[FM23] Routes & Combos: An NFL Experiment - (Season 2, Uthongathi, South Africa)

[_Ben_]

This is still a fantastic read! I’ve always appreciated your tactical nous and your writing style. 

How are you finding it in terms of this ‘type’ of play for meeting your overall goals of a big job by the turn of FM24?!

[GIMN]

6 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

This is still a fantastic read! I’ve always appreciated your tactical nous and your writing style. 

How are you finding it in terms of this ‘type’ of play for meeting your overall goals of a big job by the turn of FM24?!

The pace is kind of killing me.  I'm planning on putting a moratorium on any skinning over the Christmas period which should hopefully help, but yeah it looks like the proverbial big time is quite a way away.

That said, there's some things working in my favour.  I didn't expect to have the reputation to start in South Africa, and feel that I've kind of skipped a step by missing out Indonesia/Singapore/India.  Reputation wise, there are a few divisions that might be reasonable to start keeping an eye on:

I think a move to Netherlands or Belgium might be reasonable if the opportunity arises given the linguistic relationship.  Otherwise, I think Australia is a possibility.  I'm surprised the A-League has a lower relationship than the DStv, but I feel like that would be a move that would be considered a step up, and also possibly open up opportunities in places like Greece and Croatia. 

The other, and perhaps more obvious route, would be to see if I could land a job at one of the bigger DStv teams.  As much as I'm enjoying my time with Uthongathi, I am keen to move as soon as possible, and it is perhaps a bit more realistic for me to get a bigger job in South Africa sooner than it would be to get a job in another country.  Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs are considered to be (reputationally speaking) on a par with teams like Sparta Rotterdam, so this might be my best option.  Of course, this is all reliant on teams being willing to hire me.  A quick overview of where South African teams are ranked compared to Dutch/Belgian teams:

[GIMN]

Routes & Combos: An NFL Experiment

  

Maybe it's the week long break between games.  Maybe it's the draw against Cape Town Spurs.  But looking back, we have won 9 out of last 10 games, which coincides with us asking whoever plays in the central most spot to play in a cover role.  I know I should be more aware of these things, but it genuinely hasn't felt like we've been that dominant, especially as most games are quite tight and we're still wildly inconsistent.  It's astonishing we remain unbeaten, but now we're starting to convert draws into wins, there's a real possibility of completing the season without defeat.  Of course, now I've written that, that's surely going to foreshadow a loss this week.

GW24: La Masia (Away)

We've played La Masia twice already, both times at home, and under different coaches.  New manager, Morgan Gould, had only been in charge for 1 game last time around, and now he's had some time under his belt, La Masia are moving in the right direction.  They've won 5 of their 8 games since, and have looked particular dangerous in transition. 

Striker Fuad Johnson currently leads the league goalscoring charts, and is proving to be an instinctual finisher from close range.  If we can cut off his supply from the wide areas, however, we should be able to limit his effectiveness.  Yussuf Jappie is a player I've highlighted before, and he is back from injury.  The left-winger caused us all sorts of problems in our first meeting, and is a player I am tracking as a possible future signing.

Defensively, I plan to do the same as last time, and target 34-year old, 5' 9" centre back Tsheop Tema.  He's struggled against pacy strikers, and so I imagine this will be an opportunity for Phewa to build upon his recent return to form.

Game Plan

0-15: Main
15-25: Alt 1
25-35: Main
35-45: Alt 2

We're going to look to make use of Mbulu's flexibility, deploying him at AML, ST & AMR.  It's going to be a bit of a fact-finding mission for the first half, seeing how La Masia deal with each shape, and hopefully settings ourselves up to make changes in the 2nd half.

Match Day

Having tempted fate by saying we can go undefeated, the best way to achieve this is to bring in a 22-year old centre-back for his first start since September.  Samkelo Jali is the major change, as I felt Gulele would match up well against Fuad Johnson, and I wanted some additional pace in the wide centre-back position.  Kambala and Mbutho return having been rested for the last game.  My wonderfully named Assistant Manager, MacBeth Sibaya, recommends that I point out that the media have been heaping praise upon us and to justify the added scrutiny.  What does he know?  I ignore him, and tell them they need to build on last week's performance.  The room is, as always, unmoved.  Maybe I should listen to MacBeth.

