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[FM22] Matryoshka


_Ben_
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10 hours ago, haier_fm said:

However, I'd hand my reisgnation in due to personal distaste for the club. Being well-versed football-wise in this part of the world, I never liked Sochi as a football club

This is what I questioned, myself. I'm not particularly au fait with Russian football but I saw a team, formed in 2018, that managed to start in the second tier. They also have very few fans, no history or anything and I can see why they would be hated. But further reading tells me that they are a government team, and Dinamo St Petersburg had little choice about being forcibly rehomed and rebranded to create a team to fill the old Olympic stadium and that does kind of make me dislike them a little bit!

8 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

That pass map gives a clear idea of the attacking third falling away, with teams wearing you down (possibly) when that goal doesn’t come and taking advantage by (potentially) nicking a goal.

Yeah. Things have got away from me a little bit, I must admit. I was so focused on why were weren't playing well and why confidence was shot that I missed some of the bigger red flags. I've altered the WM(s) back to W(s) to see how that works but I think that, overall, our style of play has changed as we're getting much more of the ball and being far less ruthless with it.

8 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

Rostov is an obvious candidate, but Rubin Kazan is also a bit of a sleeping giant. The same can be said about Kryllia Sovetov and Rotor Volgograd. In Russia a Moscow job is the target or Zenit

Rotor are down in the third tier at the moment so I don't feel like stepping back to them but yes, you're right, a Moscow job (and not Torpedo as they're at our level) or Zenit seems to be the one I would want, although it did lead to a nice challenge to bring the RPL title to a city other than those.

1 hour ago, rich ruzzian said:

Kazan won it 2 times almost 15 years back. 

In game, it's been a very closed league:

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Krasnodar are the only non-Moscow or St Petersburg side to have finished in the top three!

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8 horas atrás, _Ben_ disse:

Rotor are down in the third tier at the moment so I don't feel like stepping back to them but yes, you're right, a Moscow job (and not Torpedo as they're at our level) or Zenit seems to be the one I would want, although it did lead to a nice challenge to bring the RPL title to a city other than those.

Taking Krasnodar to the top would be an interesting challenge, especially since Mr. Zakharov was born not very far (in Russian terms) from there!

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On 29/12/2021 at 17:51, Nachtelrontow said:

Taking Krasnodar to the top would be an interesting challenge, especially since Mr. Zakharov was born not very far (in Russian terms) from there!

I agree! It'd be something to dominate this league without going within 1,000km of the capital! My ideal jobs here are Rostov, Akhmat or Krasnodar before maybe taking the Matryoshka-style to foreign shores somewhere down the line.

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February 2030

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Winter break is done and I've had a little bit of thinking time. Sochi just isn't the type of club for me, which is why I've kind of been self-sabotaging and now too bothered about our performances, maybe even hoping to be sacked. I just can't get behind the team now I know more about their formation and links to political powers and feel that, with a massive, but empty stadium and no honours, history or even favoured players to fall back on, that they are just a plastic club. Now, even after I've come to this realisation, I still might be sacked, but, since I've thought about it, I'm yet to play a game, instead option for that 'third option' I proposed earlier:

"Dig deep, really focus my intentions on working to get the best out of every single player, working alongside any new recruits in the winter window and trying to replicate our early season form once again."

Now, my contract is up at the end of the season and I won't be renewing it, but I have four months in order to leave this club in a better place than where I picked them up from, as should every manager. I've been disappointed by my youth intake (more on that, below) but I want to put a few things in place for wherever I move to next. I'll also be trying to dig deeper into the individual performances of my players, trying to make sure I can get the best out of every one and keep that man-manager moniker that I've tried to build in my career to date.

That being said, we still have a game in the Kubok FNL - the competition we won last year - against SKA in the Second Placed Teams Third-Placed Playoff. I feel that this is, essentially, a get as many games in as we can idea from whoever created this!

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We've not been amazing in the group stage, if I'm honest. As I said, I tried and put out a fresh XI each game but, underneath it all, was never really bothered to try anything new. I'll leave this short and not-particularly sweet and make sure I don't make this mistake again.

---

The youth intake came and was really, really poor. However, wanting to focus on the positives, I signed some of the players:

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Now, Kurbanov, should he have the potential, could be a good all-round midfielder. Already blessed with great leadership skills and brave as anything, if I can add a bit more intelligence and ball playing ability to his already good First Touch, could have myself a good deep midfielder here. He's going to train as a DM(s) - because this ignores a lot of physical atttributes that I hope will come with age, a specific focus on his passing skills and will fit in with the Attacking training unit for now.  Artem Laptev is a full back without many strengths but, importantly, many weaknesses either. He'll train as a IWB(s) with focus on passing and, again, in the Attacking Unit.

In fact, I took the opportunity to cut my u18 team down and have a deeper look at them:

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I control the individual training (always have) but have added the team training too, making them follow a similar progression to what we do in the first team. For realism sake, I'd like to think that I, as manager, would be able to instruct staff to train under my ideology - but this is the closest I can get to achieving that. There is a clear issue with training performances and that is probably linked with the lack of Determination and Ambition I see within this squad. I'll be keeping a close eye on their training:

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As well as watching and keeping tabs on their performances, warning them in the same way as I would with my first team.  I am (for some reason) unable to locate the bit that says they need to play with my tactics, but I'll find that at some point!

---

TLDR? I'm giving this a proper bash for 4 months before parting ways, in a way more amicable way that I've been feeling in the previous three of four months. It does lead to some dilemmas though - should we achieve promotion, I'm almost certain to be ruling myself out of a job immediately in the top tier by leaving in June, but that is to expected and entirely realistic.

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6 horas atrás, _Ben_ disse:

I agree! It'd be something to dominate this league without going within 1,000km of the capital! My ideal jobs here are Rostov, Akhmat or Krasnodar before maybe taking the Matryoshka-style to foreign shores somewhere down the line.

Just a heads up since you don't seem to like Sochi, Akhmat are also a bit of a government team. Their managing director is a local politician, and they're even named after former Chechnya president Akhmat Kadyrov. They do have fans though, so it's already a step up from your current team

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11 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

I like your approach with how you will leave Sochi. Who knows, maybe a new team will come up that allows you to move on.
 

Yeah, it just didn't feel right to me, clicking through and doing the minimum.

8 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Would you apply for jobs in the interim or just wait until your contract is up? 

Yes - I think so. FM doesn't do a good job of modelling an expired contract so I'd probably just end up on a rolling deal so having a club to move to, in whichever division I can, would be a good idea.

7 hours ago, Nachtelrontow said:

Just a heads up since you don't seem to like Sochi, Akhmat are also a bit of a government team. Their managing director is a local politician, and they're even named after former Chechnya president Akhmat Kadyrov. They do have fans though, so it's already a step up from your current team

Yes, I was reading about them because I remembered Terek Grozny but never Akhmat and I saw that they, in fact, just changed their name. There seems to be a good number of Russian clubs who have fallen into trouble of late - I read about Krasnodar and Tambov no longer existing, with the former being replaced by a completely new side and then the smaller sides like Tosno, Luch Vladivostok (I knew these had gone) also disappearing of late. 

