[FM22] Overhauling SAD Franchise, (completed) and now Portugal. (Portugese edition). (Youth Only)............... Maybe!

[Thebaker]

2 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Yeah, it's not good, but anything near 130(ish) is still a decent player at this level so if we can get them to their PA (and we have 6 players in the intake at 120+ PA), then it actually might be decent. 

(49h) Ndlovu (POR) (RSA) is starting from quite a low CA of 61 so that might just be too much ground to make up. Even (49f) Santos (POR) at 66 CA might struggle. 

I personally think we are long overdue an absolute star through the Academy, but that's the way it goes sometimes. 

I suppose it could be argued that (35a) Paulo Júnior (POR) * was exactly that "absolute star" with a PA of 177, (that I think he maxed out at some point - his CA is now 174), and we had him for 13 seasons so I can't really complain. It should be said that there are currently 5 (POR) players in the game with a better PA than him. 

Professional players really do seem to make big gains and with good det and other mental attributes Ndlovu could double his ca by 20

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, Thebaker said:

Professional players really do seem to make big gains and with good det and other mental attributes Ndlovu could double his ca by 20

Is it Pro players who develop really well? 

Or Pro players who also have decent Det? 

Or Pro players who also have decent Det and decent Amb? 

Or Pro players who also have decent Det and Decent Amb and who are given 1st team exposure? 

I used to think that Pro was God in all things FM development related, (and it really was), but it seems there are stronger forces at work now within FM. 

That thread that you linked me to a couple of weeks ago was really interesting and while certainly not exhaustive in it's conclusions, it at least suggested that Det, Consist & Press all influenced on-field performances more than Pro, (which performed slightly below the Default Group if I remember correctly), but while a good Pro score was no longer the be all and end all, (as it used to be), the lack of Pro levels was like a big dose of the plague. 

I thought I used to know the relative importance of things like this, but I'm no longer so sure I do. I fully expect that some things have changed since I worked it out for myself and because I've been lazy I haven't got around to challenging my own perceptions. 

I hear what you're saying about Pro. I'm just not sure any longer. 

[Thebaker]

That thread was about team performance and how attributes influence results rather than player development, its my experience that pro or fairly pro players always develop well in attributes although not always play well in matches.

pro or fairly pro players often have reasonable det even though they don't have to, not sure i've seen one below 9 det. They are probably listed as some other more negative personality if they do, like the dreaded unambitious.

Which probably shows they need decent ambition as well

Edited May 31, 2022 by Thebaker

[Jimbokav1971]

13 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

That thread was about team performance and how attributes influence results rather than player development, its my experience that pro or fairly pro players always develop well in attributes although not always play well in matches.

pro or fairly pro players often have reasonable det even though they don't have to, not sure i've seen one below 9 det. They are probably listed as some other more negative personality if they do, like the dreaded unambitious.

I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just saying that what I thought I knew turned out to not be as accurate as I thought, so it's got me second-guessing everything at the moment. 

[Thebaker]

13 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just saying that what I thought I knew turned out to not be as accurate as I thought, so it's got me second-guessing everything at the moment. 

i think i saw a thread a while back that showed good player development was a combination of professionallism, ambition and determination, along with 1st team action after 18. You could probably track it in terms of players  CA increase, which i think you already did for some players a few pages back and have a look at what attributes those players had.

[Jimbokav1971]

6 hours ago, Thebaker said:

i think i saw a thread a while back that showed good player development was a combination of professionallism, ambition and determination, along with 1st team action after 18. You could probably track it in terms of players  CA increase, which i think you already did for some players a few pages back and have a look at what attributes those players had.

Yeah, I didn't mind tracking players for that, but I don't want to do it as a rule any more than I want to get bogged down with gaming all the personalities in the 1st place. 

I will keep an eye on (49h) Ndlovu (POR) (RSA) though and keep you updated. Although his CA is low, his attribute balance is actually decent though so he should get games for the B Team pretty quickly. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2049. 

Liga Bwin. We've lost just 1 of our last 18 league games, but the 3 losses in that period, (including the 2 this month), have hurt us. We're 1 point behind Benfica and 5 pts behind Porto. The title seems Porto's as long as their changing room doesn't get destroyed by a flaming meteorite between now and the final game. We do have a chance of 2nd though. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. We lost the battle but we won the war. We led Porto 3-0 from the 1st leg so we're in the Final. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2049. 

Liga Bwin. Another draw  meant that although we were unbeaten over the last 15 games of the season and only lost 3 league games over the course of the season, 9 draws meant 18 dropped points in games we drew and that's just too many when you are up against the likes of Porto and Benfica. 

Taça de Portugal Placard.

Facilities. 

Goal-scoring GK's. (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" finishes the season on 11 goals, but he failed from the spot on 3 occasions and this cancelled out the 3 direct free-kicks he scored. He's up to 105 goals and at 33 years old time is running out for him to hit a 20 goal season. 

 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Nation club Coefficients. 

Qualification Places. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Season Summary. 

Liga Bwin. 

Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG.

(45c) Rosa (POR) * is developing nicely but he was very much a bit-part player in the Senior Team, (0 goals in 4(4) appearances) but was hugely influential for the B Team, (16 goals in 23 games). 

U19 First Division Group B. 

U19 First Division Championship Group. 

UEFA Youth League. 

Portugese U23 Premier League South. 

Portugese U23 Premier League Championship Group. 

Taça Revelação Sub-23.

[Jimbokav1971]

Awards. July 2049. 

(32g) Ramos (POR) is the new Gary Lineker.

Liga Bwin best GK.

Liga Bwin Team of the Year. 

Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG Player of the Year. 

Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG Young Player of the Year. 

Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG Team of the Year. 

[Sonic Youth]

That’s a lot of information about players in your club to sort through and then decide upon for next season. Especially as it’s good news. This will either have made your decision about who players where next season easier or trickier 

Ramos having his best season at the point when he could possibly start trailing off, while a few youngsters looked like they came on last season too. And a few defenders as well!

