FM 2012: Chelsea FC Team Guide - Can you manage better than Andre Villa-Boas?

[ahsoon]

FM 2012: Chelsea FC team guide - Can you manage better than Andre Villa-Boas?

1. General Information

2. Squad Analysis

3. Recommended Transfers

4. About staffs

5. Starting XI and Formation

6. Conclusion

7. My Chelsea progress

8. Chelsea Football Manager 2012 Community records

Chelsea's Cabinet

[ahsoon]

1. General Information

A brief history

Football Manager Info

Facilities

Transfer Budget

Squad

[Click Player's name to see attribute]

1 Petr Cech

2 Branislav Ivanovic

3 Ashley Cole

4 David Luiz

5 Michael Essien

6 Oriol Romeu

7 Ramires

8 Frank Lampard

9 Fernando Torres

10 Juan Mata

11 Didier Drogba

12 Mikel

15 Florent Malouda

16 Raul Meireles

17 Jose Bosingwa

18 Romelu Lukaku

19 Paulo Ferreira

20 Josh McEachran

21 Salomon Kalou

22 Ross Turnbull

23 Daniel Sturridge

26 John Terry

33 Alex

34 Ryan Bertrand

39 Nicolas Anelka

40 Henrique Hilario

[ahsoon]

2. Squad Analysis

1. Goalkeepers

Petr Cech is obviously no doubt one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Though at the age of 29 now, I still think he would last for at least until the age of 35, 6 seasons. So there should be no worries in finding a replacement for him. Hilario and Ross Turnbull don’t seem to be a good backup for him. Well, because we would be replacing them with our great youth keeper comes the 2nd season.

Youth goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois should be worth keeping an eye for. With constant training and some first team appearance, he should improve and be a good backup for Cech.

2. Defenders

Right Back

Branislav Ivanovic is currently our strongest right back followed by Jose Bosingwa and out of favour Paulo Ferreira. Three of them may not be the best right back but still, they can still do an acceptable job for Chelsea. I would seriously recommend buying a better right back to improve in this position. Anyway, David Luiz seems to be a below average backup for right back unless he is trained to accomplished that position in his training routine.

Youth right full backs: None of them has good potential to play for Chelsea.

Left Back

First team left back, Ashley Cole, is considered to be one of the best left back in the world but not for long as he ages. I would see him lasting for 2 or 3 seasons. Ryan Bertrand is currently 22 and I could only see him improving after 1 or 2 years. With his stat at this age, he should be quite a decent backup for Ashley Cole.

Youth left full backs: Ryan Bertrand as I have mentioned.

Centre Defenders

John Terry is our captain and currently our strongest right back followed by David Luiz then Alex. John Terry should not be replaced unless maybe after 2 or 3 years. Same for Luiz however this time, after 8 years. Alex seems to be a decent backup centre defender for Chelsea so there is no need for replacement here.

Youth center backs: Five good youngsters. Nathan Ake, Nathaniel Chalobah and Tomas Kalas would be seen as the best of them all if you develop them properly, while Jeffrey Bruma and Daniel Pappoe would turn out good.

3. Midfielders

Defending Midfielders

Well first I have to say this, Michael Essien has been seen as the potential replacement for makelele or maybe the best DM in the world who plays for Chelsea. Unfortunately for his injury which last for months, he collapsed as a player when he came back with full fitness but he will never be able to regain his best self. Disappointing news but so you know that then you would not have high hopes on him when he comes back. Anyway, John Obi Mikel is already a good DM and should be able to replace Essien. We also have Oriol Romeu who should be able to become a good DM after 1 or 2 seasons.

Youth defensive midfielders: Oriol Romeu as I have mentioned.

Centre Midfielders

Chelsea’s legend to be, Frank Lampard, would be the best of them all, sadly he has come to an age where he would no longer improve but deprove. Ramires is the 2nd best in Chelsea’s CM and Raul Meireles is considered the 3rd best. Josh Mceachran seems someway off of them but his still young and should be able to improve into a good CM after 1 or 2 seasons.

Youth centre midfielders: Most notable would be Josh Mceachran who has already climbed his way up to the Chelsea first team squad at such a young age; he would surely be an excellent player if you develop him properly. Conor Clifford would also turn out good if you train him properly.

