Red Stars Munich

[mmunger]

It is the end of season 2 at Red Stars Munich and the team is a work in progress, with early success and a promising future.

I am a Bayern Munich fan who was challenged by the Top Eleven folks to try to implement my favourite club's vision here and write about it.



The vision

I set out to mold this team with an attacking style, with good balance to be able to defend. After much shuffling, I settled on a 4-4-2 since it seems to provide the best balance in T11, with a short and mixed passing game.

The squad



So far, I picked up a number of young starters on the transfer market, focusing on quiet hours to get talented Nordgens who would train fast and last long. They cost a lot of money, but I mostly avoided bidding wars and the boys are playing well.

Building from the back, I got a Norwegian keeper (Jan-Eric Rehmann, 21 years old) who rose to Scout status with game experience and training.

In defence, a fast-rising German pillar (Michael Gerba, 21), two Danish guys (Casper Vestergaard, 19, and Kristian Winther, 24), one Swede (David Fredriksson, 19) and then a Turkish veteran (Fatih Gümüspala, 30) from the scouting list. Together, they will rotate as a strong back four.

During the first two seasons, I realized the importance of a strong midfield line.

A pair of young German midfielders (Axel Jung, 18, and Otto Messer, 20) bought in recent days should become stars. On the right, a Romanian (Adrian Moldovan, 24) and a North Irish (Michael McManus, 27) pair up to take on defences.

Up front, I kept a Canadian striker (Mark Young, 20) from the original squad. He is one star under other starters, but he always seems to find the net, especially on headers. I also brought in a very fast trainer (Alexander Adler, 18)

The bench is made mostly of veterans who have enough quality to come in as a part of a healthy rotation. I sold a fair few players with high value because they could hardly come off the bench.



Results so far

We won the league in the first season.

We have gone to Champions League and Cup semis in the second year, but lost against superior opponents who had five-star and six-star players. The CL battle was a hard one. Ask the opponent who injured four players in the second leg, due to hard tackling on my part

The Red Stars finished second in the league this term, as rotation and tactical experimentation took their toll and as a Russian rival dropped few points. In fact, he lost one game... against us.



Finances

Finances went up and down during the season. Competition prizes allowed me to invest heavily in the squad and stadium.

The Red Stars will however finish the season with 2M in the bank with a squad that should be strong enough to earn a lot of money in the future.

Stadium

This is where I was the most aggressive. I did a little rushing to have the highest possible level in terms of youth academy, to have the luxury of having the first youth products available in season 3. We'll see how that goes. The training grounds and medical area already generate health packs.

The stadium brought in 2500 fans in most home games in the second season, in addition to money from merchandising and from the restaurant area.



I want to make this team competitive. Let's see how many titles it can win!

[mmunger]

Alrighty... new season and the first Cup match should be interesting... look at my opponent's lineup, with two keepers outfield, without one in front of the net!

[mmunger]

Ready for the season! After selling a few guys at the end of the last campaign and a few purchases to overhaul the bench and reserves today, the team has enough depth to field a good XI in all competitions.

Several guys will soon recover their fourth star by gaining a full quality point.



Anyone who faces this team will have a fight on their hands

[mmunger]

I received my first two youth players and I think that this one is a promising guy. 21T is a bit expensive, but I think he has the quality level to make it.

[mmunger]

New signing! I had a young backup MC who was ok, but such a slow trainer that it was obvious he would not last long with the team.

Enter a new 18 years old MC whose value tells me he should improve much faster. Got him for only one token on an initial bid!

[mmunger]

Well, that was not pretty. The Red Stars finished 8th in season 3 but the tanking effort failed, as Nordeus still promoted them. Then, in season 4, we failed to go higher than 6th but we had a semi-final run in the Cup.

In the end, quality levels were not high enough to beat the opposition in the league and I neglected them when moving to Germany.

