Hey guys and welcome to my Football Manager 2012 Malaga story season 8 report. Let me start by saying happy new year, I hope you all had a great holiday and have a wonderful 2012. Now back to the story, last time out Malaga won everything available and I also won the World Cup with England. Shortly after that I swapped England for Brazil and started preparations for my eighth and final season with Malaga. That is right, after this update I will be finishing up this save. There is the Copa America to report on but that will be my last, I then plan to take a break before deciding who my next save will be with. But we still have this season to look forward too and we’ll begin with my transfers.
I brought in a few new first team players. The first is Chamberlain who will rotate on the right wing with Sterling. After Ian Pepper impressed for England I purchased him to fill in at center back. Ricardinho was just irresistible and by clicking his name you’ll see why, the Brazilian striker will be rotated upfront. I also purchased Haser as a young prospect for the left wing with Hazard ageing fast. With these new arrivals I had to offload some of my better stars that were growing too old, this helped me raise £100 million including the bizarre loan fee that Liverpool paid for Niang.
Club World Cup results
As always we will begin my results report far afield with the Club World Cup. After reaching the final Brazilian champions, Corinthians, made us work very hard for the result with Malaga finally wrapping it up in extra-time 2-1.
La Liga results — first 20 matches
With a lot of important first team players sold in the summer I was putting my faith in the Y2G system and some well raised youth. We won 18, drew one and lost one of our first 20 matches which is a superb start to the season. My favourite match came in the 10-0 victory over Valladolid.
The brilliant form translated well on paper as Malaga were top of the table, two points above Barcelona with 3 matches in hand.
La Liga results — last 18 matches
The first half of the season went extremely well, but I’m afraid my usual high standards took a hit during our last 18 matches. While Malaga still won 14 matches and drew the other 4 we performed well under par. I was very happy with some results but entered every game unsure of which Malaga side would enter the pitch, this inconsistency could only be put down to myself offloading so many key squad members during the summer.
Having said all that what really matters is silverware and we sealed the title with ease. Barcelona remained the nearest competition but finished the season 14 points behind us.
Copa del Ray results
The Copa del Ray provided an easy draw for Malaga. After waltzing past Guijuelo, Almeria and Granada we beat Getafe in the semi-final to setup a final match against some worthy opponents in Real Madrid. This was my easiest route to the final since taking charge at Malaga.
Copa del Ray final vs Real Madrid
Venue: Estadio de Madrid
Attendance: 73,000
Starting formations:
Real Madrid still have a good side but seem to be living in the past. Ramos, Ronaldo, Higuain, Ozil etc etc are all past their best in my opinion and the Real side is much in need of some fresh new blood. On the other hand my Malaga side is full of youth with the majority of my players been under the age of 25. This match was a real thriller and rather than try explain it I’ll just leave you to watch the highlights below…also look out for the worst piece of sporting fair play I’ve seen in FM!!
Match highlights: Click here to watch the Copa del Ray final match highlights
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Match stats:
Malaga dominated this match and bar one early scare deserved the result fully. It was also nice to see Ricardo, my Brazilian midfielder play so well leading up to the Copa America. :)
Champions League results
My Champions League group proved to be easy batting practice. Most matches featured my second XI but we still won 5 and lost just the final match.
Malaga finished top of their group followed closely by Lyon, I was a little disgruntled to lose our final match but very happy to still secure the so called easier route.
The First Knockout Round draw pitted my boys against Celtic and we won with relative ease 6-3 on aggregate. However, the quarter-final was much tougher as Real Madrid offered a bit of fight. We could only draw the first leg at home 1-1, I then feared elimination but my boys came through in the second leg winning 1-0 away from home. Then my semi-final opponents were a step too far for my young team as Man Utd won both legs, at home 1-0 and away 2-1. So after winning the Champions League over the last 5 consecutive seasons my stronghold on Europe has ended, but we were a cut below the rest if I’m honest.
