrels, What kind of sorcery is this? Hugo wondered. The sacrifice had turned into a farcical situation with the most powerful men in Latin America hiding among the barrels of petrol to escape the bats’ flightpath.

This was when the unthinkable happened. A chain of events that defied logic or reason, as El Silencio emptied its chamber onto the barrels of petrol facing it. Shot, after shot, the pistol’s unpredictable aim hit several barrels as the crude oil leaked out and onto the floor. The pistol had become faulty, Hugo mused…as he saw a member of the Gulf Cartel slip and fall into the puddle of oil in order to dodge El Silencio’s shots. As he slipped, the mob boss’ ignited cigar fell into the flammable liquid…sending one section of the warehouse into immediate flames.

By now, several other shots had been fired elsewhere. Whether it was the mob trying to deter the bats or more strange things happening, Hugo couldn’t be sure. The oil was now bursting out onto the floor from several areas, and the fire spread. With each passing moment the flames engulfed more and more of the warehouse, as the Mexican Cartel ran towards the exits. Hugo looked towards one group who hastily tried to force open the emergency exit at the far side of the warehouse. It was bolted and chained…he remembered instructing one of his henchmen to do this a few hours earlier. Now it all made sense to Hugo Ojeda.

He remembered who the sacrifice really was. It was not a single snake, it was an organisation. It was the Mexicans.

Notes from the Editor - Hugo’s sacrifice was originally intended to be a more intimate, and darker affair. Thanks to Chris (@FMEadster) who redirected me to start thinking about using the few items in Hugo’s arsenal: the bats, the pistol and the snake. Whilst we’ve been witness to Hugo’s descent towards darkness for some time, this is perhaps the biggest demonstration of madness & power that we have seen. In one swift move, the days of the Mexican Cartel are over.

In terms of Football Manager, that comes next: a Copa Libertadores Final awaits. Perhaps a defining moment in the save, so let’s see if the sacrifice is good on its word…

As always, thanks for reading/sharing/caring,

FM Grasshopper

"Nuevo Paraíso" - La Plata: Colombia #FM21

Intro

Today’s post is a reflection from the midpoint of Season 3 (2023) with Junior de Barranquilla. FM Misery is an in-game year old, and despite my side overcoming a lot of tactical hurdles in those 12 months, we’re still prone to the odd glitch (especially in Finals…more on this later). But I do think we’re over the worst of our problems, and we’ve encountered a newfound confidence in the Copa Libertadores (South America’s highest continental club competition) with goals/entertainment no longer in short supply.

Welcome to a new paradise (kind of), I hope you enjoy your stay…

Season 2023: Apertura

Ins and Outs

My previous post was Uruguayan heavy, and I suppose that’s where we should pick up. As mentioned previously, in came Ignacio Laquintana on a Free Transfer who would go on to light up the Apertura campaign from a mixture of Right Back and Right Midfield. However we said adiós to two of the Uruguayan heroes of this save so far: Striker Matías Arezo (€2.5m to New York FC) & Central Midfielder Manuel Ugarte (€2m to Jiangsu Suning FC). Both had their release clauses activated and I graciously accepted the modest payment, which helped take the Overall Balance of the club to €16.5m (a save high to date).

Not motivated to spend it needlessly (especially given that I was pretty well stocked in these positions), I instead went for two 12-month loan deals to eat up the wage bill: Inverted Left Winger Jorge Carrascal (from River Plate) and centre back Lautaro Giannetti (Vélez Sarsfield). Both occupy First XI squad numbers, which should immediately tell you how much I rate them. If they live up to the hype, the good news is that we have agreed deals lined up for a combined €6m. 2023 squad numbers:

Atlético Junior 2023.

It has been a while since I made a squad number graphic (the last occasion was two in-game seasons ago in 2021), but I figured it’s now merited seeing as I have moved from a 4-2-3-1 DM to a Misery 4-4-2 during this time (more on that here). The creator of the side is the more withdrawn playmaker at No.5 (Deep Lying Playmaker) and my No.10 is currently a Pressing Forward (an experienced workhorse in Santiago Tréllez). However, as time goes on, I do envisage my No.10 becoming more Technically proficient (more No.10-like I guess); and I will probably look at a Deep Lying Forward or Trequartista to get on the ball and create some magic that way. The other coveted shirt number (No.9), goes to Jhon Durán who inherits it from departing ‘Arezogol’. Despite this, the carefully constructed No.9 succession plan I had in mind has been changed by the recent events, which is a nice segue into how the 2023 Opening Stage unfolded…