Attacking Midfielders

We are short of players here. The best would be Juan Mata followed by Frank Lampard who could switch from Centre mid to Attack mid. Bear in mind that Anelka and Florent Malouda could play well here also. In my opinion, we should really add some good AM to our first team squad since we lack them.

Youth attacking midfielders: There is certainly a wide range of talent here. Gael Kakuta, Dominik Masek and Patrick Van Aanholt (*though Patrick is a natural FB, his stat seems to be better suited for AM, so train him as an AM) would be seen as the best of them all if you develop them properly, while Jacob Mellis, James Ashton and Lewis Baker would turn out good.

4. Wingers

Our wingers aren’t really very good. With most of the best players in this position aging there is certainly a need for us to buy good wingers from the transfer market.

Right Winger

Nicolas Anelka would be seen as the best followed by Salomon Kalou then Daniel Sturridge. Anelka has come to age and isn’t the best when he was the last 2 years. Kalou is young however he lacks the stats to do a good job. Without a say, would Sturridge do a better job than Kalou when the coaches rates him third of them all?

Youth right wingers: Sadly there is none of them good

Left Winger

Florent Malouda would be the best in this position as well as Mata. Just like the right wingers, the backup for left wingers are Kalou and Sturridge. Seriously, Chelsea really needs a revamp on their wingers.

Youth left wingers: Unfortunately none of them are good.

5.Strikers

Five strikers in the first squad team. I wonder why Chelsea stocked up so many strikers when they just use one striker for their tactics.

Didier Drogba the main man while Fernando Torres and Nicolas Anelka just closes behind. Romelu Lukaku and Daniel Sturridge are some way off of the three. Droba and Anelka are getting old, so it should be the best time to find replacements for them. Anyway, Drogba and Anelka are on their last year contract, so sell them immediately before it’s too late.

Youth strikers: Some good prospect seen here. Romelu Lukaku would be seen as the best of them all if you develop him properly, while Daniel Sturridge and Philipp Prosenik would turn out good.

So the Promising Youngsters Currently in Chelsea are

GK: Thibaut Courtois

RB: None

CB: Nathan Ake, Nathaniel Chalobah, Tomas Kalas, Jeffrey Bruma and Daniel Pappoe

LB: Ryan Bertrand

DM: Oriol Romeu

CM: Josh Mceachran and Conor Clifford

AM: Gael Kakuta, Dominik Masek, Patrick Van Aanholt, Jacob Mellis, James Ashton and Lewis Baker

W: None

ST: Romelu Lukaku, Daniel Sturridge and Philipp Prosenik

*Some players may not be good at that position at first, so you may need to train him for that position.

[ahsoon]

3. Recommended Transfers

Recommended OUT [in first season]

-All youngsters/reserves that are not in the Promising Youngsters list I have mentioned above this post

-As for the first team, its

GK: Ross Turnbull, Hilario

D: Paulo Ferreira

M: Michael Essien, Raul Meireles, Yossi Benayoun

W: Salomon Kalou

ST: Nicolas Anelka

Recommended IN

Youngster [below 22]

All Fees are in pounds and estimated.

GK: Benjamin Siegrist(19)[3mil]

RB: Nika Kvekveskiri(19)[1mil]

CB: Tiago Ilori(18)[1mil]

LB: Jack Robinson(17)[6mil]

DM: Lorenzo Crisetig(18)[3mil]

CM: Sandro(22)[15mil]

AM: Jack Wilshere(19)[22mil]

RW: Stephan El Shaarawy(18)[9mil]

LW: Ricardo Kishna(16)[1mil]

ST: Borja(18)[8mil]/ Souleymane Coulibaly(16)[9mil]

[ahsoon]

4. About staffs

As you can see, Chelsea's coaches aren't the best, they are just average which can only provide mostly 3 stars training so an investment in this area would be something worth to check. Baldini and Bisciotti would surely be a great addition to your coaching staff.

