Developing a System - A Case Study

In my last post a while back I talked about taking charge of a club and building a long term club DNA. In that post I took charge of Palermo and instilled a disciplined and defensive style of Italian football with direct attacking play and a splash of pink passion that lead the club to long term success. I’ve recently picked up the game again and this time I’m on a different journey. In this thread I won’t be following the story of a football club but the story of a manager. There is an Icelandic Sunday league footballer called Hermann Gudjonsson who is dreaming big. Inspired by the German resurgence and coaches like Simeone he is determined to bring his own brand of fast paced and high energy football to world stage and become a successful manager. Taking inspiration from teams like Atlético and Gladbach and managers like Sacchi, Simeone and Klopp our sunday league star Hermann Gudjonsson starts looking for his first job as manager.

In this thread I will show you how I approached building and implementing a system and taking Hermann Gudjonsson's fictional career as a case study and to get into the finer details.

Creating a system: Pick your Principles

Before I opened the tactic creator or even started my save I asked myself three questions.

“How will I defend?”

I will compress space, press as a team and hunt down the ball to win it back early.

“How will I score goals?”

I will play a high tempo passing game focused on catching the opponents defense out of position in the transition phase and opening space through player movement off the ball.

“What will be my edge?”

Hard work by the entire team and creativity and fluidity in attack.

In my opinion it’s important to get a couple of core principles on paper before you dive into the tactic creator. It will make sure your tactic results in a clear game plan with instruction making logical sense and building on each other. When I first started playing this game I would pick a formation that lets me play my best players in their best positions, pick roles that suit them and then choose instructions that sounded good to me. This often creates a disjointed set of instructions instead of a congruent and simple game plan. By putting down a couple of principles first you have a better aim when picking a team shape, player roles and instructions which usually leads to a better focused system.

Let’s try to translate these principles into the match engine and implement a system.

Formation: I want to be able to press effectively and two banks of four is a good way to do this. My main formation will be a 4-4-1-1. This formation is especially suited to guiding the ball towards one of the flanks and then collapsing on them. The striker will push a central defender to play towards the flank while the AMC blocks the pass infield and from there the striker and MC can block the side and back pass while the AMC and WM press the player on the ball. I will also the option of switching to a 4-1-4-1 or a 4-4-2 to give us a more defensive and a more attacking variant of the same idea.

Team shape: I want the whole team to work together and the creative freedom to open up defenses so I will go with very fluid. This puts the whole team on the same mentality and closes the space between the lines. Finding space will be hard for both teams which will allow us to play a pressing game. The high tempo passing game and creative freedom should allow us to open up space and find it even when it’s hard to come by.

Mentality: With a very fluid team shape the whole team will mostly adopt the same mentality so a more balanced approach is usually a good idea. With our high tempo and aggressive defending our play will be inherently risky so I'm not eager to instruct my players to take more risks with a more attacking mentality. A standard mentality will be our baseline and a counter mentality is an interesting choice to further reduce risk taking to balance our high tempo passing game. A counter mentality will lower our defensive line and closing down so we will have to compensate with team instructions if we go that route. A control mentality will make the whole team look for attacking options and can be a good choice if we need to make something happen against a team looking for a draw.

Team instructions: First I push the defensive line much higher up to compress space. Then I tell the players to press more so the team will focus on winning the ball back and won't allow opponents time on the ball. I tell my players to mark tight to remove passing options and be able to challenge quickly when a player receives a pass. With the tight marking instruction I'm partly hoping to replicate the man oriented zonal marking that was so prevelant this EC as discussed in this article. The instruction to prevent short keeper distribution should help us establish our pressing early and force 50/50 balls. I also instruct the team to play the offside trap to help deal with the space in behind our high line. To encourage a high tempo attack I tell them to play a higher tempo and I encourage a passing oriented game with the play out of defense instruction. The shorter passing instruction would be a decent alternative for the play out of defense instruction but I'd rather encourage build up play from the back while still allowing my forward players to play a more direct game when there is an opportunity to do so. Doing it this way also makes the switch to a counter strategy easier as it will negate the more direct passing from the defenders that comes with a defensive mentality.

Player roles and instructions: With the roles I want to achieve two things, create a balance between attack and defend and create player movement that will open up space and exploit that space.

Things to note here are no specialist roles, a balanced distribution of duties (3 defensive, 4 supporting, 3 attacking) and defensive duties in a central triangle with attacking and supporting duties on both flanks and in the center and one of each in every strata.

Defensive player instructions: The defense is completely based on compressing space and pressing as a team so no individual instructions here apart from telling the goalkeeper to distribute to fullbacks.

Attacking player instructions: The attack is based on fast passing play and lethal transitions. This only works if there are players moving into space and creating space for each other. The WM(s) on the left is instructed to sit narrow and roam from position. The WM(a) is told to stay wide. The MC(s) is told to roam from position. The AMC(a) is told to move into channels and roam from position. Lastly the CF(s) is already roaming from position but is also told to move into channels. Horizontally the WM(a) and CWB(a) are tasked with stretching the defense wide to open up the channels while the central players are told to try and find space laterally. Vertically the CF(s) is coming deep while the WM(a) is looking to get in behind and the AMC(a) has the option of going past him or finding space somewhere else on the pitch. The WM(s) usually drops off the defensive line into the midfield while the CWB(a) overlaps but when the ball is on the other flank he will get into the box. The MC(s) stays deep for the majority of the time but usually gets into the box when in the later phase of the attack if there is an opportunity to do so.

The end result is a team that works hard as a unit to win the ball back, looks to get the ball forward fast on the transition to catch the other team out of position and when that fails goes back to a more conservative but still high tempo passing game trying to find an opening through varied off the ball movement. This is the system Hermann Gudjonsson will be looking to implement at his first club. In the next post I'll show how I implement this system at a club and how I balance making changes and sticking to the system.

You can’t always play exactly the same in every game. You come up against different opponents with different strengths and different styles. You need to rotate players to keep them fit or to cover for injuries and suspensions. You need to change how you play if it isn’t working during the game. In short at some point you will end up making a change. The question is how much do you change and what?

I think it’s important to always stick to your principles. What I do is I change to accommodate certain situations within the system I have set up. This section will be split into two parts, changes I can make within the system to defend against certain threats and changes I can make to exploit the opponent’s weaknesses and score goals.

Part 1: defensive threats

Changing formations: The formation will dictate your defensive shape. The standard shape we play (4-4-1-1) is great at setting a high press to direct play towards a flank and then collapse and win the ball. If this isn’t working due to the formation of the opponent or their playing style sometimes it’s better to change formation. The 4-1-4-1 is an obvious choice if you want a more defensive approach to the match. It lowers the defensive line a bit due to playing a DM in between and it brings your AMC into the midfield strata where he can contribute more in the defensive phase. This is especially useful against teams who are looking to get in behind your defensive line with pace as it lowers it and against teams who rely on space in between the defense and midfield for creating chances as it puts the defensive midfielder in a better position to deal with this while also putting the attacking midfielder in a more conservative position where he doesn’t close down as early which can open up space in midfield. Do be careful that the lower defensive line can reduce the effectiveness of your pressing game.

The second option is a lot less obvious, changing to a 4-4-2 to deal with an opponent’s threats. It might sound strange but it’s a fairly common occurrence in the modern game. Teams like Atletico have often employed a defensive 4-4-2 with great success. It’s strength is that the two banks of four can get really close together with two players to close down deeper players and prevent a fast transition from left to right which can catch you out of position. This is a great way to set up a deeper press but for that to work you have to get your forwards to sit in a deeper defensive positions, either through role changes or specific man marking.

Changing duties: The most obvious weakness in our defense is the CWB(a) charging off leaving space for a winger to receive the ball. This should normally be solved through pressing the player trying to give the pass and the defensive MC covering the space but when you play against Iniesta and Neymar that might not be enough. In that case changing the CWB(a) to a support duty or to a fullback role so he plays a more conservative game might be necessary. I personally very rarely make this change as I’m not a coward.

An option I use way more often is changing the AMC(a) to a support duty and if he was on attack also brining the WM on the left back on support duty. This makes them hold their shape better out of possession instead of charging out into the early press and can prevent space from opening up in midfield making the team have a more solid shape. Usually when I do this I also change my CF to an attack duty, this creates a dynamic where the AM and LWM sit deep to collect the ball and the CF and RWM trying to get in behind which can be lethal against a high defensive line which is often the case when an opponent is giving you trouble.

Lowering the defensive line: Sometimes you just don’t have the ability to cope with the space in between your defensive line and the goal. In this case it can be sensible to reduce the effectiveness of our pressing game in exchange for more leeway for our defensive line by lowering it. If you are watching the game and your defenders are constantly running back towards their goal it might be necessary to go from “much higher” to “higher” and maybe also switch to a 4-1-4-1. These small changes can sometimes make the difference between being able to intercept balls over the top or getting caught out regularly.

Another approach is abandoning the high press entirely and adopt a deep press instead. Leicester is a clear example of this approach with two slow center backs and a Vardy leading the line a high press doesn't make sense. Adopting a counter mentality with a normal defensive line and normal closing down with a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 will give you two banks of four sitting deep and compact in front of your goal. This does abandon our principle of winning the ball early but it's the core principle of closing space with a compact formation and playing high paced football with a focus on the transition is still there.

