Tactical Systems - Stafford Rangers goes on a trip

[Rashidi]

Stafford Debut Season in the Premiership

A lot of this is gonna be from memory, so bear with me. Thus begins the tale of a rollercoaster season. Going into the season, we were already used to a specific style of play. During preseason, I decided that a defensive posture would be more appropriate for Stafford, after all, they did lack pace and height. And thats a deadly double dose especially when we are dealing with a whole bunch of AI managers.

So there we are, we immediately go to work in preseason identifying a string of players to strengthen the team with, 2 million pounds doesnt get you very far, so we end up looking for bargain free signings. We end up filling the team with up to 8 more players, but up front we are still using Antonio German from the season before, with 12 for finishing thats asking for a whole lot. My priority however is not to concede, if we can survive the first few months I could get some players in the January transfer window, provided we do well financially. So the goal is to be financially prudent, keep ourselves well under the wage budget, so that we get a nice kitty going.

Preseason starts and immediately I draw up a battleplan of tactics that includes a 41221, a 4411 and a 4141. Its a rather defensive posture, but I reckon by the time the season ends we should be strong in one. With 8 new players I am pretty certain cohesion will be an issue. Our preseason is a shambolic nightmare, we win one game out of a possible 5, ah well, its a good time to experiment. I settle on a plan to go with the 4411 for the first few games, we arent going to have adventurous fullbacks, the tactic will be purely counterattacking with only the midfielders and the two boys upfront making forays.

Our first game is against Everton at Goodison Park, I curse our luck. We approach this game cautiously, at all costs we will not lose the first game. The game is peppered with shots from range, in fact all our shots come via airmail, with 80% flying into the ether. Everton dont have much luck either we walk away with a point. On a good note the team average rating is 7.5. I am happy its not a bad first day, at least we didn't get hammered.

Our next match is against Aston Villa at Marston Road, 4 shots vs 10. Pathetic one might say, hell out of those 4 shots 2 are on target and all of them are from inside the box. Not bad. Its a good match. Tactically I am still approaching all games with a counterattacking stance. The team is still training cohesion and teamwork, we get 4 pts from a possible six.

Next, Championship side Swindon in the Capital Cup first round tie, the bookies have actually got us down to lose. Thats really depressing. Well this will be a good chance to see how this tactic does in control, so i make some minor adjustments to release my fullbacks. We don't dominate possession, which worries me, but we win the match 2-1. I begin to wonder if the 4411 is a good idea after all.

I decide to try something different in the next game, team gelling hasn't really kicked in yet, so I can still afford to tinker if the tactic is sound, I shouldn't get knocked about like a balloon on a windy day. Our next match against West Brom finishes 1-1 as we switch to a 4141, and then I return to my 4411 for the game against Newcastle, we suddenly turn in 22 shots on goal with half from range, but the performance is sweet as we walk away 2-1 winners. Sunderland go down as well 1-0. Its been a great start, I am cautiously optimistic, but this does mean its going to be a long hard season for me, all the wins have been narrow, and these are sides that like us will battle to avoid relegation. So we decide to stick to a 4411 and switch to a 4141 if we need to contain sides.

And then the news comes, the Football Association of SI World are meeting in SI Towers, talk has it that new changes are coming into effect. These are expected to have far reaching implications for how football will be played in the future. I await with bated breath as I go pick up the new rules. We read through the rules and see that on the surface all looks right. The new rules are meant to encourage more open play. I reckon this should be a good day, boy did I get that wrong.

Cardiff awaited us in the next round, twas a Capital Cup first round tie, comfortable in the knowledge that we were on a 6 game unbeaten run, I decided to field my second stringers. Cardiff score two early from setpieces and then Robert Beech my unused 20 year old who's about to receive his walking papers, decides to stun me with a Messi run from deep in defense to score. I stare at the pitch in disbelief, we may have lost but I have Messi? If he has 17 pace and is doing that to other defenders....whats going to happen to me?

I soon find out in our next home game to Chelsea, in fact what followed was 7 games without a win. We were going into matches and finding ourselves facing lil Messis. SI had given the world the Messi treatment. I was laughing and crying at the same time. How in the world am I to defend against super dribblers? I attempted a 4141, 41221, 4132, 532, 460, counter, contain, defensive. I was at wits end. There were two things I could do , quit or figure out a way to get even. I started analysing all matches that had pacey players vs average teams, and the same thing unfolded, Messi had landed in England, and he brought the gift of sharing. What a christmas! Not for me!

Its times like these that separate the good football managers from the bad ones. The notebook on which I did my scribbles is now lost..i actually left it in the hotel two days ago when I was away on business, but inside there I did whats called Constraint Model. I took the team apart to see where the cracks were, and then I paired players together in partnerships. If i had a creative player in midfield, he would always be partnered with a bruiser. If i had a great jumper in defense, beside him would always be a great tackler. Upfront I was seriously considering a strike partnership, someone to knock down the balls, but not a targetman, more like a DLF who had the strength to hold players off for a finisher.

The patch had obviously created a huge tilt towards attacking play, there were now more shots and more runs. Players were running..even when there were options to pass, and these were happening to close to the defensive line. Defenders weren't challenging. What I saw immediately gave me hope, if my players are on normal and they are not tackling...LOL the AI will be doing the same, when it defends. It was time now to come up with a new plan. I had already created my partnerships, now it was time to look at my strengths.

In my team we have decent defenders, they arent fast but they have composure and concentration. My DMC is a former defender who has great acceleration, and in midfield I had some great AMs but this wasnt going to help me just yet. I can't out dribble the AI, but if I can out pass it at pace then I could get something back. So I switched to a 4312. For every match that was to follow I was going to make it hard for the AI, so I pushed up and started playing on Attacking mentality. I also made one critical change, i set my fullbacks and my DMC to hard tackling. If a player has the right attributes and low aggression, hes just gonna break someones nuts and if well executed he won't see red. I also decided to focus on defensive positioning for the next month.

In our next game we snapped our losing streak a 1-1 draw to Reading was quickly followed up by a 0-0 to Blackburn, and then we started to win. A 4-2 win to Ipswich, made me sit up and notice my fullback making a lunging challenge and winning the ball from behind the winger who was running at top speed. I was cocksure I had hit upon the right formula, now it was a matter of tweaking it. I stuck to my attacking stance, home and away. If I was going to go down, I was taking a few of these Messis' with me.

Chelsea, Arsenal and United followed, and we lost all three matches, but we were prepared for that. Up next, Fulham, we took a 4-1 lead, a freaking 4-1 lead within the first hour, and then they clawed it back to 4-4. It was then that I realized that i was too attacking..time to tweak things..it was from that moment on that Stafford started playing on commentary. All our matches were now on control, pushed up and narrow. I was playing to our strengths, we also changed training : Balanced with Attacking Movement as default, switching only to defensive for tough away games and attacking for home games.

By the January window we had brought in a speedier and stronger AMC as well to join my midfield and another striker who had more finishing and composure. Stafford started hammering sides 4-1, 3-1. We finished the season unbeaten in 10, 8 wins and 2 draws. Our final day summed it all up. A trip to Anfield, they score first, we equalise, they take the lead at the start of the second half and we start pelting them and finally get an equaliser on the 90th minute. Stafford finished in 9th spot on 55 points, when the patch hit I was just planning for 40 to survive, the boys did more than just survive.

Stopping Messi was so easy, I just wonder why SI doesn't just use hard tackling for the AI managers, shouldn't decisions and aggression affect the chance of red cards. ;-)

Player development

I am pretty keen to see how the players are going to do in terms of training and development. I didnt set up the right custom screens at the start of the season. My players generally do Balanced training only, with the focus in key areas of their games. Match preparation is simple..attacking for home, defensive for away.

Nathan Ake is one of my top defenders, in fact hes been with us for a while now. What i have noticed is that since 2 years ago he has seen these increases:

• Concentration, tackling, anticipation,marking, heading and determination +1
  
• Composure +2
  

He was trained as a DMC but as of last season his focus is generally on PPMs.

I also plan to keep tabs on these players as well. The goal is to monitor their development closely:

[Rashidi]

I have been using a 41221, 4411 and a 4240 formation for the new season. I plan to try something different this season by attempting to win or finish in the top five, we have started out well enough 3rd on the table no losses from 6 games. I am going to give this a decent test and may release a formation that does not require much tweaking. Thats a big huge maybe

[Rashidi]

Well patch 1325 has hit and the forums are awash with people screaming about super-dribblers. Honestly this is something that has disappointed me. In earlier versions players would complain that the game was too easy and that it was far too easy to outwit the AI manager. I created super tactics in every version of FM that out played the AI Manager comprehensively.

So SI decided to do something to make it more challenging to play, but it also wanted the game to become more intuitive and less an exercise in beating an AI. The fact is you can try as much as you like, ultimately you are playing an AI manager. Its just a bunch of instructions, and these instructions are limited, the human mind can create scenarios that may not even be logical but can work. The new engine is meant to be a progression, and to some extent it has worked. In large part its due to collision physics. Its a huge step forward and the implications it has affect tactics in a manner more realistic than any other engine before.