You also look like having the best youth teams now in Porto.

I’m guessing the coefficient kicks in the season after? Finishing top three looks important next season.

[Jimbokav1971]

8 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

That’s a lot of information about players in your club to sort through and then decide upon for next season. Especially as it’s good news. This will either have made your decision about who players where next season easier or trickier 

Ramos having his best season at the point when he could possibly start trailing off, while a few youngsters looked like they came on last season too. And a few defenders as well!

You also look like having the best youth teams now in Porto.

I’m guessing the coefficient kicks in the season after? Finishing top three looks important next season.

Absolutely. Close-season has become quite a hard and thankless task in this save at the moment, but it's really important so has to be done. 

(32g) Ramos (POR) has done really well this season so he will still start next season as #1 on the left up front. That being said, his days are numbered and I might soon be faced with the problem of when to promote something else and this is really at odds with me having backed him for so long. He's been 1st choice for the last 13 seasons now and is up to 324 goals, (although 38 of them were scored for the B Team and a further 14 scored when out on loan). His pace and acceleration are both still at 15 and much will depend how quickly they start to drop off. He played quite a lot of senior football at an early age so I think he might start to drop off sooner rather than later. 

Aged 16 he just played aged group football. 
Aged 17 he made 1(21) senior appearances, (largely for the B Team).
Aged 18 he made 8(1) senior appearances, (largely for the 1st Team).
Aged 19 he made 17(7) senior appearances while on loan in the 4th Tier. 
Aged 20 he made 23(2) senior appearances, (largely for the 1st Team). 

Actually that's not as bad as it might have been. I wonder if he might have a couple of seasons left in him?

I don't look at the U19's or U23's results at all during the season, (unless something catches my eye), and I only saw at the end of the season that we were close to having a 100% record at U19 level. I don't know if it means we have the best youth players, (I haven't checked so I'm not 100% sure), but we certainly have considerable depth in most areas even if they might not be good enough to eventually play for our Senior side. I'm keeping players on past 23 just to ensure that we give them the best opportunity to develop because there is no way of knowing when I might need to re-sign them later in their career if we struggle in any area, (unlikely I know). 

Yeah, the drop from 4 Champions League Teams to 3 kicks in the season after, (so this coming season). I would like to think that Top 3 is a done deal now but we have lost some important players of the last couple of seasons, (but more on that when I go through the squad depth later). I sort of dismissed the challenge from Braga last season after the competitive rivalry was announced, (even after their strong start), but they surprised me a little and despite us doing quite well and finishing just 4 pts off 1st, they were only 3 pts behind us. 

It's nice, (and a little surprising), to see that we were top goal-scorers in the league, and a little annoying to see that Braga conceded 2 goals fewer than us last season. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Exits. Jul 2049. 

I mentioned recently that we have lost a few good players over the last couple of seasons and it's time to take stock, see how we are and work out exactly how we will be affected in these areas. 

2045/46.

(36e) Pisco (POR) went to Valencia for £4.1M and although he never really got a chance to perform there, he has certainly taken his chance at Eibar and is currently valued at £14.5M. 

(32a) Gaspar (POR) (ANG) went to Fuenlabrada for £250,000 and although he wasn't a regular 1st choice centre-half for us he was a squad player for ages and you can understand why we might have struggled defensively with players of his ability playing. His main claim to fame is that he has 100+ caps for Angola. 

(33n) Sanches (CPV) 6'4" went to Famalicao for £100,000 and has just been relegated from Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG so he's nowhere near the required level.  

2046/47.

Paulo Coelho, (retired so lost his nickname), went to Oviedo in Spain for £500,000 but didn't play very often before retirement. 

(33a) Ramos (STP) (POR) * went to Cadiz in Spain on a free. I wasn't happy about him leaving but couldn't do anything about it. If he was here now he would still be part of our squad. 

(31d) Pais (POR) left on a free and joined Oviedo. He was a big player for us over the years and has amassed 500 career league appearances.

2047/48.

(32c) Tomás (POR) * went to Wolfsburg for £3.4M and is another who played a LOT of games for us. 

(39d) Rebelo (POR) * went to Ponferradina for a modest £1.1M and it was never about getting rid of him. He was always playing 2nd fiddle to (32g) Ramos (POR) and needed to go somewhere and play every week to develop properly while I invested some time in our youngsters. My thinking was that if I ever needed him back then I could go and buy him back, but he's now worth £10.5M-£16.5M, and earning £173k per month in the Spanish 2nd tier. The only surprise here is that he hasn't scored more goals in Spain. 

(33d) Diederich (POR)(LUX) 6'2 went to Alaves for £1M. 

(41e) Gonçalves (POR) went to Celta de Vigo for £850,000. 

(36d) Cardone. (ITA) 6'1" was the high PA GK who unfortunately had the dreaded (Unamb) + (L.Det) combo so didn't develop. He went to Badajoz for £500,000.

(39g) Fonseca (POR) * went to Zaragoza for £205,000 and is now worth £4.7M-£8.8M. I struggled to get him in the team. 

2048/49.

(38c) Marchão (POR) went to Almeira for £500,000. He looks decent but I just couldn't get him in the team. 

(38a) Hartmann (POR)(GER) went to Santa Clara for £100,000 and they have just been promoted to Liga Bwin. 

(35a) Paulo Júnior (POR) * went to R.Madrid on a free. 

(39b) Tiago (POR) was released on a free and has been snapped up by Zenit. 

2049/50.

(39a) Moreira (POR) looked good but just didn't fit into the team no matter what I tried. In the end I just flogged him to New York for £10M and I expect him to prove me wrong. He obviously scored 2 goals and got MOM on his debut. 

(42b) Felizardo (POR) 5'10" DC has left on a free and joined Barca where he is immediately worth up to £5.8M. 