Giving up the early press: Another approach is abandoning the high press entirely and adopt a deep press instead. Leicester is a clear example of this approach with two slow center backs and a Vardy leading the line a high press doesn't make sense. Adopting a counter mentality with a normal defensive line and normal closing down with a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 will give you two banks of four sitting deep and compact in front of your goal. This does abandon our principle of winning the ball early but it's the core principle of closing space with a compact formation and playing high paced football with a focus on the transition is still there.

Going more attacking: Sometimes the best defense is a good attack. One place you never want to be in is when your defensive line is high but not high enough to put sufficient pressure on the ball. It’s a no-mans land where players have space in front of your defense to pick out a pass and behind your defense to run into. Sometimes the best defense option is to close space further. If this is a local issue with a certain player you can change a players duty to be more attacking so he is more willing to close down space in front of him (like the LWM to attack or the DM to support) or through using an opposition instruction to always close someone down. The other more general approach is going with a more attacking mentality to bring up the defensive line and closing down.

Reducing man orientation to keep shape: With tighter marking comes the risk of being dragged out of position. Against teams that have players who are trying to drag defenders out of position it can be a good idea to lose the man orientation and play a more positional zonal defense. This can be especially strong when playing a deep press instead of a more aggressive high press.

Part 2: attacking opportunities

Finding space and creating space: Sometimes an opponent has made a choice of where he is going to leave space on the pitch. The most obvious example is playing a deep defensive style or an advanced pressing style. If the opponent plays a high line you have to make sure you are taking advantage of it. There are two parts to this, having one or preferably two players with pace trying to get in behind their defenders and having one or preferably two good passers who can play out from under the pressure and put in a good through ball. An obvious choice here is playing two creative players in the LWM and AMC positions on a support duty and playing faster players in the RWM and CF positions with an attack duty. This isn’t always the best option as sometimes a CF(s) coming deep is much more effective as a creator as pulling a DC further up further exposes the back line. Just make sure that if you go with this option he is able to find the space in front and carefully consider whether you want the LWM to take up the attacking duty to get in behind the defensive line or encouraging the AMC to go past him in a more central area.

If the opponent is sitting deep finding space can become really difficult. Usually you have to pay more attention to stretching the opponent wide and allowing fast transitions from one flank to the other. When the opponent stays deep a forward moving into channels and dropping off and luring defenders deep is often invaluable as well as the AMC looking to get past him in the other channel. I occasionally remove the “roam from position” instruction on the AMC to promote this behavior if I don’t see it enough although I’m not sure this always has the desired effect. It’s also important to have at least one player hassling defenders and trying to get on the end of crosses and through balls. Sometimes a good cross is the most likely way to score against an opponent and if your CF is the most likely person to get on the end of that cross giving him an attack duty can be a good idea. Another option against defensive teams is switching formations to a 4-4-2 to find more width or a 4-1-4-1 to create more depth in your team and draw midfielders deeper.

Putting the right person in the right position: Part of the beauty of playing a system with very high creative freedom is that your instructions have fairly minimal impact on the behavior of the players. A lot of what you see on the pitch is a direct result of the player’s attributes and personality. Because of this half the battle is often won during the team selection and your substitutes can have a big impact on how your team plays. The squad is my toolbox and I have to select the right tool for the job. This goes further than selecting a more creative or a more direct attacking player or a tall striker vs. a fast striker. I learned that putting in a little bit of effort into getting to know my players and looking at how my opponent is likely to play pays off. That said sometimes it’s as simple as giving the player who scored a brace in the last game a days rest so he can do the same the next game without getting injured. I’ve also had a game where I noticed in the scout report that over half of Cardiff City’s assists came from the left flank as passes, after checking their usual line up I noticed they had a young prospect on loan from Man City with 17 creativity and 15 passing and technique playing on the left side of the midfield who had already been named young player of the month a couple of times. In response I didn’t play my faster and more fragile right winger but a well rounded central midfielder who could also play on the right wing. This guy had a much higher workrate, strength and bravery and the young prospect who relied on finding space for his creativity and technical abilities got bullied off the pitch and got subbed in the 60th minute which ensured our clean sheet.

Putting it into practice: In my coming posts I will introduce Hermann Johansson at his first job and start putting the plan into practice.

Start of a Journey: Welcome to Rostock!

Hermann Gudjohnsson somehow found his way into the manager position of FC Hansa Rostock. I'm not sure how they verified his CV but here he is eager to get started. The Hansa are an East German team with an interesting history, great facilities for the 3. Fussball-Liga and a focus on player development. Apparently Hermann's talk of playing the game the right way and bringing exciting football to the Ostseestadion appealed to the board.

Step One: What do we have in our toolbox?

After meeting the squad and playing the first friendlies I get a feel for what we have to play with. We are expected to finish 11th in midtable so we will be both underdogs and favorites throughout the season. The defense comes in 16th in the league for pace but 1st in marking and tackling. Overall we come in 2nd in the league for first touch which is encouraging for the style I want to play along with a 6th place for teamwork, 7th for passing, 8th for aggression and sadly 18th for teamwork.

Here is the first team squad I'll try to use for most of my games:

My vice captain and best defender. Great defensive ability, personality and teamwork. Sadly slow as a rock and no technical ability.

A strong defender who puts his body in the line for his team. He can fill in as a more defensive right back although he does like to go forward.

The first choice right back. Very mediocre ability but stands out physically and is a decent team player.

A more attacking left back. A great footballer who suffers from a lack of fitness.

A solid defensive midfielder with great workrate. He really lacks vision and a good first touch but he makes up for it when defending.

A strange one, horrible determination and natural fitness offset by high aggression, workrate and vision. He has his problems but manages to perform both playmaking duties and tackling duties which isn't common at this level. I have developed a real love/hate relationship with this one.

This is my Mahrez so to speak. Has a mean dribble and can do a decent job tracking back with his workrate, stamina, strength and aggression.

The left winger and captain of the squad. He has a combined midfield/winger role in the team as he sits inside to create a three men midfield during build up play. He has fairly decent attributes across the board with great passing and off the ball movement so it suits him well.

The deeper forward with great off the ball movement and physical ability. Not the creative wonder we all hope for but manages to do the job in his own way.

The advanced forward. He doesn't have the pace or anticipation tear apart a high line but he does a decent job and is a good finisher.

Part two: Getting the job done with what we have available

Two things stand out from our squad. There isn't a particular good option for an AMC and the squad is far more suited to a 4-4-2 (there is another good backup striker and two prospects in the squad) and we aren't very well suited to playing a high line. In light of this I decided to temper my ambition a notch and start the season playing a deep press similar to how Leicester played last season. Later in the season we will add the high press to our repertoire and start using it in games we need to take control.

The counter mentality, very fluid shape and 4-4-2 formation should give us the compact and deep defensive shape we want for our deep press. We mark tight to give us a man orientation and make it harder for players to find space. We should be compact enough that other players can fill a position if someone is dragged away. I want the team to get stuck in to win the ball and allow is to utilize the transition more often. Lastly the play out of defense and higher tempo instruction set the foundation for our high tempo passing football.

A very basic formation that does one thing really well. The F9 dropping deep and the WML coming inside tend to create a diamond shape in possession while still defending in two banks of four like we want. With the diamond in place to create a foundation for our passing play the WMR, STL and FBL can make runs from various positions to challenge the opponents back line. A tried and tested setup for the 4-4-2 formation.

In the next post I will look at some of the important games in the first half of the season to see how things are working and whether the principles we set out at the start of the journey are still apparent.

This is fantastic. Thoroughly enjoying it so far.

Do you consider the 4-1-2-2-1 a good shape for the high press? I assume it would work well enough. Also what attributes in which positions do you consider necessary for your team to be able to play in a high block? Workrate and stamina mainly? Pace for centre backs?

I like this, mate. Will follow it closely, I hope you have motivation to keep this going on long-term.

Good start .

Interested to see how this develops.

The opening fixture has playing against a rival for a spot in the top half of the table. We are predicted 11th away to VfR Aalen who are predicted 10th. A great day to play some high tempo counter football! They are lining up with a 4-4-1-1 against the exact 4-4-2 from the previous post. We kick off and 7 seconds after the start of the game I see this:

Great workrate by the STL and especially the MR to immediately try to get in behind the defensive line. Already we are asking some questions of our opponent but as you know our STR isn't exactly blessed with great creativity or skill. One thing I'd like to see more here is the ML getting more centrally to create a good diamond shape but he is not in the worst position here. The STR chooses to pass the ball into the feet of the MR who gives the ball back to him in a more advanced position.

Here he has received the ball back and tried to dribble but got closed down. The STL and MR are again in dangerous positions here and the ML is getting closer to create the diamond shape. The ML and MCR are both trying to support the STR which is good to see. The STR gets the ball sideways to the MR who tries to dribble but gets tackled.

This is the moment we lose the ball. Due to our attacking shape our defensive lines are all over the place and their AMC is in a great position to start a counter attack. The gap between the rightback and right central defender is especially scary. The ball gets fed to the AMC who looks for their striker.

As their AMC plays the ball forward our shape starts to look a little better already. The MR and MRC both got in position to put pressure on the ball while retreating and our rightback is putting in some hard work to close the gap. I'd like to see my right central defender get into a better position anticipating the pass but he isn't the brightest of the bunch so I'll give him a break.

Here the DCR and DR have closed down the striker forcing a pass back infield to Drexler. The moment the DR caught up with the move the DCR moved back in position. We are still a bit of a mess in terms of defensive positions but you can see two things happening here. We are trying to get a compact line of four in front of our box and we are serrounding the ball with bodies.

