[FM16] Partisan (adj) strongly supporting a person, principle, or political party,

[Jimbokav1971]

It's March 2023 and for what should be a run of the mill SuperLeague fixture away to 10th placed Borac, we seem to have most of the squad unavailable because of International duty.

1st choice GK.

1st choice DC.

2nd choice DC.

3rd choice DC.

1st choice DL.

1st choice DR.

2nd choice DR.

1st choice MC.

2nd choice MC.

2nd choice AML.

2nd choice AMR.

3rd choice AMR.

1st choice SC.

3rd choice SC.

This could be a bit of a test and I'm tempted to manage the team myself...... but nah.

[Edit]

5 players have to be given a squad number before the game.

[Edit2]

We lose 2-1.

[Edit3]

Interestingly, both Borac goals were scored by a product of our Youth Academy.

[Edit4]

The loss means that we are now only 1 point ahead of our big rivals and next opponents Red Star. Frustratingly, some of our NT duty players are not back in time to play in the derby, and others who are back, are in no position to even feature from the bench.

Despite that, we run out 3-0 winners and it puts breathing space between us and Res Star again and hopefully will knock their confidence just as we move into the Final Phase.

[Jimbokav1971]

I know that the U19's league is neither here nor there in a lot of saves, but because of the nature of this save, it does at least warrant a little more attention.

That we won it is not a big deal at all, especially when you consider that we have won it 4 of the last 5 seasons.

What is a little unusual is that the top goal-scorer in the league was none other than our own Djuradi (Res).

Even that though doesn't tell the whole story, (as impressive as 42 goals in a season is at any level), because he scored these 42 goals in just 17 appearances. I will repeat that.

He scored 42 U19 goals in just 17 U19 appearances! (That's a remarkable rate of 2.5 goals per game over 17 games).

He is good. There is no doubting that. The only negative to him is that as you can tell by his name, although he is classed as HG at club, he isn't actually a product of our academy. Had he been, he would of course been given significantly more senior playing opportunities than has been the case so far.

Although he hasn't featured in the SuperLeague so far this season, (I'm sure that will change before the end of the season), he has scored 2 goals in (3) substitute Serbian Cup appearances, (in a weakened team I might add).

I paid £575,000 for him as a 17 year old from OFK Beograd, and I hope to sell him for a £10M+ figure, (he still has 1 year on his contract with an option for 3 more).

[Jimbokav1971]

On the subject of bug transfers, I have a number of better than decent strikers at the club, (as you can see by this guy not getting a league game so far this season), and of course any that are products of my academy take pole position over those of a similar ability, (or even a little better if truth be told).

Mihajlo (M.Pro) was sold at the beginning of this season for £12.75M up front + a lot of add-ons. They have already paid us £16.25M, and we have the following clauses still to come.

Had he been a product of our academy then I would have just kept him, swallowed any financial loss, and just made him see out his contract, but as has been the case quite a bit in this save so far, I found myself preferring to select a poorer player who was a product of our academy. You can see from the following graphic that despite the fact that I forced myself to play him so as to not stunt his development, even a player of his undoubted quality did not get a proper run in the side as my preferred option rarely if ever seemed to be unavailable.

The above is a little misleading however as he often featured in league games from the bench, and of course it doesn't show Cup games, (where he often started). He scored 39 SuperLeague goals in 51(25) appearances, but he also scored 17 goals in domestic and European Cup competitions in 22(8) appearances, meaning that his record foe us was actually 56 in 73(33), (which is not to be sniffed at for a youngster playing senior football.

I didn't have any reservations when I sold him. I knew he was already good and was going to become even better, but what I didn't expect was that he was going to "pop" from Pro to Model Pro within a couple of months of joining Atletico. That makes him, (and I can't believe I am going to say this, but it's true), the only Model Pro Serbian National in my database.

That's right. For whatever reason, he is the only Model Pro Serbian player, (of any ability whatsoever), currently in the database, (and I sold him!).

You will see that he is better than my 1st choice striker, (at least I prefer him), but as he wasn't HG, well, unlucky son. He had to go.

This was my 1st choice striker, (we play with just 1 up front), over the last few years.

I tried and failed, (repeatedly), to get him to unlearn his "plays with back to goal" ppm, and I must admit that it has now got to the stage that I have given up and trying to get him to change and instead I am trying to get the team to adapt to make use of it. (Not sure how successful that has been so far if I'm honest, but it's still a work in progress). He has however performed pretty consistently as this shows.

134(43) SuperLeague appearances has so far yielded a return of exactly 100 league goals, (damn, I missed that milestone and I love stuff like that).

I love milestones like that so much so that I went back to look at the goal and in doing so, my game crashed and I lost the last few games.

You might notice that Djorde hadn't played in any European games this season and that's completely by design. He starts every league game if he is fit, (he is hardly ever injured), and I tend to not even play him on the bench in either domestic Cup games or in Europe, (no matter who the opposition is). The only thing that might change my selection in a Cup game is if we were drawn to face Red Star, (and so far this hasn't happened, I don't think).

I've just lost the last 5 league games, 1 of which was a loss and another was a 3-0 victory over Red Star, so let's see what we get the 2nd time around.

[Jimbokav1971]

Hello my old friend.

[video=youtube;xSZGviLjcjU]

[john1]

Djorde looks very decent player and amazed how he scored 100 goals already?! How much money have you made from selling your players over the seasons?

[Jimbokav1971]

Djorde looks very decent player and amazed how he scored 100 goals already?! How much money have you made from selling your players over the seasons?

That's just 100 SuperLeague goals. He has actually scored 105 by the same stage now after I was forced to replay the last 5 or so matches after a crash. He's actually scored 131 goals in 164(55) games in all club competitions.

I have bought players for 15.5M.

I have sold players for £105M.

So I have a net transfer profit of £88.5M over 7.8 seasons.

[Jimbokav1971]

Although we have had players from produced by our academy called up to the Senior Serbian NT Squad, they all came through the academy before my time at the club. Now though, we have just had our 1st call-ups of players who I actually saw promoted through the academy while I was in charge.

Djorde (F.Det) HG came through our academy in 2014, (before I took over), and as well as becoming our 1st choice striker, (no mean feat in itself), he has now started to break into the Sernior NT squad and now has 4 Caps to his name, (although no goals).

1st choice club GK Boban (Pro) HG came through the season after Djorde, and at the tender age of 25 has now been 1st choice club GK for 6 seasons. He has been in and around the squad for a few seasons now but has only gained 2 Caps.

Nenad (Amb) is our 1st choice centre-half, (and already has 12 Caps), but he should have far more in my opinion. He's an excellent player, but sadly not a product of our academy.

(19c) Mujkic (SRB/BIH) (Pro) is a 6'5" centre-half who has sort of snuck up on me a little. He wasn't 1st or even 2nd choice from his season's intake, and he has only made 47(3) SuperLeague appearances in what is now his 6th season. I like to play with a big centre-half and a more mobile partner, (although not quite gone the full hog to ball-player as yet).

(19d) Serafimovic (F.Pro) has now become 1st choice AP(a) in the AMC line. We seem to perform significantly better as a team when he plays. I personally think that this position generally requires significant technical and mental attributes that are usually unlikely to be present in a young player to such an extent that they receive International recognition, (certainly for a well ranked Nation), at such a young age, (and I wouldn't be selecting him in the NT squad if I'm honest), but there he is regardless.

(20a) Kriss Kruc (F.Pro) (2020) is the star of the show, (our show at least), and it's no surprise that he has been called up to the senior squad despite only being 19 years old. He's that good.

Part of the reason for the inclusion of the 3 youngsters is that the U21's have actually been successful and I suppose the manager has just decided to throw caution to the wind and give them an opportunity at senior level.

I'm not managing the U21's, so seeing them win the U21 EURO's was a pleasant surprise, especially when so many of our home produced players were members of the squad. It's quite unusual to see 3 of them promoted to the senior squad so quickly after, even if 2 of the 3 probably deserve the recognition.

[Edit1]

It should also be mentioned that we have 11 players in the U21 squad, and 5 more in the squad are either on loan from us, or were products of our academy.

[Edit2]

We are less well-presented in the U19 squad, (just 5 players), but with 1 more who was a product of our academy but has been loaned out to benefit from 1st team football.

[Jimbokav1971]

This is my depth at left back at the moment.

(21b) Ljubicic (F.Pro) is obviously the leading light, (in terms of both CA and PA), but unfortunately it's not that simple. At the moment he seems a well-rounded player and is equally at home playing at either DL or AML, (actually that's not quite true). Although he can play well at AML, he is most certainly better at DL. The problem is that we have decent strength in depth coming through at DL, (Markovic and Lazovic are both 4.0 PA and are developing nicely), but unfortunately things are not looking quite as good at AML where we have Pavlovic (F.Pro), (who we bought for £300,000 as a youngster), and Mijloko (F.Pro), (who we bought for £100,000 as a youngster), as well as Majola (RSA) (F.Det), (who we signed for £13,000 from our affiliate Black Aces). Majola is the best of the 3, but he's not really a winger and is more of a playmaker and can play all across the AMC line. With all that in mind, it probably suggests that if I want to field a 100% academy produced team regularly, then I need to consider Ljubicic as an AML rather than a DL, (although of course that could all change depending on the 2024 seasons intake).