Squad stats and finances
After a good if not spectacular season I was left to thank a few players. Almost all my defenders were amazing while Hazard was the best attacking minded player with 11 goals and 26 assists. Upfront new signing Ricardinho managed to match Fierro in the goal scoring department with 32 goals a piece.
As you may remember I see finances as a huge part of the game. Winning trophies is not enough in my opinion and when you look at RL clubs losing money left right and center I like to try make money to escape the grim reality of modern day football. Thankfully that has happened with Malaga and I finish my rein with £221 million in the bank, considering our success and squad that is an excellent amount which leaves us the third richest club in the World with Real Madrid and Barcelona the only two above us.
Now we move swiftly on to my International management and Brazil. After taking over I had some Friendlies in which to test the water before 2019. I decided to use Johnny’s Barcelona 4-3-3 tactic, generally assigning an attacking strategy at home and against easy opposition while going with a counter strategy away from home and against tougher opposition. The counter tactic worked wonders as we beat France away 4-0 and Italy away 2-0, but the attacking tactic left us open to shock results including a 1-1 draw at home to Australia and 2-1 loss at home to Greece.
I decided to give the attacking tactic one last try away from home to Cyprus and even though we dominated yet again Brazil just managed to win 4-3. With the Copa America approaching I decided to stick with the counter attacking version of Johnny’s Barcelona tactic only as the more attacking version was causing too many upsets. You can read up more on Johnny’s exceptional tactic here.
That is almost everything for today’s update so I’ll just leave you with the Copa America draw. Brazil are in the same group as Ecuador, Mexico and Paraguay. Not exactly easy but I’d certainly expect to qualify, Mexico have some amazing talent while the other two should hopefully just make up the numbers. For those who wanted to see the regens that made me choose Brazil over Argentina, I’ll introduce them during the next post which is on the Copa America.
Well that is all for today, my rein in Spain has come to an end but this save still has one more update left. I hope you will join me to see how Brazil perform in the Copa America. Until then thanks for reading and I can’t wait to see your comments as always.
P.S. Can someone explain to me how Japan made it into the Copa America? I have heard of some glitches on the latest patch but this is a little weird.
Sears
5 января, 2012 at 19:34
Another fantastic season mate, it’s a real shame you couldn’t cap it off with another CL win. Nevertheless,really looking forward to your new story!
About Japan, don’t South America invite a team from outside South America to play in the Copa America? And I think after the earthquake in Japan last year, Japan were invited, so maybe that’s why they can still be invited in FM. Just a guess lol
Darren Smith
5 января, 2012 at 20:38
Thanks Sears, it turns out you’re correct about the invitation to Copa America. :) Who’d have thought ;)
TheZiggy
5 января, 2012 at 19:52
Ricardinho looks so good, it’s obscene. With those attributes I can see how he scored 32 goals. He really must terrorize the opposition defence.
As for Japan appearing in the Copa America, check out this Wikipedia link. It’s seems quite insane, but if scroll down the Invitees section, you’ll find out how and why.
TheZiggy
5 января, 2012 at 19:54
Seems the links don’t quite work properly in comments: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copa_Am%C3%A9rica
You’ll have to copy and paste it. How rough is that?
Darren Smith
5 января, 2012 at 20:39
I agree mate, Ricardinho is insane and the main reason behind trying to offload Niang. :) Thanks for your help on the Japan invitation, I didn’t realize that was how it all worked. Turns out Spain got an invite one year but turned it down :)
PeeDub
5 января, 2012 at 20:13
Japan has actually been invited to the Copa America three times, and are the only team outside North and Central America to have been invited.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copa_Am%C3%A9rica
So, maybe FM is that much better than you imagined in the realism department. :)
PeeDub
5 января, 2012 at 20:15
(Mental note: must refresh before commenting …)
Darren Smith
5 января, 2012 at 20:41
Thanks for the info mate, according to that page it isn’t just limited to American and Oceanic countries either, Spain received an invite one year which is bizarre…cheers.
PeeDub
5 января, 2012 at 21:26
So I guess I should say that Japan is the only nation outside North and Central America to *compete* as an invitee.