Categoría Primera A - Apertura

Opening up with a Super Cup win, we then went on to smash the traditional league, bettering last year’s opening performance (that time where I scrapped 6th on the final day) by 15 points. There is not much point sharing how the table looked, because Colombia is all about the Semi Final groups (and Final) which decide the league winner. But I do want to pay particular attention to a crazy Saturday afternoon in Cali on the 18th March, where we witnessed TWELVE goals. Not only did new boys Laquintana & Carrascal score, but we witnessed a 5 minute hat-trick from Barranquilla local boy Ricardo Caraballo. Both sides were armed to the death with xG (both in excess of 3.0), and it was really hard to keep up with what was going on. For a split second I thought I was levitating in some kind of trance-like state of altered consciousness. I took a moment post-match to catch my breath before I left clicked on Continue once more.

We then drew our next match 0-0 away at Millonarios 🙃

Apertura results.

We got back into the goals during the Semi Final Group Stage. But perhaps there was an underlying problem with 40-year-old Sebastián Viera conceding some awful goals? It’s not nice to pin it on one guy, but I have suspected last time out that the Goalkeeper was a problem area for us now. Something I have improved before the Closing Stage, with the €2.5m acquisition of Argentine (and ex-Valencia youth player) Joaquín Blázquez. Nevertheless, Sebastián Viera would go into the finals Vs Independiente Medellín as captain, club record appearance holder and legend for the last time.

Smashed it.

What went wrong? Well, I guess you don’t usually win titles conceding the first leg 2 nil. We missed sitters, truly awful sitters…and then allowed Leonardo Castro two replica headers at our goal. Each time I felt we switched off and allowed Medellín’s 15 league goal hitman that extra yard to pick his spot. It doesn’t matter if that he is only 175cm (and with Jumping Reach 9), give a player space and you can get stung like that.

Disgusting.

In the 2nd leg we’d target that player (a bit like how FM Tahiti does it), and it worked really well. Castro blanked by playing a 6.8…but then I forgot about the power of Player X Scoring Against His Former Club, as I saw ex-Junior player Christian Higuita score a long ranger against me. We came back, helped by Caraballo once again and a MOTM performance from Sherman Cárdenas who reminded me how glorious he can be with 5 clear cut chances created (if we can believe it). 4-4 on aggregate at Full Time, and with no away goals ruling in Colombia, it meant one thing: penalties.

I was therefore delighted that we had trained them the day before…

Fucked it.

2023 Copa Libertadores

Who cares about a domestic title when you’ve won it all before anyway? It’s all about the Copa Libertadores, and we’ve done really well in the Group Stage this year by topping Group B and booking a Last 16 tie against Ted Redwood Gaming’s Sporting Cristal. Winning up in the clouds at Club Bolívar gives me real hope we can do the same in Peru, and I’m dreaming of a great run in this competition.

I beat the Brazilian INTER and feel powerful.

Caraballogol

In addition to being a bit pedantic with squad numbering…I absolutely love giving a player a nickname [in my head at least]. It’s always reserved for the Special Golden Boys like FM17’s Colidigol, FM18’s Golmero or FM19’s The Fons, perhaps FM21 is going to be about one man, and one man only: Ricardo Caraballo AKA Caraballogol. 31 goals in 25 starts (all comps) from a mixture of Advanced/Pressing Forward, he’s outscored all of the Strikers that have come before him: Miguel Borja, Matías Arezo…and even pushed recent injury plagued Jhon Durán to the bench. There is no doubt that when I come to do my squad graphic next time round, Caraballogol will be occupying that No.9 shirt.

Although the affiliate link (which I dedicated a blog post to) has been cruelly ended due to Barranquilla FC’s recent promotion to the top flight. I can at least be thankful for one last gift before it was severed, with Ricardo moving to Junior Club for free. Despite not being blown away with sheer individual brilliance that we’ve seen in predecessors like Borja or Arezo…there is a ruthlessness about Caraballo that I just love to watch. All kinds of goals, right foot/left foot/headers/deflections…you name it, he’ll score it.

Caraballogol Vs INTER 15.03.2023

Ricardo Caraballo has already beaten Arezo’s save high of 27 goals in a calendar year. With 31 goals already clocked, I wonder how far he can go in the 2nd part of 2023 (estimated at another 25-30 games). With that in mind, who wants a poll? No? Don’t care, here it is…

There’s a few places to find out if Ricardo Caraballo scores more than 50 goals in a calendar year. One place is here on the blog (when the time is right), but the other places are FM Twitter and also over on FM Slack. I can’t promise them as your next “Nuevo Paraíso”, but they certainly bring me a lot of fun.

As always, thanks for reading/sharing/caring,

FM Grasshopper