CA Boca Juniors Team Guide in FM2008
Average Rating: 7/10 Hits: 831 Submitted: Nov 16, 2007
Here you can find various hints and tips when it comes to managing Boca Juniors in Football Manager 2008. Ranging from all the basic information about the club, the history of the club, the expectations of the club in both the current season and over the coming years, an overview of the squad and players at your disposal, the best players to buy, the players you should be looking to sell, the best tactics to use, both for attack and defensive and much, much more.
Basically everything you need to know, to aid your career managing Boca Juniors in the Argentine Premier League, in FM2008.
As in Real Life, in Football Manager 2008 Boca Juniors are one of the best teams in the New World, if not the best one. The club is always a national title chaser and strong contender for the Libertadores Cup (Similar to UEFA's Champions League).
The Board has a two year plan in which they expect that the manager wins the Argentine Premier League. Although you have a small transfer and wage budget, its enough to get a few players in the South American transfer market. Boca Juniors' initial team need little reinforcements and you should manage to fight for the title with no transferred in player in the first season, as long as you don't sell major players and don't get the right substitutes.
Boca Juniors
Nation: Argentina
Founded: 1905
Status: Professional
Reputation: Continental
Chairman Status: Loves the Club
Favoured Personnel: Carlos Bianchi, Carlos Tevez, Juan Roman Riquelme, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Martin Palermo, Sebastian Battaglia, Oscar Cordoba, Diego Cagna, Roberto Abbondanzieri, Blas Giunta, Diego Maradona and Gabriel Batistuta
Fierce Rivals: River Plate, Idependiente, San Lorenzo and Racing Club
Other Rivals: Chacarita
Stadium: Alberto J. Armando (La Bombonera)
Capacity: 57,395 (19,857 Seated)
Pitch Size: Length: 105m Width:68m
Pitch Maximun Size: Length: 112m Width:74m
Training Facilities: Top training facilities
Youth Facilities: Good Facilities
Media Prediction : 1st
Captain: Martin Palermo
Parent Clubs: None
Feeder Clubs: Almagro, Estudiantes (BA), Excurcionistas, Juv. Antoniana (Argentina) and Emelec (Ecuador)
Transfer Budget: £5m
Wage Budget: £323k
In real life
Boca Juniors was born on Monday april 3rd,1905, when five young boys who lived in La Boca neighbourhood (Esteban Baglietto, Alfredo Scarpatti, Santiago Sana and brothers Juan and Teodoro Farenga) got together at SolÃs Square with the intention to found a football club.
Without even imagining it, this group of italian inmigrants wrote the first pages of the rich history of Argentina's most popular football club.
The name of the club was taken from that of the neighbourhood but the word "Juniors" was added to give it an english tone and enhance it with more prestige, in order to counteract the "difficult neighbourhood" fame La Boca had gained at that time.
During its first years, Boca Juniors wore different shirts that were changed constantly until the well-known classic blue and yellow one was adopted.
The first shirt was pink, followed by a vertically striped black and white one until 1907, when both yellow and blue colors were adopted. These colors were taken from the swedish flag on a boat which was moored in the port during those days
Boca Juniors shows a great track record in amateur competitions, wining 7 titles. 1919, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1930 Championships and the Honour Cup in 1925.
In the Profesional League, the xeneize club won the following championships: 1931, 1934, 1935, 1940, 1943, 1944, 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, Argentina Cup and National in 1969, National in 1970, Metropolitan and National in 1976, Metropolitan in 1981, Apertura '92, Apertura '98, Clausura '99, Apertura 2000, Apertura 2003 and Apertura 2005. * Boca won local Clausura '91, but lost the season uniting final against Newell's Old Boys de Rosario.
Another glorious chapter in the club's history is that of the international achievements. Boca won the Libertadores Cup six times (1977, 1978, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2007), the Intercontinental Cup three times (1977, 2000 and 2003), one Supercopa (1989), three Southamerican Cups (2004 and 2005), three Southamerican Recopa (1990, 2005 and 2006), one Master Cup (1992) and one Nicolás Leoz Golden Cup (1993).
Throughout almost one hundred years of history many players wore the blue and gold shirt and ended up as absolute idols in the institution, such as Francisco Varallo, Mario Boyé, Angel Clemente Rojas, Antonio Roma, Alfredo Rojas, Antonio RattÃn, Vicente PernÃa, Hugo Gatti, Silvio Marzolini, Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta, MartÃn Palermo and Juan Román Riquelme.
Stripes
The original jersey colour was pink, which was quickly abandoned for thin black-and-white vertical stripes. The legend has it that in 1906 Boca played another team that used these colors, to decide who would get to keep them. Boca lost, and decided to adopt the colors of the flag of the first boat to subsequently sail into the port at La Boca which was the 4146 ton freighter Drottning Sophia, sailing from Copenhagen. As the boat was from Sweden, yellow and blue were adopted as the new team colours. The first version had a yellow diagonal band, which was later changed to a horizontal stripe.
