Building a Club Identity: Pink Passion

I've recently started playing again and partly inspired by threads on this forum I thought I'd share my approach to building a club and instilling a club DNA. I am a bit of a veteran and have increasingly adopted a more "realistic" approach to the game and always approach the game from a real life football perspective. Usually I try to implement some form of fluid, passing 4-1-4-1 with a high press at the clubs I manage as that is the type of football I enjoy. With this project I went with a less conventional approach. I thought this would be interesting to share as it's something a little different which hopefully highlights the value of having a clear and overarching concept. This post won't go into great tactical detail and is more an example of how I play the game.

For this project we are taking a trip to the southern regions of the Serie A to the great club Palermo! Situated on the island of Sicily it's a club with a rich history and a slightly crazy chairman. Known for featuring some great talents in recent years (Pastore, Cavani and recently Dybala) and having a tumultuous spell of mixed results and a large variety of managers. Along we come to bring some stability to this heated environment and use our ambition to build long term success.

Taking inspiration from our environment, the clubs history and Van Gaal's recent Dutch WC side I set out to build a philosophy for Palermo. I want to play structured, disciplined defensive Italian football with a back three and score goals with direct counter attacks relying on hard work and individual flair. I want to combine the passion and hard work for the club I associate with Palermo and the structured, disciplined defense and individual flair I associate with Italy.

(Note the amount of rivalries, this club doesn't forget easily!)

From this I distill the following principles from which I will build our clubs Identity:

Playing style

Disciplined defensive formation

Direct attacking football

Hard work and individual flair to create advantages on the pitch

Squad development

Develop a small squad that is willing to die for each other and show passion and fighting spirit for the club

Focus on own player development to instill a sense of pride for the badge from a young age

Conservative transfer policy only to sign necessary players who fit into the clubs philosophy

Disciplined defensive formation

We will adopt a counter mentality and play a 5-3-2 with a structured team shape and the team instruction to mark opponents tightly.

Direct attacking football

We will break on the counter and use player roles that look to advance play forward. We will also play wider to create space for our direct play and look to hit early crosses towards our forwards.

Hard work and individual flair to create advantages on the pitch

We will use player roles that have tasks on both ends of the pitch who are responsible for a fast transition. We will keep two forward players free from defensive duties with the creative freedom to focus on creating moments of magic.

Keeping this in mind I created the following tactic:

Mentality: Counter

Team Shape: Structured

Team Instructions: Play wider, Get stuck in, Tighter Marking, Hit early crosses

Player Instructions: BBM: More risky passes

Tactical explanation:

The counter mentality is quite obvious. We are predicted to finish 16th and without a solid defensive approach we will leak goals. This also puts us in a position to hopefully exploit space at the other end of the pitch.

The structured team shape is to instill discipline into the formation and make sure our attackers stay up front. The front two have to be ready to attack at a moments notice. If we play Juventus and are pushed back into our own half for the entire game they will hopefully be in a position to produce that one vital goal. That is their only job. Similarly our back three will always stay back and provide security when the rest of the team runs up the pitch to counter.

The play wider instruction is to create more space to get the ball forward quickly either passing through the channels or running it down the line.

We want to defend with passion and a fighting spirit. You can't counter if you never win the ball so we mark tighter and get stuck in. We have an extra man in defense for security which hopefully allows us to miss the occasional challenge and provide cover.

Player roles:

The defensive trio is set up with the outside defenders on stopper duty. This is to help out the wingbacks on the flanks and to put more pressure on the area in front of the defense. This is modeled after the classical sweeper system and the more recent Dutch defense in the WC with Vlaar providing many heroic tackles to save his team. When one of the defenders steps out to put pressure on the opposing attack and hopefully win the ball the attacker on the other side can tuck in to form a classic two man defense.

The engine is formed by our wingbacks and midfield trio. Together they are responsible to provide the defensive shield outside of the box, win the ball back, transition to the attack and provide the ball to the two forwards. The theme here is that they have conservative positions in the formation but attacking roles to get them involved on the other end of the pitch. They slow down the opposition after losing possession to stop us getting caught out on the counter, they put pressure on the area outside our box, they recover possession and they launch the counter through direct passes (mostly the regista), forward runs (CWB's and MC's), dribbles down the line (CWB's) and passes down the middle (MC's).

The magic duo is formed by two complete forwards. They have the creative freedom do what they think is necessary to get us that vital goal. Modeled after the Van Persie/Robben duo during the world cup. During difficult games they are often left isolated and against weaker opponents they will have trouble finding space but all they need is that one magic moment and we are coasting to another 0-1 robbery.

Develop a small squad that is willing to die for each other and show passion and fighting spirit for the club

I want a squad of passionate players willing to leave it all out on the pitch for the badge. I will value workrate, teamwork, aggression, bravery, determination and stamina highly.

For my defensive trio I will be looking at solid and brave defenders. They don't need to be good on the ball but it's helpful if at least the outside defenders can play a decent long ball.

For my engine I will look for complete footballers with a big engine and a big heart. A mix of more attacking focused and defensive focused players is welcome to allow for some tactical variety.

For my magic duo I will look for players that can make the difference and show fighting spirit and desire. I'll look for flair, technique and workrate specifically.

I want a small tight squad so I immediately target some players to unload who aren't going to feature in the first team under my management. I also notice we could use a CB and WBR to make sure we don't risk our season due to an injury crisis. Sadly I can't get Munoz back from loan as he would be ideal. Here I will take some action on the transfer market to address these immediate concerns. At the start of the season I offload Vitiello and send Rispoli back to Parma after Morganella recovered from an injury and instead bring in Patric from Barcelona B. A decent prospect for a good price who starts off with very high workrate, stamina, teamwork, bravery, aggression, natural fitness and tackling. He should work well as a backup defensively and hopefully improve his game going forward in the future. At CB I bring in Strandberg for a decent fee. A solid, brave defender who likes to argue with officials. Lastly I bring in Humam Tariq on for cheap to hopefully mold into our future attacking CM. His workrate, natural fitness, vision and teamwork convinced me to sign him. He should be great putting in a shift from box to box launching counter attacks in the future. Only downside is his abysmal bravery and jumping. Halfway through the season I manage to offload Silva and Jajalo to further trim the squad and at the end of the season I will be looking to sell two more midfielders, two center backs and probably a striker.

