Lee Young-pyo : inter galactic (continental?) journeyman and tactical visionary - Chapter 3 - Napoli

[SixPointer]

Boa Vista 😎

[karanhsingh]

11 minutes ago, SixPointer said:

Boa Vista 😎

You know it! 

Any feedback on the tactic?

[SixPointer]

1 hour ago, karanhsingh said:

You know it! 

Any feedback on the tactic?

I like the balance off it. And clearly it’s working. The IWB (A) is an interesting choice, with them wings backs being the only players offering width its a gamble but seems to work. How does he act? 
 

I love back three shapes, it’s only this year I’ve avoided them. With the WCB additions this year I wanted to refrain from getting into them this year as I felt I needed a good tactical challenge to match the happel challenge. But your back three definitely makes me think about fm23 back 3 revival 

[karanhsingh]

10 minutes ago, SixPointer said:

I like the balance off it. And clearly it’s working. The IWB (A) is an interesting choice, with them wings backs being the only players offering width its a gamble but seems to work. How does he act? 
 

I love back three shapes, it’s only this year I’ve avoided them. With the WCB additions this year I wanted to refrain from getting into them this year as I felt I needed a good tactical challenge to match the happel challenge. But your back three definitely makes me think about fm23 back 3 revival 

I switched him to a CWB so that didn't last very long. It's worked great in Asia but let's see how it fares in Europe now. 

And yes conversely for me this is the first time playing a back 3 in a while so it is something fresh. 

[karanhsingh]

Twist in the tale!

Fortunately, the Incheon board were quite understanding about the situation. They decided they want to maintain a good relationship with me. As a result,

The contract details were quite quickly sorted out (with a hefty bonus for delivering the league title).

My assistant from Incheon Robbie Fowler decided to make the trip with me. Apart from him the fitness coach Brazilian Bene Lima will also be joining us. I am hoping these two guys will now stay with Lee for the entirety of his career.

Boavista are a club that really ought to be doing better than they are, both IRL and in the game. They are after all only one of two Portuguese clubs outside of the "big 3" (Porto, Benfica, Sporting) to have ever won the league. They won a solitary title in 2001, and the other one being Belenenses in 1946 as @Jimbokav1971knows.

There is a fierce rivalry with Porto as the two clubs hail from the same city and Boavista is very much the David to their Goliath, think Torino vs Juventus. Porto will coincidentally also be Lee's first game in charge.

Everything about the club screams average - the playing squad, the facilities, the finances (worse than average). Only good thing is that the stadium at 30k is one of the larger ones in the country, but the club has been struggling to even hit 5 figures on a regular basis off late.

And so the challenge is simple. Break the hegemony of the big 3 and win Boavista their first league title in over 20 years. Anything else will be a bonus. I have no doubt that it will take some time but we are happy to build step by step. As for this season, having taken over in a lowly 16th place, the aim is simply to climb up the rankings and secure our status as a top flight club.

 

[karanhsingh]

As I said above the playing squad at the club is extremely average and does not inspire much confidence. There is a significant presence of South American and African players, which is something I will certainly look to continue. 

Here are some of the "best" (and I use the term loosely) players at the club at the time of taking over.

Yanis Hamache is indeed someone I am excited about managing because he seems tailor-made for the current tactic & style of play. Also I had managed him on a previous FM with Paris FC I think and he was good then too, although looks even better now.

Awaziem looks like our best defender, although he is equally comfortable in the DM role. As he also has a good personality, he could play a key role in mentoring the bargain youngsters we will be sure to bring in.

Adrian Bajrami is probably the best defender at the club and seems to be making some good progress. Being left-footed will also help as we play a back 3 so he can nail down the LCB position.

Makouta will likely be my go-to player for the Volante role in midfield. He seems to have got a great engine on him, even if his passing is a bit of a let-down.

Moving further forward, the Brazilian Fabricio Daniel is probably going to be the best player in the SS role for us. Hopefully he can grab us some goals as we push up the league.

And finally here is the guy who will be the main man up front, Haitian international Pierrot. He's never going to be a great goal-scorer but hopefully he can provide a solid presence up top.

