[FM22] Matryoshka

[john1]

Bit unrealistic expectations from the board!

[_Ben_]

29th June 2033

Just a bit of transfer thoughts before that magical 'free transfer' time:

First up, a new striker. There's nothing wrong with Volkaganov but he's not the fastest and this inhibits his ability to get in behind the defence. Looking at the end of season tables and working my way through some statistics to spot any really high performers, I found this man:

Maxim Ionov is on loan at Metallurg (who won promotion from the third tier) from Amkar and has a release clause of just £950k. These statistics are excellent and his attribute range backs up what I want to see from my strikers but, obviously, this is coming from the third tier and it'd be quite unlucky he'd be able to make an instant step up. Never the less, he's absolutely on my radar as I know, through Isaev, how potent pace can be up front when paired with the Mezzalas behind him.

---

I have secured a signing - that of goalkeeper Stanislav Agkatsev for £240k from relegated Sochi. Happy to be a backup and a player who I've managed before, he's a definite upgrade and, by being Russian, is not taking up extra foreign player slots. Credit to the DoF for agreeing the deal and a good contract, too. However, he fell short with Alexandr Usov, who moved to Spartak instead. This was a good litmus test for the 'max wage' that I've been experimenting with in the DoF signing section. As a rotational player, I didn't want to offer him more than £20k p/w, but looking at the contract he accepted from Spartak shows that I'd have paid 'over the odds' to have secured him. Probably a good one to miss!

---

The 28th of June is the opening day for the transfer window so I was able to also fully introduce the aforementioned Protasov as well as youth signings Tikhomirov (£200k from Minsk), Golovach (£155k also from Minsk) and Larionov (£220 from Torpedo). Golovach has been out on loan and appeared for the Minsk first team so is not able to be registered for my 2-team yet but the other two will join the squad that is beginning to brim with potential.

---

I'm still in the market for some improvements, wherever possible but will not push for them unless I can offload players first. My big concern is the lack of Russian quality available to us. This is a concern due to the fact we're only allowed 8 foreign players registered for us. My plan is to ensure that those eight are marquee players, which is only true with some of the below players:

Barreto and Hlynsson are great and I've really been impressed with Styles, considering that I expected to just want to move on his huge wages. However, Carrillo, Msomi and Sarr are rotational players, yet are taking up valuable foreign player slots. I have hopes that Roganov and Fomchenko may be able to step in at CB and RB but they're young and not ready made replacements, yet.

Some thinking time to come but I'm really excited to get back into footballing action!

[john1]

Decent raid in Minsk

[SixPointer]

I like your thinking of the marquee foreign slots especially when you said there is a lack of Russian quality, will you be able to move the rotational players at ease? 

[haier_fm]

I like how you look through the lower leagues of Russian football to find replacements. Probably the most satisfying thing is seeing the same player you signed for a very low price from a few divisions below, beat the odds and work out well for the team performance-wise.

 

[_Ben_]

1 hour ago, john1 said:

Decent raid in Minsk

Not sure you can say that right now!!

37 minutes ago, SixPointer said:

I like your thinking of the marquee foreign slots especially when you said there is a lack of Russian quality, will you be able to move the rotational players at ease? 

I'm not too sure, actually. There is some interest, but I'm only planning to use the market to capitalise on that interest, which is why I'm left with Iosifov, who I just cannot shift. However, I can't afford to have two wingers at the club in his position, so he'll stay. I'm lining up a couple of those 'marquee' players here with my DoF:

I had Braian Mele fully scouted before his departure from River Plate but, whilst not a long term solution to this marquee centre back, he's younger and (I have the stats) statistically better. There is some interest from Spain in Carrillo so, should a deal be able to be done there, I'll move for Mele.

It's all about slowly moving the club in the direction of the players I want to have that fit in with my style. I made the choice not to move on 10/15 in one season, instead, looking for those who are right, in my opinion.

5 minutes ago, haier_fm said:

I like how you look through the lower leagues of Russian football to find replacements. Probably the most satisfying thing is seeing the same player you signed for a very low price from a few divisions below, beat the odds and work out well for the team performance-wise.

 

Thanks.

I wasn't particularly looking for anything but, yes, that hidden gem is certainly something that I love to chase!

 

[danielgear]

48 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

made the choice not to move on 10/15 in one season

I like this decision. 

[_Ben_]

(Early) July 2033

My transfer plans for the remainder of the window now largely hinge on the identification of my longer term target areas. We're growing slowly as a team and, given the statistical based approach, it's very hard for me to identify a player and sign him within a window less than a month or so, given the fact that I want to watch him and gather/compare his statistical output.

We have three first team players who are approaching the end of their deals, which, in total, costs £138k p/w in salary commitments (around £6.6m between now and the end of their contracts), that I need to decide whether will remain here or move on.

---

I really like Callum largely because I didn't think I would! He's trained really well and converted himself to a full back and appeared in 28 of our 30 league fixtures last year. He's also the only left back as Ivlev is continuing his re-training there. Based on that, alone, I want to sign him for another year or so. Given his role as an IWB(s), he's not dependent on his speed, more Positioning and Decisions, which do not degrade with age. My issue is that his base wage puts him as the second highest earner in the team - which is probably undeserved, however, I know that it'll be a tough job to actually get someone to take a significant pay cut.

Here is what I managed to agree to after several rounds of negotiations:

This will add on just shy of £1m on his loyalty bonus - which works out at an additional £13,461.54 per week on his contract. However, it is removing £10k p/w from his base salary, saving £260,000 on his base wage between now and July, when his old contract was to expire. This increase in his loyalty bonus will cost us around an extra £90k between now and July.

But, I have managed to bring down his appearance fee by £1k - saving, potentially, £50k or so between now and the end of his new deal in June 2035. I've also been sneaky and changed his Clean Sheet Bonus (£7.5k) to a Goal Bonus. For a quick comparison, we kept 17 clean sheets last season, which would cost us £127,500, whereas he only found the net two times (£10k), producing a significant saving. He also only missed two games last year and, judging from his injury history, it appears that this was due to an injury before I took over.

The salary commitments tab tell me that I've reduced his weekly commitment from £59k p/w to £47.5k p/w, which, even with £85m in the bank, is something that I'm trying to pay close attention to. In an ideal world, this'd be the job of the DoF but, right now, I don't feel that there's enough collaboration between my goals of reducing the wage bill and what he would do. In the grand scheme of things -  we're reducing our weekly outgoings on keeping a player, who, although a foreign player, is a decent squad member and a Team Leader, around for another year.

