SuperClub Diaries (Vol.1) - Juste à temps #FM24

January 29, 2024

Previously on SuperClub Diaries, a moment of Salah magic at Anfield prevented Paris Saint Germain from reaching the 2024/25 Champions League Final.

I don’t control the players doing it, I just remember what they’ve done and write about it. This is my way of accepting the club's abject failure in Europe for the previous two seasons, and how I’ve gone about blogging it. Whether that’s André’s bizarre own goal in Season 1 or the capitulation in extra-time over in Anfield last year. Madness in Europe just follows this club, IRL and in FM24.

However, Season 3 showed that patience (and a nation state backing you financially) can eventually get you the ultimate prize; “juste à temps” as I run down my contract in Summer 2026. Join me as I say au revoir to Paris in the best possible way…

Summer Transfers

Season’s 2 recruitment featured a trio of signings in January (Ousmane Diomande, Teun Koopmeiners and Karim Konaté) who all went on to have a brilliant 18-month period with me. So, the squad was already in a good position going into Season 3. I only used the Summer window as a result, and I am really happy with what I did:

Vanderson (€17m loan-to-buy from Arsenal)
Federico Valverde (€78m from Real Madrid)
Guillaume Restes (€60m from Toulouse)
Ferland Mendy (€50m from Real Madrid)

The signings from Real Madrid, in my opinion, are brilliant. Valverde is arguably the best in the world when it comes to playing box-to-box, so the Segundo Volante role alongside compatriot Manuel Ugarte is a thing of dreams. Ferland Mendy represents my first Alumni signing of the save. €50m to bring him home and in his peak years too, délicieux!

For Season 3, I was spoilt for choice when picking a starting XI in the 4222. It’s effectively two teams (+ Lucas Hernández who played a utility role between CB and LB) which can easily win Ligue 1 at a canter. But it’s the UCL where the real test remained…

2025/26 Champions League

Whilst at PSG I have made a point not to celebrate the domestic successes, we should be winning it all…and that’s exactly what we did this season: with a domestic treble (Trophée des Champions, Coupe de France and Ligue 1). Season 3 was us at our most dominant in the league: 111 goals and 90 points. Kylian Mbappé looks like he is peaking too: 43 goals in all comps from 39 starts.

But this save is all about winning UCLs and, again, that’s exactly what we did this season:

Our 4222 (click here for perfect tactic) was ultimately too strong for a lot of teams, barring Glasgow Celtic! No tactic is really perfect though, and during the Full Match mode Final I had to make some adjustments. This thread on X (formerly known as Twitter), sets out how I planned to tackle the big match. However, during the first half I did not like what I was seeing. I made a few tweaks, which I like to think helped us in our comeback:

I removed Work Ball Into Box and increased our Passing Directness because the ball was simply not moving forward quicker enough to the forwards. At some point towards the end of the 1st half Mbappé had only made 8 passes and I felt horrified.
I changed Mentality to Balanced after going ahead in the tie, this once more increased our passing directness…but also a whole host of other bits.

The result is hugely satisfying, but we arguably held back our worse performance for the big night…phew:

Vol. 2 🔜

With my contract running out in Paris, I’m not really feeling in the mood for staying. I think the PSG squad is now set up to dominate, and realistically it is my best chance at getting another UCL very soon in the save. But I want more of a challenge domestically, as with PSG the save really only comes alive in the final few months of the season and in only a few key games. So, after winning the UCL, I immediately turned to the Job Screen in FM24; a sure sign that deep down I wanted to leave.

Bayern Munich stumbled in the Bundesliga with a 3rd place finish and said auf wiedersehen to Thomas Tuchel. It appeals, but I personally feel that the club will feel a bit too similar to PSG over time. However, it is in England where a more appealing challenge presents itself…

Could Volume 2 see me go to Old Trafford and return England’s biggest club to glory?

England

Two draws in the final two games of the season saw Chelsea drop from 1st to 3rd in the Premier League. Unsurprisingly, Manchester City were there to capitalise and win their sixth consecutive title. Arsenal (2nd) and Liverpool (4th) make up the rest of the top four, with Manchester United finishing in a disappointing 6th and sack Eric ten Hag as a result. Chelsea’s disappointing end to the season continued against Paris Saint Germain in the UEFA Champions League Final, having taken the lead in the 1st half the London club fell short in a 2-1 defeat.

France

A club record 111 goals, three more than in 2017/18, sees Paris Saint Germain crowned French champions for the 14th time. The trophies kept on flowing, a Coupe de France and a coveted UEFA Champions League saw the Qatari investment finally come good in the French capital.

Germany

Thomas Tuchel finally got his marching orders as German super club Bayern Munich. The Bavarian side lost to rivals Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal Cup and then embarrassingly finished 3rd in the Bundesliga, with Dortmund once again grabbing the silverware. New Bayern signings Hicham Boudaoui (€62m from Nice) and Eric Martel (€47m from FC Köln) failed to impress at the German giants, who now look for their next manager.

Italy

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s 27 goal contribution in Serie A was a huge factor in Napoli claiming the Serie A crown. Milanese super clubs, AC Milan and Inter, have to make do with 3rd and 4th place finishes respectively. Juventus fortuitously scraped into Europe on the final day of the season, seeing Torino lose to Napoli. The Old Lady’s 6th placed finish sees them into the UEFA Conference League, the first time a super club in this save has entered the lowest European competition.

