FM 07: Barcelona FC: Season 07/08 || Updated 10/09

[Mark.]

Barcelona FC: Season 07/08

Ive decided to post a story of sorts to pass the time while I wait for Live 08 to come out.
I have been playing this save on Football Manager 07 for quite some time now and am just about to start the 07/08 season.
Since I started this awhile ago, the transfers were only up to date till abour the middle of most European seasons (after the January transfer window.)
I decided to use Barca mainly just as a test to try out a tactic that I thinking about using for my Arsenal save but I ended up getting quite into it.

I decided to post this as a seperate story as opposed to the FM 07 thread mainly because I plan to be updating this frequently.

Anyway I will provide information on the 06/07 season shortly, then I will get into covering the current season, probably in monthly updates.

I apologise in advance for the large images but they are difficult to read if sized down.

Game Settings

[Jing]

.... Real football managers don't need food... brilliant.

[Drex]

Hehe, hope to see more updates

[Mark.]

Barcelona FC: Season 06/07 in Review

The 06/07 season was one to remember for Barcelona, with Frank Rijkaard making a sudden and unpredicted departure from the front office it looked like the team and fans alike would be experiencing a tough season at the Camp Nou.

Enter Mark Moore, a young manager with no past top level experience and little exposure. The fan base was infuriated, questioning this insane move. With many fans already planning to boycot games it was obvious that Chairman Joan Laporta's head was on the chopping block. However due to sheer idiocy or some reason we didnt know, Laporta stood calm and backed his new prodege's every move.

The comotion and unease died down over the offseason, however as the first competitive match against Espanyol for the Spanish Super Cup grew nearer all attention turned to the famous club. Everyone had the same question in their minds, would this be the start of a dark era for one of the most dominant European Clubs, or would we be witnessing the beginning of another legend.

The two leg derby started with an away game for the Los Cules at Lluis Companys against Espanyol. With all the hype building up to the game, many saw the resulting 1-1 draw as a big anti-climax. The second leg however proved to be completely different. Even with the media down playing the first leg confidence was running high in the Barca camp, team captain Carles Puyol was quoted saying "Of course we are confident, we went to their (Espanyol's) stadium and managed to come out with an away goal, while only conceeding one. We dont come into this second game still level as many suspect, we have the away goal so that is one advantage we have over them."

The second leg at Camp Nou brought a far bigger turnout than was expected with most fans obviously over their bitterness towards the club. However according to many fans interviewed before the game, "the new guy" (Mark Moore) was still yet to win their confidence. They weren't to be dissapointed with Moore guiding his team to a resounding 6-0 (7-1 agg) victory over their rivals. While it was only one game the result sent out a message to all the critics that Barcelona werent dropping off in any way at all.............

Season 06/07 Summary

League Table



Barcelona cleary did not falter a step under their new Manager, setting league records in Team points (92), Most team goals (80), Highest Attendence (97986), Highest Average Attendance (81310), Most Games Won in a Row (7), Most Games Undefeated (25). Ronaldinho set a new individual leage record for Most Assists in a season with 14. Samuel Eto'o was the leading goal scorer for Barca with 22 on the season. After this season many Los Cules faithful see this as the dawn of a new era of domination.


Other Competitions

Spanish Super Cup


The SSC was talked about above

Spanish Cup


Barcelona breezed through their early match ups and it wasn't until the quarter finals that they met and quality opposition, once again meeting local rivals Espanyol. While there was much hype about this matchup, Barca easily disposed of opponent 4-0 on aggregate. Los Cules then went on to face perhaps their toughest oppenent of the Cup in Athletico who they scrapped out a 2-1 home win followed by a 3-2 away win to move through into the final against Sevilla who they easily dispatched 3-0.