Stafford have managed to achieve consecutive promotions, really only because I managed to "out-attribute" each league in key areas, but they are now in the premiership, for me to get that kind of squad I will need to cheat, its a route I refuse to take, so i choose to try out different tactics and formations within my system. My system is based on a quick short passing game with pressing in the final third. Where I need to survive I have created counterattacking formations, but these have modified setups that allow me to achieve the passing setups that I like. We tend to move the ball around patiently in our third of the field before we explode in the final third with direct passing.

This season I have opted to use a 4312 formation

I have made some minor changes to mentality for the central midfielder, as I want him to drop even deeper when we have the ball, and i have also increased the mentality of the DCr (Boateng) to make him move a bit higher when we have possession, its not an uncommon setup having been used in real life many times in the past. The DC has been given RWB and RFD mixed as well.

Tactically when we head into matches, there is a need for us to contend with sides with fast wingers or fast trequartistas who make Gerrard-esque runs circa 2006 into the box. Countering both isn't hard, in fact I've been playing this way ever since the OI made its appearance in Football Manager Live, it was the way I shut out real-time managers and I do the same here. What you do is simple, these are the shouts you need to understand first

• Set Stay on Feet What this does is give you the latitude to use OI in a more aggressive manner.
  
• Push Up Higher This is a great shout for compressing the area of the pitch. Graham Taylor introduced this style of play in England a long time ago, but this has been around for much longer. The idea here is to bring up your defensive line of 4 at the back and reduce the playable area of the pitch. Knowing how to use this is even more challenging, but once you master it, its the single most powerful tool in the game. Always look at your fullbacks to decide whether you've pushed up too high: if they are tracking back too far, its too high, if they need to step forward then chances are you can afford to go higher.
  
• Exploit Middle shout, this shout locks down your fullbacks from moving forward and gets your central midfield players to make those runs. Its a great tool to use, provided your tactic has elements that can exploit it. Formations like the 4411, 41221, 4312, 4132, 3142, 433 can use this shout.
  

These are the shouts that can play a big role. What I typically do in a game with a 4312, or a 41221 is on match day is to set up OI on the fullbacks, and the wingers. Setting tight-marking and then set hard tackling. This is what I call double insurance. Tight marking will work when the opportunity presents itself, but if the winger or the fullback is running at you at full tilt, then hard tackling will stop them. Closing down is a lot more riskier to use, because the players tend to get ganged up by a pack and this can be very dangerous. Still, it can be used effectively, you just need to know what to expect.

Once you have set the OI up then its just a matter of observing how your defensive line stacks up and paying attention to your players. Stafford have gotten off to a good start.

And I am really pleased to see how my youth player stuck in the MCd position acts well to anchor my side

Looking at my fullbacks, it confirms one thing that my FBs are doing everything i expect them to do, where they fail I put it down to simple mistakes.

[/url]

If a 4312 formation can lock down wingers and fullbacks, then I cant see superdribbers being an issue. In fact we were unlucky to lose to United earlier in the season, I forgot to set up for the lone forward, who scored a late goal through the middle. Their wingers and fullbacks had been neutralized in the game. Our failure was down to my inattention.

[Rashidi]

Stafford Tactics

This season Stafford have been using basically 2 formations, a 41221 and a 4312. I have decided to hold off on 442 formations since their physical attribute demands are so high. The logic in using both formations has been pretty basic.

4312

The 4312 is one of the most dangerous formations in the game, its a fairly old formation and used to depend on an old fashioned AMC who would "carry" the ball around the box making room with his intelligent passes and creativity. In today's modern game he can either take on a more restrained role which sees him with his back to the goal playing others in or he can be the old fashioned Gerrard.

I use a 4312 when I want to play narrow and exploit middles. This way I can lock down my fullbacks and decide whether or not they should go up and take part in attacks. The challenge of the 4312 has always been the huge gap that can potentially exist between the midfield players and the defenders. Having these 3 midfielders standing in a line is "a sin", you need to make sure they all have different roles, thats the key to this formation. Having different roles will ensure different mentalities. The central player should be a central midfielder on defensive duty, and one should be an AP and another can be a B2BMC or an attacking MC. That sets those 3 up, what I typically do is to reduce the mentality of the central MC further and remove all HUB ball instructions, since the other two are better suited to it.

What teams have done in the past has also been to give one of the DCs a more attacking mentality, where one defender typically goes further up and is sometimes required to run with the ball and keep in touch with the central mc, there probably are distinct set ups like Limited Defender that you can choose, but I dont since I haver an MC dropping deep, I make sure that the defender whos set to a central defender has a mentality setting thats the same as the MC, and then I add RWB and mixed RFD. This gives me the settings that I want.

Personally, there aren't enough passing/pressing down setups in the game to make me sit up and call it the solution of all tactical setups. The TC limits me too much in terms of my creativity. I want my attacking group to press strongly, so I have them all on max closing down, and tight marking. This makes me a dangerous side when I am in their half. Upfront I prefer having first one touch passing, so i set them to passing 1. Its a good setup for a team that wants to play it fast in the opponents half.

When I start games, I immediately set up these shouts: Exploit the Middle, Push up higher (Control), Stay on Feet. OI is set on hard tackling and tight marking for all crossers of the ball. Push up higher compresses playing area that makes my pack more dangerous to handle in the opponents half, exploit middle ensures that my fullbacks stay locked at the back. If I want more options, I just go to one fullback and set him to attacking, electing always to go to the side where the DC is not going up. My whole team is set to stay on feet, but those "players" targeted in OI will be tackled hard, which is ideal. This has proven to be an excellent choice, and a great tactic for sides that intend to push through the middle.

41221

This formation has been covered fairly rigorously in this thread and in a fair number of threads on the forum. I elect to go to this formation when I am faced with an especially tough side. I have chosen to go with a 4312 against sides like the Mancs, but only after a lot of background work. If in doubt, the 41221 takes precedence.

The 41221 is a really solid deadly formation, since you have an AM and FB, you have the potential of playing both exploit the middle or go down the flanks. I NEVER use exploit the flanks, simply because it depends on pumping ball out from the back with direct passes, and since my team arent that good...The good thing about having a defensive trident in the DMC,DC.DC is that you can build your play out. I however remove HUB on my DMC, because I want him to move the ball up quickly and I also dont want him to hold onto the ball too long when he wins it.

In midfield once again, its a cardinal sin to have two players with the same role. Since the 3 midfielders will have differing mentalities from default, I rarely find the need to do anything apart from changing hold up ball. I pick an AP and a regular MC in midfield to support him. Upfront its an attacking DLF and 2 support IF.

This formation can be pretty rugged, and can sometimes struggle to score, since i lock down my fullbacks in case of emergency. It however has a lot of potential when you unlock the fullbacks giving you options. Almost all the instructions are default TC ones. The shouts I use are exactly the same, except I alternate between overlap and exploit for this one. OI instructions are also similar.

I will be uploading both tactics to my blog once I have time, but the threads won't turn into what kind of player should I get help kinda things. Oh btw, Liverpool Burnley and Blackburn, just gave us 9 points are we are thankful for their generosity.

[Meneltin II]

Thanks for this thread (and your blog), really inspiring to read. I've been going through these for the past days and decided to apply some of your ideas in my save.

In my first season at Burton Albion, first match of the season at home against Peterborough for the League Cup.

They are way better than us, and I set up a narrow, 442 counter attacking tactic to counter their 4231.

I am too narrow, and within 5 minutes its 0-2. Both goals floating crosses from the left, over my DL, leaving their unmarked AMR to head the ball in at the second post.

I turn off play narrow and get ball forward, and now my tight marking, hard tackling OI's do work.

It works as we claw one back before the break, and score again in 73th minute.

They switch to a attacking 442 and even 424 in extra time, and we are riding our luck, coupled with some spells of good possession play, until the 98th minute when our targetman,

doing his physical thing in the box forces an own goal from their goalie!

They start pumping the ball forward, and we play it out relatively easy, passing the ball around the center of their very wide 424.

To come back from 0-2 to win 3-2 against a much better team, this is one of the most rewarding games I've ever played in my 15 year CM/FM career!

[Rashidi]

Thanks for this thread (and your blog), really inspiring to read. I've been going through these for the past days and decided to apply some of your ideas in my save.

To come back from 0-2 to win 3-2 against a much better team, this is one of the most rewarding games I've ever played in my 15 year CM/FM career!

Thanks for the mention. I am glad this has helped you.

The Stafford thread is meant to show people how its possible to apply simple concepts to the game. I am guilty of overcomplicating it at the start of the thread, twas natural I was going through a phase at work and everything I apply at work seemed to have relevance to a computer game. Sometimes when I think of it it does sound rather silly. The goal of this thread is to show how its possible to win using TC based tactics or slightly modified TC tactics. The reason why I modify them is because the enganche role for a 4312 formation is pretty hard to set up using the TC simply because the defensive midfielder has too high a mentality. So I adjusted that role slightly, and also included a more attacking minded DC on his side of the pitch. That way the gap between midfield and defense is really narrow.