Darren Smith
5 января, 2012 at 21:32
I think that is right, but hey, you knew more than I did two hours ago so I wouldn’t be surprised if someone corrected me :) That’s what I love about FM, I wouldn’t know the game as well without it.
Peter_G
18 января, 2012 at 16:40
I won the Copa America with England on an old FM but can’t remember which one?
Kevin
5 января, 2012 at 20:15
Hi Darren
First off, Sears is correct. The Copa America always has an invitational team and in fact Japan as strong links with South America. If you think about it Mexico shouldn’t be there either as they play in the Gold Cup as well with the US and Canada!
Back to Malaga and hard luck with the Champions League but has usual you have Spain totally under your control and congrats on another excellent domestic season.
Also well done in beating United 3-0 on Wednesday night :)
Darren Smith
5 января, 2012 at 20:59
Thanks for the info Kevin, when you actually stop and consider who makes it to the Copa America the invitation things makes much more sense but I hadn’t even considered that. :)
To be honest Man Utd were by far the better team and deserved to beat Malaga in the CL but I’m just happy that wasn’t the case in real life against Newcastle the other night :) Must admit I was very proud of the performance. :)
John Martin
5 января, 2012 at 21:11
Hi mate another great season with the title and the copa del ray. Unlucky with the champions leauge. Any ideas or hints with your next story?
Darren Smith
5 января, 2012 at 21:30
Thanks John, to be honest I don’t know what to do as I am struggling in the aftermath of my Malaga save. I tried a little game with Charlton and failed miserably lol :) But I have played the game far too much recently and need a break so I can play a ‘proper’ game…as in analyse everything the way I usually would and take my time. That Charlton game was a string of continue, continue, continue…So in answer to your question I’m not sure yet.
Mike
5 января, 2012 at 21:32
Well done mate, to have that kind of success along with 221 million pounds in the bank is quite something. I’d love to see you start a Roma save after your break, they’re a lot of fun and I’m curious as to what kind of tactics you would create for them.
CsAtlantis
5 января, 2012 at 22:56
Congratulations on winning the league and the cup (man that was one ugly final!)
You fell short in the Champions League but it could be due to you selling off a lot of your senior players
Liverpool paying 10 million pounds for Niang on loan was amazing, did they agree a future fee too?
Copa America up next before you complete this save eh, guess you’ll have to watch our for Fierro, he’s in the Mexico squad I assume
I agree with Mike’s suggestion above, but I would suggest a different team, perhaps Sampdoria?
Darren Smith
6 января, 2012 at 12:23
That was a very ugly final but the end result didn’t really show it. Like I’ve mentioned we just didn’t feel unstoppable this season and that must be down to my eager selling techniques, which in the end probably became our downfall in Europe.
Liverpool did have a price agreed at around £30+ million I think…but they never offered it and I offered him out for something like £24 million which was accepted by some club. Should be interesting to see Fierro and Torres play side by side but I fancy my chances. :)
We’ll see what happens with my future club but I need a break for now to avoid a playing a game that I won’t give the same detail I usually would.
Neil_b
6 января, 2012 at 02:52
Hi Kevin,
Congrats on winning the league a Great Achievement.
The Champions League is a Tough Competition to win at the best of times and it just shows that any team can beat anyone on their day.
New Team wise I would like to suggest one of the following two teams as they are both close to my heart and would love to see how you can weave your magic with them:
Gainsborough Trinity in the Blue Square North
Scunthorpe United in League One
Darren Smith
6 января, 2012 at 12:19
Thanks Neil (its Darren by the way, but no worries.)
The CL was a little weird as every other season we felt indestructible but not this year….~I just knew United were going to beat me. Both those suggestions are interesting and will get considered…I am not sure about lower league football as I prefer to play what I actually enjoy and that is teams I know or have a connection with…but I’ll see how I feel nearer the time.