Drexler plays the ball further infield to Muller who gets shown back into the crowd. We are now extremely compact with three of our midfielders closing down the ball. We win the ball back and play it into the STR to try and start our own counter. Sadly Aalen isn't committing too many bodies forward and the counter dies down eventually. Encouraging here is how compact we are when defending but ideally I'd get my strikers further back.

Here is a screenshot of later in the game. They had a free kick in their own half which they passed forward into midfield and followed by a pass to the #8 on the right. Their #8 got closed down by my left back high up the pitch which prompted my defensive MCL to drop back into the defensive line to cover his position. #8 getting closed down by the left back and the ML cutting out the passing options he plays it back infield to their MC #18. Here my STL shows great workrate by tracking back to close down the ball which wins us possession relatively high up the pitch. Again you can see how compact our defense is although I don't think the MCL is making the right decision by dropping back and should be moving up to their #15 so the MCR can better protect the space in front of their striker.

In the 18th minute we win the ball with this challenge from Schwertfeger on their AMC. The two lines look good and Aalen looks a bit defensive here. There is certainly no counter opportunity so we start passing the ball around. After 10 passes at a decent pace and some good movement from the STR we find ourselves in this situation:

Here Andrist is dribbling into the danger area in front of their back four. Their MC's are high up marking my central midfielders and there is loads of space to use. Instead Andrist plays a backheel to the supporting DR.

Their players quickly turn back to cover the run in behind the defense leaving Ardrist in some space in front of the defensive line to receive the ball back from the DR and pick out the pass shown by the red dotted line to pick out the run of my STL Benyamina who does this:

And scores the first goal of the 15/16 season! During the buildup every player apart from the two center backs touched the ball which got worked from the left flank to the right flank in a good tempo. I couldn't have wished for a better start of the season.

Here the STR picked up the ball after a the DCR won a header from an Aalen goal kick. He passed the ball to the ML and started a run forward. The ML dribbles, turns inside and plays it back the the MCR.

The MCR plays the ball to the MR quickly switching the play to the other flank. The MR comes inside and plays the STR Perstaller through on the outside of the two center backs who doesn't think twice and smashes the ball into the top corner.

A great start of the season with an 0-2 win over a team predicted to finish one place higher than us in the table. Below are the match stats. It might not have been the most exciting game of the season but restricting the opponent to two shots on target feels good and will probably please the fans.

Do you consider the 4-1-2-2-1 a good shape for the high press? I assume it would work well enough. Also what attributes in which positions do you consider necessary for your team to be able to play in a high block? Workrate and stamina mainly? Pace for centre backs?

It's a similar shape to a 4-1-4-1, pushing the wingers higher up will probably put them in a better position for a high press if anything. I prefer a flat four line because they should get more involved in the later phases of defense and help out the midfield more but I don't think the difference is that big. Best thing to do is just compare the two and watch what the wingers do in different situations. It's been a while for me since I last played with wingers in the AM strata so I can't really tell you how they will do.

I like this, mate. Will follow it closely, I hope you have motivation to keep this going on long-term.

I'll try my best . I'm secretly hoping I can go to a new club in a season or two so I can get my hands on a proper AMC but on the other hand I'm enjoying my time with Hansa Rostock so far. My goal is to win the champions league and I'm going to try to get to Atletico or Arsenal with a couple of stops in other leagues to have a variety of challenges to overcome.

Great thread! I'm currently working on pretty much an identical system with Nottingham Forest. Only differences are, I like my RCM a bit more strong, static and combative as during the counter-transition the pivots in midfield are crucial towards keeping shape, with all the other players around them given freedom to roam. Also, a BWM(D) does a great job covering the space left by the left wing back, providing you have a player with good marking, staming and workrate in that position. And finally, my right Wide Midfielder has instructions to cut inside, roam, dribble more and roam. Having left the crossing instructions untouched, he becomes a sort of Raumdeuter with good defensive responsibilities, either running out wide to cross or cutting inside to score or assist(a two-footed player would be great for the role). One more thing, I found the WPM is incredibly effective with an attack duty, so I have my left wingback changing from support to attack depending on the match situation. I have to say, I'm amazed how familiar all the tactical thought process outlaid here sounds, as I have been working towards implementing ideas from Sacchi, Favre, Simeone, Schmidt (hence the tactic name, deutschespiel:P ) And I love your take on the the idea of having a club DNA and working within it's framework. Currently working to have a fully 'trained at club' first team by 2020. So far so good:

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In the league it worked incredibly well, however a high risk mentality has its downsides when it comes to cup competitions, one match can decide it all. So there I am, after three seasons at forest, during which we managed to somehow become the 5th richest club in the world, I'm rethinking my strategy to balance my style of play. The idea of going very fluid and using standard mentality sounds like the most obvious choice, but I feel that kills the edge off the fast counterpressing, so I'm tempted to experiment with an agressive counter set-up, since the best attributes of my team are speed, passing, decisions and first touch. I also have two players in central midfield that would make amazing deep lying playmakers, so finding how to implement this role in the system without losing defensive stablity will also be a challenge. Anyhows, a pleasure reading this thread, I'm actually thinking starting one as well, to justify the insane amount of hours I've put in this save at least!)

^ I am also playing with Nottingham Forest and had to use a compact 4-4-2 with the players at disposal (very long time injuries to good First Team players in the first season, also the transfer embargo which means we can't get any players in). How did you approach the save in your first season? And the second season too. I am looking to finish around play-offs in the first season before I build for an automatic promotion in the second season, as I believe that the squad is pretty thin for a promotion in the first season.

Brilliant read this. Many thanks

The DFB-Pokal poses an interesting challenge for us in this early part of the season. The first round is the third match of the season and has us drawn at home against Gladbach. It's a team I admire and they should easily tear us apart. It almost sounds like the perfect opportunity to test our deep press and high tempo counter tactic.

These are the starting line-ups, Gladbach didn't go for a B-team and the formations look surprisingly similar.

Three minutes in we have possession, the STL has dropped off the defensive line to receive the ball from the advancing ML and plays it back to the MCL who is in acres of space. Notice the MR already happily testing the offside trap. Also notice how well Gladbach have set up their defensive line. Very little space between the lines and no real options to get through. Their only weakness is the two strikers covering my central defenders leaving my central midfielders in an ocean of space.

When the MCR receives the ball their left central midfielder comes out to close down allowing the STR to drop into a bit of space to receive the ball from the MCR. This should be a cue for the STL and MR to start their runs to try and get in behind for a through ball. One thing I don't like here is how wide my ML stays, I'm toying with the idea to remove the roaming instruction to see if it allows the sit inside instruction to have a bigger effect but I'm not sure that will help.

The MR made the run and got himself on the inside of his marker. Their right back is still in a great position to put in a timely challenge partly because it wasn't the best timed run, partly because Andrist isn't the greatest sprinter of all time and partly because Gladbach were well positioned leaving little space to work with. Luckily Andrist doesn't care about that and cheekily chips the ball into the far corner of the goal beating their keeper! The Ostseestadion erupts as the fans roar and chant Andrists name! Today we slay giants!

When the fans calm down and realize there are still a good 85 minutes to play they are treated to this view:

Yes it's time to dig in. Here you can see a lot of similarities with how Gladbach set up when defending but there is one key difference. My strikers are covering their MC's. Sadly this isn't normal ME behavior and to accomplish this I set both my strikers to specifically man mark the two center midfielders. I don't really like doing this and it comes with it's own sets of problems (like my central midfielders closing down the opponents central defenders as my strikers aren't doing it anymore) but it does a decent job of replicating the behavior I want to see from my forwards. It successfully creates the deep and compact defense we see in this picture.

I'd like to say that this is how we spent the rest of the game but that is not true. We actually managed about 50% possession and a good passing success rate. We regularly got on the opponents half and looked dangerous a couple of times but those occasions were also the moments we were most vulnerable as seen below.

This is in the second half, we recovered the ball and started looking for an opportunity on the transition. There isn't much on with Gladbach having plenty of bodies behind the ball and the STR decides to try and dribble past Xhaka who easily dispossesses him and plays the ball forward to Hahn on the left who in turn plays a ball forward for Raffael to chase. Raffael is happy to do so and makes my central defenders do their best impression of running turtles.

Raffael gets to the byline to put in the cross for Stindl who takes it on the volley. Everyone in blue holds their breath when Brinkies (who only plays cup games) makes the reflex safe of a lifetime. It should have been 1-1 but it's their first real chance and we are already an hour into the game so we are still doing well.

Next up we are in the last ten minutes and butts are firmly squeezed as we see a familiar sight. Perstaller dribbling with the ball during the transition!

Yes if he can get past Jantscke here we are looking really dangerous but realistically he should be holding up the ball and get in position to play it to the MR or STL who are trying to attack the available space. The MCR is also not making the best move here as he is making things more difficult for Perstaller by dragging a defender along with him when he runs past. In this case it might have been a better choice to provide an option for a back pass instead of trying to get forward on the counter.

Jantschke made the challenge which is picked up by Xhaka who immediately feeds it to Raffael. Raffael plays it sideways to his partner (Drimic who has come on) who in turn plays it to Traore (another sub playing at RM) who has made a run in behind the left back. Traore shows my defense a clean pair of heels and puts in a cross for Raffael at the near post.

Brinkies turns into the hero of the day as he makes another great reflex safe on the close range effort and piles on the rebound that falls to Drimic to block the shot. Three great saves to take the win and send the Hansa to the second round of the DFB-Pokal!

