_Ben_ Posted August 25, 2022 Author Share Posted August 25, 2022 January 2039 (Part 1) January started with the unveiling of six new players for the youth sides: Kokko, Reci and Leppanen all are results of a bit of extra time spent looking at the Finnish youth leagues as these were all free transfers, Linderoth did the same from Sweden and Germain (€125k) and Daugaard (€60k) are both low risk options from my analytical work on the Spanish youth leagues with both of them being ex-trialists here, playing for the younger teams and impressing. Looking at both our Jong and U18 squad, there is definitely signs of development in terms of recruiting and developing the youngsters that we have and those that are available to us. Only time will tell though if I will be able to increase the number of academy trained players in the first team, with those players seen here: All of these are youth intake players but I will be considering a home-grown player once they meet the requirements of being at the club for three years under the age of 21 (or whatever the rule is) so, should Reci - for example - make it, his training and development, for me, will have happened here and I will count him among my academy graduates. I am really happy with how I'm trying to bring through players and it feels a lot more realistic than it has been before: I am ensuring that the player is ready and of the right quality, rather than just forcing them in at the expense of a better, more experienced player. The fact that I've only promoted three players - Escalona, Zambrano and Pander - to the first team since I arrived is very much out of the ordinary for me but it does feel a lot more feasible for a this number at a top division club. I'm finding recruitment for the first team much more difficult right now - given the parameters I've set and the fact that, statistically, my team play slightly different from most and are largely overperforming - so, trying to find a player that matches that output often means I'm left with world class players. Take Sergio Joao, for example: You can see (by clicking the thumbnail) that he's not world class and nor does he actually quite fit my statistical needs - wing backs need to be able to demonstrate that they can dribble, intercept and create key passes. Standard are obviously not playing particularly adventurous full backs as his Dribbles/90 is way below the threshold of 2.00+ that I want to see. However, just to see where I'm at with this, I asked Volkers - my DoF - to try and sign him. Immediately, he went in for the €24m release clause, some 300% of my current record transfer, and then proceeded to offer him nearly €40k per week. Whilst that is a figure we'll need to pay, at some point, it's way above the €14k that my top earners are on now and double my kind of self-imposed €20k p/w limit. Things will change over time as we hopefully cement ourselves as a bigger team and can rely on income from prize money to bolster our finances but, as of right now, he's too much money for this to be a realistic deal but, those players that are within our price range, tend not to be either good enough or are performing well enough to meet thresholds. However, I probably should take that as a complimentary thing as, in my primary role of Head Coach, it means that I'm getting a lot from the players I have. My thoughts in the press still stand, though: --- FC Groningen 9-1 PAOK and FC Groningen 2-0 AFC A couple of friendlies to regain a little bit of match practice but the results were probably the opposite of what I expected. As with a couple of ties against PSV, the PAOK game - a similar level of opposition - was one that we utterly dominated and literally everything went our way. It seems to happen from time to time whereby everything just clicks and we battered the Greeks here. I played a much rotated side against third tier AFC to try and look at a few youngsters; in the end, the performance was good and there is a little more scope for changes in terms of loans and training ideas for them, which I'd class as a successful ninety minutes. --- FC Utrecht 0-1 FC Groningen I threw myself into turmoil following a couple of friendlies for the Jong and U18 side where I gave minutes to first team players - forgetting the rule that only two over 23 players can play in both a first team and a non competitive fixture in the same week: Couto, Nilden-Lindnder, Pavlovic, Pihl and Neira all had to watch from home as the bench had a very young and inexperienced feel to it. Watching the full match again from the start, and also dropping my mentality to Balanced for that period of time, has allowed me to get a bigger insight of the opponents and, again, I have used that to my advantage: clearly spotting an overload between Doormenik and Justiniano. Looking at the roles, traits and attributes of these players as well as watching them early on in the game is becoming part and parcel of my managerial style now and I like to make changes early on to work on this. I decided to add a little midfield cover, moving Van Nispen to a BBM(s) rather than a CM(a) and I also experimented with the WT(a) role for Jay ter Burg, thinking that he could get in behind and would be a ball target, exploiting the space that Doormernik would leave. On the other side, my inclusion of Pander as an IW(s) was to utilise the space in front of their other full back. Without trying to create new roles, I wanted to try to essentially invert my centre backs but, playing two left footers didn't help that on this occasion - my plan being to utilise a right footer, on the left, to play long balls out to ter Burg. However, those balls, in general, were non existent as you can see from the above graphic of any progressive medium or long passes that De Wit made. My focus on defensive stability worked: man marking from both Juliaans (RB) and ter Burg (AMR) meant that their left hand side was kept wide and not really in dangerous positions, limiting their advanced forward to just a handful of touches in a dangerous area. Whilst I'm happy to be back in competitive action and keeping a clean sheet (after not keeping a league clean sheet since 23rd October 2038 - 7 games ago), I am aware that it hugely restricted our attacking outputs. As you can see, below, both Escalona and Jonsson are performing well: But neither have scored in the league since November and if it was not for a fantastic midfield - 69 goal contributions between them - we'd certainly be struggling a bit more. I'm absolutely understanding of a bad day but, again, I want to have a little look at how they're doing in more detail. One further thing that I did before the Utrecht match was to create this little guide for the league so far, showing 16 permanent managers, as Almere currently are managerless. My first comment is that this was a nightmare as I cannot seem to do it whilst actually managing a club so had to save, add a new manager as unemployed, create the search, export and reload my game - why is there not an area where we can search for teams, as we do with players and staff?! Secondly, I really want to add more to this, team possession under x manager, team interceptions etc etc but that's just a wish. As you can see - Bochniewicz favours a cautious but counter attacking 4-2-3-1 shape and that, for us, was harder to break down. I want to use this to get a better idea of the styles that we play better against and collate that with the formations we play well against in order to create more thoughts in my match plans and lineups going forward. --- Heracles 1-1 FC Groningen Dropping points at the worst possible time as Ajax also draw at bottom of the table N.E.C. As always, I took in the first ten minutes on 'full match' and felt that the game would be won or lost in three areas: the 3v3 at the back - of which I am not a fan of but persevered with given the quality of the defenders, the space potentially for our central mids with their three (in a Christmas tree shape) sitting deeper and then the huge chasm between their two centre backs as they split in the build up. I actually felt that the original roles that I use would be good enough to make the most of these opportunities but, unfortunately, I wasn't quite right with that and we didn't get the best of the individual battles. Our collective performance was decent but we weren't able to get the ball forward quick enough to expose their spaces and our wide players really struggled to get into the game. It's hard to put my finger on exactly why they didn't perform and that is where I want to develop my understanding and spend a little longer looking back at highlights. One really positive note though that I saw in this game following another good performance, is the handover between the old guard - Moustapha Diallo - and the young protégé - Ignacio Zambrano. The breakdown of their stats from this season shows that the tide is changing in terms of who my first choice defensive midfielder should be: Whilst it's no secret that I've chosen the youngster in easier games and Moustapha in my Champions League ties, the work that Ignacio does in possession really set our team up to be better on the break: I strongly believe his Tries Long Balls trait is useful for this. The ex-Heerenveen man completes more defensive actions and, largely, defends better than Ignacio and that is something that I'm going to need to see an improvement in as time goes on. Neither of them complete many interceptions, but their job, unlike my other defenders, is very much to become an extra man and engage with a player if a turnover in possession is possible. Moustapha is a favourite of mine and will continue to slowly be eased out of the team over the remaining 30 months of his contract as Zambrano - now with sixty-eight games under his belt - completes his final preparations for a role he could hold for the next decade. --- FC Groningen 4-0 Vitesse It's the little things: Mischa Verveer, the boy who is being converted to a central midfielder for extra versatility, netting a hattrick; Bjarni Jonsson scoring this audacious effort; rolling over to thirty different players getting first team football this season. We also were absolutely clinical in a strong display over an Eredivisie side and find ourselves in the hat for the next round of the cup. We started incredibly well, with Verveer netting after just 15 seconds: sadly, not a record! From there, we continued to put pressure on their full back areas, with two wing backs in their 5-3-2 being caught out of position time and time again - just as we did in the league game. It's no surprise that the first three goals came from these areas with the latter - the icing on the cake - being a 25-yard screamer from Verveer, not only his first ever career goal but also taking him to three goals in eight appearances for us, at just seventeen years old. That kind of trust is beginning to show through in first team appearances from the Jong squad, as you can see below. Most of these minutes are in cup games but I've been careful to promote the best trainers to the bench, meaning that if the graphic had 'match day squads part of' - these numbers would be significantly inflated. Not all of these will go on to have great careers with us, but I'm ok with that. Developing and giving opportunities to young talent, especially talent that is well versed in my tactical style, is a huge part of my managerial ideology and one that I really enjoy doing. --- Three games left of the month but I'm going to cut this in half as I'm sitting on two and a half thousand works and lots of important updates that my laptop needs to do: I'm not running the risk of losing it all! However, it is a good time to reflect with us hot on the coat tails of the top two, who, incidentally, face off against each other in their next game. Trots van het Noorden! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich ruzzian Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 You are comfertable in the third spot and still the title is not out of sight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonic Youth Posted August 26, 2022 Share Posted August 26, 2022 I’m liking the evolution of your posting as you meld all the facets together in your updates. It does mean I not pick my moments when to read them though Looking good in the league for third or higher. That chip was a thing of beauty Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted August 26, 2022 Author Share Posted August 26, 2022 20 hours ago, rich ruzzian said: You are comfertable in the third spot and still the title is not out of sight. 4 hours ago, Sonic Youth said: Looking good in the league for third or higher. Hoping for second this year and then, with a second year of Champions League money, a bit more of a push for the title next year! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted August 26, 2022 Author Share Posted August 26, 2022 4 hours ago, Sonic Youth said: I’m liking the evolution of your posting as you meld all the facets together in your updates. It does mean I not pick my moments when to read them though Thanks - it just feels a bit more natural with my writing style, which includes the love of a tangent! If I'm writing about giving a debut to a youngster, it feels a bit more natural to write about a few of my other youngsters, for example. I've just played a match and spent ages analysing progressive passes and that seems to fit in nicely with comparing tactical styles and breaking down that more thoroughly, so it's been stuck. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted August 26, 2022 Author Share Posted August 26, 2022 January 2039 (Part 2) Three games to round up here in addition to the five from earlier in this month, and they're good ones... My word count for January alone has nearly tipped 5,000 words though so I decided to keep the last two games a little shorter! ---- FC Groningen 3-1 Excelsior I hate to feel that the CM(a) role is overpowered on this FM but I do owe such a lot, again, to incredible performances in that role. Bouma scored twice and set up the other as we comfortably beat Excelsior, really making the most of the times where we controlled the game. I want to work out exactly what triggers those skyscrapers because, looking at the possession stats, it isn't that but it's nice to score when we are on top and it gives us something to think about when we are not on top as Excelsior scored in one of their better five minute spells. I wanted to take a deeper dive in our progression with the ball - something that I feel is absolutely key in a counter attacking style. Sadly, I cannot extrapolate anything for yards carried but, as I said before, we do make the most dribbles per game. The below stats are obviously from one game in isolation but they are both pleasing but also give me some really good ideas for development. 17 passes overall were incomplete 77 passes were complete - 18% overall inaccuracy. No passes in our defensive area were incomplete. 