We've lost some decent players but I'm happy with what we've got in most areas. 

[Jimbokav1971]

GK's. 

(31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" will be our 1st choice GK as ever and will try to add to his 105 career goals. 
(45i) Ion (POR) (ROU) 6'2" will play for the U23's. 
(40c) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" * will play for the B Team. 

[Jimbokav1971]

DL's. 

(36b) Sousa (POR) * and (36f) Antunes (POR) * will play for the 1st Team.
(47c) Morais (POR) (CPV) will play for the U23's.
(48m) Ba (SEN) (FRA) will play for the U19's. 
(43g) Lavado (POR) is going out on loan. 

(48c) Bronze (POR) 5'10" is a bit of a wildcard in that he looks great but is actually a right back who can also play left back. I will play him wherever I can to get him more experience and I expect him to play for U19's, B Team and 1st Team this season. 

[Jimbokav1971]

DR's. 

(36c) Mussagi (POR) (MOZ) * will be 1st choice.
(42e) Crespo (POR) * and (45f) Basto (POR) will provide some depth but will also play in the B Team. 

(48c) Bronze (POR) 5'10" is the real star in the making though and will play in either full back position when I can squeeze him in. 

[Jimbokav1971]

DC's. 

(41d) Hussein (TAN) 6'5" * and (39c) Salgueiro (POR) 6'4" DC will compete for the left side slot and (45e) The Gimp (ENG) 6'2" will start most games on the right. 

(45b) Gamito (POR) 6'1" will play in the B Team with (47b) Santiago (POR) 6'0" and (46h) Carlos (BRA) (POR) 6'0" who will also step up to the 1st Team when I rotate players. 

(35f) Azevedo 6'2" is getting flogged for £500,000

[Jimbokav1971]

ML's & MR's. I'm putting this together because the way we are playing now I don't want to play with inverted wide players so I don't want to miss any who can't yet play on the side I want them to play on. 

ML's. 

(32b) Moucheira (POR) is 33 now and I think his legs are gone, but he still managed double figure goals and assists last season so he will at least start 1st choice. 

(43b) Antunes (POR) and (40g) N'Da (CIV) ML will be the strongest competition.

(49e) Madruga (POR) who is 15 and (47a) Soares (POR) who is 17 will need to be developed. 

MR's. Our right flank seems to be one of the weakest areas of the squad after our 1st pick. 

(41a) Gil (POR) * had a poor season last season but he was recovering from injury so we will give him more time. He will still be my 1st choice on the right flank. His days of covering at full back are probably gone with the arrival of (48c) Bronze (POR) 5'10".  

He will be supported by (42a) Salazar (POR) and (44b) Andrade (POR)(CPV) 4'11".

[Jimbokav1971]

MC's. For so long this has been an area of real strength at the club. It's still strong, but we really only have 3 top end players now and we have had 4 for the past few years. The 3 players going out on loan are 23+ and capable of playing in the Liga Bwin so we do have good depth here. I guess I've just been spoilt with what we have had available. 

(44c) Ogbu (ENG) (NGA) * will be 1st choice in the DLP role for the 1st time in his career and he will be partnered with (40a) Sérgio (POR) *.
(36a) Cruz (POR) * and (44l) Teixeira (CPV) (POR) will support them. 

(47k) Tavares (CPV) is only 17 but he will play for the B Team with 20 year old (45a) de Sousa (POR)

(42d) Poejo (POR) will go out on loan because he's 23 now and I don't want to play him in the B Team. He needs to be playing in the Liga Bwin. 
(41b) Diogo (POR) will go out on loan because he's 23 now and I don't want him to play for the B Team. He need to be playing in the Liga Bwin. 
(40f) Dabó (GNB) (POR) will go out on loan because he's 25 now and I don't want him to play for the B Team. He need to be playing in the Liga Bwin. 

[Jimbokav1971]

SC's. This is such a key position and I don't feel I have got the decisions in the area right all the time in this save. By selling (39a) Moreira (POR)  last season and (39d) Rebelo (POR) * last season I think at least I'm becoming more decisive. I think it's an area of real strength if I can just get the supporting striker firing. 

(32g) Ramos (POR) will be 1st choice on the left again and he will be partnered by (41c) Abrantes (POR) * who scored 7 goals and 9 assists last season. He has asked to leave because I'm still paying him a pittance and I wonder if I offer him a new deal could that unlock his potential? He wants £450k a month though and I'm just not paying that. We eventually agreed on a 5 year deal at £290k pm. 

(44a) Simões (POR) * will be understudy to Ramos but I expect to see him quite a bit from the bench and (41g) Amaral (POR) * will be 2nd choice on the right. 

(47g) Ezequiel (ESP) scored loads of goals for the U19's last season so he will play for the B Team this year. 
(46a) Naldo (POR) (BRA) hit double figure goals last season while on loan in Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG so he will also play for the B Team this season. 
(46b) Pereira (POR) was on loan at AC Milan last season, (without playing). He will play for the B Team. 

(45c) Rosa (POR) * is good enough to play in Liga Bwin right now so I'm going to loan him out. 

(38d) Embalo (GNB) (POR) * scored 12 goals in loan in Liga Bwin last season, (including scoring against us). He's not going to play for us with the depth we have coming through so I'm going to sell him.

[Jimbokav1971]

Transfer. Aug 2049. 

This is the stumbling block. We have a few quid in the bank, but there is no way on earth we could afford to pay a player £687,000 per month. (That's £8.24M per year). Liverpool have hardly played him and it's no wonder he wanted to move on. 

[Jimbokav1971]

I have finally worked out how to get my B Team GK's taking free-kicks and pens...... 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul & Aug 2049. 

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. This is 1st time in 5 attempts as a club that we have won this trophy. (4 attempts under my tenure). 

Liga Bwin. This is the 1st time we have started this well in the league. We dropped 2 pts away to Porto, but Braga have already dropped 11 pts so that's basically them out of the running already. 