What actually made me post this min-update however was a hat-trick in the last SuperLeague game from 18yo DL (22d) Markovic (Res). The 3rd goal was obviously a penalty, but that's still a hat-trick nevertheless, and it doesn't seem to be a flash in the pan at all.

He doesn't take free-kicks, (my GK is on them), and although he has scored 1 pen, he's only scored that as the result of it being a hat-trick opportunity.

Where he does seem to score however is from multi-phased corner situations, (ie. he won't score directly from a corner, or more accurately the criss from a corner), but after the possession is recycled and delivered again, he seems to often find himself both free, and in a goal-scoring position. I have noticed it in previous season with different players, but not to this degree. It made me look at what I had given him as attacking corner instructions, (because he often scores from quite central areas), and here it is.

Attacking corners.

Early on in FM I realised that dragging players in towards the goal, (leaving space further out), and delivering the box further out to a "lurker" was effective. It became less effective with subsequent patches, but I also didn't like how unrealistically effective it was anyway, (so it was an improvement in my opinion). In any case, I wanted more variation and I was looking for something different than the old style exploit of strong good header at near post. As a result I tried short corners and it seems particularly effective, especially when used in conjunction with other variations.

If we look at this instance in the graphic below, the idea behind it is that the ball is delivered to the penalty spot, (in reality the ball is delivered further out), the AMR "attacks ball from deep", and drags markers inward towards the goal, leaving space on the edge for my AP(a) in the AMC line to receive and control the ball before either taking a shot himself or finding someone in a better position. He often has the space, but more often than not he chooses to pass rather than to shoot and it's the DL, (who has the instruction "stay back if needed" remember), to find attacking space centrally and who often seems unmarked. Often the AP(a) will send the ball wide again for a 2nd delivery, but for whatever reason, either my DL is not being picked up, or simply because of sheer numbers, is not being picked up by someone with the requisite skills to do an effective job and close him down before a chance is created.

The other option rather than delivery to penalty spot, is a short corner and this seems to again give the DL the time to arrive late in the box un-marked. I completely understand that the defenders have other people to mark, but surely a striker needs to track back with the DL then?

The 1st goal is a "normal" corner delivered into the 6-yard box area and although it is half-cleared, we recycle the ball and Markovic scored when the ball is delivered centrally and he is free to slot home.

[video=youtube;k0Y_2DkrhN0]

The 2nd goal is a short corner this time and again Markovic seems to be left completely free to volley home nicely.

[video=youtube;WAeIS5j88rE]

ps. Please don't think this is a super-tactic or anything like that. It's more just that I like variation in my corners, and I like that I have seem to have stumbled across something that the AI seems to not be very good at defending.

[leonavich]

Nice insight on the international front. Seems to be working, whatever it is, that you are feeding your intakes!

Corners seems to be a nice find. It would be interesting to see how the AI is marking up, as it may be that they are set to a deep defensive line or to stand off, resulting in them all being static on the last man once the initial cross is put in and recycled. As a result there is always a free player sitting off the attacking line.

Both goals are against the same team, so would be interesting to see if this also happens against a team who play with a high defensive line, or are getting stuck in \ attacking the ball.

[ManUtd1]

Great thorough analysis...I cannot believe the depth you've developed...unless you've unlocked the Ahnold unlockable (steroids for all!).

[Jimbokav1971]

Nice insight on the international front. Seems to be working, whatever it is, that you are feeding your intakes!

Corners seems to be a nice find. It would be interesting to see how the AI is marking up, as it may be that they are set to a deep defensive line or to stand off, resulting in them all being static on the last man once the initial cross is put in and recycled. As a result there is always a free player sitting off the attacking line.

Both goals are against the same team, so would be interesting to see if this also happens against a team who play with a high defensive line, or are getting stuck in \ attacking the ball.

He had scored in his only other appearance for the Senior team this season, as well as scoring in both the U19 league and U19 cup, so I'm not sure that it's particularly linked to a specific defensive set-up, (but will keep an eye on it).

[Jimbokav1971]

Great thorough analysis...I cannot believe the depth you've developed...unless you've unlocked the Ahnold unlockable (steroids for all!).

Depth in terms of PA is relatively easy. What is less easy is keeping the best of them so that they achieve near to their PA, but at the same time bringing through whoever their replacement will be.

To give you an example..... (or even a few examples)...

The best player from our 1st intake (2016), was (16a) Kriss Macesic (2016). When he came through he was a 4.5 PA player. He is currently a 2.0 CA, 2.5 PA player. It's not that he hasn't reached his PA, (other than in that he still has 0.5 PA growth available), or that he PA was reduced as a result of inaction, injury or whatever, it's just that what was a pretty special 4.5 PA player is now just a run of the mill, slightly below average 2.5 PA player. He is now at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga, and despite not performing very well since his arrival, is valued at £2.3M (when the initial deal was only for £600,000 + add-ons). He was always a little short of the required standard for us with just playing 1 up front, but looking at him now, he would get games if he was still with us. We have 10 players at the club who can play as a SC and who have better than 2.5 PA. We have 3 players at the club who can play SC and who's CA is better than 2.5 CA.

The best player from the our 2nd intake, (2017), was (17a) Kriss Rat (F.Det) (2017). When he came through he was a 4.0 PA player. He is currently a 1.0 CA, 2.5 PA player. Again, (as above), it wasn't that his PA has been reduced and simply that how good his PA was going to be, is no longer classed as 5.0. I really invested heavily in this player in terms of game-time, and despite the fact that he is only 22 years old, he had already made 148 senior appearances when I sold him to BSK Borka of SuperLeague for £500,000 + add-ons at the beginning of the season, (although he is only valued at £300,000 now.

I guess what I am trying to say is that PA is the easy bit. You basically just press continue again and again. Getting the CA is hard though because as well as giving them a chance in the senior team, (often before they are ready), you also have to take quite a hard line when a player or players come through a subsequent intake and they have the ability to out-strip what has gone before. In the 2nd instance, although I really liked him as a player and as mentioned I had invested heavily in him in terms of playing time and development, the reality was that he is only a 2.5 PA player now and at the club we currently have players who can play in his position with 5.0, 4.0, 4.0, 3.5 & 3.0 PA's. Despite the investment in him, (and his Kriss abbreviation), there is just little point in keeping him under those circumstances. The 5.0 PA player is only 18 but already has a 2.5 CA, (the same as the Kriss PA), so with more depth available there was just no point in keeping him. These decisions are hard and had I just had 2 players with better PA than him I might have kept him. Possibly even 3, (because I am a sentimental old fool), but no way I could give him game-time with 5 different players having a better PA star ranking.

My squad is still largely PA rather than CA, hence why I am still struggling in Europe. Very much a work in progress rather than anything achieved at all as yet.

[ManUtd1]

Well said, and that's exactly the sort of PA/CA "gap" I've seen in my saves, coupled with similar tough decisions about who to prioritize/keep which can be problematic when the player you're decided to focus on downs tools and demands to leave for a bigger club. It's all part of the exhilaration/frustration associated with developing youth in a smaller nation/league.

Not that my approach is as well thought out or as thorough as yours!

[Jimbokav1971]

[Ceching You Out]

Depth in terms of PA is relatively easy. What is less easy is keeping the best of them so that they achieve near to their PA, but at the same time bringing through whoever their replacement will be.

*Snip*

Well said, and that's exactly the sort of PA/CA "gap" I've seen in my saves, coupled with similar tough decisions about who to prioritize/keep which can be problematic when the player you're decided to focus on downs tools and demands to leave for a bigger club. It's all part of the exhilaration/frustration associated with developing youth in a smaller nation/league.

Not that my approach is as well thought out or as thorough as yours!

I think it's incredibly interesting how different folks approach youth development. Jimbokav, I remember from your San Marino attempts that you like what I'd consider a larger squad size; several benefits there. My preferences oscillates a bit, from appreciating depth/potential for late bloomers to running a thread-bare squad/maximizing game time. In a way the variety that virtual managers attempt reflects the various proclivities of the professionals.

In my current save with Avenir Beggen, I've decided to be absolutely ruthless with the squad size. I limit each position to roughly 2.5 players, so you must either be the best I have or have extreme potential, otherwise you're offloaded (youth included). It started as a way to walk a financial tight rope, but I've decided that the extreme philosophy is a worthy experiment. If my goal is at least 15-20 years down the line, I'm only looking for long-term stars; don't want to get bogged down by lesser twinkling lights. At least that's what I tell myself

Anyway, I may be wandering off topic. Very cool what you're doing here, Jimbokav. You have a unique perspective that I enjoy reading.