As you can see we actually managed to get our fair share of possession and played almost 100 more successful passes than Gladbach. Sadly we only got two shots on target and the amount of fouls we needed is a concern.

These are the shots from the match (Gladbach left, Hansa right). The blue shot is a close range header from the STL Benyamina following a cross from deep by Andrist. The orange arrow is Benyamina getting a one on one following a throughball from the STR. The shot gets blocked by the leg of the keeper who rushed out. A good amount of their shots were from corners or difficult angles and I think in the end they didn't look more dangerous than we did despite having more clear cut chances and shots on target.

Playing with a false 9 instead of a more simple DLF on support was an attempt to create more vertical movement which I think is working. In this game I clearly saw the downside of using this role as both the opponents dangerous moments came from him losing the ball and putting the team in a dangerous position. I'm going to change it back to the DLF role for now and will be watching if he still does a good job of coming deep and finding his teammates.

Secondly while I can create a good defensive shape by specifically telling my forwards to mark midfielders I'd rather not do this for every game I play. I will probably still be using this for big games but will leave them forward for regular games. I have also started working on the high press tactic and plan to use it when we are chasing a game. For now it's the same 4-4-2 formation but with complete wingbacks to get a better overlap in possession. The rest is the same apart from the mentality which is standard and obviously the much higher line, closing down, offside trap and preventing short GK distribution. I'll soon update on how the high press is working out in the 3. Fussball-Liga along with a halfway update of the season.

Nice breakdown analysis for the matches.

I noticed your captain had 9 for leadership. Considered getting a replacement?

On tactics aspect, have you tried using the defensive forward as a replacement for the F9. The defensive forward does a good amount of closing down and has the dribble less PI.That could help with the transitions also.

Maybe drop the D-line a bit more since you've got slow centre backs.

Nice breakdown analysis for the matches.

I noticed your captain had 9 for leadership. Considered getting a replacement?

He was captain when I arrived and I assume he has earned his position in the squad and didn't feel comfortable removing him from his role so soon after arriving at the club. I agree that the vice captain Matthias Henn is much more suited to the role but I have to give credit to Janicke for being ever present this season and leading the assists charts.

On tactics aspect, have you tried using the defensive forward as a replacement for the F9. The defensive forward does a good amount of closing down and has the dribble less PI. That could help with the transitions also.

I have tried it and I would have like it if the role allows for more flexibility in how it's set up. In my experience it doesn't really do a good job of protecting the space in front of the midfield four like I want my forwards to do and setting them to specifically man mark midfielders accomplishes this a lot better at the moment and when in possession the DF often plays too static and conservative. At the moment I prefer the DLF role as it allows more movement and it's a good balance between the insane dribbles of the F9 and the static back passing behavior of the DF. That said the DF role is certainly a good option here and the F9 also had it's advantages. I also have to consider that with the high creative freedom a lot of what I see on the pitch isn't necessarily due to my instructions but more due to how the players express their freedom on the pitch.

Maybe drop the D-line a bit more since you've got slow centre backs.

At the moment I'm already making concessions to my system by adopting a deep press instead of a more aggressive high press. I'm actually working in the opposite direction and trying to play with a high line more often in spite of the lack of pace at the back as that is how I want to play. With the deep press I adopted at the start of the season we are still staying compact and working as a team to win the ball back but ideally I'd like to do this not just in the final third but also high up the pitch. I'm satisfied with how the deep pressing has worked out for us and it was clearly a necessary change to suit the available players. That said I've already started playing a high line when chasing results and will probably be trying it for the whole 90 minutes when we get an "easy" game at home soon. I'm going to do an update later today.

Excellent write up, amazing detail and I love the match analysis.

In both matches your MR moved inside quite a few times, quite contradicts his PI doesn't it? Does he still stretch plays regulary?

He was captain when I arrived and I assume he has earned his position in the squad and didn't feel comfortable removing him from his role so soon after arriving at the club. I agree that the vice captain Matthias Henn is much more suited to the role but I have to give credit to Janicke for being ever present this season and leading the assists charts.

I have tried it and I would have like it if the role allows for more flexibility in how it's set up. In my experience it doesn't really do a good job of protecting the space in front of the midfield four like I want my forwards to do and setting them to specifically man mark midfielders accomplishes this a lot better at the moment and when in possession the DF often plays too static and conservative. At the moment I prefer the DLF role as it allows more movement and it's a good balance between the insane dribbles of the F9 and the static back passing behavior of the DF. That said the DF role is certainly a good option here and the F9 also had it's advantages. I also have to consider that with the high creative freedom a lot of what I see on the pitch isn't necessarily due to my instructions but more due to how the players express their freedom on the pitch.

At the moment I'm already making concessions to my system by adopting a deep press instead of a more aggressive high press. I'm actually working in the opposite direction and trying to play with a high line more often in spite of the lack of pace at the back as that is how I want to play. With the deep press I adopted at the start of the season we are still staying compact and working as a team to win the ball back but ideally I'd like to do this not just in the final third but also high up the pitch. I'm satisfied with how the deep pressing has worked out for us and it was clearly a necessary change to suit the available players. That said I've already started playing a high line when chasing results and will probably be trying it for the whole 90 minutes when we get an "easy" game at home soon. I'm going to do an update later today.

Yeah no need to destabilize the squad if hes playing good i suppose. The F9 can also work well but you'd need really good players to pull it off.

Looking forward to your updates.

Excellent write up, amazing detail and I love the match analysis.

In both matches your MR moved inside quite a few times, quite contradicts his PI doesn't it? Does he still stretch plays regulary?

Yes he usually doesn't stay very wide. I'm fine with him coming in on occasion especially when the fullback is overlapping or to find space for link up play in the channels. The instruction is more there to make him start from a wider position but when the ball is on the other flank he will always come more central to be a goal threat at the far post. I sometimes experiment with removing the roaming instructions on some players as it can have the potential to influence their movements in a negative way but every time I try I don't really notice much of a difference so I keep the instruction to give them more freedom to find space.

January Update: Part 1

We followed up the game against Aalen with a 1-0 over Cottbus in a game we controlled well. We found a goal with the right back providing overlap allowing Perstaller to find space in the box for an easy finish. The next league game against Bremen II was similar, we again restricted the opponent to two shots on goal and this time scored when Janicke blasted a ball at their keeper from a cutback by the right back after which the third choice striker Ziemer scored the rebound. The first setback came away at Köln where we defended well but failed to convert a clear cut chance where our second choice MR was played in behind their defensive line by Perstaller but couldn't get the shot past their keeper. We lost the game at Stuttgart after conceding from a badly cleared corner and had a player sent off in the 70th minute. We bounced back against Mainz in a game where they had two shots total (zero on target) and we had 21 shots and 3 clear cut chances. The goal we scored was from Janicke (ML) coming deep and central drawing their fullback with him, this allowed the pass to the STL on the outside of their central defenders, the STL beat his marker and when the second defender tried to cover for his partner Perstaller was left in space in front of the goal for an easy finish. The game against Chemnitzer we were the better team but bad finishing especially by Ziemer let us down, rotated Perstaller this game who was in good form which was a mistake.

What followed was a great run of games with good defensive work and Perstaller grabbing a brace away against Holstein Kiel. The 1-0 against Magdeburg was especially pleasing with them having three shots, no shots on target and no chances. We scored a well worked goal that was the result of good pressure on the ball allowed by our compact shape. I'm going to highlight this goal below. The next game brought us firmly back down to earth as we gifted Würzburg a penalty in the opening minutes and they scored a header from a corner at the start of the second half. This game I had again opted to rotate leaving Andrist, Perstaller and Dorda on the bench, again maybe a mistake but young prospect Hasan Ülker did get his first goal for the club following an overlap from the right back. The last two goals were scored after I switched to a high press which showed the more aggressive wingbacks were effective and let to our goal but also that we have trouble protecting our high line as that is how they scored their last goal of the game.

The next game at home SG Sonnenhof Grossaspach I opted to start with the high press which we have been practicing in training since the start of the season and have now used a couple of times late in games where we were looking for goals. We scored our first goal when a clearance was intercepted, quickly passed out wide to the attacking left back who put in a perfect cross for Ülker to head in (he got his second start after scoring in the previous game). The next goal came again from a cross by the left back Dorda, this time a cross from deep to find the beautifully timed run of Andrist at the far post who's initial shot got blocked by the keeper only to fall to Benyamina for a tap in. The third goal and the one I'll detail below came from good pressure in midfield resulting in an interception and a ruthlessly played transition. The last two goals were both scored from free kicks. All in all a great start to the season!

The 1-0 against Magdeburg

The next picture is after a throw in that they work up to their striker (4-4-1-1) who plays it back to the AMC after being pressured by the back line. The STL and STR are marking their central midfielders and the MCR is coming back in position after the throw in. Due to the the tight shape we are quick to put pressure on their AMC who has trouble controlling the back pass.

Ikeng the MCR retrieves the ball after a challenge from the STL and feeds it to Perstellar who starts dribbling. Note the MR and ML on the front foot looking to make use of the transition. Their back four is in a conservative position so it doesn't look like there is a counter opportunity.

Perstaller get's closed down and can't find a pass in time. Instead he lays it back to the MCL who is in a good position and immediately tries a pass over the top to the ML.

As you can see in one of the previous posts my MCL Schwertfeger is no Pirlo and the ball is easily intercepted by their DC who clears it towards his central midfielders.

