[FM 22] When status quo is the ambition, emulating Sean Dyche at Burnley.

[TommyToxic]

 

A mediocre journey

This save will be the opposite of saves with ambitions of hoarding south american wonderkids, winning titles and setting records for goals scored. I'll do my best to copy Sean Dyche in terms of tactics and recruitment. The first post will brief you on my interpretation of being Sean Dyche in FM. before I start updating with matches and transfers. I have no idea how long I will continue, or how long I will be allowed to continue.

 

 

Ambition:

The ambition that I will communicate to my squad every season is to fight against relegation, regardless of well or bad we did the previous season. I refuse to believe that Dyche told the team that they would be aiming for top 4 after that one season they finished 7th. The media prediction for the first season is to finish just above relegation, which suits us well. Burnley have actualy done a lot of work when it comes to improving youth development, and I will convince the board to continue doing so.

 

Tactics:

Flat 442 almost every game, maybe a 442DM or 4411 if I'm desperate because of injuries or a bad streak of results. In terms of game plan Burnley are more flexible than most people think, they have games with high pressing despite them being known for long balls and playing with a low block. That being said, 442 with low LOE is the default mode. Both Mee and Tarkowski have attempts long passes trait, and Pope can't play from the back so the approach will be somewhat direct no matter what I do. I won't be going for extremely direct passing, as it just results in 32% possession games when combined with a low block, which is extreme even for Burnley. I think Burnley played their best football when McNeil and Taylor combined on the left, with McNeil drifting inwards and Taylor overlapping while getting support from their best passer (Westwood) and having their best striker (Wood) on the same side. Lowton on the right is usually more conservative than Taylor, but still gets forward from time to time. Gudmundsson isn't as good 1vs1 as McNeil and is often injured, forcing Dyche to use Brownhill on the right frequently. Mee and Tarkowski always start together, and they have a great talent in Nathan Collins as backup. Burnleys freshest transfer, Cornet, have been Burnleys only highlight this season. He has been used on the left wing and as a striker by Dyche, I'm not certain how I will be using him.

 

Transfers

Looking at Burnleys squad, it's obvious that they do their shopping domestically. The odd transfer from foreign leagues are usually to add a bit of quality that is hard to find from championship clubs or lower end PL clubs, like Cornet or Defour. Dyche has said that they are looking to add younger players to the squad who can also contribute to the first team, like Nathan Collins has this season. With the average age being so high that is a must. The first positions in need of new faces will be striker (all our current strikers are 30ish +), central midfield (all 30+ apart from Brownhill), and right wing with Lennon at 34 being the only backup who is a natural right winger. None of this will happen in the first transfer window, and probably not in january either as Burnley rarely do transfers in january. All transfers in will have to fit the Burnley mold, so no Pogba in midfield or Claudio Bravo in goal. I also can't be making huge overhauls to the squad in one window, nor will I spend huge money on one signing. Dyche has never spent more than £16-17mill on one player, so I'll try to not go above that even for key players.

Stick around if you wan't to see how it goes, hopefully nothing happens.

 

[TommyToxic]

 

Burnley 2021/22

Our main tactic is what the game describes as a direct counter attack tactic. There are some PIs and OIs. I've switched up the FW roles a few times and feel like Wood works best as a poacher. He is a static player (stiff like Wood, hehehee.....), and I really don't like the TF role in FM this year, even on attack they drop so deep and just want Wood to focus on scoring. We need a second tactic because playing in a low block won't work against all teams, especially if we concede early. The second tactic is on a balanced, with both fullbacks overlapping, and the tempo is dragged down so they have time to overlapp before our WMs pass it to someone else. We also press slightly higher, but no gegenpress shenanigans. I sticked to a low block in the majority of games, purely for the roleplay aspect of this. Funny enough, in real life Burnley have been presshing high up against Man Utd and Leeds, and it was horrible. I've seen them press high before against other teams, but with their current form it's just not working. We'll stick to the basics.

 

As stated we made no transfers in our out at the start of the season. We got off to a flying start, which saved us this season because our form in the last half of the season was clear relegation material. Our key player during this period turned out to be Gudmundsson, he scoed several direct free kicks, and scored a lot of goals on the far past after crosses from McNeil on the left. Cornet has been injured a lot, and has failed to make much of an impact when he has played.