To reduce the playing area further I tend to play with pushed up all the time, the tactic is set up on control and usually at halftime I swop over to my 41221 for the fun of it, that tactic is pure TC based. I did take a break from FM during the hols and just came back to wrap up my 7th win on the trot after our 1 nil loss to United. The game isnt hard...in fact now my system is simply this:

A. Select players for roles, make sure that the position I see to play them in is adequately covered.

B. Set up Tight Marking and Hard Tackling for all fullbacks and wingers in opposing formations.

C. Set formation to Stay on Feet

D. For formations where I intend to apply pressure continuously, I modify the TC set up for closing down for the attacking group (which only involves 4 players max), these are the wingforwards and the AMC, DLF in my 41221 formation, this way I dont need Hassle Opponents, since max closing down is all i really want.

Once I get better players I will switch to my 4411 formation. The game is now too easy its boring, and I am beginning to lose interest playing it. I am now having a scandalous relationship (according to my gf) with my new Samsung Note 2 phone which has replaced the iphone, why I didnt do that earlier is beyond me.

[chronic haze1]

are you going to upload your tactics to help us out lol

[Rashidi]

[video=youtube;-oXnp8mXxn8]

You would think that after a final like this we would be concentrating on building for a new season on our existing talent. After 5 seasons in the premiership we were finally European Champions following an emphatic 5-1 win over Manchester City.

Financially its been a different story, even with the success in Europe we aren't exactly rich enough to build a new stadium. Knowing that I have invested in youth and upgraded my facilities as near state of the art as I can. Running it at that level is a 2.5m cost a season, and with wage costs nearing 1.5m a season supported only by a 38k seater stadium we desperately need the funds to build a new stadium. To do that we need at least 500m surplus in the bank.

Managing a low league team isn't hard, but getting them to stay at the pinnacle of success requires money. We are now ranked 5th in the world on reputation with Manchester City leading the way, to sustain this we need to keep being winners of the premiership and consistently finish as semi-finalists in European competitions, even that will not guarantee us a turnover that is healthy enough to build a new stadium. The only solution is player sales, and thats where it gets even harder.

In the season preceding our Champions league winning season we managed to sell 40m worth of talent, this season I knew we had to sell again, and the hardest part of selling is knowing you have to rebuild. The players who have left include Paul Boyham. He was an ever-present in my side and my only England representative. 20m offer from Barcelona was just to good to refuse. He played a pivotal role in my 4411 formation as the supporting DLP. And his versatility allowed me to move him around as a defensive anchor or as an offensive playmaker

He was a player I trained from the age of 15. The challenge in this game is to keep evolving your side over time. And I reckon its going to be quite the challenge, I have discovered that getting a different player who doesn't play the same ppms as him is making it really more challenging this time around. My goal has to be to FOCUS on training the 3 KEY positions in my system.

I have another 3 possible players who can fill his role. And when I sold him it was with the knowledge and hope that they would step up

Along with him I also had an Albanian playmaker who was skillful as a "hole" player, frequently being deployed either as a winger or as an AMC.

These were two players who played such an influential role in the team. I have elected to keep my 'lil Maradona. This guy has been the torment of many sides, his insane skills are still rampant in the new match engine as he rips sides apart with his flank running and his ability to beat defenses to score

it shows both his goals and they are on my very young youtube channel. My goal in the next season is to keep me head above water. We haven't done too badly, but this season is a different story. I was hoping that even after selling my two stars, we may have the depth to keep our challenge going, but this looks like a really poor season, compared to previous ones. It certainly looks like I need to feature a lot of my effort on training and making sure that my players pick up the right skillsets.

Despite finishing so well last season, the sale of both players and the unbelievable bad luck of seeing 4 players injured even before the kickoff of the first game has seen us struggle. Its been a while since I've had a run like this. In fact its all down to the chopping and changing I've done my selling two of my 3 players in KEY positions. Its not something I'd advise, but people who face a struggle after squad replacement need to understand this.

I can only hope that players like this step up, Francois is supposed to be the replacement for Boyham. It hasn't been all rosy, but Stafford really need to make money, or we could be one of those teams thats just there at the top enjoying each season as it comes.

My focus this season is to snap out of our bad run, we're still second but 10 points behind Manchester City, who ALWAYS SEEM like they can't be beat. Its freaking annoying. Well a lot of the focus on this thread will be squad development and training. The last season has been one where I used a 4411. My plan is to continue using that formation.

[Rashidi]

My system seems to be working once again..that bad run ended wiht some good wins, and I love it when we score goals like this.

[video=youtube;umQ-LyQZHWY]

[Lavuz]

this thread is like my text book. Admire you work since a very long time.. you tell ideas and show how to implement it to us. Keep up Rashidi.

[Hazza22299]

Just wanted to say that you and Cleon have been absolutely incredible in helping me understand and rekindle my love for the game. I'd say, as an example, if you guys understood the game 100% then I understood it about 15%. After reading your thread and after a lot of trial and (mostly) error I'd say I understand the game about 65%, I'll continue to read your stuff and hopefully I can get my knowledge up to about 75-80%. Of course you don't understand the game 100% but I hope you understand what I'm trying to say here!

[Argente]

You'll be delighted to hear that my Oxford City side have finally reached the Premiership. Took until 2025 but here we are. The money is insane, I'm projected to make a profit of £38 million this season. Need to invest in facilities though, they have yet to be upgraded since the BSN days!

[Rashidi]

You'll be delighted to hear that my Oxford City side have finally reached the Premiership. Took until 2025 but here we are. The money is insane, I'm projected to make a profit of £38 million this season. Need to invest in facilities though, they have yet to be upgraded since the BSN days!

Well done :-) Yeah you need to plan your upgrades so you can line them up each season,and your stadia upgrades which means you need to sell players as well. I am still doing this amazing juggling act with players, but I am glad to hear you're finally there, grats

[Rashidi]

Just wanted to say that you and Cleon have been absolutely incredible in helping me understand and rekindle my love for the game. I'd say, as an example, if you guys understood the game 100% then I understood it about 15%. After reading your thread and after a lot of trial and (mostly) error I'd say I understand the game about 65%, I'll continue to read your stuff and hopefully I can get my knowledge up to about 75-80%. Of course you don't understand the game 100% but I hope you understand what I'm trying to say here!

I don't think me and Cleon understand the game 100%, I just think better in abstraction...and I've been very lucky with FM loads of good friends early in the day to share ideas with on the forums.

[Hazza22299]

I don't think me and Cleon understand the game 100%, I just think better in abstraction...and I've been very lucky with FM loads of good friends early in the day to share ideas with on the forums.

That's what I meant by the last sentence, I meant in comparison with me.

[Rashidi]

I sometimes wonder I keep talking about Stafford Rangers, a non-league side who're now European Champions. The reason's pretty simple actually. Understanding how to play the game isn't really easy, but when you take the perspective of a lower league side it allows you to share your entire experience. I've played a lot of games, been paid to play a lot of games and have also commentated on my experiences.

Understanding what makes a game tick allows you to appreciate the complexities of a challenge, and once you get the basics right you can manage any side. Its then that you can go manage Barcelona or Manchester United.

If someone new to the game were to pick Manchester United, the board expectations will be high. The cost of not reaching Europe could be too expensive for you to experiment and understand the match engine, this would force managers to adopt less risky approaches and this won't teach you much. Picking a non league side is very challenging, but as you experience their rise your knowledge of the game grows. You begin to appreciate the little nuances in the engine and thats when you start picking things out. Approaches that engender legacies allow you to develop structures and systems that last. You will get a strong idea of a system of play and how to incorporate searches for talents, setting youth training and senior training up. I guarantee you that once you get that experience the game of Football Manager becomes a walk in the park. Last season we made a profit of 40 million quid, so I was keen to keep the bankroll going and targeted 400million as a figure I wanted to achieve quickly. With that in mind we sold off 3 key players. And this season I paid the price with my league performance.

[/b][/font][/color][TABLE="width: 569"]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"]Honor Roll[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Season[/TD]
[TD]League Pos[/TD]
[TD]FA Cup[/TD]
[TD]League Cup[/TD]
[TD]Europe[/TD]
[TD]Stage[/TD]
[TD]Notables[/TD]
[TD]Formation[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2026/27[/TD]
[TD]3rd[/TD]
[TD]5th Rd[/TD]
[TD]4th Rd[/TD]
[TD]Champs[/TD]
[TD]BPL[/TD]
[TD]FIFA CWC Champs, Supercup Champs[/TD]
[TD]4411[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2025/26[/TD]
[TD]1st[/TD]
[TD]6th Rd[/TD]
[TD]1st Rd[/TD]
[TD]Champs[/TD]
[TD]BPL[/TD]
[TD]Appointed England Manager[/TD]
[TD]4411[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2024/25[/TD]
[TD]2nd[/TD]
[TD]6th Rd[/TD]
[TD]Winners[/TD]
[TD]QF[/TD]
[TD]"[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]4411[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2023/24[/TD]
[TD]4th[/TD]
[TD]Semis[/TD]
[TD]Winners[/TD]
[TD]SF[/TD]
[TD]"[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]4411[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2022/23[/TD]
[TD]1st[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]QF[/TD]
[TD]"[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]4411, 4141[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2021/22[/TD]
[TD]1st[/TD]
[TD]Winners[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]"[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]4411[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2020/21[/TD]
[TD]10th[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]"[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]4411[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2019/20[/TD]
[TD]8th[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]"[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]4411[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2018/19[/TD]
[TD]13th[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]"[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]41221[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2017/18[/TD]
[TD]1st[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]Championship[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]41221[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2016/17[/TD]
[TD]1st[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]League 1[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]4132, 442[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2015/16[/TD]
[TD]2nd[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]League 2[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]442[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2014/15[/TD]
[TD]1st[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]BSP[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]41221, 4312[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2013/14[/TD]
[TD]1st[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]-[/TD]
[TD]BSN[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]460, 41221[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[color=#333333][font=Georgia][b] 

Season 2026/27

After the high of last season, I decided to sell off some of my best players. We started off the season really well, and then injuries hit. Our 3-1 European Supercup win came with 3 key injuries :-( As the season progressed that number soon climbed to 6.