[Jimbokav1971]

I think it's incredibly interesting how different folks approach youth development. Jimbokav, I remember from your San Marino attempts that you like what I'd consider a larger squad size; several benefits there. My preferences oscillates a bit, from appreciating depth/potential for late bloomers to running a thread-bare squad/maximizing game time. In a way the variety that virtual managers attempt reflects the various proclivities of the professionals.

In my current save with Avenir Beggen, I've decided to be absolutely ruthless with the squad size. I limit each position to roughly 2.5 players, so you must either be the best I have or have extreme potential, otherwise you're offloaded (youth included). It started as a way to walk a financial tight rope, but I've decided that the extreme philosophy is a worthy experiment. If my goal is at least 15-20 years down the line, I'm only looking for long-term stars; don't want to get bogged down by lesser twinkling lights. At least that's what I tell myself

Anyway, I may be wandering off topic. Very cool what you're doing here, Jimbokav. You have a unique perspective that I enjoy reading.

That's a really interesting, (and accurate), post.

I don't think it matters if you follow my style and have an outrageously large squad, or follow your style and go to the opposite extreme and really limit your player numbers the the absolute minimum. What is important is that you give it some thought and work out what works for you, (and importantly why).

A very large squad seemed to be the way to go for me in my San Marino save, but that was because I was trying to generate enough (SMR) Nationality players to allow San Marino to improve as a Nation, and that was successful in the long term. The added benefit of that particular save, (un-like the popular San Marino one's or even your own Luxembourg one, is that I was producing (SMR) players but benefiting from playing in the large National Structure of Italy. The mainfail to mention the (ITA) players of course. This is not possible when you are playing in a tiny structure such as San Marino or Luxembourg. Serbia is certainly no Italian structure, but neither is it a San Marino nor Luxembourg either.

Had I been managing in tiny structure like that, then I think my strategy might well have been similar to yours in that I would have opted to really focus on a smaller number of players. I don't think that particularly fits well with the.... big overall plan of Youth Development however, when in effect what you are actually doing is stopping yourself from developing player x to his potential, (when this has been a long term goal), just because you have a 15 and a 16 year old who have the PA to possibly be better than the original player, x number years down the line. It's probably the smart move in a small structure save, (in fact I know it's the smart move), but it's not very satisfying either I don't think.

The way my mind works is that I want to see an end product and I want to follow something through from start to finish, even if that doesn't necessarily mean from the start of a players career to the end of the players career. It's as if the journey of developing an individual player is more important that actually getting players of the absolute best possible quality to perform in matches. It's a trade-off and a balancing act between the two for me if that makes sense.

[Edit]

And just for the record, It's October 2023 and I have 94 players on the books.

29 players have already featured in a competitive game for the senior team this season.

26 players are out on loan and have made senior appearances at their loan clubs this season.

39 players are at the club but have not featured for the senior squad this season.

29 + 26 + 39 = 94

We only have 2 players in their 30's.

0 players older than 26 but younger than 32.

2 players on youth contracts, (everyone is offered a pro contract when they turn 17, if not before and is moved to either the senior squad or reserve squad as appropriate).

A 17yo player on a pro contract will train more and develop more quickly than the same 17yo player on a youth contract. In order to take advantage of this, (I think), the 17yo Pro has to train with the Reserves but may be made available for the U19's. It effectively means that you get full-time training while still playing for the U19's up to 19 years old. (Anything to aid development for me).

Players are not loaned out until they are no longer eligible for the U19 squad, (so I can really hammer them with specific additional focus training and mould them as much as possible in the way I want. As soon as you loan them out, that control and that focus is gone and yet they might benefit from senior football, but if they were going to be a star then I would be forcing into the Senior tea before their time so playing time pre-19yo is largely irrelevant.

[Edit2]

With regards to "moulding" individual players, I don't just stick a player on a specific training regime and leave it there, (with added additional focus of course). No, what I am more prone to do is try to play to a players strengths and while I want them to be able to be good in their required role, (and the pre-set attributes that impact on that), I also have individual "visions" for players and how I see them developing.

For a start I have 1 Sweeper at the club, (he's not great), and while I want to develop my own sweeper one day and am using him as an experiment, I also know that if he is going to feature in the senior team initially, he is more likely to get the chance if he can also play as a more standard centre-half.

Another example of this would be 19yo wonderkid (20a) Kriss Kruc (F.Pro) (2020) who's passing attribute has already maxed out at 20. I have been playing him as a AP(s) in the MC line most of the time, but training him as an AP would seem to be slightly counter-productive in so much as one of the attributes trained in that training regime is passing, which is already maxed out at 20, (so it seems a waste). Instead, what I have done is immediately changed his training regime to BWM. The benefit of this is not just that the valuable training time of a young player isn't wasted, but that it also makes him a more rounded player in the middle of the park. I don't just want him to dominate with the ball. I want him, (and other like him), to excel in a range of areas and in this case I want his ball-winning ability to be almost as impressive as his playmaking abilty. A real all-rounder. By changing the regime to BWM, he starts training tackling and marking, (which he wasn't doing before), and also determination and positioning which I feel will be of benefit. There are obviously physical benefits to this period of the players development, but it really is just a "stage" in order to flesh him out and make him a more-rounded player. It/s not me attempting to convert him from an AP to a BWM.

[Ceching You Out]

That's a really interesting, (and accurate), post.

I don't think it matters if you follow my style and have an outrageously large squad, or follow your style and go to the opposite extreme and really limit your player numbers the the absolute minimum. What is important is that you give it some thought and work out what works for you, (and importantly why).

*Snip*

Absolutely! That's one of the reasons I enjoy the forums so much and, in particular, your posts. They offer a window into how other folks strategize and the make decisions. I enjoy that you provide enough background to follow along, so that even if/when you make wildly different decisions it's intriguing to see how things develop around them.

I avoided going down the rabbit hole of talking about the differences (for fear of hijacking), but since you seem to be a white rabbit as well... There are certainly differences that contribute to the respective strategies. Your San Marino finances were better as a result of playing in the Italian leagues, as was the competition level. You were professional and likely employed a sizeable number of coaches. You were taking much greater consideration of the national team's pool. All different factors from my Luxembourg save, but that's not to say that you couldn't make the same strategy work in the opposite circumstances.

The ruthless approach is certainly antithetical to most people's idea of youth development. It's easy to see why -- much of what draws people to youth only is the careful crafting and investment in players (the process you describe and enjoy). That's part of why I decided to proceed with ruthlessness even once it wasn't strictly required financially; I had never tried something this extreme. It runs counter to some of my instincts, why not?

Comparatively speaking, my team skews much younger than yours. 7-8 years in, I've got:

--one 30 year old from the original squad

--one 23 year old from my first intake

--three younger 20 year olds

--twenty teenagers, more likely to be younger than older

I also spend less time molding my players to their strengths. I have a natural inclination towards the jacks-of-all-trades. They're more flexible tactically, and I dislike my players to pigeon hole my tactics with their weaknesses. This comes, of course, with the trade-off that my swiss army knives can be shamed when a situation calls for a full-fledged screwdriver or cork screw. But like you quite accurately said, it's about finding the methods that works for you and why.

Your careful attention to details is one of the things that certainly comes across in the way you describe your saves. You're a careful sculpture of youth, looking for each piece of clay to tell you what it wants to be. In my Luxembourg save, I've decided to focus on finding the right figurines that needs a coat of paint. Taking a step back and becoming more philosophical -- your approach is more about building via the joy of creation, the club composed of individuals; mine is about building via the overcoming of obstacles, the club despite the individuals.

Using your example, under my management that sweeper would eventually be looking for a new club if he struggled as a DC. He's not a square or round peg, he's one of those funny shaped asterisks. Might be able to smash him in, but why? Unless he is transcendental, I'm not building my tactic around him. In my Luxembourg save, I'm making that decision earlier and more decisively. Brutal, eh?

Anyway, I very much enjoy hearing you describe your approach, both here and in San Marino. It's refreshing to see the contrasts and to read the rationale so well described.

[Jimbokav1971]

We have our 2nd Home-grown Wonderkid.

We may not have any Model Pro's, (yes it is still driving me nuts), but things are progressing well in that area. I hope to pop a Model Pro when tutoring with a Resolute at some point.

The following graphic shows our squad depth based on PA.

Apologies for the colours, but it might make it easier when discussing what's what.

(20a) Kriss Kruc (F.Pro) (2020) was the 1st wonderkid to pop and (19d) Serafimovic (F.Pro) is the 2nd one that I have just noticed.