Focus on own player development to instill a sense of pride for the badge from a young age

I wont be going into great detail on this aspect as it's done before. My general approach is to bring in high quality staff with good personality (professional, determined, etc.). For training I prefer to develop well rounded players and often use individual role training instead of specific ability training out of laziness. I discussed my philosophy with the board and made the club focus on youth development to increase the quality of our future prospects. I have some great players already at the club to set an example through tutoring which I will use extensively. I might highlight some youngster developments in the future to show my approach in more detail.

Conservative transfer policy only to sign necessary players who fit into the philosophy

I won't sign players for the first team unless necessary as was in the beginning of the season. When I sign players I scout them extensively to make sure they fit into our clubs identity. I like to take real world approach with this and watch matches or highlights from the player in question to see how they play before signing them. For young players who can still be molded by the clubs youth system I take a slightly more liberal approach but I'll only sign prospects if I think they will be a good match for the club and have a chance to become part of it's identity in the long term.

Through first creating a concept of what I want to do at the club and some simple planning I have a set of clear principles from which I can make my decisions. When I'm thinking about implementing a tactical instruction or transfer decisions I don't have to ask myself "What is best?" which is often not entirely known. I can simply ask "Does it fit my principles?" and I will know what to do. The principles give my playing style a clear direction and guarantee cohesiveness between decisions. This in turn will make sure everything you do will be work together to achieve your plans. This doesn't have to be the classical approach found at clubs like Bayern, Ajax and Barcelona but can also lead to an entirely different club identity.

Up next is a look into squad management, game day management and the review of the first season.

Season 14/15 Review

Besides three losses to Juventus and a 0-3 loss to Milan we went unbeaten in the league! We had some truly heroic performances in there with Dybala being an absolute savior for our club. He had the job of playing the role Robben played for Holland during the WC and he took to the challenge with style. Other notable performers were Sorrentino who probably got more shots fired at his goal than any other keeper in the league and managed to drag a good number of clean sheets out of the fire and Lazaar who only started slightly more than half of our games (21) and still managed to get 10 assists for us from the left wing. Pre-season signings Patric, Strandberg and Tariq were solid but didn't stand out with Tariq palying mostly in the U20's during the first half of the season and not getting a lot of starting appearances for us.

These performances brought us a second place in the Serie A and Champions League football next year. The title race was on till the last day of the season with Juve paying a visit to last place Empoli and us paying a visit to Chievo. Juve was never going to lose to Empoli with the stakes so high and we both won our games 0-5. An outstanding result build on hard work, consistent performances, an in-form Dybala and probably a good amount of old fashioned luck.

I want to add here that this is really much more than I hoped for. Usually when I start a save and build something like this at a club I don't get instant success. There are always bad spells and hard times. That is part of football and part of the process. Almost every club out there has a philosophy worked out and is striving to build something special in the future. Only few succeed in their ambitions and you can't just expect to be different because you are good at the game. The important part is how you respond to the hard times. How much do you hold true to your core principles? Do you make changes and if so how big? It's a dilemma as your principles are what is going to lead to a coherent approach and brings you results but if the results aren't coming staying means getting more of the same. My advice is to look at what you are currently doing and with your principles in mind see what you can change while adhering and hopefully building upon your philosophy. I'm certainly expecting hard times in our future at Palermo!

Squad and Match Day Management

In the past I often adopted a system of having 21 first team players with often half of them young talents and I would fully rotate the squad every game. This was a handy trick to keep everyone 100% fit and give everyone playing time. It's however not a very realistic approach and in this case wouldn't work with the principles we adopted. Our aim is to create a tight knit squad who will fight for each other and can play our structured defensive system every game. With this save I have aimed to keep our match squad much more consistent. The back three has to know each other through and through to prevent mistakes. They are under pressure for large portions of the game so consistency is extremely important. I started most games at the start of the season with Gonzalez, Terzi and Strandberg only rotating occasionally for fitness/injury concerns or poor performances. Later on in the season Milanovic managed to win a starting spot over Terzi. The magic duo consisted only of Dybala, Belotti and Vasquez for rotation with Makienok occasionally making cup and sub appearances when he came off the bench as a last resort target man. We absolutely rely on quality up top and an in form striker is vital. Belotti had a great start of the season and Dybala once in form was unstoppable. Vazquez often performed well when rotated in which forced me to give him longer spells in the starting line-up.

The engine of the team has significantly higher fitness demand so rotation here is inevitable. This is also the area I make the most tactical changes through player selection. We can look very different depending on how attacking or defensive our lineup is for the day. With a selection of Patric (WBR), Deprela(WBL), Rigoni (Reg), Baretto (BBM) and Chochev (MCa) we are defensively solid but a little flat going forward. With a selection of Morganella (WBR), Lazaar (WBL), Baretto (Reg), Chochev (BBM) and Quaison (MCa) we are far more dangerous going forward but less consistent defensively.

This save I am watching most matches on full (almost fastest speed) and I take a little time before the match to think about who is going to start depending on current fitness levels and possible weaknesses I'm looking to exploit. Depending on the opponents formation and likely team selection I might try to be more dangerous down the middle or down the flank or more defensively solid in a certain position. While watching the match I only made a small number of changes but used them fairly consistently throughout the season.

1. Change the CF(s) to a F9 if he isn't finding enough space to be dangerous. This is a crucial position for our attacking plan and he needs to get the ball often. If I needed our forward to come deeper I often used Vazquez here as F9 as he doesn't have the PPM "Tries to beat the offside trap" and with his excellent vision he is a real threat coming deep, turning and playing the CF(a) through on goal with a killer pass. Again team selection was often the crucial difference between winning and losing.

2. Change to an attacking mentality when chasing a result. I have a second tactic trained which is exactly the same but with an attacking mentality. This gets used when we have to put the pressure on or have nothing to lose.

3. Swap our two strikers. I often swapped them during the game to see if we could be more effective. Sometimes a small change can make a big difference. Putting Belotti in the support role against a weaker defender and Dybala in the attacking role against a slower defender can change the game.

4. Subbing to make a difference. Putting a more creative player in the regista role to get that one vital through ball to put our striker goalside or putting "mr. 20 jumping" Makienok on the pitch as a targetman or Vazquez as a F9 to try and make the impact we need. Similarly when defending a lead I'd often sub out tired players in our engine for more defensive alternatives to seal the game. For this aspect the larger bench of the Serie A is truly a godsend.

With these four changes I felt I had enough in my toolbox to positively impact any game through my match management.