European Champions League


The Champions League was the low point of the season for Barca, looking to repeat Rijkaard's previous years success Moore was to be dissapointed with his sides exit in the first knockout round. They were unlucky to be drawn against EPL superpowers Chelsea, and while Barcelona never looked outclassed by much their finishing and tenacity around the goal cost them as they were unable to come back from a 1-0 away loss. If it is any consolation to the team, Chelsea would eventually defeat perhaps Los Cules biggest rivals Real Madrid in the final. This trophy will be one of the main focuses for Barca in the 06/07 season.


League Summary



Barcelona's dominance showed through with the season summary. Mohammed Sissoko will be very pleased recording the highest average match rating in the league, this is no small feat as this was first year in the La Liga, accordingly he was also dubbed the signing of the season which will please Barcelona Management.

Igor Akinfeev, another player in his first season for Barca, also picked up a big award for best goalkeeper. Eto'o was recognised by his fellow players winning the award for Player's Player of the Year. To silence any doubters, Manager Mark Moore picked up manager of the year in his first season.

[Mark.]

Barcelona FC: Season 06/07 Player and Staff Movement

To the supprise of many newly appointed manager Mark Moore was given free reign of the clubs money coffers with many suspecting the total amount spent over the season to be above 100m Pounds indicating that he deffinately wasnt taking a conservative approach. The money however seems to have been well spent, strengthening the side considerably while also bringing the average age of the players at the club down. The following will break down the moves made by Moore.


Transfers Out



With Moore's focus on obtaining young talent, it didnt take much to work out that some of the older less used players would be seeing themselves leaving Los Cules.
Moore had never been of the belief that Valdes was going to be a long term investment for the club, so with the arrival of two young replacements Valdes was sent packing. Like the previous move the others were basically to free up time for the younger players that Moore brought in.



Transfers In



This was always going to be a season of change and Moore helped to implement that by giving the club a shake up, while also bringing in some exiciting youth prospects. Of the 12 players brought in only 6 actually made first team appearances as the remainder were purchased to bolster the already succesful Barcelona youth accademy. The pair of Goal Keepers in Akinfeev and Ustari shared time at the position, although over the season Akinfeev's three extra years of experience started to show through, earning him a lot more starts.
Rafinha and Chinelli instantly slotted in as the fullbacks for the side, allowing Moore to use the aging yet experienced Zambrotta as a untility player. Both players proved to be key components to the sucess of the club.
The best purchase of the season for the club was easily the acquisition of Mohamed Sissoko from Liverpool, Moore had a specific tactic that he wanted the club to run, but the squad seemed to be lacking DMC that fitted the role, while Thiago Motta was a solid player at the position he didnt quite seem to fit the role. Moore initially went after Chelsea's Mikael Essien, but after talks fell through Sissoko became his man, many predicting that this was perhaps the better move.
While the purchase of Sissoko was easily the best of the season the biggest and most hype by far was the mid season purchase of Francesc Fabregas from Arsenal. While Fabregas took awhile to fit into the club he will be looking to have a break out year during the 07/08 season.


Loans Out



Due to the huge number of talented youth players now with the club it was only logical for Moore to loan a lot of them out so as to allow them to have a better chance at first team football. All players seemed to benefit from the exposure and the club will continue to implement this policy.
The Club did not bring in any players via Loan.


Staff In



The Staff movements made were only to bring in more scouts so as to cover the areas that the current staff had little knowledge of.

[Andreas Dahl]

Great start. It will be interesting to see how this goes

What template is that by the way?

[Drex]

Show us you team, man.

[Ty-Land]

Looks very nice. Are you using that Arsenal formation you had sent onto me? Seems like a super-tactic!

On a side note, I can't wait to get FM 08. Looks like it has some solid additions. Definitely getting it for my mac rather than the 360 this time around.

[Anthony15]

Hehe Akinfeev in Barca that'd be awesome Show us your team!

[Mark.]

Great start. It will be interesting to see how this goes

What template is that by the way?

Cheers dude, its good to see your following By template you mean skin? Im using an Arsenal themed skin by Cyril Washbrook

Show us you team, man.