One thing I am very disappointed with is with the stats of our assistant manager Roberto Di Matteo. His tactical knowledge is 11. Seriously? 11. A manager once for West Brom but have a tactical knowledge of 11. I do not know if this is a fail in accuracy or anything but what i know is that it is important to change him to someone with a higher tactical knowledge at the start of your management.

On the other hand we have good scouts so its something to cheer about from the disappointments.

[ahsoon]

5. Starting XI and Formation

(This is indeed the 4-3-3 used by Villas Boas in real life. I hope I've explained enough below for you to believe it.)

A great formation for Chelsea to use would be 41131, which would look something like this

(If you look real carefully with how Andre Villa-Boas plays with Chelsea, you will notice that this tactic is similar to his instead of the 433 in FM. Why is this so? ABV though, may place Mata out wide in the default formation when the real match start, however, during the real match, Mata always comes to the middle like an attacking midfield to look out for running wings or striker to pass to them. Whereas Lampard always come deeps to get the ball from the defence and do what a playmaker do, to look for good opportunities. Without say, John Obi Mikel is surely a DM. AVB always plays with winger, so that's why the 2 wingers are there. The defence should be self explanatory but terry should be mentioned. In real match, he is always seen running up to the mid line with the ball looking for passes that is why I set him to be ball playing defender in this tactic.)

This formation maximize attack and counter attack by using wingers. During counter attack or attack, there would be long passes to the wingers. Since wingers should have fast speed, they will tend to outrun the marking defender and get the ball first. This creates space in the final third so there shouldn't be any offside called when the winger cross the ball. Now, the role of the poacher which is the striker will initiate. The striker will run towards the goal while the winger cross it early, be it low or high, the striker should be able to shoot the ball first time.

The DM is there so as to create a balance in attack and defence with 5 people attacking and 5 people defending. The DLP is often the player who creates the attack while the AM acts as a support for the striker.

Backup tactic

(I think this would be preferred more by Carlo Ancelotti)

A suitable backup tactic would be 41212, which would look something like this

This tactic maximize the control in the middle of the field with the midfielders controlling the game. The Attack Midfielder will be the one that find spaces for himself when the team is defending and he will be use as main outlet for counter attacks. The Stikers, poachers, will be running behind the opposition defenders to collect long passes given by the midfields, mostly in every attack one poacher would be gone out wide while the other poacher remains in the box waiting for the assist. This tactic has 2 DLP which initiates the attack meaning there will be 2 players who are looking out for players. The BBM creates runs late in the box so whoever crosses from wide has more options.

[ahsoon]

6. Conclusion

I think this would be the first Chelsea Team guide for Football Manager since I do not see any on the forum but i did see one which is also about Chelsea, however his is more of an analysis of the real Chelsea squad and tactic instead of the FM game. So i think both of our threads are different.

This guide is based on my opinion and may not be very accurate so correct me or voice out your comments if you find something wrong or anything missing.

I had referred these formats from other thread that has been made on the forums so credit them for being a reference to me.

Didn’t know making guides require such hard works, really respect all those thread starters for guides.

Also I will be starting a game on Chelsea and see how it goes and I will post my progress, tactics and training schedules I use here.

Last and for all, I hope you like this thread. I do not know whether if this thread would be active for Chelsea fans since there is another Chelsea team thread but anyways, I will be actively be in this thread to update and answer your questions if you have any.

Thank you for reading.

[ahsoon]

7. My Chelsea progress

My Chelsea Progress (without first windows transfer)

[ahsoon]

Reserved for further posts.

[ahsoon]

8. Chelsea Football Manager 2012 Community records

[Taken from Fabio_MVP, credits to him]

Here are the records. You can apply for them by saying for what record(s) are you applying and by providing the full screenshot. I will update this post regularly with eventual new records. You can also suggest new record(s) and I will consider them.