---

Not a chance that Iosifov will stay. However, given that nobody will stump up his massive wages, he's going to stay here. He's unwilling to terminate his deal and it'd cost £2.9m to terminate it myself, therefore he'll just have to stay put. We can't (actually 'can' but don't want to) afford to just dump him in the U19 team and recruit some one else. He's a super expensive commodity but I, as an FM manager, have to learn to live with the mistakes of my predecessors; it's an absolutely key facet of the journeyman style.

---

I'm more on the fence with Denisov than Iosifov. He's earning a lot less money and has made no noises about somewhat limited game time. Given his status as such a backup player, I really don't want to be replacing him with a foreign player as they are such an important part of the squad building process - so it'll depend on whether I can find a Russian here.

[SixPointer]

10 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

(Early) July 2033

My transfer plans for the remainder of the window now largely hinge on the identification of my longer term target areas. We're growing slowly as a team and, given the statistical based approach, it's very hard for me to identify a player and sign him within a window less than a month or so, given the fact that I want to watch him and gather/compare his statistical output.

We have three first team players who are approaching the end of their deals, which, in total, costs £138k p/w in salary commitments (around £6.6m between now and the end of their contracts), that I need to decide whether will remain here or move on.

---

I really like Callum largely because I didn't think I would! He's trained really well and converted himself to a full back and appeared in 28 of our 30 league fixtures last year. He's also the only left back as Ivlev is continuing his re-training there. Based on that, alone, I want to sign him for another year or so. Given his role as an IWB(s), he's not dependent on his speed, more Positioning and Decisions, which do not degrade with age. My issue is that his base wage puts him as the second highest earner in the team - which is probably undeserved, however, I know that it'll be a tough job to actually get someone to take a significant pay cut.

Here is what I managed to agree to after several rounds of negotiations:

This will add on just shy of £1m on his loyalty bonus - which works out at an additional £13,461.54 per week on his contract. However, it is removing £10k p/w from his base salary, saving £260,000 on his base wage between now and July, when his old contract was to expire. This increase in his loyalty bonus will cost us around an extra £90k between now and July.

But, I have managed to bring down his appearance fee by £1k - saving, potentially, £50k or so between now and the end of his new deal in June 2035. I've also been sneaky and changed his Clean Sheet Bonus (£7.5k) to a Goal Bonus. For a quick comparison, we kept 17 clean sheets last season, which would cost us £127,500, whereas he only found the net two times (£10k), producing a significant saving. He also only missed two games last year and, judging from his injury history, it appears that this was due to an injury before I took over.

The salary commitments tab tell me that I've reduced his weekly commitment from £59k p/w to £47.5k p/w, which, even with £85m in the bank, is something that I'm trying to pay close attention to. In an ideal world, this'd be the job of the DoF but, right now, I don't feel that there's enough collaboration between my goals of reducing the wage bill and what he would do. In the grand scheme of things -  we're reducing our weekly outgoings on keeping a player, who, although a foreign player, is a decent squad member and a Team Leader, around for another year.

---

Not a chance that Iosifov will stay. However, given that nobody will stump up his massive wages, he's going to stay here. He's unwilling to terminate his deal and it'd cost £2.9m to terminate it myself, therefore he'll just have to stay put. We can't (actually 'can' but don't want to) afford to just dump him in the U19 team and recruit some one else. He's a super expensive commodity but I, as an FM manager, have to learn to live with the mistakes of my predecessors; it's an absolutely key facet of the journeyman style.

---

I'm more on the fence with Denisov than Iosifov. He's earning a lot less money and has made no noises about somewhat limited game time. Given his status as such a backup player, I really don't want to be replacing him with a foreign player as they are such an important part of the squad building process - so it'll depend on whether I can find a Russian here.

Love the negotiation process. Bringing down wage can be a tricky task especially with a team leader type who thinks he’s a valuable member of the squad 

[_Ben_]

1 hour ago, SixPointer said:

Love the negotiation process. Bringing down wage can be a tricky task especially with a team leader type who thinks he’s a valuable member of the squad 

Absolutely! Even though we've got plenty of money in the bank, it feels like a really good think to focus on.

[_Ben_]

July 2033

Just the three games but important progress in the Conference League, thanks to two really comfortable results whereby a completely different starting XI saw out the home leg. We should have battered Nizhniy, even more so when you consider the start they had - reduced to ten men within five minutes, however, it took an own goal from my ex-Sochi defender Karpov to give us the lead. 

Being picky, we've actually been somewhat profligate in front of goal but I'm sure we'll work that out...

We have been drawn against Lithuanian side Marijampole in the next round - again, a game I expect to win with ease.

---

Alexandr Golovin probably completes my transfer dealings for this summer after the earlier addition of Maxim Ionov from Amkar. He's old, there is no denying that but his attributes are holding up pretty well. He's had a great career, mainly with Monaco but then in the Middle East as well as earning a huge number of caps for Russia. He'd been on my radar but the deal only happened after I received this bid for Iosifov, which I very quickly accepted. Whilst this is certainly not a long term deal, it gives my younger players at least another year in the 2-side and allows me to continue my hunt for a winger who fits the bill.

I'm not always too keen on wage contributions but I've worked out that this will actually be very beneficial to us.

With the remaining loyalty bonus, plus the £6.75k p/w until the end of his deal, I'll be spending some £725,5000 on him. However, his weekly wage contribution of £54,000 will remove £1,404,000 from our wage bill, meaning we're actually saving money from him not being here. Furthermore, the wage that I've signed Golovin to equates to £18,000 per week, which is a total of £468,000 over the course of his deal. Therefore, I've managed to create an opportunity whereby I've got a better player, moved on an unhappy, transfer listed player and still saved an approximate £210k over the next twelve months. 

These deals have had an absolutely massive impact on my weekly salary:

In the space of exactly twelve months, I've managed to knock £1.028m per calendar month off the wage bill here. I've reinvested that in scouting packages (now 'World' - up from 'Russia' when I took over at an extra £39k pcm), extra scouting assignments (budget is now £780k p/a rather than £200k p/a but was not all spent last year) and the wages of an improved scouting setup with bags left to over.

---

Above is another sign of badly run AI transfer dealings.

The above payments are still to be made from my transfer budget, giving me another two full seasons before I've paid off all my transfer debts. Annoyingly, some of these players are no longer at the club. We are paying nearly £2m for Bykovskiy, yet he's a Lokomotiv player right now! Granted, we are receiving some of the same (funnily enough, for Bykovskiy, too) but that value only amounts to £1.35m this year, £1.97m next year and £660k in 2035 - so two of the years we're making a transfer loss just paying off deals we've already made.

I do like the clauses and it's something I don't pay enough attention to but we need a proper strategy that doesn't see me paying nearly 80% of my record transfer fee a in a year for players who don't all play for the club any more! If we are to use this method in the future - I want to ensure that any outgoing instalments are equal to or less than the value of those coming in. Again - with loads of money in the bank, this is a little bit unnecessary but it's something, along with wages, that I've always tried to ensure runs smoothly and makes us profitable.