Spain

Real Madrid’s Jürgen Klopp wins his second league title in two years with an impressive 100 point haul, twelve points more than rivals Barcelona. Los Blancos continued the domestically strong season with a 2-0 win in the Copa del Rey final against city rivals Atlético de Madrid (who qualify for the Champions League with a 3rd place finish). After scoring 40 goals (all comps) last year, Barcelona said goodbye to Robert Lewandowski who signed for Al-Nassr. Romelu Lukaku is his replacement who crucially failed to score in 180 minutes of football against his old club Chelsea in the Champions League Semi Final.

So, that’s three seasons done now in the SuperClub Diaries save. Not many Managers leave PSG with their head held high, but I think the UCL win is enough to cement me into their history books forever. Now it’s on to the next challenge, report back here in a few weeks/months to see where I end up…Manchester, Munich…Greenock Morton?

Thank you for reading/sharing and caring. Particularly to Ed Wilson who has kindly sponsored today’s blog post 👍🏻

Tony / FM Grasshopper

From Screen to Green: Coaching 7v7

January 2, 2024

My coaching diary of 7v7 girls football, as I digitise some of the successful routines I have coached into the side over 2023/24 season.

SuperClub Diaries (Vol.1) - The Swiss Model #FM24

December 17, 2023

Previously on SuperClub Diaries, Paris Saint Germain fell in the Last 16 of the 2023/24 Champions League.

The 2024/25 Swiss Model

On Wednesday 13 December 2023, European football said goodbye to the Champions League Group Stages; a system that UEFA have had in place for the majority of my life. But there’s no time for mourning, as FMers we have the opportunity to peek into the future and experience the new ‘Swiss model’.

In fact, it’s been in FM for at least two editions now…yet my first experience of it came in Season 2 of SuperCub Diaries in Football Manager 2024. I had always planned to spend some time writing about my experience with Swiss models, and why I actually liked them over previous models, but that was made certain when I saw a Scottish FMer shitpost about them. So, herein lies the purpose of this blog: why I like Swiss models…

It is probably worth clarifying that my view is solely from the point of view of a super club. Afterall, this is SuperClub Diaries. The experience of Swiss models may well be different if you’re (1) not elite (like I am) or (2) lack the Qatari billions of a top 5 GDP nation (like I do). Being aware of your biases is something I am increasingly more conscious of as I grow older, so it is probably worth thinking about your biases relating to any Swiss models before reading on further.

Thought about them already? Wow, that was quick. Let’s begin…

Variety

Should we frown upon a couple more games in the revised group format? Maybe, but let’s not forget this is the UEFA Champions League. This is the pinnacle of club football. I would rather have more games at this level than a domestic dead rubber. The new Swiss model now introduces eight matches, and all of them with different opponents. I quite like the variety this brings and the tactical match ups they allow.

Temperature gauge

As an elite club, I found the Swiss model an effective gauge to see how good my PSG was in Season 2 Vs other Super Clubs earlier on in the UCL campaign. We faced Manchester City at home, arguably the toughest opposition in Europe during the 3rd UCL gameweek. I was quickly able to get a feel how good we really were, and that’s nice before going into the crucial two-legged knockouts.

Bravo FFF

The French Football Federation is prepared for Swiss models (no Coupe de la Ligue and a reduction in Ligue 1 sides to 18). It seems other nations, like England, are not. This goes back to my first point, more games in UCL are compensated for by a reduction in French domestic games. I’m ok with that, most of you readers probably call it a Farmer’s League anyway. Shame on you, connards.

Feel rewarded

Again, in keeping the busy schedules in mind…as a super club I feel rewarded for doing well by finishing in the top 8. I try to gamify many things in my real life in order for things to work better (my own children finishing their meals, the girls I train at football, my work colleagues’ output etc.) and it is good to see UEFA taking a similar approach by incentivising the big clubs for performing well within the Swiss model.

I appreciate that there will still be dead rubber matches, for example: between two top 8 teams cancelling one another out in order to both go through. But that’s not my problem. I simply enjoyed the gamification of finishing in that top 8 and getting a convenient bye into the Last 16.

Knockouts

Despite the introduction of a round before the Last 16 (for those teams finishing in places 9-24), the UCL then became familiar again with a two-legged knockout pathway to the Final. I appreciate this is not the Swiss model, but it’s worth once again praising UEFA for not changing everything, all at once. So, that means all the familiar FM heartbreak is still there to experience year-on-year…like this Semi Final defeat AET against Liverpool:

The 2025 Club World Cup

Not to be outdone by UEFA, it’s now FIFA’s turn to revise their premium club competition: the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. If you are not familiar with the revised format, don’t worry…I am sure you can guess what it means: more clubs, more games and more excitement.

32 teams fall into eight groups, with the top two progressing to the Last 16, it almost feels (dare I say it) a lot like the pre-Swiss UEFA Champions League Group Stage format. PSG were not the only SuperClub Diaries representatives either with Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Inter, Manchester City and Real Madrid joining them (that latter joining the Parisians in Group F)…

It’s fair to say that my PSG side found their groove in the competition, and although we didn’t quite get the big wins that some had in the tournament, we beat everything in front of us in a new-look 4222 shape. Rather embarrassingly, I think we have become the first side to win the Club World Cup without having won a top continental trophy. We really are trailblazers!

Note - I could go into how poorly this revised competition has been implemented in Football Manager 2024. Like the lack of training beforehand, or the bugs around the draw taking place after the groups are already visible in another window. Or the season reseting mid-tournament, which mucks up a lot of things like Board expectations, players’ statistical data etc. But I won’t, simply have fun with it 😀