All I want for Christmas is to be hobnobbing with the greats, but it is more likely I will be picking up the crumbs from the lower reaches of the table

[scousevasey]

Having moved house over the summer, I cleared the loft and put all of my Subbuteo on eBay.  But it got me thinking about the classic game, and inspired this save.

 

The best way to get a Dukla Prague away kit, must be to manage them right?

[scousevasey]

Introducing Mike....Vitie

(Yes, despite having the idea for the save for a couple of months, this was the best biscuit pun name I could come up with).

 

Starting at the bottom, with no badges or reputation, and New Zealand chosen as a country to add an element of randomness to the save.

[scousevasey]

The aim for the save is simple.

Win.

 

But in more detail, Dukla Prague were relegated at the end of the 2018/2019 season, so the aim is to return to the top division, and then to the top of Czech football, becoming the biggest team in Prague, and the country, before trying to dominate Europe.

The overall goal is that children across the world want a Dukla Prague away kit (although no necessarily for Christmas).

 

 

More likely, I will get fired, and either find another biscuit related team to take over (the only idea I have is Nice).

[scousevasey]

Welcome to the club

The profile picture of Mike Vitie is what happens when you load an image of a hobnob into the face generating option.  A bit of an element of The Thing from Fantastic Four about him.

Dukla Prague originally formed in 1948 as the army team, taking on the name they are recognised by in 1956 to remember soldiers who died in the battle of Dukla Pass in 1944.

Dukla Prague were one of the top Czech teams through to the early 1990s, but in 1994 the link between the club and the army ended, bringing about a time of trouble for the club.  After relegation to the third tier they then merged with Portal Pribram in 1996 known as 1. FK Pribram, who currently ply their trade in the Czech top division.

A local Prague team, Dulka Dejvice took on the traditional red and yellow of Dukla Prague, and played in the local leagues until taking over the rights of Jakubcovice to play in the second tier in 2006.

So it is not the same team as the song was about in the most direct sense, but it does give the option to take over FK Pribram at a later date if needed.

 

At the minute, I have loaded all of the out of the box Czech leagues, plus those of Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Austria, all countries that share a border with our starting nation.  If I do look to go to France, or anywhere else, then other countries can be loaded at a later date

[scousevasey]

Welcome to the club (Part ii)

This was the first information about the squad, with an interesting formation shown to begin with.  The fairly professional squad is a good sign, so bouncing back at the first time of asking should be manageable.

Having played a youth save last time out, it is nice to see the board want a focus on youth, and hopefully the facilities give us the best chance of this happening.  Attacking football should be manageable in the lower tier, but might be more challenging when promoted, depending on the talent we have available.

The desired part of the five year plan is interesting.  Can I spend reasonably big in years 1-3 then sell to make the shortfall in the last two seasons, or do I need to balance the books each year?

Developing youth will definitely help here, although I won't necessarily go strict youth only until I assess the squad and the club situation.  I don't want to commit to a youth save if it means I will be fired within a season, although if I venture into the transfer market the focus will be cheap young players that we can sell on for a profit which will keep the board happy.

Promotion is required this season, so no pressure for the unknown, untested biscuit fan, although relegation in the second season seems like it might be allowed as long as it is close.  By 2023/2024 Dukla Prague should be comfortable in the top tier, allowing a bit of time to bed in some youth prospects.

 

Next stop is to look at the club facilities in more detail, meet the squad and backroom staff and then start to consider our assault on the Czech Second Division

[scousevasey]

Welcome to the club (Part iii)

The facilities seem reasonable, so there is scope to utilise our intakes, but there is also room for improvement.  If Mike Vitie had some qualifications, or a reputation outside of his house, an upgrade of these might work, but I think it is more prudent to wait for a run of good form before getting an upgrade somewhere.

The money looks good, but the projection sees it dropping regularly, so we do need to get back to the First Division to ensure we don't hit any difficulty.  From the managerial side, there is space in the wage budget, but not a huge about of room, so if we do need to enlarge the squad there won't be too many coming in.

There is 20 players in the main squad, with more in the B team and U19s, so I assume that only 10 are registered for the league.  There is a difference that says the minimum squad size is 11, and 10, which may be a bug, but is not something we need to spend too long on.

 

The next stage is to develop a tactic, but that relies on knowing what players are at the club, so a squad review will come first

[scousevasey]

The Dukla Prague Squad

Two decent options in goal, with Rada probably close to the end of his tenure at 34.  With Hruska being in the last year of his contract, he will need to be tied down for longer, and will probably want to play more than as a backup.

Our best defender is out on loan at Bohemians 1905 in the top tier, and we seem to be paying his wages which seems stupid.

While he is our best defender, he is also 31, so having him out of the way gives some younger players the change to develop further.

All of the DCs in the main squad expect to be fringe players, so there is upheaval there as the starting spots are open, with the wide positions being mainly covered by versatile players, which explains the suggested formation including WBs

In midfield we have some quality in the middle of the pitch who can all play as DM or MC.  There is not a huge amount of width available if players are playing at WB either

Three striking options available who can all play a role, but they don't expect to all play regularly so a single striker formation may work

Outside of the main squad there are a few players who could step up in a pinch, and room for development,

Veniger at DC may get called up, especially if I go with a three DC formation, to give him a chance to develop further. Kott and Palacios could also step up this season with Dancak as a third option, but they all play MC so there is likely to be a logjam forming there

There is potential in the U19s, with Brunclik and Beran on the right having a good chance of making the first team, with Bares, Buchlak, and Machac being others who I would hope could make it eventually.

These five will probably move to the B team during the season to give them game time at a higher level

 

Overall I think the 20 players in the main squad, minus the player out on loan, but boosted by Veniger and at least one of the MCs will be enough to get through the season, but fitting the squad into some workable formations for us to use will be challenging

[scousevasey]

Opening Tactics

With the board wanting us to play attacking football, that has to play a part in the formation, as does the fact that we have a lack of players who fit out wide.

The introduction to the team gave a 3-4-3 formation, that has the midfield in the WB/DM strata, and then AMR/AML supporting a lone striker.  I don't think this fits the attacking philosophy with seven players lining up defensively, and a gap between the midfield and the front three, but the three DCs and WBs makes some sense.

This is the first attempt at a tactic, using the new (to me) suggested tactical styles.  Vertical tiki-taka seems to provide us with an attacking focus, but looking to control the play as we move the ball up the pitch.  This is listed as a 5-2-1-2 and was one of the formations linked to the style so it should fit nicely

When playing stronger teams, or those from the division above, this simple tweak, moving the AMC to DM to shore up the midfield gives us a bit of variety.

I asked the assistant for advice in picking the team for a first run out against the reserves to see what happened

A good start for the main squad, but not convincing at all.

The first squad controlled the shots, but not the possession battle.  I know that having both sides playing the same formation means they are both trying to play the same way, so our future friendlies will give a clearer picture of the formation.

What is interesting is that the formation is set to player narrower, with underlapping runs, both while the average positions matches this, the heat map shows lots of play out on the wings.  Having played the game via Instant Result, and not having the time to delve into each match in huge amounts of detail, I have to make assumptions, but it is likely that with both teams playing narrow with three DCs, and three central midfielders (2 MC and 1 AMC) the centre of the pitch was clogged, giving space for the WBs to roam forward slightly.

The first team have their DCs much wider in this, as the WBs push up, but the reserves have their three clustered together, which may be a product of being overrun but is certainly something to watch out for through the rest of the friendlies.

Having seen the result of the intra-squad game I have tweaked the instructions for the formations, moving the 5-2-1-2 formation to an Attacking mentality and boosting the tempo to higher, and the more defensive second formation (5-1-2-2) to Positive.

Hopefully these changes allow us to impress our will on some of the weaker teams we will face

[scousevasey]

League Preparations

A new country for me, so the league rules need visiting to find out more

The Second Division is fairly straight forward, with home and away fixtures against the rest of the league.  Fixture congestion shouldn't be an issue for us.

We are limited to five non-EU players in the team, and I assume this means if I want to bring a non-EU player off the bench I am still capped at 5, so would have to take one off in a like-for-like swap if I was at the limit.  I don't think this will be a problem in the first instance, and if we are looking for local young players, it will be fairly manageable.

Youth players can play no matter, as they are eligible for all matches, but there is also a squad registration.  Hopefully that means that any standouts from the intakes can make their impact early on if they are good enough

Top of the table is the aim, to make promotion easy, but there is a playoff with those at the bottom of the First Division if we need it.  The board expect us to win the league, so scraping through the playoffs might not be enough for the save.

The squad registration has to include four homegrown players, which puts a premium on good Czech players.  The best players will move to the big leagues, with the next tier of players being looked at by the bigger clubs in the top division, so the aim to break even on transfers should be manageable.  For the non-EU players it contains a group of former Yugoslav countries who may be looking to join the EU, and it means that the Brexit decision will be interesting for the save.  It could mean less interest in our players from England, unless they poach them young, and it means we won't be looking for English players to sign (I imagine the image of drunk Englishmen on a stag do in Prague stumbling on a trial day and trying to show their skills before falling flat on their faces)

I quite like the wage budget cap, as it makes sure we are not going to bankrupt ourselves.  And with terracing being allowed, all the stadium capacity is available, although when we reach Europe that will change

There is not a lot of money in the Second Division, with only the top three teams being shown as having prize money.  It is a good job we are not planning on sticking around too long

But if we are to reach the board expectations then we have a challenge on our hands to overtake Brno who are firm favourites.  The top four are a gap clear of the rest, but it does mean that we don't have too much leeway to ease into the save, and need to come out with a fast start in competitive fixtures.

Aside from the bottom two teams, it is a closely matched league, so there will be regular tough games, and managing injuries, fitness and getting a formation that works will be hugely important.

[scousevasey]

League Preparations

A new country for me, so the league rules need visiting to find out more

The Second Division is fairly straight forward, with home and away fixtures against the rest of the league.  Fixture congestion shouldn't be an issue for us.