That forced me to enter the January transfer market looking for 3 players that could fit into the first team but had to come cheap. Whatever happened, I was not going to exceed my revenue. So I worked out a budget of 20 million and set out to get 3 players for that. The 3 ended up being bit players who could come in for the league matches I was also forced into turning to my youth, handing out starts to several 17 year olds in an effort to identify some options, we managed to unearth one such future champion, who ended up having the distinction of coming in for very tough matches and forcing our "maradona" Guido Jansen to the bench.

This season we just didn't have the depth to challenge and keep up with Manchester City. We lost the same number of games with 7 matches left but we dropped a lot of points when we couldn't finish off a lotta teams in the first half of the season. The 11 draws were expensive as City only drew 2 the whole season.

In December my total squad strength including reserves was barely 20, with 6 out injured we were struggling. By the end of the season we were 30, but I will still need to consider some players futures next season. Our policy of selling players will continue as we embark on our plan to build a new stadium.

Domestic Cup update

The lack of depth forced me to use the reserves for all our cup matches, as I had to save my main team for the league and champions league. Needless to say sending in your second stringers against Spurs at White Hart Lane isn't wise, we lost that match 2-0 and were sent packing out in the 5th Round. News that we drew Manchester City in the 4th Rd of the FA Cup didn't sit well with me, as I resigned myself to watching my youth succumb 4-0 away. it was a choice I had to make as our Champions League campaign required fresh legs.

Champions League

Our group featured Fiorentina, Lyon, and Stuttgart. Lyon were former semifinalists and the Italians were having a good run at home. We managed to beat Fiorentina 3-0 at home, but our trip to France saw us struggle to hold them to a goaless draw. The Germans came calling next, and we couldn't break their defense as they forced us into another goaless stalemate. Lyon on the other hand battered the Italians 3-0. Our return trip to Germany was more successful as we escaped there with a 2-1 win. We then travelled to the home of the Italians and again couldn't pull off a win, we were saving our players for Europe and dropping points there and at home. I was getting increasingly worried, but Fiorentina were now surprising everyone with their late surge as they beat the French away. The group was now wide open, 3 teams could advance.

With two games left, all the teams drew their next match. This would go down to the wire, we had to win or get a point and if Fiorentina won their last game, the French were out. We held the French away from home and the Italians joined us in the next round when they narrowly beat Stuttgart. It was a wild group ride.

My team was getting so used to dropping points we started doing it in England, and the Club World Cup was looming, we went there and swept everyone aside and then the newly crowned World Champions came home brimming with confidence and smashed Villa 7-1.

Our European journey would now see us face another Italian giant in Inter Milan, whom we held 1-1 away and beat them 3-1 at home. Porto lost 4-0 on aggregate, and thankfully Manchester City was sent crashing out of the competition by Barcelona, who were then defeated in turn by Benfica. We confidently defeated PSG 2-0 on aggregate to line up a date with destiny. It was our second ECC final and this time we were smiling - no MANCHESTER CITY.

At home we were 10 points behind Manchester City without a hope in hell of catching them, so with 3 games to go to the final. I knew it was time to rest up my core group, and sent in my second stringers, who well lost all their matches. It was Europe or bust.

Benfica vs Stafford Rangers

We were considered underdogs for this match, but me in my infinite stupidity decided to ignore the pundits. A lucky penalty in the first few minutes only served to reinforce my misplaced self-confidence. Benfica struck back almost immediately as they took advantage of our high line, and our normally reliant Rui Pedro didn't help our cause by showing some uncharacteristic nerves at the back, when his horrendous pass gifted Benfica the equaliser.

My reaction was immediate, I dropped to standard and made some changes so that I could unleash my AMC. As Benfica poured forward we showed enough composure to build slowly from the back and like a perfect ticking clock my AMC would switch up the tempo and drive attacks down the flanks. His rapier like thrusts opened them up time and time again. Dropping Rui to the bench and moving Dobson to the right flank was a gamble as I went to the bench to pull up another fullback who was a stronger defender. We shored up our flanks and then Benfica fell apart. The only shout I used in the game was "work ball into box" as I figured a drop in strategy would suffice.

[video=youtube;bsi_j4GBtk8]

Twas a result that filled me with pride but there were plenty of lessons to be learnt.

Lesson One

Accept the fact that sometimes you need to play defensively, a change in strategy should be enough, but to strengthen your defense you need to make sure some part of your pitch is more secure. My bench was loaded with more defensive minded players who could also attack, not nearly as well as Rui Pedro whos easily one of the most explosive fullbacks in the Premiership now

Lesson Two

Sticking with one tactic is great, but once you get your players to learn their ppms. Selling those players off without making sure the new players have all the ppms is risky. Our lack of wins this season showed me how true this was. This season we will continue to sell players, but we will also work on other aspects of our growth to ensure we make the money for our new stadium

Lesson Three

Players need to develop, my injury crisis forced me to go to the bench. And I discovered the only way a player from the youth ranks is gonna grow by "leaps and bounds" ( a term used in FM) is when he plays at least 30% of the matches for the senior squad, plus the side needs to win. If you can't manage that then they won't grow by leaps and bounds. Winning is great, but not vital. His exposure is.

Nick Dobson ended up playing 21 games for me last season, and I intend to make him play more than that this season. His target will be 25 games this season as I want to see his development continue. Selling Paul Boyham off last season was a huge risk and we paid the price early in the season but I came glad that it gave me the chance to assess Matias Lama.

I like him but he's not nearly as consistent as Paul Boyham, but he certainly has a better eye for the pass. This season he will be focusing on quickness as his lack of pace worries me, and whilst he has stepped up, his growth will be crucial.

Lesson Four

This is the most important lesson I have learnt, and it was something I should never have allowed myself to forget. Continuity. If you don't have it, you won't have consistent performances. My biggest problem this season was knowing you my central midfield partnership would be. Half the time one half of that partnership was on the treatment table. Its a big concern for me, and in my rashness, I went and brought in 3 cover players for the same position. At least they all have 2 year contracts. Twas a bad move one I hope never to repeat

Goal for next season

We purchased one up and coming striker who's too good to pass up, and that will be the last of my purchases, our squad side is now a healthy 35 made up of 16 first teamers. The rest are reserves or youth players. We plan to make an assault on multiple fronts and to ensure that we finish amongst the top three. There is a good chance we can build a title challenge, once I've sorted out who my midfield duo are going to be. And thats the most important lesson anyone can learn: If you aren't even sure what you want, how in the world are gonna move forward. This season we will be more focused and I shall identify my central partnership early.

[Rashidi]

Time to look at my players development

(extracted from the forums)

"Every single player on Football Manager has a Current Ability, also known as CA. This is a number ranging from 1-200, 1 being a very low ability, 200 being the highest. A players currentability changes throughout the game, depending on training, game time, and injuries. A player's current ability can also naturally go up, as a player gets older.

A players Current Ability CAN change throughout the game.

Every player also has a Potential Ability, commenly known as PA. PlayerAbility is a number that players are assigned to before the save game starts, and a players potential ability is the same on everyones game. This number also ranges from 1-200. A potential ability of 1 means the player is more than likely to be awful, a potential ability of 200 has the potential to be one of the worlds best. Although most players have set potential abilities, some players have varying potential abilities. These potential abilities are negative potentials. At the start of a new game players with negative potentials are assigned potentials, ranging from one number to another.

A players Potential Ability cannot change in the game

Essentially a player plays to his PA cap and his CA cannot exceed his PA. SO current ability is the players level ability at the moment of game start . It is up to you to choose how good you want him to be at the start of your games, but if you have him for 17 at dribbling and a current ability of say, 120 with potential of about 170, its likely his dribbling at the start will be a lot less, possibly around 11 to 14. but 17 will be the highest his dribbling attribute can be raised through training and reaching potential ability. its completely up to you how you want him to be at the start of the game as long as his current ability doesnt exceed his potential ability. i think that no matter what the potential ability is, the CA attributes you give him in the editor are the max he can be."

