FM19: Ajax Amsterdam - Time to reap what has been sown

[Brian]

Let's just say, I don't want to talk about it.. 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Cheers for the advice guys, I think in the first 3 seasons I will just sign players from my Affiliates and maybe just Dutch players and or previous Ajax players and then after the 3rd season just use my youth players.

I always enjoy playing as Ajax so going to start this tomorrow.

 

[Raymond85]

15 ore fa, Rooks ha scritto:

@Raymond85 Do you still play Ødegaard as a Trequartista? 

Not really, i have shifted to a winger support role, inspired by rashidi and after getting him some more inside forward ppms. Despite his horrible finishing, he scores for fun and also assists are flying in

[Carlf788]

Would 3 seasons of winning the league, cups and getting far in the champions league be enough to get a job at a Tottenham or Barcelona if they come up in future? 

[NickGoossens]

18 hours ago, Carlf788 said:

Would 3 seasons of winning the league, cups and getting far in the champions league be enough to get a job at a Tottenham or Barcelona if they come up in future? 

I'm in the start of season 3. And get offers from City and Liverpool. 

[Carlf788]

11 minutes ago, NickGoossens said:

I'm in the start of season 3. And get offers from City and Liverpool. 

Nice, thanks! What did you do in the first 2 years?

Edited April 20, 2019 by Carlf788

[NickGoossens]

15 minutes ago, Carlf788 said:

Nice, thanks! What did you do in the first 2 years?

Won both seasons the league and cup. And the first season the semi final. Second season reached the first knock out. Both defeated by Klopp and Liverpool. The last game was close and we lost by away goals.

Edited April 20, 2019 by NickGoossens

[Carlf788]

Good going! I thought they would have a lot more money from the de Jong transfer or at least a big injection after the first season but that doesn't happen apparently. Have you still got de ligt? I am just about to start my first season. Hoping to win the CL by 2022 and if not then at least have a good enough reputation to get a Spurs or Barcelona Job on merit 

[NickGoossens]

Just now, Carlf788 said:

Good going! I thought they would have a lot more money from the de Jong transfer or at least a big injection after the first season but that doesn't happen apparently. Have you still got de ligt? I am just about to start my first season. Hoping to win the CL by 2022 and if not then at least have a good enough reputation to get a Spurs or Barcelona Job on merit 

I still playing with the standard database. So still got De Jong. Had great offers tho. Not playing him that much. I'm a fan of Ziyech. Especially in a advanced playmaker role. If i play more defensively, then i play De Jong as a Deep Lying Playmaker. Great for that role.

Selling Kristensen at the moment for 56 mil to City.  Still got De Ligt. Gave him a new contract with a release clause of 90. Not going to sell him. Want to win the Champions League. I need him. Changing my tactic to a more gegenpress tactic. So need some money to buy more stamina and physical players. 

But if you got good results then you definitely get some nice offers on your way. 

Good luck 

 

 

[AndySummers]

*

 

Edited April 27, 2019 by AndySummers

[AndySummers]

So, it has taken a while, but I've now reached the end of season two, 2019-20. As it has been a while since my last post, a reminder to the guidelines I play within:

Philosophies

• Use and develop the 'WM' formation.
• Promote or replace from the academy wherever feasible, but not exclusively.
• No signings from rival teams (top 10 Eredivisie) to keep competition healthy, unless player is due to be sold abroad.
• No overstocking of the three squads / sign few players.
• Tight control over wage budget, no marquee signings if they shatter the wage structure.
• Allowing star players to leave if I feel they have outgrown the club.

'WM'

Squad Building

I lost three starting players over the summer, which put an early spanner in my plans. Onana went to Spurs and first-season star-performer Ziyech to Inter, in addition to the loss of De Jong . David Raya came in as the new stickman, Jurgen Ekkelenburg (more of him later) stepped up as the starting mezzala, with Xadas signed as competition. In my last post I mentioned that I keep a lean shortlist in general, as I need specific players in the WM system. I wasn't able to sign any of my main targets; I couldn't afford or attract Kenny Tete or Kevin Mbabu, unable to sign Kristoffer Ajer due to huge wage demands and also turning down Xaver Schlager due to his wage demands. So I had to improvise, moving Van de Beek forward to replace De Jong, and bringing in Sandro Tonali to replace Van de Beek as a halfback. Tricky Dani Olmo rounded out the main signings. That did mean three of my central quad of midfielders had either been sold or moved position, so I anticipated early issues there.