Reduced: 86% of original size [ 736 x 548 ] - Click to view full image
Crests
The club have had five different crests in their history, the outer shape of the crest has remained unchanged throughout Boca's history. In 1955, laurel leaves were added to celebrate the club's 50th anniversary, and the colours were changed to match those on the team's jersey.
In 1970, one star was added to the badge for each title won [16] domestically (top part, above the initials) and internationally (bottom part). A new star was added to the corresponding section whenever Boca wins a title. To the delight of fans, the crest had to be modified several times in recent years. In 2007 the club changed its crest to include only 3 stars, one for each Intercontinental Cup / Club world title.
The Ground - La Bombonera (The Chocalate Box!)
Boca Juniors first stadium was an old wooden field built up in the starting 20s in the same site where La Bombonera stands nowadays.
In was in that field where the xeneize team played during the Amateur years and conquered its first titles in the Professional league, until construction works for the new concrete Stadium began on february 18, 1938.
From 1938 to 1940, Boca had to play his home matches in Ferro Carril Oeste Stadium while the engineer, Mr. José L. Delpini headed the construction works.
The great moment finally arrived on May 25,1940. "Boca's Coliseum" -that's how they used to call it-, was opened with a friendly match against San Lorenzo de Almagro, in which the xeneizes won 2-0, with 2 goals scored by Ricardo Alarcón.
At the beginning, the Bombonera had 2 of the 3 current tiers and it wasn't until 1949 that it was decided to resume the last construction phase which was completed in 1953.
During 43 years nothing changed in the construction anatomy of the Stadium until 1996, when -under Mauricio Macri's presidency- a big remodelling was approved.
The old Executive Boxes on Del Valle Iberlucea Street were pulled down and replaced by a small tier over which the current VIPBoxes were built.
Name of the Stadium: Alberto J. Armando
Address: Brandsen 805, Capital Federal
Inauguration date: 25 de mayo de 1940
Approximate capacity: 57.395 espectadores
Constructor: Ingeniero José L. Delpini
The stadium offers parking facilities to the members of the club and holders of season tickets. Access to this facility is on Espora street (to parking lot 1 and 2) or on the corner of Aristóbulo del Valle and Irala (to parking lot 3).
Services
The stadium features a coffee and pastry shop, a bar, and facilites offered by concessionaires.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ScGHL_ogGg
In Football Manager
As in Real Life, in Football Manager 2008 Boca Juniors are one of the best teams in the New World, if not the best one. The club is always a national title chaser and strong contender for the Libertadores Cup (Similar to UEFA's Champions League).
The Board has a two year plan in which they expect that the manager wins the Argentine Premier League. Although you have a small transfer and wage budget, its enough to get a few players in the South American transfer market. Boca Juniors' initial team need little reinforcements and you should manage to fight for the title with no transferred in player in the first season, as long as you don't sell major players and don't get the right substitutes.
I do recommend you to go for challenging for the title, as there is little opposition, perhaps only River Plate, San Lorenzo and Racing Club can actually give you a hard time during the first couple of seasons.
Financially Boca Juniors are quite stable, the massive fans support tend to get La Bombonera packed even on friendly games! Your bank balance should never be a real problem during your stay at Boca Juniors.
During European pre-season, you'll notice a big interest on several of your players. I recommend you not to sell them during June, July and August. Hold on to them as after half a season or at the end of the season, they are worth much more, and the offers will still be coming. You might be tempted in selling Palacio for around £15M, but you can get as much as £25M for the fast forward!
Your Squad
Goalkeepers'
I believe that this is the most critical position at the club. Both players on the senior team are medium-low class players, and should be replaced at the first opportunity. As aerial game is not a big style of play in Argentina, I would go with Mauricio Caranta as the starting keeper.
On your reserves, you do have a Medium-Good class keeper, Ezequiel Medran, but he is out on loan until 30.6.2009, by that time you should have other keepers in your squad.
You do have a young keeper Velasco, but he is too eccentric, and he should not be taken seriously as a future keeper for the club.
Defenders'
The defense of Boca Juniors is quite solid and is built around Gabriel Paletta and Matias Silvestre. Although Silvestre's stats aren't great, he is very consistent and quite a good player to rely on. The defense pair are not quite balanced but work well together, Paletta being a more physical and aggressive player, while Silvestre is more of a pacy defender. As back ups, you have the likes of Joel Barbosa and Jonathan Maidana, who is quite impressive with his stats, and should win the battle against Silvestre by the end of the season to see who should be starting. Barbosa is a good player, but not enough for Boca Juniors, you should think of sell him and get a young player to train into a great defender.
The central defenders out on loan on the reserve team are crap and should be sold or released as they return from their loan deal.
