(The following post is a three part series from the old Youth Intake site)

Hello everyone! Welcome to my first season at SC Verl.

We will be taking a look at squad, tactics and how well we fared in our first season back into professional football.

Squad

With the first transfer window disabled, I had to rely on what I was given and wait to see where I needed to reinforce in January. With no transfer budget and 2.7k in wages, there’s not much I’ll be able to do.

As mentioned in my intro, I enjoy having a small first team, and one of the goals of the save is to maintain the first team squad at 22 players who are ready for first team action. The team I inherited had some decent players for the 3. Liga, including a mixture of youth, veterans, and club legends.

Matthias Haeder, Julian Stockner, Robin Bruseke, and Nico Hecker have been at the club for years. They will be the players that I rely on, and if possible, I would like to keep them at the club until they retire, with the idea of adding them to the coaching staff.

The club also brought in a couple of experienced players such as Justin Eilers and Zlatko Janjic. They will be slotting right into the starting lineup and hopefully be able to use their professional personalities to mentor some of the younger players.

They also brought in a great amount of young players such as Berkan Taz, Julian Schwermann, and Lasse Jurgensen. Some of these young players will be sent out on loan if I can't find a place for them as they are not ready for the first team.

Further down, the youth teams have no depth. Our U19s has no players, I will have to wait until April for our youth intake. Verl II (2nd team) has two players, with some decent potential and I will be sending anyone that needs game time here.

With all that said… in terms of natural playing positions, the team itself is not as balanced as I would have liked. A lot of the players are incredibly versatile, every player can able to cover at least 2 or 3 positions. This is probably the most versatile team that I’ve ever managed in FM.

Versatility may be helpful at times, but at the moment we don’t have much depth in a couple of positions. The immediate problem is midfield, with only one natural central midfield player (Philipp Sander, on loan from Holstein Keil), I am currently scouting the free market for a couple of young midfielders, hoping to bring one of two the second the transfer window is over. In the meantime, our DMs will provide cover in the midfield. In extreme circumstances, Berkan Taz & Zlatko Janjic are able to give a bit of cover in midfield if playing a more attacking role. Left-wing isn’t much of an issue since most of our wingers & forwards being able to provide decent cover down both wings.

Below is the first team depth chart based on natural positions in order of current ability and possible starting lineup.

Preseason

With only £99k in the bank at the start of the game, I decided to take a look at the league rules, and of course, I had a rude awakening. There’s no prize money for winning the 3. Liga. Knowing this, I don’t see how we are going to be able to stay in the green this season and possibly next season, depending on how things go. Especially since the club was only able to sell a whopping 580 season tickets for the season, and the only sponsorship money we’re receiving is from a 4-year deal worth a total of £175k.

I can see why the bookies have no faith in us staying up this season, along with our financial difficulties and having the lowest wage budget in the 3. Liga. My focus during the preseason is always to get the players used to our tactic, regardless of results. I typically rotate the team during halftime so that every player has a chance to play in every game. Not only do I rotate players, but I switch the tactics as well.

Because of the virus, we had a short preseason of 4 games. After two back-to-back home defeats against Sassuolo and Groningen, the team began to pick up form with back-to-back wins against lower league teams Bonn & Aachen.

2020/2021 - First Half

September

Ties against 7th place favorite Wiesbaden proved that we could go head to head against some of the bigger teams. The win against Bayern II came from 91′ minute winner banger from veteran defender Julian Stöckner, so much for 9 long shots and 4 finishing.

October

As I mentioned earlier, we were short on natural midfielders. I sent my two scouts on a hunt all of the summer all the way through the end of the transfer market in September. After going through 10’s of options, I gave the instruction to our DoF Raimund Bertels to sign the following young midfielders.

Both midfielders join us on a 1-year contract with a 1-year option to extend at the end of the season. Samuel Lengle will come in straight to first team, although not a natural midfielder, he can do the job as our DLP or BBM when asked. He was the best option that the scouts could find (well… the only one that wanted to join us). Patrick Finger will play for the second team, Verl II. I will keep track on Finger’s development and see if he’s able to join the first team later on in the season.

During the month of October the team started to gel really well. With great performances from Nico Hecker, Matthias Haeder, and Justin Eilers, we were able to take 15/18 points. The defeat against promotion candidates Ingolstadt was disappointing since we dominated most of the game.

November

November saw us carry on some of the work that we did in previous month but no thanks to my stubbornness, I thought to continue developing our 4-3-3 tactic instead of following my gut and switch tactics depending on what formation we faced. We finished the month with back-to-back defeats agains 1860 München & Uerdingen.

December

In December, we turned things around and managed to finish the month undefeated. Eilers, Haeder, and Hecker continued their fine form. These three have truly carried the team so far this season. In the process, Matthias Haeder became our all time leading scorer with 55 league goals to his name.

League Table

12 wins, 2 draws, and only 3 loses. We find ourselves top of the league midway through the season. Only 4 points separate us from 3. Liga favorites Kaiserslautern and 6 points from Ingolstadt.

The team has finally gotten used to our three tactics and I’m confident on how the rest of the season will play out. With no depth in the team, I’ve decided to rotate constantly to avoid any serious injuries. Moral is high, with most players in favor of the coach. A couple of players are moaning for playing time, I might look to either loan or sell whoever doesn’t want to be here. Our finances have only gotten worse and we’re getting closer to -£500k in debt, so selling a player or two may come in handy.

We’re still short in two key positions, midfield and left wing. I will dive into loan market to find some cover during the January window

January Transfer Window

Without wiggle room in our wage budget, I found it extremely challenging to sign any decent German midfielders on loan. The teams in Bundesliga 2 and Bundesliga were demanding high wage percentages and fees, making it difficult for us to bring in the players we wanted. As a result, I had to resort to signing Joe Hodge, a player who was one of my favorites in last year’s game when I managed Eibar.