In January, I made a couple of other major signings. Club icon Davy Klaassen returned to fill a future leadership void with Huntelaar retiring, Schone ageing and Veltman making noises about needing a new challenge. With Heerenveen sitting 12th, I also picked up Arjen Van der Heide, one of my main Dutch youth targets. A little bit more change than I like, but necessary in the circumstances.

I also let my DoF run free to pick up youngsters, and Overmars pulled off this coup for £95k...

Eredivisie / Cups

A 3-0 win over Heerenveen in the Johan Cruijff Schaal set up a strong start to the season, and I had a comfortable lead - but never large due to the form of Feyenoord and PSV - until I lost my unbeaten record in February at home to PSV, with a second loss against Willem II and a couple of poor draws against PEC Zwolle and Heracles Almelo. Suddenly, I was in third and as much as 8pts adrift at times due to the fixtures.  I was also due to face Feyenoord at the De Kuip on the final day of the season. All three sides kept winning until Feyenoord drew in the penultimate fixture. This was the table going into the final game:

A draw could seal the title, but with the caveat that a win for PSV by 3+ goals at home to Vitesse would see them win the title on goals scored if tied. It was the craziest final day in any FM I've played. PSV scored in the first minute, whilst I held Feyenoord to no shots on target in the opening 45mins. The second half was a very cagey affair, until PSV scored a second after 71mins. One more goal, the title is theirs. I pushed on and thought I'd sealed it with a Joveljic strike in the 80th minute - only for it to be VAR'd out (incorrectly!). With Feyenoord creating chances, I then had to throttle back and play for a draw, hoping PSV wouldn't score another. Then in the second minute of stoppage time, De Ligt makes a rash challenge, penalty. Kraev steps up and chips one of the worst pens I've seen straight into Raya's arms. . PSV couldn't find a winner and I won the title by one goal, with all three sides on 82pts.

It was refreshing to have such a strong challenge from multiple sides, and it also gives credence to not targeting signings from rivals.

A week after the title win, I completed the domestic treble against AZ in the KNVB Beker Final. Although that was fraught too; due to Champions League commitments the squad was lower than AZ on fitness and couldn't capitalise on Tadic giving an early lead. 1-1 at full-time and the side really suffered in extra time, eventually winning on pens.

End-season stats:

------

Champions League

If that wasn't enough drama, the Champions League campaign was practically a novel of ups and downs. I scraped my way out of a group featuring Atletico, Lyon and Hoffenheim with 7pts by virtue of having a better head to head record v Lyon. And then made it all the way to the final thanks to some mighty home performances and decidedly ropey away performances.

1st knockout

--

I conceded two early goals in Munich to cause doubt, but a couple of tweaks shut down Bayern's fire and a late Klaassen goal ousted the Bundesliga Champions.

Quarters

--

With a healthy lead, I didn't take the return leg lightly against the side that knocked me out last season in two very high scoring games. An early Marin goal seemed set to ease passage to the semis, but Barca roared back and scored three before halftime. Dembele added a fourth and I had to hang on with a desperate defensive effort for the final half-hour.

Semis

--

This was a tie made trickier as the return leg fell directly after the extra time Cup final victory. With a 5-1 lead, I felt obliged to put out a very understrength side and nearly regretted it. Atletico were three-up by halftime, and again it took some major tweaks to stop their swagger, before Marin looked to have sealed it five minutes from time. Correa pulled another one back for Atletico, but they didn't have time to find a tying goal. They did go on to win La Liga though.

Final

Art imitating life, the final was against a Man City side that had defeated Liverpool in the semis This was one of the best tactical games to-date. I had to contend with the flying runs of Sane and Sterling, but caused problems of my own with City giving up the flanks to Marin and Tadic. It finished 2-2 after extra time, thanks to two Dolberg penalties. In a cruel twist of fate, Dolberg missed the first - and only - pen in the shootout and we were denied a quadruple.

Making a Mezz

Way back in my opening post, I noted a player in the academy that I rated above all others, despite his lack of glamour or seeming potential; Ekkelenkamp looked ideal for the mezzala role in the 'WM'. He had a low-key debut season backing up Ziyech, but exploded this year - helped also by the traits that I'd developed for him. 12 goals in 33 starts, nearly a goal every other game in the Eredivisie. First touch and finishing prowess helps make him deadly from the edge of the box, a real difference-maker. His atts have barely developed.