Team

Biggest Premier League win -

Biggest win in a domestic Cup game -

Biggest win in European Competition -

Highest scoring game -

Highest % possession in one game -

Most goals scored in one league season -

Least goals conceded in one league season -

Largest goal difference at end of season -

Most points in one season -

Most games won in a row -

Most games without defeat -

Most games without conceding a goal -

Fastest goal scored -

Most 1st team goal scorers in one season -

Most Premier League Titles in a row -

Most Champions League Titles in a row -

Players

Most goals scored in one game -

Most goals scored in one season -

Most assists in one season -

Most MotM awards in one season -

Fastest hat-trick -

Youngest goalscorer -

Highest average rating over 1 season (30 games+ needed) -

Transfers

Most spent on one player -

Most received for one player -

[rastaman219]

Theres already a Chelsea thread about 5 or 6 down mate.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/277112-FM12-Chelsea-F.C.-Thread-A-Mix-of-Youth-and-Experience

[ahsoon]

Theres already a Chelsea thread about 5 or 6 down mate.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/277112-FM12-Chelsea-F.C.-Thread-A-Mix-of-Youth-and-Experience

We have different thread. His is about real life Chelsea squad. While mine is a thread guide on playing FM with Chelsea.

[JoeBainborough]

All threads in this forum are about playing football manager with a team. But to get to grips with that they introduce people to the real life squad.

I think these threads are too alike.

[ReggaeBwoy]

Think we needed a squad analysis like this, good start mate

[ahsoon]

Think we needed a squad analysis like this, good start mate

Thank you.

[coinspinner]

thanks for the thread, the other one is confusing and poor tbh

[ahsoon]

thanks for the thread, the other one is confusing and poor tbh

Glad you like it.

[Spot_The_Dog]

This is an excellent analysis of the team in FM, far better than the wikipedia copy-paste rubbish in the other Chelsea thread. Since that thread is already at page 11, perhaps you could pm the creator of that thread about editing this into the first posts there instead? Would be a great improvement

Edit: You might want to consider a little more formation/tactical analysis - in particular, the 4-3-3 used by Villas Boas in real life is certainly worth a mention (those tactics above look pretty gung-ho to say the least too )

[Nottingham Forest]

This will probably be closed as the other one does have some FM12 information and is good enough. Obviously it's up to the mods, but usually it's a first come first serve basis. You could do what Spot said, but William won't have to agree to it.

[ReggaeBwoy]

I appreciate both Chelsea threads but I hope this don't get closed down, it has got good analysis of the players and team and I agree with Spot the Dog comment, very good analysis but irl the 4-3-3 wide is the one favoured by AVB and a lot of people like to recreate this on FM, most noteably me

[ahsoon]

This is an excellent analysis of the team in FM, far better than the wikipedia copy-paste rubbish in the other Chelsea thread. Since that thread is already at page 11, perhaps you could pm the creator of that thread about editing this into the first posts there instead? Would be a great improvement

Edit: You might want to consider a little more formation/tactical analysis - in particular, the 4-3-3 used by Villas Boas in real life is certainly worth a mention (those tactics above look pretty gung-ho to say the least too )

i have updated the tactical analysis. Actually the tactic, 41131, is similiar to the 433 used by villa boas. Anyway i have put in explanation on why is the 41131 similiar to the 433, hope i do a good work on the explanation part. Thank you. Would love your feedback.

I appreciate both Chelsea threads but I hope this don't get closed down, it has got good analysis of the players and team and I agree with Spot the Dog comment, very good analysis but irl the 4-3-3 wide is the one favoured by AVB and a lot of people like to recreate this on FM, most noteably me

Yes, i have recreated the 433 wide formation favoured by AVB it is just that FM called that formation 41131 which i had posted on the Formation analysis post. I had edited it and put some explanation on why the tactic and AVB tactic is the same. I do hope you understand the explanation. Thanks. Would love your feedback.

[ReggaeBwoy]

Good tactical analysis, yes you are right about Mata drifting to different areas of the pitch or alternatively playing him on the LW as an advanced playmaker cutting inside or even from RW is much like his normal game. But yes good tactic shown for anyone looking to recreate this type of formation. In the team, at home games where I think it is a home banker I am most likely to have Bosingwa at RB and Terry IMO, like IRL should always be on the left hand side of the centre backs as he is very strong on his left foot

[Spot_The_Dog]

I entirely agree about how Mata is free to roam across the pitch, however I feel that he does so from the left wing position, so in FM I'd say the formation is more of 1DM, 2CMs, LW, RW, ST - called 4-5-1 by the game I think - with Mata at LW able to roam and cut inside, and maybe as an advanced playmaker.