Good news, though: we just went through a massive squad overhaul after farming tokens. Transfers were disruptive on the first day, but they will surely be productive down the road.

Tactically, we now alternate between a 4-1-3-2 and a 4-4-2, depending on the opponent at hand. The first formation may be my favourite since it has limited the number of goals conceded last season.



This edition of Red Stars Munich is different than the previous one. Most young starters are already four stars, while previous ones were three stars. They also are 18 or 19 instead of 20 or 21. Also, many key players can play two positions. This shortens the squad to optimize playing time.

The crown jewels of this generation are midfielders who have the potential to dominate games.

Martin Becker is our starting DMC who can also play DC. Aged 18 at the beginning of the season, he is four stars and training very fast. In addition, he plays well so far. I had to fight off an aggressive Chinese bidder to acquire him.



We also have Michel Petermann, an 18 years old MC. An easier picking on the transfer market, but also four stars and training very fast. I want this guy to be a decisive playmaker.



Jan-Eric Rehmann (24 years old from Norway) has been around since season 2 and he is an established GK. A five-star veteran from France is right behind him, should Rehmann falter.

Three Germans are in defence.

Oskar Müller (19) is our new DR. The fast trainer will play alongside René Braun (20) a product of the academy in his third season. Braun's DC partner is Jan Hendrik Jurkovic (19), another guy who rose from the youth ranks. He can also play as DMC.

The defence is rounded up by Miljan Sarovic (26) at DL. The team captain from Serbia has played great football since joining last season.

What about the flanks? We have Kalju Saar (21) at ML. The Estonian is five stars, still trains fast and he is an attacking threat. On the right, our starter is Anthony Berton, a well-rounded 25 years old Belgian.

A "backup" MC is Sven Schmeer, a five-star German who is 22 years old. Should Petermann alternate between playing and power training, Schmeer will step in. He also has massive defensive skills, which can be useful against superior opposition.

We have a very strong duo at ST. Jan Forsberg from Sweden is just 19, with one season under his belt. He trains very fast and scores often. His partner and backup is veteran Cosmin Vasilescu, a 5-star guy from Romania.

The rest of the squad is made of four-star veterans.

I want the Red Stars Munich to win the league this season and make a good Cup run. I'm gunning for the treble next season.

[mmunger]

A future star in the ranks?

The academy threw its two young players at me and I was not sure whether to sign a 18T guy, as I was used to 21T for the best of the two youngsters. I decided to bet on him and I got this:



Clearly better than I expected, with a higher value than I thought I would get. The third most valuable player on the team. This guy better get ready for some training!

Interestingly enough, it is the third DMC to come out of the youth ranks so far.

THe U21 also produced a 0T keeper, but you know what we do with the slower trainers... there already is an offer on him, minutes after putting him on the market.



And sold. It is always nice when your youth products find buyers.

[mmunger]

Back on top, baby! First place after 9 matchdays. My team faced all the top competitors in the first few matchdays, so there is a reasonable chance to stay high up there.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mmunger]

Who is the most consistent player in our league at level 5?

Anthony Berton, our MR, who currently has an average of 7.68 per game. Aged 25, he plays his best football in what turns out as the best season for the team in a while.



A look at his league stats may deceive you:



Gee, you know, just two goals, three assists and twice man of the match?

The answer to that is balanced skills. As you can see below, the guy is almost as strong defensively as he is offensively.



That may contribute to the fact that the team has conceded just 12 goals in 15 matches, the best defensive record in the league.

[mmunger]

A new boy in town! Is he a future star?



I could not resist picking this Nordgen up when I saw his listing on the transfer market in the morning. An 18 years old MC who already is 5 stars, close to a sixth, with a high price tag.

I never care about special abilities, but Corner Specialist is one of the rare I pay attention to.

With the quality of my squad, I can afford the luxury of training him for a few days. If he fares well, I will integrate him in the team progressively.

Kudos to my bidding opponent, who did not risk a war