UEFA Champions League Group. Another tough Group. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2049. 

Liga Bwin. Only ourselves and Porto remain unbeaten after 8 games and despite dropping 2 pts at Leixoes, we're still 2 pts clear at the top/ 

UEFA Champions League. I know it's boring but we're going for 3rd place and the Europa League again. The (POR) coefficient needs a boost/ 

Taça da Liga Allianz Cup. It's about time we started smashing teams in this competition. 

Records. I wasn't actually aware that (32g) Ramos (POR) wasn't already the record league goal-scorer. I just assumed he was. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2049. 

Liga Bwin. We dropped points against Moreirense due to not only missing a penalty, but the goal they scored also being conceded as a result of our GK being stranded upfield after taking an attacking free-kick. It was a costly 2 pts dropped that means despite still being unbeaten, we've dropped to 3rd. 

The real reason we didn't win against Moreirense however is because (32g) Ramos (POR) was recovering from injury and was unavailable. He has scored 11 goals in 10 appearances this season and we miss him when he doesn't play. 

UEFA Champions League. We're set comfortably to finish 3rd. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. It was still 0-0 in the 63rd min so we did well to run out 5-0 winners by FT. 

Taça da Liga Allianz Cup. A similar story here where we scored late goals again. 

Goal-scoring GK's. A bit of a mixed bag this month. We're not getting as many FK opportunities as a result of our wide players no longer being inverted, but it's working for the team in terms of overall results so I can't complain. 

Facilities. 

It's been so long now that I can't remember which facility is affected by the bug that stops it popping to L20. If I get the other 3 to L20 then I will use the editor to get the last one to L20. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2049.

Liga Bwin. We're still unbeaten but Benfica are scoring goals for fun, (and not conceding many either). We're 2nd, but Guimaraes are making it a 4-way battle at the top after Braga's poor start. 

UEFA Champions League. Our last Group game will be a nice little run-out for the kids against Inter to ensure that we don't finish 2nd by accident. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. Furious! Absolutely furious!  (I think they beat us in 1 of the Cups last season too!)  On the plus side, when we initially lost I thought it was a league game. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2049. 

Liga Bwin. It was a poor month with 8 pts dropped. The Gil Vicente draw was poor because we battered them, but the Benfica game saw a masterclass in high pressing and counter-attacking by them. We scored 2 good goals, but they countered really well and snuck an even game. Against Guimaraes we just seemed to run out of steam and I wasn't really surprised that we lost, (especially when it was our 4th consecutive away game in the league). We're still 2nd, but we have played 1 game more than 1st placed Benfica, 2 more than 3rd placed Porto and 3 more than 4th placed Guimaraes. 

UEFA Champions League. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Awards. 

Youth Intake preview. 2 wingers and a striker is just what the Dr ordered. 

Facilities. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2050.

Liga Bwin. We're good. I think we're really good, but we just can't compete with Benfica and Porto at the moment. When we lose our 1st choice players there are a few positions where players can step up without a drop in quality, but not many. We need more depth!

Taça da Liga Allianz Cup.

Records. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2050. 

Liga Bwin. This is really poor. It's awful. How we're still in 3rd is astonishing! We've drawn our last 4 games in the league, (dropping 8 pts), and have dropped 14 pts in the last 8 games. We're in awful form in the league.  We've lost the talismanic pair of (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" and (32g) Ramos (POR) to multiple injuries and we really struggle without them. 

UEFA Europa League. I thought that 8-0 was our biggest win, but I didn't get a message so maybe not. 

Goal-scoring GK's. This season is the 1st that I have managed to get our GK's taking free-kicks and penalties for the B Team, but 2 different injuries to (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1", (a pulled calf muscle and an abdominal strain), mean that he has missed 8 of our last 9 matches. (40c) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" has scored 5 goals in the Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG for the B Team but he has also scored for the 1st Team in both Liga Bwin and in Europe. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake. Mar 2050. 

What are we looking for? 

ML & MR. This is probably the weakest area of the team. Put a top end player on both flanks and I think we could take over the World. 
GK. (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" is 34 now and we really need to start developing a replacement. 
DL. (36b) Sousa (POR) * & (36f) Antunes (POR) * are both 29 now and there is nothing outstanding coming through to replace them. 
DC. We've got a few decent young centre-backs, but nothing spectacular. 
MC. We've got 3 really good MC's, but 1 of them is 29 & we need a replacement for him + 1 other to make 4 ideally. 

Another Golden Generation, (but aren't they all?).

The 1st thing that jumps out at me here is that there are no 5.0 PA players. 
The 2nd thing that jumps out at me is that we have 5 different Nationalities in the top 6 players! 

So what have we got? 

1. A short centre-half who has time to grow to be a normal size centre-half. 
2. An inverted right winger. 
3. A GK. 
4. I'm loving the Nationalities & 2nd Nationalities. 
5. I'm liking the (Det) values too. There are not many high values, but importantly there is only 1 in single figures. In my opinion (Det) doesn't have to be high. It just shouldn't be low. 
6. Obviously linked to the (Det) values, I'm quite liking the personalities on view too. Rather than being good personalities, they aren't bad personalities. (4x F.Pro + 1x Pro)
7. The 3 players at the top of the PA list also have decent CA. 

Now let's see if the HoYD is lying to me? (Of course he's lying to me. He always lies to me). 

1. Oh wow.  If anything he has undercooked it! 
2. 2x players at 160+ PA, (both of whom have CA of 80+) 
3. Isn't it weird how many times the player with the best personality always seems under-valued in the reports and is better than suggested? (50l) Bartlett (ENG)
4. Wow. 10x players with 120+ PA. (I think that's a record). 
5. We have some low starting CA for players with decent/good PA. I'm going to have to get to work on them. 
6. I have a DM, AMR, AML, AMR, DM & another AML. While this is a great intake, what's the favoured formation of the HoYD? This isn't what I expected! 