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FC Baltika is also a government team. 35k Stadium built for 2018 World Cup. I was averaging 3.500 season ticket holders. 7K fans for a big game.

Chairperson is the mayor of Kaliningrad.

Major Source of funds for team is an annual $5.93M grant.

I mostly picked them because they had no real history but had been around a while.....(1954).

 

FC Sochi used to be St. Petersburg Dinamo and was forced to move so that Olympic Stadium in Sochi would have a tenant.

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March 2030

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My job is still stable, for now, although the odds on my sacking have closed to 5/4. However, the Arsenal Tula job is available and, whilst that is not that interesting, the Krylia Sovetov manager is odds on favourite to take it - and that is a job that would interest me. However, as said before, my focus is solely on Sochi for the remainder of this campaign.

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So, the return didn't get off to the best of starts as we lost in the silly round of the cup to SKA. The fact that I'm not even that bothered tells you that the focus is all about the league and doing what is right there. 

Full of impetus for the league restart, we took on a struggling Zenit-2 after a much needed win. They lined up with a narrow 4-1-2-1-2 and, even in the early stages, their players were Anxious and Frustrated, so I intended to play on it. We kept our body language good and tried to play on the front foot. Klepikov opened the scoring with a screamer with just 0.06xG, below, before Mukhametshin missed from the spot early in the second half - leaving me furious that I was unable to actually choose my taker for it. A second penalty was awarded after another foul (and eventual red card) for Kosolov but this time Mischenko missed, after again I was unable to choose my kick taker. I'm not sure I'd have chosen my centre mid and centre back as my two penalty takers and it's something that I need to look into before it costs me, hugely. In the end though, the game finished 1-0 and we win a league game for the first time since mid November 2029.

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The one big take home is that, in a squad low on confidence, is that it's really tough to find the right thing to say at 1-0 up. Encourage and Praise, as team instructions, had really mixed outcomes, so I focused more on the individual shouts, trying to marry up the (overall poor) personalities in the squad with shouts personalised for them. Something that, by reading @Tikka Mezzala's thread on the basics, is something I really should know more about. However, a 1-0 win and nearly 2.70 Non-Pen xG is a start, even if we've not solved all of our problems, yet. That was the final straw for the Zenit-2 manager and also another reminder that things aren't quite right for me, either.

The bench against Amkar saw my promise for young players, allowing them spots following good training for the week as Stipidi and Kozlov earned their first call ups to the senior match day squad. Kozhedub opened the scoring after a lovely team move as we then soaked up some pressure before the break. I, again, focused on the body language, ensuring that I was pressing and tackling their anxious players harder and pressing them when they came into the right areas. It was also clear that this Amkar team was tired so we tried much harder to keep the ball and keep them pressing, which brought us some success as we calmed the game somewhat. Our opponents needed just one chance, and one chance they did take - a speculative effort from 25 yards, with an xG of just 0.03 beat Agkatsev and they were level, and we'd used all of our changes. Immediately from kickoff, we lost the ball and they worked an opening, hitting the post, so the Demand More shout came out. It worked. Pedro Torres popped up unannounced to net late on to give us our second win on the bounce. A nice rule of allowing an extra like-for-like Russian u22 sub after making your other five is good as it allowed Alexandr Kozlov a chance to make his debut.

We started brightly against Shinnik and, after a penalty was awarded and I was able to select my taker, Klepikov put us ahead. We restricted the 2nd placed side to just speculative efforts and deserved our victory but must work on our own ability to hit the target, as seen with our shot map. Still, three wins in a row is three wins in a row!

The same performance, however, was not evident away at Torpedo as we were both blunt going forward and unusually leaky at the back. We didn't press with the intensity that I like when the triggers are hit and that is something that is part of the bigger picture here - the lack of squad depth that we have, with a midweek and a weekend game. The month ended with another defeat to a team around us, this time Orenburg. They took their early, speculative chance and, again, we didn't have enough about us to come back. It does lead me down two allies - that we are tactically inept and/or that the players aren't well suited. Taking inspiration from something @MattyLewis11 does very well, and I need to improve on, I think it's important that I look at some of the hidden attributethrough coach reports - namely Consistency and Important Matches:

Important Matches:

  • Relishes (bright green)
  • Likes (light green) - Alexandr Ivankov, Khaidar Khalilov, Alexandr Martynov, Sergey Mischenko, Ildar Scherbakov, Hrachya Tadevoysan, Pedro Torres, Igor Uljanov, Nikolay Zhidkov
  • Dislikes (orange) - Leonid Gerchikov, Vadim Karpov, Anatoly Leontjev, Andrey Marjanov, Igor Mukhametshin
  • Dreads (red) - Albert Mnatsakanyan, Daniel Paraschev

Consistency:

  • Great (bright green) -  Albert Mnatsakanyan,
  • Good (light green) - Julian De Rose, Leonid Gerchikov, Vadim Karpov, Khaidar Khalilov, Svatoyslav Kozhedub, Pedro Torres
  • Poor (orange) - Nikita Kharin, Vladislav Klepikov, Alexandr Laptev, Anatoly Leontjev, Andrey Marjanov, Alexandr Martynov, Igor Mukhametshin, Ildar Scherbakov, Alexey Zhelenznyakov
  • Very Poor (red) - Hrachya Tadevoysan

I've highlighted my important players in blue to make it easier to see that, right now, my squad is pretty inconsistent and doesn't take to big matches - certainly a reason why we've struggled later this month when you add that to the fatigue that has built with three matches in just seven days.

Whilst we are a little one dimensional, tactically, there is certainly something to be said of the above and certainly a reason for me to monitor this (probably within Excel) from when I take over. This then further builds on the shouts that I use, the reasons why the below comments elicit different responses, and many more:

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Karpov is Balanced/Media Friendly whereas Klepikov is Spirited/Evasive, Reserved and played worse than Karpov (6.4 to 6.3) but how much of his response is governed by those personality attributes. Certainly something that I can dig into, given a fresh start at a new club for next season.

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Aw mate I must say that I am not enjoying your findings from drilling down into the characteristics of your players. 

Far too many key players either not a fan of those big matches or consistent performers, both of which I find are essential, especially for when you aren't the biggest fish in the pond and need the resilience and grit. 

Khalilov and Torres look like they are the only two players that sit in good or above in both fields 🤯

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23 minutes ago, MattyLewis11 said:

Aw mate I must say that I am not enjoying your findings from drilling down into the characteristics of your players. 

Far too many key players either not a fan of those big matches or consistent performers, both of which I find are essential, especially for when you aren't the biggest fish in the pond and need the resilience and grit. 

Khalilov and Torres look like they are the only two players that sit in good or above in both fields 🤯

Absolutely! I felt like there was something off from the early matches but didn't look into it. 