I don't want to get fixated with CA and PA too much, since players can still be great players if they have great attributes but low CA. So essentially I will always treat CA and PA as a guide since the formula for the linkage will always be hidden by SI and everything is merely a best guess. Essentially CA acts as a set of points that is distributed for attributes, but since FM13 there is now an interrelationship between match performance and training as they all lead to knock on effects. So my goal will be to ensure that players are given ample chances to develop

The screenshots above act as an illustration for a player who was training in my club without the benefit of top facilities.

Ake a player who came through the ranks joining us when we were at the Championship I seriously doubt if he had much by way of improvements. Without the benefit of good training facilities his experience came mainly from matches, and his biggest development was in the area of mental attributes. He is still a mainstay of the main team and was one of the first players to be retrained as an midfielder.

This was my big mistake..Guido Jansen, what a waste..

At the age of 19 he had loads of potential but i didn't manage him right, he played below what I would consider an optimal amount of games. Playing below the 25 match mark. Whilst his ability was still 5 star, he started showing fitness issues so I started staggering his appearances. He was one of the players who would frequently get injured and cop big ones too.. by the time he was 24, I hadn't done him justice. So now I need to focus on the key areas I want improvements in and hope to God I save myself. Its a lesson learnt in playing time. So my focus on him is going to be purely as an attacking midfielder, it may get back some of his acceleration, and hopefully my lil Maradona matures.

Now this is another 5 star player I picked up when he was 17, but the difference is how I played him... I even retrained him to play as an ML

He's a player I intend to keep playing a minimum of 25 games a season or more..He's proving to be a massive player for me and his PA hasn't shifted in fact his CA=PA atm...

This is one player who came in hot, had buckets of ability but was ripped by a season ending injury, my concern is his proneness to injury and will be monitoring him closely

The coaching report suggests that he's playing to near his current ability cap, he's another player that had to learn new positions before he was 18.

His biggest weakness is his lack of consistency, I can only hope that i can find the right tutor for him that will increase his "pressure" rating, or he gets the big match attribute. I plan to keep a close eye on Santisban, he needs to keep playing 25 games a season and hopefully he becomes an important part of my team

I will continue working on this and tracking the players development, but one think I am fairly sure of now is the minimum number of top level games is 25.

[Hazza22299]

So what examples of systems are there? I'm just about to start pre-season and I've been suiting my tactic to the players but now I want you to do the "Long-term way" of creating a system and training the players to follow to it. I've done some research in to the formations of the opposition:

4-1-2-2-1 (x3)

4-2-3-1 (Narrow)

3-5-2

4-4-2 (x5)

4-2-3-1 (x3)

4-4-1-1

4-1-2-1-2

and a few others I haven't checked yet.

So I want to use a system and then create 3 formations to help nullify/exploit these formations. Can you help mean on this Rashid?

[Rashidi]

Why don't you describe how you want your system to play. I would stick to one tactic first within that system so you understand it before picking a battery of tactics. You can always make a defensive and an offensive version of the same tactic and save them individually then both tactics become familiar with your team

[Hazza22299]

Why don't you describe how you want your system to play. I would stick to one tactic first within that system so you understand it before picking a battery of tactics. You can always make a defensive and an offensive version of the same tactic and save them individually then both tactics become familiar with your team

Of course I'd like to keep it tight at the back but I have some incredible regens coming through so I'd like to have a system that makes use of strikers. I like playing wing backs. I don't fully understand what you mean exactly by "system". I get confused about how you can have defensive and offensive versions of the same tactical system. Apart from Total Football, Catenaccio and your system Tikanaccio I don't really know any other "systems". I was wondering if you could clarify this for me Rashid?

[Rashidi]

You say you have good strikers and you want to use wingbacks at least thats a start..when I say system..I mean several things for one thing..I always ask myself several questions before i start.

How determined and brave do I want my team to be..do i want them going in for every challenge? Its very easy to look at a persons crossing see 20 and go wow. Then when he's playing the game you wonder why he never helps the fullback..then you see his bravery and see 5. thats why.

Do you want them to keep the ball? and control possession? then there are several shapes that help that..

Is there a formation you know and like? then when we know what formation you like we can start from there.

What you should do is look through your squad look at pace acceleration..that will define how you can play..if you have wingers with great pace and acceleration you may want a formation which allows your side to break quickly, if you have great set piece takers you may also want to consider creating a system which encourages your team to play the ball on the ground and run at defenses...there's a lot I usually consider when i think of how I want my system to play.

[difran8]

How do you approach each match in regard to strategy ? If you are heavy favorite for a match and the opponent plays very aggressively - high dl high closing down - would you still favor an attacking approach ?

[Rashidi]

How do you approach each match in regard to strategy ? If you are heavy favorite for a match and the opponent plays very aggressively - high dl high closing down - would you still favor an attacking approach ?

Good question. If two sides go at it, then the better side attacking will always score. The challenge then becomes how well they defend on the break. I'll be honest this is how I play..there's a heckuva lot of "feel factor"

Start of the season: first 10 games or so, I tend to start control for almost all my matches. After 10 minutes I decide based on how comfortable we are defending on whether to switch to attacking. I usually play attacking at home against almost every side with the exception of Manchester City and Manchester United, cos they have better players than me. Away from home I usually start control with most sides and standard against Manchester City and Utd.

During the first 10 minutes I am looking at their backline almost exclusively, cos i want to see how far they track back for over the top balls. The higher they are the more likely I am to stay on a control(home) standard (away). I usually do pretty ok at the start of the season..then by midseason I start going on auto-pilot

Halfway through the seaosn I start focusing on making things a bit more solid, i have players who are brave and can tackle balls high up the pitch, so they start playing away matches on the flanks. I also spend a fair bit of time looking for them switching formations. If they play a 41221, I pay attention to my flanks, if they play a 424 to chase a game, I lock down my fullbacks by telling them to defend and then I get my MCs to man mark their MCs.

By the last 15 games of the season, I am usually on commentary cos I usually have a system built up by then, who to play away in tougher matches, who to play at home to ease em in..start controlled if I am not sure and go attacking when I feel comfortable.

[difran8]

During the first 10 minutes I am looking at their backline almost exclusively, cos i want to see how far they track back for over the top balls. The higher they are the more likely I am to stay on a control(home) standard (away)

Did not expect you would use a minimum of "control" at home tbh

Oftentimes i face the following situation : AI closes down heavily , denies any possible space, my players try to develop play but any ball forward fails miserably because the opponent is stronger and quicker . I always prefer most of my players to participate in the transition phase, so we hit a wall there .

The only working solution i have found is the "counter" tactics with a rigid mentality . In short, the more space i have the more attacking i go and the more they stand off the more i increase creative freedom - and the opposites for less space + heavy pressing . So, I try to use defensive mentalities as a positive tool but success is mixed so far

[Hazza22299]

It's worth noting I have a very young (but very promising) squad and so many of the comparisons seem worse than they are as youngsters on the fringes are counted.

I was very surprised to see I'm actually the worst team in the league for acceleration (in attack), 17th for pace. So that rules out any chance of a counterattacking setup.

Attacking:

However, my Heading is 2nd in the league, jumping 6th and my crossing seems goo. So maybe a setup to do with wide play could be good. On the other hand I don't have loads of players who can play wide midfield (LM/RM), I'll have to train this.

Midfield:

I am the worst in the league for teamwork and bad at creativity and long shots. So going wide and not doing too many link-ups seems a good choice. They are good tacklers and have good technique so I can set hard tackling for most. Decisions and Stamina are quite good so if there's a lack of options due to not many link-ups (see just above) they should be able to cope quite well.

Defence:

I have a lot of young centre-backs so this is kind of distorted. Anyway, good at heading and jumping so I can deal with crosses, not great for pace so dropping deeper and sending players wide would be a great option. Some youngsters will need to develop more physically.

So with that in mind I need to find a way to beat the Main three formations in my league, for this I will be using Push Them Wide's resource pack (See Blogs and Websites sticky)

4-1-2-2-1:

Pros

1. DM protects defence

2. Striker can make space for wingers

Cons

1. Requires creative striker and fast wingers

2. Striker can become isolated

4-2-3-1:

Pros

1. Great pressing

2. Has good pitch coverage

3. Strong midfield triangle

Cons

1. Space behind midfield

2. Opposition wingers can drop into space behind your wingers

4-4-2:

Pros

1. Solid and well balanced

2. Most players can fit in

Cons

1. Vulnerable to 4-5-1/4-3-3+ variants

2. Requires good stamina

Ok.

How can I beat these systems?

4-2-2-2-1:

It's clear that I need to stop their striker for dropping deep and being a hazard, since it's usually big teams that use this, It'll need to be more defensive. I'm thinking of playing a DM, I have players who can play there. I either play AML/AMR on support or I play ML/MR. I'm going to go for AML/AMR so I can expose their weakness on the wings. I know my AMC will be easily marked if he plays down the middle. I also know I can easily defend crosses so by matching their numbers in the middle they'll have to play wide. For these reasons I have decided to also play a 4-1-2-2-1

These are the choices I've made based on the above information. I want to hear what any of you think I should do based on the above information.