Will do soon dude, I forgot to save the team I have at the start of the first season, but the next post will show the team for the upcoming 07/08 season which will be covered in more depth, the previous post was just to get us up to where I am now in the game

Looks very nice. Are you using that Arsenal formation you had sent onto me? Seems like a super-tactic!

On a side note, I can't wait to get FM 08. Looks like it has some solid additions. Definitely getting it for my mac rather than the 360 this time around.

Ummm I think ive moved onto a new formation, its not really a super tactic, but it certainly is strong, especially when you get the right pieces for it. Ill show it soon when I post the team for the 07/08 season.

Yeah 08 is looking good, im deffinately looking forward to getting it. Do you know when it will be released?

Hehe Akinfeev in Barca that'd be awesome Show us your team!

Yeah well Akinfeev is quite a talent and he is performing well, I also signed another young GK to compete with him for time, but Igor seems to be winning at the moment.

[Drex]

The most realistic representation of the challenging world of football is back and set to hit PC and Macintosh before Christmas 2007

Damn, seems like a long time.

[Ty-Land]

The most realistic representation of the challenging world of football is back and set to hit PC and Macintosh before Christmas 2007

Damn, seems like a long time.

I think I read late September somewhere as the likely release date. Hope so

EDIT: Looks like mid-October after a bit of a google. Still, that fits nicely for me. End of exams I can pick it up and play for 3 months straight.

[Mark.]

Haha yeah Xmas would be far too long to wait, heres hoping for september

I also updated the post below the 06/07 summary with the transfers etc for the 06/07 season

[Drex]

Akinfeev AND Ustari? Leave some for the rest, dude

[Mark.]

Akinfeev AND Ustari? Leave some for the rest, dude

Yeap I basucally stole two of the best GK prospects, Ustari is getting annoyed about not enough game time though.

[Fresh8]

Mark man, looking good. Good stuff considering I'm jumping on the Barca bandwagon since Thierry has joined them... still, what about those Gunners? 2 wins and a loss

[Mark.]

Mark man, looking good. Good stuff considering I'm jumping on the Barca bandwagon since Thierry has joined them... still, what about those Gunners? 2 wins and a loss

Good to see you back on the boards bro, yeah well Ive always kinda liked Barca, and with them getting Thierry ill be following them quite a bit, but ill still always be a Gooner. 2 wins and a draw I think you will find

[Fresh8]

I was thinking of our win midweek for Champions league... so yeh.. in EPL... we're 1 win, 1 loss 1 draw... better than Man Utd

But yeh... Barca is only for Henry but everyone has gotta admit that Messi, Ronaldinhio, Eto'o and Henry are gonna be killer

[Mark.]

Dude im pretty sure we have only played 2 EPL games, a 2-1 win vs Fulham and a 1-1 all draw @ Blackburn. Add the win @ Sparta and we are 2 wins and 1 draw on the season

Yeah its good to be well ahead of Man U, its their worst start in 15 years or something.

Yeah Barca will be great to watch, I wonder what formation they are gonna run...

[Anthony15]

4-3-3 hehe, but it fits them.

Eto'o-Henry-Messi
Dinho-Xavi-Deco
Thuram-Marquez-Puyol-Zambrotta
Valdes

[Jing]

play 10-0-1.

[Mark.]

Barcelona FC: OffSeason 07/08 Player Movement

Even with the success of the 06/07 Moore was never expected to or was expecting to be given a big transfer budget for the 07/08 season. "I expected for the board to give me a considerably smaller transfer budget this season. They were great to me last year giving me all the funds I needed to set the team up for the near future. This season I won't be needing nearly as much as it will only really be strengthening the depth of the squad that I will focus on."