Malhar Bhadbhade
6 января, 2012 at 03:41
hey Darren,
happy new year to you too! another fantastic season with Malaga and despite not winning the champions league, you dominated Spain again which is great…i think it is the right time to end this story…you’ve won everything there is to win and there wasn’t much else left to do, what with having a stadium named after you and smashing top clubs left, right and centre in the champions league. the copa america report will be very interesting, can’t wait to see what happens…and also can’t wait to see your squad! dont want to pester you about our next story and team….but will it be back to England and its lower divisions? Cheers and good luck with the Copa!
Malhar Bhadbhade
6 января, 2012 at 03:43
about your* next story and team…lol
Darren Smith
6 января, 2012 at 12:16
Thanks mate, dominating Spain again was nice but felt a little annoyed not to win the CL in my last year. We’ll see where my next challenge lies but for now I need to stop playing so often before my wife divorces me. :)
Malhar Bhadbhade
7 января, 2012 at 03:15
hahaha okay Darren, wife comes first!! take a break and take your time to decide your next challenge. looking forward to finding out what it will be. cheers :)
vaibhavc
6 января, 2012 at 07:38
Well, the Champions League was a disappointment but you did well in everything else. You still managed to conquer Spain, though. You can choose your team, but I recommend Sampdoria. They got relegated last season from Serie A. And congrats on beating us 3-0.
Darren Smith
6 января, 2012 at 12:14
Thanks Vaibhav, I don’t know about Italy as I haven’t enjoyed management there in the past but will have to think on it…for now I’m messing around with the toon. :)
tom
6 января, 2012 at 08:06
Really enjoy your stories darren…and ur work on the scouting network is fantastic…
Would love to see you take on the challenge of West Ham in you next save (i know im biased being a west ham fan)…ive challenged myself to try and recreate an english backbone to the side (with a sprinkling of young stars from other countries) like the 1966 team…when west ham singled handedly won the world cup under the name of england ;) …
keep up the good work!
Darren Smith
6 января, 2012 at 12:13
Thanks Tom, West Ham would be a nice team manage but I have to rule them out as Lye over at FMStory is writing about them already and I prefer to bring something new into our little circle of communities but we’ll see.
Johnny Karp
6 января, 2012 at 08:18
That was a great season despite that Champions League setback, well done! About Japan, I know that they were going to participate in the Copa America last summer but pulled out of the tournament because of the devastating earthquake. I don’t know why the attacking tactic is causing problems, maybe the defenders are a bit slow, but it’s good to see that the counter version is delivering the results. Good luck for the Copa!
Darren Smith
6 января, 2012 at 12:12
Thanks Johnny, as for the Copa America well you learn something new every day and I learned a lot on that subject :) I don’t really know what the issue was with the attacking tactic, the defense wasn’t slow really but the team just felt complacent so maybe some bad team talks on my half…either way the counter tactic works nicely for me.
luke
6 января, 2012 at 12:24
Hi darren
Could you possibly provide a copy of your last save! i really enjoy the game once there are ots of good regens so i would like to continue your save if possible? let me know if you would be willing to do that?
Amazing story btw I always read them but rarely comment!
Darren Smith
6 января, 2012 at 18:41
I will provide my save game for download after the Copa America is finished mate.
Ryan
6 января, 2012 at 14:49
Hi Darren! I’ve been a silent reader of this blog for a while now after coming across it by chance via a google search. Must say I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading your progress as Malaga manager..it must be a great feeling to overtake super clubs like Real and Barca in Spain and congats to you for turning Malaga into a superpower, making them able to now compete with Real Madrid And Barca financially. Regarding your next career move — I’d love it if you took over another nearly team in Spain like Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia or lower down in the table and turned them into perennial title challengers, domestically and Europe, let us know what you decide mate, cheers.
Darren Smith
6 января, 2012 at 18:46
Thanks Ryan, I’m happy to hear you have enjoyed my story. I know people say that it’s not all about winning, but as you mentioned it feels very good to reach such heights and that feeling is why I play the game, just as much as I do for the challenge. What ever I decide to do in my next save it won’t be a continuation of this one but I can’t quite fathom what I feel like doing and that is unusual for me. Normally I’d only stop a save because I’m desperate to try something else. I just need to slow my game time down a little then I’ll have a clearer picture in my head.