[karanhsingh]

First order of business was of course to sort out the back-room staff. Second order of business, was to go back to my old club and see who we could tempt over.

Kim Shin-Woo was the first player I went in for as we needed re-enforcement in the defense. I was confident he would join the Boavista revolution, but then the below news item popped up. Now that he is getting almost 6k a week at Incheon, I think he is likely to be priced out of a move for us.

We did however manage to get in another one of my former players, with the Portuguese attacking midfielder Jota Silva returning to his homeland after 2 successful seasons in Korea. He will be one of the top earners immediately at Boavista so hopefully he can return the investment.

The only other significant immediate signing we made was a young Uruguayan center back who was recommended by new scout Luciano Canepa as soon as he joined the club. Fernando Diaz joined us from Nacional in Uruguay for an initial 275k going up to 525k potentially, and I must say I am quite excited about him.

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by karanhsingh

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, karanhsingh said:

Twist in the tale!

Fortunately, the Incheon board were quite understanding about the situation. They decided they want to maintain a good relationship with me. As a result,

The contract details were quite quickly sorted out (with a hefty bonus for delivering the league title).

My assistant from Incheon Robbie Fowler decided to make the trip with me. Apart from him the fitness coach Brazilian Bene Lima will also be joining us. I am hoping these two guys will now stay with Lee for the entirety of his career.

Boavista are a club that really ought to be doing better than they are, both IRL and in the game. They are after all only one of two Portuguese clubs outside of the "big 3" (Porto, Benfica, Sporting) to have ever won the league. They won a solitary title in 2001, and the other one being Belenenses in 1946 as @Jimbokav1971knows.

There is a fierce rivalry with Porto as the two clubs hail from the same city and Boavista is very much the David to their Goliath, think Torino vs Juventus. Porto will coincidentally also be Lee's first game in charge.

Everything about the club screams average - the playing squad, the facilities, the finances (worse than average). Only good thing is that the stadium at 30k is one of the larger ones in the country, but the club has been struggling to even hit 5 figures on a regular basis off late.

And so the challenge is simple. Break the hegemony of the big 3 and win Boavista their first league title in over 20 years. Anything else will be a bonus. I have no doubt that it will take some time but we are happy to build step by step. As for this season, having taken over in a lowly 16th place, the aim is simply to climb up the rankings and secure our status as a top flight club.

 

Portugal is a brilliant place to manage. Absolutely loving my time there, but wow the Big 3 are a tough nut to crack. 

[Hootieleece]

I assume Diaz is going to play CB in your system.

 

Breaking the Hegemony of the Top 3 will make a great goal for a save. ALMOST better than knocking off PSG!

 

[karanhsingh]

25 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Portugal is a brilliant place to manage. Absolutely loving my time there, but wow the Big 3 are a tough nut to crack. 

Yes absolutely! Early days but really enjoying it too.

4 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

I assume Diaz is going to play CB in your system.

Breaking the Hegemony of the Top 3 will make a great goal for a save. ALMOST better than knocking off PSG!

 

Yes he will be playing as a CB. Does not have the ball skills for a wide role. 

France, Portugal, Germany and the Netherlands are all good challenges I believe in this respect. Only difference being in Germany you get tons of money.

[karanhsingh]

BOAVISTA 2024-25 Season Review

Here are the fixtures since Lee came in (the Porto game in December). It's largely been good, but not great. There were a number of narrow, sometimes undeserved wins. The tactic has not seemed to work as well as it did in Korea or play as fluid, which is a little worry. And there have been some games where we have been quite dominated by teams at the same level as us - 70% possession & what not. 

That being said, things did get better in April & May so maybe it was also a matter of the team adjusting to a new style of play. Particularly as we took over mid-season.

The final league table for the season:

We slowly but surely climbed up the standings, and even made a late run for the European places. In the end however, we missed out by 1 spot and finished 7th in the league.

I would say that Pierrot, Awaziem & Bajrami were the best of a pretty average bunch. Fernando Diaz has also come in and performed quite well for his age.