---

With that all being said and the money being saved - I'm now shifting my attention to my next one or two marquee signings. I have decided that, given the needs of my tactics, the current strengths elsewhere and the foreign player limit, that this/these players will be a centre back or a defensive midfielder. Here are my current options:

As the oldest and only foreign player as well as having this strange idea that he dislikes the club, record signing (£13.75m back in 2028) Carrillo is the most likely to move on here. In my eyes, a left footed Ball Playing Defender would be absolutely ideal here. Roganov is potentially going to be good but is not there just yet. An added bonus would be the Brings Ball Out of Defence trait but I'm not making that an absolute pre-requisite.

Quite similarly to before, Sarr sits as the foreign option here and is the oldest of the two players I have for this role, although this time is probably slightly more suited for it. I'm really looking for a Makelele type player - one who can win the ball back but also progress it forward and find a pass to the more offensive minded players. He needs to be pretty much complete!

I definitely see these roles as key in the side and this is why I'm trying to make all those savings elsewhere. Moving Carrillo and Sarr on will save us over £55k in weekly contributions and, even with minimal transfer income, we've got a significant war chest:

I hope be in a position by January to have clearly identified the player(s) that I want to recruit and will then make the decision as to whether I try and sign them in January or in the summer - which will largely depend on buyers for my own players.

[GIMN]

1 hour ago, _Ben_ said:

Alexandr Golovin probably completes my transfer dealings for this summer after the earlier addition of Maxim Ionov from Amkar. He's old, there is no denying that but his attributes are holding up pretty well. He's had a great career, mainly with Monaco but then in the Middle East as well as earning a huge number of caps for Russia. He'd been on my radar but the deal only happened after I received this bid for Iosifov, which I very quickly accepted. Whilst this is certainly not a long term deal, it gives my younger players at least another year in the 2-side and allows me to continue my hunt for a winger who fits the bill.

Great results, but I'm most excited by the Golovin signing.  He's always been a favourite of mine - I can't remember which FM but he was an absolute beast for me in a previous iteration and that afinity still holds.  I'd be concerned about his desire to regularly run with the ball given his aging legs, but he definitely has the quality on the ball to still be dangerous.

[stppnmd]

Funny stuff, I have a 34-year Golovin in my side in FM21, and he has worse physicals...Better aging is probably the biggest change in FM22, but I am not willing to pay a pretty hefty sum (where I am from, 55 bucks is a lot) for that...

On the thread - this is like, the only story I read here. Loving it. I personally play with a skin that disables attributes, stars and player search, and the realism pack which brings the PA's of newgens down. Makes you more patient with squadbuilding, hesitant to buy-sell all the time, and more careful with youth. Highly recommend, might enhance your experience even more.

 

 

[_Ben_]

1 hour ago, GIMN said:

Great results, but I'm most excited by the Golovin signing.  He's always been a favourite of mine - I can't remember which FM but he was an absolute beast for me in a previous iteration and that afinity still holds.  I'd be concerned about his desire to regularly run with the ball given his aging legs, but he definitely has the quality on the ball to still be dangerous.

 

42 minutes ago, stppnmd said:

Funny stuff, I have a 34-year Golovin in my side in FM21, and he has worse physicals...Better aging is probably the biggest change in FM22,

I like it, from both the financial side and also the side where I need to really manage an older player. You're right @GIMNthat his trait worries me but he's a decent Decision maker and I'm hoping that offsets it. Plus, he's playing as a W(s) with his routes blocked by the onrushing Mezzalas, which, I've found, does kind of restrict the role - perfect for what I want; wide players who draw defenders out allowing me to overload the centre.

In terms of him as a player - I'm hoping that a combination of his Natural Fitness and overall personality will marry up with his training schedule, below, to stop him falling off a cliff this year.

44 minutes ago, stppnmd said:

On the thread - this is like, the only story I read here. Loving it. I personally play with a skin that disables attributes, stars and player search, and the realism pack which brings the PA's of newgens down. Makes you more patient with squadbuilding, hesitant to buy-sell all the time, and more careful with youth. Highly recommend, might enhance your experience even more.

Thanks so much!

I played without attributes and stars a few years back and loved it but then I got really into tracking the attribute development and that needed numbers. Since then, I've been trying to marry up the statistics with my overall thoughts on their ability. I used all of those add-ons last year but they weren't ready for when I started this on the beta, sadly, but I have certainly been trying the patient squadbuiling approach and I'm loving it!

[GIMN]

38 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Plus, he's playing as a W(s) with his routes blocked by the onrushing Mezzalas, which, I've found, does kind of restrict the role - perfect for what I want; wide players who draw defenders out allowing me to overload the centre.

Ooo - with his attributes, he'll hopefully become some kind of wide Enganche.  I'd love to see how it plays out!

[john1]

Golvin's attributes looks decent at age of 37!!

Love your finances insight, might have to look at mine now on the game

[Sonic Youth]

19 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Alexandr Golovin probably completes my transfer dealings for this summer after the earlier addition of Maxim Ionov from Amkar. He's old, there is no denying that but his attributes are holding up pretty well. He's had a great career, mainly with Monaco but then in the Middle East as well as earning a huge number of caps for Russia. He'd been on my radar but the deal only happened after I received this bid for Iosifov, which I very quickly accepted. Whilst this is certainly not a long term deal, it gives my younger players at least another year in the 2-side and allows me to continue my hunt for a winger who fits the bill.

That all sounds great. What I want to know is, will he be your next favourite player to turn into your next Assistant Manager? 

It’s really strange to see Carrillo dislikes the club. Did you apparently not give him a birthday cake? Has that show up anywhere else?

I’ve always been a fan of balancing payments in with payments out. Pays for itself.

[haier_fm]

Training Golovin as a Wide Playmaker makes a lot of sense. Technically, he's still got it, maybe just not quite enough physically imo (despite high natural fitness) to run around like a Trequartista or a Mezzala.   

[_Ben_]

On 06/03/2022 at 15:38, GIMN said:

Ooo - with his attributes, he'll hopefully become some kind of wide Enganche.  I'd love to see how it plays out!

On 06/03/2022 at 19:10, john1 said:

Golvin's attributes looks decent at age of 37!!

On 07/03/2022 at 08:16, Sonic Youth said:

That all sounds great. What I want to know is, will he be your next favourite player to turn into your next Assistant Manager? 

4 hours ago, haier_fm said:

Training Golovin as a Wide Playmaker makes a lot of sense. Technically, he's still got it, maybe just not quite enough physically imo (despite high natural fitness) to run around like a Trequartista or a Mezzala.   