(19a), (19b), (19c) and (19e) all have decent PA, but especially (19a) has failed to develop, (and is now out on loan). It's a little interesting that or whatever reason, (19d) managed to progress to wonderkid status but (19a) (19b & (19c), who were all ahead of him in the initial PA order, have all failed to make the grade.

Djuradj, Nenad, Tufegdzic, Boris & Dobrivoje all make an appearance at the top of our PA list but are not products of our academy.

I'm hopeful that (19c) Mujkic (SRB/BIH) (Pro) might shortly pop to wonderkid status, and after that I'm looking at (21a) Krissandro (SMR/ITA) (2021), (21b) Ljubicic (F.Pro) & (20c) Tahiri (F.Loyal).

[Edit]

The 2023 shortlist for the World Golden Ball has been announced and there is not a single Serbian on the list.

[Edit2]

The other quite obvious thing that I forgot to mention is that if (19d) Serefimovic (F.Pro) is a wonderkid at 20yo, (and he is), then we have 8 teenagers with a higher PA than his, (9 if I include (29a) Kriss Kruc who is already a wonderkid), and 4 more players in their very early 20's who could also still reach wonderkid status. That gives us the potential of 12 more wonderkids, (not counting those with a lower PA than (19d) Serafimovic), and 8 of the 12 are products of our academy.

I know that it's unlikely that all 12 will become wonderkids, or even that becoming wonderkids actually means anything, but it's a nice little achievement all the same.

I must admit that I am surprised that (19d) Serafimovic (F.Pro) has been classed as a wonderkid. My thinking behind this is simply that no matter how good he is right now, (and he is excellent for his age), my staff are generally in agreement that he is a 4.0 PA player and he has already reached 4.0 CA, so there is little room left for improvement. Some of the staff suggest that there is a possibility of a 0.5 PA surplus, and I have even seen 1 suggest that he is a 5.0 PA player, but in the main the general consensus is that he is a 4.0 PA player. It will be interesting to see if he ever gets to 4.5 CA, (I think not).

[Edit3]

If I had to pick the player who I am most excited by in terms of development, it would probably be this bloke.

He's started to break into the senior team by rights this season, (other than when I have played a weakened team in Europe), and seems to be developing nicely. My only concern with him is that I am lacking a tutor in the MC area at his level, (I have an ageing Resolute tutor but who's CA has fallen to such an extent that a really good prospect such as Bojovic could never be tutored by him because he was already better than him when he arrived via the intake. I'm plan was for (20a) Kriss Kruc to tutor him to (F.Pro), but that's 4-5 years away, (as he is only 19 now), and by then Bojovic will be firmly installed as a senior player in the 1st team, (I hope), so will be unable to be tutored despite his age I think.

I have £116M in the bank, so if I can find a Pro or a Resolute Serbian MC, then I might just splash the cash and use him as a tutor and play him in the Reserves/Rotation team that I often play in Europe and in some of the easier league games, (or before/after the Red Star game). I didn't really want to actually buy any more players now, but buying players with a view to them being tutors rather than just players is a different matter and is something that I think still very much needed. (Let's be honest, we could probably do with strengthening if we are to ever get anywhere in Europe, because all I seem to be doing recently is using Champions League games and xp for kids).

[Jimbokav1971]

Scouting for tutors.

I suppose I should actually make a post about this as it seems quite an important aspect at this stage of the save.

This is the template that I am using to search for players, and you will see that initially I have limited myself to player who are classed as HG at club. (Please be aware that this does NOT mean that they are products of our academy, although hopefully will be). If this template doesn't yield players who can play in the correct positions, then I will simply de-select the trained at club option at the top of the list.

These are the 11 players that the search came back with.

Mihaljo is the only Serbian Model Pro in the game according to my scouts, (and he popped to Model Pro shortly after I sold him to Atletico. He was NOT a product of our academy as I bought him as a youngster for £500,000 from OFK Beograd. I don't intend bringing him back in at this stage, but may do towards the end of his career, (if I get that far).

Stevanovic is only a rotation player at Chelsea so he might be an option to bring in, and he is a product of our academy.

Saponjic is the player whom I sold for a phenomenal deal in the early stages of the save. The reality is however that he wouldn't get into our team and I would worry about him stagnating this early in his career, (he is only 26 years old). Again, he is a product of our academy though, so I certainly wouldn't have an issue bringing him back in the twilight of his career.

Zoran is a 21yo MC that I sold for £375,000 18 months or so ago. We had decent competition for places, (and depth coming through), at MC, and despite his personality, I decided that I didn't want him. Not sure that he will be good enough as a tutor once he reaches the age if we continue to advance as we have done in recent years.

Nastasic is a 30yo DC who is a product of our academy and is just the sort of player I would look to bring back into the fold. The issue is that he is considered a key player at Schalke so he is a bit out of my reach at least for the moment.

Stefan Ilic is a 28yo SC who had already left the club when I arrived. If he was a Model Pro then I would snap him up immediately, (and I probably still should), but (F.Pro) just seems like such a half measure that I can't bring myself to do it. (He would never get a game).

Djorj Nikolic is a 26yo GK who left the club before I arrived but who is a product of our academy. As you can see from his nickname, when I first scouted him he had a (F.Loyal) personality, but for whatever reason has moved on to (F.Pro since). GK is actually one of the areas in which I don't need a tutor. 1st choice Boban is a (Pro) and starlet Dimic is a (Res).

Krstic is a 26yo DRC who I have previously ear-marked as a tutor, (but not followed through with). While he is available and reasonably priced, he only has 1.5 CA & PA so I worry that we wouldn't actually get much tutoring out of him. Having said that, any tutoring at all is worth it I suppose in the short term and looking at my squad..... yes, he could have tutored (23b) Nicolás (ARG) (Bal) for example, (who is under the 1.5 CA but has significantly higher PA. I might actually buy him right now actually. He is a product of our academy and I actually let him leave on a free in 2020.

Kukolj is a 25yo SC. It's too early in his career to bring him back asa non-playing tutor, and he is doing reasonably well at the moment, and (F.Pro) is just not worth the effort when I have some decent personalities coming through as SC's.

Aleks is a 23yo utility defender who can play all across the back. I had initially ear-marked him as a tutor, but partly because he was bought rather than produced, (he was a £100,000 purchase from Rad), I decided to off-load him when offers came in and I flogged him to Saint-Etienne for £1.3M.

Dragomir is a 20yo SC who obviously came through the academy here. Unfortunately though he only has a PA of 0.5 - 1.5 and is never going to be good enough.

So it would seem that I might have to start looking at players who have not come through our academy and see if that offers better results.

[Edit1]

When I de-select players that are HG at Partizan, there are now 205 players returned but obviously only 1 of these is a Model Pro...... or not as the case may be! There is actually a 2nd Model Pro on the list now. He is a 23yo SC who is a free agent and was previously a non-league player. I'm not sure how my scouts missed him previously. Possibly because he wasn't playing in either the SuperLeague or the First League. He is only a 0.5 - 1.5 PA player, (and as he is 23 it might be a struggle to see much improvement out of him at all), but I don't care. At the very least he will increase the overall Professionalism of the squad and I can get him to tutor some of the poorer quality youngsters. I will sign him as a back-up and then will have to change his status to something else in order to get him tutoring I think, (possibly rotation). Who cares if he gets unhappy. I've finally got a Model Pro player at the club!

 

[Edit2]

When I go back and un-tick the HG at club option, the results rise from 11 to 200+.

When I tick just those players who are aged over 24 years old, I am left with 21 players. 2x Pro, 4x Resolute and 15x F.Pro. In previous saves, I wouldn't actually even consider F.Pro's as good personalities, (because of an abundance of Model Pro's), but in this instance where there are just so few Model Pro's available due to my Serbian on signing policy, I have to lower my sights and expectations somewhat. The reality though is that I have just become a "Model Pro" snob, and that at least in terms of professionalism, (which is the name of the game after all), there is absolutely no difference in professionalism between a (F.Pro) and a (Res). Both have professionalism 15-20, so why am I turning my nose up at them? Ridiculous I know, and I have to get out of that mind-set.

I'm trying to think outside the box a little in terms of increasing Professionalism and have come up with a couple of ideas. I used to have an idea that I would try and create, (I mean naturally via tutoring), the first Model Citizen, but I didn't stick with it long enough. Now though, well surely I can generate a Model Pro in the same way?

If I look at other personalities that I class as negative, then is there any way that I can use them?

Quote

• Model Citizen Pro 18-20, Det 18-20, Pre 18-20, Amb 18-20, Loy 18-20, Spo 18-20, Tem 18-20

That would be great, but they are about as rare as a 3 legged unicorn with polka dots on.

Quote

• Model Professional Pro 20, Tem 10-20

Quote

Well that's my target, but let's have a look at what would happen if we had a player who had 20 professionalism, but temperament was <10. I think that would make him a....