14' GOAL!! - A free kick near the right corner spot, and Rambuwane hangs it in at the back post.  Jali heads with power, but Motloung is able to get a hand to it.  The rebound falls right at Jali's feet however, and that's an easy tap in.  La Masia 0-1 Uthongathi.
45' GOAL!! - We build up nicely from the back, drawing La Masia out until we've got space to find Phewa.  He plays it out to M Dlamini on the right who's in acres of space.  You think he's going to cross, but he slips it in to Mbulu inside the area.  He drills it in to the 6-yard box, via a slight deflection, and there's Phewa to make it 2!  La Masia 0-2 Uthongathi.

HALF TIME.  La Masia 0-2 Uthongathi.  It's not been a classic by any stretch.  There's been 2 good chances, and we've scored from them both.  Really pleased to see our plan coming together on the 2nd goal, though.  The overload on the right put us in a position where Tema either had to come out to meet him or mark Phewa.  He ended up doing neither particularly well and we got the goal.  Must be said, though, that the two-striker variation did not look good.  One for the drawing board, I think.

68' - That should be three.  Molhamme, on as a substitute for Phewa, leaves his man for dead and finds a delightful cross for Rambuwane.  He volleys it into the ground and it goes agonisingly over.
72' - La Masia dally on the ball and Kambala is able to take it away.  He plays Molhamme in down the channel but Tema is able to deflect it wide.

FULL TIME.  La Masia 0-2 Uthongathi.  A case of job done.  2-0 is - as they say - a dangerous scoreline, but we were able to see the game out.  It probably wasn't a great match for the neutrals, but hopefully our fans will be happy with another win.  I'm obviously delighted the Jali gamble paid off and he deserves the MotM award.  Not just for his goal.  7 interceptions and a 93% header win rate is pretty darn remarkable.

As is becoming habit, I'm more interested in the unsung heroes and, for me, M Dlamini and Mbutho were absolutely key to our victory.  Defensively, we did a great job of restricting the supply to Johnson.  La Masia only mustered 6 shots for a combined xG of 0.33 and that was largely in part to the defensive job on their wingers.  Moreover, they were integral to helping us push forward, combining for 10 successful dribbles.

And so it goes...

(I found myself singing this during a work call earlier this week.  Not in my head.  Out loud.  I think I have a problem.)

[GIMN]

This also seems like as good a time as any to take a look at the league standings.

Pretoria Callies have rallied in recent weeks, but our form has kept them comfortably at bay.  A 9 point gap with 18 points remaining, and at the risk of coming across as arrogant, you've got to feel confident of securing the title.  That said, 3 of our remaining 6 games are against the teams immediately beneath us, whilst only 1 game (Casric Stars) I would consider as an "easy" fixture.  It also has to be pointed out, though, that 4 of these games are at home and if (a big if at that) we beat Pretoria Callies, we only actually need another 4 points from the other 5 games.

Only the league winners are guaranteed promotion.  2nd and 3rd place enter a mini-league with the team finishing 15th in the DStv Premiership.  Each team plays one another twice, and the top team is promoted/keeps their place.  I'm not entirely sure on this next bit, but it appears that DStv teams do not have to field 3 U23 players in their starting line-up in the Mini League, but National First Division teams do.  This seems a little unfair, but it may just be the information is presented poorly on the rules page.  Regardless, the set-up feels like it is weighted in favour of the "bigger" teams.

On the player front, Nkosingiphile Phewa is hitting form at the right time, as he has some personal accolades to fight for, as he is very much in the chase for leading goalscorer, most MotM and highest average rating, whilst Dumisani Msibi is only 1 clean sheet behind first place.  Perhaps most interestingly is whether Polokwane's Puleng Marema can hold onto the Highest Average Rating crown.  I say Polokwane.  Marema moved to DStv side, Marumo Gallents on 5th January, yet still leads the league in xG 3 months later!

