[FM20] Voltaço

[wesl]

I fired up FM and visited this forum for the first time in months. Excited to dig into this thread! Huge progress already but getting over the hump in the Brasileirao might be the toughest challenge in Brazil.

[_Ben_]

43 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Finding 'Ronaldo'

There would be little point in managing in Brazil if I didn't want to try and find/create a version of my favourite player growing up, Ronaldo. I mentioned him in the post just about Fernando and, whilst he's now a good finisher, just isn't pacy enough or dangerous enough with the ball at his feet to be truly Ronaldo-esque.

A little bit more on this...

I've used his attributes to create some very similar spider diagrams to the ones I'm using to track youth development - remembering that older FM/CM did not have all of the same attributes. Here he is, compared to my Joao Fernando:

Not as fast, good in attack, technical or built as physically. 

To show what a great player he was - I've compared him with some of the best forwards in the game:

• Marcos Leonardo (ex Santos non-newgen) - here. Not as good!
• Hugo Bravo (current Balon D'or winner and newgen) - here. A little more intelligent but lacking strength and speed.
• Kylian Mbappe (legendary forward) - here. He's probably past his peak so is losing some in the physical category but nowhere near as much of a presence in the air.
• Serkan Ozer (up and coming Bayern newgen) - here. If he wasn't 5'10" and poor in the air, I think he'd be the closest player to that Ronaldo type.

--

I think that goes to show just how good that 21 year old Ronaldo was way back on CM3 (and in real life until injuries took their toll).

[_Ben_]

19 minutes ago, wesl said:

I fired up FM and visited this forum for the first time in months. Excited to dig into this thread! Huge progress already but getting over the hump in the Brasileirao might be the toughest challenge in Brazil.

Thank you so much! I had wondered where you'd gone to!

I actually found the survival in the Brasiliero a bit easy, and that was a shame, but - as you've said, breaking through the glass ceiling does seem a bit harder. We almost have to have a perfect run as, with so many games, bad form combined with fatigue just seems to ruin the squad.

[Jimbokav1971]

On 28/06/2020 at 19:18, _Ben_ said:

Ok - this is not easy to explain, so let me do my best!

FM uses CA (current ability) and RCA (recommended current ability) to generate the attributes for a player. I'll take a completely random player to best explain this:

This is some Antiguan that I've never come across before and will never come across again, but I'll use his attributes (and, more importantly his RCA to explain) as well as the editor that I installed to change the kits. He currently has these attributes and I can tell you that the ratings are as follows:  Left foot: 16, Right Foot: 20 (this is important later)

He is currently like this:

If I change him, initially, to have 20 for each foot - I get this:

Now to 10 for his left foot and 20 for his right foot:

And now 1 for his left foot and 20 for his right foot:

----

So, what you're seeing is that being two footed essentially 'uses up CA' and, the way that I have interpreted that is that an Either footed player may be 1 or 2 points lower in certain attributes than a player who is one footed - yet may have a higher RCA (and, is very rough terms [obviously excluding all of the stuff like suitability for the role] is a better player).

I think this is why there is so much more to look at a player than those visible attributes.

Let me know if that makes sense!

 

Excellent post. 

I really must get around to reading this whole thing. 

[keeper#1]

2 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Finding 'Ronaldo'

There would be little point in managing in Brazil if I didn't want to try and find/create a version of my favourite player growing up, Ronaldo. I mentioned him in the post just about Fernando and, whilst he's now a good finisher, just isn't pacy enough or dangerous enough with the ball at his feet to be truly Ronaldo-esque. My search for the new Ronaldo will revolve around this image, which took me back a little:

At just 21, he has amazing acceleration, balance, pace, and technique and his shooting, flair, off the ball and dribbling are also world class. These are the attributes that really make the perfect Brazilian forward to me. Fernando is great, but his lack of pace makes me want to move him away from the last shoulder and allow him to utilise the space from the wide left.

If I was to just get another good striker through my intakes...

I assume you are looking for young Ronaldo and not Fatnaldo.