We are limited to five non-EU players in the team, and I assume this means if I want to bring a non-EU player off the bench I am still capped at 5, so would have to take one off in a like-for-like swap if I was at the limit.  I don't think this will be a problem in the first instance, and if we are looking for local young players, it will be fairly manageable.

Youth players can play no matter, as they are eligible for all matches, but there is also a squad registration.  Hopefully that means that any standouts from the intakes can make their impact early on if they are good enough

Top of the table is the aim, to make promotion easy, but there is a playoff with those at the bottom of the First Division if we need it.  The board expect us to win the league, so scraping through the playoffs might not be enough for the save.

The squad registration has to include four homegrown players, which puts a premium on good Czech players.  The best players will move to the big leagues, with the next tier of players being looked at by the bigger clubs in the top division, so the aim to break even on transfers should be manageable.  For the non-EU players it contains a group of former Yugoslav countries who may be looking to join the EU, and it means that the Brexit decision will be interesting for the save.  It could mean less interest in our players from England, unless they poach them young, and it means we won't be looking for English players to sign (I imagine the image of drunk Englishmen on a stag do in Prague stumbling on a trial day and trying to show their skills before falling flat on their faces)

I quite like the wage budget cap, as it makes sure we are not going to bankrupt ourselves.  And with terracing being allowed, all the stadium capacity is available, although when we reach Europe that will change

There is not a lot of money in the Second Division, with only the top three teams being shown as having prize money.  It is a good job we are not planning on sticking around too long

But if we are to reach the board expectations then we have a challenge on our hands to overtake Brno who are firm favourites.  The top four are a gap clear of the rest, but it does mean that we don't have too much leeway to ease into the save, and need to come out with a fast start in competitive fixtures.

Aside from the bottom two teams, it is a closely matched league, so there will be regular tough games, and managing injuries, fitness and getting a formation that works will be hugely important.

[Deisler26]

Hob Nobbe?

[scousevasey]

Staffing situation

Before we progress to far, and in a first for one of my saves, I am delving into the staff situation to see if there are any improvements that can be made

One space available, so I have put out an advert for a general coach.  I would prefer to have four general coaches with reasonable stats than a specified coach of similar level, just to share the workload out.  Our GK coach seems good as we are one of the best in the league in that respect, but out fitness coaching is poor.

The Assistant Manager is reasonable, but his judgement could be improved, and if I am going to rely on him in the early stages for team selection there is a risk that it will backfire.  To try and limit this I will try to delve into the form of players, but I want the save to progress and not stall each time there is a game to be played.

I haven't advertised for a new Assistant straight away, but may be looking to in the next few  weeks depending on how the season starts

We are light on the recruitment side, but fairly well set.  I have put out an advert for a Chief Data Analyst, and a Scout, but won't make any major changes at the minute

We have more Physios than than the board want us to have, but still don't top out the league rating on Physiotherapy, and have no Sport Scientists, but top that ranking.  I have not put out any adverts for this area, but if we start to face a few injuries I will look to prevent them with a Head of Sport Science

There is a skeleton of staff for the minor teams, with no Reserve Manager.  I may look to get one, or see if we have any good options from the coach advert and see if they are interested in a sideways move.

 

 

[King Cactus]

Mike Vitie and that face scan are exactly the kind of content I'm here for, following.

[scousevasey]

Just now, King Cactus said:

Mike Vitie and that face scan are exactly the kind of content I'm here for, following.

The hardest part of the face scan was picking the points for the different features in a picture of three biscuits

 

[scousevasey]

Staffing upgrades

Three adverts went out, and all of them got decent responses

Vicek was approached to sign to due to having the best culmulative totat of those applying.  He is costing a bit, but should do a decent job, especially as an extra pair of eyes in evaluating our formation

Aubame didn't want a huge wage, but I did splurge £10k on securing his release as is ability to judge players is better than anyone at the club.  As an added bonus he brings knowledge of more nations, France and Gabon being the highest levels, so we have a wider pool of knowledge.  He has been asked to recommend a signing, but there is no guarantee I will follow through

One name jumped out from this list.  It helps that Edgar Davids has the most yellow attributes, and has none that are so low that they are grey, the only candidate that can say that.  Another expensive option, but he will be a difference maker, and again I have asked for a recommended signing.  His knowledge is of Holland, England and Suriname so we are widening the pool again

One signing the coaching team, and out Attaching coaching is now the best in the league. Edgar doesn't have the best Attacking rating, but he pushes us over the top, and his Fitness rating is a real boost.

The two recruitment additions make a clear difference, with us having the best recruitment team in the league.  I can still add three more Scouts, and a Data Analyst, but there is no need to at this point.  I may look for a second Scout later in the year, with the aim being to wider out pool of knowledge even more, but there is no rush on this

The World map is looking good for a team in the Czech Second Division.  Ideally we would get a foothold in South America, or China next

[scousevasey]

Season Preview

This lovely gem popped into the inbox, so Mike Vitie immediately went to his tactics board to draw up the suggested formation as a third option to turn to

Gegenpress gave him the choice of 4-2-3-1, and he then dropped the two MCs to DM, looking to have the Half Back cover for the Wing Backs when the push up.  The left hand side sticks more to traditional roles, with the AML staying out wide, and the WBL supporting, while the AMR cuts inside, with the WBR filling the space outside him.

The Regista should dictate play, but the risk is that there is a large gap between the DM and AM lines where we could lose out.  This won't be the main formation, but having a change of pace in the back pocket to dig out will be useful on occasion.

In terms of fixtures, these were all arranged on arrival.  We controlled the Jablonec game but didn't get a result, and then were overpowered by Sparta but snuck the win.  As we enter July I will aim to give a more detailed break down of results, and tactical findings, as we face some decent teams during June.  That will give four, or possibly five games to perfect any tweaks before the season starts for real

[scousevasey]

Tactical Musings

So far, all of the friendlies have been played using the 5-2-1-2 formation, with the aim of building up familiarity with the positions, roles, and to get a sample size large enough to make informed decisions, and not just hasty attempts to fix problems that don't exist

This is the formation, with the players who started our most recent fixture.  I am not too worried about us not covering the advanced left back area, but there is the opportunity for a AMCL to exploit the space behind out BBM, and for teams to double up on our WBs.

The positives are good, although we can't rely on long shots all the time.  The second one is backhanded, as it finishes by saying we need to tighten up in the defensive third, but while the opposition get the ball into the box they are failing to convert regularly

The negatives is a longer list, and the first one builds on one of our positives.  We get the ball into the box, but don't score often enough.

To counter the amount of possession that the opposition gets in our area, the suggestion is to change roles.  This is will be the first port of call, as I didn't tweak these on setting up, leaving the default ones in place.  This will require a look at the squad in a bit more detail to see what might work, and develop a depth chart that should help us consistently.

Posting this in depth will probably just lead to a screenshot heavy post, so what I will look to do, is go through the players who are suitable for the first team (posted above when introducing the squad), and work out the following

1) Who is most likely to start at each position - based on CA, PA, age, and comparisons of some key attributes for each position.  The attribute check should help avoid the flaws of CA/PA judgements especially as my staff don't have the best ability to make these decisions.

2) Who can back them up in times of injury/suspension/lack of fitness.  If a starter elsewhere is the second best option for a role, I will be looking to answer the question that arises about whether to play 2nd choice options in two positions, or play a first choice and third choice.  Obviously this will depend on the difference in quality between each option, and which positions are being affected at each time

I will then look to post up a mini depth chart, for each position, along with the roles that I have gone with to maximise our abilities, while trying to provide the best chance of meeting the requirements of the board to play attacking football, and win the league.

I am looking to operate with a squad of about 18-20 players, with us being able to have 7 substitute options, we won't have many players in the main squad who are not involved in the matchday squad, hopefully keeping players happy.  This will be affected by their expected playing time which was set before the arrival of Mike Vitie, so there may be some unhappiness that creeps in, especially if they start on the bench regularly, or get demoted to the reserves.

These are the fixtures we have played so far, to get the analysis above.

Jablonec and Sparta are both in the division above us, with Olympia being a lower division Czech team.  The fact we held our own against top division teams is a positive.

Red Star and Cluj are the reigning champions in Serbia and Romania, with Grasshoppers currently sitting in the second tier in Switzerland.

Based on the quality we have faced, the tactic is not awful, but a couple of tweaks to roles and instructions to shore up defensively (the only clean sheet was against our reserves), and to put us in a position to convert more chances (although we are looking a bit like Keegan's Newcastle with the scorelines currently) should help our league season

[scousevasey]

The dawn of possible unrest

I have built a range of squad views, linked to each position and some key attributes to view who is the best options at the club.  Once that is chosen I will look at individual roles, and how that helps the team shape

According to the CA rating there is a slight difference between veteran Rada, and Hruska our backup.  But looking at the attributes, while Hruska has more white (lower) attributes, he is stronger at handling, positioning, aerially, and concentrating.

Handling and Positioning are the first two in the list as I think they are key attributes for a GK, so if things were equal I would look to give Hruska the starting jersey.  But Rada is expecting to play, and has a contract until 2022, whereas Hruska is in the last year of his deal while expecting to be a backup.  If Rada was in the last year of his contract, or I knew he was looking to retire then I would make the switch without much worry, but Rada is the Vice Captain on arrival and one of two Team Leaders in the hierarchy, so swapping him out is likely to cause issues.

Hopefully I can play Hruska in the cups, and some games against relegation candidates to see if his play matches his attributes, and then either extend his contract with the aim of replacing Rada, or let him go for one of the youth team options to step up as backup/cup starter for a season as we gently prompt Rada to retire.

In terms of role, I am going to stick with a general Goalkeeper as I don't want to leave us any more open at the back (having noticed this was on Sweeper Keeper).  One step, hopefully, to keeping some clean sheets.