[GIMN]

Routes & Combos: An NFL Experiment

  

It's cup week.  Not that I'll say this to the lads, but I honestly couldn't care less about the Nedbank Cup.  Realistically we have little chance of winning the thing, although the prize money for getting as far as we can will certainly be welcome.  Regardless, there's no getting away from the fact that the league is our priority.

Nedbank Cup 2nd Round: Casric Stars (Away)

With all that said, this is a pretty favourable draw.  An inter-divisional match-up against a bottom half side.  A bottom half side we drew with at home in the league, though.  Something I didn't mention when we faced them first time is the novelty that is their manager, Bucs Mthombeni.  Mthombeni is not just the manager; he's the clubs owner.  This is also the club's first year of existence.  Starting at the National First Division level seems a little unfair on the teams in the lower leagues, but who am I to judge.

They've been decent going forward this season, and a lot of their play runs through attacking midfielder, Talent Chawapiwa.  Our two-DM set-up should be well positioned to keep him in check.

Defensively, however, they are poor, and right back Tshangane is the clear weak link.  We'll look to stress this area of the pitch with overloads.  Graeme Pratt is performing well in the RCB slot, but if we can drag him over to help when we get those overloads we should have joy in central areas.

Game Plan

0-10: Main
10-15: Alt 1
15-25: Main
25-30: Alt 2
30-40: Main
40-45: Alt 1

Theoretically, this is my favourite approach.  3 formations with minor variations which I can then deploy in small spells.  It's not necessarily been as effective in reality when we've tried it before, but I believe this is the first time we've deployed it with what I would consider to be relatively minor changes.  Alt 1 sees the AMCR and ST shift slightly to the left.  Alt 2 sees only the AMCL shift slightly to the left.  Can you tell I'm really not too bothered about the cup.

Match Day

A few changes, and not necessarily the ones we planned.  Minor injuries to Gulele, Myeni and Mbulu impacted my plans for rotations, but we were able to give Phewa a rest.  Silangwe, Zakari, Molhamme and Nikitaridis get the start.  "Do this for the fans", I enthusiastically exclaim.  Maybe they're just a very stoic bunch.

HALF TIME.  Casric Stars 0-0 Uthongathi.  Well, that was a dull half of football.  Something about theory and practice.  We looked the better team, controlling the game, but we've not been able to create chances of any real note.  We need to play with more urgency.

48' - It's Casric's first shot of the game, and it was all to simple.  A switch of play sets them free down the right, and Malope is able to cross first time for Khabane.  Their striker meets it unmarked but heads over.
53' - Molhamme does fantastically, drawing players towards him before playing it in to Nikitaridis.  The big man turns with the grace of an injured bear, but it's good enough to beat the defender and he fires a daisy cutter from the edge of the area.  It strikes the bottom of the post and goes behind.
59' GOAL!! - Molhamme picks the ball up out wide, skips inside his man and send the ball to the far post.  Nikitaridis is there to head it into the corner, and that's the breakthrough we've been desperate for.  Casric Stars 0-1 Uthongathi.
60' GOAL!! - The lead barely lasts a minute.  Chawapiwa gets away from Zakari and is able to drive at the defence.  As Silangwe steps up, he plays the ball through for Khabane and that's a fine finish past the Msibi.  Casric Stars 1-1 Uthongathi.
61' - The game has livened up.  From the kick off, Mbutho gets down the left, plays it back inside and P Dlamini lets fly from distance.  The keeper's beaten, but the ball clips the bar and bounces over.
76' RED CARD!! - We clear a free-kick and we're away on the break.  Shezi looks free down the left but as he's about to whip in a cross, Tshangane lunges in.  It's late.  It's dangerous.  It's a red card.
83' - Zondi drives down the right flank before playing it inside to Molhamme.  He shifts it on to Rambuwane, who shifts it on to Shezi.  It's like that Shearer goal against Netherlands in Euro '96.  Except Mpakumpaku makes the save.
94' - Molhamme almost won the game with the very last kick.  A corner is headed clear, and Molhamme is on the edge of the box to hit it first time.  It's a clean connection, but the keeper is able to get across to push it away.

END OF 90.  Casric Stars 1-1 Uthongathi.  A much more lively half, and I'm not sure how we haven't won it.  Actually it reminds me of our league game against them.  We've got the numerical advantage.  We just need to make the most of it.