One downside of a more consistent match day squad is a lack of playing time for our fringe players. Players like Humam Tariq, Ortiz and Quaison could have certainly benefited from playing more games. This also proved a challenge in keeping them happy. This save I had a lot of fun applying our philosophy of playing with passion and fighting spirit through leading by example. I wasn't afraid of a little controversy and had a few moments where I clearly told a player that if he doesn't want to play for our beautiful club he can pack his bags because we don't need you here! Luckily this approach seemed to work and my players fell in line. I'm sure the chairman was pleased with my slightly flamboyant media approach and man management. I might have to take a break from those cappuccinos during the holidays!

Up next is a highlight of the key game of the season and the most memorable moment in Palermo's recent history!

Great OP and excellent results .

Keep it up

This I really like! This is my preferred way of playing the game but I usually opt for Klopp/ Guardiola tactics and development. It's great to see a different approach, and more interesting. I'm not sure what I can add to the discussion which may be why you have so few replies but as herne said keep it up! How do you see this thread developing?

The key match this season was probably our second game against Juventus. They had beaten us twice already and we were coming away from a 0-3 battering at the San Siro by AC Milan. We were still almost level in the race for the title and the winner of this game was always the more likely candidate to take it home at the end of the season. We couldn't draw much hope from our record or our odds but today we played at La Favorita in front of our own fans. The sun was shining and expectations were high for what should become the game of the season.

From the line-up I already identified a couple of problems. Firstly we are going to give away space in front of our box for long shots and the prospect of Pirlo, Marchisio and Pogba putting it to good use is frightening. Secondly we have to make sure Tevez gets picked up when he drops deep and Coman isn't allowed to sneak into the box unmarked. We should be able to crowd them out with bodies so I'm not particularly scared of through balls or players getting space to shoot from close range. One last danger area is our left wing. Lazaar is up against Lichtsteiner and while he is not a bad defensively he is going to have a hard time stopping crosses coming into our box.

We will be looking to defend with passion, challenging for crosses and charging out to block long shots for the majority of the game and hopefully let our forwards find space against their back four which will likely be pushing up looking to control possession. When their fullbacks are going forward to provide with we should get chances down the channels against their exposed central defenders.

True to form we will sit back and defend in our own box. I put the best eleven on the pitch opting to play the more defensive and industrious Rigoni as our regista hoping to increase our grasp on Tevez and Coman while playing our most dangerous wingbacks down the flanks. Barreto and Chochev are both hard workers with a decent tackle who will be responsible for keeping the number of long shots under control and playing direct balls to our strikers during the transition. Dybala starts off dropping deeper while Belotti is looking to get in behind and hopefully challenge for long balls effectively.

Less than 10 minutes into the game we can already see our weakness down the left flank when Lichtsteiner puts in a cross. Lazaar was tucked in and late to block.

We enthusiastically defend with plenty of bodies in the box which quickly exposes our second weakness which is the space in front for their midfielders. The cross is cleared poorly and Pirlo is looking to control the ball in a dangerous position.

We quickly charge out to close down the threat and Chochev makes a brave challenge to diffuse the danger. Barretto immediately puts his mind on the counter and takes the opportunity to play it directly towards Belotti.

Belotti controls the ball well and plays it into Dybala who is looking to run down the channel. Take note of the positions of Evra and Lichtsteiner, looks like a plan coming together!

Dybala runs down the right channel drawing Chiellini away from the center while Belotti makes a run into the box. The fans get excited as they already expect what's to come from watching these players this season. It's time for another magical moment at the Renzo Barbera!

Dybala turns to his left curling a cross into the path of Belotti. Belotti keeps inside of his defenders using his strength and smashes the volley into the top left corner leaving Buffon without a chance. 10mins in and La Favorita explodes with dreams of title glory!

When the celebrations die down a bit it we realize we still have 80 mins to play and the nerves settle in. Spurred on by the fans we manage to keep playing well and put in a good performance. Buffon managed to keep out another three clear cut chances with a spectacular shot stopping display. We should have at least put one more goal past to give us the breathing space we needed. The other clear cut chances were a dangerous ball worked down from a free kick, an interception by Chochev played into Dybala dropping deep and dragging Chiellini with him which Belotti used to receive the throughball from Dybala and a cross from the substitue Deprela which got in behind the defense and was taken on the volley acrobatically by Dybala but miraculously stopped by Buffon. Meanwhile Juventus did the damage with a cross from Lichtsteiner picking out Coman who snuck into the box towards the first post. He should have been picked up better by Gonzalez and blocked or at least challenged for the ball. The final goal hit us like a hammer when Pogba managed to find space just outside the box after some disorganization following a throw in. The resulting shot was absolutely spectacular and silenced the stadium. A sad result from a truly memorable performance at La Favorita! The quality of Pogba and Buffon combined with a defensive error proved too much for us and Juventus deservedly went on to win the cup and title.

This is a short example of how I approach games. Take a moment to make a rough analysis based on formation, line-up and likely mentality of the opponent. Identify a couple of weaknesses to watch out for and to exploit on the opponents side and then watch the game to see if your analysis was correct or whether you need to make some changes. This time around my analysis was mostly correct and we did get the ball to our forwards fast enough to bypass their midfield and exploit the fact that their fullbacks need to push up to provide width. In the end I might have been possible to make some changes to our approach to prevent the two goals going in or to create a few more chances but in the end I think I handled things well. All in all a great match to watch. Next season we will welcome Juventus back near the end of the first half of the season and our last game will be an away trip to Turin in which we can hopefully challenge for the title again.

Up next are some tough decisions during the next transfer window and a look into the challenges we face coming into our second season with a different reputation and new expectations.

Why did you sell Vitiello, Jajalo? I saw they have normal set of attributes. And ensuing question about team selection: you've said you look on workrate, teamwork, aggression, bravery, determination and stamina, but what about every role on the pitch and their own important things?

Thank you for interesting topic. I like it very much.

Very nice posts, and exactly the thing I love to see/read when I log in. Thank you!

Completely agree with Dr. Hook. These are the sort of threads I hope to see when I visit the forum.

Interesting to hear your thought process when playing the game and how you plan things. And well done for getting Palermo to 2nd, that's no mean feat!

Awesome thread mate.

Would love to see more of what sort of changes you make during or before a game, especially when things don't go well.

Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated.

Why did you sell Vitiello, Jajalo? I saw they have normal set of attributes.

Vitiello didn't really fit into the team, wasn't highly rated and was getting old. He wasn't comfortable playing wingback and brought nothing going forward with very low crossing, dribbling, technique and flair attributes. His replacement Patric had a better cross and excelled at the foundation I want to build this team on: bravery, workrate, teamwork, aggression, stamina and natural fitness. Add good determination tackling and a good personality and I was immediately fond of him. The only downside is his lack of dribbling/acceleration/technique/flair/agility going forward which really hinders him from becoming a dependable first team player. If he isn't going to make significant improvements in those areas or impresses me on the pitch he isn't going to become a first team player for us.