[scousevasey]

Defensive liabilities

Having been able to delve into the choices more with the squad view set by attribute, and not having to show each player on their own, I am going to continue in this vain.

Tackling and Marking are our two key attributes here, but there is a lot of similarity across the five options, and we do have flexibility as non of them expect to be a regular starter.

All five players are most comfortable as a Central Defender, so the two Ball Playing Defender roles will go, and we will have three Central Defenders, with the middle of the three on a Cover duty, with the wider two set as Defend.  There is the possibility to add a Stopper in, but we will wait to see how the Wing Back discussion goes, and how the changes made here work best.

I probably want to keep all 5 DCs in the main squad, with three playing, and the other two on the bench (DC, DC, WB, MC, MC, AMC, ST as a first thought positionally).

Veniger has the fewest white/grey attributes listed, but is lacking in composure which could lead to mistakes.

Fisi has the highest number of poor attributes, so is likely to be one of the bench options

Chlumecky and Veniger can't play together, unless we are struggling, as they are both lacking in composure, so I imagine the penalty area would be like an episode of Keystone Cops.  I would rather have Chlumecky on the bench to start as Veniger has the better anticipation to break up attacks before they become dangerous.

Starters

Kozma, Piroch, Veniger

Bench

Fisi, Chlumecky

Wing Back is and interesting position, as we have some wide midfielders who will be looking for a chance to play, but don't match our formation perfectly, and that means the Assistant Manager is likely to want them out of the starting lineup.

Doudera stands out as being our bench option if I go with one WB on the bench as he is able to play both sides.  While he isn't the fittest, he can tackle, and has decent stats for the attacking side of the position.

Preisler is facing off with Holik on the left, and Holik while not being listed as a WB has the best balance of stats, including being a better tackler, fitter and quicker.  He will require a closer look at individually, as he can also play at AMC so can slot in there.  As both Holik and Preisler expect to play regularly, there will need to be some balance in keeping them both happy.

Soucek and Koval will be battling for the right hand position, but Koval doesn't really suit the defensive side of the role.  One option is the push him to be Wing Back - Attacking, but he can also play AMC so the decision can't be finalised until then but there is a plan forming.

Starters

Holik/Preisler, Soucek

Bench

Doudera

Odd man out

Koval (with the footnote that he may stay in the first team squad as an AMC option.  With him expecting to be a regular starter, he is another that needs a closer look

[Johnny-Trotter]

23 hours ago, scousevasey said:

The hardest part of the face scan was picking the points for the different features in a picture of three biscuits

 

I just noticed how the logo for Dukla Prague also seems to have 3 biscuits overlapping so that seems fitting.

[scousevasey]

Midfield maestros

The midfielders, especially the MCs will have a lot of responsibility for supplying the strike partnership, even more so when we play defensively with our AMC dropping to DM.

With the midfield taking on a huge burden, fitness will be key, with Krunert standing out for the wrong reasons with his poor Natural Fitness and Stamina.

Kott may be one for the future, but his poor positioning and passing will see him drop to the reserves along side Krunert.

Doumbia is probably the strongest player overall, but his best role isn't one I am looking at currently, so there will need to be tweaks.

Hasek and Tetour expect to play regularly but Hasek doesn't jump out as being better than players such as Jakab, so I may look to return the loanee although we are not paying his wages which is a

benefit.

While I called up Kott and Palacios due to their potential to play neither is ready yet.

Dancak will stay in the main squad for when injuries hit, but will be made available for the reserves on a regular basis

Starters

Doumbia, Tetour

Bench

Jakab/Hasak

If we play with a DM, then Doubmia will drop deepest, with Jakab being my first choice to step into the starting lineup

For the AMC role, the ability to cover ground will be key as we look to regain possession.

The biggest challenge here is that four of the five players who can play here, all expect to play regularly, and none of them are best suited to the position.

Passing is fairly even across the board, with Hadascok falling behind due to being poorer on the ball.

It looks like the deeper look are Holik and Koval will be key in deciding who starts as the AMC and who is the backup, along with the needs at WB

Starter/Bench

Holik/Koval

If one is playing WB, there is the possibility of putting Hasek on the bench with the ability to play MC and AMC giving him a chance.

[scousevasey]

Attacking all-stars (hopefully)

We are short on options here, with only three players in the main squad, and a shortage of players knocking on the door to join the debate.

The formation originally called for a Poacher, and a False Nine, but pairing a Poacher and a Pressing Forward may help us defensively.

Hadascok is our best option, hence the proposed role change, with Bezdicka edging out Ayong but it is a close run thing.  I have prioritised the First Touch and Technique for the Poacher role, but the low determination of Bezdicka is a worry, with Ayong's stronger Positioning and Composure.

Starter

Hadascok, Bezdicka

Bench

Ayong

If we face a serious injury (more than two games in length), then I will have to consider whether to play with 2 AMCs and 1 ST or call up a prospect to fill the bench role.

[scousevasey]

41 minutes ago, Johnny-Trotter said:

I just noticed how the logo for Dukla Prague also seems to have 3 biscuits overlapping so that seems fitting.

If I had any graphic design skills, I would be rotating the picture, and then adding the Dukla wordmark before adding it to my profile as the cover image.  As it is, any attempt I make would look like a three year old has decided they are bored of colouring and instead try to take up interior decorating

[scousevasey]

Tactical musing (post friendlies)

After the discussions above we set out into July playing our starting 11 to see how it went

Some good results against reasonable opposition.

Darmstadt are in the German second tier, so a better league than our own, and Levski are in Europe after their travails in Bulgaria last year.  Having made it past Levksi we face a short turn around to face West Brom of the Championship and we were taken apart, but had some reasonable chances

There is a gulf in class between the two teams but we performed admirably, especially in the second game in two days

The Heerenveen game gave us and odd visual in the review

Our three DCs were barely involved in the game and have no passing combinations, and the WBs played as if they were in at AMR/AML instead

The Analytics show that we are doing well, but there isn't much to read into the formation from this.  We do need to work out our left sided defence, but this is minor tweaks linked to roles.  I will wait to see what happens as the league kicks off.

This is the starting lineup for the first league game we will face.  There are two changes from the squad management above, with Doudera moving from the bench to WBR, and Gudmundsson moving to the bench in his place.  Holik is starting the season on the bench to see how Preisler does, and Koval has performed well in the AMC role in friendlies so I want to give him a chance.

The reason for the change at WBR is twofold.  Firstly Soucek picked up a hamstring injury against Taborsko and is out for up to four weeks. Secondly, he may be out for longer

I wasn't looking to loan one of my planned starters out, but Prostejov came in offering to pay his wages and £1.8k a month.  I countered with £4k playing, and £8k for sitting on the bench.

The lowered the £8k to £5k, so I went back with both figures at £5k which they accepted.  Soucek wanted to be able to speak to them because he is seen as a Breakthrough Prospect in terms of playing time, and Prostejov are offering for him to be a regular starter.  Even though he would be a regular starter for me, it gives him a chance to fulfil his desires, and he will be back partway through the season.  As he will be sitting out a month of the time due to injury, we are getting a bonus £5k for nothing.  Add in the fact we will get another £25k through the rest of the loan, which isn't huge in the general scheme of things, but is something useful to consider, as the board expect us to break even in the transfer market, making a profit on loans is one way to do this.

When he comes back, he will slot back in at WBR, unless Doudera is ruling the league.  Gudmundsson is a poor replacement on the bench, but as he is only 16 there is a chance of him developing for the future, and taking advantage of any playing time he gets.

[scousevasey]

League Preview

We are expected to be fighting for the title, which the board expect us to win.

In terms of the start to the season we have a reasonable challenge first off facing sides expecting to be in the top half of the league, before we get to face Chrudim who are expected to struggle.

Through to the end of August we are not facing any of the big hitters, so we should be able to get off to a good start and get the board on side.

Hopefully lower division opposition in the cup will give us a chance to rotate the team a little, but in the first instance I will be sticking with the projected team bar minor tweaks to include Holik, or for injury until we are able to gauge the quality of the rest of the league and of our tactic.

[scousevasey]

The start of the season

Two months, seven league games, twelve points.  Not ideal for a team expected to win the league, but we have made a good start, and have even managed the much awaited clean sheet.

The opening game of the season was a bit of a shock result, with us expecting to beat Trinec, or at least draw, and with three minutes remaining the draw looked probable.  But the ten men of Trinec decided that enough was enough and destroyed us in a short burst.

The second game against Prostejov should have been a clear win, but we couldn't score, and our overly attacking formation hurt us.  After this game I changed the mentality from Attacking to Positive, moving it back a notch, to see if we could avoid overstretching ourselves, and it paid off with the run of wins, even if that includes two lower league cup games.

   

These are the passing maps for the final three league games, Varnsdorf, Usti, and Vlasim from left to right.

Even with the move to Positive, we are still very attacking, with 21 being our WBR as one of the most advanced players, although our WBL (7) is more defensive.  The close positioning of the MC-AMC-ST grouping is a little worry, unless they can pass themselves out of the mess.

It does leave our GK quite isolated, and our three DCs quite spread out.  I think the tactic needs more tweaking, either in Team Instructions or the Player Roles, but this will take time to work out.

I won't make too many judgements until we get back to full fitness, as we had a few issues develop early on.

Jakab looked ready to rotate into the starting lineup with good performances in training.  Dancak being injured at the same time left our MC depth a little light.

Fisi hasn't been needed in defence yet, but before the injury the Assistant Manager wanted him to get some playing time.

Gudmundsson stepped up due to sending out loans, but has not been able to sit on the bench after making an early appearance.  We are struggling for WB fitness, so his return is needed, but he cannot be rushed or we end up repeating the same issues.

Krunert is the worst injury, and it could really hit his ability to reach is PA, with us not seeing him until March.