On the right flank you have veteran Hugo Ibarra, who is a good technical player, and besides 33 yo he still got an adequate pace, but stamina is going down. As he is the only right back, I recommend you to get a backup player for the position. Out on loan you do have a few good players, like Calvo and Julio Barroso, who in real life is a promising player. Unfortunetaly they return from their loans in 2009.
On the other side, you are comfortable with two good left backs. Claudio Morel is my recommendation for starter, but Krupoviesa could be played on home matches as he is more offensive based than Morel. Young Matias Cahais can also be played as a left back.
Midfielders'
Boca Juniors are famous for great midfielders in their history. Their hard working midfielders' school are quite great and showed the world players like Riquelme and Gago. Currently they have defensive midfielders, and despite the defensive, they are good box-to-box players. I would choose Pablo Ledesma as the starting defensive midfielder, for his high teamwork ability and good marking and stamina. With only 23 yo, he is a promising player in the Argentine football.
Battaglia and Alvaro Gomes are players with good attributes, but nothing spectacular. I would hold on to Battaglia, and terminate Gomes' loan deal. I would use Battaglia as my second center midfielder, with less defensive functions and more offensive jobs. Finaly there is Fabian Vargas, a good Colombian defensive midfielder. His high aggression combined with a good marking and tackling skills makes him a good player to use when you want to close down your midfield.
Boca is a bit short on creative midfielders and I would recommend you to bring a good player to fill in, or a star player to start of as first XI. Jesus Datolo is fast and good at crossings, he works well with target men, but has poor creativity. Leandro Gracian is a good center attacking midfielder, but he develops slowly, and never gets to be a great player that a Boca supporter always expects. Try to get rid of both of them when you get the right players in. I would promote Cristian Chavez from the reserve team and use him as an option in the offensive midfield. He is a good passer and good finisher, might get a few goals during the season if playing the right role. Neri Cardozo is a good winger, but I don't like to depend on him. As his poor creativity and poor passing is not a good combination to his high speed, agility and acceleration. Keep him in the squad until you get a few silverware and he value goes up, then you should sell him.
On the reserve team, there are a few players that you would like to count on during the first season. Unfortunately they are out on loan. Omar Perez and Sergio Orteman are the two you might want to pay closer attention. Franzoia and Marino are good players too. But again, all out on loan, and should be expected back only by 2009. You have a quite good right midfielder in the reserve setup, Nicolas Bertoto. But in my opinion, he should train as a right wingback and be played as Ibarra's reserve in that position. Miguel Caneo is out injured, and should be coming back after 3 months. He's a good player and should make the senior team after recovery.
Strikers'
Upfront you have six players, of which you can expect a good deal of great games from 4 of them! Rodrigo Palacio is the best striker, and possibly the best player in the squad. HOLD ON TO HIM as much as you can, when he does feel its time to move on, you can sell him. But wait for the big bucks of Man Utd, Barcelona, AC Milan and Chelsea, that are the usual teams to declare interest in the forward. By his side, you should start Martin Palermo, who is a classic target man. Tall and strong, Palermo's trademark is using his body to get to goals.
Former PSG striker Carlos Bueno would be the 3rd strength in the attacking line. I would play him in Palermo's spot, and not together with Palermo. Mauro Boselli should be your fourth option, but I have seen games on FM2007 where Boselli was the leading striker in the international side at the age of 27, so pay attention to him. Marco Mondani could be a good player, but to be honest, I've seen him play in real life, and he does SUCKS! His stats are good, and he has composure, so keep an eye on him. Raul Estevez can be released!
On your reserve team, you have again good players, again loaned out till 2009. So I wouldn't expect much of them. Perrillo is probably the best loaned out player. Cellerino is also a good option, as he has 1,90 m and good pace. Mariano Tripodi in real life is being prepared to take Palacio's place in a few years if the start striker should be sold. He is out on loan till 2010, bullocks!
Potential Stars
Young Keepers
On the U-20 squad, you have two keepers that if well trained can be quite good. Javier Garcia would be an fast and reflex based keeper, but with only 1,80m he should not be great on aerial game, but again, aerial balls are not a tendency on Argentinean football. Josue Ayala with 1,93m on the other hand, should be trained as a good aerial based keeper, but he has lousy rushing out stats.
Young Defenders
With only 19 yo, Matias Cahais is a hot prospect. He is Argentina's U-20 International Captain. Although his stats don't look to impressive, hold on to him, I assure you he'll become a class player. He should be used in the Senior Team, and played when you feel the oppositions isn't strong enough.
At your U-20 team, you'll find no really good players. But, you may find it interesting to train Ezequiel Munoz as a fast defender and Gaston Sauro as a strong center back. I would, and they do look a bit promising (High determination and reasonable work rate for youngsters).
If I was to recommend a U-20 players fullback, it would only be left footed Bruno Uribarri. With good mental stats, he could eventually get better technical and physical stats. His stamina is way to low for a fullback though. You can keep a close eye on Maximiliano Raffaele, as he might be a good defensive option on the right back position. But if you like big strong fullbacks, he's defenitly not your man, 1,64 m.