Quote

• Perfectionist Pro 18-20, Det 18-20, Amb 18-20, Tem 1-9

So that's something to look out for, but while perfectionist isn't a really good personality, (because of the low temperament), in this instance I would probably be willing to overlook that purely on the basis of the Pro benefits, (so I'm going to add perfectionist to my list).

Quote

• Resolute Pro 15-20, Det 15-20, Pre 1-16 Spo 5-20

Yep. I like Resolute. A nice balance of Pro and Det.

Quote

• Honest Spo 20, Det 1-9, Pro 5-20

Now here is one that I had never noticed or considered before. It has previously been ruled out as a "positive" attribute because it's possible that the Pro attribute will be as low as 5, (which is bad), but potentially the Pro attribute could be as high as 20, (which is obviously excellent). The thing is that I need to work out, (without cheating), at what end of the scale each player is at, and from there I can act appropriately. Rather than looking at the player and then the media handling style this time I will have to reverse the process... The problem is that in this instance, it doesn't seem possible to do that, at least not with the media handling guide that I'm looking at. All is not lost though. Let's stop thinking about this guide and that guide and use the tools within the game that SI have given us. First of all, what sort of squad do I have in terms of personality?......

Buggar. I was hoping that it would be "Fairly Pro" or something like that, but it's still at "Highly Ambitious". That doesn't mean we are not also professional however because I know that I have seen scout reports show me an indication of whether a player will fit in with the "professional nature of the squad".

Ok. Next attempt.... let's look at all Serbs who are honest who we have already scouted and let's see what the different scout reports say about their professionalism relative to our squad.

Well I would, but we haven't scouted any Honest Serbs, And in fact we don't even have any knowledge of any Honest Serbs that we could go and scout.

Ok. Just for the purposes of this, let's open it to all Honest players from all Nations. Ok. That's given me a South African and a Romanian, (both structures active because of affiliates), so I will scout them and see what the reports say at 100%. The only thing is, as there aren't any honest Serbs, it's largely irrelevant. (Actually, I only checked Serbs aged 24+ so..... nope. There are no honest Serbs at all it seems. Well at least you can hopefully see where I was going with this.

Quote

• Sporting Spo 18-19, Det 1-9, Pro 5-20

Here is another that's very similar to Honest. It's deemed negative because of the possibility for a low Pro attribute, but also because of the low Det attribute. If the Pro attribute was 15-20, might that give me something to work with? I think so.

The problem is that all I can get from the MH guide is that of media handling isn't Temperamental, then Pro will be 11-20, (rather than 5-20), so that takes away from the lower end of the Pro scale at least, I just need to stay away from the temperamental media handling style. That only sounds like a little thing, bit what I have done just there is eliminate the lower 33% of Pro player that I might be looking at. I just have to decide it 11-20 is enough, (and it probably isn't). Ideally I would already have a Pro squad to some degree, (rather than an ambitious one), and the scout reports would be comparisons to the professionalism of my squad rather than it's ambition.

[Jimbokav1971]

I've tried to edit and fix the quotes in the last post, but the forum just isn't having it. Maybe it will sort itself out. 

I'm afraid it is with regret that my "Model Pro OCD", (yet it is a thing! ), has got the better of me and I have decided to bring in some non-Serb tutors. 

One of the tutors is actually a Serb anyway, but the others are a Belarusian, a Slovakian and a Romanian. 

Despite the fact that the Slovakian is a current International, the only defence I can offer against this flagrant disregard of my own rules is that they will never play a single competitive game for the club. Ever!  

[Bedese]

I see no problems with bringing in players if they aren't ever going to play a game for the club. I love your long updates where you talk us through your thought processes, although I did find it funny that there are no 'honest' Serbians in the game, even if the personality means something different to what it does in real life 

[nie jem frytek]

6 minutes ago, Jupjamie said:

I did find it funny that there are no 'honest' Serbians in the game

At least they're honest that they're not honest.

[lvzifer]

Great job dude and rly nice read. Keep up the good work 

[tyler16]

As Cech said, your outlook on the process makes for a terrific read. Much different approach than many take on here and it's much appreciated. As far as I'm concerned, this thread is the best youth guide on the forums.

May I ask what the obsession with model professional stems from in general? Is it functional or just something you've become fixated on? I, too, prioritize personalities but never really ranked the positive ones or thought about squad building around them. Sort of said resolute/pro/spirited is good and that's that.

Also, have you ever found a model citizen player?

Cheers.  

[Jimbokav1971]

Thanks Tyler, (and everyone else). 

First of all, please don't think for a minute I know it all, and let there be absolutely no doubt, that what little I do know was learned from reading and re-reading the work of others, (notably Cleon's), and then rather than just taking it for granted, actually looking for what was expected to happen in game and see if it actually did happen. As it is Cleon, about 99.99% of what he says is accurate, and the other .01% is only not accurate to keep us guessing or because I was concentrating too much to realise he was joking. 

I have quite a busy job now and I don't have the time I once had to play. This means that if I am going to play FM, (and I am), then I have to look for a slightly different "hook". I need something else other than simply winning things, (especially now I am using the IR button. 

The focus on youth tends to stem from pure lazyness in that I don't want to sift through gazillions of scout reports, and also the enjoyment I get in developing my own players. I honestly think that if I was ever to produce a player that then went on to win the Golden Ball or something, then it would be a bigger achievement than winning the World Cup with San Marino or Lucio scoring 180+ goals as a GK. The thing is though, that now I no longer really play to win things if that makes sense. Don't get me wrong, of course I like to win, but it's the journey that is important rather than where we end up, (just as long as I don't get sacked because I still have Regensburg issues).  I suppose that my "style" if you want to call it that, simply comes from me writing down exactly what I am thinking at the time, including any questions that might raise, and what it does is allow me to delve very deeply into a very specific part of the game. If you are interested in the specifics of that little part then I'm sure you will find it interesting, (as some of you do), but I also think some people must read my thread and think to themselves "jeez, that bloke doesn't half prattle on!" 

With regards to my "Model Pro OCD" it actually stems from my FM14 San Marino save and it got to the stage where, (I have just loaded it up to have a look), I had Model Pro's everywhere. I noticed an enormous difference in team performance when a Model Pro captain was on the pitch, ( and I have just counted and I have 30x Model Pro's at the club in 2047, many of them home grown).

The reality is that it is part functionality and part fixation. I mentioned recently in this thread that I was being too snobbish about Model Pro's by turning my nose up at F.Pro's. The reality is that any increase in professionalism is a good thing, and you you look to get it as good as you can rather than  worry too much about this level or that level. 

As for the best Youth guide on the forums, might I refer you to Cleon's Ajax thread.  The forum has broken his thread because it's from back in Jan 2014, but I regularly find myself looking in on it even now. I have a few different threads like this and I don't mind admitting at all that I use them as reference points when I am thinking about stuff. Cleon had a very methodical and analytical style to his posting and it is really excellent if you can be bothered to read it, and then go over and read and re-read it again and again until you can really grasp the multiple points he is often making. Of all the people who have come and gone on these forums, his loss is the greatest. 

No, I have never seen a Model Citizen in my save, (never mind about had one in my squad), and I have never seen evidence of anyone else having one either, (although doesn't mean it hasn't happened without the editor).

Have I covered everything?

[tyler16]

Yes Jimbo, thanks so much for the response. I completely missed Cleon retiring from the community, what a shame.  

[sherwinriga]

One of the pictures has an error when I see this thread.

[Jimbokav1971]

10 hours ago, sherwinriga said:

One of the pictures has an error when I see this thread.

Yes. I can see that there are 2 pictures that are now missing. They were fine before but not sure what has happened now. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2024 Youth Intake. 

(24a) Krissovic (F.Pro) (2024).

(24b) Edin (Det) (SRB/BIH).

[Number seven]

On 31.7.2016 at 21:31, Jimbokav1971 said:

No, I have never seen a Model Citizen in my save, (never mind about had one in my squad), and I have never seen evidence of anyone else having one either, (although doesn't mean it hasn't happened without the editor).

Have I covered everything?

There are a couple of Model Citizens at the game start, former Italian International at Sampdoria, Angelo Palombo and Romuald Peiser, French GK at Ottawa Fury. Also a coupel of AUtralians Paul Galimi and Brad Bartels, but they probably have to low rep to tutor at European top level.

[Jimbokav1971]

On 04/08/2016 at 22:51, Number seven said:

There are a couple of Model Citizens at the game start, former Italian International at Sampdoria, Angelo Palombo and Romuald Peiser, French GK at Ottawa Fury. Also a coupel of AUtralians Paul Galimi and Brad Bartels, but they probably have to low rep to tutor at European top level.

I've never seen any of them in game. Generally my saves start quite low down and by the time I get anywhere there are usually only Newgens left n the database.

I will keep searching for a newgen Model Citizen though. 

[Edit]

IN view of the above though, I'm not sure that I have ever looked for a Model Citizen in staff search though. I've heard of Palombo at least, but no idea if he regularly continues in a staff role after retiring.   