There are quite a few players worth showing you here. (I think I will show you everyone with 130+ PA). 

I would love it if (50a) Amarante (POR)(CPV) 5'10 declared for (CPV), but I can't see it happening. REALLY like the look of him. 

I've been desperate for a good GK and I like the look of (50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 5'11" even if Aerial ability/height is a concern. 

(50d) Fitas (POR) looks great and yeah I wish he was a lefty rather than a righty, but he can still play there at a push. I know that having a fully "either footed" player pays a cost in terms of CA, but I don't know how that works in just making the weaker foot less weak? 

(50l) Bartlett (ENG) came through and was ranked the 12th best by PA. In actual fact he ranked the 4th best by PA. Is it my imagination or are the better personalities often under-appreciated in the initial intake report?  I like the "likes to beat offside trap" PPM even if I don't have that much experience with it, and my 1st reaction to seeing "Looks for pass rather than Attempting to score" in a player like this is one of abject horror, that is quickly replaced by curiosity. I wonder how a player like this playing in a way I play that left-sided striker, would represent that PPM within his playing style. I'm tempted to not remove it just to see what he would create....  (I am serious about that). Other than that I really like him though. 

I like (50g) Martins (POR) (FRA), and he even already has 1 of the 4 PPM's that I like my DLP's to have. He looks like quite a balanced player. 

(50f) Loris (LUX) (FRA) 5'10" is the 2nd striker! They're like buses!  He looks pretty raw though and I'm not overly keen so we will see how he develops. 

(50j) Lopes (CPV) (POR) looks decent and has (CIV) as his 1st Nationality so hopefully he will declare for them pretty quickly. I will obviously play him on the left rather than the right. He's certainly got some areas that need working on though. 

(50h) Mickaël (POR) (FRA) is slow for a winger, so early crosses PPM might be a good idea here. I actually really like the look of him despite the lack of pace. I won't try to fix his lack of pace. He will never be quick but I will ask him to cross early as a workaround and maybe make him more a WM than a winger in terms of where we build his attributes, (especially with the long range passes PPM). 

(50i) Faria (POR) is a left back. A proper left back!  I don't mind that he isn't going to be amazing. I'm just happy that he might be decent and actually looks reasonable already.

(50b) Pablo (ESP) looks really good, and it's only when you keep looking that you eventually find his achilles heel which is his poor workrate. I will just stick him on Endurance as his additional focus and that should hopefully get it to a manageable level by the time I'm looking to play him. It's such a shame though because I really like him. 

I think that's possibly the best single intake I've ever had in FM. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NxGn 2050. 

(48c) Bronze (POR) 5'11" is #6 on the list and at 17 years old has 2 more years to move up. 

(47k) Tavares (CPV) is #17 on the list and has 1 more year to move up. 

(46c) Kulwa (TAN) MR is #29 on the list but he will be too old next year. 

[turnip]

Getting two potentially world-class players in one intake is pretty awesome. 

I do find that, even with very good staff, you sometimes need to have youth players around the squad for a few months for the ratings to settle down. Which makes sense - other than your HOYD, none of the other staff you can get reports from actually know these players until they rock up in the intake, so the best they can do is give a snap judgement (which is why the ratings often reflect CA rather than PA). 

Once the players have done a few months of training, it makes sense that the coaching staff would provide more accurate estimates. 

 

I would get rid of that odd PPM from Bartlett, though. A player who'll probably get to 17/17 Pace/Acceleration and beats the offside trap is gonna have to do a sudoku puzzle while he waits for his teammates to catch up with him if his preference is to pass to them.

[Jimbokav1971]

14 minutes ago, turnip said:

I would get rid of that odd PPM from Bartlett, though. A player who'll probably get to 17/17 Pace/Acceleration and beats the offside trap is gonna have to do a sudoku puzzle while he waits for his teammates to catch up with him if his preference is to pass to them.

That's exactly my thinking too. Most of the time in the way he will be used there won't be an opportunity to pass so I don't think there will be a negative impact from the PPM. The chances are that everyone will be thinking like you and nobody in their right mind would have kept this PPM with this type of player in the AF role. I think it's worth keeping and looking at simply because I think there's a decent chance nobody has ever done it before, (because it's so stupid). 

[Sonic Youth]

Did I hear someone yell bingo! ? 

Very squad fillingly nice youth intake 

[Jimbokav1971]

15 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Did I hear someone yell bingo! ? 

Very squad fillingly nice youth intake 

It was a bit weird actually because initially I was a little underwhelmed. 

What I do is filter out the other squads and allow trialists to be shown and then show by my Youth Intake custom view and then sort by PPA. 

When I did that I was met with 0x 5.0 PA players and the initial reaction when that happens is always .

Then I nickname all the players (ranked by PPA) and only then do I switch to the CA/PA view which gives me the real numbers. It takes a little while to nickname 16 players and all the time I'm thinking, "another bloomin wasted intake", and then I see the CA/PA..... 

I think it's fair to say that the dogs were a little startled by my reaction. 

The other thing is, as good as the top 2 PA's are, possibly the bigger deal is that 10 of the 16 players have a PA that suggests that they will play at Lige Bwin level. That's a LOT. 

Edited June 6, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

March 2050. 

Liga Bwin. 2 wins is ok, but the league is over and we just have to make sure that we finish 3rd rather than 4th, (because 4th doesn't qualify for the Champions League this season). We're 7 pts behind Porto in 2nd but also 7 pts ahead of Guimaraes in 4th with 7 games remaining. We've just conceded FAR too many goals this season. 

UEFA Europa League. What an awful performance in Europe, (again). 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances.   

[Jimbokav1971]

11 hours ago, turnip said:

I would get rid of that odd PPM from Bartlett, though. A player who'll probably get to 17/17 Pace/Acceleration and beats the offside trap is gonna have to do a sudoku puzzle while he waits for his teammates to catch up with him if his preference is to pass to them.