Running with a fairly small squad has meant that the bench depth was missing as the August went on, with some youth prospects getting to experience the big match atmosphere, but it does leave us stretched.  There are a few players grumbling about the low levels of training, but I don't want to increase it and risk further injuries.

The run of four wins in the league does mean that Mike Vitie is the best manager (in the Czech Second Division).  Ideally this wouldn't get too much attention, as the board won't let him get a coaching qualification as they are scared that he will jump ship.  Clearly they are not aware that his (mild) obsession with the club runs deep and he won't be leaving unless they force him out, but it does mean it will take a while to boost his ability

There is a temptation to ask for upgrades at this point with the recognition, but there is still the risk he is early on in his career, so we will wait to see if there is another good month

Nine league games left in 2019, with Brno highlighting this as we get to October.

[scousevasey]

Getting nervous - someone pass the biscuits

After ticking over into September, the board updated me on how Mike Vitie has settled in

C+ is a good start, with the loss highlighted being one that was disappointing.  The lack of support issue is possibly an issue.  A couple of players came to complain about the regime but couldn't be persuaded that the season was still young.

On a closer look the reason I don't have the support is a lack of reputation, but the board don't want to risk losing me so won't help improve that reputation.  This circular reasoning could be an issue, so I have build into the training a bit of team bonding and community outreach to try and boost the support levels within the squad.

I also added an advert for a scout to try and unearth some decent youngster who we can incorporate into the main squad, trying to avoid  old mercenaries, and help us build to the profit making aim of the club, so hopefully we can find some decent players who can fill a hole in the squad during the winter.

The board aren't happy with our results either, with the three losses grading out at an F, which is to be expected for a team who should be winning the league.  Our other wins are seen as average due to the lack of exciting play, which is something that links in to improving the tactics, and how they will develop

There are 9 players of influence at the club, with Holik, Koval and Hasek being the worrying ones as they are not all getting the game time they might want.  To help with this, Holik has dropped to WBL to allow Preisler a rest which was reported as being needed, Koval has come in at AMC, and I will look to start Hasek at some point in the next few games.

If I can get the trio of Rada, Tetour and Holik on board then hopefully we can build further improvements

[scousevasey]

Building a big club

After a good win to start September, Mike Vitie though the board were in a better mood, so went to knock on the door

While he will still be the lowest rated coach in terms of qualifications he is on the path, and hopefully being able to hang his certificate in the office prominently will stop all the whining players congregating.

The results of the job advert for Scouts came back too, and Dukla Prague are gaining quite the following of high profile names.  Clearly Subbuteo was huge in Holland (Edgar Davids) and Sweden, as Mike Vitie was able to capture the signing of a Swedish FM superstar

This again widens the scouting knowledge of the club, and while the board will only allow scouting of Eastern Europe, the knowledge of these areas could help when we are able to expand our borders

[scousevasey]

Vitie realises mistake

News has filtered down through the rumour mill at the club, that Mike Vitie signed Kallstrom and Davids having read a scouting report from old versions of Football Manager.  He thought he had managed to get a coup in persuading two of the biggest midfield names in the world to sign for lowly Dukla Prague.

He is now attempting to save face with the team, by challenging them to a staff vs players match, where if the staff win the players can't complain about his managerial limitations.  If the staff lose, all the players get a contracts length worth of chocolate hobnobs

[scousevasey]

Vitie holds biscuit in cup of tea too long - starts to crumble

September was the start of a terrible run of form, with Dukla Prague rotating formations between the 5-2-1-2 and 5-1-2-2, swapping the AMC for a DM.

Vitie did look to play his 4-2-3-1 DM formation in one game, but after making the switch and choosing his starting line up in the week before the game a spate of injuries struck is wide players, meaning he was back to the 5-2-1-2 formation

The major issue is that there are three strikers at the club, all of whom are struggling to score

Bezdicka was dropped to the bench due to a lack of form, but still gets brought on by the Assistant Manager, but is yet to score this season.  Both Hadascok and Ayong have scored, but also had lonng periods of time without scoring

The rumours of Vitie's demise started to swirl, with the player discontent growing, and eventually the board calling a meeting and setting a points target.

11 points in five game, starting with the home match against Jihlava in November.

That loss meant it was 11 from 4, basically meaning four straight wins, although the staff stayed positive.

To get the previous 11 league points had taken ten games, with nine of those in the first four games before a losing streak.  The pressure was building

Fortunately against high flying Prostejov, Vitie was able to scrape a win meaning the chance to save his job is still on.

And there is now a three month break before the next meaningful game, spanning December, January and February.  There are two things that will be done during this time.

1) Bring in some decent attacking options, and see what else is available.  During the Summer window the DoF was busy finding loan options, but Vitie rejected them as they all came with a monthly fee, and expected to play regularly.  He is going to be less discerning now, hunting out everything he can find.

2) Tweak his 5-2-1-2 formation.  Vitie is still committing too many men forward, even with both WBs on Support, meaning they are vulnerable to a counter attack.  He will start by dropping the overall mentality back another notch, and the lines of engagement back too.  The WBs need to stay on support as they are the only width in the team, but the balance needs looking at.

Three games in March to save the job, and the career.  Vitie is working the phones to fill February with a range of friendlies against pub teams, aiming to boost the players confidence and hopefully integrating any new players to his system.

Even if he keeps his job in this run, there is still a gap to the top of the table that will need to be closed.

If Vitie is able to secure his job he will be a maximum of five points behind Trinec and Varnsdorf after beating them both, but still possibly 8 behind Brno, with the board expecting that to be overhauled.  Hopefully a strong run in the second half of the season will be enough to encourage the decision makers that Vitie can build something good at Dukla

 

 

[Declan Cahill]

On 19/11/2019 at 18:49, scousevasey said:

Having moved house over the summer, I cleared the loft and put all of my Subbuteo on eBay.  But it got me thinking about the classic game, and inspired this save.

 

The best way to get a Dukla Prague away kit, must be to manage them right?

Only seeing this now, was going do the same... Don't feel the need to now, will watch on with interest.

Good Luck!

[scousevasey]

2 minutes ago, Declan Cahill said:

Only seeing this now, was going do the same... Don't feel the need to now, will watch on with interest.

Good Luck!

I have a feeling that if you do attempt it, there is a higher chance of success

[Declan Cahill]

38 minutes ago, scousevasey said:

I have a feeling that if you do attempt it, there is a higher chance of success

Did a test runon touch, pretty much went same way as you, preseason was worse, playing on attack but couldn't score, getting beat 1-0, 2-0 the odd 0-0 draw. Changed to a flat 5 at the back (attacking FBS) 2 DMs 1 MC, 1AMC and I went out and got a big target man up top. Last 2 friendlies both 3-0 wins, target man assisted 5 of the goals scored the other. Then he got injured and it all fell apart again. Board weren't happy with my defensive style of play, and the fans couldn't 'digestive' it either.

Gna try it again though, its a fun challenge. Can't wait to see your progress

[scousevasey]

9 minutes ago, Declan Cahill said:

Did a test runon touch, pretty much went same way as you, preseason was worse, playing on attack but couldn't score, getting beat 1-0, 2-0 the odd 0-0 draw. Changed to a flat 5 at the back (attacking FBS) 2 DMs 1 MC, 1AMC and I went out and got a big target man up top. Last 2 friendlies both 3-0 wins, target man assisted 5 of the goals scored the other. Then he got injured and it all fell apart again. Board weren't happy with my defensive style of play, and the fans couldn't 'digestive' it either.

Gna try it again though, its a fun challenge. Can't wait to see your progress

I did a test of FM20 on Beta where I started unemployed and ended up at Alfreton, but had Czech league loaded to see how it went.  Dulka went up, but they were going through managers, so it does seem to be a demanding board

 

Currently running through trying to save the season with some signings, which may end up with a new formation depending on who agrees

[scousevasey]

The rescue operation is underway

Mike Vitie was sat in the office, with his squad enjoying their mid season break, scouring YouTube for highlights of anyone who could kick a ball, when he was handed the brown envelope.  Before the rage could grow that the board had not kept their promise to give him five games, the paper slipped out

Midfielders.

Just lots and lots of midfielders.  Vitie remembered reading about a visionary who played with no strikers, and just midfielders.  Something he may have to read up on if he continued with rubbish in front of goal

Later in the month his musing was interrupted by a certificate arriving

Vitie has added it to his email signature, and has asked the board for it to be added to the sign on the managers door.  The laughter from the board room is still echoing in his head...

Still, he has three games to show the board what he is made of

And he has some new players to help him on his quest.  His standing with the squad is so low, that he can't annoy them any more by dropping them, so hopefully this injection of players will make the difference.

Details on them will follow once they arrive at the club

[scousevasey]

January Sales sees Vitie splash out

The transfer window opened on the 25th January, with Vitie having lined up a range of signings, with one player arriving ahead of this due to being out of contract previously

Another option at AMC, which may give the freedom to move to the 4-2-3-1 formation that should help in the future.  Not worth a huge amount at £72k, but for a free signing it is a start, and if he is able to improve, or prove himself there is a profit to be made

Kira is the stand out signing for quality purposes.  He will come in as the starting GK, with Vitie having to look to loan out one of his other options to avoid further issues.

The three at the top are signed with an eye on the future

As mentioned, the new number 1, who hopefully is able to perform well enough to keep the job when promotion takes place

Signed to help with the issues of depth at WB, although Soucek has returned from his loan so there is a bit of a log jam again.  Gudmundsson will drop back to the reserves, and Doudera who was originally slated to be the bench option is able to rest after having to play through some tiredness as the losing run crept on

CB is a bit of a weakness for Dukla with lots of players expecting to be on the fringes of the squad, but no real standouts.  Laczko goes into the mix

Recommended by Kim Kallestrom when he was arriving Lund has the chance to develop into our lynchpin at the back.  He will be fighting to play this season but should step in permanently next season

Flexibility and cover for the 4-2-3-1, which had to be scrapped due to injuries during the autumn.  A better fit at AMR than AMC, so there is a chance he will stake a claim for the starting berth

Our new striking option, who adds a little pace to the game.  Not really going to set the world alight, but he is a fresh face, who isn't dealing with the trauma of our striking options from the first half of the season.