I really don't think it's a surprise that the two you mentioned are in the top few performers, either:

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Khalilov leads the assists and is certainly outplaying his attributes!

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April 2030

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Seven points from four games is pretty good. We beat the teams below us but bottled it again against a team of a similar ability. This pattern is all too familiar.

I won 40% of my games last year at Sochi and have improved that to 47% this term. What is more - we finished on 51 points last year, in 13th place and have already eclipsed that with four games left to play. This is done on the basis of us, together, being able to recruit just three new players for the first team and work with a disjointed and ill-managed squad prior to my arrival. Genuinely, I go into my last month of fixtures with my head held high with the job that I've done in the last 18 months here. It is likely that the last month will lead to my sacking, as the board aren't impressed with the gap between us and the top teams and have shown no interest in renewing my contract at the end of the season - however, this is the kind of battle that I signed up for. I didn't want this journey to be easy and I wanted to work with tough boards who had unrealistic expectations so I could test myself. What can I learn from this experience?

  • There is so much to each player and, had I had properly known all about the Sochi players before my arrival, I may not have taken the job.
  • The club is actually in a mess. We've burnt through £7m since I arrived and, back in 2026, appeared to be some £18m in the red, hence a large bank loan.
  • Some owners (and this is great for the game) have ridiculous expectations and I've clearly been lucky in the past (or, as with past FMs, never managed enough clubs) to not experience this before.
  • The tiny details count. Marginal gains. Talking to the players, finding out about their hidden attributes etc is something I moved away from documenting but I feel it needs to come back.

Anyway, on to the actual performances:

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2-1 down at half time against Nizhniy and I felt that my last game could be coming somewhat earlier but a spirited showing and some more goals for Klepikov sealed the win. In some positive news though - that is only the second time in the league we've conceded more than once in a game, after the 3-2 loss to PFC Kuban earlier in the season. Our league total of 23 conceded is the best in the whole division from a total of just 20.69xGA, again, the best in the league.We then produced the most dominant win of the season and probably me reign, even if it included yet another missed penalty. Our non-pen xG topped three goals and we were a constant thorn in the Leningradets side. We followed with a draw in an unwatchable game - because it is apparently ok to face a white shirt against a light grey and white checked shirt, both with white shorts and socks! We drew but I didn't really know who was who! We followed it up with a game which has followed the pattern of so many before - play well but just not do enough to win the game.

---

Four more games left at Sochi, including against the top two in Tom and Alania, both who are chasing promotion. However, the things I've put in place now are starting to bear fruit already. I'll do a full run down on the overall changes but it's really nice to see this:

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Overall, my u18 training has been a big success but Ivan Belous is a player I'm really keen on. Initially, his training ratings were really poor and he kept accepting but not doing anything. He then got angry and I told him that I'd have to sell him on, to which he backed down. He's now among my top trainers and is developing well, even if he's not going to ever really be first team material. However, Mikhail Bystrov, on the other hand, might have that potential. Looking at his polygon, I am a fan of the attacking and playmaking skills he has on offer as well as quite well rounded mental attributes. I hope he'll get a chance to kick on.

 

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May 2030

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I said I wanted to go out with a bang!

Four games and a real quality showing that sees us finish in fifth place. We've improved by 17 points, winning six more games and finishing eight places higher than our finish last year.

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I have often lamented how wasteful we have been over the season but three of the four games go against that whilst the Anji draw sums us up to a tee. We're still very possession heavy and, almost, a little too safe, but we're still lethal at times on the break. That is exactly how we scored the majority of these goals. Despite hating big matches, Paraschiv finally turned up, netting 44% of his season tally in the final two games, just about making his transfer deal worth it. We can also hold our heads high that we beat the champions in their own back yard (ignoring that it'd already been won by this point and it wasn't their strongest side) and then prevented Alania from gaining automatic promotion.

As a team, we can hold our heads high this season:

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We should have faired a lot better than we did. Our xPts isn't the be all and end all but we were unlucky. We're good in front of goal and good at the back but, as I said, just a little safe from time to time. We're one of just five sides  who have a conversion rate of above 10% and create more than 12.5 shots a game, which also shows improvement across the season as we've been labelled as wasteful before. Probably even better, considering my management style, we allow less than eight shots on target per game, on average, and limit our opponents to a conversion rate of less than 9% - which shows how strong we are at the back. 

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I think that the HB(d) role with Pedro Torres has been the decider in our style of play and, with all of his passes per game adding up, you can see why we're moving backwards with our passing and having considerably more than half in our own half. Whilst that's to be expected, I want to push that and build on more passes in the opponents half simply by reducing the amount in ours. We're also completing, on average, 76 defensive actions a game, which is below the league average of 89 but, again, too close to our own goal. Our 'regain shape' style, making us tighter at the back, sees us regain possession less and, again, closer to our own goal. If my sides want to dominate with this style, we have to do it higher up the pitch.

However, the best thing to leave this season by is this:

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Against all odds. Sochi against the board and against everyone else. We've stuck together as a team and performed, in everyone's eyes except for the board's, as well as could be expected. The players are happy and I've proven myself as a man manager, getting the best from every player and learning about how best to deal with them, even if that came later in my tenure. However, following a call to a board meeting, which I kindly rejected the offer of attending:

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My choice for refusal was simple. I know that they'll be planning to set me a points target next season, if I even reached that far into discussions and I do not want to be held to account by a board that have shown me nothing but their greed for this club as a business and a complete lack of understanding of our current situation. Furthermore, with an expiring contract, I don't feel that there is a significant difference between sacked and left anyway so felt like giving myself an extra month off as it'd just be a case of counting down the days within my job. I made it very clear to the press how I feel about this, too.

On to the next!

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June 2030

I didn't plan to update another month today as I hoped to be deep into squad analysis and preparing for a the new season at a new club. However, there's been nothing to write home about - except this job:

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Ural have just been relegated to this division and, when comparing with the Sochi advert, you can see that, actually, they're a much bigger team. It's the job I want and the job I've applied for, now I just sit back and wait!

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(Early) July 2030

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We are in.

On the 30th June, Ural approached me asking if I wanted to remove any staff or bring any from Sochi with me, which is a lovely touch. However, in a even more lovely and realistic touch, nobody was interested, given the distance between the clubs. As you can see from the map showing my journey so far, we've moved North West, to the Ural mountains to take charge of FC Ural Yekaterinburg, a club with some history. Competing pretty much non-stop in the Soviet top league since 1945, Uralmash, as they were known, had a good pedigree and I'm hoping that their trip to the second tier, their first since 2024/25 lasts just one season, as it did then. In game, they're an exciting team to manage, fairly wealthy, good facilities and some money to be spent.

