Introduction
To keep myself motivated for a longer save game I like to keep track of what happens in the game world and to make the save even more interesting I give myself some KPI's. With FM2020 I turned this into a post and a lot of people enjoyed reading it so having said that, here is the first part of my journey in FM2021..
The goals
https://preview.redd.it/5ihakrqe7g071.png?width=1199&format=png&auto=webp&s=b5f91b822f67a549817174f194e03b05bfb59407
Performance goals
My primary goals are related to the actual performance of the team. I want to win La Liga every year while also reaching the semi finals in the champions league.
Real Madrid have been a huge challenge to beat so far and I only ended up winning the competition 2 out of 5 times. On average it takes 96.4 points to become the champion while I have averaged out on 93.2 points, highlighting the importance of winning el classico.
https://preview.redd.it/ln1fe74amf071.png?width=721&format=png&auto=webp&s=56f7c982edaad3ff86687184836a9f9f16cfe93b
The champions league has seen some mixed performances. In my first season I got knocked out in the group stage and it took me 4 seasons to finally win the prestigious trophy, crashing in the semi-finals just the year before that.
The final has seen an interesting mix of contestants where the Premier League has been represented most (4 out of 5 finals) but actually lost them all.
https://preview.redd.it/jiuovxwsrf071.png?width=1364&format=png&auto=webp&s=76043d30e6c5d5aad2c801be2b110aced14bc308
Secondary goals
My secondary goals are focussed on the build-up of the squad. As a Barcelona fan that still has dreams of the legendary team of 10 years ago, I find it important to develop my own La Masia kids and turn them into Spanish internationals. This means that in my transfer policy I prioritize Spanish internationals or U19 players that I can develop myself while also trying to keep the actual present squad active as long as possible.
So far I have been performing well in regards to development by playing a lot of young players but it might have been at the expense of my actual match performance.
Player screenshots are from 2028 (season 8) since I forgot to take them at the time.. Spoiler for the 10 year post, Fati has been sold!
The present
Over the years I have lost Busquets, Pique and Alba so to bolster the squad with experienced internationals I have bought Eric Garcia and Pau Torres. Since they joined they have been the core of my defense.
The gems
Barcelona is blessed with 3 young Spanish players that I wanted to develop into my squad as quickly as possible. Even though they have been very valuable so far they never really cemented their spots as the go-to starters in my team.
Pedri & Moriba have never been the first pick because of the heavy competition (de Jong, Camavinga & Zaniolo) while Fati averaged 28 games a season but only with an average rating of 6.92
My own regens
I must admit that I am dissapointed in my regens. Jesus Roca is looking promising and is currently a rotational option for the CB/RB spot and I managed to steal Unai Perez from the Villareal academy for a fee of 1.5M
The rest of my squad
After 5 seasons my best XI looked like this
https://preview.redd.it/5x9qiig1wf071.png?width=1740&format=png&auto=webp&s=f7ca253555b5b72ce26838142cfe52201b9f7e71
To highlight some of my top performers and underperformers
The kings
Messi was the absolute king of my save game. He retired at the end of my 5th season and still managed to play 135 games in which he scores 75 times, gave 56 assists and ended with an average rating of 7.66 over 5 seasons.
Frenkie has been the core of my squad even though he has been unhappy about not being allowed to leave for the largest part of my save. He has been my vice-captain since the beginning of the save and a great mentor to Moriba & Camavinga
Araujo has developed into an important part of my defense and in the 5th season he took over the captain role from Messi
The peasants
Umtiti only played 14 games in his 3 seasons at Barcelona. I prioritzed Araujo and quickly had a fall-out with him, after which he was transfer listed. No club wanted to buy him so I actually disbanded his contract after which he spent a year without a club. He joined Red Star Belgrado in 2024 and hes currently an unemployed manager
Pjanic had to be shifted out of the squad because of the competition. I bought Milinkovic-Savic and then got the opportunity to sign Camavinga on a free transfer. I also had Frenkie and Moriba so the competition was just too much. He was loaned out and later sold to Milan
Dest slowly fell out of grace after some big mistakes. After a while it felt like every goal that I conceded started from him missing a tackle and he was outperformed by Ferreira. He didn't agree to a lower amount of playing time and spent a lot of time unhappy
What happened in the rest of the world
The golden boys
I think that Dortmund has bought the judges in this competition, because they have won it 3 out of 5 times.