See the diagram here, how I feel the players are usually positioned: http://www.zonalmarking.net/...

Although it's kind of hard to replicate Mata's role, I feel that his proficiency as a winger in FM means that I'd probably play him in more of a wing role anyway with that formation.

That said, you could probably try playing the 4-5-1, but with Mata at LW moved to AMLC instead

But the 4-1-1-3-1 formation is very interesting too, I might try it out

(1 Final thing, I'd agree with ReggaeBwoy that when playing in a more attacking manner I'd be inclined to play Bosingwa at RB for his extra pace and ability with the ball)

[ahsoon]

Good tactical analysis, yes you are right about Mata drifting to different areas of the pitch or alternatively playing him on the LW as an advanced playmaker cutting inside or even from RW is much like his normal game. But yes good tactic shown for anyone looking to recreate this type of formation. In the team, at home games where I think it is a home banker I am most likely to have Bosingwa at RB and Terry IMO, like IRL should always be on the left hand side of the centre backs as he is very strong on his left foot

Left, center, right as you have stated, Mata sure do like to roam everywhere. Oh and i also realise one thing. He sometimes usually would switch position with Sturridge, so adding the swap position in the advance player instructions would be something worth looking for.

Yes, i too prefer Bosingwa at RB, he has good speed for a FB but I'm not sure why the coaches in FM rate him so low.

Thanks for pointing the Terry thing out, I realised I got an error with his position on the tactic when i updated the formation post but i was too lazy to edit the formation.

Anyway, i was quite enlightened when you said Terry is strong on his left foot, didn't really knew that until u pointed it out and i went to check his preferred foot which state either. Haha, learned something good from you today.

I entirely agree about how Mata is free to roam across the pitch, however I feel that he does so from the left wing position, so in FM I'd say the formation is more of 1DM, 2CMs, LW, RW, ST - called 4-5-1 by the game I think - with Mata at LW able to roam and cut inside, and maybe as an advanced playmaker.

See the diagram here, how I feel the players are usually positioned: http://www.zonalmarking.net/...

Although it's kind of hard to replicate Mata's role, I feel that his proficiency as a winger in FM means that I'd probably play him in more of a wing role anyway with that formation.

That said, you could probably try playing the 4-5-1, but with Mata at LW moved to AMLC instead

But the 4-1-1-3-1 formation is very interesting too, I might try it out

(1 Final thing, I'd agree with ReggaeBwoy that when playing in a more attacking manner I'd be inclined to play Bosingwa at RB for his extra pace and ability with the ball)

How about this 41131 formation? A combination of your 451 mata's position, the Man U v Chelsea formation analysis, plus some tweaks from my formation.

Does this tactic actually look like what AVB used against Man U?(Should be, as i had copied it from the Man U v Chelsea formation analysis you gave me)

I don't seem to remember much about that match. If i could recall correctly, Mata did not roam to the right wing.

So what I would do for Mata's instructions, would be to swap positions with Lampard so that Mata would be moving to the middle and the left alternatively during the match, and with that, the replica of Mata's role has been created.

Since AP does not run at defences, there is nothing to worry about Lampard when he is switch to the wing.

Ramires loves to run so that is why he is assigned with the box to box midfield.

I must say without both of your (ReggaeBwoy & Spot_The_Dog) feedback i wouldn't have thought about this tactic. I think this tactic has improved a lot from the tactic i originally posted.

The replica of Mata's role, i think we have found it. Anyway Spot_The_Dog, come to think of it, it isn't kind of hard to replicate Mata's role in FM right?

Would love everyone feedback on this tactic. Thanks for replying.

[jojko]

can you upload link to this tactic?