I'm really keen to keep an eye on (50l) Bartlett (ENG), and even more so after you commented about getting rid of the PPM. (I was really hoping someone would so this so thank you). 

Our B Team have just played out a 0-0 draw with someone, (and he started the game), so it caused me to look at his performances for the 1st time. 

Youth Candidates. 

U19's. 

B Team. 

His performances for the U19's have been pretty spectacular, but then again we win almost all the games at that level so it's no real surprise. 9 goals and 2 assists in 6 appearances, but look at those key passes!!! 15 in 6 games. It hasn't been replicated for the B Team as yet, but you wouldn't expect it to because he's nowhere near that level at the moment.

Anyway, I'm still not getting rid of the PPM, but I'm obviously interested to see how it impacts performances. 

I don't think places shots is an option, but takes ball round GK and runs with ball often are certainly things I will consider once knocks ball past opponent is in the bag. 

Edited June 6, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Looks for pass rather than attempting to score PPM. Apr 2050. 

(50l) Bartlett (ENG) has come through the Academy as a pretty decent looking AF but with a PPM that doesn't really fit with the role he will be given. The obvious answer, (as suggested by @turnipis simply to get him to forget about the PPM and this was my initial reaction. But after thinking about it I wondered what this PPM would look like for this player in this role. 

This player isn't going to be a superstar so this isn't really about this player. It's more about how PPM's actually work rather than how we think they work. I'm an enormous fan of PPM's, but I think a lot of us, have ideas of what PPM's do, that often bear little resemblance to what they actually do, and a lot of it is based on the name/wording, (as is the case with personalities). 

Looks for pass rather than attempting to score. That reads like the player will have a golden opportunity to score but will pass up that opportunity in favour of a pass to someone else. In actual fact when you read the detail of the PPM, it simply "increases the chances" of the player opting to do this and "the success of the decision will be based on the players attributes". That actually sounds brilliant to me. If he's an intelligent player then he will pass when a teammate is in a better position. That's what we want isn't it, especially from someone in this role? 

So I have done 1 post already that showed that he's pretty prolific in the U19's, (as you would expect), but I want to delve a little deeper. 

Coimbra U19's v Belenenses U19's. 

The phase of play I want to focus on here is the ccc that he created in the centre of the area which resulted in an assist and a goal when you might have expected a shot on goal. 

He starts with the ball in the penalty area but his back is to goal so he can't shoot, so he lays it off to the left hand side before receiving the return pass, and when he does he is facing the goal and you would expect a shot, (although there are 2 defenders trying to block him), but actually he just touches it off to his right where the player can shoot with no defenders in his way. I don't think this is a common looking goal at all. It's certainly not something I have seen from my AF's, (most of whom would have shot there). 

I'm not saying for a moment that this is always going to be a positive result like it was here, but I think there is an opportunity here for this PPM to be a positive when linked with this role rather than the negative that most of us probably think of initially. (Like I did). 

It's the only example of a pass like this that I have found in his games this month, (with positive or negative results), but I'm going to keep an eye on it because I think this could be really interesting. 

His composure attribute is 8 and his decisions attribute is 10. That's pretty decent for a 15 year old. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2050. 

Liga Bwin. This looks impressive form, but it's all a little too late. We might be 3rd, but we're 20 pts ahead of 4th with 2 games left to play. Benfica have lost just 1 game and drawn 4 over the full Liga Bwin season to this point. That's pretty hard to compete with. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

Finances.   

[Sonic Youth]

45 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Benfica have lost just 1 game and drawn 4 over the full Liga Bwin season to this point. That's pretty hard to compete with.

Yes it is. It’s either score more or concede less. Small margins to affect those now.

[Jimbokav1971]

28 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Yes it is. It’s either score more or concede less. Small margins to affect those now.

I think it's both actually. 

We were top goal-scorers last season, (with 74) but are 7 goals behind Benfica this season despite scoring more goals (83), (so actually goal-scoring was ok this season).
Defensively we have conceded 28, 29 & 23 in recent seasons, but have conceded 31 this season. Benfica conceding just 15 this season is ridiculous. Braga conceded 13 about 15 years ago and Porto just 12 a couple of years before that. 

We've really struggled with injuries to key players this season with both (31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" and (32g) Ramos (POR) being out with multiple injuries and of course we lost (35a) Paulo Júnior (POR) * and (42b) Felizardo (POR) 5'10" DC from central midfield this season meaning that our 2nd midfield pairing were really raw, (but obviously we will be better next season for the experience). 

We've been weak at full back this season, (due to injuries again), and 17 year old (48c) Bronze (POR) 5'11" has made 13 starts in all competitions. Again, the positive side of this is that his development will have been accelerated so it's not all bad. 

This season has been very much one of consolidation. our 2nd midfield pairing have come on leaps and bounds and our wide players have had significant development time too. 

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2050. 

Liga Bwin. We won our last 2 games meaning that we finished the season with 9 wins on the bounce, (15 unbeaten), and only lost 3 league games all season. In some respects that's a decent season but I'm not happy. We were 2 pts off Porto, (who also lost 3 games), but we were a whopping 9 pts off Benfica who only conceded 15 goals all season, (which is obviously ridiculous). 

Goal-scoring GK's. 

(31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" finishes the season on 11 goals, but he failed with 6 of 16 penalties. 
(40c) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" contributed 8 goals this season, (2 for the 1st Team and 6 for the B Team)

Records. I think the time for (32g) Ramos (POR) is almost over. The injuries have taken their toll this season and both his pace and acceleration have suffered. He won't be starting next season as 1st choice. 

Facilities. We've just spent £29M on an upgrade of 7,928 seats, just 12 months after spending £15.5M on an upgrade of 6,370 seats. 

Finances.   

Edited June 6, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Season Summary. Jun 2050. 