Schwertfeger is no Pirlo but in this case it's a good thing as he shows great aggression and workrate by getting ahead of the midfielder and get in the challenge ahead of his man. His position close to the attacking line partly made the challenge possible. If we played deeper or more structured their midfield would have had more space to receive the clearance and start building an attack.

Here Ziemer playing as STL recieves the header and plays in Janicke who is again looking to get in behind the defense.

This time it's a better ball and an early sign that I might be playing Ziemer in the wrong position. Janicke gets to the byline and cuts the ball back across the 6yrd box.

It's a great cutback and it's an easy finish for...

...Ikeng? It's the aggressive and confrontational midfielder instead of the STR Perstaller who gets at the end of the ball to blast it into the open goal. After starting the move himself by picking up the ball he made a run forward looking to take up the space left by Perstaller. After the ball got played to the left he got back into position in midfield but made a great run forward after Ziemer picked up the ball. Here he lost his man who got sucked towards Ziemer instead of tracking Ikeng who had all the space in front of him to score his first goal of the season! This goal really had everything I want to see from my team. Good team pressing, moving the ball around at a high pace with one or two touch passing, good movement to create space for our passing game and hard work to give us the edge we need to win games.

After this I dubbed Ikeng my mini Pogba. With some googling I found out he used to be one of the big talents in germany, he even has

Hansa Rostock vs. SG Sonnenhof Grossaspach

This is the first game where I started with my high pressing tactic which at this point was exactly the same as my starting tactic but with a standard mentality, much higher defensive line, much more closing down, preventing short gk distribution, playing an offside line and the fullbacks turned into complete wingbacks.

Here Ngankam has dropped deep and received a pass (red arrow) from the central midfielder who got closed down by the STL (specifically marked). You can see we are playing a high line and three players around Ngankam are eager to close him down and put pressure on the ball.

Ngankam managed to pass the ball back to the midfielder Rizzi who did well to make himself available for the return pass. Again we have three players putting pressure on the ball. Here the DL coming in to press a central midfielder is opening up space for their winger which is a concern.

Rizzi tries to play in the winger who is in a dangerous position but Janicke the ML did well to drop deeper to cut out the pass.

Janicke immediately plays the ball to the forward surging STL Benyamina and starts running forward.

Benyamina plays the pass back with perfect timing which allows Janicke to get past the defender.

The defender can't catch up and Janicke puts in a cross to the far post where the MR Andrist has done well to get forward quickly.

Andrist gets ahead of the struggling defender and makes a great finish.

A good example of the type of football I want to see us play. A compact defensive shape with pressure on the ball which forces the error and allows us to hit them on the transition with high tempo passing football.

In part two I will go over the next 14 games of the season and show some of the tactical changes I made within the system.

Mini update: Shaky defending during the SG Sonnenhof Grossaspach game

It certainly wasn't all roses and sunshine this game. We looked absolutely dire at times defending long balls over the top. Below is a quick example I grabbed from the 70th minute. They have the ball on the right and their winger plays it back to their fullback. We look very compact defensively with our strikers tucked into midfield and a high defensive line. I'd like the fullback to get back into the defensive line here, he just came out to put pressure on the winger together with the MR.

For some reason my DR decides to turn back and go forward instead of dropping back into the back four and their left back immediately punts a long ball up for their STL to chase. Ideally I'd have my MR or STR close him down sooner but this is partly the specific marking instruction working against me.

My defenders have done well to track back in time partly helped by a poor touch from their striker. Still he is in a great position to find his partner in the box.

Luckily Grupe playing at DCL makes a great interception and immediately looks for the ML who in turn plays a ball forward into the space in front of the STL.

The STL dribbles forward and makes a pass infield to his partner the STR who in turn plays it further down the right to the MR.

The opponents didn't commit a lot of men forward in their attack and are in a good defensive position so there isn't a whole lot the MR can do and he plays a pass back into the MCR. Baumgarten immediately looks for the other flank and chips a ball towards the ML who has done well to get forward quickly after being part of the buildup in our own box.

The ML Andrist (Janicke got subbed off and Andrist switched to the ML position) wins the header and does brilliantly to flick the ball into the path of the STL.

Sadly the otherwise so clinical Perstaller can't apply the finish as their keeper makes a great safe. All in all a great attacking move where we moved the ball quickly from one flank to the other although it was mostly great individual work from Baumgarten and Andrist that made the chance.

What the start of this move does show is that we are very vulnerable to balls over the top which has been shown a number of times this season and we need to find a way to deal with this if we want to play our high press the majority of our games.

btw. Sorry for being so image heavy in these analysis. I'll try to illustrate what is happening on the pitch in fewer images to make it easier to read.

January Update: Part 2

The next 14 games we showed a lot less stability in terms of results. One of our losses was calculated as I played a heavily rotated squad in our midweek cup game against Werder Bremen but I wasn't pleased with the amount of games we drew. The first game against the Stuttgarter Kickers we gave away a 0-1 lead when my right back played a sloppy back pass to the central defender which put their striker through on goal. The goal we scored was very similar to the goal I detailed against SG below withe Janicke picking up the ball in our own box and combining well with the strikers to quickly get down the left wing resulting in a cross that found the MR at the far post. The game against Erfurt we played the high press tactic with some small changes I'll show in the next part. We scored a long shot and two well worked goals coming from the right flank but were exposed in behind a couple of times which resulted in their goal. The game against Münster was a real season defining affair. In the 3rd minute we were on the attack and somehow the loose ball fell to 3rd choice right winger Gradawski. He had been asking for a chance in the first team and I took the opportunity to rotate Andrist. He payed me back by deciding to score his first goal of the season with an absolute rocket into the bottom right corner. The rest of the match we consolidated and they only managed one shot on target. This goal might be the deciding moment of the season.

The following game against Wiesbaden we again started the game playing a high press and we played well but were too vulnerable in behind the defensive line. Still it was a disappointing goal to concede as they capitalized on a corner situation with the corner taker getting played in behind our advancing defensive line and with the defense scrambling to get in position the cross didn't get dealt with properly. We scored a well worked team goal which was good to see. Both sides had good chances to take away the three points so a draw was probably justified. The next game against Osnabrück was a complete disaster. We dominated the game creating a slew of great chances playing a high press but in the 88th minute a cross found their tall striker in the box who scored a header, then in the 92nd minute they had a corner and Kofler was judged to have pushed his man in the box giving Osnabrück a penalty which they converted.

The games against Hallescher FC and VfR Aalen were two very solid games playing a high press. The game against Aalen was especially pleasing as they managed a total of three shots which all failed to hit the target. Energie Cottbus gave us a quick reality check as I tried to foolishly play a high press away from home against a team with a fast striker. We scored a good goal to open the scoring but they proceeded to punish our high line twice in the second half. The game at home against Bremen II was another disappointment. They scored after a counter from a poorly hit corner, we had some good chances but our shooting let us down until some brilliant movement and passing by Perstaller and Janicke put the substitute Benyamin through on goal. The last game before the break at Köln was a real back and forth affair. We started the game playing the deep press 4-4-2 but were led down by sloppy defending. We switched to a high press late in the game which got us the 3-2 but I neglected to switch back to the deep press and they found space in behind our high line by putting a deep cross in space for their striker to run into and volley beautifully into the top corner. Back at home against Stuttgart II we dominated the game playing our high press and should have scored more, they found a goal back from a poorly cleared corner but it was too little too late. The game at Mainz we again tried to play a high press away from home with non-ideal results. We were better defensively but both teams didn't do enough going forward to deserve a win. When Chemnitzer FC made the trip to the Ostseestadion they were sitting bottom of the league and showed exactly why that was. They started surprisingly well with a long ball over the top finding their striker who finished superbly by blasting the ball in the far corner. We scored from a penalty, a cross from the DR finding Janicke at the far post, Janicke chipping a cheeky ball in behind the defensive line finding Gardawski and lastly Ikeng grabbing his second goal after a great passing move where he combined with the AMC and ST and overlapping them in the center to get free in the box. Chemnitzer FC found their second goal on target in the 91st minute where they exploited our high line and complacency with a well worked pass in behind for the winger who put in a low cross for to their striker who wasn't tracked properly.

The table after 26 games played

A great season so far giving us a narrow lead over Münster as we battle it out for the top spot. Only losing three games so far is partly down to our very tight defense especially in the first games of the season and some spectacular performances of our keeper. We did start to drop more points in the middle of the season as I started to try and introduce the high press to the team and partly due to some sub-par rotation choices and tactical decisions.

As I mentioned a couple of times we have started playing some games with a high press to try and get it working properly and we made some small changes to our initial deep 4-4-2. I wanted to give our deep 4-4-2 some more directness going forward while reducing the amount of dribbling the deep forward does so I changed the ML role to a WM(a) and the F9 role to DLF(s) with the instructions to roam from position and move into the channels. I also occasionally switched the fullbacks to complete wingbacks if I felt we needed to create more overlap situations out wide to create chances, this was usually against very defensive teams.

During the season I started training on a high press tactic which at first was the exact same 4-4-2 but with the team instructions mentioned in the first post. We used the tactic occasionally to try and get a late goal and I noticed that central midfield was too exposed which left space for the opponents to play passes over the top or sometimes even combine straight through the middle. I also realized that I was a little too quick to disregard the 4-4-1-1 with the players we had as I didn't notice Perstaller could play the position and with both our first team wingers also able to provide backup the squad was decently suited to play it. Because of those two reasons I decided to play the high pressing tactic with a 4-4-1-1 formation which has greatly helped our solidity in the center and improved pressure in the middle and on the opponents back line which will hopefully prevent them from playing accurate long balls in behind our defensive line. Below is how we currently play when we adopt a high press which is usually against weaker teams and mostly at home or when we desperately need a goal.