It will definitely be a summer of huge upheaval. We have literally no money, but I hope to raise some by selling off a few of the under-performing older players and then off to the bargain basement it is. Aim for next season is to try and establish ourselves as the "best of the rest" as they say in FM, or the best after the big 3 in Portugal.

[karanhsingh]

Disappointingly given that we are in Portugal, the youth in-take gave us nothing to be excited about.

However I have a feeling that just like this, Porto are snapping up all the best youngsters in the area.

In terms of academy graduates from previous years, there are a couple knocking around but still not ready for the first team. Will likely be loaning them out.

[Hootieleece]

The Tactical Fluidity depends on the players versatility and also time in system. Also, if you often change Mentality and PI's it slows down cohesion/fluidity. (tinkering) If the tactic doesn't work well by November AFTER a Full Offseason Preparation. Plan on Installing another Tactic during Christmas or International Breaks.

Also, is the new tactic a radical departure from the previous manager's?

[karanhsingh]

16 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

The Tactical Fluidity depends on the players versatility and also time in system. Also, if you often change Mentality and PI's it slows down cohesion/fluidity. (tinkering) If the tactic doesn't work well by November AFTER a Full Offseason Preparation. Plan on Installing another Tactic during Christmas or International Breaks.

Also, is the new tactic a radical departure from the previous manager's?

Yes i think so, after all it's a formation not used very often. However I look forward to seeing how we get on with a full pre-season behind us. 

[karanhsingh]

Sneak peek on an extremely busy transfer window at Boavista:

Coming up!

- Lee gets some of his "trusted lieutenants" over from South Korea

- some exciting young prospects picked up from Africa & South America

- a potential wonderkid from the Belenenses academy @Jimbokav1971

- a huge out-flow of senior squad players who did not have a long term future at the club

Certainly going to be interesting to see how all the pieces come together!

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Sneak peek on an extremely busy transfer window at Boavista:

Coming up!

- Lee gets some of his "trusted lieutenants" over from South Korea

- some exciting young prospects picked up from Africa & South America

- a potential wonderkid from the Belenenses academy @Jimbokav1971

- a huge out-flow of senior squad players who did not have a long term future at the club

Certainly going to be interesting to see how all the pieces come together!

Come on. You've got ton show me Francisco! 

[karanhsingh]

45 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Come on. You've got ton show me Francisco! 

Here he is!

His release clause was 325k and he is now being valued at 20m+ as you can see. I am wondering whether to train him up as an AF or SS (don't use wide players in my system).

Also I am scouting this other bad boy at Belenenses, looks like he could be another good talent.

 

[Hootieleece]

I think that Francisco has the makings of a great SS/Treq!  I like my AF's to have at least 10 Heading.  Maybe use the CF-S/CF-A role to train him up. Even though that isn't the role he plays mostly because It will create a well rounded player.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Francisco looks like an AF to me. Looks great. 

[Cheez3y]

Im here for the two ASEC boys.

You always get gems there.

[karanhsingh]

6 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

I think that Francisco has the makings of a great SS/Treq!  I like my AF's to have at least 10 Heading.  Maybe use the CF-S/CF-A role to train him up. Even though that isn't the role he plays mostly because It will create a well rounded player.

 

The training tip is a good idea. I might do that. With a focus on shooting. 

6 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Francisco looks like an AF to me. Looks great. 

Yes i have just switched my formation to 2 up front so i can play him in that role. 

2 hours ago, Cheez3y said:

Im here for the two ASEC boys.

You always get gems there.

Probably my favorite club in FM to scour for newgens. Glad someone else is on the ASEC train!

[karanhsingh]

Due to the spate of signings, I am dividing the transfer window review into 3 categories. 

Here is the first one - the young stars

Well first & foremost, Francisco is a player we have already seen. Super excited about this fellow!

Our most expensive summer signing is Kim Sung-Jin from my old club Incheon. He had a fairly under-whelming 6 months with me there, so the question now is can we get a tune out of him? I intend to use him as an AP and am hoping to get his passing up. Any tips on how to develop him are appreciated.

Another Korean I have managed before is Ryoo Su-Hyun who joins on loan from Monchengladbach, but with an option to make it permanent. We need 5 good CBs for the formation that we play so he should see plenty of game-time. He was the first player under Lee's tutelage to be capped for South Korea.