[Fosse]

Ronaldo owns a stake in Valladolid, not sure if that information is of any use tbh 

[_Ben_]

19 hours ago, keeper#1 said:

I assume you are looking for young Ronaldo and not Fatnaldo.

There are some sporting pictures that just make me sad. There is the one of the Brazilian man crying whilst holding the World Cup as they are dismantled by Germany and then there is this one:

That pace and power makes me want this to be photoshopped, but it isn't. 247 goals in 343 games across a variety of top clubs is just phenomenal.

19 hours ago, Fosse said:

Ronaldo owns a stake in Valladolid, not sure if that information is of any use tbh 

I did know this, but I can't really work out why!

[_Ben_]

Debuts

Antonio Carlos becomes the youngest ever Carioca player as he got 25 minutes against Madureira. I'm still not entirely sure how I want to develop him, though...

[_Ben_]

Player Development: Antonio Carlos

Player attribute breakdown. Current attributes.

I really like Antonio and I think that he is quite a unique player. You often find that your traditional playmaker, the classic #10, to be a player who rarely works for the team and just waits to pick the ball up before creating something. Antonio is the opposite of that and I think it'll really play to my strengths. I worry that he does lack a little of the intelligence to be a proper creative outlet but, at only 16 years old, I know that'll come with age. Looking at the breakdown of his attributes, I did toy with making him a very creative sort of forward - but I don't think that'll fit with my style as I think a more pure offensive forward would fit better with him in behind. Additionally, the breakdown that I created on Excel rated him better as a deeper playmaker, but, to me, developing his defensive attributes to a good level would stop his offensive attributes reaching a great level, and that is also an area where I do have plenty of depth.

Therefore, I've settled on keeping him as an AMC but I want to train him in a different role. I have no intention of using his as a Shadow Striker, but I think it will improve certain areas of his game and help him become a more rounded forward. With that schedule, and an extra focus on Ball Control (Dribbling, First Touch and Technique) means that his training will be developing the below attributes:

I do worry about his lack of flair, especially for a Brazilian midfielder and his technique isn't where I'd want it to be. I know that @Mikaelinho has long battled improving the Flair of a player so I'll have to create the Hard Working Playmaker rather than the Unpredictable Playmaker that the likes of Ronaldinho perfected. 

---

He's in a very good mentoring group, as seen below, which will hopefully bring on his personality, which is currently Fairly Ambitious and Level Headed:

• Ambition 15-20,
• Loyalty 10-20
• Professionalism <18
• Leadership <19

Obviously, the Model Professionals will improve that and I hope they they too can work on his determination as the 'mentors' have 17, 16 and 17 respectively for Determination.

---

In terms of his playing time - he'll make the odd appearance in the Carioca State and some cup football, with very little expectation on league play at this time. Here is his long term plan:

As a Future Prospect, I think five to ten substitute appearances would be a target and next year I'll look at bringing through some starts in the easier games before making him more of a key player in the State Champs and a substitute during league play in 2034. I think this is a solid plan as he'll be 18 at the end of that season and I'll be able to see whether he's ready to be a fully fledged member or move out on loan from there.

 

[Fosse]

Seeing as I've made a few other comparisons already, I'll chip in with another... he looks like a (very!) young Kevin De Bruyne to me.

Edited July 7, 2020 by Fosse

[_Ben_]

11 hours ago, Fosse said:

Seeing as I've made a few other comparisons already, I'll chip in with another... he looks like a (very!) young Kevin De Bruyne to me.

I must admit to having never managed De Bruyne in any FM game, which is a real shame, but, yes, attribute wise, very much so:

That physicality will come with age and, if I can get him a bit more technically proficient - could be very similar. I don't currently use players in the MC strata, which is fine, but I think that his work rate could see him actually becoming a bit of a Free 8 but a little more advanced than De Bruyne. Because his attacking isn't as strong as Kevin's - I wonder whether the Comes deep for ball might allow him to pick the ball up, use it and get the most from his hard work?

EDIT: Here is a screenshot of his FM15 profile, too.

Edited July 8, 2020 by _Ben_

[_Ben_]

Poached player

I can't find the original screenshot, but Luis Claudio was poached from our academy before he came through the intake...