3 passes in our midfield area were incomplete or went out play but 55 were complete - 5% inaccuracy 14 passes in our attacking area were incomplete or went out of play but 45 were complete - 23% inaccuracy. (n.b. there must be some disparity here as some passes appear in both defensive and midfield or midfield and attack, for example) 4 passes down our right hand side were incomplete but 13 were complete - 24% inaccuracy 2 passes down our left hand side were incomplete but 10 were complete - 17% inaccuracy 11 passes through the middle were incomplete but 58 were complete - 16% inaccuracy (n.b. again, there must be some disparity here as some passes appear in both central and left, for example) This was a bit of a nightmare as I had to screenshot and convert the image to data before working on (which I could have absolutely done this manually in that time but I'm hoping to develop this for team stats) but it shows some interesting stuff from the game: Between the area breakdown and the player breakdown, I can see that the right hand side has been the lowest quality for completion of these with Marco Couto and Jay ter Burg playing there - but also, importantly, playing a left footer in the right CM role means that his natural body shape doesn't really lend itself to spreading balls out wide. That is where the ability is required from the defensive midfield (who, in an ideal world, would be two footed) and the left back, who would also be comfortable on both feet - but that kind of fluidity is a long way off right now. I'm also a little concerned that the supporting IF aren't really progressing the ball; I know their role is to get into scoring positions but, with an AF(a) ahead of them, I'd have liked to have seen ter Burg, Thijssen and Pander complete more than six in the time that they were on the pitch. Maybe that is something a trait can assist with and, given that I had initially earmarked Pander for a CM(a) role, I am currently getting him to learn the Tries Killer Balls trait - so will see how that develops... I think that Bjarni can somewhat be ignored as he only made two progressive passes from his total of twelve whilst on the pitch, so focus shifts to the combination of Bouma and Szkudlarek, who completed a wonderful twenty-three progressive passes. What is more, half of those progressive passes that Bouma made were classes as key and all but one of them was received in Excelsior's penalty area with both of Dariusz's the same, too. I also think that Ariel Cespedes, used as a left back again, is showing a little more promise, completing twenty-four long or medium progressive passes at a similar number and quality level as experienced full back Couto. Clicking on his thumbnail will bring you to his profile but the change in his statistical outputs since moving to a wing back role have been great (annoyingly, I can't compare longer term AMR stats, just an overall picture with all stats mixed in) and he's completing more passes and, surprisingly, more dribbles, assisting more too. He's still classed as competent for this role and he's not the forever answer but, if he can continue to develop and reach the potential that I think he has, he's certainly a good squad option - especially against weaker teams when his offensive prowess and possession work will pay off - and may have just about saved his bacon here. Yet there are two things that I didn't look at when analysing that game and have since decided to return to: Is our progressive passing anomalous or are we creating numbers similar to the other teams - maybe without so many non-progressive passes, given our lower possession figures. If my IF(s) aren't producing the progressive passes I want, then why? To answer number 1, I've taken Ajax - the league high average possession with 62% - and looked at their 4-1 win over Heerenveen, where they had 68% of the ball. Their progressive ball map looks like this - a sign that they probably have played more progressive balls than us and they did, registering 288 progressive passes to the 94 we registered against Excelsior however, only six of the Ajax passes were key - some 2.1% compared to our 8.5%. At the end of the day, the job is to score goals and, to do that, you have to create chances. We're more likely to do that even though we have less of the ball, judging by that one stat from that one game. Now, let's take Vitesse, the league low average possession with 43% and see what that shows in their 2-1 win over Utrecht. They recorded 141 progressive passes but this time, only one was key: again, way below our percentage against Excelsior. So whilst I think that other teams do a better job of getting the ball forward (again, there is no measurable metric on speed of transition), we're better (than the two possessional outliers, at least) in getting the ball into dangerous areas. Now, looking at number 2, an area I'm not as well versed in... Here are all (113) touches that ter Burg and Thijssen took and I'm not going to analyse them all, instead, I'll pick a random six and link (rather than clog the post with too many images) what is going on in them. Thijssen - 01:55 - progressive pass made. Thijssen - 07:13 - incomplete cross. ter Burg - 08:16 - lost ball. ter Burg - 34:15 - sideways pass into 1-2. Thijssen - 43:46 - backwards pass. ter Burg - 92:48 - backwards pass. There is really very little that I'd actually say is not right or not intended there, except maybe the starting position of these wide players, which simply doesn't allow them the space to progress the ball. In most cases, the centre forward is flanked by at least two defenders with the approaching full back also blocking a simple pass, so they're left with little to do other than run with the ball, look for a 1-2 or play the ball backwards. I'd always envisaged, in my head, that both CM(a) would be ahead of the play by the time it reached these wide men but it's not like that: they are involved in the build up so much later given their advanced role on the pitch. But, do I change that and lose the 15 goals and 15 assists that they have provided just to give me the opportunity to play the striker in? Well, no but it's certainly something to consider if/when I don't possess two players with the pace and goalscoring ability that ter Burg and Thijssen have. --- VVV-Venlo 1-3 FC Groningen Carlo Lieshout is one of a large number of talented youngsters in the VVV-Venlo squad so I used an opportunity to hopefully further unsettle their best player before we played them. Naturally, I was quoted a silly amount but I'm hoping, should they be relegated, I can swoop for a more sensible deal! This deal looks to create a solid defensive pairing with Marco de Wit (comparison here) and fill a gap left by Jesper Pihl, who I'll be moving on and temporarily replacing with the returning Patrick Bruneck. The game itself was all about the performance of one man, Thijs Pander. Starting initially in the heart of the midfield before moving out to the wing following two assists, replacing Thijssen - who was withdrawn with a knock - the academy lad then helped himself to a third goal, converting from a well worked free kick. We should have scored more and, a rarity when I highlight it, our shooting was actually pretty good, we were just held back by a strong keeping performance. Lieshout impressed, too, and that'll only strengthen my resolve to do a deal in the summer. --- Go Ahead Eagles 0-4 FC Groningen A fine performance to round off the month for us as we leave it a little later than I wanted to dispatch Go Ahead. My biggest talking point (aside from the fact that the passes don't actually add up - infuriating when you want to deal with these numbers - no way do the total passes number the 36 it says on his stats page) is that the coaching team identified Szkudlarek, playing as a right winger, as the least positive in possession. If I was to go by the report on his profile, I'd think that thirteen misplaced passes is quite high - but again, given our style, it's the four key passes that count, some 17% of his completed pass total. When I then look at the pitch and watch his misplaced passes, I have little concern: the one originating from our area was to set off a counter attack - a really low percentage pass and the others were all attempted through balls, probably the riskiest style of pass that you can play. I love the Data Hub and the data it provides but I'm really learning to take these things with a pinch of salt. --- Two late loan moves to end the window: I'm excited about the deal for Verveer, deeming it too good to turn down even though I am reluctant to loan under 18 players. ADO have said that they plan to make him a first team player and I think that this will be a brilliant chance for him to showcase what he can do as a left back, which is important given the development of Cespedes and the want for someone a little more well rounded than Schuur going forward. It's with the former reason that Pavlovic moves on, too. Not guaranteed football at the moment but a decent squad player who I don't want to more on, just yet. --- We're top, on goal difference, right now and that's a wonderful feeling. However, I still stand by my concerns that the coming months are going to be tough and, with a smaller and more stretched squad (despite the use of younger players where possible), it's going to be tough for us to stay unbeaten and hold off the juggernaut that is Ajax. Our next month sees us take in seven fixtures, including a double header against mid-table Bundesliga side Freiburg. The morale is high and we're a very good side, but I'm just staying realistic right now! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted August 27, 2022 Share Posted August 27, 2022 Top spot!! interesting to see your breakdown on progressive passes. As you also use IWB’s but sometimes you switch players depending on preferred foot. Last season I used right footed players on right and left on the left. Both had a good amount of key passes. Do find more key passes when you play the stronger foot inverted? Like that switch of play you mentioned before? I personally like my IWB’s passes down the half space channel in behind but they do now and then switch it. Just wondering if you’ve noticed a pattern. It’s the Cancelo role essentially that am thinking of here Ben. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted August 27, 2022 Author Share Posted August 27, 2022 8 hours ago, SixPointer said: As you also use IWB’s but sometimes you switch players depending on preferred foot. Last season I used right footed players on right and left on the left. Both had a good amount of key passes. Do find more key passes when you play the stronger foot inverted? Like that switch of play you mentioned before? I personally like my IWB’s passes down the half space channel in behind but they do now and then switch it. Just wondering if you’ve noticed a pattern. It’s the Cancelo role essentially that am thinking of here Ben. Yeah - it's a role that I've used a couple of times but it's not a role that I'd be confident to say has had a real impact. From the eye test, defensively we've felt a little more solid, being able to push wingers inside against players who are stronger at tackling them. I must say that I don't have enough evidence but what I do have is one Man City match and a couple of Groningen matches, which I was able to create this from: I just gathered this from Fbref and added the bits that I could from in game. It's obvious that, comparing a possession-heavy Pep system to our own, we're going to be having less touches and completing less passes but there are some interesting signs - clearly that Couto has been doing more defending than Cancelo! But, the most interesting thing is this: I've scoured the internet to find heat maps and the likes from that West Ham game. You can see that, even with the terrible attempt FM does at heat-mapping, Couto does get into similar positions, although I'd probably have Cancelo as a IWB(a) if anything, given how much further forward he gets. You can see the time he spends in the opponents half and, whilst that's mirrored in terms of positions, it's not in terms of outputs. I am genuinely shocked at just how close to real life (not that this is a tactical replication) our build up is to the one used by Pep: we both have a 2-3-4-1 shape when the DM has the ball and even the opposition are in similar areas. You can see that Couto just doesn't have the attacking influence that Cancelo does in terms of passes, although he was far more productive with moving the ball forward, as you'd expect from those deeper positions. You ask about passes into half spaces and I think that, despite Couto being on his inside foot on the left, he's still more insistent on using the left half space or moving the ball, at most, inside to the left centre mid. I have always wanted those dream diagonal balls from my defensive players that'll help open up spaces created by overloads on the other sides but I don't think I quite have the players available to do this at the moment. However, the output that I've got right now is pretty strong even if I can't find a pass map for Cancelo to properly compare to that game. Going forward, and bringing it back to what I want my IWB to do, on whichever side they play on, I think that traits are going to be key here but I need to shy away from things like Cuts Inside as that won't help when playing a WB if there is a time when I need an overload out wide. I'm just throwing some ideas out here but potential traits could include: Gets forward whenever possible Tries killer balls (only available if player is natural in any midfield role, too) Plays on twos Arrives late in opponents area Curls ball Looks for pass rather than attempting to score Definitely re-assuring to see my own players behaving a) how I intended and b) like their real life counter parts! Hope that wasn't too much of a tangent... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted August 27, 2022 Share Posted August 27, 2022 2 hours ago, _Ben_ said: Yeah - it's a role that I've used a couple of times but it's not a role that I'd be confident to say has had a real impact. From the eye test, defensively we've felt a little more solid, being able to push wingers inside against players who are stronger at tackling them. I must say that I don't have enough evidence but what I do have is one Man City match and a couple of Groningen matches, which I was able to create this from: I just gathered this from Fbref and added the bits that I could from in game. It's obvious that, comparing a possession-heavy Pep system to our own, we're going to be having less touches and completing less passes but there are some interesting signs - clearly that Couto has been doing more defending than Cancelo! But, the most interesting thing is this: I've scoured the internet to find heat maps and the likes from that West Ham game. You can see that, even with the terrible attempt FM does at heat-mapping, Couto does get into similar positions, although I'd probably have Cancelo as a IWB(a) if anything, given how much further forward he gets. You can see the time he spends in the opponents half and, whilst that's mirrored in terms of positions, it's not in terms of outputs. I am genuinely shocked at just how close to real life (not that this is a tactical replication) our build up is to the one used by Pep: we both have a 2-3-4-1 shape when the DM has the ball and even the opposition are in similar areas. You can see that Couto just doesn't have the attacking influence that Cancelo does in terms of passes, although he was far more productive with moving the ball forward, as you'd expect from those deeper positions. You ask about passes into half spaces and I think that, despite Couto being on his inside foot on the left, he's still more insistent on using the left half space or moving the ball, at most, inside to the left centre mid. I have always wanted those dream diagonal balls from my defensive players that'll help open up spaces created by overloads on the other sides but I don't think I quite have the players available to do this at the moment. However, the output that I've got right now is pretty strong even if I can't find a pass map for Cancelo to properly compare to that game. Going forward, and bringing it back to what I want my IWB to do, on whichever side they play on, I think that traits are going to be key here but I need to shy away from things like Cuts Inside as that won't help when playing a WB if there is a time when I need an overload out wide. I'm just throwing some ideas out here but potential traits could include: Gets forward whenever possible Tries killer balls (only available if player is natural in any midfield role, too) Plays on twos Arrives late in opponents area Curls ball Looks for pass rather than attempting to score Definitely re-assuring to see my own players behaving a) how I intended and b) like their real life counter parts! Hope that wasn't too much of a tangent... Love it Ben, great analysis. It's definitely one of my favourite roles in the game. Its positional sense is a dream for my positional play style. After Kristiansen last season became my top assiter from IWB it's something I'll be keeping a really close eye on. I always use the stronger foot to the outside so it's nice to see the comparison. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted August 28, 2022 Author Share Posted August 28, 2022 February 2039 The games are coming thick and fast at the moment and, whilst I'm still bashing out the words at a pretty ridiculous rate, the want to delve deeper has waned a little - leaving these a bit undercooked in some areas. We're making some good progress and I'm continuing to try and unpick areas and develop them but my real want is to continue trying to build a team that is fit for all purposes as well as becoming a really strong man-manager: someone who is able to understand tactical decisions and act upon them as I don't feel I'm making the most of substitutes at the moment, so expect some more on that soon... --- AZ 0-0 FC Groningen A really poor start to the month with dropped points away at AZ, who've had somewhat of a stronger middle to their season than the start. It was a strange game; a typical difficult style to face - a 5-4-1 with two MCs and two AMs - seeing me lean towards the double pivot shape. We attacked with far more caution - making more (121 to 94) progressive passes than we did in the Excelsior game, but, given that there are more players deeper, that's to be expected. The three attackers completed twelve progressive passes, again, more than against Excelsior, but from much deeper positions, as I continue to work out ways to break down a back three. Saying that, we did have two fantastic - 0.50xG+ - chances to seal the game, one from Jonsson and one from ter Burg that we really should have capitalised on. It's not a defeat... I guess! --- Between games, we announced a new deal - our second of its kind - with Phoenix of the USL. This will hopefully, like the Gamba link, give me a route into recruiting American talents and the scouts, fresh from finding two prospects: Mikal Sherzadi and Geslin Lukabakio (the latter of whom has sadly just signed a pre-contract at Man City, are already out looking at players at the Western based USL clubs, as I feel that's a realistic scope from Phoenix, Arizona. I'm currently trying to develop strangleholds of players through good scouting knowledge and these affiliates: Japan, USA and Scandinavia will hopefully be happy hunting grounds for my stars of the future, joining up with homegrown and home-developed talent and statistical 'finds.' Speaking of which, a thought about a new striker - one with pace and the ability to get in behind, but, with little more than that, led me to a search of young (under 23) players, at the top level in Europe with over 1000 minutes... Fridi is one of 456 players that meet that criteria and the FC Midtjylland man, a Faroese international, is absolutely smashing it statistically. I've not attached a screenshot of him, yet, because I haven't actually scouted the lad and, despite the Danish league being reputable and strong, I don't know if he's - attribute wise - any good! --- FC Utrecht 0-1 FC Groningen After the analysis of Joao Cancelo, I thought I'd go back to my own players and look at what he does well and how his attributes are laid out; when you look at my players' comparative data with that of Cancelo, you can see we are somewhat lacking! So...cup games call for big rotation and what a way to rotate a bit more by an absolute wildcard choice at left back, Dariusz Szkudlarek, my centre mid. His attributes are actually more suited to that of Cancelo but, obviously, he's weak defensively - as you could say Joao is represented for a Premier League level player. I watched close and, whilst his positioning, combined with traits, was somewhat wild in the IWB(a) (a change from IWB(s) to get the most of his attacking), his performance was actually pretty good and it makes me see the similarities between this role and a standard central midfielder: moving play on, winning the ball back and, as a full back, defending the far post from crosses. The game itself was a another strange one - again, I felt like we were a little bit leggy going forward and wasted a lot of chances - with Escalona, in for Jonsson, failing to make the most of a good couple of chances. However, his lovely interplay (Comes Deep To Get Ball and Plays With Back to Goal) along with the aggressive nature of the CM(a) made this kind of thing happen, time and time again. Bazoer should be passing him over and dealing with the other CM, Nilden-Lindner, but his movement is too quick and precise and it's cut a huge hole in the defence. A quick lay off to Konté, who plays in the Swede but, somehow, we don't score from this great chance. --- With the probability ever increasing of a guaranteed pot of Champions League money next season as well as the vultures that are the top European clubs sniffing around, I took some time to ensure that my better players were signed to new, longer deals. Whilst I may now lose Jay ter Burg for his €42m release clause, that will a) represent great profit and b) mean that he must be playing amazingly well and, therefore, the likelihood is that we will be too, I am happy that these have been secured. Our wage bill is rising and financially, we aren't really able to generate our own income, instead relying on prize money and transfers and that, right now, is ok. However, as we grow and these wage restrictions inevitably have to loosen, we need to make sure that our passive income is able to support the now €300k per week wage bill that we have. --- FC Groningen 2-2 ADO Den Haag More points dropped and a really poor game that we just didn't get a handle on. I'm a little concerned at our league form at the moment - whilst we've amassed five points this month, we've been poor overall and I really hope that it's not the accumulation of fatigue catching up to us. Our injury history looks fantastic, in particular the statistic below: What it leans towards then is over rotation. With only three substitute allowed in Dutch games (compared to five in Russia), I've felt that I need to start different teams every week and, despite their being no statistical metric for this, I cannot remember a time whereby I've named the same starting XI two games in a row. I think that this is, probably, part of the reason. We have used 31 players in the league this season and many more if you add cups in there too, joint top with Almere. For reference, Feyenoord have used twenty-five and Ajax just twenty-two. If you take the last three games and look at the players that have been used: You can see the following: Christian Leino Jay ter Burg Emile Escalona Given that the latter is now on a run of one goal this calendar year and just two goals in his last ten games, I think that paints a worrying picture in itself. The next two weeks are both double match weeks and it does make it really hard to ensure that the players are fully fit and raring to go, but, the old adage in the press conferences about runs being tough on legs but generating huge momentum is something that we probably need at this point. Not a lot to say about the actual match that hasn't already been said here - although I must say that I'm quite concerned about the positioning of Leino in both of their goals (first and second). Attribute wise, he's strong for this level and sits fourth in the Eredivisie with an xSV% of 87%, conceding 0.55 goals/90 from an xGC of 0.84, which is also good. Yes - in both goals there are issues that lead to it - but I still think he needs to do better. Fortunately, he accepted the conversation we had and hopefully we can move on... --- Freiburg 0-1 FC Groningen Back to winning ways! A really pleasing result away from home, built around strangling their forward four - who, combined, earn way more than my whole team do - and stopping them from having a sniff at goal. However, said performance didn't quite equate to my joy of the result as we allowed the Germans far too much space and gave them a handful of opportunities, which, only due to their inability to hit the net, led to their poor ratings. However, we did what I wanted by getting an early goal and that, despite the poor showing that followed, was enough to get to half-time ahead. --- Fortuna Sittard 0-5 FC Groningen The performance and result that we needed. I probably need to emphasise the huge number of low quality chances as I was desperate to get off to a strong start and absolutely oversold our mentality and attacking intents, but, eventually, it came good and we didn't have to go for long periods of time without threatening, even if we should and maybe could have broken into double figures. We're a better team that Fortuna and, being brutally honest, I'm running a little low on creative juices to share just how we beat them, so instead I'll run through the goals. Szkudlarek opened the scoring from 20 yards with a lovely curling strike into the bottom corner: one of the several benefits I feel that comes from playing a right footer as a left centre mid is that he will cut back and drive across the goal, producing some lovely end products. When we're on form, our attacking overloads (not even intentionally overloading an area, just allowing players to move forward at sensible points) makes us unplayable - here, Neira could have gone to any of the three attacking men but rolled in Escalona who rounded the keeper and netted. Our third came from a shape I really like - the IF(s) receives the ball but, instead of progressing through dribbles, waits, and has a number of options ahead. Thijs picks out a great ball to Bouma who nets easily. Not one but two cheeky dinks from Jonsson secure both the victory and complete embarrassment for the Fortuna keeper, left with egg on his face and a 6.2 rating. Sometimes you just need to watch you team walk all over another side... -- FC Groningen 1-0 Freiburg (2-0 aggregate) Much better, again. I wanted to get out and get ahead early on, putting some pressure of Freiburg to come at us more, leaving gaps and allowing us to play our more natural game but, to be fair, I was a little disappointed at the little that they threw at us. Granted, Leino's man of the match came from ten saves but, looking at both the average shot quality and the eye test, I can't recall a time when he was hugely tested or pulled off a particularly wonderful save. Another player who impressed was Benjamin Kokora, who got up and down the right flank, causing a lot of problems and laying on a few nice balls. Given the IWB discussion over the past couple of months, I must say that I don't think he's quite the finished article in terms of his pass choices but his ball carrying (2.90 dribbles/90 - leading my entire team) is great from his right back berth. Our reward... Another trip to Germany, but this time, it's not four attackers with a combined wage higher than our squad, it's nearly one fullback. Hertha - fresh from spending over €300m in the last two seasons - are going to be a really tough side to beat --- sc Heerenveen 0-4 FC Groningen A couple of minor tweaks for the game saw me play much wider defensively, stopping their wingers and wing backs from getting any joy down the line. Heerenveen are the fourth best dribbles (we are best) in the league and are middle of the pack in terms of cross completion but, more importantly, both of their wingers have Weak/Very Weak 'inside' feet, so it made sense for me to do that. The sheer number of sideways or backwards passes shows that they just had nowhere to go once they received the ball. An incisive break saw Muringen lay on his first assist for Escalona's tenth of the season and twentieth in his first fifty-two games: a strong start, particularly given that sixteen of those have been appearances from the bench. Emile feels like the perfect kind of striker for games whereby I need a bit of a bully and someone who can not only draw players out but also hold them off and still have the ability to play a nice ball through. He and Jonsson compliment each other really well and I think the addition of a third, pacey striker, may also see us set for next year. He went on to add two more before a late strike from Pander wrapped up a pretty straightforward derby day for us. That victory takes our unbeaten run to twenty six and you can really see that it's all about ourselves and Ajax at the moment and that's reflected in the league table, although Feyenoord are really doing well to hand on: Given the number of chances created and the fact that we're still drawing too many games, I can't help but feel that we're going to be sticking around as Ajax's main rivals for some time to come... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 Solid month! Rough start but turned it around to get back on the winning trail. top for chances created in the league while playing a counter attacking sort of style is most impressive Ben! I real positive to your tactical ideals, being so successful with a style of play that is renowned for being tough to apply and have success in FM. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonic Youth Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 Good results in Europe, and in the league no matter how annoying the draws seem. To still be challenging and unbeaten is excellent It was especially illuminating to see the gulf between your players and top players in the EPL (Cancelo v’s the Groningen IFB’s). 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted August 30, 2022 Author Share Posted August 30, 2022 March 2039 March done and I thought I'd include a few screenshots of the wider game world. It's great to see that two Dutch teams are still in Europe, although both Venlo and AZ will have tough ties to come, whilst there is no shame in either of the CL qualifiers going out to the teams that they did. Premier League. Bundesliga. La Liga. Serie A. Ligue 1. RPL. Champions League. Europa League. Europa Conference League. --- A new face adorns my club staffing list, and, by clicking on him, you'll see his full profile. Virgil, who spent three years here as a player, becomes my second assistant manager and allows me to continue to specialise in the coaching departments, across all levels of my squad. I really like this addition as it takes me closer to what I feel would be a realistic backroom team, centred around the below four men: We all, broadly, share the same philosophy and playing style, which means that ideas worked on during training will match that. Also, we are built quite similarly - strong personalities, who are able to motivate players and are strong at working with the youngsters within the team. Between us, I set out a list of things that I'd like them to do - realistically, I'd like Virgil (despite Rai also being a pro footballer in his past life) to be the heart and soul of everything that is to do with the match: offering insight on opposition, tactical approaches, specific players to target etc. Rai isn't the strongest at this but a future assistant would then be wanted to look at player development of my first team squad - more aligned with the training side of the game. Then, to complete the team - Ivan Melnik has responsibility for everything that isn't first team related; he manages both the Jong and U18 side, brings through the youth candidates and is a wonderful coach at youth level, too. I'm building strong coaching teams (although I wish I could trust my staff, namely Director Tyrick Volkers - who, himself, is due an upgrade to do this but, from what I've seen, the outcomes are poor) throughout the club to enable optimal development for my players whilst they are here. I know I can get a lot out of them in terms of match play but there are things that an FM player cannot control, so I need to put the game in the best position possible! --- FC Groningen 0-0 Hertha BSC A real game of attrition where we both tried our hardest to make inroads without giving the other side an inch. Our game plan was pretty simple: stop playmaker Vergara getting on the ball and dictating play. In fairness, they played with two central playmakers and that really was to their own downfall as they kept the ball for so long long in the centre of the pitch, recording over 3x the total number of passes we did. However, we stuck to our guns and stopped Vergara making many passes in dangerous areas. Again, and something that I've got to work on is that we often become very flat and not particularly strong offensively when I focus my gameplan on stopping other teams scoring. I always used to have a strategy in the last ten mins when we were leading whereby I'd turn everything to defence - no counters, no overloading anywhere, no attacking players etc and it worked, sometimes. Other times, it just invited pressure on us and actually meant that we had no outball or no threat and, as such, conceded late goals. I feel that we're a little like that. All of my eggs went in the stop Vergara basket and, whilst it worked, it stopped Thijssen, ter Burg and Jonsson doing, literally anything as they mustered just 43 passes between them in their 90 minutes each. A good result against a much bigger side but I must admit that it's certainly made the trip to Germany much tougher... --- Between games, I've found myself scouring the markets for players who can be brought in over the summer window, ensuring no stone is left unturned in what will, hopefully, be a title challenge. My intention had always been to bring in Carlo Leishout (full profile on clickable thumbnail) should VVV-Venlo go down. However, with their asking price still at least €45m - albeit slowly reducing in price - the question has to be asked about whether a) this is feasible and realistic and b) whether it's sensible in the long term for the club. Enter Rodolfo. Again, his thumbnail is clickable. In my world of recruiting based on statistical input, he's going to have to be slightly anomalous in that he hasn't actually played this season. Normally, that'd be a straight red flag but, given he's at PSG, I know that it's largely down to their hugely expensive defenders and masses of quality within their team. I do have last season's data to hand though and, in 2961 minutes, he was pretty tidy when compared to other Ligue 1 centre halves: Full stats from the 2037/38 season can be found here, 2036/37: here, 2033 (Flamengo): here and 2031 (Flamengo) here which back up that he's a strong performer when he plays! So why Rodolfo? Well, I want to sure up a young squad and what better way to do that than bring in a 31 year old with international experience, two Ligue 1 titles, a runners-up in the Premier League, one Sudamerica and two Liberdatores titles, named in the Brazil Best XI of 2038 and numerous other personal accolades as well as a combined transfer