103' GOAL!! - Nikitaridis drops deep to get the ball and he's got time.  He's able to play the ball over the line and Baloyi is able to race onto it and fire past Mpakumpaku.  The keeper got a touch on it, but it wasn't enough to keep it out.  Casric Stars 1-2 Uthongathi.

FULL TIME.  Casric Stars 1-2 Uthongathi.  We're making a habit of taking games to extra time in the cup.  Thankfully we've got a full week's rest before the next game.  It was a deserved win, albeit there is some stat padding courtesy of playing against 10 men for 45 minutes.  Nikitaridis gets the MotM award for his goal and assist, and we have a real dilemma when we play with one striker with both him and Phewa making significant contributions.  Baloyi came through with the winner and yet he rarely makes the match day squad at the moment.

 

[GIMN]

Routes & Combos: An NFL Experiment

  

GW25: Venda (Home)

Last time we faced Venda we were aided by an early red card and ran out easy 5-1 winners.  Sadly, that makes it difficult to really assess how effective our game plan was that day.  Venda come into this game in 11th having lost their last 3 games, scoring 0 and conceding 9.

At the risk of doing them a disservice, they seem to be very reliant on their striker, Rhulani Manzini.  The 35-year old has elite movement, and they look to try and get him in behind early.  Teams who have kept him quiet, have kept Venda quiet.  On the other end, their full-backs on both sides look to be a liability.  Or perhaps, more accurately, the lack of defensive cover from their wingers, leaves both full backs vulnerable.

Game Plan

0-10: Alt 1
10-25: Main
25-35: Alt 2
35-45: Main

It's a pretty simple game plan.  We're looking for overloads on the flanks.  With the striker pushing forward, we hope he'll clearout space for the inside forward to be our main goalscoring threat.  We're going to attack from the off, as Venda don't seem to be a team capable of coming from behind.  If we can get an early lead, we can look to run up the score.

Match Day

Jooste comes in as Msibi went down with food poisoning midweek.  Our #1 will possibly miss next week, too, but we've been happy with Jooste when he's deputised previously.  Gulele returns to the centre of the defence, as we look to keep Manzini in check.  I follow MacBeth's advice.  It still doesn't bring out a reaction in the lads.

16' - Mbutho does well on the left to work some space and he hangs it up near the penalty spot.  Phewa gets to it, but it's going to take a lot to beat Sithole from there.  An easy gather for the Venda keeper.
23' - A nice one two between Molhamme and Rambuwane and the former is through on goal.  The angle isn't great, but Molhamme gets the shot off.  It takes a deflection before hitting the outside of the post and going behind for a corner.
44' GOAL!! - It's their first shot of the game, and it's a goal.  Mfecane finds some space, and is able to play it through to Manzini.  His shot from 20-yards takes a deflection and leaves Jooste flatfooted as it nestles in at the near post.  Uthongathi 0-1 Venda.

HALF TIME.  Uthongathi 0-1 Venda.  An absolute kick in the teeth.  We've been comfortably the better team, but we've not made the most of our opportunities.  Notably we've got into some good positions out wide, but Phewa doesn't have the aerial prowess to make the most of the opportunities.  Molhamme and P Dlamini are coming off (both booked).  Zakaria and Nikitaridis on.

56' GOAL!! - Phewa drops deep, lays it out to M Dlamini and high tails it back towards the box.  The return pass is beautifully weighted, and Phewa is able to take it first time from around the penalty spot.  Uthongathi 1-1 Venda.
59' GOAL!! - Like busses.  A throw in on the right is worked back to M Dlamini and he sends it into the box.  Nikitaridis is there, and the big man thumps a header in from 6 yards out.  Uthongathi 2-1 Venda.
79' - We have a free-kick, but it fails to beat the first man.  Venda counter, and a long ball forward sets Manzini free.  Jooste stays big and is able to push it away.
89' - A contender for almost goal of the season.  Mbulu picks the ball up about 30-yards out, wriggles past two and fires a stinger from the edge of the area.  Sithole can only watch as it slams against the bar and away from danger.

