Football Manager 2012 Malaga story, season 6 report: here we go again

Hey guys and welcome to my Football Manager 2012 Malaga story, season 6 report. Apologies for the delay and lack of updates, the scouting network seems to have had a real buzz lately so most of my time has been spent around that side of FMS. For those who don’t remember, season five finished with Malaga triumphant in the Copa del Ray, CWC and Champions League but not La Liga. Real Madrid pipped us to top spot but a nice consolation presented itself in the England job. We are now in season six and today you see me lower the squads average age further and try to regain the La Liga title, but we’ll begin with transfers.

As already mentioned my main aim is to lower the squads average age and make this team evolve around youth….to do that older players must leave so the next generation can fully develop. Some massive names left Malaga in the summer of 2016 including Badelj and Kagawa. This was a very risky move but helped raise £76 million and as part of the Y2G system I already have the replacements raring to go.

To extend my youth policy further 3 wonderkids joined the club for a combined £46.5 million (ignore Marcao as he was a bad signing that I instantly looked to sell.) The first player is Petras, Malaga’s future star between the sticks but one that will have to wait his turn. The second is Kagawa’s replacement Lefebvre who will be rotated with Hazard. This kid has an incredible scoring record in France. The last is Adriano who I’m raising to become the clubs next ball winning midfielder.

Club World Cup results

This years Club World Cup was much more difficult than years gone by. While we beat Chivas 3-0 the performance was less convincing than the scoreline. Then we drew Sao Paulo for the final, Moura, Teixiera and Casemiro looked major threats but I was still confident enough to field a second string XI. We played well but only just squeezed the victory 2-1.

Copa del Ray results

After winning this competition three years in a row I had become accustomed to victory. The early rounds were won with ease against Alcoyano and Villarreal where I even offered the second string players a run out. However, drawing Real Madrid in the quarter-final proved a step too far as we lost on away goals…very harsh in my opinion but an early exit all the same. :(

La Liga results — first 20 games

Some of you said Malaga would require 100 plus points to win the league this season and I agree. With Real looking stronger than ever after acquiring Neymar, I had to up my game. And that is exactly what happened, Malaga won 18 matches, drew two and lost none. The perfect start to the new campaign that included four matches in which Malaga scored six or more goals.

This brilliant early form translated well in the table. Malaga hold a six point lead over Barcelona and Real Madrid as well as a game in hand.

La Liga results — last 18 games

For the second half of the season I decided to experiment tactically. I created a 4-4-2 very similar to that of Johnny’s ‘Bulldozer’ with both wingers pushed forward into the AM positions. I now have a vast array of strikers with many different qualities…this new tactic was used in all La Liga matches to offer these strikers more game time and the results were fantastic. We won 16 games, drew once away to Real Sociedad and lost narrowly away to Barcelona.

More massive scorelines led to another record breaking year. Not only did Malaga hit 105 points but we broke the record for goals scored with 130. Despite all this we still only finished 9 points clear of Real Madrid, had the season gone differently and we lost one of the ties against Real then this gap would have been just three points!

Champions League results

My Champions League group was rather interesting with Anderlecht, Leverkusen and Liverpool pulled out of the hat. I managed to field youth for the majority of these matches winning all six including a 3-0 victory over Liverpool at Anfield.

Malaga obviously qualified in top spot and Liverpool followed us into the next round. I was most impressed by our scoring tally of 21 which equates to an average of 3.5 goals per game and the 2 conceded wasn’t bad either. :)

Into the First Knockout Round and an easy draw brought about Zenit of Russia. Playing such easy opposition led me to using the new attacking 4-4-2 (or 4-2-2-2 as I should call it.) The new tactic worked wonders and Malaga won 11-3 on aggregate. The quarter-final pitted my side against Real Madrid, I decided to stick with my usual 4-5-1 due to Real’s attacking talent. The first leg was drawn 0-0 at home before we won the second leg 1-0 away. My semi-final opponents were Marseille, the French side may seem easy but I have found them tough opposition bar one one sided match. Another opportunity for my 4-5-1 to shine and Malaga squeezed out a 4-3 aggregate victory to reach the final where Manchester City await after beating Barcelona.

Champions League final vs Manchester City

Venue: Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels

Attendance: 50,000

Starting formations:

Not much to say about City’s side other than wow, just look at their attacking talent. Torres, Aguero, Holtby and Dzeko are sure to cause problems while Vidal can really break up play before making that killer pass. Having said all that I think Hart will be the match decider as he can be unbeatable on his day. I had a full strength squad to pick from and had to go for a 4-5-1 formation with counter strategy…I honestly wasn’t sure how else to deal with Man City’s threat. This match was a corker so please watch the match highlights below.

Match highlights: click here to watch the Champions League final highlights

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Match stats:

This was by far my most thrilling Champions League final. Manchester City gave us a real game and came from behind to level the match before Kara scored two vital headers. Aguero came back with 19 minutes to go but my boys held out for the 3-2 victory.

Squad stats and finances

After enjoying one of our best seasons yet Fierro really shone through with 36 goals while Hazard was top of the assists with 32. One of my most pleasing aspects though was Badelj’s replacement Guida who scored 15 and assisted 8.

Due to some good business in the transfer window my finances had racked up £68 million. This would have been more had I not invested in numerous facility upgrades.

Results with England

As you may remember last season finished with me rejecting Spain to manage England. Well below are my results for the season, we managed to win 5 World Cup Qualifiers and draw just one. However my first defeat came away to a very strong France who beat us 3-2 during a Friendly. I still don’t feel like the side has settled into my 4-5-1 tactic and this could call for a change.

We may have been a little bland in the qualifying but we’ve certainly been getting the job done and lye top of the group two points clear of second and 7 points clear of third.

Well that is all for season number six, I have more big name departures approaching in season seven so hope to see you then. Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment below.