4-2-3-1:

I've never found it that hard to beat a 4-2-3-1 as you can switch between destroying their middle and destroying their flanks quite easily. A 4-2-3-1 is vulnerable defensively on the wings as well as being great attacking on the wings. I think I'll go for LM/RM and put them to attack to counter/exploit their weaknesses/strengths. I can also see that they are vulnerable behind the to CM's and I have the GOD that is Mr Jack Wilshere who can play AMC so I think it would be safe to go for a 4-4-1-1.

So this is how I've set it up, once again, I want to hear what any of you think I should do based on the above information.

4-4-2:

The wide midfielders make it very hard to play out wide so I'll have to play through the middle as the lack of a DMC makes them vulnerable. I have good stamina so even if I come up against a team with good stamina, I can beat them. I've always found a 4-4-1-1 works well against a 4-4-2 and most teams that use a 4-4-2 aren't great so an attacking mentality will be chosen. I want to make use of my good young strikers though, so I'll play a 4-4-2 with one dropping deep who can act as an AMC.

I'm considering man marking as I will be playing the same formation, should I do this?

And finally, I hate to be repetitive but of course, I want to hear what any of you think I should do based on the above information.

So what do you think?

[Jad123]

This is a great thread Rashidi. Your early posts on management models were really really awesome and this has just reminded me why I ought to keep up-to-date with your stuff more closely.

Harry - I think your reasoning is almost bulletproof above. The only thing I want to add is that both the 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1 leave gaps in quite important areas. I know managers enjoy the 4-2-3-1's coverage of the pitch but it shares a key weakness with the 4-4-2 in that it has a big gap behind the midfield and this can be exploited very easily if you can get the ball away from the great pressure that the 4-2-3-1 can exert on you. A 4-4-1-1 is a good pick for this, though you then concede your own space. It is all about being able to spot if your opposition are using that against you or not. I would perhaps be inclined to use a deep 4-2-3-1 in a counter attacking strategy in other circumstances as it gets the ball into that area quickly but you have slow attackers so that might not be effective.

[Hazza22299]

This is a great thread Rashidi. Your early posts on management models were really really awesome and this has just reminded me why I ought to keep up-to-date with your stuff more closely.

Harry - I think your reasoning is almost bulletproof above. The only thing I want to add is that both the 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1 leave gaps in quite important areas. I know managers enjoy the 4-2-3-1's coverage of the pitch but it shares a key weakness with the 4-4-2 in that it has a big gap behind the midfield and this can be exploited very easily if you can get the ball away from the great pressure that the 4-2-3-1 can exert on you. A 4-4-1-1 is a good pick for this, though you then concede your own space. It is all about being able to spot if your opposition are using that against you or not. I would perhaps be inclined to use a deep 4-2-3-1 in a counter attacking strategy in other circumstances as it gets the ball into that area quickly but you have slow attackers so that might not be effective.

I'll train my attackers to be faster and see if I can use it later on in the season once they're ready, thank you for your thoughts and also for your resource pack!

[Rashidi]

Did not expect you would use a minimum of "control" at home tbh

Hmm...appears to me that you seem to think there is a defined style of play. I do play counter against some sides but very rarely. The kind of stance you take depends on the players you have at your disposal. Staffords first season in the premiership was punctuated by a lot of defensive football. I used formations like the 451 to survive and banked on the pace of my wingers to buy me time. As my side got better so did my football.

Today we are ranked second in the world and are expected to beat a lot of sides, my players are fitter, faster and more devious. This allows me to be more cavalier in games. To get to this stage I had to mould my team into the sort of side that could play at that level. And in order to do that I had to have a philosophy of play that centred around bravery, concentration, first touch and composure. We had the skill to play the pass, the good sense not to buckle under pressure, the awareness when play broke down and the guts to make that challenge.

When I managed England for the first time, my initial thought was to play 4411, but then when I went through the side I discovered nearly every english ML/MR had bravery of less than 10. I had to change formations so I could get the football I wanted and opted to use the 41221 which allowed me to play according to the philosophy I wanted with the players I had in hand.

So what you need to do is to find what fits your side best, if you find that you don't defend well high up the pitch your side can't because these are the kind of players you have. This will force you into strategies that suit your team. You also need to identify the different kinds of transitions to see what you can/not do.

a. Transition 1

defense to attack - you are in possession. If you find that your team can't break down sides, then its got to be down to lack of movement of your players..so you train ppms or if you have a lack of variety in chances then you may need to see if your side can dribble through wiht some players to draw them out.

b. Transition 2

Attack to defense - not in possession.. .as your side rushes back to defense, how did the attack break down? A lack of passing, or good defending and their attacking ball..did it force your team to back track too far..if that is the case..your team may need a more conservative approach...or your team just doesnt' have the composure to play patient attacking football

there are more transitions but i think you get the point

@ hazza

I can see where you are going, but what I would like to suggest is the same. Look at your team carefully, and stick to 1 formation first. The danger in having 3 formations is that you may not be able to adapt nearly as fast, cos you are evaluating differnet things in games. When you use one formation you could get your players to fit faster..have a better chance of success and move on.

The 4231 isn't my favorite formation, only because it makes HUGE demands on my 2 MCs. I would stick to one formation and then adapt that formation for use against the other formations. Currently I have a 41221 whcih has 3 versions and a 4411 which has 3 versions...I have a lot of other formations in my bank, but I never swap them against teams.

Assume I use a 41221 vs a 4231 I do:

a. Make sure my two fullbacks are on support. I usually player higher up the pitch to compress the space between my defensive line and midfield. IF they are particularly annoying I use SMM on their AMs with my AMs, that forces my AMs deeper. If their MCs are too influential I could shut them down with OI

against a 4411, I shut down their AMC

against a 352...i smile and say thanks..cos its a walkover since my ams have free runs on their 3 man backline, what i do make sure is my DLF is good enough to play others in cos, he will usually have 2 dcs on him

The good thing about using one formation is that eventually you will start having your own playbook...:-)

[Hazza22299]

@ hazza

I can see where you are going, but what I would like to suggest is the same. Look at your team carefully, and stick to 1 formation first. The danger in having 3 formations is that you may not be able to adapt nearly as fast, cos you are evaluating differnet things in games. When you use one formation you could get your players to fit faster..have a better chance of success and move on.

The 4231 isn't my favorite formation, only because it makes HUGE demands on my 2 MCs. I would stick to one formation and then adapt that formation for use against the other formations. Currently I have a 41221 whcih has 3 versions and a 4411 which has 3 versions...I have a lot of other formations in my bank, but I never swap them against teams.

Assume I use a 41221 vs a 4231 I do:

a. Make sure my two fullbacks are on support. I usually player higher up the pitch to compress the space between my defensive line and midfield. IF they are particularly annoying I use SMM on their AMs with my AMs, that forces my AMs deeper. If their MCs are too influential I could shut them down with OI

against a 4411, I shut down their AMC

against a 352...i smile and say thanks..cos its a walkover since my ams have free runs on their 3 man backline, what i do make sure is my DLF is good enough to play others in cos, he will usually have 2 dcs on him

The good thing about using one formation is that eventually you will start having your own playbook...:-)

From using ideas from Cleon's Pre-season thread I've been able to get the three formations up quickly as well as the fitness of the players. The 4-4-1-1 and 4-4-2 are similar in many ways. Of course I change little things like OI's and shouts depending on the opposition. By versions do you mean just different team instructions or are the player roles different too? Also, just wondering if you do what I do and look at the formations of others in the league and look for formations/ways of beating them? The thing I like about using 3 different formations is it allows me to play ALL of the vast quantity of youth players I'm blending in. I don't usually play 2 strikers but I have to incredible regens coming through plus Edinson Cavani.

[Rashidi]

If you have the players for it then do it, but as you know it will take time to bed in, but its a great chance for you to see how they handle it

[Omark]

Like a lot of the readers to this great thread I am using the information as a template for my first FM13 save. Playing as Woodford Utd in 8th level of English leagues I am interested to get feedback as to how much information you gather on your opponents prior to a game. What kind of information are you looking for and how to do react to it?

[Rashidi]

Like a lot of the readers to this great thread I am using the information as a template for my first FM13 save. Playing as Woodford Utd in 8th level of English leagues I am interested to get feedback as to how much information you gather on your opponents prior to a game. What kind of information are you looking for and how to do react to it?

When i was in the lower leagues for each game, I would break down another team and would compare my players positionally against their players, to look out for:

Pace, Acceleration, Jumping, finishing, composure, tackling. I would also find out what kind of formations they played home/away, how they did with various formations.

If a team was generally technically better than mine, I would get my players to stand on feet, instead of hard tackling.

If a team played through the middle more, I would lock down my middle and exploit the flanks and vice versa.

If they had better wingers, then I would use a system which allowed me the chance to man mark their wingers.

For all my formations I would close down high with my front players and I used to wear a lot of teams down, and then turn to the bench where I had faster players waiting to come on if it was a really hard game

I would also look to exploit other teams into getting cards and if they did I would focus runs in that area.

There was a lot of work to do to overachieve early.

[vkastanas]

When i was in the lower leagues for each game, I would break down another team and would compare my players positionally against their players, to look out for:

Pace, Acceleration, Jumping, finishing, composure, tackling. I would also find out what kind of formations they played home/away, how they did with various formations.