My first job was to agree to the terms:

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I've signed for two years but there is basically a year of sorting ourselves out, knowing that we've probably got the best squad here and then a year where we're not actually in this league any more, given what the board want. However, unlike at Sochi, I feel that this is justified. There is pedigree in the team that did finish last in the RPL but did compete. However, the board want me to move some of those players on. I haven't looked at any players yet, but it already seems that these wheels had been set in motion by the staff here previously:

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Whilst these are good players (by rating as I've yet to look at any attributes), they're not getting younger and they are all higher earning players than anyone I had at Sochi. I know we're at different levels now, but I will need to run a tight ship and this seems like the perfect place to start by selling players before I buy.

---

Now to the 'ahhhhh' bit.

  • Our first league game is in 14 days. We've done no pre-season, have no friendlies schedules and zero tactical familiarity
  • The backroom team appears to be poor in quality but I ran out of budget to terminate deals.
  • I've not met any of the squad so I have no idea who is good and who isn't. I imagine lots of people want out because of the relegation though.

However - I am ecstatic to be here. I've certainly landed on my feet after the sacking.

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8 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

That was a good end of season at Sochi, and a great way to let the board know that you aren’t happy with them.

I'm looking forward to an easy six points from them this season!

7 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

This is probably your chance to end the Moscow dominance in Championships!

I still don't really feel that this is the final destination. As I said - the Rostov or Akhmat jobs are the real big ones I'd like to build a challenge against Moscow with but this is the perfect catalyst to get my into the top flight and challenging them.

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(Early) July 2030

I guess it's time to meet the squad...

I have actually become boss of Ural, Ural 19s, Ural u18s, Ural-2 and Ural-D giving me a whopping 89 players on the books right now. I've had a quick flick through and moved a few between squads but not really dug into anything else, yet.

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---

Now, I want to delve into Excel here for a couple of reasons. I wanted to have a look at averages of attributes I consider key for the roles that the players want to play in but also to have a place to store information about Important Matches, Consistency and any other information that I feel might be pertinent. But, inn the end, it actually happens that only my goalkeepers have markers for important matches and consistency, meaning that nobody else in the squad is either very good or very poor in these areas.

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Important Matches

  • Dislikes - Denis Bakeev

Consistency

  • Good - Oleg Volodin
  • Lacking - Denis Bakeev

Based on Bakeev's lack of consistency and dislike for big games, he's my automatic number two here. Neither goalkeeper fills me with huge confidence, given their poor Composure and First Touch, meaning building from the back will be much harder. This is an area that I'd like to recruit a player for, but the rush isn't massive as I think they'll both be good enough for this level.

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I really like my centre back options as Borodin stands out as the best, even if he's not quite the ball player I really want here, just passing it short. Stankevicius lacks some pretty key attributes and is wanted so he could become one of those players that is moved on. He's also got 18 for Aggression, Likes to dive into tackles and isn't the fastest - a walking red card to me. 

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I also really like the wide defender options but am not convinced about my Half Back role, so that may have to change. In Adilkhanov and Kutsia, I have two really well suited Inverted Wing Backs; they are comfortable on the ball and intelligent players. The only downside is that they are both very one footed, which will limit passing routes from them. The DM role is a toss up between Tsutsaleav and Kochkanyan, but neither fills me with confidence - the former is really not defensive minded and the latter just doesn't really have the required quality. I'm happy to let Hasan move on if I can get a decent price for him and reimburse that in a player who can almost play the HB role like a Libero/RPM mix - a really deep Box-to-Opposition Half kind of player. Ngolo Kante but deeper, basically!

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The central midfield roles give me a real chance to develop some strong youth players here as Vostrikov looks quality and Babushkin is one for the future. Both Uzbek's are highly paid and, as such, dispensable but I do quite like Anvarov although he's not likely to be suited to a counter attacking style given his poor physical frame.

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Not a huge amount of quality here, mainly because of the lack of crossing ability. I might be tempted to change the style around slightly so that the wider players are more attacking but inverted, moving the Mezzala's back to supporting players.

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Bosnian Mulahusejnovic is unhappy and Alsutanov is a bit of an old school target man, which I don't think will really work in our style. However, we'll see what we've got following our friendlies!

---

Speaking of friendlies - this is all the time I have...

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I really hope that pre-season was done by the other staff because we just need work on tactical familiarity!

 

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(Mid) July 2030

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I'd hardly call that a pre-season. You don't learn anything about your tactics and players when you're playing such poor quality teams, but, given the timeframe, these were literally the only teams available to play on those days. However, the win against Linz was very good and really showed some promise with our shape. Sadly, the tactical familiarity hasn't really improved but, then again, I wasn't expecting huge growth in the short amount of time. I'm hoping that the sheer quality of the playing squad, at least initially, helps us overpower teams until we really get into our stride.

Firstly, the outgoings - especially as it was something the board wanted me to do.

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Although, they've now decided that they won't judge me on it. However, the importance of selling the players who didn't want to be at the club or who were earning a wage that I just could not justify, outweighs the pleasing of the board. We've had a little kickback from the squad, but I've managed to keep everyone onside at this point,.

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Many thanks to Paxtakor! Aside from the already-arranged Suleimanov deal, we've managed to ship out all of the higher earning and unhappy players, freeing up just over £30k p/w in wages and bringing in just over £2m in transfer fees. I  consider this a huge success and one that has allowed me some freedom in the transfer market, too.

---

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Alexey RudenkoNikita KrivtsovNicolas de la CruzEzequiel Ponce

Firstly, we've, once again, used just the scouting centre, Director of Football (although he's a washout) and agent offers to get these four through the door. Rudenko, with RPL experience at Rostov offers more defensive protection that Tsutalaev, who he comes in to compete with. I'm not entirely sold on his traits right now but I do really like his Positioning, as he'll sit nicely in front of the two centre backs and recieve the ball from them. The fact that he's going to play one-twos might limit the progressiveness from him but it's something I can observe in the early games. Next in was a real coup (although I feel that they all are) in Krivtsov. He's also got RPL experience, this time at CSKA Moscow and is immediately our most valuable player. Really strong Vision and a great trait in killer balls means he's going to be a threat. I do want to see how he matches up with Vostrikov though, as he's wanting to control the tempo, which might take some away from my new star man. Further forward, I splashed out on some exotic-ness! Ponce, formerly of Spartak Moscow and then a spell in his native Argentina, comes in to play up top. He's a top quality forward and is pretty much ideal for our system. He has kept his Russian agent from his time here and I was very lucky to see him pop up in the suggestions - particularly as I remember managing him at Roma several FM's ago! I then moved for a Spanish speaking friend (although Ponce is fluent in Russian), in ex-River plate wideman de la Cruz. He's slightly falling away, physically, but is a great player in what could become a free role on the left. He too was a free agent offer to me and I snapped him up after two nice performances on trial.

I also added youth played Kurbanov for £925 from Sochi, as he impressed me after he came through a few months ago. I was happy with my dealings until I was alerted, again by an agent, to this:

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A good player for the RPL, willing to drop down a division for a pittance of a wage?! Manuel Antonio looks a hell of a player and I'm just making sure I've got everything in order and there are no further red flags before I make the deal happen.

With just a few days before Orenburg come to town, we've got a fairly decent first team right now. As you can see, below, I've listed all of the positions they can play in and highlighted my strongest XI in orange.