Liga Bwin. The 3 losses we suffered in the league this season were away to Benfica & Guimaraes and at home to Porto. I would love to go unbeaten at home next season. 

(32g) Ramos (POR) scored 23 goals in 27 league appearances, but due to injury, (and missing 7 games), he missed out on the Golden Boot by just 3 goals. 

Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG. We lost 5 of our opening 8 games, but as always we came good in the 2nd half of the season. 

(45c) Rosa (POR) * top scored with 20 goals in 27 appearances, but only because I couldn't get a good loan for him in Liga Bwin. 

UEFA Champions League. I aimed for 3rd in the Group and everything went ok in qualifying, but we should have smashed Osasuna in the 1st leg and it cost us when we didn't. 

UEFA Europa League. 

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. The 1st of 2 trophies we won this season. 

Taça da Liga Allianz Cup. The 2nd of 2 trophies we won this season. 

Taça de Portugal Placard. I am sick of Leixoes! 

Portuguese U19 First Division Group B. 4 is quite a lot of games to lose at this level. 

Portuguese U19 First Division Championship Group. But we improved in the 2nd half of the season as our young players developed. 

Interestingly, although (50l) Bartlett (ENG) only came through the intake in late March, he scored 17 goals in 11 appearances between then and the end of the season. 

UEFA Youth League. I'm not counting this as a trophy won. 

18 year old (47d) Fonseca (CPV) (POR) top scored in this competition with 11 goals. 

Portuguese U23 Premier League South. 

Portuguese U23 Premier League Championship Group. 

Taça Revelação Sub-23. What a shambles we make of this each season. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Why are Portugal under-performing? Jun 2050. 

I've long been wondering why the (POR) National side are under-performing and I think I've just cracked it. 

In 2040 they lost to both France and Serbia in European Championships qualifying and then to Italy in their Nations League Group. 
In 2042 they lost to Greece in the 3rd Round of the World Cup Finals and then to Spain in their Nations League Group. 
In 2044 they lost to Spain in the Quarter Final of the EURO's and then lost to Bulgaria & England in their Nations League Group. 
In 2045 they lost to Hungary in a World Cup Qualifier. 
In 2046 they lost to Spain in the World Cup Semi's and then lost to Mexico in the 3rd placed Playoff. They also then lost to France in their Nations League. 
In 2047 they lost to Spain again, this time in the Nations League Final. 
In 2048 they lost to Spain again, this time in the Semi-Final of the EURO's before also losing to Bulgaria in their Nations League Group. 

So in truth they are doing ok, but they just keep losing key games. 

25 year old  (40a) Sérgio (POR) * recently collected his 50th Cap for (POR) so I looked at where he had been playing. 

He's 5'7" and not only are they playing him as a centre-half, but quite often they are playing him as a non-nonsense centre-half. 

He's a great little player, but what he's not is any kind of centre-half. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Rankings. Jun 2050. 

European competition rankings. 

European club rankings. 

Nation clubs coefficients. 

Qualification Places. 

We personally haven't been doing well in Europe in recent seasons, and I'm guessing that our fellow Portugese clubs haven't being doing well either. 

Champions League. 

Benfica were Runners Up in 2035/36.

Europa League. 

Porto were Runners Up in 2024/25.
Sporting were Runners Up in 2-26/27.
We were Champions in 2042/43. 
Porto were Champions in 2044/45 over Benfica who were Runners Up. 
Porto were Champions in 2046/47.
Benfica were Champions in 2047/48. 

Europa Conference. 

Guimaraes were Champions in 2027/28.
We were Runners Up in 2030/31.
Gil Vicente were Runners Up in 2032/33.
We were Runners Up in 2033/34.
We were Champions in 2034/35.
Gil Vicente were Champions in 2039/40.
Sporting were Champions in 2040/41. 
 

Benfica. 

2049/50. Champions League 1st Knockout Round. 
2048/49. Champions League 1st Knockout Round. 
2047/48. Europa League Champions. 
2046/47. Champions League 1st Knockout Round. 
2045/46. Champions League 1st Knockout Round. 

Porto. 

2049/50. Champions League 1st Knockout Round. 
2048/49. Champions League 1st Knockout Round. 
2047/48. Champions League 1st Knockout Round. 
2046/47. Europa League Champions. 
2045/46. Champions League 1st Knockout Round.

Belenenses. 

2049/50. Europa League 2nd Knockout Round
2048/49. Europa League 1st Knockout Round. 
2047/48. Champions League 1st Knockout Round.
2046/47. Champions League 1st Knockout Round. 
2045/46. Champions League 1st Knockout Round.

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad list. 

GK. 

1st Team. 

(31g) Simões (POR) 6'1" missed too many penalties last season and he wasn't unhappy, (at least his happiness said he wasn't), but I noticed that he was always 1 of the Team Leaders coming to me about players not being allowed to leave, (yet it never showed on his happiness screen. I will keep someone else to play for the U23's and to provide back-up, (probably (47l) Bento (POR) 6'0" looking at it now). 

B Team. 

(50c) Ako (FRA) (GPE) 5'11" isn't ready for the B Team yet, but pushing him up early will hopefully accelerate his development. 

DL. 

1st Team. 

(36b) Sousa (POR) * will be 1st choice and 17 year old  (48c) Bronze (POR) 5'11" will play for the B Team and provide some back-up. 
(36f) Antunes (POR) SELL is 29 ands being a pain so I'm going to get rid of him for some cash while he still has 12 months on his contract. 

B Team. 

(43g) Lavado (POR) will be 1st choice in the B Team. 

[Edit]

I have sold (43g) Lavado (POR) so need someone else in the B Team. (50i) Faria (POR) is too young to go out on loan so I will probably look to him, although (48m) Ba (SEN) (FRA) is another option. 

DR. 

1st Team. 

(36c) Mussagi (POR) (MOZ) * will be 1st choice and has just been offered a 4 year contract. 

