Hey Everyone!
Welcome back to another update on my Football Manager 2012 story with Anzhi Makhachkala. Last season we managed to retain our Russian League and Cup titles and also managed to add the Russian Super Cup to our growing trophy cabinet. We also had a very successful Champions League campaign, managing to reach the 1st knockout stage in our very first Champions League outing. Could we achieve the same success as last year? or possibly add Champions League glory…we’ll lets find out in a full season review.
Transfers
IN
Roman Pavlyuchenko
I’d finally managed to sign a Russian striker, I did try to sign Pavlyuchenko in the first season but he wasn’t interested in joining. Now at 31 years old, he’s not the best striker I have and he will probably only be used in rotation but he’ll be able to do a job in the Russian League.
Mapou Yanga Mbiwa
Mbiwa comes in to help strengthen the defence further. I felt that even though my current defence was up to the job I didn’t have much cover if anyone got injured for a lengthy period of time. He can play all over the back line and will be a great addition.
Victor Zhukov
Now you might think that Zhukov stats are awful but he has 4 star potential or so my scout says, so he comes in as a guinea pig…to see if I can nurture youngsters and get them to reach their potential…at 3 million it’s a nice project that hasn’t cost much and I’ll keep you posted on this progress. As you can see he was shipped out on loan before I could get chance to get an Anzhi screenshot lol.
Dentinho
Dentinho comes in to aid Willian. In my eyes last season Willian played far too many games and I was fortunate not to lose him through long term injury. Dentinho comes in to rotate with Willian and possibly Dzsudzsak if needs be and he can also play as a fast striker.
Alexandr Modenov
Modenov is probably the best Russian regen I have been able to get my hands on…but I honestly thought I was going to lose out to Spartak Moscow. I scouted him towards the back end of last season and as soon as Spartak Moscow came sniffing I had to act right away. He looks like he could be one for the future possibly to replace Alexandr Sapeta or Alan Dzagoev or maybe Willian if I retrain him. He like Zhukov was shipped out on loan before I could get chance to get an Anzhi screenshot lol.
Esteban Merlo
I must have spent hours looking for potential wonderkids to bring into my Anzhi team and along came Esteban Merlo. I couldn’t believe how good his defensive stats were and if I wanted I could retain him to become a defensive midfielder. With years and years to develop he had the potential to be the best defender in the world. As you can see he was straight out on loan to help him gain first team experience.
OUT
As the season started I need a clear out and quiet a few players were complaining about lack of first team action, so it was time for them to move on. Mbark Boussoufa was the most profitable departure, with both AC Milan and also Arsenal after his signature, Arsenal being the team he joined and also there were departures for Mehdi Carcela and Kamil Agalarov. My two Russian youngsters Zhukov and Modenov headed on loan to feeder club Nizhniy Novgorod and Esteban Merlo joined my other feeder club Luch on a season long loan. I’ve found a massive plus to having feeder clubs, I can send young foreign players on loan to them to a…get first team football and also b…to aid with there citizenship :)
So with the transfer out of the way, could we kick off the season with a bang in the Russian Super Cup…
Russian Super Cup Final vs CSKA Moscow (Olimp-2, Rostov-na-Donu – 30,000)
Starting Formations
The top two teams in Russian battling it out for silverware…
The trophy was ours! It took us until extra-time to beat them though but what a great way to start the season.
Russian Premier League
Results in the first half of the season
After a defeat against Rubin in the second match of the season we knuckled down and got on with things, and with the exception of the draws against Sibir and Volga NN we had a very good first half of the season. I was impressed with the 8 cleansheets and only 10 goals being conceded was a brilliant achievement. But was our 36 points enough to give us top spot in the League Table…
Yes it was…but only just, Spartak (who we beat 5-0) were right on our tail and just waiting for us to drop points. I was surprised to see CSKA Moscow in 5th position but then looked at the points and they were only 2 points away from Spartak Moscow.
Mid Season Transfers
IN
Luan
After finding Esteban Merlo, I continued to search for youngsters and I came across Luan, now I signed Luan at the same time as Merlo but due to a South American rule…players under 18 cannot join until they turn 18…but you guy already knew that. He joined us after turning 18 and I’m not sure he’s worth his 11 million price tag but we’ll see in a few years.
Christian Ansaldi
As soon as I saw that Christian Ansaldi was interested in joining, there wasn’t any price I wouldn’t have paid. He’s potentially the best Left Back in Russian and he is also just as good on the Right and…this is the biggest bit…he’s a Russian citizen! At 38.5 million it’s a massive amount of money to spend but he meets the criteria and will strengthen our team no end.