Enjoying the Golovin love in! He's good for 37, definitely, but not interested in being my assistant!! As the best corner taker in the team, he's able to do this kind of thing:

10 key passes! With three from corners.

Edited March 8, 2022 by _Ben_

[_Ben_]

August (Part 1) 2033

Going to do this update in two parts, given our hectic schedule and the fact that we have nine games this month!

We've started pretty well but I've suffered my first defeat here as Krasnodar manager. It was going to come, eventually, but I didn't quite expect it to come the way that it did. However, we bounced back with a good win over Ufa and, positively, the early league table does not have Zenit at the top. However, we do go to St. Petersburg next, hoping not to taste defeat again.

We were good against Lokomotiv and, on most other days, would have really done enough to avoid defeat. However, a goal, literally, at the death of the game, consigned us. It's a sign that this schedule is catching up on his already - by this point we're seven games deep, whereas the likes of Lokomotiv themselves have only played four - and there's did not include a trip to Bulgaria and Lithuania. My plan will be to continue to rotate the positions I have significant, high quality cover in and go from there. We roared past Suduva, netting in pretty much every way possible before a strong performance back in the league got us off and underway in our (hopeful) title challenge. A professional job was completed in the return leg but has given us a more complex tie next: Red Star Belgrade.

What is even more ridiculous is that we are in Belgrade on a Thursday evening yet have a 4pm kick off in Khabarovsk on a Sunday, with the far east city being nine hours ahead, too.

Oh, the sheer size of this country!

---

A little 2-team update:

We're taking shape here now with my 2 team and I'm building the backroom squad and training schedules that go along with it. My plan here is to only play these at this level, ensuring they get good football and training here rather than mixing them between the four squads I actually do have. The level isn't great, but the exposure to first team football will certainly help them develop.

Sakheishvili is probably the hottest prospect and, as an academy graduate, is the shining light here. Russia is blessed with pacey wingers, which, after some thoughts, has meant that I'm not going to train him as one, as he simply doesn't have that going for him. Instead, I'm going to go for a 10/Mez hybrid, somewhat similar to the job that Barreto does in the first team. Skylar is developing into a solid right back and, with Msomi being a foreign player in the first team, could see himself pushing into that role in 12 months times. Ismailov is the older head and, if you remember, an Anji graduate from when I was there before being signed by the previous regime. He's not going to reach the levels of the RPL but, even at his tender age, I think that this kind of experience is pretty useful in a really young side. Lastly, Gennish-Meir is a bit of a strange player with no real standout ability anywhere but is developing nicely.

I'll continue to try and stock this team with the best young players I can find, but, with the minimum age for all foreign player to join being 18 and the long period of nationalisation (if even possible), it's not going to become an academy that houses poached talent from across the globe.

And, I'm ok with that.

[danielgear]

With the three youngsters (Gennish-Meir, Sakheishvill and Skylar) I noticed none have traits. Are you looking to add any for them? 

[GIMN]

18 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

What is even more ridiculous is that we are in Belgrade on a Thursday evening yet have a 4pm kick off in Khabarovsk on a Sunday, with the far east city being nine hours ahead, too.

Oh, the sheer size of this country!

Good thing your owners can afford to travel by air.  Might've been embarrassing having to travel by car and arriving 3 days late!

Sakheishvili looks like the kind of prospect I love.  Great technique, first touch, determination and teamwork (and his passing ain't too shabby either).  Once he improves his stamina, work rate and decision making, he'll be a beast.  Hopefully.

 

[_Ben_]

23 hours ago, danielgear said:

With the three youngsters (Gennish-Meir, Sakheishvill and Skylar) I noticed none have traits. Are you looking to add any for them? 

That's a good point! I am training Sakheisvhili with a bit of a bonus one because I'm still a little unsure of what I want his role to do - so he's learning to Try Tricks (Flair: 17, Technique: 15, Agility: 16, Decisions: 12). It's not going to hugely impact his game but with the change to Mezzala, he'll need to prove he can adapt and play in that role before 'lock it in' with traits that only suit that way. That's my normal plan - teaching traits to older players or, at least, ones who I've decided their role.

However, I looked and then got a bit carried away...

Gennish-Meir, as you mentioned him, is a strange one. He's pretty strong mentally but doesn't stand out in one particular area, so I'd normally be quite stand-offish about his traits. However, in our current ideology, I actually want all of my midfielders to be somewhat high risk with their passing, so I don't mind this even if it does take some time off his attribute development.

For the rest, it's very much a case of suitability for role (Moves into Channels for forwards), Moves Ball to Right (right footed potential WP(s) on the left flank) or Tries Killer Balls/Switch Ball [n.b. you can only teach the former if the player is able to play as a CM - but it's ideal for my IWB(s)] or those who benefit the type of player - Knocks Ball Past Opponent for a very one dimensional winger.

A real area of development for me, both in terms of thinking outside the box and writing about what I do and why I do it!

4 hours ago, GIMN said:

Sakheishvili looks like the kind of prospect I love.  Great technique, first touch, determination and teamwork (and his passing ain't too shabby either).  Once he improves his stamina, work rate and decision making, he'll be a beast.  Hopefully.

He's one of the absolutely top rated Russian youngsters at the moment! I've got really high hopes for him and he's already made his first team debut.

[SixPointer]

Do you think a league title is achievable this year? 

[danielgear]

On 09/03/2022 at 20:37, _Ben_ said:

That's a good point! I am training Sakheisvhili with a bit of a bonus one because I'm still a little unsure of what I want his role to do - so he's learning to Try Tricks (Flair: 17, Technique: 15, Agility: 16, Decisions: 12). It's not going to hugely impact his game but with the change to Mezzala, he'll need to prove he can adapt and play in that role before 'lock it in' with traits that only suit that way. That's my normal plan - teaching traits to older players or, at least, ones who I've decided their role.

However, I looked and then got a bit carried away...

Gennish-Meir, as you mentioned him, is a strange one. He's pretty strong mentally but doesn't stand out in one particular area, so I'd normally be quite stand-offish about his traits. However, in our current ideology, I actually want all of my midfielders to be somewhat high risk with their passing, so I don't mind this even if it does take some time off his attribute development.

For the rest, it's very much a case of suitability for role (Moves into Channels for forwards), Moves Ball to Right (right footed potential WP(s) on the left flank) or Tries Killer Balls/Switch Ball [n.b. you can only teach the former if the player is able to play as a CM - but it's ideal for my IWB(s)] or those who benefit the type of player - Knocks Ball Past Opponent for a very one dimensional winger.