GK - Oleg Volodin, Denis Bakeev
RB - Giorgi Kutsia, Sergey Kochkanyan
LB - Alvi Adilkhanov, Alexandr Litvinov
RCB - Alexey Mishatkin, Nikita Kalugin, Kirill Gluscehnkov
LCB - Sergey Borodin, 'Eddy' Stankevicius
DM - Alexey Rudenko, Hasan Tsutsalaev, Sergey Kochkanyan, Giorgi Kutsia, Vitaly Vostrikov, Alvi Adilkhanov,
MR - Alexandr Sedov, Asad Sobrijonov, Hasan Tsutsalaev,
MCR - Vitaly Vostrikov, Sergey Nikitin
MCL - Nikita Krivtsov, Boris Babushkin, Nicolas De La Cruz,
ML - Asad Sobrijonov, Nicolas De La Cruz, Alexandr Sedov,
ST - Ezequiel Ponce, Anton Petrenko,  Asad Sobrijonov,

----

My next job is to return to the coaching and backroom pages, to see how the adverts are going before looking at the youth team training and setting up scouting foci for the season. I'd like six points too to start the season:

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2 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said:

None of those worrying indicators with Antonio, the lad looks like one hell of a signing...what role will you look to play him in given that his attributes could be a good for for a few.

Just want to make sure that he's not massive inconsistent or anything, but I'm sure he'll be fine.

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Above is what the current midfield four look like but I'd be stupid to keep him as a supporting winger, given his ability to run and cause havoc at pace. I really like how we attack, filling all the vertical channels so want to keep some kind of semblance to that but really give him space down the right wing. I'm thinking of maybe a CM(s)-W(a) combo with a more defensive full back behind them, instructing the CM to move into channels and run wider to continue with those overlaps but just with less risk. I also might toy with having a WP(s) on the left, for de la Cruz, and look to try and build some different styles into my approach - building nicely down the left before getting the unpredictable and, I imagine, hard to mark, Antonio on the ball. 

Pair him up with Ponce and I think we've got a lethal attack going on, especially when Krivstov is playing killer balls and Vostrikov is able to switch play.

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18 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

given his ability to run and cause havoc at pace

He also has a very strong stamina, work rate, natural fitness and determination, all the attributes for a tenacious engine which you wouldn't want to waste as a winger on support.

This boy needs to pick the ball up and drive at players...I like the idea of a WP on one side and W (attack) on the other.

Offers a good balance with one side building play up and progressing via passing and the other progressing through dribbles.

If you can master the overload down the left it should also provide Antonio with a little more space down the right to exploit and force the opposition into either 1v1 or overloads.

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9 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

But, inn the end, it actually happens that only my goalkeepers have markers for important matches and consistency, meaning that nobody else in the squad is either very good or very poor in these areas.

This is quite curious as it is the exact same situation for me. I am on my first day as coach of my club, and only have 2 backroom staff - one is a GK coach and the other my assistant manager. I am unable to select on the staff responsibilities screen to have my assistant manager tasked with providing player reports, so it falls to my GK coach, and so I assumed that maybe I only know these hidden attributes from my GK coach as he works only with those players. It is just odd that you have the same situation whereby only your goalkeepers have this marker.

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14 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Just want to make sure that he's not massive inconsistent or anything, but I'm sure he'll be fine.

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Above is what the current midfield four look like but I'd be stupid to keep him as a supporting winger, given his ability to run and cause havoc at pace. I really like how we attack, filling all the vertical channels so want to keep some kind of semblance to that but really give him space down the right wing. I'm thinking of maybe a CM(s)-W(a) combo with a more defensive full back behind them, instructing the CM to move into channels and run wider to continue with those overlaps but just with less risk. I also might toy with having a WP(s) on the left, for de la Cruz, and look to try and build some different styles into my approach - building nicely down the left before getting the unpredictable and, I imagine, hard to mark, Antonio on the ball. 

Pair him up with Ponce and I think we've got a lethal attack going on, especially when Krivstov is playing killer balls and Vostrikov is able to switch play.

I like the idea of this midfield with IWBs behind, either on defensive or support duties. I used something similar in a past game where I had a playmaking DM and IWBs holding the space to create a 2-3-5 on the ball. Wingers stay wide, mezzalas support the striker, playmaker recycles the ball with the IWBs

If you want to play a front two then defensive IWBs would probably make more sense 

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(Late) July 2030

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We're in the door and moving with Ural...

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We started in a really poor fashion against Orenburg. The removal of the instruction to play out of defence and the lack of a Pedro Torres type playmaker saw a huge reduction in possession but, when we had the ball, we just didn't look threatening. Alexey Mitshakin was both hero and villain as he scored and then gave away a penalty but Orenburg had the better chances, including two disallowed goals. A hamstring strain for Nicolas de la Cruz also added a little bit more misery to my day.

In the week that followed, I arranged a friendly against Kobenhaven, to gain some more match practice and to try out a slightly new style following the arrival of the aforementioned Antonio. I went with this midfield shape:

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I think that the traits really influence how this plays out:

  • Babushkin - No traits yet
  • Krivstsov - Tries killer balls often, Plays one-twos, Dwells on balls, Likes to switch ball to wide areas
  • Vostrikov - Dictates tempo, Looks for pass rather than attempting to score, Knocks ball past opponent, Moves ball to right before dribbling
  • Antonio - No traits yet

What I see here is that we build up down the left - my defenders look for the playmaker in Babushkin (who can be trained out here if this works), who will then look to Krivstov. Now, he does dwell on the ball, slowing down my counter, but his strong Right Foot will allow him to spread the ball wide to either Vostrikov or Antonio, who essentially has a free role, joining up with Ponce and providing goals where possible. Furthermore, I see traits for Antonio such as knocks ball past opponent, gets forward whenever possible etc only making his game more dangerous. However - I must consider that he's 24 and not necessarily as willing to learn as a much younger player.

Whilst the match summary is not shown in the image above, I wanted to share a little about the outcome of the game. It took just eleven minutes for Antonio to get on the ball, drive at the defence and win a penalty, that Ponce coolly converted. What I really liked, even with the loss of Krivstov to an injury early on, is that we can double up on the left back and we're just a quick switch of play from a really dangerous attack. By the 26th minute, Antonio and Ponce had collaborated again with the Argentine slotting home after another driving run from the Mozambique international. The game ended 2-2, as we conceded two soft goals, but we hugely outplayed a top Danish team - definitely something to work with!

I am, however, conscious from too much deviation from my philosophy (as shown in the image I posted a couple of pages back). Without any overload, we naturally focused on the right wing although we do still have the clear difference when looking at average positions, moving between a 2-3-4-1 and a 4-1-4-1. I just want to ensure that we still work on getting the ball forward quickly and with intent, attacking high, wide and across all channels. Further analysis will no doubt come...