It's safe to say that he's gone on to develop pretty well at Botafogo. We have 5% of his next sale and Tottenham are swooping, which may mean we see some extra funds, not that we need them. Out of interest, they are quoting me £20m to sign him but, with the Tottenham interest, I think I'll be priced out of his wage demands.

EDIT: As expected!

Edited July 8, 2020 by _Ben_

[_Ben_]

2032 Carioca State and Cup Review

Just the thirteen games to warm up for the rest of the season but what a start we've made!

This is our second Carioca win in a row and also our most comfortable - with three victories (albeit one on penalties) over Flamengo, showing that we really are turning into a force to be reckoned with in this competition. We have recorded our best points tally, goals scored and goals conceded as well as now moving to a highly impressive 38 games undefeated, stretching back to 27th January 2030. Joao Fernando was the top scorer with 16, four shy of his stupidly impressive 20 last year, I won best manager again and Christian and the aforementioned Joao came second and third in the Best Player award but the pair did scoop first and second in the Young Player Award.

---

A nice easy run so far and a competition that I'd really like to add to the trophy cabinet soon, given our 1st Rnd exit last year. We face Serie C side Confianca in the fifth round so I expect to be able to win that with a rotated squad.

---

Nice and steady here with comfortable progression to the knockout phases, which are now expected by the board. My only concern though is that five of my players have, who are important first teamers, have played in all of these games - which is a little naive in my eyes, with such a hectic schedule to come. 

[_Ben_]

Getting on the 'development radar'

I'm pretty focused on developing as many players as I can for this club but, to be fair, we aren't where I want us to be yet in terms of squad size and number of players I am trying to develop - with the four prospects: Flavio Aurelio, Nathan, Mazinho and Antonio Carlos being the only ones with any real promise. However - I do have some players outside of the first team 'group' who are developing nicely:

Elias Custódio Santos. Ricardo Guilherme. Patrick.

Elias is pacy, can dribble and is unpredictable - so I guess it's only right that he has the below media label. My staff aren't too sure of his potential but I think this is very much a case of needing to look past that and see what he can offer. I would like him to be a slightly better finisher, if I'm honest and would also like to see how much I can improve the passing/technique so that he can be a quite rounded winger. That would mean he wouldn't fit into my current tactical plans - but that is where this save needs to go: adapting for the individual development of the player and, playing by the Brazilian influenced individuals over the collective team kind of mantra.

Guilherme is two footed so that is costing him a little in attributes - so I'll always look at him a little more favourable, however, he's fit, can dribble and finish so, in essence, an ideal wide forward. He does lack in the intelligence (as seen om the overview screenshot) somewhat and needs work on his personality but I think a loan to a club in an easier State Championship next year could get his scoring going and kick start some development.

Patrick is a little older and has appeared a little more regularly in the first team and is another player I like but he's more of a playmaker than a forward I think. He comes deep, picks the ball up well and makes good decisions and, right now, we don't have the right type of players who can get in behind and feed off that. With neither any better than good dribbling or passing, he's kind of caught in the middle and I wonder if he's a little too old to really forge an identity as a forward or a midfielder, which is a shame. I think some game time will definitely be beneficial for him but he won't be getting it here, in the short term, at least.

[_Ben_]

Loan Move

Oeste are a lower table Serie B side with average facilities but are managed by Fabinho Santos, who impressed me with how good he is at working with youngsters.

--

I was honest with the reason why I loaned him out and Patrick said he was happy with it. I've got my scout out watching him every match and I'll try and go and watch a match to see how he does and how they deploy him. Santos plays a little more direct than we do  so it'll be interesting how the slight, not pacey forward will fit in! The kind of loan deal that makes or breaks a youngster.

[_Ben_]

24 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

We face Serie C side Confianca in the fifth round so I expect to be able to win that with a rotated squad.

...oops!

[_Ben_]

Player Face

Looking at his development made me think that he's actually pretty good, so I gave him a better face!

[_Ben_]

12 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Loan Move

I wonder if I am setting this lad up to fail...