A real area of development for me, both in terms of thinking outside the box and writing about what I do and why I do it

Haha sorry to bring it up to set you off adding all the traits 

I do like the choice to use “tries tricks” I love using traits to individualise players, especially if they’re in the same position/role you might not want direct replacement, a simple switch to a player who plays the same role but differently can change games. 
This is also where a playing style/identity really helps as you know which traits will benefit or be suitable rather than chopping and changing tactics/styles as some would be ineffective in other tactics 

[SteinkelssonFM]

I love the variety which the Conference League provides, I think the competition holds a significant value in the game. 

292 games and your first in Europe 👏

[_Ben_]

Will get back to posting about the game and replying to the messages above tomorrow, but I've spent some time working on the skin again. I go through fits and spurts with this but I've added a few more things that continue to help develop the saves for me and, as versions go on (where they don't re-write the skin), I'll be able to continue doing so:

The two biggest changes are the re-introduction of the Pros and Cons. I kept missing that by having to add another click and I do like to keep tabs on the consistency etc that can only be found here. The second one, and the one I'm most proud of, is the finding of a way to display some more of the /90 stats. It's not an exhaustive list, but this data is really key in how I've been tracking and comparing players and having it on the profile is super important for me. I've also made a few more changes with the personal details, to show a colour for foot strength as well as changing the order of the panel, to show the polygon rather than the attribute polygon, as I didn't find that too useful. Lastly, I've been playing around with some strings I've found to show last club and transfer fee as well as games for current club - just some little immersion things!

I could go on forever changing this and learning what to do but for now, it was a nice break from the game and also this image is an excuse for you all to see just how good Alex Barreto is!

EDIT: A couple of further tweaks...

Edited March 12, 2022 by _Ben_

[danielgear]

I like it Ben

[john1]

Fantastic skin you have created by yourself Ben! I would definitely use it myself

[GIMN]

14 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Will get back to posting about the game and replying to the messages above tomorrow, but I've spent some time working on the skin again. I go through fits and spurts with this but I've added a few more things that continue to help develop the saves for me and, as versions go on (where they don't re-write the skin), I'll be able to continue doing so:

The two biggest changes are the re-introduction of the Pros and Cons. I kept missing that by having to add another click and I do like to keep tabs on the consistency etc that can only be found here. The second one, and the one I'm most proud of, is the finding of a way to display some more of the /90 stats. It's not an exhaustive list, but this data is really key in how I've been tracking and comparing players and having it on the profile is super important for me. I've also made a few more changes with the personal details, to show a colour for foot strength as well as changing the order of the panel, to show the polygon rather than the attribute polygon, as I didn't find that too useful. Lastly, I've been playing around with some strings I've found to show last club and transfer fee as well as games for current club - just some little immersion things!

I could go on forever changing this and learning what to do but for now, it was a nice break from the game and also this image is an excuse for you all to see just how good Alex Barreto is!

EDIT: A couple of further tweaks...

Looks great.  I was working away from home last few days, so wasn't able to check the xmls to find out which file to find all those hidden per 90s, but glad to see you managed to find the answer!  And you're right, Barreto looks quality - you seem to be stockpiling an enviable surplus of creative midfielders!

[_Ben_]

A bit of play time tonight, which is awesome...

On 10/03/2022 at 12:01, SixPointer said:

Do you think a league title is achievable this year? 

No.

Not a spoiler but just not. I'm writing the update for August and we've just got too much going on, with our first foray into Europe, and the like, so, therefore, I really doubt we'll be able to keep up with the likes of Zenit.

On 11/03/2022 at 02:21, danielgear said:

This is also where a playing style/identity really helps as you know which traits will benefit or be suitable rather than chopping and changing tactics/styles as some would be ineffective in other tactics 

Nothing more I love than having two wingers of roughly the same mould, but their traits make them completely different players suitable for completely different occasions!

On 11/03/2022 at 20:49, MattyLewis11 said:

I love the variety which the Conference League provides, I think the competition holds a significant value in the game. 

292 games and your first in Europe 👏

It's a big one, for geography knowledge, if nothing else!

I hope for a pretty deep run into this competition and would happily sacrifice a title challenge for it!

[john1]

I am surprised to see Zenit still going strong. They tends to struggle on mine.

[haier_fm]

14 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Not a spoiler but just not. I'm writing the update for August and we've just got too much going on, with our first foray into Europe, and the like, so, therefore, I really doubt we'll be able to keep up with the likes of Zenit.

Sensible evaluation. Plus, I think it is also really good to use this season to build and develop the squad, then challenge for the title next year or the one after.  

[_Ben_]

16 hours ago, john1 said:

I am surprised to see Zenit still going strong. They tends to struggle on mine.

They're a massive team, earning £85m a year more than any other team in sponsorship and you only have to look at Russia's leading transfers to see the impact of that. However, they have put it together on the pitch, winning 10 of the last 12 RPL titles.

3 hours ago, haier_fm said:

Sensible evaluation. Plus, I think it is also really good to use this season to build and develop the squad, then challenge for the title next year or the one after.  

Absolutely. This squad still isn't mine plus, and a really big plus, I hope to not really ever compete in the Conference League again as I rise through the levels here. Therefore, it feels like a nice thing to focus on!

[_Ben_]

August 2033

The ending part of a ridiculous month has seen me reach my twentieth game for Krasnodar and my three hundredth in management. As I mentioned previously, I think that, even early season, we're just not quite ready for a proper title push yet. Given that we've already played six extra qualifiers and, given our progress, now have at least six group games. We'll face Lyon, Astana and Dinamo Minsk, in what should be a good test but one I very much expect to qualify from, adding even more games and travel time to our squad.

We're rotating well and, injuries included, all the squad has played in at least 122 minutes of competitive football, with the median value at just shy of 500 minutes but, whilst I'm doing my best to keep everyone fresh, it has impacted the cohesion within my players and has led to some less than ideal performances.

Very much an even game against Zenit, excluding their pen xG from the equation but we couldn't muster quite enough going forward to cause them any real danger. I don't have the exact statistic to hand, but this is one of maybe two or three times when we've accrued less than 1.0xG, so I'm not hugely worried in the short term. Longer term, it's a home loss to a side who will be finishing above us more than likely in the table and sees two defeats, both 1-0 already this term. We went to Belgrade and produced a professional, but this time slightly erratic display of finishing to overcome Red Star. Their old-school 4-4-2 with two big men up top caused us more problems from wide areas than I'd originally thought, so my plan needs to evolve for that, definitely. We then produced a really tired away performance against SKA before a much stronger one at home to Red Star, ensuring our progression into the group stage. We wrapped up with a relatively easy win against Krylya and I must refer to the saying about winning when not playing well, as that's certainly where we are right now.