2019-20 intake and plans

--

After last year's atrocious intake, this year I still only had four players recommended by the DoF. But at least I gained this serviceable young striker, Vos; not the complete forward I use, but a sharp poacher who can be moulded. Last year's best talent, Ljuma, is developing quietly in the U19s. Still, two poor intakes for a club with Ajax's facilities and staff is disappointing and puts more emphasis on scouting.

----

--

There are now a few youths making a name around the first team. Ekkelenkamp is a key starter, but Gravenberch, Van Gelderen, Reiziger and de Waal made 69 starts/sub apps last year. Reiziger was promoted to backup keeper at the start of the season, replacing the underwhelming El Maach. de Waal is a player I like, not flashy at all but a consistent spread of atts. Those four, with Ekkelenburg, Schuurs, Proper and Van Der Heide give a great Dutch core to the squad youth.

I am happy with the 1st team squad as is, and intend to trim some fat. Any major purchases may only be linked to departures. Although after last year's sales - and De Ligt and Dolberg both wanting and getting new contracts - I am not expecting any  key players to leave.

'WM' development

I posted last time about wanting to develop the 'WM' further and bring in different tactical sets. I had started on a strikerless version, which was abandoned after pre-season. In practice though, I did change roles and duties quite a lot throughout the season. One role that I am constantly in flux about is the RPM; this has variously been a CM(s), BBM and back again to an RPM when I wanted more control. It is the one role I cannot fully nail down. One area of concern was how we performed in away games this year; very solid last season against the best the Eredivisie and Europe had to offer, bar the one aberration against Barcelona. But this year - not so much. It is problematic and I have a few ideas where I need to develop my approach further, or develop personnel groupings further.

One for next time perhaps.

 

 

Edited April 27, 2019 by AndySummers

[KlaaZ]

Does anyone know if there have been major alterations to player stats in the last update? I'm considering starting a new game for two reasons.

1) my game seems to be flawed in the sense that, even after winning the CL five times, I've never received a job offer from another club and I'd like to manage the Holland team at some point.

2) I'd like to impose myself some rules: Sign only U21 players, move one f per year from the Academy to the first team squas, sign only players from smaller or equal teams or competitions,...

[zlatanera]

4 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

Does anyone know if there have been major alterations to player stats in the last update? I'm considering starting a new game for two reasons.

1) my game seems to be flawed in the sense that, even after winning the CL five times, I've never received a job offer from another club and I'd like to manage the Holland team at some point.

2) I'd like to impose myself some rules: Sign only U21 players, move one f per year from the Academy to the first team squas, sign only players from smaller or equal teams or competitions,...

Do you mean attributes? I think Tadic got a little bit of a bump, not sure though. Tagliafico is much better though, more technical, whilst Mazroui is better defensively now too. I haven't looked hard enough to opine about others though.

I kept trying to start over for reasons similar to your 2) but kept running out of steam. I'm sure I'll end up doing it again though, but probably still on the original database as I'd rather get £50m in the bank for Frenkie after a couple seasons than lose him for £75m, of which I'd see nothing, after 1. 

[KlaaZ]

@zlatanera yeah, the de Jong transfer and the fact that I've built an excellent team with at least five players from my own academy had me put it off until now. I'll give it a look once I get back home from holiday. Cheers!

[KlaaZ]

Right, so I started a new Ajax save because my current one is clearly bugged. I was in 2025, having won 4 CL cups, best team in the world (reputation wise). I manually got the Holland national team manager fired and applied for the position, did this three times, and every time I got refused with the AI picking some unknown 2 star rep manager instead. Combine that with the fact that I haven't gotten a job offer in 7 years...

Either way, I'll set myself a few ground rules this time. 

1) Stay Dutch as much as possible. The idea is to have at least six starters with Dutch nationality. May not be possible straight off the bat though.
2) Promote one youth player to the first team squad (with the idea of giving him regular playing time) every season. 
3) Don't recruit from bigger leagues, and ideally stay away from the top five: Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A. I'll permit myself to bring in players from those countries from the lower leagues though. 
4) If not Dutch players, recruit from countries that Ajax scouts traditionally (Scandinavian, African, South American, Belgium, maybe Eastern Europe?). To ease that a little, I've added the scandinavian and Belgian leagues ingame, apart from the top five countries, holland and Brazil/Argentina.

Anything else I could add to the above?

First transfer window so far has been quiet. Looking to sign Xadas because he was so instrumental on my other save and I just love him, can't find Marin (weirdly enough) and am looking to sign Tonali as a replacement for Frenkie (coming from a Serie B side so permitted). Also still looking for a LB backup for Tagliafico as I don't want to play Bakker, who will join PSG at the end of the season. Considering Pierie as he's apparently not officially coming yet.