I mentioned that the Oeste boss plays direct, but there is a little more to it than that. Looking at the team stats - Oeste have got the lowest cross completion ratio of anyone in the division - just 18%, yet have completed 47 - the third highest amount. They also have the highest pass completion ratio, at 80% but only manage, on average, 50% of the ball a game. When looking at the statistics on their squad screen - it all their defenders who sit atop the pass completion (number and % complete) standings which paints a picture of defensive possession and then get the ball into the box at all costs.

Patrick is 5'11" and has 12 for Jumping and 7 for Heading - so he's probably somewhere below average in that area. Looking at his performances, I think he's done really well, considering:

As a deep lying forward, he's expected to 'link' the play yet isn't getting hugely involved as all of the passing is done in the defence. He's also been clearly tasked with getting his head on the ball and has probably done well to record an overall 33% header success rate, let alone score four times for a total AR of 7.18.

So, whilst it was good to move to somewhere for first team football, a manager good at working with youngsters and a formation where he'd play in the same space as he would with us - he's not really in the ideal team, given what is expected from him. Given that this was his 'make or break' loan and, given that he's not going to win headers and perform when that really doesn't suit his attributes, I think his ratings (and, in turn, his progress) will drop. That's not entirely fair for him, really!

---

Makes me want to monitor anyone I loan out in much more detail!

[_Ben_]

Intake Preview

Looking good, again! Particularly those forwards...

[_Ben_]

Loan update

Joabson is back from his loan and has done okay in his 17 appearances for Osasuna, with 4 assists and an average rating of 6.84. 

This is not an experiment I have ever really tried before - loaning out an older player to a club with better facilities than ours in a higher reputation team to allow him to really 'kick on.' He hasn't really done that - making only slight improvements over the last six months, but then again - he's 22, playing quite poorly and, according to my staff, quite close to his overall potential ceiling. However - the bonus here is that his value has improved significantly and, should I wish to move him on, will now be able to sell him for considerably more than previously.

--

My plan now is to do the same with the under-developed and, largely, quite poor Magrao with some interest from the MLS hopefully rising his reputation enough to seal a bigger move elsewhere. This shop window effect is something that I've never really dabbled in before and, to be fair, don't need to know given our bank balance, below, but is something quite interesting.

 

[_Ben_]

Loan Move

He had two years in Serie B with Fluminense but now I'm hoping six months in Portland will help me get interest in him. The only difference between this and Joabson's loan at Osasuna is that I don't have the MLS active, whereas I do have La Liga. It'll be interesting to compare experiences.

[_Ben_]

Departure

We have, sadly, outgrown Maicon so allowing him to move to the Middle East was a bit of a no-brainer. The transfer fee, below, was not important when a club icon like this moves on as I just wanted to give him the first team football that he deserves at his age. He leaves with 117 goals in 299 games but has not played a competitive game since August 2030 (23 months ago) due to a succession of big injuries.

Hopefully he can rediscover some form and spend the remainder of his career getting some first team minutes.

[_Ben_]

Personality

Another Model Pro!

Interestingly, Marcio Ricardo, now at Betis, also turned to this personality when he turned 23. It shows how well the mentoring and squad personality is working on the youngsters. Joabson is the next to reach 23 (June 2033) so it'll be interesting to see if I can use the time before that to ensure he reaches the same level of professionalism.

[_Ben_]

Player Sale

A big part of this game is to move on players who have not developed as well as I want and to work hard to ensure that everyone has a sell on fee - I feel that I've done that with Roma. He didn't ever really excited me coming through the intake but has gone on to play over 60 times for us - without ever really making an impression. To barter with Chelsea to get a fee as good as we did (he was valued at around £200k) is great business for us, frees a space up for another youngster and fulfils what I think any young Brazilian would like to do - make the move to a big European club.

[_Ben_]

April-July 2032

Very hectic but we are right where I expect us to be in the league, as seen below. Just the two league defeats to date this season and they always seem to come one after another - but, as soon as we snap out of it, we come good again. We've also made good progress in the Copa do Brasil as we look for our first title and face Corinthians in the semi finals and have made similarly good Liberdatores progress, beating a good Santos team quite easily. We face Sao Paulo in the Quarter Final there.