---

Things are not all rosy in the dressing room though, which is leading to a slightly more urgent emphasis on replacing a few of the players. Lizo Msomi, despite being pretty normal personality-wise, is really struggling to get on with the other players, as seen below:

However, in his opinion, he doesn't get on with one player. It's something that I'm monitoring as he's playing well but I really am conscious about these kind of cracks within our hierarchy that will be exposed one day. I do have Skylar in the youth team who may be able to step up but I wasn't planning on rushing this change and have, therefore, no targets in mind. 

Next up Alvaro Carrillo - a player I did want to move on, but not until the end of the season. Unfortunately, after news of the rejected transfer bid, he's decided to be in one incredible sulk, which has really impacted his body language on the pitch. I'm a little stretched at centre back at the moment due to some injuries so my hand has been forced in terms of playing him, but he's really disappointed. I've just accepted a £3.6m bid from AEK Athens so it's likely he's going to move on a year to soon. It's a good amount off the wage bill and it removes an unhappy player but leaves me short, with only Golovach, from the -2 Team, really ready to make the step up.

I'm looking for a marquee player and think someone like Bitarov would be perfect, but I want to try and work a way to reduce that asking price by maybe unsettling him over the course of the year. Therefore, in the short term, I've made a loan offer for Sochi centre back Sarkis Melikyan, who is pretty decent. He was in the RPL last year with them and performed ok for a player under constant pressure from, essentially, being in a rubbish team! It was a bit of a rushed identification, based on 85%+ headers won, 90%+ tackles won and 1.50+ interceptions per game, which he meets but, because of this method, he's not fully scouted, yet. However, as a loan signing with the playing time of Fringe Player, I don't see this as a huge gamble. It also frees up one more foreign player slot, as he holds a Russian passport, although, in the short term for recruitment, that's likely to make less of a difference.

(Guess who still hasn't updated Brazilian club names!!)

With the surprise news Hylnsson's interest from the Middle East, I've set out to find a very specific player thanks to my pretty rudimentary search filter. With it being so early in the season, I'm only really able to identify players from calendar leagues at this point, but that does open the Brazilian market for me. I don't really want to sell Hylnsson but he's been somewhat injury prone for me, is now 29 and is the highest earner. I think it's really important to continue with the strategy of the hybrid Mez/10 and Mez/SS players in that central role, so most of these players will have to be converted from wingers. 

[GIMN]

1 hour ago, _Ben_ said:

Things are not all rosy in the dressing room though, which is leading to a slightly more urgent emphasis on replacing a few of the players. Lizo Msomi, despite being pretty normal personality-wise, is really struggling to get on with the other players, as seen below:

However, in his opinion, he doesn't get on with one player. It's something that I'm monitoring as he's playing well but I really am conscious about these kind of cracks within our hierarchy that will be exposed one day. I do have Skylar in the youth team who may be able to step up but I wasn't planning on rushing this change and have, therefore, no targets in mind. 

In the words of Cleveland Browns head coach, Kevin Stefanski: "winning is a deodorant".  Now he might have just been having a stroke, but I think he means to say that this little fractures can easily be overcome with good form.  Looks like results so far have kind of gone as expected.

Also, quite like the look of Melikyan.  He might not be as good as Bitarov, but definitely represents far better value, especially as piece to tie you over in the short term.

[john1]

Feels so sorry for Lizo Msomi

[_Ben_]

4 hours ago, GIMN said:

In the words of Cleveland Browns head coach, Kevin Stefanski: "winning is a deodorant".  Now he might have just been having a stroke, but I think he means to say that this little fractures can easily be overcome with good form.  Looks like results so far have kind of gone as expected.

Also, quite like the look of Melikyan.  He might not be as good as Bitarov, but definitely represents far better value, especially as piece to tie you over in the short term.

I really like that quote!

I absolutely agree. We can still function as a team, even with a little bit of discontent in the ranks whilst we are winning. It's when the poor partnerships, losses of morale etc come into play that Msomi becomes a problem.

Yeah, Melikyan is certainly an undervalued find and that's what I really love doing. I had scouting a 19 year old from Benfica B who was also available but I think I made the most realistic option there, which is what I want to do in this save. I may go back in for Bitarov next year but, with PSG interested, that looks less likely, especially given the £18m isn't really what I'm trying to get at with my financial prudence!

2 hours ago, john1 said:

Feels so sorry for Lizo Msomi

Yeah, he's in the main social group and it's not like he's done a lot wrong!

[_Ben_]

September 2033

I'm not one for one-game updates but this could be the best half I have ever had in FM:

We've completely nullified their offensive threats, scored twice on the break and, considering that centre back Boubacar Kamara, alone, has completed an amount of passes that is 76% of our team total, I think we've kept them well at bay!

[GIMN]

31 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Yeah, Melikyan is certainly an undervalued find and that's what I really love doing. I had scouting a 19 year old from Benfica B who was also available but I think I made the most realistic option there, which is what I want to do in this save. I may go back in for Bitarov next year but, with PSG interested, that looks less likely, especially given the £18m isn't really what I'm trying to get at with my financial prudence!

Damn, it definitely looks like Bitarov might be off the radar.  Even with the resources available at Krasnodar, and even if you managed to unsettle him and drive that price down, you can't feel confident if PSG are willing to get involved.

31 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

September 2033

I'm not one for one-game updates but this could be the best half I have ever had in FM:

We've completely nullified their offensive threats, scored twice on the break and, considering that centre back Boubacar Kamara, alone, has completed an amount of passes that is 76% of our team total, I think we've kept them well at bay!

Great first half.  Restricting Lyon at home to 4 shots in rather impressive.  I know I should wait until the full update, but did you manage to hold on?

[Sonic Youth]

16 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Lizo Msomi

I keep hearing it pronounced Liza Minnelli  

16 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Bitarov

I think he was off the table even if you did unsettle him, as I think his asking price would still be high (what is Krasnodar’s transfer record?). He just looks like a defensive player who Russia could build their national team’s defence around. I think you’ve taken the prudent course of action of a short term loan for Melikyan as also mentioned by GIMN.

[Sonic Youth]

11 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

September 2033

I'm not one for one-game updates but this could be the best half I have ever had in FM:

We've completely nullified their offensive threats, scored twice on the break and, considering that centre back Boubacar Kamara, alone, has completed an amount of passes that is 76% of our team total, I think we've kept them well at bay!

I bet Lyon couldn’t wait for half time to be blown! Very succinct half. I’m curious what the pass map of both teams looks like.

[_Ben_]

19 hours ago, GIMN said:

Great first half.  Restricting Lyon at home to 4 shots in rather impressive.  I know I should wait until the full update, but did you manage to hold on?

9 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

I bet Lyon couldn’t wait for half time to be blown! Very succinct half. I’m curious what the pass map of both teams looks like.