Seydou Doumbia
Like with Ansaldi, as soon as I knew Doumbia was interested in joining Anzhi there was no hesitation, Doumbia is an animal, a goal machine, he’ll get you 20+ goals a season every year without fail. The other plus side to this massive 42 million price tag is that he’s closing in on his Russian citizenship and at 26, is got plenty of goal scoring years left in him.
Javi Martinez
The spending continued and in came Javi Martinez, an all round midfield work horse and at 13m…I believe a pure bargain. He comes in and strengthens the centre of midfield as I’m not convinced that Alexandr Sapeta steps up to the mark in European games, but with not limits on Foreign players in the Champions League I was able to look further a field.
Alexandr Zubov
The last signing was definitely the most exciting. I first notice this player last season but he had no intention of joining us….6 months later he’s now a Anzhi player and just look at his stats…if I can nurture him right he has the potential to be an amazing winger.
OUT
As you can see Luan came in and went straight out to my Feeder team. Alexandr Kokorin was moaning bucket loads and I decided to also loan him out to shut him up and after trying to find Alexandr Samedov a club…and with no success, I let him leave on a free.
Results in the second half of the season
Mega goals scored in the second half of the season, and a massive 13 wins from 15 only a draw against CSKA and another draw against Volga NN. We managed 10 clean sheets in this half of the season, we surely must have won the Russian Premier League for a third time…
We had but Spartak Moscow pushed us all the way, I thought they’d slip up but no…still we we’re too strong. CSKA Moscow also managed to climb to third in the table and Zenit rounded off the top four. I was shocked to see Dinamo Moscow relegated from the Premier Division. So with the Premier League Title wrapped up how did we do in the Russian Cup?
Russian Cup
We had an easy start to the Russian Cup with victories over lower league teams, but then we were our own worst enemies as we struggled to beat Krasnodar, we did however on penalties and then we faced giants CSKA Moscow, who we should have beaten in 90 minutes but we did after extra time which set up a Final against Volga NN…the only team we hadn’t beaten this season…
Russian Cup Final vs Volga NN (Olimpic Reserve, Krasnoyarsk – 22,500)
Starting Formations
This was the best possibly team I could field…why I hear you ask…most of my first team squad were on World Cup duty…I was livid!
So with 17 players unavailable…6 of them defenders could we regain our Russian Cup…
Looking back on the stats I found myself scratching my head…even with a weakened side we should have still won, but you cant win everything…winning the Champions League would take away the pain though :)
Champions League
Group Draw
So UEFA decided to make a revenge group with Real Madrid looking for revenge for us dumping them out last season and for us to get one over on Liverpool for them knocking us out in the Knockouts…oh yeah and FC Kobenhavn.
We opened our Champions League campaign against FC Kobenhavn and we could’nt have asked for a worst start as we left Denmark with no points and a 2-1 defeat. We had to quickly lick our wounds and attempt to bounce back against the mighty Real Madrid…we again was on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline. Our Champions League campaign looked to be nearly over with us having to probably win the remaining four matches and two of them were against Liverpool. So needing to kick start our stalling campaign we travelled to Anfield where we managed the unthinkable and left with a 3-2 victory. Our next match was again Liverpool and our campaign was back on track has we brush the English team aside with a 2-0 win. Our next match was against the Danish giant killers FC Kobenhavn but this time the match went our way and we recorded a 3-0 win…
With the victory against FC Kobenhavn we had booked our place in the Champions League Knockouts due to Liverpool having an awful campaign. Our last match didn’t really matter as both us and Real Madrid had qualified but I made sure that we were up for it nevertheless…and we managed to beat Real Madrid on there own turf, 2-1 the score. So like I said we’d managed to qualify but this is how the table looked…
Haha Liverpool!!!
Champions League Knockout Draw
I felt very deflated once the draw had been made due to the fact I’d been keeping a close eye of Manchester City and who’d they been buying…and in this season alone they’d signed Eden Hazard and Thiago Silva both for 45m to add to Luka Modric who’d been signed the previous season…I wasn’t looking forward to this one bit to be honest…but here we go…
Champions League 1st Knockout Round Leg 1 vs Manchester City (Dinamo, Makhachkala – 15,200)
Starting Formations
So the Manchester City line up surprised me, their defence wasn’t as strong as I thought it would be…and I had no idea who Walter Montillo was (nope not a regen). So I was confident we could possible get a result…
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry after this result, cry because we’d lost 2-1 and had two men sent off in the first half or laugh because we had two men sent off in the first half and Manchester City and their millions couldn’t destroy a team with only nine men in 45 minutes, anyway the tie wasn’t over but we had a hell of a lot of to do if we were to win at the Etihad Stadium.