What scares me as I click into August is that I still have 28 league games and, at least, four cup ties (double headers in each competition). I have five players with over 2,500 minutes and Edilson has been ever present in our 41 games to date and, given what we have left, could be on course for his third consecutive 70-plus game season.

Edited July 10, 2020 by _Ben_

[wesl]

I think FM19 doesn't have a summer break for Copa America and even then, the schedule in August and September is horrible for Serie A clubs. Have any Voltaço players broken into the national team yet?

[_Ben_]

20 minutes ago, wesl said:

I think FM19 doesn't have a summer break for Copa America and even then, the schedule in August and September is horrible for Serie A clubs. Have any Voltaço players broken into the national team yet?

We have two games a week for the rest of the season now! Great for player development when you have a big squad - but we don't at the moment...

Very little recognition - Joao Fernando has made a couple of squads but not got on the pitch yet. He and Pacato were starters in the Olympic team but that's about it. We, overall, aren't producing the talent that the rest of Brazil is - but that is to be expected really!

[_Ben_]

2032 Youth Intake

Cabral. Leozao. Vini.

---

My search for the 'next Ronaldo' could be over so I exercised the right to use the face that I had preserved for the heir to his thrown - and, to be fair, there is something in common between a young R9 and Cabral.

Cabral shares quite a lot of traits with the Brazilian and, for immersion sake, decided to dip back into the editor to add Ronaldo as his idol. I also decided to compare them using my radar charts - with the results looking quite promising. The one major area of his game that is weak is his strength and, as such, that will be worked on immediately. I'd also like to see an increase in work rate as he will still have to work hard to get into the areas I want, even if I want to develop him into more of the poacher styled player - but retaining that ability to take a player on with blistering pace. I then want to get his finishing and technique up as high as I possibly can do. 

Personality wise, I get this:

Driven
Determination 18-20, Ambition 12-20

Reserved
Controversy 1-5, Professionalism 15-20

'Reserved' is the key one here - as that is the kicker that means Det is great, Pro is at least very good and Ambition is at least above average - giving him all three of the desired attributes for good development.

The biggest thing with Cabral is whether he has the potential to allow this. Five stars in my team (remembering that it is based on other players) makes him possibly equally as good as current 5* CA player Joao Fernando - who is good, but not world class.  

---

Elsewhere, Leozao is actually a very nice looking creative forward who may need to move backwards in order to find a path to the first team. If I am thinking of Antonio Carlos as a #10 (a player with average flair but bags of hard work), having someone like Leozao, who has flair and can back it up with good first touch and technique - would be great. I'll want to work on his dribbling and maybe re-train him to play wide on the right of the attacking midfield as an AP(s). Vini is the final high potential player but is a carbon copy of the small in stature and tenacious ball winners that I have several of.

[_Ben_]

Antonio Carlos: Player Development

Just a quick one as I had a brainwave about how to make these gifs!

As @Fosse pointed out - the attribute balance of my young starlet, Antonio Carlos, lends itself to that of Kevin De Bruyne. He's made some steady developments over the course of the season, largely playing reserve and age group football but has made 5(1) appearances for the first team in the Carioca State and the early rounds of the Copa do Brasil. He hasn't changed his personality, yet, but things are moving in the right direction and he's developing quite well as you can see from the growth in the orange lines on the below radar.

I'm hoping that the right sided one will continue to grow as he grows, remembering he's still only 16, and I can work on his technical game to fill that out, too.

[_Ben_]

New contract

I've got to say that I'm loving this save and the development of players has been really successful to date. Long may it continue.

[_Ben_]

Attacking options

I am starting to build what I hope will be a potent attacking group of players - as we do very much have an offensive and defensive group (probably counting at least one full back to be offensive). I initially played with a pretty standard 4-2-3-1 but it has evolved to create a Brazilian-esque box formation, with the central and right AM playing both as AP(s) and moving deeper allowing the IF(a) to push on to make a second striker.