cost of €57m across his career. Leishout has the future ahead of him but I feel that Rodolfo has been there and experienced it and, whilst Marco de Wit is now a fully embedded player within the squad, what a partner the Brazilian would be! As soon as I looked at the scout report which, strangely, I'm not sure that I'd asked for, I was blown away. This man is 31 but has such elite physicality that he's going to be good for another five or six years, at least. Partner that with wonderful leadership and your vice-captain - at worst - has entered the room on the day that he signs and, with all of that, he's still pretty strong for our level technically. It's funny that I was contemplating breaking the bank for Leishout but the €17.5m quoted for Rodolfo made me uneasy. I wanted to (and permanently want to) pass my transfers to the DoF but there is one thing I have literally never used and wanted to try it out - Selling Team Wage Contribution. I locked it in at the maximum value I could, leaving PSG to pay 50% of his wages until the end of his contract and set about a cheeky bid that was nowhere near the value that they wanted but, adding to the feel-good-ness of this, they accepted! Ok, it's a club record but for an arguably elite player who is still in the peak of his career. It gets better. The contract he accepted (€15k p/w from me and €43k p/w from PSG) wouldn't even make him my top earner should I confirm this. In terms of their pros and cons, I created a little list: I don't feel that these are unreasonable and I do feel that some of these would be deal-breakers in real life terms. It feels realistic: a Champions League club signing an unused, but experienced, centre back from another Champions League club rather than splurging their entire budget on an 18 year old who has never experienced European football. --- FC Groningen 3-0 Vitesse A routine win with us turning on the style against a poor Vitesse side. The scoring was opened thanks to a penalty from Couto, who has finally been reinstated as the main taker following his double-miss earlier in the season. Thijssen added a second with some lovely interplay from Escalona and it was that man, who continues to impress me, who netted the third. It was, again, his traits that made this possible - coming deep for the ball, laying it off before then finding himself in a goalscoring situation just six seconds after his part in the build up. --- Hertha BSC 2-1 FC Groningen Hertha lined up with a 5-2-1-2 shape, forcing me into the double pivot and immediately making me concerned that, in a game where we had to score, I was starting with the shape that I have often bemoaned our lack of shooting quality from. However, on the twenty minute mark, we took the lead thanks to some lovely interplay between ter Burg and Jonsson, with the latter firing home from close range. We nearly made it to half time in the lead but a scrappy concession just minutes before tarnished a hard working 45: Leino making a world class save close after a header from a freekick, but the rebound fell straight to Gallardo, who poked home. Things were all progressing well until the 85th minute when, following a ricocheted through ball, Patrick Bruneck brought down Jesus Villegas in the box. The penalty, of course, was converted. Heartbreak. Two big chances for Hertha and two goals. 1.2xG of their 2.35 total xG came from these two chances and, looking at the bigger picture, that's no mean feet to restrict a side of this quality to that. Lessons learnt and we'll be back in Europe next season. --- FC Groningen 6-1 N.E.C The fringe players that we have at the club are still some of the better players within the league and it's wonderful to see what they can do! Emile Escalona opened the scoring early on from a header after his great work, once again, in the build up, paid off. Isak Nilden-Lindner showed that he is probably the best finisher away from the frontline with three equally delightful strikes into the bottom corner from three through balls: two from young Randel Muringen, who got his second start of the season following good work in the Jong team. Late sub Brandon Neira rounded the game off with two strikes of his own as I hope he is able to gather some suitors chasing his signature with his time here coming to an end in the summer. Aside from players that I've promoted from the younger parts of the club, Neira's departure will leave just three original players from the first team - Jonsson, Bouma and de Wit - still at the club; quite the turnaround in some 900 days of my management. To highlight the quality of my central midfielders, I've used the analysis that shows the percentiles from the Big 7 leagues, with defensive players contributing to the defensive stats and attacking minded midfielders and forwards the two that I've used above. The 'average' midfielder at this level sees just about 0.4% of their passes leading to chances, whilst the top 10% of them sees just about 1% - but all of my midfielders are above that, with Bouma's standing at nearly 4%. Nilden-Lindner has nine goals this season, and, as a player with fewer minutes, this sees him hitting some strong percentiles but, sadly, hasn't backed that up with any assists, which is why he trails behind Pander (3G, 7A), Szkudlarek (7G, 9A) and Bouma (6G, 9A) in the overall goal contribution scores. Both strikers have 14 goals this season (Escalona: 0.67 per/90 and Jonsson 0.6 per/90) but, if it wasn't for the contributions of the wide men and the central midfielders, we'd be a lot worse off! --- FC Groningen 2-0 AZ Alkmaar I opted for a huge influx of youngsters, once again, for the semi final tie against AZ - probably focusing on the league rather than this tie, if I'm completely honest. However, they did me proud and came through as winners in an even affair. Schaap netted his first goal from the club following a lovely through ball from Diallo to slide home the opener before Bouma put the game to bed late on. --- Almere City 0-4 FC Groningen Eleven changes (as I highlighted my issue with over rotated in the last update) for the tie but a professional performance sees us through and ends the month is positive fashion as we are still unbeaten! I did not think that we'd be in March, of just my third season here and still have not lost in the league, yet still not be top of the table! The game, for me, hinged around the movement of Escalona, who, as you can see from the graphic, plays as a False Nine as well as an Advanced Forward - which is why I like to use him against those teams that are more likely to sit back against us. Jonsson is a supreme creator but does lack a bit of physicality and often can get bullied, or worse - disappear, against these types of sides but, once again, the selection was justified. Sigurdsson opened the scoring from a corner before Emile netted close in after again receiving the ball in a deep position before Thijssen tapped in a penalty and Zambrano headed in from a set play. That leaves the table like this: Six games to go, but 50% of those are against the other teams that make up the top four with the penultimate game away in Amsterdam. The realist in me says that the title will be over by then and so will our unbeaten run as I just sense us slipping up against Feyenoord or PSV, but, hopefully, not enough to end our chances of coming second. Sandwiched in there is also my first KNVB Bekker cup final appearance, as I look to win a cup that we haven't won since 2015. --- To end the month, I was also greeted with a new batch of youth candidates: Unfortunately, an error on my behalf when adding their faces meant I wiped every one out and had to reload the whole database with faces, but never mind. 17 new players come into the team and, whilst there is no denying the superb potential that these, supposedly, have - I'm not really taken aback by any one particular player. They'll obviously spend time in the youth team, developing positional versatility, physical attributes and game time under my overarching philosophy before either heading out on loan at eighteen or moving upwards to the Jong squad and beyond. --- Trots van het Noorden! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 (edited) Very unfortunate in Berlin! If you carry on domestic form that game in Amsterdam could prove to be a lot more pivotal than you suggest. Solid intake, nice to see VVD back at the club as well, realistic appointments The squad depth you’ve created in such a short time in Holland is exceptional when you see the results, especially around tricky European ties! Rodolf looks a great option, but for me if you can get the Dutch kid down in price it’s a no brainier to move for him. Has the talent to become world class and at a more reasonable price becomes a realistic deal…. Edited August 30, 2022 by SixPointer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich ruzzian Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 Cool to see VVD back at "De Trots van het Noorden". In the league, a really good season. If you can continue this form, the decision will maybe come in Amsterdam. The intake is decent, and with some development who knows! A question, i see some attributes not in your screens, they are black Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted August 30, 2022 Author Share Posted August 30, 2022 4 hours ago, SixPointer said: nice to see VVD back at the club as well, realistic appointments 54 minutes ago, rich ruzzian said: Cool to see VVD back at "De Trots van het Noorden". I think it's quite the coup too given he previous roles at Arsenal. As a fan favourite, he always comments on media stuff and, when I moved here, he had no interest in joining: a definite sign of our progress. 55 minutes ago, rich ruzzian said: A question, i see some attributes not in your screens, they are black Yes. In the attribute colours, I choose to make all attributes below 7 'transparent.' Just something I've always done in the game because I don't feel that there is much difference between a 1 rating and a 5 rating, for example. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted August 30, 2022 Author Share Posted August 30, 2022 4 hours ago, SixPointer said: Rodolf looks a great option, but for me if you can get the Dutch kid down in price it’s a no brainier to move for him. Has the talent to become world class and at a more reasonable price becomes a realistic deal…. He does but Rodolfo is there - €15k p/w is around the same amount that Lieshout would want but it's the transfer fee: Rodolfo's fee will have gone up to around €12m in three years time and there is no way I'll be getting Leishout for that. The avenue is open should I want to go in again for Rodolfo at any point and, should we get to July 1st - window opening day - and there is no movement for Leishout, I'll move for the Brazilian. Worst case scenario is that one of them becomes a DM and rotates with Zambrano... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
haier_fm Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 Groningen? What? When did that happen? It'll take me a while to catch up but I am glad to see you doing well so far, based on what I gathered from your more recent posts. Also happy to see the Christmas Matryoshka employed abroad. Good stuff. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted August 31, 2022 Author Share Posted August 31, 2022 19 hours ago, haier_fm said: Groningen? What? When did that happen? It'll take me a while to catch up but I am glad to see you doing well so far, based on what I gathered from your more recent posts. Also happy to see the Christmas Matryoshka employed abroad. Good stuff. Yes - Groningen! Been here just over two and a half years now and loving it. Currently unbeaten in the league and challenging at the top much quicker than expected but I've brought together quite of the few of the things I was trialling and working through in Russia and the pieces of the jigsaw have very much fallen into place. My intentions were to make Holland a relatively quick stop along the way to Germany but I was turned down for the Bayer job (and it was probably a bit early to get it anyway) and, given the proximity to FM23 and time it's now taking me to progress, will probably end up staying here. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted August 31, 2022 Author Share Posted August 31, 2022 April 2039 Three league games and a cup final to mark off April. I've got a little lighter on the league games in order to focus a bit on that second Feyenoord tie of the month... --- I targeted the Willem II game as one I could win comfortably as we are semi chasing the record of 93 league goals scored in a season, set by Ajax. However, it couldn't have started worse as we found ourselves under significant pressure for the first fifteen minutes, my more aggressive roles - IWB(a) and, for the fun of it, a SV(s) - were being, as feared, over ran. I switched back to the more conservative style and we grew into the game, netting two before half time and finishing off with a penalty from Thijsson. Leino picked up man of the match from his five saves but, in truth, wasn't hugely tested by the strugglers. A difficult day in the first of the Feyenoord ties as the Rotterdam side were absolutely equal to us throughout and, if it wasn't for a late Escalona strike, we'd have lost for the first time this season. A lapse in concentration allowed Fuchs a free run from the AMC role straight into the box and he finished with aplomb but, in fairness, we fought back and grabbed the equaliser. However, the match momentum is of concern to me, despite my often complete disregard for possession, we shouldn't be under this much pressure for this amount of time - meaning our players left the pitch far more fatigued after covering far more distance than their counterparts. --- I have always wanted to develop my match management and what better time to do that than the TOTO KNVB Beker final - our first for twenty-four years. I set out with the standard shape with Leino in goal, Kokora and Schuur flanking Sigurdsson and de Wit, youngster Zambrano marshalling in front, with a midfield of ter Burg, Thijssen, Konté and Bouma behind Bjarni Jonsson up top. Nothing out of the ordinary against the regular 4-2-3-1 Deep that Wout Weghorst employs at Feyenoord. I felt that we could match them man for man but still used a couple of OI: to push both wingers out wide as it was noted that their crossing was particularly poor (although it does sit higher than our own with 25% completion in the Eredivisie) and to sit a little tighter on their AM, playing into Zambrano's strengths. The game started really nervously, somehow, this goal was not given although, to me, it definitely was not offside and the VAR lines proved that too! However, Fuchs got revenge with this cracker in the fifth minute. Worryingly, the goal didn't wake us as our xG story told. Changes came at half time, Jonsson coming off for Escalona as I felt his physicality might make some of the progressive balls stick. His introduction looked good with my new corner setup (plenty more of this to come over the summer as I have big plans). Trying to utilise a little overload by pulling players away from the near post and aiming the ball at either Escalona or Sigurdsson, who is attacking the ball behind him. In this case, they doubled up on Emile, leaving Zambrano free on the keeper but, even though my striker won the header, we weren't able to make anything from it. As nerves were beginning to get the better of me, 73rd minute change Szkudlarek stepped up and whipped in this free-kick, levelling the tie in the 87th minute. With the additional change to come in extra time, Nilden-Lindner gave me some fresh legs and that allowed us to create an overload for a cross that ter Burg put away. From then on, I matched their formation changes, pulling tired players back and egging them on. The icing on the cake came from another freekick from that man Dariusz, who has now amassed twenty goal contributions this season. Tactically, I am proud. Our changes limited them to just three crosses completed as we did a really good job of pushing them wide but also making them unable to get to the byline. Going forward, Jay ter Burg recieved 32 progressive passes as I changed his role to an IF(a) looking to catch Van Zwam high up field - something that I witnessed early on. To combat that, Bouma moved to a BBM(s) and it worked quite nicely. On the opposite side, Thijssen's passing was much deeper, playing in front of the more defensive but better going forward, Diego Ribeiro. Even more pleasing personally is my use of substitutes: Escalona, Szkudlarek and Cespedes, who all are more aggressive in their traits and, despite playing the same roles, moved our average positions higher up the pitch as we used sensible tweaks (rather than just mentality changes) to put pressure on them. Game plan executed to near perfection! Following the game, and in readiness for our tough run in, I let Marco de Wit and Ignacio Zambrano go on holiday as their fatigue levels are very high and they are both young. They'll both miss the visit to Sparta but be back in time for our crucial run in. --- On a high, but wary of two tough ties in May, I sent a heavily rotated team out to Sparta: Muringen, Neira, Bruneck and even Icelandic Jong team player Ísak Vilhjálmsson getting a start. Yet again, there was a great show of strength in depth with Isak Nilden-Lindner running the show again - now up to 12G, 1A from 1053 minutes - over one goal involvement per 90, way more than you can ask from your rotational MC. Another double from Escalona kept his race for third place in the Eredivisie and club top scorer alive whilst Neira chipped in with three assists, taking his tally to a sublime sixteen goal involvements at 1.33/90 this season. Whoever picks him up on a free will be getting a really good player but, sadly, one we've outgrown. I'm hoping that his successor is the top man, below: Koji Kawanami. He's been excellent at table topping PEC Zwolle and is now, in my opinion, good enough for this level. I'm really reaping the rewards of these loan deals with Thijs Pander returning in January, along with Patrick Bruneck, from loans at NAC, and sliding into the first team setup nicely. I have high hopes for Verveer and hope to extend his loan at ADO or another Eredivisie side and I am still really hoping that Asante can turn into something useful. Despite them both playing really well - Isak Nilden-Lindner and Dariusz Szkudlarek are both 29 and the former isn't always the happiest about his match time so, to be able to turn to a player like Asante, who does fit the mould of a CM(a), would be fantastic. I'm hoping to extend his loan at Cambuur for next season, allowing him to kick on and continue his strong development. --- The title is still improbable. The Feyenoord draw means that we must win all our remaining ties - including PSV and Ajax, away - and then hope that Ajax fail to secure a point away at PSV in their last game. Stranger things have happened, I'm sure but I don't feel like it's going to happen this year. However, to then add the disappointment of, potentially, going unbeaten and still not winning the league is going to make us even more determined to overcome the giants next term. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 Congratulations on the KNVB win!! As for the double. You right stranger things have happened. What a finale this could be to the season! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonic Youth Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 Congrats on winning the cup. Played some good game management during it by the looks of things Time to make a smashing end to the season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich ruzzian Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 In any other league and year you would probably going to be champion. What a season. Congratz on winning the cup. Are your players drawing attention from other teams,now you are having this great run? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted September 1, 2022 Author Share Posted September 1, 2022 Thanks @SixPointer, @Sonic Youth and @rich ruzzian - I'm nearly through the final month so will get an update up soon. The cup win was wonderful though! 8 hours ago, rich ruzzian said: Are your players drawing attention from other teams,now you are having this great run? No, not really. I'm using our standing to renegotiate contracts as and when I can but it's only these at the moment: Bruneck wanted by Augsburg, Schuur - Leeds and Valencia, Sigurdsson - Blackburn and Neira a few Peruvian clubs as his contract expires. However, all but seven of the squad have renewed their contract this calendar year, so that might be why! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Ben_ Posted September 2, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 2, 2022 May 2039 Three games that wrap up our season and, sadly, it just wasn't to be. However, I've already started writing and analysing for the end of season review, so will keep this relatively short and about the games rather than any plans - except for a little bit of data I snuck into the Ajax screenshot... ---- FC Groningen 6-1 PSV We absolutely have PSV's number! I think there is a little bit of a gaming issue going on here - where, maybe, PSV are still classing themselves as better, given the higher reputation or similar, and, because of that - just go absolutely gung-ho and allow me to pick them off time and time again. Thijs Pander was majestic, either cutting in from the left wing into dangerous scoring areas or creating wonderful spaces to be exploiting or playing perfectly weighted passes into other spaces created by players: definitely my hottest prospect right now. His hattrick joined the goalscorers list that also saw two more from Bouma: one being a curling finish from the edge of the area and the other being a simple tap in with both coming from passes from Brandon Neira, who got a hattrick of assists. I wondered whether it was due to their managers style but we've beaten them before Pawel Bochniewicz took charge too, so maybe we're just their bogey team! --- Ajax 1-0 FC Groningen So close but yet so far. We set out to contain them - make it tough for them to break the line of four, marshalled by so well by Zambrano just ahead. 28 shots looks a lot but the majority of their sixteen shots from feet come from outside of the area as we diligently defended: nothing last ditch and winning the majority of what we needed to win. Their only goal came from a header, which, being honest, we should have defended better. But, with only one forward and one AM, I felt that pushing the players outside and making them work hard - see winger Pereda's distance covered - would be the most efficient way to deal with it. We had our chances, too; Jonsson and Konté mustered 0.9xG between them with a succession of shots as I favoured my usual striker in the MC spot, allowing for both a little more playmaking (when we were ever allowed the ball) but also another good finisher in the side. Sadly, we couldn't take one and our thirty-three game unbeaten run comes to the end, as does our title chances as Ajax lifted the Eredivisie at the Amsterdam ArenA post game. However, what I wanted to focus on here is just how far we've come - despite this loss. The tables above are an amalgamation of all the statistics I've collated over the three seasons at the club - as I was playing around learning how to use the VLOOKUP feature in Excel a bit more efficiently. Any of the above players that are in red no longer play for the club and they are sorted by Interceptions/90 - defenders and Goal Contributions (goals plus assists)/90 for attacking players. In my time here, we have moved on the two players who had to do the most defending and replaced them with stronger, younger and more efficient ball players who are beginning to develop their skills here. Going forward, we've swapped the weaker players for a whole lot of talented players who are able to create and score goals. Three of the top four (Pander, Escalona and Bouma) are graduates from the youth academy and that shows the hard work is paying off on that front. I look at some of the names of the players that have moved on and think that, in another three years from now, if we continue this rise, we'll be matching Ajax week in, week out. --- FC Groningen 4-0 VVV-Venlo A lovely end to the season but somewhat bittersweet, seeing as Ajax lost and a win over them in the previous fixture would have given us the league title. Our four nil demolition, complete with another hattrick for Escalona, sees us break Ajax's record for goals scored by two and also relegated VVV-Venlo, heightening our chances of signing Lieshout from them over the summer. That sees the end of the season table look like this: A season that we can look back upon with huge amounts of pride. We are making so much progress as a club and I am delighted to be leading FC Groningen to heights that they have never reached before. The board have now asked for us to be considered the best of the rest but I feel that we're already past that - Feyenoord give us a good game but we are way better than the likes of AZ, Heerenveen, PSV and Utrecht and I can't say that this was the case when I took over. I would say that it's time to unwind now but, given how I like to play the game, this is where the really hard work starts. I want to identify two or three players who are able to take us to the next level. I also have a self imposed deadline of the end of the month to decide whether I sign Rodolfo or Leishout, which feels like the next thing that could impact our trajectory. Thanks for all of the kind words and posts over the course of the season - I hope people have enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed playing it and writing about it! 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted September 2, 2022 Author Share Posted September 2, 2022 (edited) May 2039 (End of Season Player Roundup) Very little ever gets said about my goalkeepers, to be fair but that is because of two reasons: a) the numbers are messed up and you see players with -800% xSV sometimes and that just annoys me and b) I'm really inexperienced at analysing them and can't create more detailed metrics with what I'm given as easily as I can with forwards, for example. But, we have two and one is leaving. Sunao Ikeda has been a good servant and is a player whose time here outdates mine but is able to head off to end his career in Japan at feeder club Gamba Osaka as I'm spending €1.4m on Alessio Wielart from Willem II. Their number one keeper but from a relegated side - the analyst report is never going to be too promising but he's decent and has already accepted the Cup Keeper role. Perfect. No more concerns as Leino is top class. I've built a really strong group of defensive players here for minimal costs. There is the experience of Sigurdsson and Diallo as well as the quality of De Wit and Kokora and the youth of Bruneck and Zambrano, all of whom compliment each other. In terms of their performances as a collective - I need to see more goals from them next year. It's strange to say that as the side that's scored the most goals in the league this season but I don't feel that we're quite right in terms of our ability to attack corners. Of course, that extra height and physicality going forward will also benefit us at the back, too. I was really impressed with how Patrick Bruneck re-integrated into the team following a six month loan in the second tier but then, at the same time, am planning to go out and replace him, moving him to a backup role again. It will also likely see the end of the Garvey Juliaans experiment: a converted wing back who I wanted to use to help start attacks from the centre of defence, but one who was too often beaten in the air and lacked the necessary defensive quality to hold his own, despite rating reasonably well over the course of the season. We are now at a point whereby we're, on paper, the second best side in this division. Therefore, my analysis won't compare them with fellow Eredivisie players but players from the top 7 European leagues as these are the players we want to be now mixing with. I've highlighted in a bit more detail my top three players, below: Clicking on the thumbnail gives you their profile and the analysis icon takes you to their comparative data. 3. Marco de Wit Marco has played more minutes for me since I came here than anyone else and is the rock at the heart of my defence. Barely makes a tackle - just 0.43 won (at 72% completion ratio) - and instead relies on supreme intelligence to win the ball back, before stepping out of the defence and moving the ball forward at a good completion ratio. I have no idea on the total numbers here but I would say that he's among the most progressive defenders in Europe in terms of his ball playing and fitting in with my style. An academy player, team captain and all-round wonderful man to have on the team. 2. Ignacio Zambrano Ignacio has cemented his place in the team this season and he's one of those whereby his statistics do not do him justice. His physicality, intelligence of being in the right place at the right time and ability to recycle possession to more creative players mean that he's the key cog in our transitional play - often making the first pass of three or four that lead to a goal. Another academy graduate, Ignacio has come through the club without the aid of external loans, earning the right to get into the first team and being a complete role model in that sense. I envisage that he'll go on to complete a similar number of appearances next year but my longer term shopping list will see a replacement needed for Diallo and that replacement may just be focusing on all of the things that he does well, plus the one thing - distribution - that he doesn't do quite as well, meaning that the next season is going to be key for him as to whether he really becomes a top, top player or just a good squad man. 1. Benjamin Kokora Debut seasons are never easy but Benjamin has been a truly fantastic player, adapting to my system and absolutely thriving. Only one percent of defenders in the top 7 leagues are averaging more interceptions than he is (and this is not a flash in the pan either has these aren't dissimilar numbers to those he produced at Chaves when I signed him) and only two percent are completing more dribbles than he does. Whilst his creativity isn't his strongest point and wasn't the reason that I brought him in, he's also inside the top 20% of defenders in terms of key passes, and he doesn't take set pieces. He was a player that I earmarked last summer based around a his statistical output from a Chaves side that really struggled (and finished 13th in the top flight this year) but he has joined a team near the top of the table and performed amazingly well - costing just €1.7m. I know that, for each of these I get right, there are also several I get wrong and I try to post an equal number of each... A really strong group of players that again combines experience: Szkudlarek, Neira and Nilden-Lindner with young in Pander and Escalona. Firstly - a huge thank you must go to Brandon Neira, who, like Ikeda, is a player who was here when I signed and one who will be saying goodbye to us over the summer, moving to Galatasaray to end his career. A great servant and one that I often overlooked more than I should have, considering his great return in assists this year but, at the end of the day, I feel that we've now outgrown him and can move on to bigger and better things in the areas that he plays. Just like Patrick Bruneck, Thijs Pander returned in January and made an instant impact - moving to play as an IF(s) on the left wing as well as filling in at CM(a) when needed. His great return of 15 contributions in a little over a thousand minutes is incredible for a lad of his age and I can see him going from strength to strength as he ages. Again, clicking on the thumbnail gives you their profile and the analysis icon takes you to their comparative data. 3. Jay ter Burg Jay offers me a lot and despite those defending stats being skewed due to an inability to separate defensive and offensive headers, he works really hard for the team across all areas of the pitch. Twenty five goal involvements puts him in the top 7% of attacking players in the top 7 leagues this season but, again, there is more to his game than what stats suggest. He absolutely embodies our system of wide attackers that hold their spaces before getting into the box and finishing: a majority of his goals have come from far post headers or where he's been able to angle a run to meet a diagonal through ball. My highest earner at present and, with a release clause of €42m on his head, he may garner some interest given just how good he has been. However, I am prepared for that. 2. Emile Escalona It's been the breakout season for graduate Emile as he finished second in the Eredivisie top scorer charts and has, on paper, become probably the best striker at the club. He's really outperformed his xG (21 goals to 14.69 xG) but I don't think that this is a one off season as, time and time again, I've shown screenshots of his clever movement in our build up play. He's far less creative than any of our wingers and also less creative than Jonsson but, when we need a big guy to play through, he's the go to and I think he's superb at what he does. To have started his career with 31 goals in 43 starts (60 total apps) is amazing and, given that, I expect him to feature quite heavily for the Dutch u21 side this summer before coming back to do the same again for us next year. I could see him, one day, challenging the 128 goals that our record scorer - Rikkert La Crois - has; he's simply that good. 1. Dariusz Szkudlarek We are looking at simply the best player at the top level in Europe on the ball. And