Transfers Out



Before he could look at strengthening the team Moore had to try and move disgruntled players Motta and Belleti. While he would have liked to keep them he did not see them getting the amount of playing time that they wanted. While he did not quite get their value in return, the fees recieved were adequate for players that wanted to leave the team.
Perhaps the biggest dissapointment of the season for Barcelona would have to be the depature of Giorgio Chienilli who was only accquired last season from Jueventus. Due an oversight in the terms of his contract the minimum fee release clause was only set at 10 Million pounds. The only good thing to take from Moore's first real blunder was the


Transfers In



Due to last seasons huge amount of spending Moore was restricited with a budget of 30 Million for the season plus the majority of funds recieved from transfers out.
The transfer of Gerard Pique was agreed to at the start of the previous season, the main reason for the move was to get a tall player to play alongside Puyol in the middle of the defense. Pique is expected to be an integral part of the Barca side, and expect to see his 6'3" frame challenging a lot on corners.
With the departure of Chinelli the first priority of the offseason was to find his replacement. Moore orginally set out after Chelsea's Ashley Cole, but due the board not allowing Moore to offer Coles desierd pay package, the deal fell through. Moore then looked to the next name on his list, youngster Leighton Baines who was able to be acquired for considerably less. Look for Baines to have a breakout season as he should fit in well with the offensive minded Barca system.
Not far into the offseason disaster struck for Barca. Samuel Eto'o was diagnosed with a broken leg suffered while playing for his national side. His expected recovery time was 3 months, and with Saviola and Gudjohnsen also out injured for similar lengths of time Moore desperately needed to find a quality replacement or Barcelona would likely suffer a poor start to the season.
After looking at various options including Chelsea's Rodrigo Palacio, and Newcastles Obafemi Martins Moore decided to go with the more experienced Nicolas Anelka. Anelka will be expected to step right into the main striker role for Barcelona and when Eto'o returns he will most likely be the main attacker off the bench.
To finish up the offseason spending Moore decided to use his remaining budget to bolster the team by signing defender Taye Taiwo and winger Marco Marchionni. Both were brought in to help the team cope with injury and fatigue, but will likely see a lot fo time for the club.


Loans Out



Like the previous season Moore decided to loan out a lot of the young up coming players to give them some first team experience.

[Mark.]

Barcelona FC: Season 07/08 Squad


Squad



The Barcelona squad remains very much the same as the previous winning season with the only key player to leave being Chinelli. There are some additions to the side, and plaenty of injuries but expect to see Moore field a similar starting side as last year when possible. With the large amount of injuries at striker we could be seeing Messi play a lot more up front and even see Ronaldinho play some striker.


Tactics



Moore will once again use a variety of tactics which will all follow a simalar formation. The core three tactics of Creative Attack, Attack Away and Balance (In order of most offensive to defensive) will once again be used against relevant opponents. While the remaining tactics will be used for the different situations.
Note: The Gif displays the full range of tactics in order of most offensive (Brasilio +1.2) to least offensive (Creativo Ultra Cautious)
Credit to TheNextDiaby who created the tactics.

EDIT: Actually the best way to explain the tactics is: Creativo Attack, Attack Away, Balanced and Ultra Cautious are standard ones to use against differing difficulty of the opposition. The rest are for special situations e.g. Attack TW is for time wasting but still playing attacking so as to keep the ball in the other teams half. SUS is "Shut up Shop" used when you just want to prevent any goals against. The two brazilio tactics are ultra offensive ones that are used when you either want to take advantage of a man difference etc or to take the other team by supprise.

[Arcane]

nice layout mark looking good best of luck for the season

[J@3]

Perhaps the biggest dissapointment of the season for Barcelona would have to be the depature of Giorgio Chienilli who was only accquired last season from Jueventus. Due an oversight in the terms of his contract the minimum fee release clause was only set at 10 Million pounds.

That sucks man, Chiellini is great... though Baines and Taiwo are good buys I like Anelka too... not too sure of Marchionni but it'll be interesting to see how he goes.

Holy shit @ the guys you've got out on loan Bojan, Vela, Dos Santos... that'll be a pretty awesome team in a few years.