Basically the same as how I translated how I want to play in the opening post. A small difference is I usually start the game with the CF on attack duty but depending on where we find space on the pitch and how they line up this can change during the game as detailed in the second post. In the last part of the season I will try to use this tactic more often and see whether we can get it working in the 3. Fussball-Liga.

Incredible thread. Really great analysis and easy to follow for a pleb like myself.

btw. Sorry for being so image heavy in these analysis. I'll try to illustrate what is happening on the pitch in fewer images to make it easier to read.

Please don't. I love your analyses of in game situations. Your use of pictures makes it much easier to follow.

How is the 'tighter marking' working for you? Your CMs and CDs aren't drawn easily out of position?

How is the 'tighter marking' working for you? Your CMs and CDs aren't drawn easily out of position?

I haven't noticed any big problems with players getting dragged around when marking someone. Players are usually willing to drop back to cover when another player leaves his position, especially the defensive midfielder. I'm going to pay a bit more attention to how we defend in the coming games.

Update: End of The First Season

Hansa Rostock FC have won the 3. Fussball-Liga! Helped on by the tightest defense in the league and losing only six games all season we edged out a close race for the top spot. Münster collapsed under the pressure in their last games where Holstein Kiel mounted an impressive comeback which came too late to catch us as we showed decent consistency in the last games of the season to consolidate the top spot.

Heroes of the season include: The young goalkeeper Marcel Schuhen who pulled off some truly impressive saves this season and topped the league for clean sheets. Vice captain Matthias Henn who was a true leader in defense and was ever present at the back. The left wingback Christian Dorda who managed to make the leagues team of the year at left back, combined good defensive work with 6 assists and somehow got his first cap for Poland. José-Alex Ikeng for his crazy tackles and for scoring THAT GOAL. Stephan Andrist because when we needed a moment of magic he was the guy to look for with 6 goals and 6 assists which included a few season defining moments. Sofyan Benyamina who despite an injury and a poor run of form still managed to become our top scorer with 13 goals in 22 appearances. Julius Perstaller who did well to fill the AMC position when we played our 4-4-1-1 and came up with 11 goals and 6 assists in 33 appearances for the team. His great off the ball movement was often a crucial component for our attack and his off the ball stat has gone up to 15. Lastly the fan favourite, team captain, fan of the club and local born Tobias Jänicke who with 8 goals and 9 assists lead our attack from the left wing, a legend in the making.

After our home win against Chemnitzer FC we traveled to FC Erzgebirge Aue and tore them apart playing our deep 4-4-2. The damage was done from the right wing where Gardawski got played in behind the defensive line to find Janicke at the far post, later a cross from Dorda from a deep position found the run of Gardawski and to finish them off Perstaller played the substitute Gottschling in behind the defense on the right wing who put a simple low cross into the area where Ziemer had all the space to grab the 3rd goal. With 60% possession and 5 clear cut chances this was one of our most solid performances of the season. Next up was a game at Dresden who were struggling this season. We again lined up with our 4-4-2 and got a 20min goal when Ziemer was played in behind by Perstaller. That should have been the end of the game but we gave away a silly penalty when their left winger dribbled into the box up against two men, we weren't in any real danger but our right back stuck out his leg and the winger eagerly went over. The game against Holstein Kiel was the big test of the month, they grabbed an early goal when a cross from deep found their striker at the far post who showed a bit of individual skill by taking it first time on the volley. In the second half we switched from our conservative 4-4-2 to the 4-4-1-1 which eventually lead to the all important goal as some great movement and three one touch passes saw the ball slice through their defense into the back of the net.

Away against Magdeburg we started with our 4-4-1-1 and grabbed an early goal when Dorda drilled a cross at Perstaller who blasted it first time into the top corner. They quickly came back with the equalizer when their stiker managed to find the bottom corner from the edge of the box despite being serounded by three defenders. What followed was a tense 75 minutes where we created chances but couldn't find the net until we hit them on the counter from a free kick in the 88th minute quickly followed by another goal in the 90th minute. We created 7 clear cut chances but our finishing was poor. At home against Würzburg Benyamina tore them apart and scored a hattrick. We didn't really dominate the game but Benyamina was on fire and couldn't be stopped. They scored their goal from a corner where somehow we left a player free in the box in acres of space. At Sonnenhof Grossaspach it was a fairly even but we created 2 clear cut and 2 half chances against their one half chance. Sadly non of them fell for Benyamina and the rest of the team showed some extremely poor finishing. At home against Stuttgarter Kickers was the 4th game in a row where we started the game with our high press 4-4-1-1. We controlled the game well with 60% possession but our poor finishing continued to haunt as as I feared for the title challenge. They ruthlessly punished us in the 90th minute with a long ball over the top followed by a cool finish from their striker who beat his man to the ball. A gutting moment for the fans who had to watch their team squander four good chances only to collapse in the last minutes of the match to sloppy defending.

The next game at Erfurt we had to bounce back to avoid a last minute collapse of our title challenge and the team did just that. Undeterred from our last match we continued playing the high press and this time we found our goal scoring boots again when Andrist hit a beautiful cross from deep into the path of Benyamina who got in front of his man to hit the first time volley. The second goal was again Andrist on the right wing this time coming inside and hitting a beautiful angled through ball with his left foot that sliced through their defense all the way to the far post where Janicke popped up for the finish. They also had their chances and exposed our high line on a couple of occasions but the only real danger came from a cross to the far post where Schuhen did well to close the tight angle and block the shot. Next up was the title challenge clash at the Ostseestadion as second place Münster came to visist first place Hansa Rostock. A win for Münster would put them in first but despite it being on them to go for the win we still started aggressively with the high press in an effort to make it a real open fight in front of our fans which would hopefully suit us. In the 22nd minute I started to regret this decision as we let their striker in behind our defensive line who scored an emphatic finish. We kept up the pressure which led to 58% possession and a 78% pass completion rate vs. their 66% pass completion rate. In the 35th minute this resulted in the equalizer when they didn't manage to completely clear a corner due to our high position, we played the ball to the left flank from which Janicke put into the box where Perstaller was free to head it on to Andrist at the far post who found the net. We controlled the game and had more shots but couldn't find the second goal until in the 80th minute a great free kick from Perstaller found Andrist who lost his marker and took it first time on the volley into the left corner. Another vital win against title challengers Münster!

Away at Wiesbaden I started conservatively with our deep 4-4-2 going for a pragmatic win or draw to grab the title. Sadly we forgot to bring our finishing boots and they did the damage from a corner. We had one clear cut and 5 half chances but couldn't find the net. In the meanwhile Holstein Kiel destroyed Münster 5-1 after their collapse at the Ostseestadion which put them in second place. Good for our lead but going in to the last two games of the season there were still three contenders for the title. At home against Osnabrück we could grab the title with a win in front of our fans. They were sitting at midtable with nothing to play for and we started the game with our 4-4-1-1 to take control early. At 35mins this resulted in Dorda finding a lot of space on the left, their fullback came out to close him down which left Janicke unmarked when the cross came in. When the ball fell to his feet he fired an absolute rocket past the keeper and send the fans flying of their seats! We controlled the game well with most of the football played on their half. Just before half time we Andrist sends a cross to the far post after a throw in. It gets cleared by their fullback who heads the ball to the edge of the box. The troubled son Ikeng in a moment of madness runs toward the ball, jumps into the air and scores an absolute thunderblaster of an overhead kick out of absolutely nowhere. The stadion falls silent for a milisecond as the crowd tries to process what they just saw on the pitch and then explodes. At least glory is back to the Ostseestadion as Hansa Rostock secure the title with a moment of magic from José-Alex "poor mans Pogba" Ikeng! Away against Hallescher the team was still recovering from the party and I'm not sure anyone even remembers what happened that day.

Hansa Rostock vs Preussen Münster

This is their first goal. They have a throw in on the left which gets passed to Bischoff (their MC, positions always get a bit messed up after a throw in) who passes it back to their AMC in enough space to pick out the pass over the top. Disappointed in my AMC not getting tighter to pressure the ball and my DCR and DR not being in a better position to cover the run of their striker.

This is moments after a corner, we intercepted the clearance and it's worked back to Janicke who took the corner. Janicke is under pressure but turns back to swing a cross into the box. As you can see it's a real siege on their area and with almost our entire team in their final third they struggle to get out.

Perstaller anticipates well and gets his head to the ball to flick it on towards Andrist who has a free shot and makes it 1-1.

We score the second from a free kick to make it 2-1.

Hansa Rostock vs. Osnabrück

Here Perstaller has dropped deep and is drawing three players into his area. Their back four has turned into a back three and they stay central to try and stay organized. Andrist is in a very dangerous position on the right but Schwertfeger plays it into the space on the left for Dorda at DL.

Not wanting to allow Dorda time and space to pick out the cross their left back tries to close the gap and put pressure on Dorda. Due to the long distance he is too late and now Janicke is unmarked in the box. The cross doesn't go to him but it doesn't get cleared and when the ball falls towards him he has space to make an easy tap in. Janicke being who he is (PPM shoots with power) he instead blasts the ball full force past the keeper to put us 1-0 up!