If a team was generally technically better than mine, I would get my players to stand on feet, instead of hard tackling.

If a team played through the middle more, I would lock down my middle and exploit the flanks and vice versa.

If they had better wingers, then I would use a system which allowed me the chance to man mark their wingers.

For all my formations I would close down high with my front players and I used to wear a lot of teams down, and then turn to the bench where I had faster players waiting to come on if it was a really hard game

I would also look to exploit other teams into getting cards and if they did I would focus runs in that area.

There was a lot of work to do to overachieve early.

Pure inspiration! Can't wait to go back home to exploit these...

[lewis999]

When i was in the lower leagues for each game, I would break down another team and would compare my players positionally against their players, to look out for:

Pace, Acceleration, Jumping, finishing, composure, tackling. I would also find out what kind of formations they played home/away, how they did with various formations.

If a team was generally technically better than mine, I would get my players to stand on feet, instead of hard tackling.

If a team played through the middle more, I would lock down my middle and exploit the flanks and vice versa.

If they had better wingers, then I would use a system which allowed me the chance to man mark their wingers.

For all my formations I would close down high with my front players and I used to wear a lot of teams down, and then turn to the bench where I had faster players waiting to come on if it was a really hard game

I would also look to exploit other teams into getting cards and if they did I would focus runs in that area.

There was a lot of work to do to overachieve early.

Such a simple method but so so effective. Everyone needs to read those two paragraphs.

[Omark]

Thanks for the quick and insightful response - just a clarification though - how does one 'lock down the middle'? Is this via shouts or pre match set up?

[Rashidi]

Exploit the flanks, removes forward runs from your central midfielders. Or you can just untick RFD for the MCs if you are using classic

[Rashidi]

Stafford Rangers continue to do well in the league, having now done the Grand Slam twice in a row, this year being way harder than last year, but as I have said before, the tactical side is taking a back seat as we focus on developing a replicable player development model.

Gonna focus on just a few players in terms of youth development. You can find the training plans in the blog ..but to reiterate. My youth players focus on ball control till they join senior training, where for a season the focus is on Ball Control, Tactics and Attacking with more focus on the first two.

Heres Dobson's development between 19-20.

I am pleased with his development, crossing, anticipation, acceleration, stamina,agility, tackling, marking, decisions, creativity, determination, bravery. strength, workrate, influence, off the ball. flair, jumping,concentration, composure all showed improvements. He has featured strongly in my team, and has also joined the national as a first choice fullback.

Another player whom I wasn't really focusing on, but benefited greatly and ended up playing a key part in our Grand Slam was this player:

My training focus is closely tied to how we play. In order to be successful I have identified, first touch, composure and concentration as vital attributes for my team. Etxebarra is a fantastic player hampered only by his lack of natural fitness, when he comes on he rips teams apart with his flamboyant play, and once he went injured towards the end of the season, our team struggled. Although we won the FA Cup and the Champions league, we got it only by having a better defense. We had players sent off in both games, but his absence in those matches was telling. I loved how he improved in the areas where we felt his contributions would be pivotal.

Now this fullback wasn't able to play as many games as I would have liked, injury again forcing him to the treatment table, but despite missing 3 months he managed to improve in the vital areas we needed:

Larangga is showing tremendous potential and will soon be challenging Rui Pedro, our first choice fullback for a spot on the team, my goal this season will be ensuring that he is trained to be an attacking fullback just like Pedro, whose surges into the box unsettle many teams.

I love this dude, he started out as a fullback in our team, but he has shown so much versatility, I have been at fault of overplaying him and not paying attention to his development, this season I will focus on him closely to ensure he develops well. He will be put on a focus as a wide midfielder because he has such a natural talent to attack the box. He has dropped in some attributes but gained in the teamwork and workrate areas which does make his development look interesting.

Now this player has shocked me, his value went from 5m to 21m. His development has been nothing short then stellar. Ramiro is an enigma in my team. His attributes tell me that he should be played as an attacking midfielder. He has grown strongly mentally and his performances on the pitch do reaffirm that my choice to focus merely on ball control, tactics and attacking is beginning to pay off. I have no idea what to do with this player, currently we have 3 players who can play this role.

Jon Santisban isn't developing like i would have hoped, and even though he is prolific goal scorer, I may need to focus a bit more on this guy individually, but how do I do that when he has this player knocking on his door:

The hardest thing about player development is not forming attachments, but how do I not? This boy dismantled Barcelona singlehandedly. Even though he didn't get on the scoresheet, he got 3 others on the scoresheet, and thats so valuable to our style of play. A boy to look out for and definitely fighting for a starting spot vs Jansen our maradona and Jeppesen our main striker.

Training Plan for the next season

We did really well in competitions but our final third of the season was characterized by long injuries. So there may be a bit more focus on fitness in preseason with more friendlies. We will continue to focus on Ball Control for our youth players and once they hit 17, will start playing some matches in the senior squad (5) whilst they move into the reserves. Top 5 youth players will be moved into the senior squad and will be playing a minimum of 15 games in all competitions.

The senior team will focus on Ball Control, Tactics and Attacking. Player focuses will be priortized by their role first. This season more youth players will be inducted into the youth team from the academy since we are erm..not very rich. I do feel that this is the training model we will adopt and continue to use. Now that I am fairly certain, we will now focus on getting enough players through the ranks so that we can sell em. Overall I am happy with the player development model I am using. Its easy to replicate and manage. And even if I forget to place a player in a role focused training program he still develops well.

[Deego619]

Fantastic read this thread. Good work. About to begin my own LLM journey myself. I usually swear by paying a DMC, especially in the lower leagues so this thread has inspired me somewhat to change up my style.

P.S: How do you get rid of the player faces on their attribute screen?

[Rashidi]

Player Development Model

When you start getting requests for training advice perhaps my explanations weren't good enough. Then again, this gives me the perfect chance to lay out a model that I can easily replicate for any club that has the necessary facilities and coaches. To reiterate there is information in other blog posts where I deal with youth training. Here I explain what I do with them at their various ages and when they go on loan. The key point there is how I handle match preparation training and the loads. Player Preferred Moves is also an important facet of training. And here I talk about the knock on effects to Current Ability.

Thats basically some of the background information. Theres information littered everywhere about my training schedules but this blog post will try and fit them all in here. A player will develop optimally given:

• the right facilities and coaching
  
• quality playing time
  
• focused training
  

Facilities & Coaching

You players will still develop if you have average coaches and facilities, but if you want them to develop optimally, you need those five star coaches and you need the facilities. The quicker you get them the better the chances of optimal player development. Thats just one piece of the puzzle. I found as Stafford improved that quite a few of my players weren't developing optimally, but that was down more to the lack of coaches and facilities. In the last 2 seasons everything is top notch and the difference to player development is glaring. If you want to go down the road of player development, this has to be your first priority and its not cheap. Your club will spend 2.5m quid a season and will need the full complement of 18 coaches. Where you can get youth coaches, get them. You can use filters to great effect to find them, the best way is just to pinch em from other clubs.

Quality Playing Time

Many ask the question - how much time. To be honest as much as you can possibly provide, and to make things even harder..you need to win. You can't just toss in the players into matches you expect to lose, and hope they develop, cos that won't happen. Player performances have a knock on effect to player development. If a player does well in a match, he does better in training and then he carries that into game performance. Its all linked.

Personally I use the rule of 25. Once a player can join the senior team, I expect him to play 25 games. I find thats the best number, whether I am right or wrong is subjective. Some players with the right mental attributes need fewer games and others need more. So I use 25 as a good guide. It makes it easier for me to track and so far I've found that this works. What I typically do is this:

15-17 Player is in the U-18s team, they learn all their ppms by the time they are 17.

17-19 Players start getting runs in the senior team and they are moved to the reserves. Good players are identified at 19 for promotion to senior sides

19> any player who can't slot into a senior team is put on loan. There need to be at least 5 players who are going to get a run in the senior team. These players end up playing as covers.

By the time a player is in the reserves his training will focus on his role, because by then his ppms should be covered. A player can learn as many ppms as he needs to, I am not sure what the upper limit is, but one of my players has 8 ppms now. Don't get fixated by ppms, I find that for the key roles they usually need only 5 ppms, anything more is usually unnecessary and a waste of time. Training ppms takes a player away from player development so he really needs to get back to role training asap.

So when it comes to training youth, you need a clear plan. You must know what position they will play and you must get them to learn their ppms. Waste time and you waste development.

Thats basically it when it comes to ppms and player training loads.

Training Plans

Essentially when you train players you need to manage things realistically. They have a fixed amount of time for training

Ok time for me to put my training schedule up for both my senior team and my youth team. First up just some general information on the time a player has for training:

If we look at total time a player has for training, this is affected by injuries, international commitments, personality, coaching and facilities. Now if I assume that he has 100% total time and when you consider that his general intensity is set to very low, low, average, high, very high and then you see match preparation slider set to 0-50% of his time its apparent that a players total time for training is split between General Training and Match Preparation.