Young Midfielders
With only 19 yo, Ever Banega should be considered Ledesma's immediate reserve. Although he has better stats, you don't want to burn the youngster in his tender years. In your U-20 squad, I would pay close attention to these players:
Marcelo Canete: high speed and acceleration. The attacking midfielder is only 17 and can be molded into a new Carlos Tevez, but taller and stronger!
Mariano Torres: good technical skills can make him a good palyer in the future. Still needs a lot of physical training but he has a good future ahead of him, consider promoting him to the reserve, and play him first team football a few times.
Young Strikers
To be honest with you guys, I think that the current U-20 squad has only one good attacker, his name, Matias Quintana. A friend of mine who lives in Buenos Aires (Home town of Boca Juniors), told me that Quintana was signed as a promising youngsters due to some important board member pointed Quintana as a great player in Football Manager series. Therefore, there should be scouts watching him and if possible, bring him in to Boca! Therefore, we should keep close eyes on him! Pablo Mouche has good physical stats for a 19 years old, and we could also pay attention to him.
Tactical Reccommendations
I played around a season and a half with Boca to do this Guide and decided that the best formation for them is either a closed 41212 or an innovative 352. The 352 worked better on away games, but didn't quite work against defensive formation. But I have to admit that it was quite beautiful to see the 3 midfielders combined with 2 wingbacks attacking constantly!
The 41212 counts in wit a good structured midfield and a playmaker creating chances for two strikers. I tried out Palacio as the playmaker, but he works better inside the box.
The ideal formation with the 41212 that I testes is:
GK - Caranta
DR - Ibarra
DL - Morel
DC - Silvestre
DC - Paletta
DM - Ledesma
MC - Battaglia
MC - Vargas
AM - Gracian
FC- Palacio
ST - Palermo
The 352 works quite well in counter attacking and quick short passes between the players around midfield. I held in four 352 versions, they were:
Very Offensive option:
This made the team deadly on aerial games and was Palermo's favorite style of game, as he commonly bagged head goals on these occasions.
Offensive Option:
The wingbacks made a good deal of crosses into the box from the deep, but they were instructed to make through passes for the target man, Palacio, this would usually give the pacy striker lots of one-to-one situations against the opposition keeper.
Balanced Option:
The three central midfielders made a quite difficult to pass through blockade. And the wide center defenders would cover the wingback runs.
Defensive Option:
With one defensive midfielder, I used this formation only four times during the season. Playing away on Libertadores Cup Quarter, Semi-final, and final matches, and once playing away against River. On all occasions I won the matches on the last minutes of game, when I changed to the very offensive formation.
GK - Caranta
DC - Maidana
DC - Paletta
DC - Silvestre
WR - Ibarra
WL - Krupoviesa
MC - Battaglia
MC - Vargas
AM - Gracian
FC - Palacio
ST - Palermo
Transfer Reccommendations
The Boca initial team is very strong and capable of winning silverware, but there are a few spots that need reinforcements, especially if your are planning a long stay at the club.
To begin, the starting keepr is something that bothers me. Caranta and Migliore are not good enough for a club the size of Boca. Go get a new number 1.
A few suggestions:
Diego Cavalieri - GREAT brazilian keaper! Should do the job for long seasons as he is only 24 yo.
Sebastian Saja - Out on loan, but a good option if you want an Argentinean keeper. You can get him for around £3M.
Nicolas Cambiasso - Cheap and good enough for the job, the player I signed for my game with Boca.
Juan Ojeda - if your confident of your defenders aerial ability go for him. As he's only 1,79, I'm not confident of his game.
At midfield you lack a really creative player like Riquelme and Aimar. Look for a good playmaker, preferably one that can shoot from long range and can do a box-to-box performance.
As a recommendation:
Ruben Capria - 37 yo! But with GREAT preferred moves to pass on to the young players in the squad.
Gustavo Lorenzetti - 22 yo and great creativity. I Signed him at the end of 2007. He's good, but need a bit of time to adjust.
Matias Delgado - Fits like a glove! He was my major signing and leading player with assists!
You really won't need any new attackers. The club has pleanty of it. Even though if you want a new striker, I would recommend you to sign a player that could take over Palacio's place on the next season, as it will be difficult to deal with the incoming £18M plus bids. Also a good goal poacher should be thought of, as Palermo is aging and you might want him to pass his skills to the youngsters.
Some recommendations:
Cesar Delgado - Good player, similar to Palacio. You can get him for around £3M plus clauses.
Wellington Luis de Sousa - Good 19 yo poacher. A bit expensive, so think wisely before spending bucks on him.
Antonio Pierguidi - Signed him at the end of the season as he scored 22 goals in 16 matches in the Reserves.