Mato Jajalo is a player I really wanted to like. I think I have had a Palermo save on every iteration of the game I played from back in the day they had Pastore coming through and Miccoli providing magic up front. Almost every year they have an exciting East (central) European midfielder in the team. Players like Illicic, Kurtic, Bacinovic etc. I'm always hoping to have the next Rakitic/Kovacic/Badelj in the team but Jajalo just didn't have it in him. I like the technical and physical aspect of his game but his mental side was absolutely woeful. His only decent mental attributes were Vision, Teamwork, Off the Ball and Bravery. The rest was just not going to cut it. With 10 workrate, 9 Determination a balanced personality and at 26 no room to improve he was never going to become a mainstay in our squad that requires our midfielders to leave everything on the pitch and put up a fight for the club. On top of that my midfield was stacked with Barreto (Captain and the perfect example of the type of player I want at the club), Rigoni (Solid experienced midfielder and a hard worker), Bolzoni (good all-round, 24, longer at the club than Jajalo and excellent work ethic), Chochev (More attacking option but still solid defensively, a hard worker and could improve to become a star midfielder), Quaison (Most attacking option and at 21yr could become a really good midfielder in the future). On top of that I wanted to start introducing Tariq to the first team squad so I needed to trim down in the summer.

And ensuing question about team selection: you've said you look on workrate, teamwork, aggression, bravery, determination and stamina, but what about every role on the pitch and their own important things?

I just generally look for good players. Obviously I look for wingbacks with good dribbling, agility, flair and crossing on top of our core attributes while for a midfielder I'm more interested in things like passing, composure and vision. I don't have any strict guidelines or filters when looking for players. Just a good idea of what I want my players to do and the type of players I want at the club. For the strikers for instance I just want people who can make an impact on their own and change a game. Adding our philosophy of hard work and individual moments of magic the main thing I look out for in a striker besides just being a really good striker are Workrate, Flair and Technique.

Meet Bentivegna, one of the more exciting prospects at Palermo this season. Sadly for us he is a natural winger making him completely useless to us. Despite some pretty horrible finishing and composure skills I still decided to retrain him into a striker and not a midfielder. The reason for that is that he already possessed the attributes I look for the most in my strikers. Workrate, Flair, Technique and the ability to impact a game with a moment of magic.

This is him already improved a fair bit and tutored by Vazquez. He now has the PPM's "moves into channels," "places shots," "shoots from distance" and "knocks ball past opponents." He has a fairly strong left foot. From watching his games with the first team so far (mostly friendlies, cup games and one or two sub appearances) he is energetic, puts in a shift and certainly has the ability to influence games. He drifts wide to find space from which he is dangerous getting behind the defense (decent off the ball, good pace, anticipation letting him down) or running at the defense (dribbling, agility, flair, technique). In one game he played as a sub he immediately showed his quality as a striker in our system by dropping off into the channel (from STR) turning inside and letting loose a blistering shot that curled onto the far post. Moments later he sneaks into the box to tap in a low cross coming into the box from the left wing showing great technique by taking it first time and keeping his body over the ball. He might be rubbish as a traditional finisher of chances but we as a team don't tend to create a lot of traditional chances. Now obviously I'd rather have a striker with better finishing, composure and anticipation and I'd love to have a player like Tevez playing this role but I still have high hopes for Bentivegna's future at our club. Dybala is performing excellently with only 12 finishing so if he realizes his potential and gets tutored by Dybala when that becomes possible he could be a good replacement for that role. On top of that I'm looking at Jovic to become our more physical complete striker in the future. I'd ideally get someone with a higher workrate but he can still improve in that department in the future. I've also entertained the idea of getting Djurdjevic who they signed in real life but he probably isn't going to become a better striker than Belotti so he would just be another backup we don't need.

I'm currently working on a post about squad development during the transfer window which should give plenty more examples of how what I'm looking for when signing players.

Interesting to hear your thought process when playing the game and how you plan things.

Might be coming in the future. I'll give a quick example from the game I'm currently playing. We are at home against Fiorentina and they score out of a free kick turning into a scramble. The clearance is hit against a player and they score a simple tap in. Less than a minute played and we are in big trouble.

This is 10 mins in with Tariq receiving the ball from his midfield partner.

Fiorentina are playing with a back four, two DM's, a CM in front and a three man attack (AMl/r and ST). As you can see they are dropping off deep and Tariq has lots of space on the ball. Last season we would have been underdogs in this match and might have found more space in behind their defense but now we are favourites and Fiorentina is extremely cautious. Their fullbacks (especially the left one) seem pretty adventurous so we might find some space there in the transition but from what I've seen their DM's drop back in that space to cover them so that's probably not going to work out well. In this picture you can see even their AML and AMR are also coming back for pressing duties and tucking in.

At the moment Tariq has three attacking options. The two wingbacks have space to run into and are available and there might be a through ball on towards Belotti at STR. The last options is a stretch with two DM's in position to cut out the pass, the goalkeeper in a position to sweep up if the pass is slightly overhit and the DC is in a good position to challenge. Tariq plays the ball down the left where Deprela tries to go past their fullback and gets tackled.

We can be a lot more dangerous if Dybala drops off his marker into the space between the DC, DM and DL. I started him in his standard role as CF(s) as I didn't expect there to be any space here in front of the defense due to their double DM formation but there is so I change his role to an F9 to get him deeper. Another change I could make is telling Tariq to dribble more. If he goes forward now he can force their left DM to close him down which should open up more space. I'll make those two changes and see if we can turn this game around.

[Edit]

This is 20mins in. We still don't have a shot on target and I'm wondering whether I should adopt an attacking mentality to hopefully force a change. Deprela intercepts a pass towards the AMR and I pause the game.

As you can see the left fullback is indeed trying to push up and Dybala has space to run into. If Deprela can put a long ball into the right channel we put ourselves into a position to do some damage. Similarly Belotti is looking for a ball into the right channel. I had to do a double take when looking at their midfield, it turns out they inverted their triangle and are now playing a more standard 4-3-3 formation with a DM and two CM's. Their AML is very narrow and deep but I think this is due to him dribbling inside and giving the pass that was intercepted.