After a slow start against Rotor, Ponce opened his account with a tap in after he'd hit the woodwork from a, possibly, even easier chance before doubling his tally just before half time. It stayed 2-0 for the whole of the second half but we were in absolute control. The tactical analysis isn't going to really happen against teams like Rotor, who are at the other end of the scale to us - but a disappointing start for Antonio who completed 0% of his crosses and was hauled off after an hour with a 6.5 rating.

----

I'm now beginning to look at the youth team and personalise some development plans for these lads. However, here's a snapshot of where they are now to compare with at a later date. The Rotor game saw Artur Yefimov be rewarded for good training and also saw him because the youngest ever Ural player.

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Edited by _Ben_
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1 hour ago, Shrewnaldo said:

I like the idea of this midfield with IWBs behind, either on defensive or support duties. I used something similar in a past game where I had a playmaking DM and IWBs holding the space to create a 2-3-5 on the ball. Wingers stay wide, mezzalas support the striker, playmaker recycles the ball with the IWBs

If you want to play a front two then defensive IWBs would probably make more sense 

I'm not, and never have been, a two striker man! I'll always find ways to create overloads but hate two forwards, for some reason.

Here is the new shape in it's entirety:

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The W(s)-Mez(a)-Mez(a)-W(s) is the only thing that has changed over the development of this shape. I also used Play out of Defence when I had a really solid ball playing HB but don't have that luxury right now!

 

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30 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

I'm not, and never have been, a two striker man! I'll always find ways to create overloads but hate two forwards, for some reason.

Here is the new shape in it's entirety:

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The W(s)-Mez(a)-Mez(a)-W(s) is the only thing that has changed over the development of this shape. I also used Play out of Defence when I had a really solid ball playing HB but don't have that luxury right now!

 

Looking good. I couldn't remember what you had at fullback. I really like this shape. Very much 4-1-4-1 in defence and 3-2-5 / 2-3-5 in attack. Interesting use of the WP on the left. Are you finding that he stays wide, given the lack of an overlapping fullback? Or does the leftback sometimes decide to just go wide instead because the WP comes inside? Looking at your average position map above, then I'm guessing not?

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38 minutes ago, RogerC said:

Isn't your striker too isolated up there? Love that TI simplicity!

I've always tried to only use TI's that I can't influence from PIs, roles or traits, really. Certainly not a fan of overkill here.

He's been the top scorer in every season and at every club I've been at. We work the ball wide and he gets on the end of it or gets on the end of through balls. He looks like he should be, but not really! However, your question raised some thoughts. Here is a quick, and tiny, comparison of his stats in two different attacking roles:

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Not much difference but the two dribbles is of interest to me, as we do counter and moving the ball forward aggressively with another player, is only going to be of benefit! Comparing the two games (left is as a CF(a) and right is an AF(a)) you can see he's probably been a little more involved in the build up:

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Something to definitely look at now - especially as Ponce is so well rounded.

2 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Looking good. I couldn't remember what you had at fullback. I really like this shape. Very much 4-1-4-1 in defence and 3-2-5 / 2-3-5 in attack. Interesting use of the WP on the left. Are you finding that he stays wide, given the lack of an overlapping fullback? Or does the leftback sometimes decide to just go wide instead because the WP comes inside? Looking at your average position map above, then I'm guessing not?

Not got anything from the Data Hub yet as I've just got started at Ural but we'll see. Since moving to a WP(s), I've had to rethink as, actually, our old winger is pretty much perfectly suited to play on the left:

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Edited by _Ben_
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I'm a big fan of your threads as they are so engaging and methodical, and this one is no different.

Would you mind talking through your instruction for whipped crosses? It may not translate to the game, but I have it in my head that these would be the most difficult type of cross to deliver as they are at pace and so much harder to be accurate with. With Antonio having a 10 for crossing, although a 15 for technique, could this be the reason for his zero completion rate.

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12 minutes ago, brookie1402 said:

I'm a big fan of your threads as they are so engaging and methodical, and this one is no different.

Would you mind talking through your instruction for whipped crosses? It may not translate to the game, but I have it in my head that these would be the most difficult type of cross to deliver as they are at pace and so much harder to be accurate with. With Antonio having a 10 for crossing, although a 15 for technique, could this be the reason for his zero completion rate.

A really good question, actually!

In my head (and in various clips that I've watched over the years), I see the whipped cross as a hybrid cross/through ball. You whip it in ahead of the defenders when running, bent around the man and into the space. Now, granted, a whipped cross can also be construed as a low, fizzing ball into the box, delivered at pace and, sometimes, with the outstep, making it technically really tough. I've chosen whipped crosses for all of my teams in this save simply due to the fact I have had a smaller striker and, with one up top, don't have bodies gathered (more runners arriving at various times), so want to keep the ball low and moving quickly.

The only skew here is that de la Cruz is also a set piece taker.

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I actually instruct both Mezzalas to cross more in order to attempt to make the most of it. 

It's a strange one for Antonio as he's really not completing the same level as the other wide man, Sobirijonov. I know that my style of play would dictate that we're far more aggressive down the right and want to get in for shooting and not crossing opportunities but I think his issue is here:

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His unsuccessful crosses are coming when he's pushed to the byline. It's hardcoded that he gets to this position so I need to watch some of these highlights back to see exactly why they're not being completely. Is he a poor crosser or are there just not bodies on the end as we're maybe even too fast in transition and the 'more supporting side' hasn't caught up?

Thanks for the idea!

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August 2030

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We have found our groove and things have started very well! At Sochi, I quickly rose to the top of the league but just feel that something is different here. As you'll see from this post, I'm loving the tactical aspect of building a shape and experimenting with these new players.

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We started with a really comfortable win over then  top of the league Spartak-2, displaying that really nice team shape that I've been after. We could, and should, have had several more, including this one as Ponce missed this sitter. The only concern I noted from that game was the overall team shape - as I feel a slight disconnect between the Half Back and the forward players, something that I've delved deeper into further on. We started off with a lovely goal from a through ball against the then top of the league Nizhniy, again dominating them. We got really fired up against Sochi as my ability to motivate the team beforehand was clear. I absolutely revelled in the hammering that I dished out to them, playing with a strikingly similar squad to the one I'd left behind after my silly sacking! The final game of the month saw another strong performance, although a little more loose defensively, allowing more shots on target than any other game. Antonio showed that his decision making and teamwork are still someway short of what I'd want - making the rash decision to shoot here rather than cross. However, the Kuban game has seen my most complete pass map, with the addressed work for the HB's progressiveness due to a tweak in his role.

---

As I said, I've loved trying to rebuild the tactic to fit in with my ideology but with a new group of players. I've been watching each match in a lot of detail, analysing as much as possible. I also decided to jot some stuff down, which I won't share each month, but wanted to, for now, so that my thought process is out there. I decided to use blue for specific opponent/tactical shape thoughts and red for my own shape and ideologies in play.

Spartak-2. Home. Strong side. 4-2-3-1 deep.