Conclusion
Playing Boca Juniors would be very similar as to playing Real Madrid, Barcelona or Man Utd. They are title chasers to all competions they participate and the expectations are high. Although the transfer market is not so favorable, as the main stars want to leave for Europe, you can get quite good Brazilians, Chileans, Colombians, Uruguaians, and of course Argentineas for cheap prices build up on them and sell them for major bucks to the European teams.
If you are someone that wants to take a look on what happens down here in South America, I would definetly recommend Boca Juniors. But if you are looking for a difficult challenge, you should choose another team.
The Board has a two year plan in which they expect that the manager wins the Argentine Premier League. Although you have a small transfer and wage budget, its enough to get a few players in the South American transfer market. Boca Juniors' initial team need little reinforcements and you should manage to fight for the title with no transferred in player in the first season, as long as you don't sell major players and don't get the right substitutes.
Boca Juniors
Nation: Argentina
Founded: 1905
Status: Professional
Reputation: Continental
Chairman Status: Loves the Club
Favoured Personnel: Carlos Bianchi, Carlos Tevez, Juan Roman Riquelme, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Martin Palermo, Sebastian Battaglia, Oscar Cordoba, Diego Cagna, Roberto Abbondanzieri, Blas Giunta, Diego Maradona and Gabriel Batistuta
Fierce Rivals: River Plate, Idependiente, San Lorenzo and Racing Club
Other Rivals: Chacarita
Stadium: Alberto J. Armando (La Bombonera)
Capacity: 57,395 (19,857 Seated)
Pitch Size: Length: 105m Width:68m
Pitch Maximun Size: Length: 112m Width:74m
Training Facilities: Top training facilities
Youth Facilities: Good Facilities
Media Prediction : 1st
Captain: Martin Palermo
Parent Clubs: None
Feeder Clubs: Almagro, Estudiantes (BA), Excurcionistas, Juv. Antoniana (Argentina) and Emelec (Ecuador)
Transfer Budget: £5m
Wage Budget: £323k
In real life
Boca Juniors was born on Monday april 3rd,1905, when five young boys who lived in La Boca neighbourhood (Esteban Baglietto, Alfredo Scarpatti, Santiago Sana and brothers Juan and Teodoro Farenga) got together at SolÃs Square with the intention to found a football club.
Without even imagining it, this group of italian inmigrants wrote the first pages of the rich history of Argentina's most popular football club.
The name of the club was taken from that of the neighbourhood but the word "Juniors" was added to give it an english tone and enhance it with more prestige, in order to counteract the "difficult neighbourhood" fame La Boca had gained at that time.
During its first years, Boca Juniors wore different shirts that were changed constantly until the well-known classic blue and yellow one was adopted.
The first shirt was pink, followed by a vertically striped black and white one until 1907, when both yellow and blue colors were adopted. These colors were taken from the swedish flag on a boat which was moored in the port during those days
Boca Juniors shows a great track record in amateur competitions, wining 7 titles. 1919, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1930 Championships and the Honour Cup in 1925.
In the Profesional League, the xeneize club won the following championships: 1931, 1934, 1935, 1940, 1943, 1944, 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, Argentina Cup and National in 1969, National in 1970, Metropolitan and National in 1976, Metropolitan in 1981, Apertura '92, Apertura '98, Clausura '99, Apertura 2000, Apertura 2003 and Apertura 2005. * Boca won local Clausura '91, but lost the season uniting final against Newell's Old Boys de Rosario.
Another glorious chapter in the club's history is that of the international achievements. Boca won the Libertadores Cup six times (1977, 1978, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2007), the Intercontinental Cup three times (1977, 2000 and 2003), one Supercopa (1989), three Southamerican Cups (2004 and 2005), three Southamerican Recopa (1990, 2005 and 2006), one Master Cup (1992) and one Nicolás Leoz Golden Cup (1993).
Throughout almost one hundred years of history many players wore the blue and gold shirt and ended up as absolute idols in the institution, such as Francisco Varallo, Mario Boyé, Angel Clemente Rojas, Antonio Roma, Alfredo Rojas, Antonio RattÃn, Vicente PernÃa, Hugo Gatti, Silvio Marzolini, Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta, MartÃn Palermo and Juan Román Riquelme.
Stripes
The original jersey colour was pink, which was quickly abandoned for thin black-and-white vertical stripes. The legend has it that in 1906 Boca played another team that used these colors, to decide who would get to keep them. Boca lost, and decided to adopt the colors of the flag of the first boat to subsequently sail into the port at La Boca which was the 4146 ton freighter Drottning Sophia, sailing from Copenhagen. As the boat was from Sweden, yellow and blue were adopted as the new team colours. The first version had a yellow diagonal band, which was later changed to a horizontal stripe.
Reduced: 86% of original size [ 736 x 548 ] - Click to view full image
Crests
The club have had five different crests in their history, the outer shape of the crest has remained unchanged throughout Boca's history. In 1955, laurel leaves were added to celebrate the club's 50th anniversary, and the colours were changed to match those on the team's jersey.