FULL TIME. Uthongathi 2-1 Venda.  A fantastic, spirited comeback.  We might have felt hard done by to be behind at half time, but we stayed calm and turned it around.  I thought we looked good in most phases, and there wasn't really much we could do about their goal.  It's nice to not be bemoaning a defensive mistake.  I want to review the game back to see why we weren't able to make the most of overloads on the flanks, but I'm glad that going 2-up-top helped us wrestle back the initiative.

 

Edited December 24, 2022 by GIMN

[GIMN]

Routes & Combos: An NFL Experiment

  

A 3-3 draw for Pretoria Callies pushes our lead to 11 points, with 15 points available.  That means if we win on Saturday and Pretoria fail to win, we are crowned champions.  That is probably fanciful thinking, however, as they face 14th place City Rovers and are unbeaten in the last 7 games.  Nonetheless, we've got to manage expectations and make sure the players keep themselves focused on the game.

GW26: Black Leopards (Home)

This isn't going to be an easy match-up.  Black Leopards lead the league in average possession at 62% a game.  They play a cautious 4-4-2, prioritising keeping the ball over progression.  As a result, they've only conceded 19 times, and I expect them to be tough to break down.  Right-sided centre back Kiyaam Bull is their standout player and someone who is very much on my radar.  They are missing Kenneth Nthatheni, however, so their left-sided centre back may be a player we can target.

Going forward, most of their chances come from the right wing, led by enigmatic-and-soon-to-be-an-Uthongathi-player 19-year old Percy Makgopa.  He has bags of pace and we'll need to be prepared to provide cover down that flank.  Neither of their strikers have much height, but they've got good movement, so we'll need to be on our toes.

Game Plan

0-25: Main
25-30: Alt 1
30-35: Alt 2
35-45: Main

A bit of a different approach this time around.  We know that Black Leopards are going to have a lot of the ball, and so we want to be careful in possession ourselves.  As a result, we are going to sit in our main formation for a much larger period, hopefully allowing us to compete a little bit more in terms of ball retention before pushing as the game progresses.

Match Day

Msibi returns from food poisoning, whilst there are a couple of changes up front.  Molhamme is suspended for picking up his 4th yellow card, so Mbulu takes his place, whilst Nikitaridis is given the nod over Phewa due to his physicality.  I tell the players to be patient and trust in their ability.  IT WORKS!!  A whole 3 players have a reaction.  It's only taken 29 games to work out how to get through to them.

20' GOAL!! - We build up patiently, waiting until we can set Mbutho down the left.  His cross is over hit, but Mbulu is able to gather and drills it into the feet of Nikitaridis.  The big man holds it up on the edge of the 6-yard box before laying it into the path of M Dlamini who rifles in at the near post.  Uthongathi 1-0 Black Leopards.
38' GOAL!! - Black Leopards are level, and I'm fuming.  Mosiane picks the ball up in his own half and runs down the left flank.  Two players have stayed close but neither bother making a challenge, allowing him to swing the ball in.  Ntuli is there to head home.  Uthongathi 1-1 Black Leopards.

HALF TIME.  Uthongathi 1-1 Black Leopards.  Frustrating to be level as their goal was very much preventable, but the game has otherwise panned out as expected.  Black Leopards have had a lot of the ball, but we've done well to keep them in front of us and reduce them to pot shots from distance.  We've done well progressing through the lines, but we've similarly struggled to get that final pass off.

78' - Black Leopards have a free-kick, 35-yards out, just off centre.  It's sent to the back post and Booi gets to it first.  It's not a clean connection and it sails harmlessly wide.
88' GOAL!! - We send it long to Phewa, but he is beaten to it.  M Dlamini is able to get to the second ball and he immediately hangs it up to the far post.  Nikitaridis is there, 8 yards out, and heads low into the corner.  Absolute scenes.  Uthongathi 2-1 Black Leopards.

FULL TIME.  Uthongathi 2-1.  Wait.  What is this...

I don't pay attention to results around the league as our games are being played.  Obviously I knew it was a possibility, but I didn't think it was likely enough to have it front and centre in my mind as the final whistle blew.  Turns out Pretoria Callies didn't just fail to win.  They lost 3-1 in a game that can only be described as daylight robbery.  I won't be complaining though.  The celebrations are going to go long into the night.  Possibly into the week, too.  I've given everyone an extra day off.  There's only one thing left to do...