 

[Jimbokav1971]

It's been quite a while since I did a proper, (of sorts), update, so I thought I would stop playing, (ok, well IR'ing is probably more accurate), and let you know how we have been getting on. 

I don't really mean in terms of have we been winning games and competitions and the like, (well I might mention that at least), but more so in how some of our youngsters have been developing.

The last update, (July 4th on the last page), updated us as to the progress of the Kriss' up to May 2022 and I have a couple more full seasons to add to that.

Meet the Kriss'.(May 2023)

#1. Kriss Macesic (F.Sport) (SRB) (2016). (Striker).

Season 1. 2015/16. 1 appearance after coming through the academy.

Season 2. 2016/17. 3 appearances and his 1st goal for the club, (against Benfica in the Champions League Group stage).

Season 3. 2017/18.1(1) appearances in a season where opportunities were extremely limited.

Season 4. 2018/19. 5(1) appearances, (mostly in Europe), but no club goals, (although 2 for Serbia U19's).

Season 5. 2019/20. 22(9) appearances, 13 goals, 3 assists and 6 MOM's (while on loan at Indjija who were relegated). He also scored 4 goals in 4 games for (SRB) U19's.

Season 6. 2020/21. 31 appearances, 8 goals while on loan at Indjija in the First League.

Season 7. 2021/22. 6(23) appearances including 6 goals while on loan at Dinamo Bucharest.

Season 8. 2022/23. 12 appearances including 8 goals, 3 assists and 4 MOM awards was decent at Torpedo Zhodino, and it was this form that encouraged me that he needed to go out into the big wide Wold. 

Season 8. 2022/23.  12(3) appearances but just 3 goals and 1 assist suggested that the Belarusian league might be more his standard than the Bundesliga.

He wasn't getting in the team, had been sent out on loan for the last 3.5 seasons and the kind thing to do was just let him go somewhere and see how he did standing on his own two feet without me to guide him. Eintracht Frankfurt came in and offered me £600,000 for him, and I said goodbye to Kriss (2016). He hasn't exactly set the World alight at Frankfurt, but then again, if I am off-loading him because he can't get into my domestic Serbian squad at Partizan.... well then he is obviously lacking somewhwere. While it might seem counter-productive for me to be selling players that were once deemed "our best", but the reality is that we are progressing so quickly that what was "the best" in 2016, is now "very average" in 2022. The focus is still very much the development of our home produced young players. Just not this particular home produced young player.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

#2. Kriss Rat (F.Det) (SRB) (2017). (Left back).

Season 1. 2016/17. 1 appearance after coming through the academy.

Season 2. 2017/18. 18 appearances including 1 goal and 1 assist.

Season 3. 2018/19. 15 appearances including 1 goal and 3 assists.

Season 4. 2019/20. 29 appearances including 2 goals and 6 assists.

Season 5. 2020/21. 36 appearances including 2 goals and 7 assists.

Season 6. 2021/22. 30 appearances including 4 goals and 3 assists.

Season 7. 2022/23. 28 appearances including 1 goal and 10 assists. 

Despite my fondness for this Kriss, his days are certainly numbered as we seem to have a significant amount of strength in depth coming through in his position of left back. Despite that, a full-back, (who doesn't take set-pieces), contributing double-figure assists is something worth shouting about, (at least to me). There are however a total of 9 players at the club who can play left back and who have a better PA than him. While 1 is a centre-half and 2 more are right backs, that still means that there are still 6 players waiting in the wings, (literally), to oust him. Last year we produced 2 DL's who now show as having 4.0 PA and this year we produced one with a 5.0 PA. Kriss Rat I'm afraid pales into insignificance with his paltry 1.5 CA and 2.0 PA.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

#3. Kriss Vulic (F.Amb) (SRB) (2018). (Centre-half).

 

Season 1. 2017/18. 2 appearances after coming through the academy.

Season 2. 2018/19. 9 appearances and his 1st club goal was all we saw of him after damaged cruciate ligaments kept him out for most of season.

Season 3. 2019/20. 10(7) appearances doesn't sound great, but he has returned from a serious cruciate injury and I am happy to take things slowly.

Season 4. 2020/21. 18(3) appearances, including 1 goal is a decent return after his return from injury.

Season 5. 2021/22. 13(1) appearances, but at a pretty poor level so I decided to send him out on loan.

Season 5. 2021/22. (on loan at Radnicki). 9 appearances including 1 goal at a level significantly above that seen when playing for us.

Season 6. 2022/23. (on loan at Chiajna in Romania). 5 Cup appearances including 1 goal and 1 assist. 

Season 6. 2022/23. (on loan at ACS Poli in Romania). 15 appearances including 1 goal and 2 assists. 

I mentioned in the last update that I was feeling quite frustrated with my inability to mould this player and I blamed his balanced personality, (well it obviously can 't be my fault!). Whatever the reason for my failure, I just decided that enough was enough and I would wash my hands of him. I had already let a Kriss I really liked leave. I certainly wasn't going to be bothered about letting one go who was just a daily reminder of my inadequacies in the tutoring players category. I can't tell you why the 1st loan spell in Romania only consisted of Cup games, (before you ask), but then again, as I have never managed in Romania in the game, nor taken any interest in Romanian footballl in real life, well.... how should I know!

 

[Jimbokav1971]

#4. Kriss Djord (F.Det) (SRB) (2019). (Striker).

Season 1. 2018/19. 1 appearance and 2 goals on the last day of the season saw him announce his arrival in style.

Season 2. 2019/20. 12(6) appearances and 2 goals is a reasonable return for his 1st full season. 

Season 3. 2020/21. 23(4) appearances including 10 goals is a pretty reasonable return.

Season 4. 2021/22. 6 appearances including 3 goals is only a modest return and I really need to look at why he didn't play more.

Season 5. 2022/23. 21(1) appearances including 8 goals and 3 assists is more like it. 

This is another Kriss that I like, and I even like his ginger player because it really makes him stand out in the highlights. It would have been nice to see him hit double-figure goals for the season, but to be honest, all that was really important this season was that I gave him enough game-time so as to not stunt his development. God only knows how much the lack of appearances in Season 4 will have cost his development in the long-term. I wish he wasn't a balanced personality and if there was someone I had to tutor him with, but he is and I don't. Either way, I quite like him ppm "places shots" in conjunction with his finishing and composure attributes, but I would hope to see both of these pop a couple of times over the next full season. He's a 2.0 CA  and 4.5PA player so there is still room for significant improvement, I've got some real strength in depth coming through in terms of strikers however and I actually have 5 players who can play as SC and have 5.0 PA, however 2 of these actually prefer other positions and a 3rd is not HG, (so we can ignore in the long-term). To put that in perspective, our 1st choice striker since the 2nd season has been Djord who now has CA and PA of  4.0. That we have so many players a full 1,0 PA star above him is impressive when you think that he broke the league goal-scoring record this season with 26 goals. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

#5. Kriss Kruc (F.Pro) (SRB) (2020). (Central midfield).

Season 1. 2019/20. 1(9) appearances is an impressive start to his professional career.

Season 2. 2020/21. 26(1) appearances including 1 goal and 2 assists during his 1st full season for the club.

Season 3. 2021/22. 24 appearances including just 1 assist.

Season 4. 2022/23. 27(1) appearances including 5 assists, 3 MOM awards, (but also a missed penalty). 

Kriss Kruc is the real star of the show at this stage. He is the 1st HG player to become a wonderkid, (I soooo love that feature even if it actually doesn't actually mean anything ultimately). This was the 1st season when he actually started to show proper current ability rather than hinting, (albeit quite blatantly), at impressive potential ability. My preferred role, (when he plays on the right of a 2 in the middle is AP(s). I think he could play other roles equally well, but this is what seems to add most balance with what we have around him. He has, (and will continue), to occasionally play a more defensive role on the left of the pair, at this stage I don't care where he plays, just so long as he plays somewhere. He has already made 89 senior appearances after just 3 full seasons and that's pretty good going for a player playing in the middle of the pitch if I'm honest. I'm really happy with that. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

#6. Krissandro (SMR/ITA) (F.Sport) (2021). (Right winger).

Season 1. 2020/21. 11(1) appearances including 2 goals is a decent introduction to senior footballer for a 16 year old.

Season 2. 2021/22. 29(1) appearances including 2 goals and 9 assists is pretty impressive.

Season 3. 2022/23. 25(4) appearances including 7 goals, 7 assists and 2 MOM awards. 