 

Vitie now faces the challenge of persuading his squad that these additions are a boost to the team and not a threat, and will be trying to move to the 4-2-3-1 formation which should bring more defensive solidarity as well as a balance of attacking threat

To do that he has 11 friendly games to test out who works, who doesn't and to tweak roles.  Vitie himself arranged games against smaller Czech teams, while the bigger games were invites that were accepted to provide a bit more challenge.  Hopefully the weaker teams allow the Dukla Prague to build some confidence, before testing themselves against reasonable opposition ready for the key three games in March

[scousevasey]

The fight to save a career

Seven wins in friendlies, although the early goal scoring promise did dry up.  Partially to avoid players picking up injuries, partially in rotation to find out who fitted the formation best.

A few changes to the 4-2-3-1 moving the DMs to MC to aid transitions up the field, but with both MCs on a defend duty to help shore up the defensive woes.

The big player missing here is one of the new signings

Laczko managed to make it through one friendly before rocking up in the medical room

 

Three games to save Mike Vitie's job

Three wins required

First up, the team in third, who beat Dukla 3-0 in the first game of the season

Something about the number three...

Poor game, but a win is a win, with one of the new signings making an impact

Two games to go....next up is a team languishing in 12th in the table, and who sacked their manager seven days before our fixture...

[scousevasey]

The crumbling remains of a once great empire

An early goal, a poor conversion rate, and we lose to a team we should beat.

So Vitie is gone.  The dream is dead.

 

I am going to go through to the end of the season and see if anyone is interesting in hiring the shell of a man, crushed by his failure, if only for one reason

Edgar Davids quit in principle.  If Vitie gets another job, Davids will follow for this loyalty

[Declan Cahill]

1 hour ago, scousevasey said:

The crumbling remains of a once great empire

An early goal, a poor conversion rate, and we lose to a team we should beat.

So Vitie is gone.  The dream is dead.

 

I am going to go through to the end of the season and see if anyone is interesting in hiring the shell of a man, crushed by his failure, if only for one reason

Edgar Davids quit in principle.  If Vitie gets another job, Davids will follow for this loyalty

Unlucky mate. Least you made it to Xmas to get the shirt

[scousevasey]

40 minutes ago, Declan Cahill said:

Unlucky mate. Least you made it to Xmas to get the shirt

The worst part of it is

The new manager took the team on a run to 3rd place in the league, and then promotion

Clearly an issue with tactics, and manager reputation causing unrest early in the season.  I had players complaining about the Mike Vitie regime before a game had been played.

 

Anyway that is the season over, and no job offers were forthcoming, so now to find another save idea to explore

[scousevasey]

Refreshing the save

I have decided to come back to this save idea, but not the original save. I have been struggling with my geographical tour and in the back of my mind there is a nagging voice saying that this could be done better.

So here goes.

Most of the information is the same as before, in terms of leagues loaded, manager name, and the opening messages from the board, but there is one key change.

In the previous attempt, Mike Vitie was an unqualified appointment with no badges and no experiences of playing football outside of a friendly 5-a-side at the biscuit factory on a Tuesday evening.  He did try to get involved in a 6-a-side league but wasn't good enough to be picked.

This time he has the experience and qualifications suited to Dukla.  Hopefully this will help negate some of the early morale issues and give a chance to delve further into the idea.

The aims - competitions

1) Get promoted, as the board expect

2) Stay in the top division

3) Challenge for the title

4) Win the title

5) Compete with some success in Europe

6) Win a minor European trophy

7) Win the Champions League

The aims - club

1) Develop the players at the club

2) Don't sign anyone, but to rely on the youth intakes

3) Build a structure that allows young players to progress

[scousevasey]

In the beginning...

With the aim to build the squad up, I have taken to using the @Shrewnaldo designed skin that contains an IR button, but also removes the attribute values on the player screen.  This means the aim will be looking at what sort of players suit the tactics, and focusing on developing the important attributes.

I have fiddled with the colours of attributes to try and get something that stands out in terms of what we are after.

Blue is cold, so something we want to stay away from, especially in terms of key attributes for a position. This will cover attributes between 0-5

Green is average here, 6-12 which as we build the squad will end up hopefully be the majority of non-key attributes.  Although as we start in the 2nd division after relegation it is likely to dominate attributes early on

Purple is good, and will be a key marker early on, especially in working out where youth players will fit best. 13-16 is a good range, and in the long term most players will be purple in the key attributes

For the best attributes I have tried to make a gold colour (gold standard).  This is 17-20, and will highlight if we have any players that are developing to be world class.

 

I have used a similar system with the player position indicators, but I will be looking to use the attributes for positions to shape where players are going to play, and not really the position indicators in the first instance.  What it will highlight is if any players that I am retraining are becoming more comfortable

This is the first tactical idea I want to build around. I will admit that I am not a tactical genius (except in my head, but it never translates to FM), so I am open to suggested improvements to the formation and choice of roles

The aim is to work in two packs of 5, allowing us to be solid at the back, and with options in attack.  But there is work to do on roles depending on what the players look like after detailing the attributes that are going to be key.

Back 5

I have a soft spot for the HB role, and that is linked to a save back in FM17 where I managed to get it to work really well and allow my FBs to roam.  My understanding of the role is that in possession they will drop slightly deeper, allowing the DCs to move wider to cover the channels.

In the past I have used this for the FBs to push forward, but this time I am going to set them as IWBs with the idea that in possession we have a pentagon forming to protect from counter attacks.  The two IWBs and the HB are then available in the middle of the field to recycle possession when the opposition prove tough to break down.

Front 5

The MC pairing is something I have struggled with regularly in terms of FM tactics.  I have chosen the Mezzala and Roaming Playmaker to try and provide some attacking thrust as there should be a solid bank of defence behind them.

With the wide AM roles differing, the AML set at winger is designed to stay wider and leave space for the Mezzala to push into.  On the opposite side the AMR will cut in to join the lone striker who is on the default AF role.

This is the the idea in my head of what the formation looks like in possession.  The HB has dropped slightly moving the DCs wider, with the two IWBs stepping up to around the halfway line.  The two MCs have moved forward and are pushing level with the AML while the AMR has pushed two players into the box.

 

The next stage is to look at the roles I am using, and what attributes are going to be important, to allow me to set up some squad views for each one that can be used to decide on what the squad looks like.  This is similar to what I tried in the first version of the save, but as the formation is different there will be slightly different attributes chosen, and deciding on players will change a bit due to the attributes being coloured blocks only.

I am also going to refresh the staff as much as I can.  To do this I am going to use the staff search tool, but set it only to staff who are interested, and look for high character options.  When given a choice between two or three staff members who are similar, I will choose slightly lower attributes with a better personality as it is easier to improve attributes through courses than to change staff mentalities.

 

[scousevasey]

Attribute requirements

This is going to utilise the attributes highlighted on the player profile when roles are selected, and use these as a start point to decide how I am going to sort the players.

But I also want to keep the number of attributes that I am using to sort the players down to 10 if possible otherwise I am basically comparing the whole player and not important attributes.

For each position, I have taken a screenshot of the highlighted attributes for a random player at the position, focusing on the chosen role, and duty for that.  This is linked to in the naming of the duty, although the attributes are listed in the post too.

Goalkeeper - defend

Eventually I may want to move to a sweeper keeper as we have a higher line of engagement but for now we are starting with the GK-D role

Key attributes - Aerial reach, Command of area, Communication, Handling, Kicking, Reflexes, Concentration, Positioning, Agility

Important attributes - One on ones, Throwing, Anticipation, Decisions

Chosen for sorting -  Command of area, Communication, Handling, Reflexes, Concentration, Positioning, Agility, Anticipation, Decisions, Determination

I have dropped Aerial reach as I think being in the right place and making the right decisions are more important.  I would rather the GK makes every save look easy because they are ready for the shot, than they have to perform acrobatics and leap high to get the ball.  While this affects their ability to come and claim a corner, if they are tall enough and can jump the fact they can use their hands should mean they can claim the ball.

I also dropped Kicking from the list as this is more for distribution, and while I haven't told the GK how to distribute the ball, we are looking to play out of defence and the Back 5 should always offer a decent option for the GK

 

Central Defender - defend

Another role I am not fixed on but it is the default and I want to see how it works with the IWB and HB before I change it around

Key attributes - Heading, Marking, Tackling, Positioning, Jumping reach, Strength

Important attributes - Aggression, Anticipation, Bravery, Composure, Concentration, Decisions, Pace

Chosen for sorting - Heading, Marking, Tacking, Positioning, Anticipation, Composure, Concentration, Decisions, Pace, Determination

I have dropped Jumping Reach as my limited understanding is that this is linked to height too, so a short player will never have a great Jumping Reach, and I will consider the height of my DCs when selecting them, especially with the Youth Intake and retraining them to the most suitable positions.

Strength has also missed the cut as I can see it playing a role in battling for the ball, but I don't personally see it as vital, but that is because when I play football, I am a skinny runt and can defend by using positioning and being able to time a tackle as opposed to pure strength to push an attacker off the ball

 

Full Back - IWB - Support

This is going to be an important role if the formation works as I want it to.  They will need to be able to contribute going forward, but in the congested middle of the field, so it will rely on more footballing ability than an old fashioned full back does

Key attributes - Marking, Passing, Tackling, Decisions, Off the ball, Teamwork, Work Rate, Stamina

Important attributes - Dribbling, First touch, Technique, Anticipation, Composure, Concentration, Positioning, Acceleration, Agility

Chosen for sorting - Passing, Tacking, Decisions, Work rate, Stamina, First touch, Anticipation, Positioning, Acceleration, Determination

Marking is useful defensively, but I am aiming for the IWB to be used as an mainly offensive role where they won't be asked to man mark.