[_Ben_]

Congratulations! Your playing style has taken the second tier of South Africa by surprise and your writing style has encapsulated my interest. 

Facing seeing how you’ll get on in the top tier or jumping ship if you can?

[GIMN]

4 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Congratulations! Your playing style has taken the second tier of South Africa by surprise and your writing style has encapsulated my interest. 

Facing seeing how you’ll get on in the top tier or jumping ship if you can?

Things have definitely played out a lot better than I expected, and I'm keen to see how this pans out in the DStv.  Technically, we could have an entirely new team next season, so I'm looking forward to reach the offseason and assessing how we take things forward.  I am still planning to jump ship at the earliest opportunity, but I'm not going to instigate anything yet.  If something falls into my lap, there'll be strong consideration, but it's probably at least another 12 months before I start searching things out myself.

[GIMN]

Routes & Combos: An NFL Experiment

  

With the title wrapped up, it would be easy to suggest that there is little left to play for, but that definitely isn't the case.  Despite considering the Nedbank Cup to be low priority, we do have a home tie against DStv strugglers Sekhukhune United coming up and this will be a good opportunity to gauge where we stand going into next season.  There's also still the possibility of a very improbable invincible season.

There is also the lingering spectre of time.  As I watch games on full, a single game and write up takes me approximately 2 hours.  So, whilst there might be stuff to play for, I'm going to condense things down to get us through to the offseason.

A comedy own goal, with a clearance smashing into Kambala's chest and bouncing into the nest wasn't enough to salvage anything for Hungry Lions, as we ran out comfortable winners.  Mfanafikile Dlamini scored the pick of the goals with a mazy run between two defenders before calmly rolling it in at the far post.

Nikitaridis showed a surprising turn of pace to round the keeper in the opening minute on our way to a stunning 3-0 win over DStv Premiership side Sekhukhune United.  We only had 6 shots, but they were good quality chances and Sekhukhune didn't really trouble us, mustering an average xG/Chance of 0.03.

An early Rambuwane goal was enough to see off Pretoria Callies in a game that could perhaps be considered a marker of how far we've come.  We got a very fortunate 0-0 last time out, but completely dominated proceedings this time around.

Rambuwane scored his 2nd goal in as many games as we finally managed to beat Casric Stars in 90 minutes.  The result drops the newly formed team into the relegation zone.

Our cup run comes to an end as we're comfortably dispatched by 3rd placed DStv and team you've actually heard of, Orlando Pirates.  We'd done a decent job of keeping Makgopa quiet, but the two times he got free, he scored.  This might be the better gauge of what we'll face next year.

A late Nikitaridis goal completed our unbeaten league season in a game that could only be described as a dead rubber.  It was a truly dour affair, which is a shame considering 1,800 fans turned up.  That's more than double the attendance of our first home fixture of the season.

We finished the season with the best defence in the league, and by quite a way, conceding 9 goals fewer than the next best teams.  We were pipped to top scorer honours, however, by a single Polokwane City goal.  Msibi was the only player to get a personal achievement, keeping 13 clean sheets.  It was the same as Pretoria Callies' Ncube, but in fewer games.  Amado Gulele finished 7th in the Average Ratings chart with 7.34 whilst Mfanafikile Dlamini was our top assister, registering 6 in the league; good enough for joint 14th.  I think it is testament to our ability to create in different ways that we had 7 players amongst the top 50 assisters this season.

And with that, the season is done.  For us at least.  The Playoff Mini League is now underway, but we don't need to concern ourselves with that.  The kind folks in the admin team decided to put together a little visual to highlight some of the...umm...highlights of the season:

[GIMN]

Routes & Combos: An NFL Experiment

  

An exciting offseason ahead as we look to retool ahead of what is certain to be a tough season fighting for survival.  We're finally able to offer contracts for next season, and this gives us an opportunity to consider not just which players we want to keep/build around, but whether the 3-4-?-? formation is something we want to continue with.  Our tactical approach last season was somewhat born out of necessity.  A dearth of talent at full-back, a surfeit of undersized centre-backs, and a limited skillset of our strikeforce pretty much informed our shape from the off.  This no longer has to be the case, and going forward I'd prefer to employ a 4-man defence.  This is largely for the flexibility it would afford us further up the pitch, allowing us to switch between 4-4-2 and the various 4-5-1/4-3-3 shapes.  I'll look into the tactical side in more depth in a later post, but for now let's focus on squad building.