Edited May 5, 2019 by KlaaZ

[Chef Raekwon]

^ Maybe limit your intake of (South) America regens (Argentina/Brazil/Colombia/Mexico) to max. 1 per season? If you run wild with regens from the America's it might take away from your accomplishments. 

 

Looks like you're up for a good run, have fun!

[KlaaZ]

2 minutes ago, Chef Raekwon said:

^ Maybe limit your intake of (South) America regens (Argentina/Brazil/Colombia/Mexico) to max. 1 per season? If you run wild with regens from the America's it might take away from your accomplishments. 

 

Looks like you're up for a good run, have fun!

Yeah, that was my idea actually. I never went overboard with it in the first save either, just had a Brazilian central defender and defensive midfielder and an Argentinian striker, all world class though. 

[KlaaZ]

Off to a good start! Didn't concede a single chance against admittedly a very average opponent. Tadic was having a really bad game until I changed his role to a Treq, scoring a header from a scrimmage and a one on one after regaining the ball in the opponent's half (good pressing by Neres on the left wing). 

[zlatanera]

2 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

Right, so I started a new Ajax save because my current one is clearly bugged. I was in 2025, having won 4 CL cups, best team in the world (reputation wise). I manually got the Holland national team manager fired and applied for the position, did this three times, and every time I got refused with the AI picking some unknown 2 star rep manager instead. Combine that with the fact that I haven't gotten a job offer in 7 years...

Either way, I'll set myself a few ground rules this time. 

1) Stay Dutch as much as possible. The idea is to have at least six starters with Dutch nationality. May not be possible straight off the bat though.
2) Promote one youth player to the first team squad (with the idea of giving him regular playing time) every season. 
3) Don't recruit from bigger leagues, and ideally stay away from the top five: Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A. I'll permit myself to bring in players from those countries from the lower leagues though. 
4) If not Dutch players, recruit from countries that Ajax scouts traditionally (Scandinavian, African, South American, Belgium, maybe Eastern Europe?). To ease that a little, I've added the scandinavian and Belgian leagues ingame, apart from the top five countries, holland and Brazil/Argentina.

Anything else I could add to the above?

First transfer window so far has been quiet. Looking to sign Xadas because he was so instrumental on my other save and I just love him, can't find Marin (weirdly enough) and am looking to sign Tonali as a replacement for Frenkie (coming from a Serie B side so permitted). Also still looking for a LB backup for Tagliafico as I don't want to play Bakker, who will join PSG at the end of the season. Considering Pierie as he's apparently not officially coming yet.

 

1 hour ago, Chef Raekwon said:

^ Maybe limit your intake of (South) America regens (Argentina/Brazil/Colombia/Mexico) to max. 1 per season? If you run wild with regens from the America's it might take away from your accomplishments. 

 

Looks like you're up for a good run, have fun!

This is pretty much exactly what I'm trying to do if I ever stick to one of these restarts. 

I never load Brazil / Argentina due to the low power of my laptop which helps with not signing too many of them.

[KlaaZ]

3 hours ago, zlatanera said:

 

This is pretty much exactly what I'm trying to do if I ever stick to one of these restarts. 

I never load Brazil / Argentina due to the low power of my laptop which helps with not signing too many of them.

Yeah, I considered leaving the competitions out but it might be that at some point I'd like to manage there (same reason why I included the Scandinavian countries). 

Anyway, first objective is met. Feels like a group where second place should be doable. Surprisingly I'm way better away from home so far.

[zlatanera]

6 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

Yeah, I considered leaving the competitions out but it might be that at some point I'd like to manage there (same reason why I included the Scandinavian countries). 

I never really do journeyman saves...had one on FM15, another FM16 where I managed two clubs (but the pain of watching the AI ruin my Danish powerhouse FC Midtjylland by abandoning my youth saves and putting guys on £71k/week was painful).

Congrats on beating my nemesis, Benfica. 

[KlaaZ]

16 hours ago, zlatanera said:

I never really do journeyman saves...had one on FM15, another FM16 where I managed two clubs (but the pain of watching the AI ruin my Danish powerhouse FC Midtjylland by abandoning my youth saves and putting guys on £71k/week was painful).

Congrats on beating my nemesis, Benfica. 

Me neither, if I do it's probably after 10+ journals and instead of starting up a new game because I like the regen world more than anything else.