Camavinga won the competition in the year before he joined me and Moriba won it the year after. I think that my CM spot is looking at a golden future
https://preview.redd.it/gijcn4kiyf071.png?width=376&format=png&auto=webp&s=8d84f8559254f38b8665704bc3c42961c8b938db
The Ballon D'or
The Messi & Ronaldo era ended with a bang and Haaland stepped up to fill their shoes. Ever since Messi retired I have been out of the top 3 but with a squad full of young talents I hope to be back soon
I miss you Messi
The La Liga has been the most represented league in the awards but the wins are tied between the La Liga and the Premier League
https://preview.redd.it/zwyxclhxzf071.png?width=643&format=png&auto=webp&s=a1ebc0bd5913804b855fda3dfb8f8476382e102d
Transfer stories players with \ are regens*
The first few seasons have had quite a lot of players retiring or declining to the point where they are no longer good enough to play. This left a gap between experiences players and my squad of 17 year olds so the primary focus has been on 22-25 year old players that can inmediatly strengthen the squad while my gems mature.
Savic is always been a safe buy and while Zaniolo never actually met his full potential he still averaged out on a 7.13 per match.
Camavinga has to be the absolute winner, he is so good in this game and to actually get him for free.. I just couldn't resist
https://preview.redd.it/uqc7um0x1g071.png?width=893&format=png&auto=webp&s=709a08eaf7c9906e1ab5c7745385a5391de852ad
My sales can be split into 3 different categories.. The ones sold for a decent offer or because they didnt perform/fit in the team, the retirees and the ones that caused me a big headache.
https://preview.redd.it/289zi7ls4g071.png?width=951&format=png&auto=webp&s=bab9f06d557a8489062299cc9e246d753f8a0666
Overall I think that I did pretty good. I managed to offload some of the dead wood and got some great players while only spending a net amount of 120M.
The worlds biggest transfers
I took a look at the biggest 5 transfers per season to see to how much they added up per season and which league had the biggest spenders. The total spend on those 5 players per year really went up after the first season and besides an absense for 1 year the Premier League is the king of splurging.
https://preview.redd.it/w12k2q0g5g071.png?width=579&format=png&auto=webp&s=4c85579e32dd86b93ebc5eb7fe42310a3ac83264
The most expensive player to date is Kulusevski (actually claiming the 1st and 4th place in biggest transfers ever) and I think that the biggest surprise of these transfers if Foden going to Hertha BSC for a fee of 85M
https://preview.redd.it/8u9sw04o5g071.png?width=621&format=png&auto=webp&s=220823dd0b08cc4e09ca71a03010e71784f931a1
To recap the journey so far
I can gladly say that this save game has been a joy to play. The challenge hes been there thanks to Real Madrid and the development of my players has been a great journey.
My absolute high and low points both involve Messi and the champions league.
In the 2022 season I was down 3-0 after the first leg of the semi-final vs Real Madrid. I managed to win the second leg with 3-0 and it came down to penalties... The score was 4-4 and Real Madrid missed their 5th penalty. Messi lined up to shoot us to our first spot in the finals but he missed... Real won the shoot-out.
In the 2023 we played Manchester City in the finals and the game shifted from a 3-0 lead to a 3-3 tie because of a Haaland hattrick. I was having flashbacks to the semi's of last year but in the 86th minute Messi lined up for a free kick and he managed to score it from 30 yards out!
If you managed to make it this far, I hope that you enjoyed reading it and thank you. I definitely enjoy collecting the data and writing this so expect to see a 10 year update once I get there!
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