[Spot_The_Dog]

Good spot with Terry's position, completely forgot about that myself too

The above formation does look a lot more like real life - but there's still a couple of things to consider:

Firstly Lampard's position. While in FM it'd work quite well, I'm a little concerned that it would leave Lampard and his partner in midfield too far apart - in real life his strength is making runs from midfield, but I don't think he really plays as an AM. I believe that he should be a CM with attack duty, either as an advanced playmaker or just central midfielder. That said, I'd have to watch a few games more closely to look at his position relative to Ramires who usually plays on the right, but I think he's initially positioned a little higher up, with Ramires making runs into the box whereas Lampard arrives later in the box. Based on that, I think advanced playmaker for Lampard and Box-to-box for Ramires would work well

Also, a minor point about the DM. When Meireles plays as a DM, I think he tends to push into the midfield a little more, whereas Mikel sits back more. I think therefore that for Meireles he might have a support role (though it depends on how he behaves with the defend role - not played with a DM in FM12 yet), but for Mikel his role ought to be either defend duty as a defensive midfielder, or as a DLP.

Edit: Final thing, I'm not convinced the DCs have different roles (ball playing & limited) - while Luiz is definitely a ball playing defender, the others could just be left with the centre defender role)

[ahsoon]

can you upload link to this tactic?

Did you mean the tactic above your post, where Mata and Lampard interchange their position?

Here is the link for that tactic - http://www.mediafire.com/?brbpjg08dto26j9

Good spot with Terry's position, completely forgot about that myself too

The above formation does look a lot more like real life - but there's still a couple of things to consider:

Firstly Lampard's position. While in FM it'd work quite well, I'm a little concerned that it would leave Lampard and his partner in midfield too far apart - in real life his strength is making runs from midfield, but I don't think he really plays as an AM. I believe that he should be a CM with attack duty, either as an advanced playmaker or just central midfielder. That said, I'd have to watch a few games more closely to look at his position relative to Ramires who usually plays on the right, but I think he's initially positioned a little higher up, with Ramires making runs into the box whereas Lampard arrives later in the box. Based on that, I think advanced playmaker for Lampard and Box-to-box for Ramires would work well

Also, a minor point about the DM. When Meireles plays as a DM, I think he tends to push into the midfield a little more, whereas Mikel sits back more. I think therefore that for Meireles he might have a support role (though it depends on how he behaves with the defend role - not played with a DM in FM12 yet), but for Mikel his role ought to be either defend duty as a defensive midfielder, or as a DLP.

Edit: Final thing, I'm not convinced the DCs have different roles (ball playing & limited) - while Luiz is definitely a ball playing defender, the others could just be left with the centre defender role)

You made a point there. Now i understood what you meant when you said Mata could be put as an AMCL in the 451 tactic. I also do agree with your views on Lampard's position however i think he is more of a Deep Lying Playmaker with "always" as the option for run from deep.

Anyway i have made another tactic after understanding what you've said on your previous post and also based on the match against Manchester United.

Position swap - Mata & Lampard

DLP - "Always" run from deep

Roam from position "Yes" for Mata.

I rewatched the match against Man U and I saw that Mata always swap position with Lampard with Lampard sometimes higher up becoming an AM while Mata coming down to become a CM in the first half so swapping of position for the 2 of them should be enabled. This creates a space on the left side where there is no Chelsea player, therefore the Man U defences will move more to the right. This allows Cole to make an overlapping run with so much space that Mata could easily pass to him without pressuring him.

I also saw that when Chelsea is defending, Meireles always stays in line with the CBs instead of infront of them, excluding the part when Nani cut into the middle and score. I do see him going up too so the swapping of position with Ramires was enabled, with the DM position still kept with the defend option.

This is the 1st half

In the 2nd half against Man U. The tactic looks somewhat like this

Position swap - Mata & Sturridge

Roam from position "Yes" for Mata.

This time, Mata swaps position with Sturridge. Sturridge was allow to cut in when mata switched position with him, allowing space on the right side when the RB follow Sturridge into the center which make Mata free.

This time Meireles was more attacking than Ramires hence the BBM given to him.

Ramires was more defending this time so BWM was giving to him.

On the defending issue you've said, i agree with u, thus i've changed the LD to CD. However, with the Luiz case, i think he is more of a no nonsense Limited Defender as you can see from his way of defending, it is just that he always carries the ball into the opposition territory so i think he should be a LD with "yes" and "always" for roam from position and run with ball enabled respectively and also with long shots as always.

Thanks for your reply.

Would love to hear everyone feedback regarding this too.