Uche Okeke seems like a very promising young goal-keeper who joins us from Nigeria. I initially signed him as first choice keeper but it seems he will be more of a rotation option (more on that later).

Here is the main signing from ASEC @Cheez3y. Mohamed Baubet has been on the short-list for 2 whole years since a trial at Incheon. He will be groomed as our starting RWB and we can hopefully get his attacking attributes up to speed.

Finally, 6 months after the signing of Diaz we have ourselves another promising young Uruguayan CB in Henry Lima. He seems to have a good spread of attributes and could even be seen as a future leader in the squad.

[karanhsingh]

The experienced mentors

I realized that we had a team flooded with youth, and what we now needed is some older heads to mentor and bring them through.

In defense we have Awaziem and in midfield our captain Perez. So we dipped into the market to sign up a new keeper and striker.

Iversen was available on a free transfer, is definitely a good keeper and also a model professional. He will be mentoring the young Nigerian keeper and act as our #1 for now.

Stefan Mugosa is also re-united with Lee after being his top scorer for 2 seasons at Incheon. At 33 years of age, he can still do a job and he will hopefully play a key role in mentoring young talents like Francisco at the club.

[Cheez3y]

Baubet looks really good.

Just needs "Knocks Ball past oponent" and he is good to go.

[karanhsingh]

The young squad players

Young Brazilian Julio Cesar is being trained as an attacking RWB and will be back-up to Baubet. Thrown on especially when we need a goal and need a more aggressive option. Let's see how he gets on.

Similarly on the left side, Yan is the best back-up we could manage for Hamache. I hope he can just do a decent job when called upon.

Paik was absolutely fantastic for me at Incheon so despite his limited abilities, I decided to snap him up as a back-up player for our DM positions.

Ibrahima Samb looks like a good young AP in the making, however he is being shipped out on loan for this season as he is unlikely to be getting game time already.

Konate is the other signing from ASEC although he does not look all that good, again shipped out on loan to see how he develops.

And finally we did get the other guy from Belenenses @Jimbokav1971 and I must say he looks quite exciting especially those physical attributes - although he has been left with his old club on loan for this season.

[karanhsingh]

4 minutes ago, Cheez3y said:

Baubet looks really good.

Just needs "Knocks Ball past oponent" and he is good to go.

Yes you are right, currently training "gets forward whenever possible" and this will be next.

[SixPointer]

Interesting move. while I holiday in Portugal a lot I’ve never actually managed there! Keen to see how this unfolds as it could tempt me into a spell there 

[DavidBeckham]

Alberto Gomes is going to be excellent for you! Already looking really good and he's only 18  another regular season of football at his old club will definitely take his game to the next level.

[karanhsingh]

3 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Interesting move. while I holiday in Portugal a lot I’ve never actually managed there! Keen to see how this unfolds as it could tempt me into a spell there 

I loved my holiday in Portugal too! And so far it's great fun managing here, as there seems to be good youth coming through, no money to make it more challenging, and lot of South American & African players knocking about. 

1 hour ago, DavidBeckham said:

Alberto Gomes is going to be excellent for you! Already looking really good and he's only 18  another regular season of football at his old club will definitely take his game to the next level.

Yes he definitely could develop into a handy little midfielder. 

[karanhsingh]

I am finding a couple of things very frustrating. My board absolutely refuses to allow me to hire any more coaching staff beyond the 7 we have (including me + AM). This means there are multiple coaching categories which have to be shared and hence the player development is suffering as a result. I thought it's a matter of time and I waited till my rating was A+ but despite asking literally 10+ times they just refuse. Any idea about this? 

Also any clue why they play only 2 games a month in February & March in Portugal @Jimbokav1971, those months are such a drag unless you are in the European knock-out rounds. 

[karanhsingh]

BOAVISTA 2025-26 MID-SEASON REVIEW

It's been... an interesting season so far.

We've won a lot of games, most of them narrow wins. We've also had some very bad defeats and two early cup exits. Which did not leave the board best pleased.