I'm hoping that either Deprela can find one of our strikers in the channels or passing it to our regista who might be more able to do so. I'm also hoping Tariq doesn't try to move towards the ball like he is now but recognizes the space to the left of their DM from which he can be a real danger. Instead Deprela takes one touch too man (CWB, runs with ball) before passing it to Berreto our regista who sees this in front of him:

Dybala is already offside, the right fullback is in better position to mark Belotti with the right DC in position to cut out the pass into the channel and the only option left is our right wingback. Baretto plays the ball in behind the wingback and it goes out for a throw in. Clear signs that we probably don't have the quality to consistently challenge for the title and probably have no business playing in the champions league. Time to get back down to earth and put in the hard work and put up a fight like the fans expect from us!

[Edit]

It's half time and we managed two more shots on target, both crosses from the right flank finding the heads of our strikers. Not particularly dangerous headers but it's a good sign. They managed more long shots from their midfielders and at times looked a bit dangerous from crosses into Gomez, their lone striker. Here are two examples of the effect of our changes.

Here at 25 minutes into the game our right DC makes a tackle and quickly finds Dybala dropped deep towards the by line. When in form this would result into him cutting inside taking on defenders or playing that pin point pass into Belotti. This time he plays it off to the regista coming towards him and the move dies down. Tariq is making a good run into the space vacated by Dybala which is encouraging to see. Belotti could put more work into getting on the inside of his markers.

Here at the brink of half time he manages to find some space in the middle despite a deep and packed defense. He gets the ball into Belotti who sadly strayed offside followed by the whistle for the end of the half.

[Edit]

What a rollercoaster! Goldaniga who came back after a co-ownership and loan who was probably responsible for their first goal got one back for us out of a corner. Immediately I could see the shift in mentality from Fiorentina as they started taking more risks and pushed up higher. We got more interceptions and more space behind their defense which resulted in some real end to end football. We got into their box on a couple of occasions and I felt we had their attackers under control so I didn't make any changes. At 64 minutes Gomez gets ball side of our defense and finishes a cross from the right flank. Back to a goal down and with time running out I make some substitutions and switch to an attacking mentality. Belotti leaves the pitch after a lackluster performance and on comes the young prospect Bentivegna (switching sides to play the F9 role). Barreto who wasn't having the best game of his career comes off for the more attacking focused Chochev at regista.

Bentivegna's first touch is a first time volley at the near post from a cross form the right which he blasts just wide of the post. That's on me for turning a winger who can't finish into a striker.

[Edit]

70th minute and Deprela puts in his first decent cross of the game. Bentivegna moves towards the second post and gets a free header but puts it over the bar. I'm already preparing my press conference imagining how I'll say he gets into the right positions which is reassuring. Meanwhile Dybala blasts a free kick at goal which gets saved and Tariq misses a chance in the box after charging past Bentivegna and receiving the ball from our RWB. I'm afraid this will be a loss.

[Edit]

Another near post header from Bentivegna, this time saved by the keeper. Time to push up and get our press on. I'm doubting my substitution as we could really use the taller Belotti at the moment.

[Edit]

I swapped Dybala and Bentivegna but kept Benti in the deeper F9 role. He drops off and receives the ball from the wingback, passes it on to Tariq who plays a pass into the box that finds Dybala. Dybala turns and smashes it onto the crossbar. Luck is not on our side today.

[Edit]

1-2, absolutely gutted! A good illustration of the challenges you face after a really good season. They were extremely hard to break down. I expected this to happen and made some changes which I will go into with the next big post but evidently we aren't good enough (yet) to do the same we did last year.

Coming back to our philosophy an interesting note is that I started Goldaniga for the first time due to a tightly packed fixture list. My plan was to keep our back three as consistent as possible to be able to play solid, disciplined defensive football. The first goal came from a Goldaniga clearance hitting a teammate and the second goal was scored on the near post from a right flank cross which is the side Goldaniga played on. If I'd kept true to my principles despite the fitness concern this might have all been prevented.

Great thread!

Like others that have commented, it's threads like this that really grab the attention.

How much do you feel that mental make up of your squad contributed to your success? As opposed to skill levels and tactics etc?

Was that willingness to run themselves ragged for teammates and the badge evident?

After our unlikely success in the first season we come into the second season with a Champions League qualification, an increased reputation and almost 20 million cash in our pockets. Sounds like a dream come true but it's actually a very difficult challenge. A big part of last seasons success was our magic duo being able to find space against teams trying to attack us and playing without any pressure. This season teams will be aware of our reputation and look to deny space for our forwards and Dybala will feel the pressure to replicate last seasons success. On top of that we will see a bunch of players return from loan and we will have some co-ownership decisions to make. A big managerial challenge in which it's easy to make a bad decision or fail to adequately address a problem.

Luckily for us we took the time to formulate a clear philosophy at the start of our project. Lets take the holiday to sit back, get a good overview of the situation and let our principles guide our decisions.

I will quickly recap our principles and line out how I'm planning to cope with these challenges using our principles as a guideline.

Playing style

Disciplined defensive formation

Direct attacking football

Hard work and individual flair to create advantages on the pitch

Squad development

Develop a small squad that is willing to die for each other and show passion and fighting spirit for the club

Focus on own player development to instill a sense of pride for the badge from a young age

Conservative transfer policy only to sign necessary players who fit into the clubs philosophy

Here is my plan to cope with the coming challenges:

1. It will be more difficult to score goals as we are a club that plays defensive football with an increased reputation and more pressure to perform.

Because of this I think it's necessary to sign new players. Part of our playing style is to create advantages on the pitch through hard work and individual flair. Hard work will be of limited use against clubs who sit back and defend so we need to have players in the engine of our team who can make the difference. One key area I target is the right wingback. While Lazaar and to some extend Deprela have done well providing crosses from the left flank Morganella hasn't impressed on the right and Patric doesn't have the quality going forward. I keep a small shortlist of 10-20 players that I feel would fit the squad perfectly and have the potential to become key players for the club. This is in case one of my players is poached away and I need to make a fast signing. I have two right (wing)backs on the list, Sime Vrsaljko and Gino Peruzzi who is available for 6.5mil. I target him to be our key signing for the season.

Another change will be moving Barreto to the Regista role. Last season I'd often play Rigoni or Bolzoni there who aren't the greatest passers to put more emphasis on the tackling aspect of the role acting as very mobile ball winners who work hard to make themselves available and are in a position behind the attack to win it back quickly if we lose possession. This season I'll probably need more creativity from deep and I feel this is a good opportunity for our aging captain to play a role that is a little less physically challenging which hopefully allows him to play more games and really dictate our play.