The Sammarinese winger, (who has now opted to play for Italy U19's), is developing really nicely and I am especially delighted by his physicals. He is really romping up and down the right flank even if his end product isn't quite what I would expect at times, (although 7 goals and 7 assists show he is doing something right. I have been the obkect of barbed comments in the past with regards to my preference for attacking wide players who have a decent flair attribute, and again I make absolutely no apology as I find myself doing exactly the same thing again. I'm hoping that he pops to wonderkid over the next season or so, and I would certainly expect to see him start to break into the (ITA) U21 squad, (because I know that he is never going to play for San Marino again). Ideally I would be able to do something with his (F.Sporting) personality, and although I have a (Res) right winger who has better CA than  Krissandro does, he is only 21 and I would expect him to be out-stripped by Krissandro before he is old enough to tutor him. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

#7. Kriss Marko (MNE/SRB) (Det) (2022). Centre-half.

Season 1. 2021/22. 2 appearances, (1 in the league and 1 in the knockout stages of the Europa League).

Season 2. 2022/23. 8(1) appearances + 10 appearances for (SRB) U19's. 

I mentioned in the last update that it's much harder to blood a centre-half than it is a GK or a wide player or attacker. I think it's really hard to play them enough as you want so as to encourage development, but at the same time not leave them to be exploited by bigger, stronger, more able opponents. I've already screwed up 1 centre-half in this save, (well that's how I see it anyway), so I'm determined not to let this guy go the same way. I have to force myself to play him more next season and if the price we pay for doing so is that we lose games, then.... so be it actually. 

[Jimbokav1971]

#8. Kriss Bojovic. (2023) (V.Ambitious). (Central midfield).

Season 1. 2022/23. 3 appearances in the middle of the pitch in his 1st part-season.

He looks just like a mini Kriss Kruk, (except better if that's possible). If we held onto the ball more during games and had a greater share of posession then I think  might find it easier to blood players. I think That's something I am going to have to get my thinking cap onto I think. This guy has the real look of quality and having him and Kriss Kruc playing together in the middle of the pitch is going to be awesome, (hence me planning ahead and getting Kriss Kruc more suited to playing the more defensive role_. 

[Jimbokav1971]

That brings us up to date with the 2023 development. Now it's on to 2024...... 

Meet the Kriss'.(May 2024)

#1. Kriss Macesic (F.Sport) (SRB) (2016). (Striker).

Season 1. 2015/16. 1 appearance after coming through the academy.

Season 2. 2016/17. 3 appearances and his 1st goal for the club, (against Benfica in the Champions League Group stage).

Season 3. 2017/18.1(1) appearances in a season where opportunities were extremely limited.

Season 4. 2018/19. 5(1) appearances, (mostly in Europe), but no club goals, (although 2 for Serbia U19's).

Season 5. 2019/20. (on loan to Indjija in Serbian SeperLeague). (Relegated). 22(9) appearances, 13 goals, 3 assists and 6 MOM's. He also scored 4 goals in 4 games for (SRB) U19's.

Season 6. 2020/21. (on loan to Indjija in Serbian First League). 31 appearances including 8 goals. 

Season 7. 2021/22. (on loan to Dinamo Bucharest in Romania). 6(23) appearances including 6 goals. 

Season 8. 2022/23. (on loan to Torpedo Zhodino in Romania). 12 appearances including 8 goals, 3 assists and 4 MOM awards was decent, and it was this form that encouraged me that he needed to go out into the big wide World. 

Transferred to Eintracht Frankfurt of German Bundesliga for £700,000.

Season 8. 2022/23.  12(3) appearances but just 3 goals and 1 assist suggested that the Belarusian league might be more his standard than the Bundesliga.

Season 9. 2023/24. 31 appearances including 10 goals, 4 assists and 1 MOM award. 

His performance in Germany this season was a little better but his average rating suggests that he is perhaps playing in a poorly performing team. A goal every 3 games is adequate, but an average rating of 6.42 across the season very much less so. His value of £3.4M is all about where he plays, (Bundesliga), rather than the fact that we have seen his development soar, and if he were still in Serbia I suggest he would be worth approx. £500,000.

[Jimbokav1971]

#2. Kriss Rat (F.Det) (SRB) (2017). (Left back).

Season 1. 2016/17. 1 appearance after coming through the academy.

Season 2. 2017/18. 18 appearances including 1 goal and 1 assist.

Season 3. 2018/19. 15 appearances including 1 goal and 3 assists.

Season 4. 2019/20. 29 appearances including 2 goals and 6 assists.

Season 5. 2020/21. 36 appearances including 2 goals and 7 assists.

Season 6. 2021/22. 30 appearances including 4 goals and 3 assists.

Season 7. 2022/23. 28 appearances including 1 goal and 10 assists. 

Transferred to BSK Borca of Serbian SuperLeague for £500,000.

Season 8. 2023/24. 33(1) appearances, including 1 goal and 2 assists. 

The strength in depth coming through was just too much to ignore and with his limited PA of 2.0, it was time to accept that both for the good of the player and the team, he should move on to pursue a career elsewhere. I was particularly pleased that he opted to stay in Serbia, and in fact after spending 8 seasons in the First League, 1 season in SuperLeague, (relegated), and then getting promoted again at 1st attempt, they have avoided relegation from the SuperLeague for the 1st time in the clubs history. Only 1 player at the club started more games than he did this season, so it appears that he has already become an important member of the BSK Borca squad. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

#3. Kriss Vulic (F.Amb) (SRB) (2018). (Centre-half).

Season 1. 2017/18. 2 appearances after coming through the academy.

Season 2. 2018/19. 9 appearances and his 1st club goal was all we saw of him after damaged cruciate ligaments kept him out for most of season.

Season 3. 2019/20. 10(7) appearances doesn't sound great, but he has returned from a serious cruciate injury and I am happy to take things slowly.

Season 4. 2020/21. 18(3) appearances, including 1 goal is a decent return after his return from injury.

Season 5. 2021/22. 13(1) appearances, but at a pretty poor level so I decided to send him out on loan.

Season 5. 2021/22. (on loan at Radnicki). 9 appearances including 1 goal at a level significantly above that seen when playing for us.

Season 6. 2022/23. (on loan at Chiajna in Romania). 5 Cup appearances including 1 goal and 1 assist. 

Season 6. 2022/23. (on loan at ACS Poli in Romania). 15 appearances including 1 goal and 2 assists. 

Season 7. 2023/24. (on loan at OFK Beograd in Serbia). 34 appearances.

This is a player whom I think I have failed in terms of his development. Looking at it now however, I still think that there might be an opportunity for him to be a late bloomer. First of all, he is only 22. He's still developing. Yes of course his development is going to start to slow after another couple of years, but that's a couple of years away. He currently has 1.0 CA and 2.5 PA, but if I actually look at his attributes then it's mainly his physicals and mental's that let him down. If I then look at the season 7 link above, then it actually shows how infrequently I have played him, (yes I know it only shows league games and he has played lots of other games), but the fact is that I have not played him as often as I should and I think it is for this reason that his development has been slightly stunted. Now that he appears to be getting football out on loan at a decent standard, (OFK finished bottom of the top half of the table in Serbian SuperLeague), I can see certainly his mental's improving, and hopefully his physicals too after a full season of competitive football. If I look at his technical's, then I would say that he actually looks better than I expected, (although both marking and tackling popping does improve things). Maybe I have written this guy off a little too early and with some regular competitive football we might still make a decent player out of him. He has 1 year left on his contract, and I think what I will try to do is sell him now, (hopefully to another Serbian club but if not then who cares), and see what sort of offers come in. I'm certainly not looking to extend his contract and at this stage it is simply a question of selling him to someone for nominal cash and a sizeable future fee, or letting him run down his contract while out on loan somewhere else. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

#4. Kriss Djord (F.Det) (SRB) (2019). (Striker).

Season 1. 2018/19. 1 appearance and 2 goals on the last day of the season saw him announce his arrival in style.

Season 2. 2019/20. 12(6) appearances and 2 goals is a reasonable return for his 1st full season. 

Season 3. 2020/21. 23(4) appearances including 10 goals is a pretty reasonable return.

Season 4. 2021/22. 6 appearances including 3 goals is only a modest return and I really need to look at why he didn't play more.

Season 5. 2022/23. 21(1) appearances including 8 goals and 3 assists is more like it. 

Season 6. 2023/24. 9 appearances including 4 goals.

I really like this Kriss, but I fear that he is another that I have let down in terms of exposure to senior football. It wasn't so bad when I did it in Season 4 when he was only 19 years old, but he's 21 now and really needs to be playing regularly. The problem is that I always seem to have at least 2 strikers in front of him and even though I sold MIhajlo (Pro), (who turned (Model Pro) as soon as he left.... grrrr, for £18.75M, I still find myself with 2 more in front of him now. Djorde (F.Det) HG is our 1st choice striker who scored 26 league goals last season and 27 more this season, (both records at the time), and he is keeping this next bloke out of the squad simply on the basis that he is HG from the academy and the next bloke isn't, (despite the fact that the game classes the next bloke as HG at club because we signed him as a 17 year old. My plan was to keep this bloke for a season past his 24th birthday and at least get some tutoring out of him, (because he has a Resolute personality), but the problem is that he is only 20 now and looks like this.....