The win over Benfica really surprised me as I remember struggling bigtime against them on my previous save. No complaints though! Group stage also going well with a 0-0 draw at Shaktar, where Tadic missed a pen and an amazing 9-0 at home to Plzen with Neres bagging four.

[Raymond85]

Still alive, haven't touched fm for weeks, will be back soon

[zlatanera]

.

Edited May 7, 2019 by zlatanera

[KlaaZ]

Could've done worse. Lost 0-2 at home to PSG but somehow trashed them at Parc des Princes 0-3. Won the final game in Plzen 0-3 while the French went on to lose at Shaktar. 

[AndySummers]

I've just finished pre-season and started digging into season three, 2020-21.

Keeping to my plans, the off-season was about squad trimming. Veltman was the main loss, allowed to leave after 'achieving all he could'. Passed up on signing a replacement to promote Van Gelderen from his jack-of-all-trades role into the dedicated backup to De Ligt. After three Eredivisie goals in two seasons, I wasn't seeing enough from assist-king Kaastrup and allowed him to depart for £9.5m and 40% future sale profit. With Ekkelenburg now firmly established as the MEZ(a), I also moved on Xadas and promoted the impressive Dirk Proper as his backup. Xadas had a reasonable debut season, but freeing up possibilities for Proper and Gravenberch made sense.

I also kept to my philosophy to sell to Eredivisie wherever possible; Eiting, Magallan and Mazraoui moving across to rivals.

£146m in the bank, £57m transfer budget, no major signings made. I had Tousart on completion, but pulled the plug at the last minute as I'd recently brought in Clasie on a freebie as extra cover at HB. This was a player asking for £50k in the final stage of his Southampton contract, but I picked him up for £5.25k per week after a trial. Excellent experienced squad player to have as an 'influence' replacement for Schone, who has a season left at best.

Purchased a few youngsters to round out the B-team. Florescu is effectively Kaastrup's replacement, whilst Djerlek I see as a future Tadic replacement. Partizan are akin to Dinamo Zagreb, a superb source for players and they have 3-4 more players of interest in their squad. Florescu is a sure-fire future first-teamer and Djerlek more of a punt, but the former has moved out to feeder-club OH Leuven for a season whilst Djerlek proves his mettle.

   

Solid academy coverage across the squad at present, nine full members having progressed through the system; Reiziger, De Ligt, Van Glederen, Blind, Van De Beek, De Waal, Gravenberch, Klaassen, Ekkelenkamp. I've mentioned Ekkelenkamp on a couple of occasions, as an unglamorous but effective player that I chose to work on early. I have another in that mould; Ki-Jana Hoever. Former Ajax academy graduate, picked up from Liverpool for £63k. Nothing exceptional, but very mouldable either as a WB or IWB. A good dual-sided 'option' player that I will be keeping close tabs on.

 

Edited May 8, 2019 by AndySummers

[gpassosbh]

Hello @AndySummers,

WIll you continue using the WM this season? How is the performance in defense?

[AndySummers]

51 minutes ago, gpassosbh said:

Hello @AndySummers,

WIll you continue using the WM this season? How is the performance in defense?

Yes, certainly. The 'WM' is the only formation I'll be using during this save.

Defensive performance. Overall, it is good and very stable. 15 Eredivisie goals conceded in 2018-19 and 20 in 2019-20. I did have some troubles in the away Champions League games last season though, and also once or twice in the Eredivisie. I put that down to increased squad rotation and having inferior players on the pitch more often, in addition to some changes to the squad, as well as some unique situations in the Champions League where I was defending large leads in the knockouts. I could also do more with the balance of the squad and maximising defensive capability; such as bringing in a player with a more natural halfback skillset, such as Tousart. That would certainly help, but it's not what I'm aiming for right now. I've also been experimenting with different combinations more, which can create some instability,

If I can keep the expected GPG around 0.5 this season, I'll be happy.

Edited May 9, 2019 by AndySummers

[gpassosbh]

1 hour ago, AndySummers said:

Yes, certainly. The 'WM' is the only formation I'll be using during this save.

Defensive performance. Overall, it is good and very stable. 15 Eredivisie goals conceded in 2018-19 and 20 in 2019-20. I did have some troubles in the away Champions League games last season though, and also once or twice in the Eredivisie. I put that down to increased squad rotation and having inferior players on the pitch more often, in addition to some changes to the squad, as well as some unique situations in the Champions League where I was defending large leads in the knockouts. I could also do more with the balance of the squad and maximising defensive capability; such as bringing in a player with a more natural halfback skillset, such as Tousart. That would certainly help, but it's not what I'm aiming for right now. I've also been experimenting with different combinations more, which can create some instability,

If I can keep the expected GPG around 0.5 this season, I'll be happy.