Champions League 1stKnockout Round Leg 2 vs Manchester City (Etihad Stadium, Manchester — 46,645)
Starting Formations
Now this was a better side, with them bringing Aguero and Kompany back into the side…I can only think they were banned/injured for the previous match but if we were to beat them we’d have to do it against possibly their best team…
No it wasn’t to be and we’d fallen at the same hurdle as last season. I was very proud of our efforts, we hadn’t been destroyed and had managed to lose 2-1 in the first leg with 9 men…roll on next year!
So that’s it for this post another two trophies added to our collection but another exit in the Champions League 1st Knockout Round, hopefully we can come back stronger and got a couple of steps further next season. Thank you for reading and comments and requests are always welcome.
Thank you again
Martin Pickard
Kevin
29 декабря, 2011 at 11:55
Hi Martin
First off, very unlucky in drawing Man City in the Champions League especially after all the hard work to qualify for the knockout stage. Still you won your domestic league so well done. Also there seems to be an endless supply of young Russian talent available which is of course very handy for you. Great job!
Martin Pickard
29 декабря, 2011 at 12:27
Hi Kevin! Haha my heart sank when Man City were drawn with us…they actually went on to win the Champions League so to be knocked out by the winners doesnt feel too bad…we just need a bit of luck in the draw lol. It was great to win the Russian League and we’re well on the way to chase down Spartak Moscow’s 9 titles. I’m suprised a little that i’ve been able to find some young Russian talent…I’m just hoping that I can nurture them well and get them to reach there potential. Since Zhukov and Modenov joined there potential has dropped to 3.5 stars but thats still brilliant for the Russian Premier League. I managed to find a few more talented youngster but there at clubs like Spartak, CSKA and there’s a defender at Rubin but none of them are interested in joining us :(
George Dobson
29 декабря, 2011 at 11:56
Some great results Martin and some huge signings but very good ones the Doumbia signing will severly weaken Cska as well so thats great also unluckly in the champions league but you did really good in the group stages.
Martin Pickard
29 декабря, 2011 at 12:32
Cheers George…once I knew Ansaldi and Doumbia wanted to join the Anzhi Army I wasnt going to miss out on them. I cant have weakened CSKA that much lol…3rd in the League and they managed to get to the same stage in the Champions League as we did…plus they still have Necid who is amazing…I honestly thought we were done for after the two losses at the beginning on the group stages but we did really well.
Johnny Karp
29 декабря, 2011 at 12:12
You have dominated the domestic scene again, as expected, but you came across a very tough draw once again unfortunately. Looking at how much you’re spending I can’t help but wonder how many years it would take me to get Viitorul Constanta to the quarter finals at least… Anyway, your hard work and the chairman’s money will surely pay off pretty soon ;)
Martin Pickard
29 декабря, 2011 at 12:36
Cheers Johnny…the draw comes down to the coefficent thingy but the more we qualify the higher we’ll be placed lol. I seem to be able to get the team throught the group stage but after that…nothing lol. I cant help wonder how you and Darren would do in the Champions League with this team. The teams reputation is increasing all the time…hopefully I can bring in a mega star to guide us further :)
Laxeyman
29 декабря, 2011 at 12:16
Wow, loads of money spent again Martin! The regens all look amazing for their ages, they will surely be incredible players in the future :) Congrats on yet another league and cup win, unlucky in the CL, but I’m sure it won’t be long before you get to the final at least. Good luck!
Martin Pickard
29 декабря, 2011 at 12:40
Hahah i know…if he keeps giving me it, i’m gunna spend it :). I’m hoping I can get the best out of these regens…i’ve been studying Darren’s youth guide so fingers crossed :). Yep I won the League but not the Cup fella lol. Cheers for the confidence boost, but I think it might be a few more years before we reach the final…cheers again :)
Jack
29 декабря, 2011 at 15:21
Will we be able to download this game once you have finished? Unlucky by the way!
Martin Pickard
29 декабря, 2011 at 15:37
Yeah I dont see why not….I’ll have to ask one of the others because i’m not right sure how to do it.