I hope these two changes will make us dangerous enough going forward against more defensive opponents. You could argue that I need to bring in another true star player to break down tough defenses but in line with our philosophy to build a tight knit and hard working unit I decide against it and instead put my hopes on Humam Tariq and Chochev to improve and provide the necessary penetration from deep as well as Dybala and Belotti to continue their good performances.

2. We will face tougher opponents in the Champions League and have to play more games.

We play defensive football which suits playing tougher opponents but to drag points away from Europe's greats we will need to improve our quality at the back and play a defensively solid and hard working engine. Bringing in Peruzzi will help and Munoz will be coming back from loan. Munoz will be a key player for us and is a great match for our philosophy and fits in well with the rest of our South American contingent of key players.

In goal Sorrentino has impressed last season and has earned the right to sit out the rest of his contract at the club. I do want to sign a prospect this year who can be tutored this season and gradually replace Sorrentino in goal and become a key player for years to come. There are a couple of keepers on the short list who I have scouted extensively as I knew in advance I would be making a signing here. Juventus doesn't seem to be interested in keeping Leali and his low price and great determination have convinced me to go for him. Viviani is coming back from loan but he isn't likely to want to play backup at the start of the season and he is too much of a mercenary to convince me he will give everything for the club so I'm looking to sell him on.

I'm looking to keep the core of the squad mostly the same (Barreto, Dybala, Sorrentino, Lazaar with Munoz and Perruzi coming in to reinforce) but on the fringe I might look to improve our general quality. Players like Rigoni (declining), Bolzoni, Ortiz, Andelkovic, Terzi, Gonzalez and Quaison have failed to impress me last season and if the right players become available I might make some changes to help us make the step to the Champions League. I have to try and keep a balance between keeping a consistent squad that knows each other through and through and improving the quality of the squad. It's easy to lose sight of our philosophy with too many transfers which could lead to disjointed performances and losing sight of what brought us here in the first place. On the other hand if we don't improve the squad we will have a very tough season and the board and fans will start asking why I didn't put that 20mil to good use.

3. We will have an inflated squad with players coming back from loan.

Not a big challenge here but in line with our philosophy I'll need to offload a bunch of players who don't fit our philosophy or just don't have the necessary talent to play at this level. The only interesting player coming back is Goldaniga who was on loan and has a co-ownership decision coming up between us and Juventus. He is a great talent and luckily for us Juve seems to have lost sight of him and doesn't look interested. Time to clear up the mess and build a small and clearly structured squad that can become the foundation for future success!

Putting our Plan in Action

Here are the transfers I made. The player falling just off the screen is Montoleone moving on loan to Carpi in the Serie B to play as a first team CB. He can be recalled in case of an injury crisis.

I'll quickly go over the bigger decisions one by one starting with the outs:

Della Rocca: Played some games for us but was unimpressive and doesn't have the quality to step up to a higher level. Co-ownership came up and didn't bid for him.

Ujkani: The backup keeper, played some cup games last season but isn't good enough and I was going to bring in a new prospect keeper this season so I didn't extend his contract.

Bolzoni: Rotation player in last seasons midfield. Decent all-round midfielder with good workrate but wasn't good enough and made way for some new signings.

Makienok: Was used as a last ditch target man last season. Could have been useful this season with his 20 jumping but in the end decided to sell him to keep the squad small.

Andelkovic: Rotation CD, sold to make room for Munoz and Goldaniga.

Morganella: A big decision here and could very well have been the wrong call. I decided to sell Morganella instead of Patric to make room for Perruzi. Morganella is better going forward but didn't impress last season and he failed to learn the PPM "gets forward whenever possible" which turned me off from keeping him. Patric has work to do but is at least solid defensively so I'm not too scared of playing him in big games and play Perruzi when we are up against a tough defensive side.

Terzi: Started last season as a first team CB but slowly made way for Milanovic and is sold to make way for Munoz and Goldaniga.

Viviano: A good keeper but didn't fit in into our plans for the position.

Rigoni: A mainstay in last seasons midfield. Started to decline a bit and had to make room for a late signing.

Malele: Could become a good physical forward which is a role only Belotti can fill at the moment. I didn't feel he was going to get enough game time and my staff wasn't too excited about him so I let him go.

Gonzalez: Another big decision. Last seasons vice captain and part of the South American contingent at the club. He had some shaky games last season I wanted to give Goldaniga a lot of games and keep our back line consistent so I sold him.

Ortiz: Still young and the potential to be a decently solid CB. I planned to keep him as a backup but got the opportunity to sign a more exciting backup who was on my list so I sold him to make room.

Maresca: Veteran midfielder who played quite a bit at the start of the season. Still had a year on his contract on 20k/w but managed to convince him to become an under-19 coach on 3k/w.

Ins:

Peruzzi: The key signing this season. Should keep our right flank solid and provide a good number of assists which we will need this season. A key player hopefully for years to come.

Munoz: Back from loan and immediately our key CB. Will hopefully be ever present for us the coming season and keep us tight at the back. A prime example of the type of player I want at the club with his aggression, bravery, determination

Leali: On my list to become our goalkeeper for years to come. Available for cheap and good determination made my final decision easier.

Ajer: A prospect for the Regista role. Could be the clubs first "true" Regista as he actually has very good vision and passing ability for his young age. He lacks mobility which is what I like most from my current players in that position who sometimes act more as a type of midfield sweeper and ball winner combined with more adventurous distribution instead of being a true Regista. Will be a backup to Baretto this season.

Sturaro: He was on my shortlist due to his high workrate, bravery and stamina along with his good personality, preference to dive into tackles and being a good allround midfielder with great potential. Juventus deemed him surplus to requirements and put him on the transfer list. He was probably the ideal transfer for us in terms of improving the quality of our engine.

Crisetig: He was the other young midfielder on my shortlist. Exactly the same story as Sturaro, an exciting midfielder with his workrate being his stand out attribute. I wasn't initially going to buy him but when he became available for 750k I had to snap him up. Bolzoni made way for him and Crisetig is a significant improvement with potential to become the foundation for future success.

Masi: Another player on my shortlist who became available. A resolute defender with good potential. I wasn't excited about Ortiz and Gonzalez I decided to go for it and make the change. In hindsight maybe not the best decision I've made. I was considering spending more cash and bringing in Balanta to add to our collection of exciting South American players but he was out on a long term injury and wasn't going to make the medical. Other clubs were bidding on Masi and I made a snap decision. I might still bring in Balanta in the summer window depending on our performances.

Caldera & Rojkjaer: Prospects bought on the cheap, I think my HOYD brought one of them in while I bid on the other.