My plan has always been to push Joao Fernando out wide allowing a more physical presence to play up top. Cabral has a lot to develop but could be that man. Elsewhere, I now have three separate options for each position and they all offer unique combinations, which could make my play devastating:

• Savio Flamengo has tonnes of flair.
• Antonio Carlos is hardworking with an eye for goal.
• Elias Santos' dribbling and flair are good.
• Pacheco has excellent technique and decisions.
• Leozao, potentially, has plenty of flair and good technique.

---

Now to develop them all!

(Annoyingly, Savio Flamengo got missed off this!)

[_Ben_]

Chasing Greatness

I'm enjoying the little add-ons in this save - create a Brazilian-esque Box tactic, find the next Ronaldo etc so I'm going to add a few more. This one is about goal scoring:

I would love to have an academy graduate who can score more Serie A goals than Roberto Dinamite. We know Pele as the top Brazilian scorer, however, as this wonderfully-accurate Wikipedia page tells you - league football wasn't too big at the time so most of his goals seemed to come in State Championship play and 'touring matches.'

The article that I got this information from credits Dinamite with 470 goals for Vasco - but I can only see record of 284, with 190 coming in the league - an all-time record. For consistency sake, I will use the Wikipedia data to help calculate this.

Roberto Dinamite

• 478 goals in 776 overall games (0.62 goals per appearance)
• 190 league goals in 328 league games (0.58 goals per appearance)

Joao Fernando

• 164 goals in 268 overall games (0.61 goals per appearance)
•  57 league goals (21 in 2029, 15 in 2030, 21 in 2031)

Of course, calculating the goals per game for league play is harder because FM does not separate State Championship and league player in the overall 'League stats' but I can count his goals on the fixtures view. So - the challenge here is to reach 191 Brasiliero goals and score 478 goals at a better rate than 0.62 per appearance. 

Joao Fernando may or may not be the right man for this and I do envisage a lot more play time in this save, but, to be fair, he already has a near-60 goal head start!

[_Ben_]

2032 Season Review

Another season done and some more small improvements - with our record high of fourth place. We have recorded an eight, two sixth places and now a fourth place but I feel that we are still some way off the challenging for honours - as our record against the three teams above us has largely been poor. Next year sees a return to for Rio based teams as Fluminense drop down into the second tier again.

We finished as runners up in the Copa do Brasil, losing over two legs to Vasco and, for the third year running, reached the semi-finals of the Copa Liberdatores. I envisage that, unlike experiences I've had in Europe, I will be able to reach continental success before league success.

---

A season which has been full of games - with Edilson managing to be ever present and play all 77 of them! I have managed to rotate as much as I can whilst trying to get the best team out where possible. It has been a breakout season for Elias Custodio Santos, although Man City have now turned his head. I'd be happy to sell, but only for the right price. Elsewhere, Flavio Aurelio, the man I wanted to focus development posts on but ran out of time, has developed well and is giving me a real headache as to who my best defensive midfield pairing is.

Goal scoring wise, Joao Fernando is still providing the goods and has been ably assisted by Andreson and Fernandez this year with Valdinei reaching double figures, too. Joao is doing well in his goal scoring quest to over take Roberto Dinamite's Brasiliero (and also his domestic) record and is only not on track to break the record based on his goals per games by about three thousandths of a game!

---

Nothing really planned in the (one week!!) off season but we've announced some more youth facility upgrades. All is going well as I set up for my 12th season and 597th game, at an astounding average of 54 games a season!

 

[_Ben_]

Mentoring

I've picked my squad for the Carioca State and, for immersion sake, like them to 'train together' as part of the first team. It means that I have three or four months with a bloated squad, including lots of youngsters who I want to give game time to but it also means I am able to set up lots of mentoring groups. Given the good personalities throughout the first team, this leads to me being able to create lots of them. Here are some ideas I'm running with:

---

My plan is to get as many senior players in a group with those youngsters that need it (minus the last group that contains two youngsters who I am looking to influence). In some groups, I may have to take a hit - e.g. on Determination. Pacheco and Joao Fernando have 17 for Det but at least 18 for Pro (20 for Pacheco) - whereas Cabral has 20 for Det but unknown Pro (yet I know he is Reserved so this figure is 15-17) and, personally, I value Pro > Det, especially at these higher levels.