Nice. I'm starting my pre season in second year with Ajax, and might change to WM tactic based in your inputs and Clean thread. I'll try to keep De Ligt, as this tactic plays with only one DC. I'll have to go to market for 2 HB (or 1 Anchor and 1 HB), as I didn't produce good players on this position in the first season. Might be using Blind and another one, as De Jong will leave.

Thanks for the tips on this WM tactic at the beginning of this thread.

[dothestrand]

@AndySummers how did you get Hoever so cheap? Liverpool have no interest in selling in my AZ game and quote me around 60m.

[AndySummers]

8 minutes ago, dothestrand said:

@AndySummers how did you get Hoever so cheap? Liverpool have no interest in selling in my AZ game and quote me around 60m.

He was transfer listed for that amount, found him purely by chance.

Delighted to pick him up really, can't turn away an academy graduate with a lot of scope for development. Along with Overmars picking up Proper for peanuts, Hoever is probably my favourite deal to-date.

51 minutes ago, gpassosbh said:

Nice. I'm starting my pre season in second year with Ajax, and might change to WM tactic based in your inputs and Clean thread. I'll try to keep De Ligt, as this tactic plays with only one DC. I'll have to go to market for 2 HB (or 1 Anchor and 1 HB), as I didn't produce good players on this position in the first season. Might be using Blind and another one, as De Jong will leave.

Thanks for the tips on this WM tactic at the beginning of this thread.

It'd be great to see others trying the shape out, as there are many ways you can approach the roles.

Assuming their atts aren't too variable, you may have some decent HB options already in the squad. Both Van Gelderen and Schuurs did a solid job for me in season 1, before I picked up my two Italian playmakers and moved them both back into defensive coverage. Van De Beek is the ideal partner for Blind to me, although I preferred using him further forward last season after De Jong departed.

Edited May 9, 2019 by AndySummers

[KlaaZ]

Got taken over by a Kuwaitian (?) fella who floated the club on the stock exchange (which generated exactly 0 euros, seems we're very popular). 

[dothestrand]

12 hours ago, AndySummers said:

He was transfer listed for that amount, found him purely by chance.

Delighted to pick him up really, can't turn away an academy graduate with a lot of scope for development. Along with Overmars picking up Proper for peanuts, Hoever is probably my favourite deal to-date.

 

Is that Dirk Proper, starts at NEC (I think?) I picked him up at AZ, iirc his physicals aren't great yet but has good technical stats. He's on the periphery of my first team but still very young.

[KlaaZ]

This looks strangely familiar in a way..

[zlatanera]

@KlaaZ too soon

[gpassosbh]

20 hours ago, AndySummers said:

He was transfer listed for that amount, found him purely by chance.

Delighted to pick him up really, can't turn away an academy graduate with a lot of scope for development. Along with Overmars picking up Proper for peanuts, Hoever is probably my favourite deal to-date.

It'd be great to see others trying the shape out, as there are many ways you can approach the roles.

Assuming their atts aren't too variable, you may have some decent HB options already in the squad. Both Van Gelderen and Schuurs did a solid job for me in season 1, before I picked up my two Italian playmakers and moved them both back into defensive coverage. Van De Beek is the ideal partner for Blind to me, although I preferred using him further forward last season after De Jong departed.

Hello @AndySummers,

what are the major tactic change you do during the matches? When you face better teams and when you face team you know you will beat easily? Only change from balanced to positive/attacking? To hold, go to Defensive? DO you change any player role to face better teams?

[AndySummers]

5 hours ago, gpassosbh said:

Hello @AndySummers,

what are the major tactic change you do during the matches? When you face better teams and when you face team you know you will beat easily? Only change from balanced to positive/attacking? To hold, go to Defensive? DO you change any player role to face better teams?

In-game, usually very little - minor tweaks.

The one semi-regular change I make pre-game is dropping the line of engagement and defensive line, and also removing 'prevent short GK distribution' if I am facing stronger opposition where I feel I may be outmatched. This is a double-edged sword though, as a lot of the success of the 'WM' (my version of) is, I feel, in the high pressing and limiting passing options. The drop back does stabilise the chance to be caught out by accurate long balls, but the negative is that it can make it easier for opponents to get in positions where an accurate through-cross from mid-wide positions takes out the defence. It's a careful balancing act.