Martin Pickard
6 января, 2012 at 16:05
Congrats on another successful season. Shame you didn’t win the Champions League to really finish off the story in style. I’ve enjoyed reading your post and I’m glad you kept posting even when you’d stopped lol…if that make sense. Have an awesome break…you deserve it lol.
As for your next story how about…managing a lower league team that are based near your location…I live near a Non-League team called ‘Silsden’ and have always thought about trying to take them to the dizzy heights on the Prem lol, theres loads of created databases that go down to level 10…just an idea.
Dont say away too long lol :)
Darren Smith
6 января, 2012 at 18:39
I agree Martin, it was a shame to not sign off from Malaga with the CL victory but I still have the Copa America to look forward to. Funny you should mention it but I support a very lowly side in Scarborough but don’t like downloading edited databases as I hear a lot of them are faulty and don’t show it until later in the game. I’ll have to have a think on it but you may be on the right track.
Alex
6 января, 2012 at 16:57
A great league campaign there. I look forward to seeing how you do in the Copa America.
As for a new save, I would like to see you manage the San Marino national team and try and win the world cup but I realise not many people would want to try that. Maybe try and win the CL with an obscure team from a league with an awful reputation (I’m trying it at the moment in Northern Ireland and it’s great fun).
Darren Smith
6 января, 2012 at 18:36
Thanks Alex, I’m looking forward to the Copa America too. As for the next save I will just do whatever feels natural to me but it won’t be an ‘impossible save’ as I call it….ie winning the World Cup with San Marino as I feel like powers beyond the gamers control make that task impossible and therefore very frustrating but we’ll see what happens.
Woody
6 января, 2012 at 18:43
Your team dominated first half if the season and most of the second half of the season
I think your team was very unlucky in the copa del ray final
And in Europe I agree that your team were below par
I think it’s the right decision to leave this save because I agree that pretty much the same story every season in recent seasons. Can get a little boring
Anyway well done and a great achievement in this save.
Ana Garcia
6 января, 2012 at 19:05
Hola Darren!
Well I am sad to see your story in Spain end, as a fan of la liga it was nice to see. :)
You did pretty much win everything though, so you cant complain really!
But Betis 4th! They scored 89 goals who do they have?!
Best of luck in the Copa America, I did know why Japan was there! But it seems you have already been given the reason why so I wont try and explain it! :)
In terms of your next story you could try going further abroad, trying to take your philosophy to Asia or Africa as they are always competitive places but I know that isnt fun for everyone so am sure you will find a team that will peak your interest.
Good luck!! :)
Darren Smith
6 января, 2012 at 20:19
Hey Ana, It was a good end to the story in Spain and as for Betis, well looking at their team they have a few good regens but nothing more so maybe its just team spirit ;)
I really don’t know what will happen with my next story, I’m currently passing the time with my team Newcastle but need some thinking time before selecting a team.
Jordy
6 января, 2012 at 19:24
Hey Darren, awesome job in the league and cup, too bad about Europe, but hey, you can’t win them all :)
I was just wondering, what are you doing when selling players to get those nice sums? :) Do you transfer list them, offer them to clubs, both, neither? :) This is something i seem to struggle a bit with in my saves, getting good money from selling players, so any advice would be appreciated
Darren Smith
6 января, 2012 at 20:43
Thanks Jordy. When selling a player I just offer him to clubs at an appropriate amount and he automatically is entered to the transfer list. You must offer a player that has played though and you can’t expect much for someone that isn’t of a good quality.
Lye
7 января, 2012 at 03:02
Hi Darren,
This is an amazing end to your Malaga story. You have transformed a modest club to the top of the world and you can be proud of that. Too bad about the CL loss but i don’t think you will be too disappointed by that. It’s still a fruitful season on your standards. Looking forward to your next club and good luck with Brazil.