In 1970, one star was added to the badge for each title won [16] domestically (top part, above the initials) and internationally (bottom part). A new star was added to the corresponding section whenever Boca wins a title. To the delight of fans, the crest had to be modified several times in recent years. In 2007 the club changed its crest to include only 3 stars, one for each Intercontinental Cup / Club world title.
The Ground - La Bombonera (The Chocalate Box!)
Boca Juniors first stadium was an old wooden field built up in the starting 20s in the same site where La Bombonera stands nowadays.
In was in that field where the xeneize team played during the Amateur years and conquered its first titles in the Professional league, until construction works for the new concrete Stadium began on february 18, 1938.
From 1938 to 1940, Boca had to play his home matches in Ferro Carril Oeste Stadium while the engineer, Mr. José L. Delpini headed the construction works.
The great moment finally arrived on May 25,1940. "Boca's Coliseum" -that's how they used to call it-, was opened with a friendly match against San Lorenzo de Almagro, in which the xeneizes won 2-0, with 2 goals scored by Ricardo Alarcón.
At the beginning, the Bombonera had 2 of the 3 current tiers and it wasn't until 1949 that it was decided to resume the last construction phase which was completed in 1953.
During 43 years nothing changed in the construction anatomy of the Stadium until 1996, when -under Mauricio Macri's presidency- a big remodelling was approved.
The old Executive Boxes on Del Valle Iberlucea Street were pulled down and replaced by a small tier over which the current VIPBoxes were built.
Name of the Stadium: Alberto J. Armando
Address: Brandsen 805, Capital Federal
Inauguration date: 25 de mayo de 1940
Approximate capacity: 57.395 espectadores
Constructor: Ingeniero José L. Delpini
The stadium offers parking facilities to the members of the club and holders of season tickets. Access to this facility is on Espora street (to parking lot 1 and 2) or on the corner of Aristóbulo del Valle and Irala (to parking lot 3).
Services
The stadium features a coffee and pastry shop, a bar, and facilites offered by concessionaires.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ScGHL_ogGg
In Football Manager
As in Real Life, in Football Manager 2008 Boca Juniors are one of the best teams in the New World, if not the best one. The club is always a national title chaser and strong contender for the Libertadores Cup (Similar to UEFA's Champions League).
The Board has a two year plan in which they expect that the manager wins the Argentine Premier League. Although you have a small transfer and wage budget, its enough to get a few players in the South American transfer market. Boca Juniors' initial team need little reinforcements and you should manage to fight for the title with no transferred in player in the first season, as long as you don't sell major players and don't get the right substitutes.
I do recommend you to go for challenging for the title, as there is little opposition, perhaps only River Plate, San Lorenzo and Racing Club can actually give you a hard time during the first couple of seasons.
Financially Boca Juniors are quite stable, the massive fans support tend to get La Bombonera packed even on friendly games! Your bank balance should never be a real problem during your stay at Boca Juniors.
During European pre-season, you'll notice a big interest on several of your players. I recommend you not to sell them during June, July and August. Hold on to them as after half a season or at the end of the season, they are worth much more, and the offers will still be coming. You might be tempted in selling Palacio for around £15M, but you can get as much as £25M for the fast forward!
Your Squad
Goalkeepers'
I believe that this is the most critical position at the club. Both players on the senior team are medium-low class players, and should be replaced at the first opportunity. As aerial game is not a big style of play in Argentina, I would go with Mauricio Caranta as the starting keeper.
On your reserves, you do have a Medium-Good class keeper, Ezequiel Medran, but he is out on loan until 30.6.2009, by that time you should have other keepers in your squad.
You do have a young keeper Velasco, but he is too eccentric, and he should not be taken seriously as a future keeper for the club.
Defenders'
The defense of Boca Juniors is quite solid and is built around Gabriel Paletta and Matias Silvestre. Although Silvestre's stats aren't great, he is very consistent and quite a good player to rely on. The defense pair are not quite balanced but work well together, Paletta being a more physical and aggressive player, while Silvestre is more of a pacy defender. As back ups, you have the likes of Joel Barbosa and Jonathan Maidana, who is quite impressive with his stats, and should win the battle against Silvestre by the end of the season to see who should be starting. Barbosa is a good player, but not enough for Boca Juniors, you should think of sell him and get a young player to train into a great defender.
The central defenders out on loan on the reserve team are crap and should be sold or released as they return from their loan deal.
On the right flank you have veteran Hugo Ibarra, who is a good technical player, and besides 33 yo he still got an adequate pace, but stamina is going down. As he is the only right back, I recommend you to get a backup player for the position. Out on loan you do have a few good players, like Calvo and Julio Barroso, who in real life is a promising player. Unfortunetaly they return from their loans in 2009.
On the other side, you are comfortable with two good left backs. Claudio Morel is my recommendation for starter, but Krupoviesa could be played on home matches as he is more offensive based than Morel. Young Matias Cahais can also be played as a left back.