 

In january we signed two young player, Louie Sibley (£1.6mill) who wanted to leave Derby, He is a U20 international who can play in several positions in midfield, which is good for clubs with a small squad like us. The second signing was 18 year old Charlie McNeil (£700K) from Man Utd, a potential starting striker if he develops correctly, he wil probably be loaned out next season. There was no Newcastle banging at the door to buy Chris Wood or Tarkowski in FM, so both will be staying with us and we won't have to replace them. The board agreed to extend our networkign range, in the summer I'll ask them to improve our youth facilities.

We ended the season in horrible form, and it was not better in jan/feb. The opposite of how it usually goes for Burnley as they usually start of bad and finish strong. The highlight was a 3-0 win against Chelsea but it didn't inspire the team to play well in the following games.

 

Our main goal scorer this season was surprisingly Gudmundsson with 13 league goals, followed by Wood and Barnes who scored 10 and 7. Brownhill had the most assists with 7.

The board has given us loads of money to spend in the summer, I won't do that because it defeats the purpose of the save, this is suppose to be hard. Vydra and Rodriguez are leaving so we will need a new striker. Lennon departs back to Turkey so we need a new wide player. Both Pieters and Bardsley are gone, so at least one new fullback will come in. Our central midfield consist of players 32+ except Brownhill, so we also needa new player there. Beyond that we might look to take a youth reject or two from the likes of Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea etc, as Burnley often do in real life.

The players have been told that they are expected to fight bravely against relegation next season, same procedure as every year.

Edited January 17, 2022 by TommyToxic

[karanhsingh]

Well done, I like the simplicity of the tactic. And on another note, Spurs 

[Djeon36]

Great thread can't wait to see the next season.

[TommyToxic]

23 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Well done, I like the simplicity of the tactic. And on another note, Spurs 

Conte tends to underperform in FM, his tactical style in FM is "Park the bus".

[TommyToxic]

 

Transfer update, Summer 2022

Biggest transfer: Ronnie Edwards for £4.5mill.
The 19yo CB har 14 passing, first touch, technique and 17 composure. This is of course way too much passing ability for a CB in our system, but I found him when looking for a young CM. Due to his age he will be loaned back to Peterborough before he joins Burnley. He is a CM/DM for the future, and a backup CB when injuries hit. Dennis Cirkin joined for a similar fee from Sunderland, he is a young left back with decent overall stats. He will be a backup for Charlie Taylor who played almost every single game last season

A more proven player arrived in Isaac Hayden from Newcastle. Hayden plays best as a BWM and has loads of PL experience. Newcastle wanted him gone as they no longer required his services after being replaced by the likes of Arthur and Gravenberch. Up top we got 26yo Oli McBurnie in for only £1.8mill. He fits the mold of a Dyche striker perfectly, he rarely scores goals and compensates with hard work, raw strength and a bit of height. He also argues with officials, which we like to see. The only foreign signing this window ended up being a french player from Reims, Mathieu Cafaro, or Matty as I imagine Dyche would call him. He suits the role of a WM and is also very good on set piece delivery, he was also free as his contract was running out. I classify this transfer as the one the scout and analytics staff managed to push on Dyche. We had no big transfers out, apart from several players running out their contracts (see the previous update). Charlie McNeil got loaned out to Swindon to develop and get experience.

 

Summary of transfers in:

Ronnie Edwards 19yo, CB/DM/CM. £4.5mill
Dennis Cirkin, 20yo, DL/CB. £4mill.
Isaac Hayden, 27yo, DM/CM. £2.7mill
Oli McBurnie, 26yo, ST. £1.8mill.
Mathieu Cafaro, 25yo, RM/RW/CM/AM. Free transfer.

Summary of transfers out:

Jay Rodriguez - Free transfer
Vydra - £2.2mill to FC Nantes (forgot that we got money for him)
Phil Bardsley - Free transfer
Aaron Lennon - Free transfer
Erik Pieters - Free transfer
Dale Stephens - Free transfer
 

Edited January 18, 2022 by TommyToxic

[Djeon36]

I was wondering if you did anything training and staff wise? Also what PI's did you implement and the 2nd tactic?

[dido53]

I really lıke Burnley ın premıer league and also a big fan of Sean Dyche.They are not playing an astonıshıng football they just try to play wıth theır own strenghts and theır own style.Burnley consıdered barely avoıd relegatıon.The most worryıng problems are team lacks technıcal abılıty and pace these are the biggest problems ın my opınıon.Also ı agreed on they play hıgh pressure at some games.I also started a save with burnley again playıng 442.Last year my burnley save showed me they really relly on set pıeces and 1-0 victories.

[rfelix94]

Stumbled in this thread while searching for Burnley in FM 22. Liked your humour @TommyToxic! What happened after that second preseason?