Off the Ball seems allied to Positioning here, and again in my limited knowledge, I see Positioning to be more important to where they end up on the pitch.

Teamwork is another one that is useful, but I am trying to keep the lists to 10 attributes and it slips down the list slightly.

 

Defensive Midfielder - HB - Defend

The role for me in real life.  I am defensively minded, but average height and poor in the air so not suited to DC, and can't be bothered with all that running up and down like a full back.  Instead I will sit as the deepest player while the team attack, offering an option for a simple pass, and occasionally making a walk (never a run) if there is a space to exploit.  Having spent years playing fullback in Rugby and safety in American Football I prefer to read the game here and break attacks up in this way

It may be why I like the role so much

Key attributes - Marking, Tackling, Anticipation, Concentration, Positioning, Teamwork, Work rate, Stamina

Important attributes - Heading, Passing, Aggression, Bravery, Composure, Decisions, Jumping reach, Strength

Chosen for sorting - Tackling, Anticipation, Concentration, Positioning, Teamwork, Work rate, Stamina, Composure, Decisions, Determination

Again I have dropped Marking from the list as the focus is on how we use the role to set up offensively and the skills required for that.  While it is important when we work defensively, if we are moving in transition we are looking to press to regain the ball, and the combination of Anticipation, Concentration, Positioning and Work Rate mean the HB should be able to get in the correct places defensively to help shut down attacks

 

Midfield - Mezzala - Support

Key attributes - Passing, Technique, Decisions, Off the ball, Work rate, Acceleration

Important attributes - Dribbling, First touch, Long shots, Tackling, Anticipation, Composure, Vision, Balance, Stamina

Chosen for sorting - Passing, Technique, Off the ball, Work rate, Acceleration, Dribbling, First touch, Vision, Stamina, Determination

Decisions drops off as they have a safety net behind them, and the combination of Passing and Technique should set them up nicely.  They might make the wrong decision on occasion but they should have simple options available and use their vision to make the incisive pass forward

 

Midfield - RPM - Support

Possibly the most important role in the side, controlling the front five and the attacking element of the side.  The cover behind them means they are free to roam and find pockets of space where they can dictate the game

Key attributes - First touch, Passing, Technique, Anticipation, Composure, Decisions, Off the ball, Teamwork, Vision, Work rate, Acceleration, Stamina

Important attributes - Dribbling, Long shots, Concentration, Positioning, Agility, Balance, Pace

Chosen for sorting - First touch, Passing, Technique, Anticipation, Decisions, Vision, Work rate, Acceleration, Stamina, Determination

This was the toughest so far to get down to 10, due to there being twelve attributes listed as key.

Composure is dropped with Decisions chosen instead.  This is the opposite of the choice defensively, with the aim being that we need someone to make good decisions to break down defences.

Ideally they would have good Off the Ball to find the spaces, but I can't find room in the ten attributes for it.

Teamwork also misses out as I think the Work Rate fills a similar role here, and the links between players will develop as their comfort in the system grows

 

Wide Attacking Midfielder - Winger - Attack

While the original tactic has this on the left with the IF on the right, depending on player suitability this could swap over, and the the MC roles would swap similarly

Key attributes - Crossing, Dribbling, Technique, Off the ball, Acceleration, Pace

Important attributes - First touch, Passing, Anticipation, Flair, Agility

Chosen for sorting - Crossing, Dribbling, Technique, Acceleration, Pace, First touch, Passing, Work rate, Stamina, Determination

Off the ball drops out as I want them to stay wide and hug the touchline.  This will stretch a defence by bringing the FB out wide, and with the two MCs moving forward will pressure the opposition midfield to track them.  With the other wider AM cutting in to occupy the DC and the mind of the FB as they run between them, we should start to overload defenses.

I have added Work Rate and Stamina that are not on the list as I am expecting the Winger to run a lot, and will require them to track back and keep shuttling

 

Wide Attacking Midfielder - IF - Attack

An important part of our attack, cutting in from wide to join the STC in the box, and hopefully ghosting between the FB and DC to sneak goals.

Key attributes - Dribbling, Finishing, First touch, Technique, Off the ball, Acceleration, Agility, Balance

Important attributes - Long shots, Passing, Anticipation, Composure, Flair, Pace

Chosen for sorting - Dribbling, Finishing, First touch, Technique, Acceleration, Anticipation, Composure, Pace, Stamina, Determination

Off the ball is dropped here, as again it think the other attributes make up for it.  Anticipating the crosses, then the physical attributes to get there, before he composure and ability to finish.

Agility and Balance are two physical attributes that drop off as I think the Stamina to get into the box, then back out to chase the ball if it is lost will be important.  I was also tempted to add in Heading if they are trying to get on the end of crosses, but that might get set to low or driven crosses for a tap in and not a header

 

Striker - AF - Attack

The focus of the attack, and another role I am not tied to, so it may change

Key attributes - Dribbling, Finishing, First touch, Technique, Composure, Off the ball, Acceleration

Important attributes - Passing, Anticipation, Decisions, Work rate, Agility, Balance, Pace, Stamina

Chosen for sorting - Dribbling, Finishing, First touch, Composure, Acceleration, Anticipation, Decisions, Work rate, Stamina, Determination

Technique is useful for a striker in terms of quality of shot, but fails to make the list as Composure and Finishing will shape the scoring ability too.

Off the ball is left off again (I don't dislike it, but I don't think it is one of the most important attributes - happy to be persuaded otherwise), with Anticipation, Work Rate, Decisions and Acceleration working together to ensure they are in the correct place to get chances.

 

The aim is to create a squad screen filter for each position, like the one below, to be able to compare the players for each position.

For the GK, as you can see, the things on display are if they are picked to play, and information (Yellow Card warning, injuries or suspensions), their name.  These are general to help with making sure I know which player is which

Position is their official position, but I will use the outfield ones for all players in the beginning to see if anyone needs to be retrained, and for the Youth Intake in the same way.

Height is included for decisions around DC, FB, DM, AM and STC.  It is not vital, but having short DCs in a pairing is going to negatively affect our ability to defend corners, so some might move to the FB or DM positions

Then there are the 10 attributes, sorted in a way that I think puts the most important (personally) to the left, and leaves Determination to the right.  Determination is the righthand most attribute each time, and one of the ten for all positions as it influences a lot. 

I have added Morale to see how this changes, and influences the play.  While typing this I have realised I should have Personality showing too, as we want to build a positive culture around the team.

General happiness is only included in the listing so that I can shrink the attribute lists to their minimum size and not have one huge column to the right of the screen.  It is not really going to be shown most of the time.

 

The only problem I have currently is that on this screen, the attributes are showing.

Having added in the Personality here, you can see the attributes listed.

While I can glance at the colouring as a guide, ideally I want this to look like the player profile page in terms of hiding the attributes.  I have asked in the Skinning Hideout for advice about this, and hopefully it can be resolved, but if not I will try to use a glance at the colours instead of in depth look at each list.

Using this image as a guide, to explain how I want to use the attributes.

There is no gold apart from in the Determination column.  Those two players will have an advantage in a close decision, although Andrijasevic's Unsporting personality counts against him.  There are no purple determinations, with Stovicek looking likely to be overlooked as his low Determination will see his head drop after a goal goes in.

When glancing at the rest of the attributes, Rada stands out due to the number (5) of purple attributes (2nd best ranking), with Buchlak and Janda both having three purples.

That would mean I would have Rada as first choice, with Janda as the backup.

If I compare this to a general squad page, Rada still comes out top according to the star rating, but Hruska would be the backup, with Janda and Andrijasevic being the 3rd choice battle.

Now using this idea, I am going to aim to do the following

Rada as starter, but with Janda rotating against low ranking teams, and in the cup.

Hruska offered out for loan, with the other three dropping to the B team and U19s.  As Andrijasevic is only 15, he might go to the B team with the aim of getting him in a mentoring group to try and improve his personality so we can develop him for the future

 

This is a massively long post, so I will stop there, and delve through the rest of the squad in the next series of posts, as for every other position it involves two full screens of players in the squad view.

[scousevasey]

Staffing review

This is the picture on arrival.  Which looks positive, but I imagine most of these are holdovers from being in the top division last year.

Coaches

We have space to add one coach in, and Fitness looks like our weakness

There is a lack of gold and purple here in terms of attributes, but the first focus as explained earlier is to look at Personality.

We are mainly Balanced, which is not great.  So I will look to refresh the whole team to bring in better options based on personalities and then attributes

Recruitment

Again the personalities are mainly balanced, with middle of the road attributes

Shocking data analysis levels, especially as this is the highest in the league, so an easy win there in terms of finding high personality data staff to help out.

As we are going to focus on our youth, I am going to start by getting a Chief Data Analyst, and one additional Scout, plus a replacement Chief Scout, but otherwise leave this team small.  The two scouts will be asked to focus on our opponents, and Czech football so we have clear knowledge of our competition

Medical

Again the curse of balance.  This is our weakest area in comparison to the league but we have more physios than we need.  I will look for what we can get to replace the three we have with two better options, and for a Head of Sport Science to boost our competence in that regard, but don't think we need the full complement of Sport Scientists that we are allowed

[scousevasey]

Searching for staff

I am using the staff search tool, but filtering for people who are interested in joining the first team.

I am also filtering by personality, using the option for multiple conditions to have 'or' between them.  The personalities I am filtering for are

Model Citizen

Model Professional

Professional

Born Leader

Dertermined

Fairly Determined

Fairly Professional

Leader

Resilient

Not all of these will be great for players, but they will all have attributes that will be beneficial to players, and if the players are interacting with these staff members hopefully the personalities have an effect on them

Medical

The plan is to find a Head of Sport Science, Head Physio, and Physio to start with

Head of Sport Science

We have offered the job to Christian Achhildes as he is Fairly Professional and is the only person in the filtered list with a purple rating

Physio

We hit an issue here

Petr Hana stands out for his physiotherapy attribute, but wanted wages that we couldn't afford.  Michal Verner has a stand out determination, but is blue in terms of ability which rules him out.