  • CM(s) ineffectual against deep double pivot.
  • Not much space for AF(a) against large defensive block.
  • Opponent wingers not tracking back, able to push IWB(s) up further.
  • Combinations between HB and AF - only backwards passes.

Nizhniy Novgorod. Away. Strong Side. 4-1-4-1.

  • Mez(s) much more potent, doubled up on defensive LB.
  • CF(a) completing dribbles. Not seen much as an AF(a). Also CCC created for first time this season.
  • Gap in central area again as Mez(a/s) pull wide. Little penetration centrally.

Sochi. Home. Strong side. 4-2-3-1

  • CF(a) moves wider and deeper to get possession. Need to ensure always runners in behind.
  • W(a) and Mez(s) afford lots of space when faced up against roaming player in CM strata.

PFC Kuban. Away. Weaker side. 4-2-3-1

  • Gap in central area can be alleviated if defenders break into area due to lack of pressing

All in all, some really clear things to see. Sadly, we haven't done much defending yet, and nor do I really expect us to do so this season, but I want us to retain defensively strong as well as packing a real punch on the counter through fast, direct transitions.

---

I really need to start thinking about where we go from here as, by now, we've got the following up to date:

  • Initial player recruitment
  • Training
  • Model for discussion/warnings etc
  • Majority of tactical decisions, at least based around overarching principles

Now, I need to look at longer term recruitment and player development. Firstly, I wanted to delve into a couple of bits of mentoring, to make use of the experienced, and really well suited, Ezequiel Ponce. Whilst the comparison between he and my young protégé Petrenko shows the latter missing some technical ability, I feel that they're two, potentially, very similar players and want to make the most of it. To complete the trio, I decided to add a young striker from the Ural-D squad to the main training group, allowing him to be part of the mentoring process. He'll gain stuff from it and there is, maybe, some potential, but he's really just there as the third wheel in this date!

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It also reminds me that I need to look ahead as, Ponce included, we don't a huge number of the squad tied down for a long time:

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Immediately, I can see that, from this list, Kalugin and Kochkanyan will not be having their deals renewed but I'd like to keep the rest of this squad together. At the same time, I must understand that Ponce, de la CRuz and even Kutsia and Sobirjonov aren't youngsters any more and I need to set the wheels in motion to replace them. For the long term future of the club, I need to look behind short term solutions like DoF recommendations, Agent Offers and Free Transfers. Granted, they have their place (see the image below to see the clear quality that is popping up) but there needs to be a concerted effort to find the next Ezequiel Ponce, or, at least, develop him from within.

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My next goal is to set up the best bang for my buck scouting network that I can!

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September 2030

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It was around this time last year when things started going south at Sochi. Fixture congestion and fatigue were piling up as well as some silliness from the board; it feels so much different here and I want to re-emphasise how happy I am to be Ural manager!

Ten wins and three draws from my thirteen games so far also tells you that the players are enjoying playing this way and for me.

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We kicked off with a solid, but unspectacular, win over SKA. We really didn't do anything much to dominate but kept them at arm's length for the ninety minutes. The 'unspectacular-ness' continued into the Shinnik tie as we were out-xG'ed for the first time under my managership. We just about did enough but there is always that old adage about winning games when you're not playing well. A hard fought draw followed against an Anji side that still have the remnants of a team that I built but do still play some good football. To be fair, we were careless but, in my mind, did enough to win. Following that, we blew away bottom club Metallurg, showing that we can be incisive and counter attack with threat before a late equaliser gave us a draw against Khimki. Like us, they've just been relegated and are a good side. We should have lost following a catastrophic goal for them in the 87th minute as we failed to deal with a goal kick, but, Petrenko was the hero late on, netting his first for the senior team. We ended with a rout over Leningradets, although didn't score half as many as we should have done! We didn't let them have a single shot on target and Nicolas de la Cruz wowed with twenty (!!!) key passes.

---

So, Manuel Antonio.

The piece of the jigsaw that maybe isn't quite fitting in right now. As I progress, I want to build in KPIs for the player roles, but, obviously, with new roles to play with, I'm really not sure of what I want to set them to achieve. However, I do know and can see that things aren't quite right in just the one area, given how marginal the gains are even at this level. The below shows his statistics this season and then his percentile rank against other wingers in this league:

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He's scoring, dribbling, creating chances and, generally, causing havoc, but...his cross completion ratio sits at a miserly 17%. For every one successful cross, he's pretty much squandering another four, meaning that 72% of wingers, at this level, are doing better than him in this area. Furthermore, I've gathered the raw numbers so I can see whether he's just doing more or getting better when I review this later on:

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It's time to dig into and have a look at some of those that haven't completed:

vs SKA Khabarovsk

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I never was a winger but I did play at full back a few times. In my experience, I'd be pretty happy if I was the opposing full back in the first image. Antonio has nowhere to go and has decided that this is the area to cross from. The marker is tight enough to him to not allow him to pull off anything spectacular and there are also not really the runners in the right places here, particularly as their covering centre back is perfectly positioned near the six yard box. The second cross is from a quickly turned over ball and I don't really have anything to criticise here. Whilst Antonio is not a natural winger, yet, it will, according to SI, impact his Decision making and, if I were him, I wouldn't be crossing here. However, that's the Decision he has come to, and, with an aggressive mentality, he's told to get the ball forward and take risk - which is what this is. It didn't beat either of the men marking him.

Overall - still inconclusive whether this is his fault or the fault of the players supposed to be getting on the end of it.

vs Anji

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In both of these, I feel that he's worked better positions. There are spaces: the second image has that corridor of uncertainty and the first shows a gap that Ponce should be able to exploit if he directs his run towards the gap and the near post. The first cross is massively overhit and evades everyone and the second doesn't beat the first man, as I feel that he's trying to whip it back to the area that Vostrikov is occupying. I feel a bit more clear cut on these ones - he's not made the right choices and the technique of his cross has let him down.

vs Metallurg

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I can't criticise anything here - he's been forced wide and doesn't quite know what to do. Ideally, I'd love him to have the vision to see the two unmarked Ural players, but I know that is a weakness for him. This is the only cross he misplaced all game. However, this game saw my first alteration in instruction. We are now hitting low crosses rather than whipped crosses. Part of this is to make it as easy as we can for 5'11" Ponce and, as @brookie1402pointed out, is, potentially, technically easier. The massive positive from this is that there was six completed crosses - three of which found Ponce, a completion high for this period of tracking. Now - these still went to his head and chest area, but they were not floated or over-hit, something that I've seen before from him as he has attempted to whip them in.

Unfortunately, that is where the little experiment, for this month anyway, ends for Antonio:

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Definitely some things to consider from this. My next steps, should this not continue to impact:

  • Try focusing the play down the right. It'll be strange with a playmaker on the left but the play might go through him out wide, giving Antonio a natural chance to overload and get the ball in
  • Change the focus of crosses to near posts, pushing Ponce to make those runs there now. He's good enough to do that.
  • Potentially looking at a less aggressive role (maybe WM(a)) so that I can personalise how and when he gets the chance to cross.