Midfielders'
Boca Juniors are famous for great midfielders in their history. Their hard working midfielders' school are quite great and showed the world players like Riquelme and Gago. Currently they have defensive midfielders, and despite the defensive, they are good box-to-box players. I would choose Pablo Ledesma as the starting defensive midfielder, for his high teamwork ability and good marking and stamina. With only 23 yo, he is a promising player in the Argentine football.
Battaglia and Alvaro Gomes are players with good attributes, but nothing spectacular. I would hold on to Battaglia, and terminate Gomes' loan deal. I would use Battaglia as my second center midfielder, with less defensive functions and more offensive jobs. Finaly there is Fabian Vargas, a good Colombian defensive midfielder. His high aggression combined with a good marking and tackling skills makes him a good player to use when you want to close down your midfield.
Boca is a bit short on creative midfielders and I would recommend you to bring a good player to fill in, or a star player to start of as first XI. Jesus Datolo is fast and good at crossings, he works well with target men, but has poor creativity. Leandro Gracian is a good center attacking midfielder, but he develops slowly, and never gets to be a great player that a Boca supporter always expects. Try to get rid of both of them when you get the right players in. I would promote Cristian Chavez from the reserve team and use him as an option in the offensive midfield. He is a good passer and good finisher, might get a few goals during the season if playing the right role. Neri Cardozo is a good winger, but I don't like to depend on him. As his poor creativity and poor passing is not a good combination to his high speed, agility and acceleration. Keep him in the squad until you get a few silverware and he value goes up, then you should sell him.
On the reserve team, there are a few players that you would like to count on during the first season. Unfortunately they are out on loan. Omar Perez and Sergio Orteman are the two you might want to pay closer attention. Franzoia and Marino are good players too. But again, all out on loan, and should be expected back only by 2009. You have a quite good right midfielder in the reserve setup, Nicolas Bertoto. But in my opinion, he should train as a right wingback and be played as Ibarra's reserve in that position. Miguel Caneo is out injured, and should be coming back after 3 months. He's a good player and should make the senior team after recovery.
Strikers'
Upfront you have six players, of which you can expect a good deal of great games from 4 of them! Rodrigo Palacio is the best striker, and possibly the best player in the squad. HOLD ON TO HIM as much as you can, when he does feel its time to move on, you can sell him. But wait for the big bucks of Man Utd, Barcelona, AC Milan and Chelsea, that are the usual teams to declare interest in the forward. By his side, you should start Martin Palermo, who is a classic target man. Tall and strong, Palermo's trademark is using his body to get to goals.
Former PSG striker Carlos Bueno would be the 3rd strength in the attacking line. I would play him in Palermo's spot, and not together with Palermo. Mauro Boselli should be your fourth option, but I have seen games on FM2007 where Boselli was the leading striker in the international side at the age of 27, so pay attention to him. Marco Mondani could be a good player, but to be honest, I've seen him play in real life, and he does SUCKS! His stats are good, and he has composure, so keep an eye on him. Raul Estevez can be released!
On your reserve team, you have again good players, again loaned out till 2009. So I wouldn't expect much of them. Perrillo is probably the best loaned out player. Cellerino is also a good option, as he has 1,90 m and good pace. Mariano Tripodi in real life is being prepared to take Palacio's place in a few years if the start striker should be sold. He is out on loan till 2010, bullocks!
Potential Stars
Young Keepers
On the U-20 squad, you have two keepers that if well trained can be quite good. Javier Garcia would be an fast and reflex based keeper, but with only 1,80m he should not be great on aerial game, but again, aerial balls are not a tendency on Argentinean football. Josue Ayala with 1,93m on the other hand, should be trained as a good aerial based keeper, but he has lousy rushing out stats.
Young Defenders
With only 19 yo, Matias Cahais is a hot prospect. He is Argentina's U-20 International Captain. Although his stats don't look to impressive, hold on to him, I assure you he'll become a class player. He should be used in the Senior Team, and played when you feel the oppositions isn't strong enough.
At your U-20 team, you'll find no really good players. But, you may find it interesting to train Ezequiel Munoz as a fast defender and Gaston Sauro as a strong center back. I would, and they do look a bit promising (High determination and reasonable work rate for youngsters).
If I was to recommend a U-20 players fullback, it would only be left footed Bruno Uribarri. With good mental stats, he could eventually get better technical and physical stats. His stamina is way to low for a fullback though. You can keep a close eye on Maximiliano Raffaele, as he might be a good defensive option on the right back position. But if you like big strong fullbacks, he's defenitly not your man, 1,64 m.
Young Midfielders
With only 19 yo, Ever Banega should be considered Ledesma's immediate reserve. Although he has better stats, you don't want to burn the youngster in his tender years. In your U-20 squad, I would pay close attention to these players:
Marcelo Canete: high speed and acceleration. The attacking midfielder is only 17 and can be molded into a new Carlos Tevez, but taller and stronger!