The only possibility is Lukas Svoboda who is purple for determination, and green for physio ability, but that matches one of our physios already, so we are not gaining anything.

Ideally the Head Physio would be purple or gold so I don't want Svoboda in that role, and the change in personality is not enough to replace two physios with one.

 

Recruitment

The plan is to find a Chief Data Analyst, Scout, and possibly a replacement Chief Scout.  This is slightly easier as we are not replacing people for two of the roles

Chief Data Analyst

The focus here is going to be the Judging Data and Presenting Data attributes, along with Determination and Personality.

Jakub Sluka is the choice here, as he is green in all three of the data categories, and purple in terms of determination.

The best options we had were all green in terms of data attributes, so it came down to determination.  There was a choice between Sluka and Urban at this point, so I chose based on Sluka being better in terms of Tactical Knowledge (the column next to determination) which should theoretically play a part in his analysis

Scout

A much shorter list here and some outliers with two people who want to be managers, and one who wants to be coach.

Martin Poustka stands out in terms of being purple across the board in judging and determination.  But he is currently employed as a Manager, and wants to stay in that role.  He was willing to step in as our U19 Manager, but I haven't looked at coaching abilities which are more important there.

Rustu Recber stands out for his personality, but he is also a manager at heart, so instead we have contacted Armin Ronstedt about signing.  He is the only scout with any purple (determination) so I have offered him the chance to join as a scout, and we won't replace the Chief Scout yet

 

As there are more coaching roles, I will make that a separate post

[scousevasey]

1 minute ago, scousevasey said:

Searching for staff

I am using the staff search tool, but filtering for people who are interested in joining the first team.

I am also filtering by personality, using the option for multiple conditions to have 'or' between them.  The personalities I am filtering for are

Model Citizen

Model Professional

Professional

Born Leader

Dertermined

Fairly Determined

Fairly Professional

Leader

Resilient

Not all of these will be great for players, but they will all have attributes that will be beneficial to players, and if the players are interacting with these staff members hopefully the personalities have an effect on them

Coaching

We are missing a coach, and the big weakness in is terms of Fitness coaching.

I would prefer to have the four coaches be 2xGeneral, 1xGoalkeeping, 1xFitness, and we have one of each currently so there will be a look to replace all of them, and the Assistant Manager, but it will depend if the upgrade is worth it

Fitness

Start with the biggest weakness

Not a lot of options, and instead of sorting by determination as with the other hunts, this is sorted by Fitness coaching.

A sea of blue is interrupted by Bernard Gines, who is green in fitness and determination, so better than our current option

Goalkeeping

An interesting one to look at as the incumbnt is purple in all three goalkeeper coaching attributes, but has blue determination

Mart Poom, Derby legend, is an upgrade as he is purple in goalkeeper coaching to match the incumbent, but also in determination, and as a nice bonus working with youngsters.  The real icing on the cake is that he is a Model Citizen

General

Our current coach is probably safe, as he is Fairly Loyal, and purple in terms of determination, but green elsewhere so if there are lots of purple options he will go, but otherwise I am only looking for one option

Another long list, and a lot of blue and green showing up.  Ignoring those who are green or blue in terms of determination, which rules out Erwin Vandenbergh who is the only gold rated coach, but a blue in terms of determination.  If there was an easy way to boost this I would add him in, and if he is interested when we have more coaching roles available I might bend the high determination criteria rules due to his ability.

But aside from that there are only 4 other people listed with purple attributes, one is a manager, two are DoFs and one is an assistant manager.  While Jari Litmanen has a blue attribute in his coaching (defending) he has two purples, is a model professional, and while he wants to be an assistant manager is rubbish at judging players, so we asked him to be a coach and he was happy to agree.

Interesting to see the two purple attributed DoFs are Tony Adams and Brian McBride, so if I decide to change the DoF there are decent options available

Assistant

As I am using the attribute lists to help judge players, the ability of the assistant manager to judge player ability is of reduced importance, but the comparison of ability to potential will still be useful so it needs to be reasonable (better than Jari Litmanen's)

The incumbent is green in terms of determination, and judging as well as mainly green in terms of coaching attributes

There is not a huge about to choose from.

Jari Litmanen is highlighted as we have offered him a job as a coach.

Darko Suskavcevic is possibly the best option with purple determination, working with youth, and defending attribute, but he wanted too high a wage for our budget.  We might be constrained by having the incumbent still in position, but I don't want to leave the club short.

Edwin Vandenbergh is back again, and would make a good option if it wasn't for the poor determination.  This is more important in an assistant as I will use the IR button so it will up to him to lead team talks and motivate players in games.

Head of Youth Development

The stand out option here is Martin Poustka but he is employed as a manager and wants to stay in that role.

Helmut Raher is an option, but I think I will stick with the incumbent for the minute and see what happens

[scousevasey]

On 25/05/2020 at 20:33, scousevasey said:

Attribute requirements

This is going to utilise the attributes highlighted on the player profile when roles are selected, and use these as a start point to decide how I am going to sort the players.

But I also want to keep the number of attributes that I am using to sort the players down to 10 if possible otherwise I am basically comparing the whole player and not important attributes.

 

The aim is to create a squad screen filter for each position, like the one below, to be able to compare the players for each position.

For the GK, as you can see, the things on display are if they are picked to play, and information (Yellow Card warning, injuries or suspensions), their name.  These are general to help with making sure I know which player is which

Position is their official position, but I will use the outfield ones for all players in the beginning to see if anyone needs to be retrained, and for the Youth Intake in the same way.

Height is included for decisions around DC, FB, DM, AM and STC.  It is not vital, but having short DCs in a pairing is going to negatively affect our ability to defend corners, so some might move to the FB or DM positions

Then there are the 10 attributes, sorted in a way that I think puts the most important (personally) to the left, and leaves Determination to the right.  Determination is the righthand most attribute each time, and one of the ten for all positions as it influences a lot. 

I have added Morale to see how this changes, and influences the play.  While typing this I have realised I should have Personality showing too, as we want to build a positive culture around the team.

General happiness is only included in the listing so that I can shrink the attribute lists to their minimum size and not have one huge column to the right of the screen.  It is not really going to be shown most of the time.

 

The only problem I have currently is that on this screen, the attributes are showing.

Having added in the Personality here, you can see the attributes listed.

While I can glance at the colouring as a guide, ideally I want this to look like the player profile page in terms of hiding the attributes.  I have asked in the Skinning Hideout for advice about this, and hopefully it can be resolved, but if not I will try to use a glance at the colours instead of in depth look at each list.

Using this image as a guide, to explain how I want to use the attributes.

There is no gold apart from in the Determination column.  Those two players will have an advantage in a close decision, although Andrijasevic's Unsporting personality counts against him.  There are no purple determinations, with Stovicek looking likely to be overlooked as his low Determination will see his head drop after a goal goes in.

When glancing at the rest of the attributes, Rada stands out due to the number (5) of purple attributes (2nd best ranking), with Buchlak and Janda both having three purples.

That would mean I would have Rada as first choice, with Janda as the backup.

If I compare this to a general squad page, Rada still comes out top according to the star rating, but Hruska would be the backup, with Janda and Andrijasevic being the 3rd choice battle.

Now using this idea, I am going to aim to do the following

Rada as starter, but with Janda rotating against low ranking teams, and in the cup.

Hruska offered out for loan, with the other three dropping to the B team and U19s.  As Andrijasevic is only 15, he might go to the B team with the aim of getting him in a mentoring group to try and improve his personality so we can develop him for the future

 

This is a massively long post, so I will stop there, and delve through the rest of the squad in the next series of posts, as for every other position it involves two full screens of players in the squad view.

Building on the exploration above I have then gone through and used the nickname feature to remind myself of the opening decisions.

There is a risk here, as players will develop over the season, but I will talk through some of the reasoning behind the names too

Each of the six GKs at the club now has a nickname.  They have lost their first names just to avoid space issues, with their depth chart position included

As detailed above, Rada is GK1 (first on the depth chart at this position) and Janda comes in as his backup.  To avoid filling the post up with just a series of images, these two are linked to via their names.

The reason they have been given the nickname including their depth position is to make things easier in terms of picking teams.  This is always slightly simpler when it comes to a GK as they rarely rotate, get injured or suspended, and will usually only change if there is a really poor run of form, or a decision to start a different GK in the cup.

Rada is 34, so he is getting to the end of his time at the club, and while based on age Hruska is the next best option he and Janda are close in terms of attributes, with Janda having the slight edge, and with him being younger and slightly better at this stage he gets the backup role.

To avoid Hruska getting upset he will be moved on hopefully, so I have set an asking fee for him, that is equal to his value, as well as listing him for loan.

Now this is done, those going to other squads (GKb_ being the B team and GKu19 being the U19s) have moved squads.  Originally every player was moved up to the main squad for the decision making process.  I know this can be done with filters, but moving then moving back allows it to be clear which positions have been covered (although because I am going to ignore positions and rate the best player for every position regardless they won't move until all positions have been considered)

 

The big challenge will come when considering flexible players.

Consider a player who is suited to DM and MC.  That means they theoretically have the skills to fill three roles (plus possibly one of the IWB roles too).  When creating the depth charts in this instance, what I will do is to rate them without considering the B Team or U19s.  This means we could end up with a player having a name that is "Surname IWBr3 DM2 Mez1 RPM3" which will be long and may well confuse me eventually, but should help sort out the best team structures.

For the other positional decisions, there will be two pages as a screen shot just to show their ratings by position.  To avoid another hugely long post (it will be long anyway) these will be hidden as spoilers, with the top few players per position linked to in their names.