You'll have to wait for the actual update but I can confirm they completed 977 passes to our 281. It's so easy to see how we made it hard for them to gain entry to our box from the central area, which is a real defensive core methodology for us. Noted by how deep their pass map is:

Their #25, Caqueret,had 256 pass combinations and it was their centre back, #16 Mateo Peris, who linked with every player. The game plan worked but they played it into our hands with IW/IF combo - matching up perfectly to our IWB and not stretching the play, plus a DLP and and a really offensive AM (so offensive, his dot is actually under the forward), meaning that there was no real out-ball from those seven more defensive players and we cut off all balls to their attacking foursome.

I pay little attention to our own pass map because both my wingers and CMs are instructed to swap places, which causes that big bubble in the middle of the pitch.

[GIMN]

43 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

You'll have to wait for the actual update but I can confirm they completed 977 passes to our 281. It's so easy to see how we made it hard for them to gain entry to our box from the central area, which is a real defensive core methodology for us. Noted by how deep their pass map is:

Their #25, Caqueret,had 256 pass combinations and it was their centre back, #16 Mateo Peris, who linked with every player. The game plan worked but they played it into our hands with IW/IF combo - matching up perfectly to our IWB and not stretching the play, plus a DLP and and a really offensive AM (so offensive, his dot is actually under the forward), meaning that there was no real out-ball from those seven more defensive players and we cut off all balls to their attacking foursome.

I pay little attention to our own pass map because both my wingers and CMs are instructed to swap places, which causes that big bubble in the middle of the pitch.

I really hope SI build on the pass maps in future iterations.  Options to view by positions rather than players would be great for the exact reason you said.  Even better would be allowing us to configure by time, too, so we can see how substitutions impact on the passing map.

You've done a great job of pinning them deep, and you can really see the how their IW/IF inhibited them.  It looks like they worked the half-spaces well, and if they kept their forwards wide, you feel they could've had some joy.

[haier_fm]

On 14/03/2022 at 21:41, _Ben_ said:

I can confirm they completed 977 passes to our 281

Ah yes, the fine art of passing for the sake of passing. 

Scoring 2 from 3 attempts, given you had much less of the ball, is something that has to be talked about. The Lyon manager must be absolutely furious with his team!

Just shows that ball domination does not necessarily translate into results.

[_Ben_]

(Mid) September 2033

I've been so off and on with FM time this week that I'm all over the shop in terms of what games I've played and have left to play. I'll finish that off over the weekend and, instead, just post the little extra bit I've written about recruitment.

Enjoy!

----

I've also got myself a new transfer target and he could become a right back...

Mario is currently playing for Defensa y Justica in Argentina, who, for context, are nineteenth in the relatively early season Argentine top tier. He's caught my eye as a defender who has an eye to create things going forward. His Key Passes/90 is slightly lagging behind Liz Msomi (0.63 to 0.38) but he creates more chances than Msomi (0.21), Fomchenko (0.43) and left back Ivlev (0.46), falling just shy of the 0.73/90 from Callum Styles. Yet, when you look at his form, he's largely been played as a Ball Playing Centre Back - hugely exceeding Avramchuk (0.12), Roganov (0.10) and Denisov (0.16).  When looking at how he compares to the other Right Backs in the Argentine league, you can see he's pretty safe in possession and also wins the ball back fairly frequently, with his 2.76 interceptions/90 on a par with my own centre backs - even though he'll have been doing so much more defending.

Here, I have compared his stats to all the full backs, centre backs and defensive midfielders in the Argentine top flight. I've done this because the role I see him playing, an IWB, encompasses a lot of what all of these traditional roles do:

Again - to reiterate - for someone in a team who are doing a huge proportion of defending (scoring on 0.75 goals per game and conceding 1.24), he's very good with the ball and, potentially, the fulcrum of their team. He's not doing too bad defensively and a league rating of 6.94 is not to be sniffed at, given the seeming lack of quality around him, given he's only been on the winning side once. In fact, his whole career has been full of strong performances and 7 goal contributions last year were probably a real catalyst behind their surprise fifth placed finish.

His scout report is strong and his attributes, below, are also interesting to throw into the mix:

I like that he's not really got a weak foot, which will certainly enable him to come inside and also go outside with the ball at his feet. He's not the tallest (which made the fact he's playing at centre back and not as a DM a little surprising) but is pretty good in the air (also ahead of Fomchenko - 41% and Ivlev - 73% header completion), so this isn't a concern for me. Also weak areas include Crossing and I know that my IWBs do love to get forward - however, they do, more often than not, look to pull the ball back rather than whip it in, so, hopefully, I can get away with this. I love his Vision and really Long Shots, which are the kind of attributes that aren't desired but really set a candidate apart (a Long Throw is also another one for me) and his defensive intelligence (Decisions: 14, Concentration: 15 and Anticipation:15) are going to make him really rock solid at the back.

When comparing him to my current Right Backs, the upgrade is clear to see:

Much better defensively and offers that playmaking ability that I crave and have with both Styles and Ivlev. Given the foreign player restrictions as well as the aforementioned friendship issues, the logical deal would be to move Msomi on, especially as this would actually lead to a likely transfer profit being made. He's got no interest yet but it is something I may consider as I progress.

With just under a year left on his contract, the deal for him is pretty cheap. Flamengo have also lodged a bid but I hope we have enough pulling power...

[SixPointer]

11 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

(Mid) September 2033

I've been so off and on with FM time this week that I'm all over the shop in terms of what games I've played and have left to play. I'll finish that off over the weekend and, instead, just post the little extra bit I've written about recruitment.

Enjoy!

----

I've also got myself a new transfer target and he could become a right back...

Mario is currently playing for Defensa y Justica in Argentina, who, for context, are nineteenth in the relatively early season Argentine top tier. He's caught my eye as a defender who has an eye to create things going forward. His Key Passes/90 is slightly lagging behind Liz Msomi (0.63 to 0.38) but he creates more chances than Msomi (0.21), Fomchenko (0.43) and left back Ivlev (0.46), falling just shy of the 0.73/90 from Callum Styles. Yet, when you look at his form, he's largely been played as a Ball Playing Centre Back - hugely exceeding Avramchuk (0.12), Roganov (0.10) and Denisov (0.16).  When looking at how he compares to the other Right Backs in the Argentine league, you can see he's pretty safe in possession and also wins the ball back fairly frequently, with his 2.76 interceptions/90 on a par with my own centre backs - even though he'll have been doing so much more defending.

Here, I have compared his stats to all the full backs, centre backs and defensive midfielders in the Argentine top flight. I've done this because the role I see him playing, an IWB, encompasses a lot of what all of these traditional roles do:

Again - to reiterate - for someone in a team who are doing a huge proportion of defending (scoring on 0.75 goals per game and conceding 1.24), he's very good with the ball and, potentially, the fulcrum of their team. He's not doing too bad defensively and a league rating of 6.94 is not to be sniffed at, given the seeming lack of quality around him, given he's only been on the winning side once. In fact, his whole career has been full of strong performances and 7 goal contributions last year were probably a real catalyst behind their surprise fifth placed finish.