However despite what I would seriously call having a slightly above average season in terms of the level of play, we find ourselves in an unlikely title race. Maybe.

The interesting thing is that while we are 2nd, it's not one of the big 3 leading the charge but it's Famalicao. I am really regretting selling our Brazilian AM Fabricio Santos to them as he is now playing as a striker and is the top scorer in the league! I never knew he had it in him.

Porto with their game in hand could match our points tally if they win it, and I would still have them down as favorites from here.

[karanhsingh]

And now for a deeper review of how we are getting on.

I had to change the formation and tweak the tactics because we were just not getting any semblance of control in games. Also decided to go with 2 up top after the signing of Francisco because I did not see him as a lone striker.

On the positive side, pushing the DMs to CMs has I think given us more possession as we are pressing earlier, and we also now have a higher line of engagement too. The AP was just not working either but now seems to be performing better as an AM with a bunch of specific instructions. I pulled the LWB back from a CWB (a) to a CWB (s) as he was basically just not seeing the ball and was always so far up the pitch.

I think these changes have definitely improved us but we still just do not control games as I would like us to. There aren't many resounding wins, it's more of being tight at the back and trying to nick a goal or two. I am not sure what is missing now, maybe it's just giving the players time to both develop their skills and learn the style of play.

Mugosa started the season on fire at the ripe old age of 33 before now settling down. He still leads the way with 10 goals and 5 assists. On the other hand Francisco started slow but has scored better off late to now have 9 goals + 2 assists. Hamache is as expected great on crosses & set pieces, he has a further 8 assists from the LWB spot. Apart from that, I'd say that Bajrami and Diaz have been our best players, the former has a bunch of EPL clubs sniffing around him.

I would like to see more out of Baubet and Kim Sung-Jin, although the latter has been better since the AP to AM switch.

[Jimbokav1971]

On 24/06/2022 at 07:00, karanhsingh said:

The young squad players

Young Brazilian Julio Cesar is being trained as an attacking RWB and will be back-up to Baubet. Thrown on especially when we need a goal and need a more aggressive option. Let's see how he gets on.

Similarly on the left side, Yan is the best back-up we could manage for Hamache. I hope he can just do a decent job when called upon.

Paik was absolutely fantastic for me at Incheon so despite his limited abilities, I decided to snap him up as a back-up player for our DM positions.

Ibrahima Samb looks like a good young AP in the making, however he is being shipped out on loan for this season as he is unlikely to be getting game time already.

Konate is the other signing from ASEC although he does not look all that good, again shipped out on loan to see how he develops.

And finally we did get the other guy from Belenenses @Jimbokav1971 and I must say he looks quite exciting especially those physical attributes - although he has been left with his old club on loan for this season.

The quality of players you have is something I can only dream of. Even now I have some bang average players in contention. 

[Jimbokav1971]

5 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Also any clue why they play only 2 games a month in February & March in Portugal @Jimbokav1971, those months are such a drag unless you are in the European knock-out rounds. 

Everything about the Portugese league is designed to benefit the Big 3 so let's have a look. 

Last season we played 3 league games in Feb & Mar, played 1 Champions League game in each month, and played a League Cup game in Feb and a Cup game in Mar. 

The season before the League Cup game was played at the end of Jan, but we played 5 league games in Feb + a Champions League game, and 4 league games in Mar, + 1 Champions League game and 1 Cup game. 

The season before that we played 3 league games in Feb & 2 league games in Mar, + 2 European games each month, (but no domestic Cup games). This suggests that because I had already crashed out of the Cups there wasn't a backlog of league games. The Big 3 would usually expect to make the Semi's of the Cups, (unless they are drawn against eachother), so Feb/Mar is often used for the postponed games (I think). 

[Jimbokav1971]

6 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Also any clue why they play only 2 games a month in February & March in Portugal @Jimbokav1971, those months are such a drag unless you are in the European knock-out rounds. 

 

28 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Everything about the Portugese league is designed to benefit the Big 3 so let's have a look. 

Last season we played 3 league games in Feb & Mar, played 1 Champions League game in each month, and played a League Cup game in Feb and a Cup game in Mar. 