Now if a player doesn't do any specific training, then the coaching team trains him in his natural position, and the amount of time he spends training on that is between 50%-100% So if you were to set his match prep slider to 40% he only gets the temporary boost to his Current ability that "helps" him during a game. Sometimes this boost will kick into his training so that even that gets a short term boost. Training tends to be cyclical so good training performances, lead to good match performances, and good match performances lead to positive training results.

One has to decide how much time they spend on match preparation. Since match preparation boosts are temporary, but necessary for good results, i set it to 40% for the first 3 months, to get my team off to a good start. During this time a side can struggle for cohesion especially if there are a lot of new players match preparation helps to smooth out the edges so to speak.

So after the first three months I usually drop the match preparation intensity to 10%, that still leaves the team some time on match preparation, but the player now spends 60% of his time on either his natural position training or on whatever specialized training you want him to do.

The training schedule I use for my team atm is

[TABLE=class: mceItemTable]

[TR]

[TD] [/TD]

[TD] [/TD]

[TD]General Trg Intensity[/TD]

[TD]Match Prep[/TD]

[TD]Focus Intensity[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]JULY[/TD]

[TD]Fitness[/TD]

[TD]High[/TD]

[TD]10%[/TD]

[TD]Heavy[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]AUG[/TD]

[TD]Ball Control[/TD]

[TD]Low[/TD]

[TD]40%[/TD]

[TD]Heavy[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]SEPT[/TD]

[TD]Ball Control[/TD]

[TD]Low[/TD]

[TD]40%[/TD]

[TD]Heavy[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]OCT[/TD]

[TD]Tactics[/TD]

[TD]Low[/TD]

[TD]10%[/TD]

[TD]Heavy[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]NOV[/TD]

[TD]Tactics[/TD]

[TD]Low[/TD]

[TD]10%[/TD]

[TD]Heavy[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]DEC[/TD]

[TD]Attacking[/TD]

[TD]Low[/TD]

[TD]10%[/TD]

[TD]Heavy[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]JAN[/TD]

[TD]Attacking[/TD]

[TD]Low[/TD]

[TD]10%[/TD]

[TD]Heavy[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]FEB[/TD]

[TD]Ball Control[/TD]

[TD]Low[/TD]

[TD]10%[/TD]

[TD]Heavy[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]MAR[/TD]

[TD]Tactics[/TD]

[TD]Low[/TD]

[TD]10%[/TD]

[TD]Heavy[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]APR[/TD]

[TD]Attacking[/TD]

[TD]Low[/TD]

[TD]10%[/TD]

[TD]Heavy[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]MAY[/TD]

[TD]Ball Control[/TD]

[TD]Low[/TD]

[TD]10%[/TD]

[TD]Heavy[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[TABLE=class: mceItemTable]

[TR]

[TD]Tactics[/TD]

[TD]Composure[/TD]

[TD]Decisions[/TD]

[TD]Teamwork[/TD]

[TD]Anticipation[/TD]

[TD=colspan: 2]Concentration[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Ball Control[/TD]

[TD]Dribbling[/TD]

[TD]FirstTouch[/TD]

[TD]Heading[/TD]

[TD]Technique[/TD]

[TD]Flair[/TD]

[TD] [/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Attacking[/TD]

[TD]Crossing[/TD]

[TD]Longshots[/TD]

[TD]Finishing[/TD]

[TD]Passing[/TD]

[TD]Creativity[/TD]

[TD]OTB[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Since a player spends only 20% of his time on general training, one can logically argue that there should be no difference between balanced and having a specialized program. I believe a specialized program allows the development to skew in the direction you want your team to emphasise in, however the 60% of his time that he has left should be wisely spent since this is a big chunk. When you toss in learning new roles and ppms then that proportion drops to 57% on focus training and 43% on ppms; and 60% on focus and 40% on new positions. Its ABSOLUTELY vital that once he has learnt the new position and it shows up on his information panel that you move him out of learning a new position cos that 60% total time he has is valuable.

My approach for youth teams is different, for my youth team I skew this heavily on ball control for the three years they are with me in the U-18 side and then once they hit the senior squad they join the senior program. Its only because I value first touch very highly in my team, Pep Guardiola when he was interviewed answered that the first attribute he looks for in any player is first touch. Even if the player was a great tackler, if his first touch was poor, he'd never play. I follow that school of thought when setting out training.

Timelines

For me the ages 15-21 are the most important years for player development. This is the time when I usually optimize their development, by the time they hit 21 their direction is fairly clear. I will know if that player is going to be a potentially important member of the team or someone who's on his way.

My model is very simple. Between 15-17, they are on ball control and learn their ppms. By the time they are 18 the top 5 join the main team, the rest are in the reserves and chances are unless they do really well, they are usually on their way out. Only rarely have I seen a player emerge from the reserves make a strong challenge. The 5 become my focus for development. I repeat the cycle at the start of the next season and by then I should have 10 players to choose from 5 will go on sale and the rest start earning their colors. I usually never train players ppms once they hit 20. By then its full on player development via role specific training. If a player needs to improve specific attributes that are KEY to their position then they focus on those attributes.

[Cleon]

Just read this over at your blog. Fantastic reading material. Nice to see more people actually getting involved with player development

[Rashidi]

Thanks..been trying to put things together, seeing I keep getting asked the same questions...

[Skuli]

Just read this over at your blog. Fantastic reading material.

What he said, always a nice bonus when I get an e-mail saying new post from addicted

[Rashidi]

Yeah I really wish I had been blogging FM in the early days...so much material and research thats relevant even now :-(

[mernild]

Is it possible to download the tactics you have made for this?

[Rashidi]

Is it possible to download the tactics you have made for this?

I have posted one tactic up on my blog, but I don't discuss it, neither do I know advertise it. The fact remains that posting up tactics whilst it may help people in the interim does little for understanding the game. And I find it really tiring having to "vet" player choices for tactics.

So if you can find it good luck, to top it off it hasn't been updated since me 1329

[Braumiller]

Fantastic thread and really enjoyed a different perspective on youth development in post #189.

PPM's. I have rarely trained them purposefully on my youths but I would like to begin doing so.

I noticed on your blog you gave a couple of examples of PPM's you gave to young players (an MC and a pacey winger). Would it be possible to expand upon that with other player types and the kind of PPMs you like to give them?

I am playing one of the youth only challenges currently and so this really is helpful to me. Also, due to not going out and buying talent I am often operating with solid, but not world beating players.

How would you compliment a solid, decent full back, defensive midfielder, forward with PPMs for example?

[Rashidi]

Fantastic thread and really enjoyed a different perspective on youth development in post #189.

PPM's. I have rarely trained them purposefully on my youths but I would like to begin doing so.

I noticed on your blog you gave a couple of examples of PPM's you gave to young players (an MC and a pacey winger). Would it be possible to expand upon that with other player types and the kind of PPMs you like to give them?

I am playing one of the youth only challenges currently and so this really is helpful to me. Also, due to not going out and buying talent I am often operating with solid, but not world beating players.

How would you compliment a solid, decent full back, defensive midfielder, forward with PPMs for example?

When it comes to PPMs I generally have an idea which key players get em. Not everyone uses PPMs.

I do know anyone can learn ppms but I generally focus on roles and how I want to play. I like to see sweeping attacking football, and I like to see fullbacks making deep through balls. I also want my midfield partnerhsip to act as a "switch" in games to turn up tempo and switch attacking focus. My style of football ALWAYS has an explosive fullback that can surge late into boxes and a winger who runs at defenses. I don't care very much for a striker to grab 40 goals, I much rather see goals from all areas of the team. With that in mind, I focus ppms by identifying who can be trained first.

I look for fullbacks who when young have great stamina and pace, these can trained into my explosive fullbacks who have the ppms to boot for it, like Get forward, comes late into box,

Then because I want them to run past and use the MC, he learns dictate tempo, plays simple passes. (You can use this for your fullback, but you need to make sure that he has some attributes to allow him to do what you want)

My AMC who is the switch gets forward, plays killer balls and switches ball to other flanks. my drbbler cuts inside, likes to run with ball and places shots.

When it comes to ppms I also make sure i don't get a player who has 8 passing to go learn switch ball to other flank...kinda obvious, but i see some people hoping too much for a walk on water miracle.

[Skuli]

After reading your post on the 4-4-1-1 a while ago, thought I would give it ago on a new save with spurs. Wow my best first season ever. Now in all the years I have played champ/fm I had never won the league in the first season with spurs, I not only managed to do this but I won all the cups as well league cup, fa and euro.

Think it’s the most basic formation I have ever used

Style – fluid

Strategy – standard

Passing style – default

Creative freedom – more expressive

Closing down – default

Tackling – default

Marking – zonal

Crossing – default

Roaming – more roaming

Gk - sk support

Dr- fb attack

Cd – defend

Cd – defend

Dl – fb support

Rw – dw support

Rcm – cm defend

Lcm – dlp support

Lw – dw attack

Am – am support

St – dlf support

[Rashidi]

Grats dude, thats quite an achievement with the Spurs :-)

[Rashidi]

My last update here was in March? Well its time for more updates, including a look at how our youngsters are developing, strategies I used as a manager at the World Cup and how I identify when a player is ready to be sold but first I need to get some work done in the office