Jack
1 января, 2012 at 18:03
Thanks mate, great story btw!
Darren Smith
29 декабря, 2011 at 15:35
More massive money signing there and complimented well by some excellent future prospects especially the last regen. You’ve also kept up with the amazing domestic form but just fallen short in Europe though the draw did no favors so better luck next year.
Martin Pickard
29 декабря, 2011 at 15:42
Yeah I have spent alot but i’m nearly happy with my squad probably just a few more main people…would love to sign Akinfeev!! I’m going to try and bring some of these youngster through so probably have to sell some of my back-up players to make room for them. Oh tell me about him…Zubov is amazing…i’m just hoping I can develop him right, I managed to play him 10 times from feb to the end of the season. Cheers Darren i’m hoping for a better draw next year :)
vaibhavc
29 декабря, 2011 at 15:37
Roman Pavlyuchenko to Anzhi, thats a transfer that might happen in real life. But Seydou Doumbia! My friend and I bought him in a save on fm, and he is doing incredible. He just scored a backheel! And tough luck about the Champions League, thats just unlucky.
Martin Pickard
29 декабря, 2011 at 15:46
Yeah I managed to sign him…only played him 5 times this season :\ Oh Doumbia is a KING! hahaha backheel…crazy guy :) Cheers hopefully next year we’ll get a better draw :)
Bhargav
29 декабря, 2011 at 16:06
Bad luck, mate. I’m sure once the team gets used to being on this bigger stage, it will be just a matter of time before you capture the CL. Also, I really look forward to your experiment. I think with the right backroom staff and training schedules and a little first team exposure, he should fulfill a high percentage of his potential (and then be sold at a nice profit :D)
Martin Pickard
29 декабря, 2011 at 16:36
Haha I hope your right fella…i think the luck of the draw might help as well. Yeah i’m looking forward to seeing if I can..oooo I dont know about selling Zubov i’ll need him for the russian rule lol.
Sears
29 декабря, 2011 at 17:35
Wow, you spent mega again on some wonderful players! Your easily dominating domestically, so I predict that you’ll win the CL in a few years time. Btw, since your spending so much, does that mean your chairman will wipe out any debts you have at the end of the season? Also, could you post a screenshot of your squad as well? Cheers, and KU the great work I love this story ;)
Martin Pickard
30 декабря, 2011 at 11:14
Haha I did spend a bit didn’t I :) Yeah we’ve definitely established ourselves as the team to beat, now that I’ve got some youngsters to develop I’ll be rotating the squad like crazy…and at times the squad will possible weaken given teams more of a chance. Haha I hope your Champions League prediction is right Sears :). Yeah your correct he normally injects cash in the club in February, May, August and November he’s bonkers! I’m currently a season ahead of what I’m posting so next end of season I’ll take a screenshot for you. Cheers Sears I’m glad your still enjoying it :)
PeeDub
29 декабря, 2011 at 18:15
Any idea what your club European seeding looks like for next year? Getting a «2 pot» will give you a much better shot of winning your group and a better draw for the knockouts.
Martin Pickard
30 декабря, 2011 at 09:31
Yes i’ve already completed season 4 and we were in pot 2…pretty good to say that it was only our 3rd outing in the Champions Leagues :)
CsAtlantis
30 декабря, 2011 at 02:59
That’s some mega spending on some admittedly great players (but they’re not worth their price tags, the problem is probably that the teams you bought from also play in the same league so will attempt to rip your off for money)
So you narrowly lost to your fellow moneybags Man City, oh well, there is always next year, you do have the players to compete in the Champions League, just need some luck, you could’ve beaten Man City at home after all if you had 11 players on the pitch……….
Congratulations on winning your domestic competitions by the way, good luck for next season ,especially with the Champions League draw!
Martin Pickard
30 декабря, 2011 at 11:19
No your right CsAtlantis, Doumbia is an animal but not 42m of an animal lol, that’s why I’m trying to sign youngsters now. Yeah I was definitely pleased with our performances against Manchester City…especially the 2-1 loss with 9 men! Hopefully we’ll get a lucky group draw and progress to the knockouts and get another lucky draw lol. Cheers CsAtlantis :)
Mitch
30 декабря, 2011 at 06:25
Great season Martin. Are you going to stay in Russia or have you considered moving to another big league after another 2-3 years? Just thought I’d ask because you’ve definitely established total domination of Russian football.