[_Ben_]

Player Sale

My contract stand off with Joabson comes to an end, as he moves to Europe and follows in the footsteps of Roma by joining Chelsea. He has developed into a decent player, and the loan at Osasuna has definitely helped, certainly to increase his reputation. Entering the final year of his deal, he decided that he'd only enter talks given assurances as a Star Player but, even with a wage I could easily afford, I did not feel that it was realistic to give him those assurances.

---

His sale is a little bit of a worry for me, but that is what this save is about and I need to adapt to find a replacement for him. Below is my hierarchy of full backs at the club, sorted by my own judgement of their performances for us.

Normally, with Joabson leaving, it would be fine but we are also losing Magrao, who has attracted interest from China and USA, leaving me a little short at the back. I have Jose Esdras, an academy graduate from last year who has looked to defy the stars he was given upon generation but he's a long way off yet. Fortunately, nearly all of my defensive midfielders are able to fill in at full back and that'll ease my worries a little - although I do need to prioritise the development of those at the club and see what I can do in terms of turning them into potential first team players.

[_Ben_]

Team of the future?

I love a 'this is what my team might look like' post - so here is one with my best prospects in position along side my current stars.

Edilson is the only non-academy based player in that squad, which is fantastic!

I now need to focus on developing these players as best as I can do!

[Toffle]

I hope you'll edit Cabral's face as soon as he starts banging goals.. A little (hairy) something is missing!


 

Edited July 14, 2020 by Toffle

[_Ben_]

Comparisons

I've really enjoyed using the media comparison as well as my own, and other members' opinion on the youngsters and the types of player that they are. I've just had a look at another couple:

1.  The new Cafu

José is new to the club this year after coming through the intake in November and is a decent player. I want to have a little look at exactly what Cafu was like on older CMs (although I do remember him in real life and he was amazing) before drawing up what I want to do with him.

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2. The new Vieira

Vinicius Muniz Vieira is another new youngster to the team and but there are some striking similarities, I think, to Patrick Vieira when looking at his attributes (and his name!). I have very quickly converted him to a defensive midfielder and want to make use of the Aggression, Team Work, Natural Fitness and Work Rate. Data for what Vieira looked like at the end of his career seems a little more readily-available, so I put it all together and got this comparison:

For a 16-year-old, Vini's endurance and speed is great (although remembering that I'm comparing to 31-year old Vieira not prime). He needs to work on his ball playing and defensive work, although that is to be expected from a converted attacking midfielder. I reckon his intelligence will come with age but probably not too the level that Patrick's is.

---

My little in-game development plans are:

• Vini to emulate Vieira.
• Esdras to emulate Cafu.
• Antonio Carlos to emulate Kevin De Bruyne.
• Cabral to emulate Ronaldo.
• Elias Custodio Santos to emulate Ronaldinho.

 

Edited July 14, 2020 by _Ben_

[_Ben_]

Player Sales

Neither Valdinei or Magrao were in my plans for this season so it's good to move them on, allowing new talent into the first team to re-start the cycle.

 

[Justified]

Cafu was a monster at right back. I have a soft spot for Roma as I loved their team back in the day with Totti/Montella/Batigol up top and players like Cafu, Candela, Aldair, Tomassi and Walter Samuel. 00/01 I believe they won the Scudetto with that team with Capello in charge.

 

[_Ben_]

2 hours ago, Justified said:

Cafu was a monster at right back. I have a soft spot for Roma as I loved their team back in the day with Totti/Montella/Batigol up top and players like Cafu, Candela, Aldair, Tomassi and Walter Samuel. 00/01 I believe they won the Scudetto with that team with Capello in charge.