Below we just had a throw in which results in an overload on the right flank. Andrist finds space for a cross and floats the ball towards the far post but their fullback gets back in time to challenge Janicke and clear the ball.

The central midfielders are on the edge of the box in a good position to intercept the clearance and keep the pressure up. Instead of doing any of that Ikeng surges towards the cleared ball, jumps into the air and attempts the overhead kick of a lifetime. The keeper can't even blink before the ball has hit the back of the net and Tüting is too flabbergasted to appeal for dangerous play. Mr Giraffe legs seals the title and the crowd goes wild!

I'm really pleased with the results. I expected to do well and challenge for promotion if we managed to stay fit and not be forced into too many rotations. I did some proactive rotations which cost us some points here and there but probably also contributed to the low amount of injuries (two major injuries in total). Going back to the opening post I wanted to play according to the following principles:

Compress space, press as a team and hunt down the ball to win it back early.

We made the concession of playing with a deep press which was still based on a compact shape and pressing in the final third as a unit but wasn't aimed at winning the ball early. I think a necessary change to make due to the players I had available and to get results against better teams when we were still adapting to the new playing style. This area is up for improvement and I might make some changes to our deep press to try and make it more aggressive without giving up our compact shape. When we played with a high press we looked shaky on occasion giving opponents too much time on the ball and being vulnerable in behind but we did get some good performances playing like this and seemed to improve as the season went on

Play a high tempo passing game focused on catching the opponents defense out of position in the transition phase and opening space through player movement off the ball.

I'm really pleased with this aspect of our play. I've really enjoyed some of the football I've seen and although we often weren't in a position to really hit teams on the counter we moved the ball around really well and scored a lot of goals due to getting their defense out of position to create space. I'm pleased with how we are playing with the ball and won't be making any changes in the foreseeable future.

Hard work by the entire team and creativity and fluidity in attack.

I'm content with how the team battled for certain results but it's an area we can improve on. This is partly a man management issue as motivation and preventing complacency is key but partly it's also down to getting the right players. We did well and especially later in the season we showed great togetherness and willingness to fight for the team. In terms of creativity and fluidity in attack I'm also satisfied. We attempted some spectacular plays and occasionally pulled them off with great style. At times our success rate is a bit low but I don't want my team to keep possession, I want them to score goals.

All in all a great start with room for improvement. In the next update I will preview the coming season and the challenges I will face.

16/17 Season Preview

At a solid 100-1 odds to win the league and predicted dead last this will be a very different challenge from the first season. The first season was all about getting the team to play my system and get them working hard on the pitch. With a bit of pragmatism and some great performances we managed to surprise many and win the league with a fairly average squad. This second season my team is familiar with how we play but instead of an average squad we are the stand out underdogs. The goal for this season will be to stay away from the relegation zone and build financial and competitive stability. I'm not planning to stay at Hansa Rostock in the long term so I could be tempted into running up the wage bill to strengthen the squad. I opted to stick to the first team that got us promoted because they have earned my trust, have proven to be able to play the football I want and I want to leave the club in a good position when I do decide to leave them. Avoiding relegation with the current squad will be an interesting challenge so I set up a plan at the start of the season.

Making a Plan

Here is the fixture list for the league this season. The goal is to avoid relegation which should be about 35 points in the league. In the fixture list I noted winnable games in green, games which we should be getting draws in orange and midweek games in red. If we win our green games and draw our orange games while losing the rest that should give us 34 points. Highlighting the games this way immediately shows some stumbling blocks. The games on 17/9 and 21/9 are both games we have to be in form and grab at least two points so we will have to plan some rest days or rotation options to field competitive and fit teams in both fixtures. The next game against Paderborn looks like a good option to rest some players as the next two games we want to grab 6 points. A bit later in the season from 19/11 to 10/12 there are a lot of points to grab in a short time span and our form in those games could be a deciding factor during the season. Later in the season we have a lot of games where we should be getting points and two games in midweek (although there is some rest after the Bielefeld game). This could be a hectic and stressful period and giving rest or maintaining momentum could be a key factor in staying up.

Now obviously football is a fickle game and the results won't all fall the way we want or expect. Still this plan gives us some direction for when to give players a rest, when to rotate players and how we approach certain games. I'm expecting to not get all the points from the games I planned and I will pick up points in some of the other games. In terms of our tactical approach I will be looking to play our high pressing 4-4-1-1 in all the green games and at home. I will be looking to play our deep pressing 4-4-2 away against in orange and unmarked games switching to the 4-4-1-1 when we are behind in the second half. I will also be watching all the marked games on full for the first couple of minutes and comprehensive or extended afterwards and make changes if necessary (mostly the ones mentioned in the second post). All the unmarked games I will likely watch on key highlights to keep the game speed up.

With the plan in place hopefully it will be enough to avoid the drop and hopefully bring me some new job opportunities at the end of the season.

As I mentioned I will be sticking to the current players and I prefer to have a small squad to reduce wages, increase togetherness of the squad and being able to give everyone enough game time. There are however a couple of players who didn't manage to get into the squad last season and have their contracts running out. During the second half of the last season I started looking for some players to come in and fill those positions. I managed to find two players who will be able to strengthen our squad and fit well within my system without costing too much in wages. Lastly I made one last minute sale during the window. I had quite a lot of solid strikers in the squad and I wanted to give a good prospect striker more game time. The 31 year old Ziemler did well last season when Benyamina got injured and with 17 balance and 15 strength he is always an interesting option. In the end his old age and being able to get 300K for selling him convinced to let him go.

All in all I further reduced the squad size, reduced total wages, earned some money and strengthened the squad a bit. I will quickly introduce the new signings.

Stephen Sama had his contract run out at Stuttgart II and agreed to fairly low wages. I had quite a few rotation and backup defenders leaving and this was a great opportunity to strengthen our back line. In the last season the position next to Henn was rotated quite a bit and being able to put another key player next to him should hopefully improve our defense substantially. Besides being a great defender he is also good on the ball and is still fairly young. His only weak points are his workrate, natural fitness and personality (balanced and level headed so not terrible but not great either). His PPM should help in switching flanks quickly as he looks to play long balls to Dorda and Janicke on the left.

João Pedro was playing at FC Lieferink in Austria which is basically the Red Bull Academy. His contract was running out and he was willing to join us for only 600eu a week. I was looking at some other AMC's who had their contract running out soon and some of them were clearly better players than Pedro. What convinced me to go for him were great aggression, natural fitness and determination along with decent workrate, tackling and positioning. This should make him a great fit for my pressing system. He does have some holes in his game with terrible composure, balance and strength and sub par teamwork. Despite his weaknesses he should be able to do a good job in the system I play and at 20yrs old and only 600p/w in wages I feel this was a great signing.

Max Konrad was signed as backup. Low wages and a couple of outstanding attributes in key positions made me sign him despite his lack of pace, horrible positioning, poor anticipation and bad concentration. A limited player but an aggressive and hard working tackler with a surprisingly good first touch who should be able to cover at DR for very low wages and grow into a better player in the future. I also like his versatility and decent personality.

Jonatan Kotzke was a bit of a last minute signing. I had a spot left in the squad but was planning to not fill it to keep the squad even smaller and use the squads versatility to fill the gaps. When Kotzke came on my radar he looked really solid with a great personality and manageable wages. His only slight weaknesses are his first touch, technique and acceleration. With good stamina, teamwork, bravery, positioning, marking and strength he should be able to do a great job in the CM(d) position and provide competition for the more aggressive Schwertfeger.

Lastly not a new signing but a regen. Now I'm not planning to stay at the club for a long time so I don't focus on youth development but this regen is just insane. This is probably the game having a laugh at my expense because normally I never get regens like this. When he popped up in the youth team he already had 2.5 stars of current potential and labeled the next Schweinsteiger. Sadly he is too young to be registered to play because otherwise he would have walked into my squad at 15yrs old. His only real weakness is his workrate and he doesn't have the off the ball stat that I'd prefer for the AMC position (he is currently training as MC roaming playmaker and will also spend some time on the ball winning midfielder schedule). I'll probably try and sign him in the future when I'm at a different club to try and keep him around. I'm already declining bids from top clubs left and right so we'll see how that works out. Besides this guy I gave a contract to one other regen who showed potential but he was a center back with 5 jumping so he is retraining as a defensive midfielder and might become a fullback in the future.

(note: my assistant manager is decent but not great so player ratings are a rough estimate in comparison to the rest of the squad)

Here is the current squad of only 22 first team players and three prospects playing in the under-19 squad. These are all the players at the club and leave me 10Kp/w under the wage budget with 3 key players, 7 first team players and 2 rotation players. Leicester only used 23 players in their title winning season and hopefully we will draw some inspiration from their teamwork and togetherness.