to think, he wasn't even brought in to be a starter! Dariusz Szkudlarek - take a bow. Although he sometimes get himself on to take freekicks (scoring twice in the cup final) and corners, so much of his work is done in open play. Last year, at Twente, in the second tier, he was brilliant dribbling and progressing the ball and he's repeated that at a higher level this time round. His trait of Arriving Late gives him the edge over the other CM(a) in my shape because it staggers them and makes them both very hard to mark. Players like this are one in a million and I'm so happy to have got him for just €1.6m last summer. He'll continue to be given plenty of minutes next year to repeat these numbers. --- So where do I go from here? Well, just like any jigsaw - all of the pieces need to be in place for it to be complete. I feel that we're two of three pieces away from completion. I've already sorted out the goalkeeper replacement, although Wielart is just for the cup games, I felt it was important to have experience and also a Dutch player who was accustomed to playing in the league. The rest of my shopping list though is as follows: A right winger to be backup to ter Burg. A left back who can perform better than Cespedes, Schuur or Pavlovic - who is out on loan A third striker who offers a different option. Problem number one solved. Koji Kawanami has excelled at second tier PEC Zwolle, who won the league, with twenty-one goal contributions in thirty-three appearances. Even though he's right footed, he'll go against my normal (again, positional variance is a thought here) and play on the right hand side as I'll teach him to cut inside regardless. He's already made six appearances for the first team prior to his loan and I really look forward to seeing him in action. I'm going to be working on his Finishing, primarily and then looking to eek every little bit of Pace and Balance out of him as I feel that they compliment each other quite nicely with wingers. Just like Bruneck, there is no reason why I can't loan him out again in January if he doesn't get the minutes or isn't performing as well as I'd like. His entrance to the first team takes the number of academy graduates within the squad to a very impressive eight with many more looking to feature from the Jong team. Clicking on the news takes you to his profile. I want a full back who can do a bit of everything. If you look at the stats, both Schuur and Cespedes - who has some slightly skewed data as he transferred from a winger - have underperformed on the left hand side of my defence with the former, the regular right back, registered no goals and just one assist. Whilst Kokora's stats aren't mind-blowing when it comes to creativity, I want to improve in this area. I've been looking around for some for full backs and Romeu has been on the radar for a little while but, after the season he's just had, has firmly moved into pole position in terms of my needs. 3.15 interceptions/90 is above Schuur and Cespedes and inside the top 20%, when compared with all under 24 year old wing backs across the top seven leagues in Europe. This season, for a Vitoria side who finished fifth in the Portuguese top flight, he has created more chances and a similar number of key passes as my own full backs but has also chipped in with a good number of goals and assists: likely down to his set piece ability. We aren't exactly made of money and my budgets will be stretched to make this signing but I certainly think it's the kind of one that cements a really strong, high performing player in a role whereby we've underperformed this season. However, I'm close to agreeing a deal that will see Cespedes move to AZ for €3.9m. It's not as much as I wanted but it may be enough to secure the upfront payment for Santos, who I am confident will be an upgrade. I want to ensure that I've got a contract offer in though before I complete my sale as I don't want this to get messy! Clicking on the news takes you to his profile. Anthony Bernard is a very strange signing but one that I really think will work out well for us. I want a third striker - who may also fit in on the wing - as we battle 50+ games again next year and I want a different profile; we have a creator in Jonsson, a target forward in Escalona but I feel we need a pacey finisher, who can get in behind and terrorise tired legs. Bernard possesses good Pace, Agility and Anticipation, which I really think will make him an offensive weapon and overlook some quite average attributes elsewhere. When you consider that Almere have been relegated, his stats, when compared with all strikers in the Eredivisie this season, are very strong. Fifteen goals in all competitions - fourteen in the league - is 38% of the goals scored across the season - so he must have something going for him. It gets even more interesting when you look at his history: I genuinely don't think I've ever seen a none human controlled player be involved in more than 53 goals in a season before. He's got a €2.3m release clause and my intention will be to ensure that his squad status is no more than Impact Sub as I need to be wary of managing game time for my forward players. Certainly not the marquee player but then again, the date ticked over to June and there was no movement on Leishout so I did this... €5m up front with a few clauses that could see it reaching €12.25m in the end and earning just €15k p/w - Rodolfo is mine! We currently have less than €30m in the bank and don't have much passive income and, even though the record Erste Division transfer is €9m, way less than what Lieshout is currently valued at, I just didn't think it was ever going to financially viable, especially as a lot of clubs with far greater financial power than us are now interested. It means that, by July 1st, my team will be here and my deals will largely be concluded should I move for Bernard and Santos. I'm watching Ajax's moves closely this summer because I really feel like we'll have strengthened in a few really key areas... Edited September 2, 2022 by _Ben_ 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted September 4, 2022 Author Share Posted September 4, 2022 (Early) July 2039 Alessio Wielart. Emmanuel Lara. Rodolfo. Jess Aaltonen. Romeu Santos. Noah Courtney-Birch. Anthony Bernard. Lasse Leishlahti. Joel Hansson. With transfers split between myself and Ivan Melnik, my HoYD, I'm always going to be able to share a nice mix of current ability and potential and that's no different this summer as I can announce nine new players at the club. Whilst he initiates the signings, I do run the rule over the completion of them and have tried to keep it realistic, in a sense, by allowing him free reign within the areas that I have highlighted as my desires to create strongholds in: Scandinavia, USA and the Japan. All of the transfers, bar the Joel Hansson deal, were free with the young Swede costing €275k. I'm not too sold on the Scandinavians, if I'm honest but I love a two-footed centre back in Lara and feel that Courtney-Birch has the opposite profile to a lot of my DMs - he's already good in the tackle and now I need to work on his ball playing ability. The four signings for the first team have cost significantly more and I need to be aware of the longer term implications that they will have. Alessio cost €1.4m whilst Bernard cost €2.3m - it is the deals for Romeu - €5.5m upfront and Rodolfo - €5m up front that need to be monitored. Furthermore, I have the additional longer-term clauses to bare in mind: Both of the players are going to be pretty important to the first team, so, therefore, I envisage that I'll need to find €6m by January of 2041, about 18 months from now, to make the mandatory payments on these deals. Whilst that is not a huge issue as that figure has been within our budgets since I took over, it does mean that it will take a big chunk out of any further transfers I make and, actually, I may be best moving sooner rather than later should I find a player worth signing. I have been boosted by a 40% profit on Sharpe, the Jamaican who I sold to Pumas, which has netted me €4m. I then need to look at the future incomings and outgoings to ensure that I'm balancing the books well. Here are the transfers that have been paid in instalments: I am next summer as we're still going to be receiving nearly €4m in transfer fees for players that no longer play for us but, by January 2041, not only will I have probably paid that €6m in appearance fees but will also be making an instalment loss as the outgoings are costing more than the incomings. Again, this is only by €1.4m and that can be offset by a sale, quite easily, but it's something I need to be aware of as I don't want to find myself in a difficult situation whereby I need to reach a certain round of the Champions League to break even, for example. Our overall balance sits at just under €20m, as seen here: Last season we earned nearly €40m in prize money: €23m for CL revenue, €5m for a cup win and €9m for the Eredivisie finish but, given that, we literally broke even (N.B. we did purchase our ground which cost some €20m but that is irrelevant as we will need to spend money over the coming years to upgrade youth and training facilities, too). I've obviously spent a lot this summer - in relation to a club of our size, anyway - so it's going to be something to pay attention to. Although, I must admit that I'm working on a final signing given this investigation that should, hopefully, take some pressure off the future transfer demands. But more on that when/if it's completed... ---- It was something I mentioned a few months back but I really want to develop the attacking corners as I feel it's certainly one of those marginal gains that I think can take us to the next level. It's so annoying that you can only load three routines per side so I haven't been able to fully implement what I want here. Key attributes for my taller players - Rodolfo, de Wit, Escalona, Sigurdsson and Bruneck - shown from left to right. I've felt that we haven't been scoring as many from corners but I've really shot myself in the foot by not saving the game at the end of last season so I can compare data. Therefore, my first port of call is a bit of real-life research, as seen here. What it compares, initially, is the difference between inswinging and outswinging corners and shows that, despite outswinging corners being more likely to find a team mate and an initial shot on goal, that inswinging corners are more likely to lead to a shot on goal somewhere within the move and more likely to lead to a goal being scored. Whilst those numbers aren't hugely different and they're a real life representation rather than from FM, I think it's important that I now try entirely one style of corner, on a trial basis essentially, to see the impact of it. Furthermore, looking at where the best success rates are it seems that the far post is more efficient than the near post and then any balls that are knocked down to the edge of the area then lead to a good scoring chance. So, from that, I've created three different schedules. I wanted more but, as I said, you're only able to make three. They are mirrored for the other side, too, but I may look at mixing it up to essentially give me six routines once I've done a little bit of observational work on these. I have tried to create three different things - (from left to right: a near post corner with an overload at the near post, a far post corner with an overload at the near post and a near post corner with an overload at the far post. Each time, the plan is to bring a player out of the box, hopefully removing a marker, too. From there, I will aim to an area that (bar the last one) has two players attacking - both of whom are including in the five players above as aerial threats. In the last routine, I'm hoping to trick the defence into thinking the ball is going to go where the overload is going be and then utilise the near post, which will give a higher chance of scoring if there is nobody there. I'm going to have a play around with it and see what I can see. --- Early July is a busy time for me as I set up all of the training and all of the friendlies, even though we miss half of the month with players on holiday. This year, I'm playing some bigger teams and have purposely set Jong and U18 games at different times as I can then have some fluidity within the squad for match fitness. I feel that this kind of approach, whilst time consuming, is really important to get a fresh, happy and prepared squad. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted September 4, 2022 Share Posted September 4, 2022 (edited) Great season Ben! I fully expect you to take the title next year. Another solid year of recruitment under your belt (already under way I see) and you’ll take Ajax Amsterdam by storm. I like the set play ideas! I often use overload under load strategy in my tactics and this doesn’t stop when it comes to set play. Some corners I have front post packed and aim there with the hope of the overload. Others I overload back post (decoy) but Aim near post with a single man target. I’ve found some good success down the years with this. Edited September 4, 2022 by SixPointer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted September 4, 2022 Author Share Posted September 4, 2022 1 hour ago, SixPointer said: Another solid year of recruitment under your belt (already under way I see) and you’ll take Ajax Amsterdam by storm. Got one more deal through the door and I'll detail the reasons more when I finish the July write up. Here's the clue from the media XI, which, bar some attacking fluidity, isn't too far from what I will use... He is also my record signing! 1 hour ago, SixPointer said: I fully expect you to take the title next year Not making any predictions, yet but I think we've done well albeit put a lot of eggs into one financial basket. We have some guaranteed Champions League money but I will have to be frugal from now one - which is great as that is naturally my style anyway. Therefore, it'd be nice to be refreshing a title winning time rather than making big changes to a title chasing team. 1 hour ago, SixPointer said: I like the set play ideas! Just had our first friendly and these are the four corners: I like that three of the set ups are virtually identical with only the bottom left having an overload at the back post. Of the three with near post overloads, two were delivered there and one went to the far post. If nothing else, it gives us some versatility at corners. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