Once done, I will post a starting 11, and their profiles, as well as my preferred substitute bench

[scousevasey]

Sorting positional depth - Back five

As a quick note, all screenshots of listing were done before going through any positions, so nicknames won't appear on these.  For the individual player ones the nicknames will appear as I go because this post is being written 'live' as I sort it the game

DC-Defend

Because there will be two starting DCs, the depth chart will go down to 5 or 6 to cover for injuries etc.

Spoiler

The first thing to note is there are no gold attributes.  Not hugely surprising as we are a 2nd tier team in the Czech Republic, but there is some gold rated determination which is nice to see.  The hope will be that in doing this we weed out some of the poorer personalities and determinations to help as we grow as a club.

From first glance we have some players with 6 purple attributes (including determination) so we will start there and see what comes of it.

Kozma and Fisi stand out with 6 purple attribute so will both be listed as DC1 (There is going to be some flexibility with naming especially if players are close in rating)

Chlumecky and Kovernikov both have 5 purple attributes (Kovernikov has gold determination that I am including here) but both have a blue attribute which counts against them) and are going to be DC2

Holik is listed as a M/AM (LC) yet comes in with 5 purple attributes as a DC so will be DC3.  He may never play DC depending on what comes later, but it is an interesting thing to note early on in this quest

Piroch has 4 purple but one blue so is our DC4, with Kosik also having four purple so being matched with him as DC4

That means there are seven players listed as a DC using this system which should give us enough depth 

IWB-Support

My overnight musings have led me to think about removing one of these roles to a FB-Attack that would work in concert with the IF-Attack.  This would give us a wide pairing of IWB-S and W-A on one side and FB-A and IF-A on the other, with both sides having one player who stays out, and another who moves inside.  Depending on how the formation works I may consider this change as we move through the preseason, but it would depend on the balance of right vs left

In regards to sorting the IWBs, I will start by looking at who fits in the position by attributes, then see if they are left or right footed to see which side they fit.  Their nickname will be in the format IWBr1 or IWBl2 to help with this (although the capital i and lowercase l look similar

Spoiler

The first thing that jumps out is that our supposed DMs are more suited to the role than our FBs.  Not a surprise really as in attack they play as a DM.  This does mean that I am now thinking the split system might be better in terms of giving a balanced side, and not rejecting all of my FBs from the side, but it is still early (they may sit nicely as a different role)

Krunert has a strong 7 purple attributes (gold determination as one of those), but one blue.  As a right footer he is slotting in as IWBr1

Dancak shows up with six purple attributes and is left only in terms of foot so will be listed as IWBl1

The next best two options are Tetour and Hasek who are both right footed and will be IWBr2 and IWBr3.  While they have the same number of attributes that are purple, Hasek is on loan, and technically a DM/MC/AMC so moving him may upset his parent club

That means the balance of our top 4 players is skewed to the right which is a slight worry at this stage

Holik pops up as another useful player rating fairly high as an IWB.  He is listed as an AML but is right footed.  So I have tagged him as IWBl2 because there is a shortage of options.

All of the next best options for IWB are all previously listed in the DC depth chart and right footed which means that IWB-L is going to be an issue.

Yet another case for moving to a FB on one side, but I will leave a little bit to think about that as the availability of AML and AMR options will affect this

HB-Defend

The final position in the back five, and one that is fairly central to the formation.  But it is one that often shows up poorly in terms of role suitability, so this will be an interesting test

Spoiler

This looks the weakest of our options so far.  Maybe the role suitability is correct then.

Holik and Kozma are the only two options with four purple attributes and pop up in our lists again.  They are getting the HB1 listing but this becomes a bit of a balancing act to ensure we are at our best overall.

Three players all have three purple attributes and no blue ones so get the HB2 label. Fisi is our other DC1 further adding to the confusion, Tetour gets a second tag too and is 2nd rated in both.  The third HB2 is actually a striker in Ayong which is interesting.  Even more interesting is that in his full profile his tackling attribute is green, so not even a big weakness.  Depending on our striker balance he may end up as the starting HB

There are four players getting the HB3 listing as they have three purple attributes but one blue.  There is an interesting question here about whether three purple and one blue or two purple and no blue are more important.  But if the player is playing the position regularly, hopefully the blue attribute increases meaning there are more purples earlier.  They are Krunert, Dancak, Kosik, and Kovernikov who all have already got a listing anyway

Summary - back five

A couple of interesting things thrown up with a MC/AMC being suited to DC and a STC being suited to DM, but that is part of the fun, and something that it is worth finding.  The challenge currently is that all of the players listed as fullbacks originally have been overlooked so far.  They may suit our MC roles, or even the winger role we are looking to use, but it may be something that leads to the tweak of the formation before games start.

Based on what we have found the change would be to have the DL set as FB-A and matched with a IF-A at AML which is a change from the original orientation of the AMs

 

Next up will be the front five, and then I will show the whole squad with all their nicknames in full.  Once this is done there will be a look at who needs to move out of the club, and how this will impact on the hierarchy and dynamics, which is what sunk the original save.

[scousevasey]

Sorting positional depth - Front five

There is no order to the two MC slots, although the Mezzala will stay on the side of the Winger to avoid compressing space.

Mezzala-Support

Spoiler

The starting few players are all versatile in the formation, so the labelling varies slightly.

The clear leader here is Krunert, but he is also our best IWBr so that gives a bit of a challenge.  There are three players ranked as Mez2, and some of them are new to our listings, with Dancak being flexible too, Ditmar and Hadascok showing up while being listed in other positions originally.

There are more flexible players listed as Mez3, in Hasek, Tetour, and Holik, before we get more new players who are Mez4 due to only having 3 purple attributes in Doumbia a natural midfielder and Kolman who is listed as a striker.

RPM-Support

Spoiler

We get five players here, under two different labels, and all of them have already been listed

RPM1 - Hasek, Dancak, Krunert

RPM2- Tetour, Hadascok

Hasek is number three in other positions which gives him the headstart on filling this role, while the other two have another '1' in their names.  Hadascok looks to be a useful MC despite being shown as AMR/ST originally

Winger-Attack

Onto the next variable position, with both left and right options available.  Originally a left sided role, if there are more right sided players then that will play into the conversation about possible change at DL.

For the Winger we will be looking for players to be same sided in terms of foot (left footer on left wing)

Spoiler

This is where the whole plan has hit the buffers.  With only three positions to go, it turns out some players have run out of space in their name as they are so useful.  Maybe my attributes are too similar.

Because I can't tag everyone, I am looking at something slightly poorer here.  There are very few purples to the left hand side of the table, which are the attributes most important to the role, so we are only listing two players here

Hadascok is WingR1, with Travincek a newly labelled player at WingR2.  Both options are right  footers, as are most of the midfield options, so the tactical change looks likely, although the next position can scupper that

IF-Attack

Really we are looking at left sided players, which means right footers as they will be cutting in.  I won't rule out a left footer for the left hand side, but it seems a switched preference is better here

Spoiler

Hadascok steps up as one of the best options, but is our only real option on the opposite side.  He still gets the note, but it is likely that Kolman will get the first chance to start.

A few other options available with Fabry being the lowest of these due to his very poor determination (blue), Ayong showing more versatility, and Vlcek making an arrival on the lists.

All of these five players are right footed, so suit the left hand side with a 'l' in the reference.  After finishing this, I will go back and look at the DL position to be a FB role instead

AF-Attack

Hopefully we will have some options here with seven players listed as only a striker, and one who is a striker as part of multiple formations.

Spoiler

Five players all clock in with three purple attributes here, so I have separated them out with the three who have purple finishing being listed as AF1.  They are Vlcek, Kolman and Fabry.  All three have shown up elsewhere, with Kolman likely to start at AML-IF, leaving Vlcek as the starter.

Getting the AF2 tag is Ayong, and Hadascok who has no more room in his name

Summary - Front five

A shortage of options in the three attacking positions, but we have enough to get by.  There will need to be a look at DL to plan the change of role which will help with the very busy few players who ran out of space early.

Once that is done, I will show the full names of everyone, so the depth chart is visible, and work through those players who didn't get a place on the list.  Some are young so will drop to the B team and U19s, but any who are high up in the hierarchy will need to be dealt with carefully

[scousevasey]

Role change

So after the very long posts detailing the depth, we are massively short at DL, and generally left sided players.  So I am looking at a change of role for the DL.  I going with Full Back, but unsure about Support or Attacking

 

The descriptions don't really help with the decision but the key and important attributes will be what makes the difference

These overviews are from one of the few players listed as a DL at the club.  Looking at his best role as a DL it is the one I tried, but he doesn't have much in the way of purple, which may be part of the problem we faced.

Looking at the attributes most of them are the same, with some swapping between the two roles.  any showing up in just one list will be in brackets

Key attributes - Crossing, (Dribbling), (Marking), Tackling, Anticipation, (Concentration), Positioning, Teamwork, Work rate, (Pace), (Stamina)

Important attributes - (First touch), (Marking), Passing, Technique, Composure, (Concentration), Decisions, (Off the ball), (Acceleration), (Agility), (Pace), (Stamina)

Chosen for sorting - Crossing, Marking, Tackling, Anticipation, Concentration, Positioning, Work rate, Pace, Stamina, Determination

This is a little bit messy due to the crossover

FB-Support

I have decided to go with the Support role for ease and to try and keep things balanced

Spoiler

Nobody stands out apart from the midfielders who are fully stretched.  So I have dropped to focus on green attributes, and hope we get a decent option coming through

Preisler will get the start, though Coufal is also in as FB1.  The issue with Coufal is his young age, but he is the best options we have for the chosen attributes.  Soucek and Kropik will be FB2 as Kropik is a better option but only 15, while Soucek has low determination

That means the formation now looks like this with the idea of what this will look like in possession next to it