---

With the best backroom team in the division, upgraded facilities and a clear plan in place, you'd think I'd be settled here...

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Maybe not!

Most takeovers are easy and don't cause any issues but, with me having only been in the door such a short time, I have to watch my back.

 

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Brilliant analysis there. Excellent work in doing an in depth review of just one aspect of your teams performance! In my original comment I was going to suggest low crosses but didn't want to interfere in your decision making process, as this is working quite well for me at the moment in a similar situation where my striker is never going to win an aerial battle with the defenders unless the cross is perfect. And at the level I play at, it rarely is. I've found low crosses work best for me and there seems to still be a mix in terms of the zones they are delivered to - near, central, and far post.

Now Antonio is injured will you play his replacement in the same tactical role? It would have been really interesting to see how that change impacted his performances.

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9 hours ago, RogerC said:

Petrenko has quite the pace for someone his size. Looks promising, good youngster project you have there.

Sorry, I missed this at first!

Yes - he's a quick lad but a little one dimensional for my true style of play right now.

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For a big man, his Heading is very weak and I've love to get some key attributes up to the 10/11 mark (average or better for this level):

  • Passing
  • Technique
  • Decisions
  • Composure
  • Strength

Because he's already a natural striker, I'm just using an additional focus, rather than any P/R/D, so that I can maximise the time he spends on this.

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I'll rotate every few months, ideally once two/three of the areas have increased by a point. He's training really well at the moment but I worry that he's not going to get too much match time when compared to Ponce, which is going to hold back his development. I'd like him to be at a point whereby he's got the attributes to match, or nearly match, the stats that the Argentine is putting up.

5c28f757355c790a6e2b38b3bfddef32.png

 

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8 hours ago, brookie1402 said:

Brilliant analysis there. Excellent work in doing an in depth review of just one aspect of your teams performance! In my original comment I was going to suggest low crosses but didn't want to interfere in your decision making process, as this is working quite well for me at the moment in a similar situation where my striker is never going to win an aerial battle with the defenders unless the cross is perfect. And at the level I play at, it rarely is. I've found low crosses work best for me and there seems to still be a mix in terms of the zones they are delivered to - near, central, and far post.

Now Antonio is injured will you play his replacement in the same tactical role? It would have been really interesting to see how that change impacted his performances.

Thanks! Again - it's those marginal gains that I'm interested in. We're top of the league but there are still things that need improving and I feel great that I am more confident now than ever in finding and rectifying them, tactically. I'm liking what I've briefly seen from the low crosses although Antonio's replacement is actually worse at crossing than him, so I've switched focus until he's back. However, we did do this to secure the draw against Khimki:

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Sobirjonov is actually the corner taker and the ball was recycled out to him but he's still do what I wanted and, equally importantly, Petrenko has attacked the near post, knowing that a low cross is unlikely to reach any further given the defensive situation. It was a genuine fist bump moment!

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7 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Because he's already a natural striker, I'm just using an additional focus, rather than any P/R/D, so that I can maximise the time he spends on this.

9e3466f5dc5b06aff4027304d5624375.png

Great thread as ever Ben. Just a question about the above.

For a while now I've been setting every players P/R/D as what I plan on playing them in the season ahead. So on the first day of every pre-season I'll go through the whole squad and set their P/R/D and then set an additional focus as well if there's any area I think they need to work on. I do this no matter how good the player is in that P/R/D, whether I am retraining them as that or whether they are already natural at it.

Do you think it the P/R/D is best left untouched unless you are retraining them? I know how much time you have spent going into the fine details of these things.

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1 hour ago, Ausie said:

Great thread as ever Ben. Just a question about the above.

For a while now I've been setting every players P/R/D as what I plan on playing them in the season ahead. So on the first day of every pre-season I'll go through the whole squad and set their P/R/D and then set an additional focus as well if there's any area I think they need to work on. I do this no matter how good the player is in that P/R/D, whether I am retraining them as that or whether they are already natural at it.

Do you think it the P/R/D is best left untouched unless you are retraining them? I know how much time you have spent going into the fine details of these things.

Firstly - a disclaimer. I don't know this, it's just what I feel works best for me!

You need to look at the training blocks first of all to see which allow time to train P/R/D:

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There are four different types:

  1. Resistance (or any type of physical training). This type offers nothing to developing the position, role or duty of a player, just attributes. i.e. NO development to the way that you play.
  2. Attacking Wing (and similar schedules). This improves tactical familiarity as well as some attributes.
  3. Attacking Shadow Play (and Defensive Shadow Play). This develops the attributes trained within the players P/R/D as a priority, with their other attributes secondary to this but still a significant number of them are hit.
  4. Team Tactics (and other Match Prep). This impacts the tactics for the upcoming match and work on the P/R/D for a player with little to no focus on other attributes.

Now, the way I see that P/R/D translating is as follows:

"The attributes required to play that role not the ability to play that role"

By that, I mean, that P/R/D sessions develop Tackling, for example, if you're on a CD(d) schedule but not if you're on an AF(a) schedule. Now, I believe that a player would work on the attributes that come with their P/R/D as well as those in their additional focus. I came to this thought as I've seen so many players train their CM on a RPM(s) schedule or a young striker as a CF(a) just to get that attribute coverage. If I add an example, it might help my explanation!

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This player is training as a Poacher, so he's developing:

  • Finishing, First Touch, Heading, Anticipation, Composure, Decisions, Off the Ball and Acceleration

Because he's also on a Passing individual focus, he's working on:

  • Passing, Technique, Vision.

Now, when he is part of an Attacking Shadow Play session (3rd from left in image above), he's working on all of the above attributes, plus Teamwork - because the rest there are duplicates of what he is working on. That totals twelve separate attributes. If we take some really simplistic calculations here that aren't accurate, you can see my point:

1 hour session split with an equal focus on twelve attributes = 5 mins per attribute.

Now, if I take the P(a) off, he's left with just 3 attributes (from his passing focus) and then Ant, Cmp, Dec, OtB and Tea - a total of eight attributes. When using that same calculation, that's 7.5 minutes per attribute - 50% more time working on each one per session.

Obviously, when he's doing other sessions (take Defending Engaged - his unit are working on Finishing, First Touch, Passing, Technique, Composure, Decisions, Flair, Off the Ball, Vision and Teamwork) he'll also be hitting a wide variety - so this links back to the need for you, as the manager, to run weekly training as (in my opinion), it's the only way you get a fair spread of these covered.

---

Going back to what I said earlier. I believe that the P/R/D in training is just the attribute development time and tactical familiarity comes from playing games in that position and role. Therefore, I choose P/R/D to develop positional knowledge or widespread attribute knowledge in my players and then focus in on just additional focuses when the needs and weaknesses are less pronounced.

Is that an understandable answer @Ausie? It's something I'm passionate about doing in FM but I kind of do it as second nature now and, by and large, it works. Let me know if you have any more questions or thoughts or can provide evidence to prove/disprove this!

 

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