haier_fm Posted September 6, 2022 Share Posted September 6, 2022 I second on the corners, I like your approach. I personally do not really delve into set-pieces, usually just mindlessly set up as I please. This, however, may make me rethink slightly on how I set up my corners, free-kicks and throw-in routines. (I know set-pieces are very crucial (in this and last year's installment of the game) and I sound a bit like a caveman, but I just haven't paid enough attention towards such things). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted September 7, 2022 Author Share Posted September 7, 2022 (Late) July 2039 I said I'd made a big move... #WELCOMECARLO #CL3 I decided to go big and go early in the signing for Carlo (clicking on the thumbnail takes you to his profile) after a day or so of deliberating about it. I spoke about opting for Rodolfo for a number of reasons - feeling more realistic bringing in an experienced leader and the like but once the availability for Carlo was there, I felt the need to move for him, too. However, my initial plan is to not use him as a defender; instead using him as a defensive midfielder - training like this. I think that his range of passing skills are probably near the same level to his defensive skills and, in my eyes, this could make a very strong all-round holding midfielder. With him also being a natural midfielder, I can then utilise a player trait - Tries Killer Balls Often - that could add to him game. Whilst he's not the most creative and certainly not a Regista-type player, this trait should increase the number of longer, through balls, even if they aren't always perfectly executed. The deal was pretty straightforward in the end. I've been watching him and he's been the number one target since January so, when I asked his agent about his demands, he was very easy to discuss with and his transfer value had significantly dropped. Our balance, below, meant that I have had to be careful with this deal and opted to pay a little more than the €8m - €11m asking price in order to spread that over a longer period of time - with €7m up front and three lots of instalments, each summer, valued at €2m apiece. Hopefully, these payments will be easily bettered by any domestic prize money we receive at this point of the year. I've had to look carefully as the future transfer payments and will need to make sure that any further sales I make include fees that are payed in 2041 and 2042, in order to offset the outgoings there. However, there is always interest in my players and I feel in a strong position to be able to sell, should I need to. It's unlikely that I'll meet the clause in his contract, even though he insisted on it and the overall wage spend is small in comparison with a player of the potential he has and a four year deal is also perfect as it'll take him until he's twenty-two and, hopefully, playing regularly. The most important thing for me is that this signing means that my future planning is completed a year ahead of schedule and, essentially, this year is a free hit for him. He'll play, but the quality and quantity of those minutes are less important whilst I still have Diallo in the squad. He is two years younger than Zambrano, too, and will have to earn his place in the team, which is something that I will stand by, despite this record signing. In fact, the overall position of the elder members of the squad, below, mean that we're in a great place for the coming years: I will never completely finalise a playing squad, for obvious reasons but I feel that we could have another four to five years with Rodolfo given his immense physical stature and I probably have at least three years on the remaining players, sans Diallo, before they'll need to be replaced - giving me at least another two windows before I have to significantly invest in the squad again. Another positive is that it'll mean much longer term planning goes into finding my next midfielders, full back and centre backs. --- Elsewhere, we have begun our preparations for the new season with a few different performances from a variety of different teams. For me, pre-season is very strategic and quite boring to write about! I continue to play two different teams for 45 minutes each, trying out new partnerships and pairings as well as using these games, and Jong and U18 games, to gain much needed match fitness. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonic Youth Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 Nice capture of Carlo! Preseason seems smooth too. I guess you’ll be watching the finances/scout reports/shortlists/tactics/training in the next few seasons more so instead of recruitment. Not much to see there eh 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted September 11, 2022 Author Share Posted September 11, 2022 August 2039 Creative juices not quite flowing yet so this month is a little watered down, just as my playing time has - and probably will continue to be - over the coming weeks. I'm really hoping to get this season, and maybe one more, done before the end of October - which is when I will, no doubt, be drawn into playing an FM23 beta... ---- Ajax 2-0 FC Groningen 78: Claudiano 90: Marco When a counter attacking style of football doesn't work, it can really look bad and I think that this is what has happened today as we lose the Johan Cruijff Schaal. Going into the matchup, we are notably weaker but some stats paint a picture that, to me, signals we may be able to overtake them in the coming years as their team is expensively assembled and aging and, should they fail to back that up with successes, could find themselves in a mess. For large parts of the game, we defended well and kept them to little more than odd chances where they breached our lines of created a well-planned overload. Whilst that is positive and a key metric within our defensive play, the inability to then capitalise on that, in the near hour where we added 0.0xG, is something that needs working on. The inclusion of Escalona, hoping that he'd be able to battle with the defenders and drop deep to link play was, probably, wrong as I should have maybe used Bernard - a man with pace to get in behind but also a man not particularly match fit and new to the club. It's small but key decisions like that which will have the biggest impact on us, as a team, going forward. It's most disappointing that both of our goals conceded came from set pieces: corners to be precise. We work hard defending them and to concede two, in such similar circumstances, is quiet annoying and one that will need to be rectified. But for now, Ajax have the upper hand this season and some silverware to boot. --- FC Groningen 1-1 Excelsior The disappointment continues and, given that I've been on and off with FM over the course of the week, the blame must lie with me. I, again, feel like I made some poor selection decisions and was unable to really break down their deep and quite compact defensive system. Again going with Escalona, hoping that we could both win a bit more in the air, allowing us to change up styles a little but also for him to pull defenders out didn't work. He had plenty of touches but none of his passes really advanced our play or brought our on-rushing midfield or wingers into the game. I opted for the creativity of Jonsson in a central midfield slot along with inexperienced Van Nispen (as I made the mistake of allowing too many players to play Jong football and, as such, rule themselves out of the game with the rule I keep forgetting about!) but their wall was impenetrable and maybe a pair or 'runners' would have worked better. Points shared and onto the next one. --- AZ Alkmaar 0-4 FC Groningen More like it! This, to me, is the epitome of counter attacking play! We absolutely haven't dominated this game but have run away with a four nil victory over a decent side. For us to score four goals when we haven't controlled the game - scoring actually in a period when the momentum was with AZ - and to see that each of the four goals come from no more than three passes in the build up is fantastic. I got all of the selections correct here, using Jonsson as a forward again largely in a decoy kind of role to allow the CM(a) pairing of Pander and Szkudlarek free reign to get into scoring positions. Whilst none of their goals are from high xG positions, they do demonstrate the ability we have to turn the game on it's head really quickly. --- Between games, I was given the wonderful news of our Champions League group: Really tough! Inter are a very strong side and we faced them last year and both Dortmund and Monaco are certainly better than us also. Sadly, ex-Krasnodar favourite Alex Barreto has now moved on but I will be locking horns with Gregory Sharpe: Groningen's biggest ever sale. Elsewhere, Ajax face Chelsea, Galatasaray and Partizan and Feyenoord share a group with Juventus, Bayern and Ludogorets. You could make a case for Ajax progressing but it's looking tough for the other two of us although Feyenoord are probably good enough to make the Europa League. For me - it's game at a time. See what I can get from the three home ties. --- FC Groningen 5-0 ADO Den Haag A very different type of performance to the AZ one and probably typical of what we are going to face at home now. A lot more of the ball and having to think, and act, very differently in order to create chances. Nilden-Lindner opened it up after a a nice little overload on the right allowed Pander space to cross the ball in, again, aiming to overload the centre back with the run from the Swede alongside forward Escalona. A simple tap in. Pander doubled the league after an incisive ball through from Thijssen where, once again, the movement from Emile makes him hard to mark and frees up space for Thijs to get in - although I have to credit Jordi Thijssen here, who still had a lot to do after picking up the ball. The third is the reason why I leave two men up from defensive corners as our transition is fast and aggressive, with a bit of interplay before Escalona strikes his first. His second - our fourth - was much easier as he tapped in following a good save from a Pander free kick. Pander added his second as he got on the end of a ter Burg cross just after the hour. We continued to throw things at them but it stayed at 5. Whilst the early season league table isn't that interesting, the statistics are: Pander leads the way with four goals and also has three assists to his name - meaning that he ends the month contributing to an immense 70% of our goals this season! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted September 19, 2022 Author Share Posted September 19, 2022 On 11/09/2022 at 21:14, _Ben_ said: I'm really hoping to get this season, and maybe one more, done before the end of October Says he wants to get two more seasons done, then doesn't open FM for a whole week. I'm still playing and trying to read what's going on in the community as we countdown to FM23 and will hope to have got another month or so done this coming week... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielgear Posted September 19, 2022 Share Posted September 19, 2022 3 minutes ago, _Ben_ said: Says he wants to get two more seasons done, then doesn't open FM for a whole week. I'm still playing and trying to read what's going on in the community as we countdown to FM23 and will hope to have got another month or so done this coming week... Read anything interesting? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_1979 Posted September 19, 2022 Share Posted September 19, 2022 4 hours ago, danielgear said: Read anything interesting? There’s a great 5-3-2 blog out there apparently 😂 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted September 25, 2022 Author Share Posted September 25, 2022 On 19/09/2022 at 19:11, danielgear said: Read anything interesting? Well, this, for one... On 19/09/2022 at 23:25, Matt_1979 said: There’s a great 5-3-2 blog out there apparently 😂 Then just a lot of stuff regarding my plans for FM23. It seems that most of the stuff out at the moment is about wrapping up FM22 games, save reveals or wish-lists, so I've just done some research into my plans for next year. I have been playing a little and will switch to - maybe - half season updates just so I can spend more time playing the game. I have also learnt to ensure that I've ticked all the options in the Development List to stop loanees playing against us: Thanks, Randel... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielgear Posted September 25, 2022 Share Posted September 25, 2022 3 minutes ago, _Ben_ said: Well, this, for one... On 19/09/2022 at 23:25, Matt_1979 said: There’s a great 5-3-2 blog out there apparently 😂 😂 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted September 25, 2022 Author Share Posted September 25, 2022 55 minutes ago, _Ben_ said: I have been playing a little and will switch to - maybe - half season updates just so I can spend more time playing the game I've had a change of heart... Given my really random playing time at the moment, I think that I'll wrap this thread up over the next few days with a nice summative post and then just play on in the background. It's been an insane edition of FM, where I've only had one save, and - although I tend to say this every year - it's been my best save ever. Because of that, I think one last post would serve it better - and everyone who I am so grateful for reading and contributing to it - than a series of half-soaked updates just because. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrewnaldo Posted September 25, 2022 Share Posted September 25, 2022 1 hour ago, _Ben_ said: Then just a lot of stuff regarding my plans for FM23. It seems that most of the stuff out at the moment is about wrapping up FM22 games, save reveals or wish-lists, so I've just done some research into my plans for next year. Got anything to share? Or keeping it under wraps for now? Your ideas are always interesting and inspiring. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Novem9 Posted September 27, 2022 Share Posted September 27, 2022 Ben, if you don't mind, after creating a new topic, please drop the link to this thread. Thanks in advance! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted September 30, 2022 Author Share Posted September 30, 2022 On 25/09/2022 at 18:20, Shrewnaldo said: Got anything to share? Or keeping it under wraps for now? Your ideas are always interesting and inspiring. Nothing mind blowing, to be fair. I am going to set out from the start to move countries - managing in a few places where there are historical ties to Empires as well as battles for power and ancient civilisations: Turkey and a link to the Ottoman Empire, Greece (albeit with their city states rather than an actual Empire) and then to Italy and the Holy Roman Empire. I'd considered looking at the Babylonians but the Iranian leagues aren't a huge draw and nor are the Egyptian leagues. I'll look to start low down in Turkey as I think there's only two Greek tiers playable at the start and then go from there. Are you planning on posting here for FM23? On 27/09/2022 at 15:39, Novem9 said: Ben, if you don't mind, after creating a new topic, please drop the link to this thread. Thanks in advance! Will do! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Ben_ Posted September 30, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 30, 2022 Matryoshka: 2025-2039 All good things must end. The man from the south of Russia hangs up his boots following a marvellous career and I leave FM22 with my head held high. When I wrapped up my Swiss save, I said that it was my best game ever but that was actually a lie: this is it! I have absolutely loved learning about the footballing culture of Russia before my 'once in an FM career' move to a completely country. This FM provided me with some surprises - no more so than what happened during real life Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the in game changes that came from that: no European ties in our home country and no more competitive international fixtures. Mashuk: 2025-26 I vaguely remember some eleven months back taking charge at little Mashuk, based just up the road (in Russian terms anyway) from Ryzdvyany, the home town of Nikita. My plan there was to get my teeth into the game and learn about the mechanics of it without falling in love with a team. That was partially true and it was the lure of fallen giant Anji that was the main reason for me leaving. Mashuk were finally promoted to the second tier last summer but are sat rock bottom of the league and their first foray seems to be a brief one. Anji: 2026-28 A promotion in my first full season and my first chance to really get my teeth into a tactical style that would follow me throughout the save - with Arsen Kiselev running riot in the CM(a) slot and a young Raul Budonov, now a scout at Groningen, firing them in. I only spent a short time in the second tier with Anji, where they are some ten years later as another fallen club, Sochi came calling. Sochi: 2028-30 I loved my first two stops in Russia but hated the third! As I learnt more about the club and their (lack of history) as well as being faced by a ridiculously demanding board, I lost a little attachment to the save. In the end, the board demanded promotion and sacked me a year after winning the Kubok FNL - the second tier cup - and taking the side from the bottom of the table to finishing a respectable fifth. Ural: 2030-32 A big break happened though as Ural took a chance on me and I moved north east in search of promotion to the top tier. Armed with Ezequiel Ponce, another ex coach and now manager of Salernitana, we romped the league, going unbeaten and winning the cup, too. We threatened the European places in our first season in the top flight too before a bigger job came calling... Krasnodar: 2032-36 Moving back South to take the reigns of a really big club and one that had a board and ideology that I really brought into meant that my four seasons in Krasnodar were among the best ever. Two cup wins, a league win and several deep runs in Europe formed the cornerstone of a side that was built through clever recruitment and finding value in the undervalued to sit alongside a thoroughly thought-out playing time pathway for the growing number of top quality academy players. The likes of Martin Conberse, Alejo Zbrun and star-man Alex Barreto mixed seamlessly in with Iljas Zherabyatjev - who had been spotted playing well above the levels of a poor Excelsior team. This kind of deal became synonymous with my time at the club but I felt that four years was enough. Groningen: 2036-39 Moving to Holland meant that I could have a clean slate and a fresh start to really run with the methods I'd spent months on in Russia. Brining with me the brand of football that served me so well and fits my ideology so closely to real life, I turned Groningen into a dangerous counter attacking unit and, again, built heavily around clever acquisitions and development of youth players. Facing a foe of the level of Ajax is never easy and, had FM23 not been announced, I may have had a realistic shot of overturning them but we pushed them hard. I really found my feet with deeper thinking and tactical trials and tribulations and that came through as I think I've written possibly a million words in these updates but I was so engaged with this club - building it from the bottom up in terms of players and staff. There are so many things I've learnt and developed in my time here and will be taking them with me into all of future ventures. --- I will leave with a screenshot of a shortlist of ex-players, as a little clue for who my next manager may be as well as my favourite Groningen players: academy graduates Thijs Pander and Emile Escalona and bargain buy Dariusz Szkudlarek, who really showed the benefit of using statistical analysis to benchmark performances. I will be playing this on and off until a demo comes out for FM23 but taking a backseat from updating for a month or so will allow me to return fresher and full of ideas. I must thank everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute, read and get ideas as this is what makes me want to play and want to write the way I do! 