The season before the League Cup game was played at the end of Jan, but we played 5 league games in Feb + a Champions League game, and 4 league games in Mar, + 1 Champions League game and 1 Cup game. 

The season before that we played 3 league games in Feb & 2 league games in Mar, + 2 European games each month, (but no domestic Cup games). This suggests that because I had already crashed out of the Cups there wasn't a backlog of league games. The Big 3 would usually expect to make the Semi's of the Cups, (unless they are drawn against eachother), so Feb/Mar is often used for the postponed games (I think). 

Looking at this season, (while we are still in September), then there 3 league games booked for Feb and 2 games booked for Mar. I would expect to actually play more than this when we get there. 

The other thing to consider here is not just our form and us progressing in Europe and domestic Cups and having games postponed, but also the other (POR) clubs. If they progress in Europe, (and I'm not just talking about the Big 3 here), then that has a knock on effect. They are regularly getting out of the Group stage of whatever competition they are in and this means there are many many more domestic games getting postponed. The long-term knock-on effect of this of course is that the (POR) clubs coefficient is better which means you get more clubs in Europe which means more games in Europe which of course means...... more postponed games. 

Edited June 25, 2022 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

6 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

I am finding a couple of things very frustrating. My board absolutely refuses to allow me to hire any more coaching staff beyond the 7 we have (including me + AM). This means there are multiple coaching categories which have to be shared and hence the player development is suffering as a result. I thought it's a matter of time and I waited till my rating was A+ but despite asking literally 10+ times they just refuse. Any idea about this?  

I missed this 1st time around. Sorry. 

This could be an issue with Finances or it could just be an issue with your Chairman/President being tight. I tend not to worry about it at all. Just keep asking & if they give it to you then great and if they don't then it really isn't a big deal. It's out of your control so just accept it and move on. 

What's the saying "control the controllables"?

[karanhsingh]

15 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

The quality of players you have is something I can only dream of. Even now I have some bang average players in contention. 

Well i guess it comes with the territory in a youth only save!

Although that being said, arguably my best player is now a Belenenses graduate. 

[karanhsingh]

15 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Everything about the Portugese league is designed to benefit the Big 3 so let's have a look. 

Last season we played 3 league games in Feb & Mar, played 1 Champions League game in each month, and played a League Cup game in Feb and a Cup game in Mar. 

The season before the League Cup game was played at the end of Jan, but we played 5 league games in Feb + a Champions League game, and 4 league games in Mar, + 1 Champions League game and 1 Cup game. 

The season before that we played 3 league games in Feb & 2 league games in Mar, + 2 European games each month, (but no domestic Cup games). This suggests that because I had already crashed out of the Cups there wasn't a backlog of league games. The Big 3 would usually expect to make the Semi's of the Cups, (unless they are drawn against eachother), so Feb/Mar is often used for the postponed games (I think). 

I think you're right they use these months for re-scheduling games, and due to early cup exits this year we land up with a total of just 4 matches during those 2 months. Ah well, i guess I gotta hope it actually ends up helping us with our title challenge. 

[karanhsingh]

15 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I missed this 1st time around. Sorry. 

This could be an issue with Finances or it could just be an issue with your Chairman/President being tight. I tend not to worry about it at all. Just keep asking & if they give it to you then great and if they don't then it really isn't a big deal. It's out of your control so just accept it and move on. 

What's the saying "control the controllables"?

Yes i of course keep on asking at every opportunity. It's just strange because usually when you have the confidence of the board they agree to such simple things like the number of coaches. I really don't know how much of a role this actually players in the development of young players which is why I was concerned. But i do know the most important aspect is game time which most of them are getting 

[DavidBeckham]

Let's hope that the big 3 continue to falter and you can storm your way to the title! KUTGW mate!

[karanhsingh]

50 minutes ago, DavidBeckham said:

Let's hope that the big 3 continue to falter and you can storm your way to the title! KUTGW mate!

Hope so! Although we would also need to start performing better. 

[karanhsingh]

A frustrating couple of months comes to an end

On the one hand, we got to be happy about some of those results. The late win over Sporting was a highlight even if it was completely undeserved. 

