team discussion Bayer 04 Leverkusen

YES !! about time someone else went this great club haha

how are you doing so far mate ?

khedira6 Muzzy

Good to hear you guys are playing with them as well, how are you both getting on?

I hadn't been on FM at all last week cos I've been working, but went back on yesterday afternoon and got a few games under my belt. I'll post a few screenshots up later of how the first few months of the season have gone.

Struggling to get the best out of Derdiyok and Kießling at the moment; neither are getting goals.

quote wolves_stain25

khedira6 Muzzy

Good to hear you guys are playing with them as well, how are you both getting on?

I hadn't been on FM at all last week cos I've been working, but went back on yesterday afternoon and got a few games under my belt. I'll post a few screenshots up later of how the first few months of the season have gone.

Struggling to get the best out of Derdiyok and Kießling at the moment; neither are getting goals.

how are you playing them both mate ? also what formation are you playing and have you made any transfers ?

quote wolves_stain25

I'm playing the asymmetrical 4-2-3-1 formation, and using Kießling as a deep-lying forward. Not quite found a role for Derdiyok yet, he's struggling for form and goals. Schurrle got injured for 6 weeks, but he's back soon. I've been playing him AML as an inside forward.

Spoiler:Squad and Tactics

---

That's my line-up currently. I didn't make any signings during the summer as funds were limited, I went for Markus Henriksen but couldn't afford the fee. I'm planning on making a move again in Jan. Midfield is definitely an area that could need reinforcements with Ballack going at the end of the season. I'm going to look into another keeper and almost certainly a striker for next season.

Champions League is going well, I'm top of the group after the first 2 games.

play kiessling as a complete forward should see a difference there im into my third season and he is still my main striker also id sell derdiyok can get anything between 5 and 8 million for him and use this for darwin quintero also sell augusto barnetta and bring in bressan and james rodriguez both top performers for me

That's the main challenge with Leverkusen, Phelix - at first glance the squad looks good, but then you realise it is extremely thin on the ground. They've got a few decent youth prospects though.

I hope you managed to bring back Ballack on slightly less than the £100k p/w he's on currently. That appears to be the main reason I don't make much profit! Did you manage to sign Toloi and bring in any loans in July/August?

I'm currently 6th in the league in November, but typical of the Bundesliga it is quite tight up there with only about 6 points separating 2nd to 9th. Nurnberg are currently flying in 2nd place but I can't see that lasting after the winter break.

quote Phelix

Ballack agreed to come back on a measly 21k per week, so easily affordable.

You've got a bargain there, at least he won't be draining the wage budget! Did you manage to make much progress yesterday?

I've just got to the Winter break and currently sit in 3rd place, level on points with Bayern but 9 behind leaders Schalke, who have been hugely impressive in the opening 17 matches. They're still the only side to beat me at home this season.

Spoiler:Bundesliga

---

Typical of the Bundesliga, there's a lot of teams that are only separated by a few points. I'm not counting my chickens just yet! My aim was to five or six just so I can get European football again next season, so placing 3rd in December gives me a good platform to work on for the 2nd half of the season. These are just a few screenshots of my best performances:

Spoiler:Hoffenheim (A)

---

Probably Sidney Sam's best performance under my management. He pulled us back from the brink twice, and his 2nd goal was an absolute screamer. I was pleased because it was a case of sticking with the original tactics and remaining patient - we'd been the better team throughout. This could be an important point come the end of the season.

Spoiler:Kaiserslautern (A)

---

A game where I needed to avoid defeat; they were sat in 4th position and one point ahead, a loss would have opened up quite a gap and allowed the teams behind to close in. Instead we secured a comfortable 2-0 win thanks to an excellent performance from Barnetta.

Spoiler:Bayern (H)

---

Arguably the best performance of the season. Confidence was high after three games without defeat, but we were still 8th in the league and Bayern were joint 2nd. Safe to say the team hasn't looked back since!

So after a disappointing start where we struggled for goals and only managed two wins in the first six games, I'd say that was a good first half of the season and we're on target to achieve the aim of a top six finish. We've only lost one game at home against Schalke and are finally starting to pick up wins on the road after a number of draws early on. The goals have started to flow and the defensive is remaining strong (Leno went 385min without conceding in November/December), while set pieces appear to be the team's strong point (11 goals just in the Bundesliga). Kadlec's delivery from free kicks is spot on.

I managed to qualify from the Champions League group in 2nd place, and I've just been drawn against Manchester United in the knockout round. It was a mixed bag in the groups; I started well with a 1-0 win away at Trabzonspor and a 1-0 win at the BayArena against CSKA Moscow. However, Porto spanked me 3-0 at their place despite being down to 10 men and I drew the return match 0-0 before a disappointing 0-0 at home to Trabzonspor. That meant I needed to avoid defeat against CSKA to qualify:

Spoiler:CSKA Moscow (A)

---

This was one hell of a match! After 20 minutes we were looking good for at least a draw, but a flurry of goals meant we needed to go all out to draw level before the break. In the 2nd half we never looked back and secured a place in the knockout stages.

We're into the Qtr Final of the DFB Pokal, where we play Hannover away. The first three rounds went relatively smoothly, beating Osnabruck (2-0), Bochum (4-0) and Mainz (1-0 aet). Its been an opportunity to play the fringe players and give some youngsters a run-out.

In terms of the playing staff, my stand-out performers have to be the following:

Stefan Reinartz - After a dip in form earlier in the season he's come back and formed a good partnership with Toprak in central defence. Also contributed 4 goals from free kicks and corners.
Michal Kadlec - The left back is reliable when defending and offers a great deal going forward. His deliveries from free kicks are second to none, and are the main reason behind his 6 assists.
Lars Bender - An absolute rock in the holding role with an average if 6.99 this season.
Tranquillo Barnetta - A player I've always loved on FM. He's played more of a part than I expected because of injuries to both Schurrle and Sam. Technically brilliant and his lack of pace means he crosses the ball a lot more often than the likes of Sidney Sam. He's provided 7 assists and chipped in with 3 goals so far.
Eren Derdiyok - Finally found his scoring boots and is now top scorer with 7 goals, some of those have been vital.

My main youth prospects include Danny da Costa, who has come on leaps and bounds and even managed a debut goal against Bochum, and Karim Bellarabi who has made a number of appearances from the bench and has shown improvement.

I just played the opening group game of my Europa League campaign, demolishing FC Porto 1-6 at the Estádio do Dragão which was an astounding result for a young squad that is still trying to gel.

My league results have continued, with a 3-0 win at home against Schalke confirming my title ambitions. Sam has been most impressive, his long shots are amazing, while Kiesling is doing a job up front, but his woeful finishing is going to cost me in the future. I hope Thy can grow quickly to replace him as my target man.

My defence is great with Toprak holding it together and starting my attacking moves with his wonderful passing and both Wollscheid and Reinartz doing their part to keep Freidrich out of the first team squad and allow Leno to have 5 clean sheets to start the season.

This is proving to be a fun game.