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrewnaldo Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 5 hours ago, _Ben_ said: Nothing mind blowing, to be fair. I am going to set out from the start to move countries - managing in a few places where there are historical ties to Empires as well as battles for power and ancient civilisations: Turkey and a link to the Ottoman Empire, Greece (albeit with their city states rather than an actual Empire) and then to Italy and the Holy Roman Empire. I'd considered looking at the Babylonians but the Iranian leagues aren't a huge draw and nor are the Egyptian leagues. I'll look to start low down in Turkey as I think there's only two Greek tiers playable at the start and then go from there. Are you planning on posting here for FM23? Will do! Sounds fun. I have really liked the career style games you've been having - not really journeymen, but just a realistic career which you could imagine a real-life manager following. It makes for an entirely unique world and yet maintains variety for the player (and reader). Goes without saying but I'll say it anyway - I always enjoy your threads. I don't always interact, but they're always so full of useful information and things I'd like to replicate in my own saves, as well as just being fun to read. I follow a number of threads on these forums but this is the one that keeps me coming back. Re mine... yes, probably. I enjoyed the Statman & Robins thread this year, not so much the Peru one. And it's always nice to have somewhere to write down some thoughts and help me work through some problems "on paper". So I'd say more likely than not. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielgear Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 6 hours ago, _Ben_ said: Matryoshka: 2025-2039 All good things must end. The man from the south of Russia hangs up his boots following a marvellous career and I leave FM22 with my head held high. When I wrapped up my Swiss save, I said that it was my best game ever but that was actually a lie: this is it! I have absolutely loved learning about the footballing culture of Russia before my 'once in an FM career' move to a completely country. This FM provided me with some surprises - no more so than what happened during real life Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the in game changes that came from that: no European ties in our home country and no more competitive international fixtures. Mashuk: 2025-26 I vaguely remember some eleven months back taking charge at little Mashuk, based just up the road (in Russian terms anyway) from Ryzdvyany, the home town of Nikita. My plan there was to get my teeth into the game and learn about the mechanics of it without falling in love with a team. That was partially true and it was the lure of fallen giant Anji that was the main reason for me leaving. Mashuk were finally promoted to the second tier last summer but are sat rock bottom of the league and their first foray seems to be a brief one. Anji: 2026-28 A promotion in my first full season and my first chance to really get my teeth into a tactical style that would follow me throughout the save - with Arsen Kiselev running riot in the CM(a) slot and a young Raul Budonov, now a scout at Groningen, firing them in. I only spent a short time in the second tier with Anji, where they are some ten years later as another fallen club, Sochi came calling. Sochi: 2028-30 I loved my first two stops in Russia but hated the third! As I learnt more about the club and their (lack of history) as well as being faced by a ridiculously demanding board, I lost a little attachment to the save. In the end, the board demanded promotion and sacked me a year after winning the Kubok FNL - the second tier cup - and taking the side from the bottom of the table to finishing a respectable fifth. Ural: 2030-32 A big break happened though as Ural took a chance on me and I moved north east in search of promotion to the top tier. Armed with Ezequiel Ponce, another ex coach and now manager of Salernitana, we romped the league, going unbeaten and winning the cup, too. We threatened the European places in our first season in the top flight too before a bigger job came calling... Krasnodar: 2032-36 Moving back South to take the reigns of a really big club and one that had a board and ideology that I really brought into meant that my four seasons in Krasnodar were among the best ever. Two cup wins, a league win and several deep runs in Europe formed the cornerstone of a side that was built through clever recruitment and finding value in the undervalued to sit alongside a thoroughly thought-out playing time pathway for the growing number of top quality academy players. The likes of Martin Conberse, Alejo Zbrun and star-man Alex Barreto mixed seamlessly in with Iljas Zherabyatjev - who had been spotted playing well above the levels of a poor Excelsior team. This kind of deal became synonymous with my time at the club but I felt that four years was enough. Groningen: 2036-39 Moving to Holland meant that I could have a clean slate and a fresh start to really run with the methods I'd spent months on in Russia. Brining with me the brand of football that served me so well and fits my ideology so closely to real life, I turned Groningen into a dangerous counter attacking unit and, again, built heavily around clever acquisitions and development of youth players. Facing a foe of the level of Ajax is never easy and, had FM23 not been announced, I may have had a realistic shot of overturning them but we pushed them hard. I really found my feet with deeper thinking and tactical trials and tribulations and that came through as I think I've written possibly a million words in these updates but I was so engaged with this club - building it from the bottom up in terms of players and staff. There are so many things I've learnt and developed in my time here and will be taking them with me into all of future ventures. --- I will leave with a screenshot of a shortlist of ex-players, as a little clue for who my next manager may be as well as my favourite Groningen players: academy graduates Thijs Pander and Emile Escalona and bargain buy Dariusz Szkudlarek, who really showed the benefit of using statistical analysis to benchmark performances. I will be playing this on and off until a demo comes out for FM23 but taking a backseat from updating for a month or so will allow me to return fresher and full of ideas. I must thank everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute, read and get ideas as this is what makes me want to play and want to write the way I do! Another great save Ben and an inspiration for many others saves. Looking forward to your FM23 save Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Novem9 Posted October 1, 2022 Share Posted October 1, 2022 It was a really great save! Thank you very much, it was very interesting. I liked the part about the Urals most of all, and of course, Krasnodar. I also note you use very interesting methods, and the story is so inspiring that I started the new save a few months ago: Uruguay - Chile- Colombia - Argentina. Often in various situations during the save, I wonder - "Interesting moment, but what would Ben do here"? I have already been successful with such rare tactics for me as 4222 (narrow), 4231 with two DM and enganche, 4312 with trequartista and 523 with AWM and trequartista as central forward. Your influence is huge Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_1979 Posted October 1, 2022 Share Posted October 1, 2022 Good work Ben - staying with the same save for an entire version of FM is incredibly admirable. I've loved reading the updates as well as all the different little paths you venture down. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted October 2, 2022 Author Share Posted October 2, 2022 On 30/09/2022 at 23:10, Shrewnaldo said: Sounds fun. I have really liked the career style games you've been having - not really journeymen, but just a realistic career which you could imagine a real-life manager following. It makes for an entirely unique world and yet maintains variety for the player (and reader). Goes without saying but I'll say it anyway - I always enjoy your threads. I don't always interact, but they're always so full of useful information and things I'd like to replicate in my own saves, as well as just being fun to read. I follow a number of threads on these forums but this is the one that keeps me coming back. Re mine... yes, probably. I enjoyed the Statman & Robins thread this year, not so much the Peru one. And it's always nice to have somewhere to write down some thoughts and help me work through some problems "on paper". So I'd say more likely than not. Thanks Shrew! I look forward to seeing your save: any ideas on where? On 01/10/2022 at 00:51, danielgear said: Another great save Ben and an inspiration for many others saves. Looking forward to your FM23 save Thanks Dan! On 01/10/2022 at 10:48, Novem9 said: It was a really great save! Thank you very much, it was very interesting. I liked the part about the Urals most of all, and of course, Krasnodar. I also note you use very interesting methods, and the story is so inspiring that I started the new save a few months ago: As I alluded to when I left Russia - having the local knowledge of someone like you really helped me with the immersion of the save so huge thanks must go to you! Your journey through South America is really interesting and something that I had actually planned for this year, if I'd finished this save a few months back. On 01/10/2022 at 15:07, Matt_1979 said: Good work Ben - staying with the same save for an entire version of FM is incredibly admirable. I've loved reading the updates as well as all the different little paths you venture down. Thanks! I wanted to start a new save but still can't put this one down, which makes me feel really good about it. In fact, I've just been gathering a few images for a little post about some youth players. I'm definitely glad I've wrapped up the formal side of the writing so I'm fresh and full of ideas for FM23. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted October 2, 2022 Share Posted October 2, 2022 On 30/09/2022 at 18:11, _Ben_ said: Matryoshka: 2025-2039 All good things must end. The man from the south of Russia hangs up his boots following a marvellous career and I leave FM22 with my head held high. When I wrapped up my Swiss save, I said that it was my best game ever but that was actually a lie: this is it! I have absolutely loved learning about the footballing culture of Russia before my 'once in an FM career' move to a completely country. This FM provided me with some surprises - no more so than what happened during real life Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the in game changes that came from that: no European ties in our home country and no more competitive international fixtures. Mashuk: 2025-26 I vaguely remember some eleven months back taking charge at little Mashuk, based just up the road (in Russian terms anyway) from Ryzdvyany, the home town of Nikita. My plan there was to get my teeth into the game and learn about the mechanics of it without falling in love with a team. That was partially true and it was the lure of fallen giant Anji that was the main reason for me leaving. Mashuk were finally promoted to the second tier last summer but are sat rock bottom of the league and their first foray seems to be a brief one. Anji: 2026-28 A promotion in my first full season and my first chance to really get my teeth into a tactical style that would follow me throughout the save - with Arsen Kiselev running riot in the CM(a) slot and a young Raul Budonov, now a scout at Groningen, firing them in. I only spent a short time in the second tier with Anji, where they are some ten years later as another fallen club, Sochi came calling. Sochi: 2028-30 I loved my first two stops in Russia but hated the third! As I learnt more about the club and their (lack of history) as well as being faced by a ridiculously demanding board, I lost a little attachment to the save. In the end, the board demanded promotion and sacked me a year after winning the Kubok FNL - the second tier cup - and taking the side from the bottom of the table to finishing a respectable fifth. Ural: 2030-32 A big break happened though as Ural took a chance on me and I moved north east in search of promotion to the top tier. Armed with Ezequiel Ponce, another ex coach and now manager of Salernitana, we romped the league, going unbeaten and winning the cup, too. We threatened the European places in our first season in the top flight too before a bigger job came calling... Krasnodar: 2032-36 Moving back South to take the reigns of a really big club and one that had a board and ideology that I really brought into meant that my four seasons in Krasnodar were among the best ever. Two cup wins, a league win and several deep runs in Europe formed the cornerstone of a side that was built through clever recruitment and finding value in the undervalued to sit alongside a thoroughly thought-out playing time pathway for the growing number of top quality academy players. The likes of Martin Conberse, Alejo Zbrun and star-man Alex Barreto mixed seamlessly in with Iljas Zherabyatjev - who had been spotted playing well above the levels of a poor Excelsior team. This kind of deal became synonymous with my time at the club but I felt that four years was enough. Groningen: 2036-39 Moving to Holland meant that I could have a clean slate and a fresh start to really run with the methods I'd spent months on in Russia. Brining with me the brand of football that served me so well and fits my ideology so closely to real life, I turned Groningen into a dangerous counter attacking unit and, again, built heavily around clever acquisitions and development of youth players. Facing a foe of the level of Ajax is never easy and, had FM23 not been announced, I may have had a realistic shot of overturning them but we pushed them hard. I really found my feet with deeper thinking and tactical trials and tribulations and that came through as I think I've written possibly a million words in these updates but I was so engaged with this club - building it from the bottom up in terms of players and staff. There are so many things I've learnt and developed in my time here and will be taking them with me into all of future ventures. --- I will leave with a screenshot of a shortlist of ex-players, as a little clue for who my next manager may be as well as my favourite Groningen players: academy graduates Thijs Pander and Emile Escalona and bargain buy Dariusz Szkudlarek, who really showed the benefit of using statistical analysis to benchmark performances. I will be playing this on and off until a demo comes out for FM23 but taking a backseat from updating for a month or so will allow me to return fresher and full of ideas. I must thank everyone who has contributed and continues to contribute, read and get ideas as this is what makes me want to play and want to write the way I do! Sublime save Ben! I’ve not been as active recently since being home from work so I’ve got some catching up to do. So many great aspects your put across in the save and so much that boosted my own save and gave so much food for thought! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrewnaldo Posted October 3, 2022 Share Posted October 3, 2022 On 02/10/2022 at 20:38, _Ben_ said: Thanks Shrew! I look forward to seeing your save: any ideas on where? Haven't made up my mind yet - currently between Telstar in the Netherlands or Dynamo České Budějovice in the Czech Republic. Other options might still come in - something in Norway or Sweden also appeals. Either way, I'll be looking at a similar idea to the Statman and Robins game - restricted attribute view, stats-driven scouting and recruitment, and all the usual things we do to make the game sort of realistic (job centre for staff, not using Player Search screen etc etc) 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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