But the disappointing thing here has been bad home defeats against the bottom two clubs in the league. There is zero consistency from our side and we literally can't go into a single match confident about how it is going to turn out.

Now IF we had won those 2 easy home games, I would stick my neck out and say we will win the league. As it stands though, Porto are still favorites.

Our inconsistency and relative fortune is highlighted by the xG table which has us in 6th spot and a whole 16 points worse off than we actually have managed to accumulate.

Which is exactly why I would be very surprised if we were to manage to hold on from here.

[karanhsingh]

After the damaging home defeat at the hands of Olivereinse, we went back to the drawing board and came up with yet another variation of the tactic. From 1 striker to 2 and now you have 3.

The passing has also been upped from shorter to more mixed/ direct. My thinking now is that we are unable to control games anyway, so let's get the ball up front and try to create trouble with our 3 men up top. Also I must say that Kim is finally coming into his own as a DLF while he was just not working out in the AMC role.

We also dropped the defensive line to stop leaking goals from balls over the top.

The only game so far has been Portimonense away, and it was quite encouraging.

From an attacking point of view, our best performance of the season. Especially the second half we absolutely blew them away. So maybe there is hope for the back 3/5 tactic yet.

[OlivierL]

Love the tactic setup ! 

[karanhsingh]

47 minutes ago, OlivierL said:

Love the tactic setup ! 

Thank you! Lets hope we hit some form now. 

[Hootieleece]

Interesting Tactical Setup. How are you doing defensively? with a higher line of engagement and lower defensive line you are likely to be too spread out to really defend the middle and force your opposition outside.

Watch out for Tiki-Taka teams!

 

[karanhsingh]

10 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

Interesting Tactical Setup. How are you doing defensively? with a higher line of engagement and lower defensive line you are likely to be too spread out to really defend the middle and force your opposition outside.

Watch out for Tiki-Taka teams!

I tend to agree with you, which is why I check the pace of the forward line of the opposition each game and then push the D-line to "higher" if we can. Don't want to leave too big a gap for sure. 

We are definitely conceding chances but luckily not too many goals. The 3 CBs are solid.

[karanhsingh]

March saw a huge win over Benfica where we were the clinical side, followed by a massive away victory in Guimares inspired by Francisco. 

Then of course, just as you think you are getting there, we proceed to drop points once again at home against the current bottom team of the league, this time it's Estoril. Basically home game against bottom feeders = recipe for disaster. At least we did not lose this time.

As the article says, the title race is indeed headed down to the wire. And what's more, our next game is against 2nd place side Famalicao.

I will do a game by game update now.

[karanhsingh]

Before that, a few odds & ends.

In the midst of all this, the club got taken over. However there is no new investment, no real change in philosophy or culture. So basically, it's all the same.

Our youth intake arrived in March and this time, we may just have a really special talent on our hands.

Here he is, super excited about this fellow!

And the annual Nxt Gn list arrived, Boavista is now represented by 3 players in the top 50! Not just that, our Spanish wonderkid from the Belenenses academy grabs the #2 spot! I just managed to get him to sign a new contract which increased his release fee from 20m to 40m. However I suspect that will also not be enough to keep him around very long.

 

[karanhsingh]

I also realize that in all the excitement, I completely forgot to update the Jan transfer window. So really quickly, here it is.

Matheus Diaz was not getting many games or signing a new contract, so off he goes. Not sure what Ajax saw in him. Adrian Bajrami started complaining when I turned down some offers for him, so against my wishes I allowed him to move to Sevilla for 5m but with a clause to keep him on loan till the end of the season.

Now on the incomings, two "exotic" new-gens and a former Boavista star.

Anthony Young is a Canadian-Portuguese dual nationality player found by my scouts. He did not cost very much so seems like a good punt at this price. He has since been called up to the Canadian squad as well.

Andy Sibeko is a South African-Portuguese dual nationality youngster who again joins on a cheap deal as he was on a youth contract. He will spend some time with the U19s honing his skills.

Nathan is the ex-Boavista man who was sold to Burnley before I joined the club - with Baubet not performing as well as hoped in the RWB role he was brought in on a short term loan deal to add some more support there.