His scout report is strong and his attributes, below, are also interesting to throw into the mix:

I like that he's not really got a weak foot, which will certainly enable him to come inside and also go outside with the ball at his feet. He's not the tallest (which made the fact he's playing at centre back and not as a DM a little surprising) but is pretty good in the air (also ahead of Fomchenko - 41% and Ivlev - 73% header completion), so this isn't a concern for me. Also weak areas include Crossing and I know that my IWBs do love to get forward - however, they do, more often than not, look to pull the ball back rather than whip it in, so, hopefully, I can get away with this. I love his Vision and really Long Shots, which are the kind of attributes that aren't desired but really set a candidate apart (a Long Throw is also another one for me) and his defensive intelligence (Decisions: 14, Concentration: 15 and Anticipation:15) are going to make him really rock solid at the back.

When comparing him to my current Right Backs, the upgrade is clear to see:

Much better defensively and offers that playmaking ability that I crave and have with both Styles and Ivlev. Given the foreign player restrictions as well as the aforementioned friendship issues, the logical deal would be to move Msomi on, especially as this would actually lead to a likely transfer profit being made. He's got no interest yet but it is something I may consider as I progress.

With just under a year left on his contract, the deal for him is pretty cheap. Flamengo have also lodged a bid but I hope we have enough pulling power...

I love this! I tried to do similar for myself in the January transfer window but really couldn’t find anyone to really interest me in such a way, perhaps I was slightly panicked plus my main targets I had been following ended up out my price range. Come the summer I need to really put to use some of your recruitment techniques.

[GIMN]

11 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

His scout report is strong and his attributes, below, are also interesting to throw into the mix:

I like that he's not really got a weak foot, which will certainly enable him to come inside and also go outside with the ball at his feet. He's not the tallest (which made the fact he's playing at centre back and not as a DM a little surprising) but is pretty good in the air (also ahead of Fomchenko - 41% and Ivlev - 73% header completion), so this isn't a concern for me. Also weak areas include Crossing and I know that my IWBs do love to get forward - however, they do, more often than not, look to pull the ball back rather than whip it in, so, hopefully, I can get away with this. I love his Vision and really Long Shots, which are the kind of attributes that aren't desired but really set a candidate apart (a Long Throw is also another one for me) and his defensive intelligence (Decisions: 14, Concentration: 15 and Anticipation:15) are going to make him really rock solid at the back.

When comparing him to my current Right Backs, the upgrade is clear to see

Looks like a very good player; be really interesting to see how he fares as an IWB.  The passing, vision and decisions could see him effectively become like a wide playmaker from that position.

Entirely unrelated, but I'm also enjoying the disconnect between the words and the text here:

[Sonic Youth]

1 hour ago, GIMN said:

Entirely unrelated, but I'm also enjoying the disconnect between the words and the text here:

Yes, I saw that too and had a chuckle at that.

 

13 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

(Mid) September 2033

I've been so off and on with FM time this week that I'm all over the shop in terms of what games I've played and have left to play. I'll finish that off over the weekend and, instead, just post the little extra bit I've written about recruitment.

Enjoy!

----

I've also got myself a new transfer target and he could become a right back...

Mario is currently playing for Defensa y Justica in Argentina, who, for context, are nineteenth in the relatively early season Argentine top tier. He's caught my eye as a defender who has an eye to create things going forward. His Key Passes/90 is slightly lagging behind Liz Msomi (0.63 to 0.38) but he creates more chances than Msomi (0.21), Fomchenko (0.43) and left back Ivlev (0.46), falling just shy of the 0.73/90 from Callum Styles. Yet, when you look at his form, he's largely been played as a Ball Playing Centre Back - hugely exceeding Avramchuk (0.12), Roganov (0.10) and Denisov (0.16).  When looking at how he compares to the other Right Backs in the Argentine league, you can see he's pretty safe in possession and also wins the ball back fairly frequently, with his 2.76 interceptions/90 on a par with my own centre backs - even though he'll have been doing so much more defending.

Here, I have compared his stats to all the full backs, centre backs and defensive midfielders in the Argentine top flight. I've done this because the role I see him playing, an IWB, encompasses a lot of what all of these traditional roles do:

Again - to reiterate - for someone in a team who are doing a huge proportion of defending (scoring on 0.75 goals per game and conceding 1.24), he's very good with the ball and, potentially, the fulcrum of their team. He's not doing too bad defensively and a league rating of 6.94 is not to be sniffed at, given the seeming lack of quality around him, given he's only been on the winning side once. In fact, his whole career has been full of strong performances and 7 goal contributions last year were probably a real catalyst behind their surprise fifth placed finish.

His scout report is strong and his attributes, below, are also interesting to throw into the mix:

I like that he's not really got a weak foot, which will certainly enable him to come inside and also go outside with the ball at his feet. He's not the tallest (which made the fact he's playing at centre back and not as a DM a little surprising) but is pretty good in the air (also ahead of Fomchenko - 41% and Ivlev - 73% header completion), so this isn't a concern for me. Also weak areas include Crossing and I know that my IWBs do love to get forward - however, they do, more often than not, look to pull the ball back rather than whip it in, so, hopefully, I can get away with this. I love his Vision and really Long Shots, which are the kind of attributes that aren't desired but really set a candidate apart (a Long Throw is also another one for me) and his defensive intelligence (Decisions: 14, Concentration: 15 and Anticipation:15) are going to make him really rock solid at the back.

When comparing him to my current Right Backs, the upgrade is clear to see:

Much better defensively and offers that playmaking ability that I crave and have with both Styles and Ivlev. Given the foreign player restrictions as well as the aforementioned friendship issues, the logical deal would be to move Msomi on, especially as this would actually lead to a likely transfer profit being made. He's got no interest yet but it is something I may consider as I progress.

With just under a year left on his contract, the deal for him is pretty cheap. Flamengo have also lodged a bid but I hope we have enough pulling power...

Very thorougher player profile scout report, and looks an interesting player. That long shot couple with his intelligence and vision is going to net important goals for you if you sign him (fingers crossed you do). Would he be considered one of your marquee signings?

[bsanchezb]

3 hours ago, GIMN said:

Entirely unrelated, but I'm also enjoying the disconnect between the words and the text here:

I think the reason for this is if a player is "unhappy" in his current team, it is actually a bonus for a potential buyer, as it will be easier and cheaper to negotiate the deal. So no real contradiction here  But seems funny anyway

Edited March 18, 2022 by bsanchezb