Martin Pickard
30 декабря, 2011 at 11:14
Cheers Mitch! My plans very much revolve around Anzhi. I want to help them become the most successful team in Russia. Spartak Moscow currently have 9 RPL titles and I’m gunning after that record. I want Anzhi to be the first Russian Champions League winners, possibly after that try and become the richest club and I want to try and implement Darren’s Y2G system at Anzhi…it’ll be more difficult at Anzhi I think due to restrictions on foreign players but we’ll see. I think the only club I’ll leave Anzhi for is probably Manchester United but they currently have Laurent Blanc and he’s doing a half decent job.
Martin - F.M.J.S
30 декабря, 2011 at 09:37
Hey Martin
Great season some big transfers. Unlucky with the Russian cup and CL but maybe next season you can get further with a bit of luck.
1) question and it my fault I don’t know how the Russian league works but why has Dinamo Moscow got relegated when they finished above Shinnik?
Martin Pickard
30 декабря, 2011 at 11:14
Cheers Martin! I think that’s all I need really…a bit of luck in the draw and we could easily be in the Quarters lol. Haha I wondered that at first too, but what happens in the RPL is that the bottom 2 team are relegated and then the 13th and 14th placed teams play the 3rd and 4th placed teams in the first division and who ever wins (I think its over two legs) plays in the RPL next season…hope that helps :)
Devilfish
30 декабря, 2011 at 15:17
Hi Martin! Another season where you have dominated in the league but you were very unlucky in both your group stage draw and your knockout stage draw. Hopefully next year the draw will be kinder to you and that you can get through to the quarter finals or maybe even further!
You have brought in a few good players this year and some good youngsters too! Zubov looks a good player already and he is only 16 haha! He looks like he should become one of the best players in the world! Hopefully he will improve as you hope as sometimes some youngsters can be a bit unpredictable in their development. If he does improve as expected though you will have an amazing player!! Keep us updated on his progress!
Good luck next year and I hope that you bring in some other good players and get further into the Champions League! Great story also mate and I can’t wait for the next post!
Good luck! :D
Martin Pickard
25 января, 2012 at 13:15
Cheers Devilfish,
It was nice to win the league yet again…it seems to be getting a tad easy to do so tho but I aint complaining lol. Yeah it’s very annoying that we are getting really difficult groups and then a difficult knockout draw, but something has to go our way soon lol. I’ve definitely spent well again this season, I can’t see the owner throwing the amounts of money that he is forever but whilst he is i’ll keep spending. Zubov looks like the real deal and he’s developing nicely.
Cheers again and i’m glad you like it :)
Ana Garcia
30 декабря, 2011 at 23:07
Congrats Martin!!
Domestic wise it was business as usual and am very happy to see you sign Javi Martinez! :)
Europe was a tough against Man City but you did put up a good resistance after coming through a very tricky group.
Am sure next season you can take another big step towards winning the champions league, best of luck and I wish you and your family a very happy new year!! :)
Martin Pickard
25 января, 2012 at 13:18
Sorry I’m only just replying…I didn’t realise you’d commented :(
Yes domestically we have this thing wrapped up and Javi Martinez has definitely strengthen my defence…he’s a tank!
Grrr to Europe at the moment lol…were having no luck lol.
Agustin
23 января, 2012 at 22:32
Hey, great posts fiend! I’ve started managing Anzhi a couple of weeks ago, looking forward to repeat your results during my first season. I agree it looks kind of easy to win the RPL considering the talented squad.
Regards from Argentina
PS: How could you leave roberto carlos out of the team during your first season?? That must be some kind of blasphemy :D (even though he is 37)
Martin Pickard
25 января, 2012 at 13:21
Hey! Glad you like it and nice to hear that your trying with Anzhi too! The Russian League is rather easy but word of warning…but go into matches too confidently…you’ll come unstuck…it’s nearly happened to me a couple of times.
Hahaha dont worry Roberto Carlos is still at Anzhi on my save…in the form of a Defensive Coach :)
Stu
24 января, 2012 at 21:34
Wonderful read Martin. I enjoyed every update so far, hopefully the Champions League isn’t too far from your grasp.
Also, very nice choice of logos, I must say so :P
Martin Pickard
25 января, 2012 at 13:23
Cheers Stu glad you like it! I like your thinking and hopefully its just around the corner :)
Yeah I like the logo’s…I got them whilst playing FM11..I think it was from FM-Base.
Stu
25 января, 2012 at 16:34
I know, I made them :P