Darren Smith
7 января, 2012 at 12:45
Thanks Lye, I was delighted with the story in general and the last season went well all considered. We’ll just see what happens with Brazil now. :)
mario
7 января, 2012 at 21:26
Hi Darren,
first of all,congratulations on everything you’ve done during your time in Malaga.Constantly beating Barca and Real isn’t an easy job but you made it.But I’ve one question — how do you motivate yourself to continue playing when you’ve beaten them all?I mean,didn’t playing in BBVA got you kinda bored?I can understand playing in Champions league,you probably get different opponents every time,but beating sevilla,betis,mallorca (not to mention barca and real) over and over isn’t much of a fun.I’m asking this because I love to manage Wolverhampton although I’m not from UK and don’t know anything about their history.Only motivation I’ve got is that they are Wolves and my last name on my language means wolf.That’s not the problem,problem is that every time,and I mean every time (during holidays I started playing game from the beginning with the same team about 5 times.I can’t motivate myself to pick any other club,maybe Wolfsburg) I finished 4th.That’s in first season considering that I sold all of the actual wolves players and brought new ones that aren’t much of a stars,well they would be in five years :D and in second season I usually bring more wonderkids (wijnaldum,ter stegen,fierro,weiss,dos santos,jali,stepanenko,toloi,munoz) and can’t force myself to play games with them.I tried once and I demolished every team in first ten games.I couldn’t handle anymore,so I started again.From the beginning.btw I’m using my own tactrics,training schedules and I’m definitely against cheating.So,I know I got you bored by now reading this,but can you give me any suggestion what should I do.stop playing because it’s to easy?I’ve tried managing team from npower leagues but can’t connect with the club like I do with Wolves.
thanks for reading :D
Darren Smith
7 января, 2012 at 22:51
I couldn’t agree more mate. I didn’t start blogging until near the end of FM 2010, before then I was similar to you. I’d do two or three seasons before losing interest and starting again. But then I started writing about my saves and that made me carry on and play the game in more detail. Because I was offering people tips I felt the need to try different things in order to offer new guides. That is what made me the gamer I am today. You main piece of advice I can offer is try to find a club or challenge that interests you then things will take care of themselves. Maybe even start a story in the sites forum, that may help hold your interest when people show an interest in what you are doing.
Bhargav
8 января, 2012 at 09:57
Darren, this was the greatest showcase of your Y2G system that you could have done. The margin between you and second place is crazy! I can’t wait to see what team will be graced by you next but I am so excited!
Darren Smith
8 января, 2012 at 13:10
Thanks mate, I think the Y2G system worked best because the board allowed me room to move with cash so I could bring in the players I wanted then assess who could leave. Rather than having to sell players and then try to sign replacements where the price tag is too high etc etc.
cod mw3
8 января, 2012 at 18:45
Can you after malaga try a career with a belgian team as KAA Gent because this is a team that is very hard to play with.
Darren Smith
8 января, 2012 at 18:59
I’m not sure what I’ll be doing yet but it will only be a game that interests me and the team needs to mean something too…I think that is what makes a gamer keep playing.
harv
3 февраля, 2012 at 10:59
Darren whats the tactic you used in the world cup with england?
Darren Smith
3 февраля, 2012 at 11:39
It was a 4-4-2 with both wingers pushed up to AM positions…you can download it here http://www.mediafire.com/?v0wjn9wsc4rjbwy
Basically the same as the tactic I used with Malaga.
harv
3 февраля, 2012 at 12:17
cheers darren
Eoin Cowen
24 марта, 2012 at 11:04
Hi Darren,a bit late, I know. lol
Anyway just wanted to know if theres a download for this post and if so could you put up a link
thanks in advance
Darren Smith
24 марта, 2012 at 12:44
A download for which part of the post Eoin, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.
Eoin Cowen
24 марта, 2012 at 17:41
sorry, i meant save.. lol
any part really…
Darren Smith
24 марта, 2012 at 18:08
No problem, you can download it here http://www.mediafire.com/?b2gu174fjug2zxv