I had signed Joe Hodge on a free transfer in FM20, and he proved to be a fantastic addition to my team. He perfectly fit into my tactic as a Deep-Lying Playmaker (Defend) and consistently delivered outstanding performances. He ended up playing over 300 games for Eibar before deciding to return to England. If he can replicate anywhere near the level he achieved in FM20, we should be in a good position.

Additionally, we have Philipp Sander set to join us for free next summer. His contract with Holstein Kiel will expire at the end of the season, allowing us to secure his services without any transfer fee. So far this season, Sander has been decent, with a rating of 6.8, and we hope he will continue to contribute positively to the team.

In terms of outgoing transfers, Mehmet Kurt will be going on loan to Duisburg until the end of the year. This loan move will help us financially, as we will receive a loan fee of £1.1k per month. We hope this arrangement will benefit both the player and the club.

2020/2021 - Second Half

January - March

Sad news – Our dear Chairman, Director of Football, and club icon Raimund Bertels decided not to run for re-election. Thankfully, Bertels will now move to full time Director of Football. On the other hand, Mr. Marcel Dieck ended up winning elections so let’s welcome him as our new Chairman. He immediately injected £120k into the club, bringing our balance to around -£420k 🙄. Let’s see how we get along in the next few seasons.

Back to the football. I normally don’t like bringing in key players during January because it can sometimes disrupt the way your team plays. In my case, Joe Hodge came into the team and did exactly what I was hoping for. He went on to score a banger in his debut against Manheim, helping the team win the game 3-2. We managed to win four out of five games.

We dropped points against Rostock & Magdeburg with a couple of last minute goals. Thankfully we went on to win in-style against Insgolstadt(sweet sweet revenge). We continued with four great wins, including three clean sheets. We finished March with a comeback against Lübeck after going down 2-0 in the first half.

April - May

Kaiserslautern have been neck to neck with us through the season. Midseason, they were four points behind us. Fast forward to April, nothing has changed. The Die Roten Teufel were still on our toes. Someone was going to let up, it was make it or break it.

We need to win four out of five games in April to gain promotion to Bundesliga 2. Continuing our nine game winning streak, we followed with five more wins in April, including three clean sheets in three away games. Our 0-4 away win against Halle sent us to Bundesliga 2!!

On the other hand Kaiserslautern tied against Halle 2-2 and lost 0-3 at home against Underhaching, a team they previously beat 5-0 in first half of the season (gotta love FM). This gave us a nine point lead heading to May.

The title race was on. With a possible title defining game at the end of the season we headed into May full of confidence. With promotion secured, we needed two wins to snatch the title from Kaiserslautern. Two games later, it’s MADNESS at the Stadion an der Grünwalder Straße as we managed to beat Türkgücü 0-3 to win the 3. Liga title!!!

Best of the Bunch

After an excellent season, where we broke numerous defensive and offensive records, it comes as no surprise that the 3. Liga Team of the Year features some of our exceptional players.

Joe Hodge and Samuel Lengle were instrumental in the midfield, showcasing their exceptional break-up play and passing range. Their contributions greatly supported our attacking players throughout the campaign. Justin Eilers, our star striker, ended the season as the top goalscorer in the 3. Liga and deservedly won the Player of the Year award. Eilers' ability to link up with Matthias Haeder, Nico Hecker, and Zlatko Janjic was truly remarkable, resulting in some breathtaking goals. The chemistry and understanding between these players were evident, with most of their goals being assisted by one another.

It is also worth mentioning the outstanding performances of Robin Brüseke, Julian Stöckner, and Lars Riska. These three players were phenomenal throughout the entire season, as evidenced by our remarkable achievement of keeping twenty-two clean sheets in thirty-eight games. Their contributions played a crucial role in our defensive solidity and overall success.

Youth

FM can be a silly game. My favorite save last year was MaddFM’s May The Fürth Be With You with Greuther Fürth. In this save, Madd did an Irish takeover of the club, from chairman to coaching staff. One of his aims of the save was to produce an Irish newgen, hoping to groom to them for the Irish national team. Spoiler Alert – If you haven’t read it, Madd doesn’t see an Irishman come through his academy until the last season of his save.

Fast forward to my save with SC Verl and I’m gifted two Irish newgens by the FM Gods. This is almost unfair since our academy is crap. These two were the only players who were decent enough to highlight. At first glance, they seem to have a high enough potential to maybe sneak into the first team, but we all know how these little stars work.

I will monitor the growth and development of not only these two players but also numerous promising youngsters emerging from our youth system. It is important to acknowledge that our academy, at present, falls short of being exceptional, and it will be some time before we witness any truly remarkable talent emerging from its ranks. Nevertheless, I retain hope that once we ascend to the heights of the Bundesliga, our chairman will grant us the financial means to enhance the infrastructure and facilities of our club.

Remarkably, our U-19 squad initially lacked any actual players until the arrival of our latest Youth Intake. The kids were able to help our U-19 team win their division in the last game of the season.

Finances

As we embark on our journey in the 2. Bundesliga, we find ourselves facing a significant financial hurdle. Our bank balance of -£1,627,759 has hinder the wage and transfers budgets, with the chairman providing us with a wage budget of £46.5K per week and a transfer budget of £0.

With such limited resources at our disposal, our primary objective becomes clear: avoiding relegation. If we can secure our position in the 2. Bundesliga and earn additional financial rewards, we will be able to alleviate the strain on our bank balance.

Wish me luck !

If you made it this far, thank you for sticking with me. Next up is a busy summer transfer window and the 2021/2022 season.

Best,
José