In terms of roles, I use a few variants situationally. The most regular changes are:

• RPM > CM(s) - where I feel a playmaker won't be beneficial (i.e. if I am more focused on countering as ^)
• WB(s) > WB(a) / CWB(s) - if I am struggling to create chances, sometimes I like to bring in a greater threat from deep. And linked to that:
• W(a) > IF(s) - one wideman focused narrower, freeing up space for an aggressive wingback ^.

Mentality is nearly always 'balanced'. Occasionally I will ratchet it up to 'positive', and link that to overarching changes in roles , such as dropping both widemen down to a support duty. I never go into any game with anything less than a balanced mentality, and I've changed in-game to 'cautious' perhaps only twice in two seasons.

Edited May 10, 2019 by AndySummers

[KlaaZ]

On 10/05/2019 at 14:42, zlatanera said:

@KlaaZ too soon

Apologies, I also had trouble getting over that moment to be honest.

Anyway, season one is done. I won the Eredivise with five games left to go and finished on 89 points, losing once away at Heerenveen. I also won the Dutch Cup, smashing PSV in the final with an easy 0-2 (which could have been far more). The CL was a very solid campaign, mimicking real life in the sense that we got to the semi's. Unfortunately, my luck ran out against Manchester City. We 1-1 at home in the first leg after missing a penalty, a red card for Ziyech and a minute in the 93d minute by Tolisso. We got completely outclassed in Manchester, trailing by two goals after 29 minutes and seeing Donny sent off for two yellows in two minutes seven minutes before the break. We managed to do some damage control in the second half but failed to register even a single shot on target. 

As to next year, de Ligt was making noise about me refusing an offer from PSG but he's backed down and signed a new contract, tying him down until 2023. Magallan had a very strong first season at the club, scoring 15 goals and making the CL team of the year. Frenkie will obviously leave to Barcelona but I think I've got that one covered with Tonali already, combined with more playing time for Gravenberch. I'm also hoping to hang on to Donny for at least one more year since he's not attracting attention from the big big clubs yet (Sevilla, Everton and Schalke so far). 

Regarding incoming transfers, I've already got Almada coming from Velez for 3M. I also have a very big prospect from Nordsjaelland on my radar, 15 year old regen midfielder who could become very good indeed (see screenshot attatched). I'm hoping to bring him in for around 3M as well. The other positions to strenghten are the LB, with Bakker leaving to PSG, and a backup striker (although I've been using Brobbey for that and he's been doing quite well). I also have Sierhuis coming back from loan so I might look at my own youth first.

The youth intake has been generous with two players who have a lot of potential, a (fickle unfortunately) DM and a DC. 

[zlatanera]

@KlaaZ you got 15 goals out of a centre back? Is he a free kick / penalty taker? 

[KlaaZ]

Nope, all corners and indirect free kicks @zlatanera. He actually scored a hattrick in a cup game as well, it's 15 across all competitions: 3 in the CL, 7 in the competition and 5 in the cup. De Ligt also scored 12 by the way (including the two goals in the 2-0 cup final). 

[zlatanera]

@KlaaZ Ah I see. Part of me is wishing I'd started over with the updated DB but then I just don't want to effectively lose de Jong for nothing. I'd had a look and completely discounted Magallan because of his low Concentration, but I'm guessing that Composure helps you play out from the back and also helps him get those goals.

Are you using your own set pieces, or just the default ones?

[KlaaZ]

2 minutes ago, zlatanera said:

@KlaaZ Ah I see. Part of me is wishing I'd started over with the updated DB but then I just don't want to effectively lose de Jong for nothing. I'd had a look and completely discounted Magallan because of his low Concentration, but I'm guessing that Composure helps you play out from the back and also helps him get those goals.

Are you using your own set pieces, or just the default ones?

My own actually, got one DC on the near post, one on the far post, striker marking the keeper and corners to the 6 yard box (curling in rather than out). 

I had my doubts about starting with the latest DB as well but as I can't get Frenkie to perform the way he should anyway, I'm not that bothered about him leaving. Although it does suck not getting the 75M obviously. I was more peeved about Wöber being at Sevilla now because last time around, he was the one who brilliantly replaced de Ligt when he left and ended up moving to City for something like 70M. 

[zlatanera]

7 minutes ago, KlaaZ said:

I had my doubts about starting with the latest DB as well but as I can't get Frenkie to perform the way he should anyway, I'm not that bothered about him leaving. Although it does suck not getting the 75M obviously. I was more peeved about Wöber being at Sevilla now because last time around, he was the one who brilliantly replaced de Ligt when he left and ended up moving to City for something like 70M. 