January Update

A good first half of the season. I had my doubts on the squad and if they could make the step up to the higher level and the first game did a good job of putting those doubts to rest. The opening day at home against fellow newly promoted Holstein Kiel we played the high press 4-4-1-1 looking to take control of the match which we did in style. The opening goal immediately set the tone for the game as their winger got behind our defensive line but only managed to put in a futile cross as he got closed down before any support arrived. Schuhen collected the cross we went on to score a great team goal. We worked the ball up the pitch with good passing play and found Benyamina dropping deep who chipped a ball out wide to the right back in space and immediately made the run to get at the end of the following cross. We dominated the fairly open and entertaining game creating 6 CC's and 2 HC's against their 4 HC's. The next game away against Fortuna Düsseldorf I didn't expect us to pick up any points and we showed the league a different side of our game as we played our deep 4-4-2. We managed to open the scoring after Ikeng won the ball from their midfielder and we went forward quickly on the transition. The initial cross got cleared out wide but Dorda, still being high up the pitch, won the ball from their left back and found Perstaller in the box who did well to score. I expected them to dominate the rest of the game but surprisingly it was a fairly even affair and we managed to keep them to zero shots on target against our six, had the majority of the possession and created 6 HC's against their 1 HC. A great defensive performance that allowed us to grab some extra points towards survival. We tried to do the same thing again at home against Union Berlin but they left less room to attack them on the transition and managed to score a goal from an IDFK. In the DFB-Pokal clash rotated the team and Düsseldorf got their payback for last game. Sama gifted them an early penalty which ruined our plans for the game and when we switched to our 4-4-1-1 they punished us by finding space in behind. The game against Werder Bremen was our second televised league match and our second league defeat. We played our 4-4-2 and scored a beautiful goal with Benyamina tracking back to make a great slide tackle on their MC after which we showed some great movement to work the ball towards Andrist on the right wing who found Benyamina surging into the box and getting ahead of his man to score the tap in. Sadly the gulf in quality was too big as the brothers Eggestein both scored a header from a set piece. At home against Ingolstadt I didn't plan to pick up any points but it would be nice to not add to our loosing streak. We played our 4-4-1-1 at home and actually looked defensively solid despite our high line which was pleasing. The game itself was fairly dissapointing as we scored one from a corner and they got a late goal back after Henn was judged to make a foul in the box during a free kick. The resulting penalty was their only shot on target but to be fair we only managed three shots on target ourselves so a draw was probably a fair result and I was pleased to grab an extra point and end our losing streak. Away against Nürnberg Henn continued his poor form by quickly gifting the opponent two goals from a missed interception and an own goal from a cross. We tried to play our deep 4-4-2 but had trouble keeping a compact shape against them as they dominated the game. Somehow we managed to equalize after scoring from a corner and right after a throw in where new arrival Pedro was allowed to control the throw in on the edge of the box and pass it back to Gardawski who took it first time and applied a great finish to steal a point.

The next game at home against Braunschweig I wanted to at least grab a point. We played our 4-4-1-1 in an attempt to create an open game and turn it into a real fight in front of our fans which worked as it was a really open game with lots of chances on both sides but our finishing was better and Schuhen managed to pull off a penalty save. We scored two great goals and showed some really high intensity play so a great day for the club and the fans. Away at St. Pauli was another game I wanted to try and get a point from and in an optimistic mood I started with the 4-4-1-1 but soon switched to the 4-4-2 as they had some dangerous moments. In the end we created the better chance but Perstaller failed to score an easy chance. In the end I was pleased we defended well and brought back another point. The next game at home against SC Paderborn I didn't expect us win any points, rotated fairly heavily and optimistically lined up with our high pressing 4-4-1-1. The first half we looked shaky at the back with our high line and rotated defense but thanks to some great saves from Schuhen managed to keep a clean sheet. At the end of the first half they got a red card and the second half was the Gardawski show as he put up a fight for a first team spot by scoring two great headers. We were very fortunate to get the man advantage and walk away with three points here. Away at Heidenheim I planned to fight for three points which is why I rotated the squad last game. I wanted to play the 4-4-1-1 to control the game and put them on the back foot but decided against it as they played two fast strikers so instead we played the deep 4-4-2. It was a close game until another red card incident in the first half after which we ran them ragged for another lucky three points. At home against Frankfurt I didn't plan to get any points and played our 4-4-1-1 in the hopes of creating a hectic and open game and maybe turn it into a fight we can win or at least an entertaining game for the fans. For much of the game the only thing that looked open was our dire defensive line but with some heroic blocks and saves along with a bit of luck we managed to keep a clean sheet. We only managed one shot on target and didn't deserve to get a point from this game. At Karlsruher SC we ran out of luck as they showed some clinical finishing. We did look defensively solid for most of the game playing our deep 4-4-2 and Pedro scoring his first goal from the club, another new signing Konrad providing the assist and young prospect Di Fabio getting his first start (Perstaller was injured) were some small highlights to a match I was expecting to lose anyway. Away to Bielefeld we again rotated some players with the young Ülker getting a start for the still injured Perstaller and we set out to play our deep 4-4-2 to hopefully grab a point although I didn't plan to. Janicke opened the scoring after they couldn't clear a corner and he was allowed to shoot from the edge of the box blasting it into the top corner. They got two back both from scrambles after a set piece which we didn't defend well. We managed to grab a late equalizer with a great counter attack which saw the young talents Di Fabio, Ülker and Pedro all involved. Di Fabio did great to make himself available early high up the pitch on the right side to allow link up with Benyamina and played it on to the advancing Baumgarten. Baumgarten found the run of Ülker down the right who put in a great cross for Pedro to run into and take first time on the volley. Bielefeld was very much in control of the match but we defended well and I was very pleased with how we managed to get a point from this game.

Next up another game I didn't plan to get anything from as we hosted Kaiserslautern and optimistically played our 4-4-1-1 in the hopes of surprising them with our aggressive and high intensity play in front of the fans. The plan worked to perfection as we scored two goals in 7 minutes both scored from an interception in our own half followed by lethal attacking football on the transition. They got one back from a corner (I need to work on our set piece routines) but we closed out the game in the second half with a well worked team goal and a good defensive performance. A very pleasing performance and one of the best games in this short manager career. Away at Furth we were quickly brought back down to earth as we got thoroughly beaten in a game I wanted to get a point from. Another televised game (great!) and we played our 4-4-2 to try and keep a clean sheet. They scored the first goal from a corner and the second after we moved to a high press to get back into the game which they punished us for with a ball over the top which Sama failed to clear as he missed the header. We looked decent defensively throughout the game but critically failed to defend a set piece and missed a crucial interception. That said we didn't deserve to get anything from this game as Furth was completely in control and had the majority of the chances. I have Schuhen to thank for keeping the score reasonable by saving a penalty. The next game at home against Bochum was another game I wanted to take a point from. Normally I would start with the 4-4-1-1 but a quick look at their striker (hello mr. 18 pace and 14 acceleration Paniel Mlapa) showed me I had to change our plans and play a deep press. The game turned into a fairly cagey affair with very few chances on both ends. They scored an early goal with a simple chip onto the head of the strong Mlapa and we needed a moment of magic from Benyamina in the 80th minute when he took a Gardawski cross first time with an acrobatic volley. A simple but effective tactical change got us a point here as they only had Mlapa's physicality to create them a couple of chances against our compact defense. The game against Duisburg was very similar. I wanted to go for the win but their striker (mr 17 acceleration and 15 pace Branimir Hrgota) made me decide to play our 4-4-2. We did well to limit their chances but when we got into position to grab the points Di Fabio couldn't apply the finish. He was in the squad to replace the injured Benyamina and failed to keep a cool head in front of the keeper. Away at Holstein Kiel was the fourth game in a row where I had planned to pick up points. The last few results weren't great and we had some players out injured so I was fearful of a slump. We played our 4-4-1-1 with Di Fabio up front and Pedro at AMC. This time Di Fabio did better as he managed to get a penalty from a corner situation and later put in a great cross after drifting to the right flank which found Janicke a the far post. Janicke was the real hero this game as he got himself a Hatrick (including one penalty). A great moment for him to step up and put on his scoring boots to lead the team to a vital result. Their only goal came in the last minutes when some complacent defending allowed a great through ball in behind the defense which put their striker in a one on one with Schuhen but at 5-0 the fans were already drunkenly chanting in the stands and hardly phased by the late goal. The last game before the break at home against Fortuna Düsseldorf I didn't plan to get any points but momentum carried us to a great performance. We played our 4-4-1-1 with Pedro getting another start at AMC after a good performance in the previous game. He rewarded me by scoring a great team goal after Benyamina who returned from injury dropped deep and found the penetrating run from Pedro. Had a great opportunity to score his first goal after injury when Dorda earned a penalty by surging into the box drawing the foul. After scoring the penalty Benyamina was at the foundation for third goal as he again dropped into space and put a great one touch pass over the top to the advancing DR who in turn drilled a first time cross to the far post where Janicke got in front of his man to take the cross on the volley. Three touches in style to put the game beyond doubt and the fans on their feet. A great way to end the first half of the season and it was very pleasing to see us control a game against a stronger opponent playing our high pressing 4-4-1-1.

A really close table with us in 4th position and we only need another 4 points to reach our first target of 35 points which is hopefully enough to avoid automatic relegation. We had planned to grab another 15 points from the second half of the season so 4 points shouldn't ever be a problem. Looking up towards the promotion places looks tempting but with a tough start of the second half against Bremen and Berlin it's not looking likely that we will stay high up the table for much longer. That said if we start well and win those early games we might be looking at the start of an heroic season for Hansa Rostock. I think the football we play based on hard work instead of individual skill or specialist roles can really suit a weaker team and if we keep fighting fearlessly for our points and get a bit of luck in key moments we could be onto something special this season.

I will be taking a short break and sadly don't have time to get into more detail on how I prepare matches and adapt to different games and opponents. I already talked a bit about my decision making on playing the high pressing 4-4-1-1 and the deeper and more compact 4-4-2. Hopefully when I get back I have some time to dive deeper into a couple of key games and show some of the smaller changes I make before and during games as we get to the business end of the season.