More changes than I originally planned but I managed to keep the core of the squad mostly intact, keep it trimmed down and improve the general quality and potential while maintaining a clear structure.

The Result

The first season squad:



The second season squad:

I'm really happy with the result and one of the key reasons is the structure of the squad. In the picture you can see the squad roles which show the structure of the squad. I have 5 key players: Munoz (defense), Barreto (midfield), Lazaar (Left wing), Perruzi (Right wing), Dybala (offense). As you can see key players down the spine and on the wings which is a really important role for the way we play. Sorrentino could also be classed as a key player but to introduce the transition of keepers I reduced his status to a first team player. From there we have just barely enough first team players to fill in the team sheet: Strandberg, Masi, Chochev, Sturaro, Deprela and Vazquez. The reason I have an extra first team player for the left wing and offense is because those areas require high quality players. Vazquez is used to give Dybala and Belotti the occasional break and plays quite a lot of games and the wingback positions are demanding and important so they are rotated often and I need quality there as well. This is also why Patric is probably the teams weak point at the moment but luckily Perruzi has 18 stamina and good natural fitness so I'm hoping he can play the majority of our games.

I've also managed to keep the squad small. I basically have two players for every position along with three youngsters who play in the Under-20's and Quaison. I was thinking about selling Quaison but there weren't any clubs interested and he is useful as an attacking impulse from the bench and to provide extra cover for our engine players which might prove useful with our very demanding schedule this season. Also note that the backups for Munoz (Musa), Barreto (Ajer) and Dybala (Bentivegna) can all still play in the Under-20's. I'm looking to keep the core of the team as consistent as possible so I can't have players in those positions who are going to expect significant playing time. By keeping the squad as small and structured as it is I avoid problems in the dressing room and improve consistency and team bonding.

It's also easier to monitor the development for the future as every player who I think has a future at the club is with my first team squad. Only Montoleone (getting first team Serie B football at Carpi) is a possibly interesting player at the club who isn't at the squad. I'll still monitor a couple of under-19 players to see if they surprise me but I'm not counting on it. This makes it easy for me to know where I might have to take action on the transfer market in the future (unlikely) and where I can just sit back and focus on tutoring, training and game time.

A look into our Club Identity: Key Players

Personality: Resolute

PPM: Marks opponents tightly, Plays short simple passes

Personality: Professional

PPM: Shoots from distance, Shoots with power, Dictates tempo, Tries long range free kicks, Dives into tackles

Personality: Resolute

PPM: Moves into channels, Tries killer balls often, Places shots, Likes to try and beat the offside trap, Dwells on ball, Hugs line

Personality: Resolute

PPM: Knocks ball past opponent

Personality: Fairly Professional

PPM: Gets forward whenever possible, Dives into tackles

As you can see a general trend of high workrate, bravery, aggression, teamwork and stamina. True examples of the types of players I want at this club.

Through adhering to our philosophy and being aware of future challenges we managed to make a good plan for the transfer window and transition our squad smoothly to face European football and increased expectations.

Lets judge our results:

Squad development

Develop a small squad that is willing to die for each other and show passion and fighting spirit for the club

Focus on own player development to instill a sense of pride for the badge from a young age

Conservative transfer policy only to sign necessary players who fit into the clubs philosophy

Due to the challenges we faced and the players becoming available we weren't able to stay very conservative with our transfer policy but I think we still managed to keep the core of the team intact and create a squad that matches our philosophy. While doing so we also made a handy 14m profit which I'm looking to invest in our facilities and staff. I might have made some small mistakes along the way but that is for the coming results to decide.

Plan pulled off without a hitch!

Lazaar and Peruzzi are my favourite players from the ones you single out. They have everything you could want from wing backs, both of them are rock solid mentally.

How do you improve prefered abilities (workrate, teamwork, aggression, bravery, determination and stamina) of the players? Most of them cannot be trained during individual workout.

Do you warn or fine players if they get low rate or red card?

How do you improve prefered abilities (workrate, teamwork, aggression, bravery, determination and stamina) of the players? Most of them cannot be trained during individual workout.

I don't for the most part. I usually use role training instead of individual attributes as I'm usually too lazy to micro manage individual training. I only use specific attribute training if I have a player who I feel has one specific weakness that warrants spending a full season on training that attribute. If that is not the case (which it usually isn't) I just use a role that I think covers the role he plays in the team best. In the end most players end up training the following roles: Central defender, Complete wingback, Defensive midfielder, Halfback, Roaming playmaker, Shadow Striker, Complete forward and Inside forward.

I get players with high workrate, teamwork, aggression, bravery, determination and stamina through selecting those players. A super talented prospect with a significant portion of those attributes in the 1-4 range is just not likely to break into the team ever and will likely be sold at some point.

Do you warn or fine players if they get low rate or red card?

I do, in line with our philosophy it's important that the players know they aren't bigger than the team and that if they don't put in a fight for the badge that is not acceptable. It helps that at this point I have a good feeling for when to warn and fine someone to get a good reaction so I haven't had any problems yet.

Great thread!

Like others that have commented, it's threads like this that really grab the attention.

How much do you feel that mental make up of your squad contributed to your success? As opposed to skill levels and tactics etc?

I just noticed I didn't answer your questions yet.

I feel the mental makeup of our squad is absolutely key to our success. The skill level of our squad is nothing special, I'd say only Dybala would walk into basically every first 11 besides maybe Juve's. If we take Juve as example every single one of their players would instantly make it into our first 11 as a key player. In terms of tactics we do nothing really special. It's based on keeping a lot of players behind the ball and an extra central defender for solidity while asking the rest of our players to play double roles to create an advantage on the pitch while giving two forward the freedom to do whatever they want free from defensive duties. This is only possible if our players have the willingness to perform those double tasks well and the mental attributes of our team are a key factor. I did spent quite some time getting the details of our tactic right in terms of the midfield trio. I started out with two BBM's but I wasn't happy with how willing they were to get into the box to support our strikers so I decided to make a staggered midfield with the right MC playing an attacking role while I told the left MC to play more risky passes. The left MC is basically molded after a roaming playmaker without the playmaker designation (I want us to look for the regista when an attack dies down so he can find a new avenue from a deeper position) and without the instruction to run with the ball as I want us to find our forwards quickly when there is still space to exploit. The right MC is the attacking one in the hopes he gets past the supporting striker which should provide some problems for their central defense as they either follow the supportive striker deep giving the MC space to exploit or the let him free on the ball giving him time to run and shoot or put in a killer ball to the attacking striker. Sadly the attacking MC doesn't go past the striker often but he is still more of a threat than a BBM would be.