 

It was really difficult for me at this time! I got into Italian football through Football Italia on Channel 4 and Ronaldo at Inter, so I was drawn to them. But there were so many other teams: Del Piero at Juve, all of those Roma players you list including the likes of Abel Balbo, Hidoteshi Nakata etc, Fiorentina and their beautiful purple kit, Palermo and their beautiful pink kit and many many more. 

I guess picking a favoured team was hard but it did mean that I naturally dislike AC Milan (really hard when Ronaldinho was there), Lazio and Torino!

[_Ben_]

International recognition

Finally, Joao Fernando gets his game for Brazil. Maybe the 30 goals in 16(2) games to start this season has done that!

[_Ben_]

Copa do Brasil update

All going swimmingly here and I've tried to use this competition, in a strange turn of events, to play my stronger teams in among the massive Carioca schedule. We face Avai in the fourth round.

[_Ben_]

2033 Carioca State 

From absolute dominance to penalty heartache!

This is the first campaign that we have recorded a 100% record - really setting ourselves up as the big-dogs in the state, even if we haven't quite got the upper hand of Flamengo in the league yet. We lost the first final, and that was probably undeserved, but we didn't really deserve much from the overall final. A late equaliser from Joao Fernando, his 17th in the competition, took it to penalties but we just didn't have luck on our side.

The most promising thing, for me, from this is the amount of game time my youngsters have got with absolutely no impact on team performances. Rather than giving them time off the bench - I just threw them in for the full 90, only bringing them off if they were playing badly or any of my key players were very low on match fitness (as they have only been used in Liberdatores and Copa do Brasil action to this point). Here is how they've got on:

Really important minutes for these players and, based on performances and increasing ability, I feel that both Antonio Carlos and Mazinho are good enough to stay in the first team. I am tempted to keep both 18 year olds, Nathan and Leozao around the first team as this will be the biggest benefit for them but the rest will return to the youth sides, appearing from the bench if necessary, until they are called up again next year or make massive improvements in training, like Elias Custodio Santos did last year - joining the first team squad in July time.

 

[Justified]

3 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

It was really difficult for me at this time! I got into Italian football through Football Italia on Channel 4 and Ronaldo at Inter, so I was drawn to them. But there were so many other teams: Del Piero at Juve, all of those Roma players you list including the likes of Abel Balbo, Hidoteshi Nakata etc, Fiorentina and their beautiful purple kit, Palermo and their beautiful pink kit and many many more. 

I guess picking a favoured team was hard but it did mean that I naturally dislike AC Milan (really hard when Ronaldinho was there), Lazio and Torino!

Well the season before Roma won that Scudetto, Lazio had a belter of a team when they won it. Salas, Mancini, Mihajlovic, Nesta, Veron, Nedved, Stankovic, Simone... Sven as manager  Serie A glory days indeed back then.

[_Ben_]

2033 Copa Liberdatores update

This went better than expected! I did not see the games against Caracas yielding sixteen goals but we have topped the group and given what are normally our first team players a good run out during a period of time when I was using predominantly my youth players. We face Bolivian side The Strongest in the first knockout round and, despite a trip to La Paz, I expect us to win at easily.

I am particularly interested in geographical stuff like this so was delighted to find out that the Estadio Hernando Siles is, at nearly 12,000 feat above sea level, one of the highest professional sports stadiums in the world. I even found an article whereby the Brazilian players were moaning about inhumane conditions and taking on oxygen to play at a level where the Bolivian national team have a fantastic record, probably due to their ability to perform at such altitudes.

[_Ben_]

Wonderkid

Number three at the club after Joao Fernando and Pacato...

Flavio has made some really good progress and is cementing himself as a key member of my first team. He has also recently turned from Resolute to Professional, meaning he now has 17 or above for Professionalism, which is great.

[_Ben_]

2033 Copa do Brasil

We bow out with a poor home defeat against Flamengo and we are just tired. It's a shame as this is a competition I am yet to win and, realistically, we are a long way from league challenging yet, but this does at least ease some fixture congestion.

[_Ben_]

Youth Intake Preview

Golden generation but very few actual positive lines there?!

[_Ben_]

Wonderkid

Did not expect this but Elias is playing well and developing himself into a good winger.