Mariano Torres: good technical skills can make him a good palyer in the future. Still needs a lot of physical training but he has a good future ahead of him, consider promoting him to the reserve, and play him first team football a few times.
Young Strikers
To be honest with you guys, I think that the current U-20 squad has only one good attacker, his name, Matias Quintana. A friend of mine who lives in Buenos Aires (Home town of Boca Juniors), told me that Quintana was signed as a promising youngsters due to some important board member pointed Quintana as a great player in Football Manager series. Therefore, there should be scouts watching him and if possible, bring him in to Boca! Therefore, we should keep close eyes on him! Pablo Mouche has good physical stats for a 19 years old, and we could also pay attention to him.
Tactical Reccommendations
I played around a season and a half with Boca to do this Guide and decided that the best formation for them is either a closed 41212 or an innovative 352. The 352 worked better on away games, but didn't quite work against defensive formation. But I have to admit that it was quite beautiful to see the 3 midfielders combined with 2 wingbacks attacking constantly!
The 41212 counts in wit a good structured midfield and a playmaker creating chances for two strikers. I tried out Palacio as the playmaker, but he works better inside the box.
The ideal formation with the 41212 that I testes is:
GK - Caranta
DR - Ibarra
DL - Morel
DC - Silvestre
DC - Paletta
DM - Ledesma
MC - Battaglia
MC - Vargas
AM - Gracian
FC- Palacio
ST - Palermo
The 352 works quite well in counter attacking and quick short passes between the players around midfield. I held in four 352 versions, they were:
Very Offensive option:
This made the team deadly on aerial games and was Palermo's favorite style of game, as he commonly bagged head goals on these occasions.
Offensive Option:
The wingbacks made a good deal of crosses into the box from the deep, but they were instructed to make through passes for the target man, Palacio, this would usually give the pacy striker lots of one-to-one situations against the opposition keeper.
Balanced Option:
The three central midfielders made a quite difficult to pass through blockade. And the wide center defenders would cover the wingback runs.
Defensive Option:
With one defensive midfielder, I used this formation only four times during the season. Playing away on Libertadores Cup Quarter, Semi-final, and final matches, and once playing away against River. On all occasions I won the matches on the last minutes of game, when I changed to the very offensive formation.
GK - Caranta
DC - Maidana
DC - Paletta
DC - Silvestre
WR - Ibarra
WL - Krupoviesa
MC - Battaglia
MC - Vargas
AM - Gracian
FC - Palacio
ST - Palermo
Transfer Reccommendations
The Boca initial team is very strong and capable of winning silverware, but there are a few spots that need reinforcements, especially if your are planning a long stay at the club.
To begin, the starting keepr is something that bothers me. Caranta and Migliore are not good enough for a club the size of Boca. Go get a new number 1.
A few suggestions:
Diego Cavalieri - GREAT brazilian keaper! Should do the job for long seasons as he is only 24 yo.
Sebastian Saja - Out on loan, but a good option if you want an Argentinean keeper. You can get him for around £3M.
Nicolas Cambiasso - Cheap and good enough for the job, the player I signed for my game with Boca.
Juan Ojeda - if your confident of your defenders aerial ability go for him. As he's only 1,79, I'm not confident of his game.
At midfield you lack a really creative player like Riquelme and Aimar. Look for a good playmaker, preferably one that can shoot from long range and can do a box-to-box performance.
As a recommendation:
Ruben Capria - 37 yo! But with GREAT preferred moves to pass on to the young players in the squad.
Gustavo Lorenzetti - 22 yo and great creativity. I Signed him at the end of 2007. He's good, but need a bit of time to adjust.
Matias Delgado - Fits like a glove! He was my major signing and leading player with assists!
You really won't need any new attackers. The club has pleanty of it. Even though if you want a new striker, I would recommend you to sign a player that could take over Palacio's place on the next season, as it will be difficult to deal with the incoming £18M plus bids. Also a good goal poacher should be thought of, as Palermo is aging and you might want him to pass his skills to the youngsters.
Some recommendations:
Cesar Delgado - Good player, similar to Palacio. You can get him for around £3M plus clauses.
Wellington Luis de Sousa - Good 19 yo poacher. A bit expensive, so think wisely before spending bucks on him.
Antonio Pierguidi - Signed him at the end of the season as he scored 22 goals in 16 matches in the Reserves.
Conclusion
Playing Boca Juniors would be very similar as to playing Real Madrid, Barcelona or Man Utd. They are title chasers to all competions they participate and the expectations are high. Although the transfer market is not so favorable, as the main stars want to leave for Europe, you can get quite good Brazilians, Chileans, Colombians, Uruguaians, and of course Argentineas for cheap prices build up on them and sell them for major bucks to the European teams.
If you are someone that wants to take a look on what happens down here in South America, I would definetly recommend Boca Juniors. But if you are looking for a difficult challenge, you should choose another team.