B Team. 

(47j) Fernandes (POR) & (45f) Basto (POR) will play for the B Team but also step up to the 1st Team when needed. 

(42e) Crespo (POR) * will be loaned out to Liga Bwin or another top tier somewhere. 

DC. 

1st Team. 

(45e) The Gimp (ENG) 6'3", (41d) Hussein (TAN) 6'5" * & (39c) Salgueiro (POR) 6'4" DC will play in the 1st Team. 

B Team. 

(50a) Amarante (POR)(CPV) 5'10 & (48b) Teixeira (POR) 6'3" * will play for the B Team. 

(47b) Santiago (POR) 6'0" & (46h) Carlos (BRA) (POR) 6'1" will go out on loan. 

ML & MR. These positions are hard because there are so many players to look at and consider. 

ML. 

1st Team. 

(32b) Moucheira (POR) has been a regular starter for the last 16 seasons, but he's 34 now and only managed 7 goals and 9 assists last season. Someone else needs to start most games. In fact, his CA has now even dropped below 100. He shouldn't be playing at all!

(43b) Antunes (POR) looks like he's the best option at the moment.
(40g) N'Da (CIV) ML is 26 now so his development will be slower. 

B Team. 

(47a) Soares (POR) is pretty raw at 18, but will definitely feature at some point.
(46d) Osório (POR) is quick and certainly in the mix. 

MR. 

1st Team. 

(41a) Gil (POR) * will be 1st choice and he is already maxed out at 152 PA.
(42a) Salazar (POR) is maxed out at 120 PA but I'm thinking of loaning him out, (because he can't improve), and giving game-time to someone who will improve. 
(46c) Kulwa (TAN) MR is a righty, (but not right only), but he also can't cross so I think playing inverted on the right will need to be an option but I'm not overly keen on that so will probably loan him out. 

B Team.

(44b) Andrade (POR)(CPV) 4'11" probably isn't good enough to play for the 1st Team yet so I will keep him in the B Team. 

MC. 

1st Team. This is an easier area to select players because we have some really strong players that almost pick themselves. 

(44c) Ogbu (ENG) (NGA) * and (40a) Sérgio (POR) *, (maxed out at 170 PA), will be the 1st choice pair. 
(42d) Poejo (POR) and (36a) Cruz (POR) *, (maxed out at 150 PA), will be the 2nd pair. 

B Team. 

(47k) Tavares (CPV) and (44l) Teixeira (CPV) (POR) will start for the B Team.

SC. (32g) Ramos (POR) has been 1st choice striker for the last 14 seasons but the time to ask him to step back and give the youngsters a go is now.

1st Team. 

(44a) Simões (POR) * scored 21 goals in all competitions last season and he will partner with (41c) Abrantes (POR) * (10 goals last season). 
(45c) Rosa (POR) * has scored 86 goals for the B Team over the last 5 seasons & he will play with (41g) Amaral (POR) *. 
(32g) Ramos (POR) will provide depth but is unlikely to start games. 

B Team. 

(47d) Fonseca (CPV) (POR) will be partnered with (47g) Ezequiel (ESP). 
(46b) Pereira (POR) will partner (45d) Cadete (POR).

(50l) Bartlett (ENG) will stay in the U19's at least for the 1st half of the season. 

Edited June 8, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

I have a stadium named after me, but it's the B Team stadium. 

I have never managed to do this before in FM so I should be happy, but it's the B Team stadium! 

[Sonic Youth]

Almost a season of change this coming season, especially in the forward line.

I find it strange that the B team stadium is getting the upgrades instead of your First Team stadium. Do you have the largest B-Team stadium in the game?

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Almost a season of change this coming season, especially in the forward line.

I find it strange that the B team stadium is getting the upgrades instead of your First Team stadium. Do you have the largest B-Team stadium in the game?

We've had 2x 1st Team stadium upgrades in 2 years and a completely new B Team stadium. 

It is sometimes not easy to see which stadium is being upgraded. I thought the new Stadium was for the 1st Team initially. 

These are the Liga Bwin stadiums for the new season. Our capacity has been reduced while we complete the 2nd upgrade that will eventually give us a 39,514 capacity, (which will be the 4th largest in the Country, behind only the Big 3). 

These are the Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG stadiums for the coming season. It's bigger than Benfica B, Porto B & Braga B. Guimaraes B & Sporting B are both in the 3rd tier, (and it's bigger than them too). 

Apart from 2 different upgrades to the 1st Team 1 after the other I can't really complain too much. 

The new stadium for the B Team is a little weird, but I don't have much experience with B Teams before this. 

B Teams are run almost completely as a another entity, and although they took out a loan for the B Team stadium, we don't have a loan showing as outstanding for that, (although we do have a £13M loan for the 2nd 1st Team stadium upgrade). 

Instead, we just get an income line for all the B Team income, and an expenditure line for all the B Team expenditure. 

Last Season the B Team income was only £2.9M. 

Last season the B Team expenditure was £8.4M.

That gives us a shortfall, (net cost), of £5.5M for the running of the B Team over 1 season. That initially seems a lot, but with the new stadium now having lower maintenance costs and a higher capacity, I would hope that the net figure is lower next season, (although we will be servicing the debt created to purchase the new stadium now so perhaps not). 

Our Finances have sat around the £100M+ mark for a long time, but over the last 2 years or so they have really been hit hard. 

2x 1st Team stadium upgrades and 1x new B Team stadium will do that for you, but 2 of these were paid for by taking out loans, (even if 1 is hidden by being held by the B team). So far in this save 've kept our top players at the club for as long as I possibly could, before letting them leave on a free. It has got to the stage where I think I need to look at either selling our big players 1 year early, (not ideal), or making more of an effort to sell our fringe players. I think this is the route that I will be going down because we're now producing so many players of Liga Bwin standard. 

I must admit that I am looking at the finances scree far more often than I used to.