Was that willingness to run themselves ragged for teammates and the badge evident?

It's often hard to tell from the visual representation from the match engine but I do see that they put in a lot of work and are determined to get challenges in. You can't really compare it well to other teams and I'm obviously biased.

Do you just leave passing to default or select direct passing?

I'm loving this thread, great work

Brilliant stuff I love all the DNA stuff that is popping up now. It really is rewarding to play the game in this way, take this level of thought into so many aspects. I loved doing it (and this thread makes me inspired to dig out that save!) and looking in detail at things like staff recruitment, training, PPMs, tutoring, squad management via versatility.

Be interested in your development approach - How you take the signings and the younger players and start them on the road to gelling into your club DNA.

Look forward to reading more

I thought it time to check in again Marsupian! I posted pretty early on in this thread and I was doubting a little how you'd develop this thread. I thought that you'd say right this is how we play, this is who we recruit, end of. But, you've followed up your early posts with some more belters and I'm really intrigued as to what the next few posts will include. Top stuff.

I just noticed I didn't answer your questions yet.

I feel the mental makeup of our squad is absolutely key to our success. The skill level of our squad is nothing special, I'd say only Dybala would walk into basically every first 11 besides maybe Juve's. If we take Juve as example every single one of their players would instantly make it into our first 11 as a key player. In terms of tactics we do nothing really special. It's based on keeping a lot of players behind the ball and an extra central defender for solidity while asking the rest of our players to play double roles to create an advantage on the pitch while giving two forward the freedom to do whatever they want free from defensive duties. This is only possible if our players have the willingness to perform those double tasks well and the mental attributes of our team are a key factor. I did spent quite some time getting the details of our tactic right in terms of the midfield trio. I started out with two BBM's but I wasn't happy with how willing they were to get into the box to support our strikers so I decided to make a staggered midfield with the right MC playing an attacking role while I told the left MC to play more risky passes. The left MC is basically molded after a roaming playmaker without the playmaker designation (I want us to look for the regista when an attack dies down so he can find a new avenue from a deeper position) and without the instruction to run with the ball as I want us to find our forwards quickly when there is still space to exploit. The right MC is the attacking one in the hopes he gets past the supporting striker which should provide some problems for their central defense as they either follow the supportive striker deep giving the MC space to exploit or the let him free on the ball giving him time to run and shoot or put in a killer ball to the attacking striker. Sadly the attacking MC doesn't go past the striker often but he is still more of a threat than a BBM would be.

It's often hard to tell from the visual representation from the match engine but I do see that they put in a lot of work and are determined to get challenges in. You can't really compare it well to other teams and I'm obviously biased.

No problem and thanks for the info.

I've recently started a Rangers save and whilst it'll only take 2 or 3 seasons to probably be the most talented team in Scotland, in terms of Europe, we're going to have to run and work harder than our opposition to make up for the lack of quality (and my limited tactical expertise) at that level.

I've adopted your approach in terms of looking to build a squad to reflect that, plus I do like to play a pressing game without the ball. Mid way through season 2 and it's so far so good. 7 points clear of Celtic at Christmas in the SPL and qualified from the Europa League group stage, having won the Scottish Cup (and Challenge Cup and Championship) in season 1.

Do you just leave passing to default or select direct passing?

Default, if I remember correctly the "play wider" instruction already increases passing length and playing with a counter mentality increases passing directness when a counter opportunity arises and I think it makes defensive players pass more direct and attacking players less direct which makes us get the ball forward faster. Apart from that the Regista is largely responsible for our passing, he is the only playmaker in the team so players look for him when they don't have any other options that are obviously better. The regista has the task of making himself available for when an attack dies down, collect the ball and decide what avenue to attack through next (either finding a wingback, hitting it long to our strikers or trying to find an opening through the midfield).

Be interested in your development approach - How you take the signings and the younger players and start them on the road to gelling into your club DNA.

A big aspect of this is getting the right players in the first place so thorough scouting is important as well as making sure everything in the club reflects our philosophy so hopefully the regens coming through the youth academy already fit into our system. I obviously still run the risk of getting highly talented regens that don't really gel with our philosophy (unprofessional, lack determination, low workrate/teamwork/bravery/aggression/natural fitness etc.) in which case I have a though decision to make but they are more likely to get sold at some point.

Here is a quick example:

Humam Tariq plays as our attacking CM as a rotation option to Chochev. He has 2 bravery which is absolutely terrible for our team. When we sit back our main weakness is conceding the area in front of our box which invites a lot of long shots. I accept that we will concede from long shots but to combat this I want every opponent who attempts a long shot to at least be under pressure from one of our MC's charging at him and putting his body on the line (as well as making sure we have a really good GK who excels at shot stopping). Humam Tariq with his 2 bravery isn't exactly suited to charging at an opponent to throw himself into a challenge so this is an obvious weakness. His low determination and aggression is also an eye sore.

I still see him as a good player for our team due to the combination of vision, passing, workrate, and flair he can bring to our midfield. When our wingbacks can't get past their man or find space to put a cross in we can be toothless at times so it's important for us to have someone who can pull the strings from midfield and make something happen (he also has the Dictates Tempo PPM). He is not an ideal player for our side but a great talent we could get for cheap and with his excellent workrate he still has the foundation to play in the engine of our team so he has a place in the squad despite his terrible bravery.

In terms of player development I don't do anything special in terms of training schedules or PPM training. What I do aim for is keeping a small squad which means our talents are also our backups or at times even our rotation players. When we play our "second 11" so a complete rotation we have the 19yr/old Pirello or even the 16yr/old regen Musa playing instead of Munoz, the 17yr old Ajer playing instead of Barreto and the 19yr/old Bentivegna playing instead of Dybala. Those are our key positions so they don't get a lot of game time but they still get games and I don't have older backup/rotation players there who will expect to play more often.

This leads to our most important aspect of player development. I give players time in the first team at a young age so they quickly get exposed to what it means to play in the first team and fight for the badge. They soon find out that if you don't step up and put in a shift you will get heat from your teammates, me as the manager and the fans. When a youngster doesn't perform up to standards in during his first team exposure he will get told and he will get warned or fined (basically goes for the whole team). I don't accept players slacking and through making this absolutely clear they improve their workrate and determination. This goes at the risk of ******* someone off but I'm pretty good at getting my reactions right and I'm not afraid of causing some controversy (this is Palermo after all, it's supposed to get heated). When a player gets pissy because I held in his wages after a lazy performance he isn't cut out for our team and I'd rather play the 18yr/old eager for a place in the squad.