Oh yeah, if you want to imitate how he works in real life dropping onto the left of a back three at points, its impossible. Some things, like Sheffield United's overlapping CBs, just can't be done. I quite enjoyed him as an AP-Su last time out, and had him as a Regista once which was fun as he'd occasionally drop in and pick up the ball to run with it before making the killer ball. This time I'm just sticking my CMs in generic CM-Su roles and letting traits dictates how they play so we'll see how he does. Probably end up as a RPM conducting it all.

Yeah Wöber is one of my favourites, but I always manage to keep de Ligt, he's more of a favourite 2nd choice LCB / LB because of his personality and his physicality meaning he can play at full back acceptably. 

[KlaaZ]

10 hours ago, zlatanera said:

Oh yeah, if you want to imitate how he works in real life dropping onto the left of a back three at points, its impossible. Some things, like Sheffield United's overlapping CBs, just can't be done. I quite enjoyed him as an AP-Su last time out, and had him as a Regista once which was fun as he'd occasionally drop in and pick up the ball to run with it before making the killer ball. This time I'm just sticking my CMs in generic CM-Su roles and letting traits dictates how they play so we'll see how he does. Probably end up as a RPM conducting it all.

Yeah Wöber is one of my favourites, but I always manage to keep de Ligt, he's more of a favourite 2nd choice LCB / LB because of his personality and his physicality meaning he can play at full back acceptably. 

I actually meant getting the best out of him in general but yeah, it's pretty much impossible to see him behave as he does in real life.

Anyway, my transfer homework is almost done. Onana is out because I accidentally let Van der Sar arrange contract renewals (must have done that when assigning staff responsibilities) and he renewed his contract with a 14M release fee. Brought in Itumeleng Khune from Kaizer Chiefs on a free (great technicals and mental attributes) until I can loosen up Schendelaar. Also picked up the Norwegian regen midfielder for 3M and loaned Mitchel Bakker back from PSG as a short term solution. For the striker position, it will be Brobbey who backs up Dolberg as Sierhuis is apparently on loan at Groningen for two seasons, not one. 

[KlaaZ]

Has anyone been able to develop Eiting to a decent level? This is the second time where he seems to be a very mediocre player with little room for progress really.

On the other hand, Brobbey has been doing very well, getting quite a few starts in the league and the cup. Hansen is also making good progress but he has a very low aggression and bravery which kind puts me off. Oh, and I'm hoping to turn Kenneth Taylor into a first team player at some point as well, although he has a LOT of work on his physicals. 

[zlatanera]

@KlaaZ I'm pretty sure I got both Off The Ball and Positioning up to 14 by the end of season 3 despite him never being a regular and actually having slightly lower determination than that. I don't know for sure about any other improvements but I can't imagine they were the only ones. 

[Chef Raekwon]

16 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

Has anyone been able to develop Eiting to a decent level? This is the second time where he seems to be a very mediocre player with little room for progress really.

On the other hand, Brobbey has been doing very well, getting quite a few starts in the league and the cup. Hansen is also making good progress but he has a very low aggression and bravery which kind puts me off. Oh, and I'm hoping to turn Kenneth Taylor into a first team player at some point as well, although he has a LOT of work on his physicals. 

I think I posted some screenshots earlier in this topic. I got him to improve and he was a decent backup for my teams, but never good enough for the first 11. However, I know his PA, having a low roll could really impact how much he will improve for you.

[Brian]

22 minutes ago, Chef Raekwon said:

Has anyone been able to develop Eiting to a decent level? This is the second time where he seems to be a very mediocre player with little room for progress really.

 

He is a rotation for me. Although I'm thinking of getting him in to the team as a Inverted Wingback as he did great in pre-season there and his stats are so all-round. Will post a screenshot tonight (season 3).

[Brian]

On 13/05/2019 at 21:49, KlaaZ said:

Has anyone been able to develop Eiting to a decent level? This is the second time where he seems to be a very mediocre player with little room for progress really.

[KlaaZ]

40 minutes ago, Rooks said:

He looks very well rounded there, likewise for Chef's screenshot from the earlier pages. I might just have been unlucky with his Pa.

Halfway through the second season now, qualified from an easy group in the CL with Valencia being the only real competition. Struggling to create chances though, trying to create space but even when it's there, the through ball almost never gets played. Might just be the ME though.