He is another wonderkid, but it didn't warrant an individual post because although he is indeed a wonderkid and is classed as HG at club for registration purposes, he was not actually a product of our academy and was actually bought for £1.1M as a 17yo. (I knew he was going to be good). He's actually the best striker at the club, but because he's not a product of our academy, I have refused to give him top billing and in fact this is the most he has ever played.  

When it comes to depth in the SC position, this is what I have available. I have highlighted the 1st 3 choices, also highlighted the 2 players with 5.0 PA and a few positive personalities which are a little lacking in this position at the top end. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

#5. Kriss Kruc (F.Pro) (SRB) (2020). (Central midfield).

Season 1. 2019/20. 1(9) appearances is an impressive start to his professional career.

Season 2. 2020/21. 26(1) appearances including 1 goal and 2 assists during his 1st full season for the club.

Season 3. 2021/22. 24 appearances including just 1 assist.

Season 4. 2022/23. 27(1) appearances including 5 assists, 3 MOM awards, (but also a missed penalty). 

Season 5. 2023/24. 30(2) appearances including 4 goals from 5 pens, (1 missed), 6 assists and 1 MOM award. 

Kriss Kruc was the 1st home produced Wonderkid at Partizan under my tenure. He has really started to blossom into a fine player, and you can see by just a quick glance at his octagon, (can you believe that I hardly used to look at that!), that he has many strings to his bow and really a lack of aerial ability is his only real weakness. It has given me some food for thought though and some interesting decisions. For example, my preferred role for him is as an AP(s) when he plays on the rhs of a 2 in the middle, but I also occasionally play him on the left of a 2, in a role that is more defensive, that is currently CM(d), but which has changed quite often through the course of the save depending on personnel and circumstance. Getting back to the AP(s) role and in particular the training for it, you wll see that Kriss Kruc (2020) is already maxed out at a 20 attribute for passing. Initially I was delighted with reaching this milestone, (yes it is a milestone for someone like me ho usually manages very small clubs, but also because he is a product of only the 5th youth intake. The more I looked at the 20 attribute for passing, (and I can tell you that I looked at it quite a bit in all my training guruness smugness), the more it concerned me. The reason that it concerned me was that if it was already maxed out at 20, then I was getting absolutely no benefit from part of his training schedule that had allowed his passing attribute to go from 16 at the start when he came through the intake, to the 20 as it is now. Well I don't want to lose the potential for 1 point a improvement in an attribute per year, so I need to do something different. At the same time, if he is going to play in that other more defensive role on the left, well then he needs to be better defensively anyway, so I need to start looking to train some other attributes with that in mind. In actual fact, rather than waiting for it to pop to 20 and then realising that I had to do something different, I actually realised what was going to happen when it popped to 19, so I have been able to give him a more balanced and rounded training regime for a while now. Something for example that I was keen to train as part of an overall schedule was determination. Because Kriss Kruc was so good from the start, it was unlikely that I was going to be in a position at any stage to get someone to tutor him, and added to which he was (F.Pro) out of the box which is plenty good for that stage of this save. Determination has gone from a starting point of 9 to 12 now, and that seems reasonable until you think that the AP(s) schedule doesn't train the determination attribute and it's not possible to select determination from the additional focus menu. The other thing that concerned me in terms of  training right from the off was that although I wanted to play him as an AP(s), if I was just going to train him at that then it would not be prioritising any of his physical attributes. I know that you might say that the very nature of the role meant that he wouldn't need that amount of athleticism, but I don't care! I'm all about making these players the absolute best I can, and certainly in this instance that means improving him physically from what was a pretty average starting base.

This is Kriss Kruc (2020) on the day he was promoted via the Youth Intake.

If you compare his starting physical attributes to those that he possesses now, I think you would agree that that's some significant achievement considering he is playing in a role who's training schedule offers no assistance at all to physical attribute development. Right from the start my decision was therefore to dispense with the AP(s) schedule, (at least in my mind until he had developed physically to an acceptable level), and instead look for something that offered a balance of playmaking and physicality. I decided that the answer was actually roaming playmaker for a while and that offered the physical development that I wanted, the general playmaking development, and also included the added bonus of training determination which I was obviously keen on. It didn't mean that I wanted to play him as a roaming playmaker, (and in fact I never have, even once, but I have a feeling I might be giving it a go after writing this), but I did want to take advantage of the wide and balanced attributes that it impacts. I have seen others suggest that they just train every player to the same single schedule that offers the widest range of attributes changed, and while I don't agree with that at all, (not even a little bit), I do think that certainly in some positions, it makes sense to make players better at things other than that which are a priority in their role, (especially in a situation where the player might have the PA to develop these other attributes without taking away from priority attributes for example.  The last thing that I like about the RP schedule is that it also trains both workrate and vision which I am a particular fan of in the middle areas.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

#6. Krissandro (SMR/ITA) (F.Sport) (2021). (Right winger).

Season 1. 2020/21. 11(1) appearances including 2 goals is a decent introduction to senior footballer for a 16 year old.

Season 2. 2021/22. 29(1) appearances including 2 goals and 9 assists is pretty impressive.

Season 3. 2022/23. 25(4) appearances including 7 goals, 7 assists and 2 MOM awards. 

Season 4. 2023/24. 30(3) appearances including 9 goals, 14 assists and 4 MOM awards. 

I was right to expect that he pop to wonderkid this season and he becomes Partizan's 2nd academy product to do so. Almost as pleasing was his increase in productivity which saw his return of assists increase from 7 over 25(4) games in Season 3 to 14 over 30(3) games in Season 4. Continuing on from my last post with regards to training schedules, it's interesting to note that I have him on an IF schedule at the moment despite the fact the he is asked to play a very wide W(s) role. He's already made 10 (ITA) U21 appearances at the age of 19 and although he is still a long way from the (ITA) senior NT, I'm hopeful that if he continues to develop then he might be in with a shout of full senior INT selection. My personal opinion is that he looks a little "raw" as yet and really needs to flesh out in a few areas and become more rounded, (like the previous Kriss). I'm currently adding another PPM, (knocks ball past oppo), and the idea is that this will pay dividends on the pitch.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

#7. Kriss Marko (MNE/SRB) (Det) (2022). Centre-half.

Season 1. 2021/22. 2 appearances, (1 in the league and 1 in the knockout stages of the Europa League).

Season 2. 2022/23. 8(1) appearances + 10 appearances for (SRB) U19's. 

Season 3. 2023/24. 6(1) appearances including 1 assist + 3 appearances for (SRB) U19's and 9 appearances for (SRB) U21's.

Despite me trying to be careful about giving this Kriss enough game-time, I have somehow managed to give him even less than last season. That really is pants. I should just be starting him in the knowledge that the Ass Man will just replace him at HT, but I keep bottling it and sticking him on the bench where the Ass Man refuses to use him. I'm going to write this down so that when and if I read it again it will remind me what to do. 

Quote

I'm going to play Kriss Marko (2022) from the start of games, safe in the knowledge that he is only going to play 45 mins anyway because the Ass Man will drag him off at HT. I want 15 -20 appearances minimum next season. 

 

[BoxToBox]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

and you can see by just a quick glance at his octagon, (can you believe that I hardly used to look at that!)

I honestly can't even contemplate not using the octagon, it's so incredibly useful.

[Jimbokav1971]

#8. Kriss Bojovic. (2023) (V.Ambitious). (Central midfield).

Season 1. 2022/23. 3 appearances in the middle of the pitch in his 1st part-season.

Season 2. 2023/24. 15(1) appearances including 2 assists and 1 MOM award + 15 (SRB) U19's and 1 (SRB) U21 appearances. 

I commented in the last season update that I was going to play Kriss Kruc (2020) in the more defensive role and this Kriss was going to play in the AP(s) role, (and that's what I have been doing. In reality though, (after having a think), that's not what I want to do at all. I want to be getting more and more about of the older Kriss and if anyone is going to "sit" and have a limited role then it's certainly the younger Kriss. He's developing nicely and has already made his debut for the (SRB) U21's. He only scored 3 goals in his 15 (SRB) U19 appearances, but he did manage to contribute 17 assists during that time. 

[Jimbokav1971]

#9 Krissovic (SRB) (F.Pro) (2024). (Left wing).

Season 1. 2023/24. 3 appearances in his 1st part-season.

Decent personality, excellent PA, reasonable attribute balance, (we shall ignore off the ball for the moment). What's not to like. 

[tyler16]

7 hours ago, BoxToBox said:

I honestly can't even contemplate not using the octagon, it's so incredibly useful.

Agree, it's a nice time saver compared to grinding through individual attributes. Not something I'd use to make a final decision but a great way to quickly gauge ability.

Loving the updates Jimbo. Interesting to pick a player and search his name throughout the thread and follow his development path.