A little key:

Retained
New Signing
Youth Player
Released

Goalkeepers (3)

Dumisani Msibi
When I took over the reigns at Uthongathi, I dismissed the idea of our key player being a goalkeeper as being an indicator of the lack of quality of the squad.  I recant.  Msibi has been sensational and securing his return was vital.  He had decided to consider his options at the end of the season but, with 1 week remaining on his contract, he was willing to enter negotiations and we have retained his services for another year.

Jared Jooste
Our 21-year old deputy also returns, having earned the backup spot ahead of more experienced competition.

Ayanda Benjamin
The star arrival in our youth intake, it might be a little bold to rely on a 16-year old to be the 3rd choice keeper.  It is definitely risky, but he's arguably already better than the other backup options already at the club and if we find ourselves in a position where our 3rd choice keeper is starting regularly, we're going to be in big trouble, regardless of who that player might be.

Released: Kagiso Ramadivhane

Centre Backs (5)

Amado Gulele
Our young player of the year had pretty much cemented himself as our first choice centre-back last season and I'm delighted to have him secured for next season.  He's a solid all-round defender, but at 21 I expect he might find himself overmatched at times at a higher level.  He's agreed to be a squad player and we may need to manage his game time to ensure his development continues.

Teboho Moloi
A free agent signing last season, Moloi became a mainstay in our back-3 as the only left footed centre-back.  That balance is important to us, so he's back for another season.

Samkelo Jali
Jali earned a late run in the first team and despite lacking size or speed, his elite decision belied his age.  He's very much going to find himself down the pecking order, but he's able to play at right back and is a relatively cheap back-up.

Ryan Baartman
The first pre-contract signing we agreed back in January, the former All Stars defender/defensive midfielder adds a truly imperious aerial force at the heart of our defence.  6'4" with elite jumping he will be able to perform the role held by Silangwe, all whilst being quicker and younger.

Liam Bern
Plucked from the grasps of Cape Town Spurs after they failed to secure promotion, Bern comes in as an upgrade on Moloi.  He's better than Moloi in pretty much every aspect (blocks/90, interceptions/90, headers won% and tackle success %), and will immediately slot in as our left-sided centreback.  A signing I'm delighted to secure as we'd been tracking him for the last 6 months.  Like Msibi, he had made it publicly known that he was considering his options, so we had to wait until late to make our move.

Released: Msawenkosi Silangwe, Xolani Slawula, Kanya Gwala, Fezile Gcaba

Full Backs (4)

Rushwin Dortley
The 21-year old left back is another arrival from Cape Town Spurs, where he was criminally underused.  He'll come in as both the best tackler and quickest player in team, and is capable of playing anywhere across the backline if needed.  Like his teammate, he had publicly made his intentions known early in the season and was our first choice target for LB.

Bongane Mathabela
An attacking right-back, Mathabela joins from relegated City Rovers to be our starting RB.  Not the greatest technically, he has the determination and stamina to work the right flank and should give us some tactical flexibility in how we use him.  At 26 he also comes with a bit more experience than some of our other additions.  Truth be told, he was not our first choice, but the only affordable option we could find.

Sandile Shiba
Mathabela's back-up at City Rovers, Shiba gets to continue playing deputy with us.  He is more defensively minded and can cover at left-back, too, if needed, but he is a clear step down from our other full-back additions.  At 21, he has plenty of scope to improve.

Adam Kahuure
Another member of our youth intake, Kahuure is very much an emergency option that is unlikely to be called upon.  As can be expected for a player of his tender age, he is not really first team ready, but he doesn't necessarily have any glaring weaknesses.  He doesn't stand-out in any particular area, either, but solid is...well...solid.

Defensive/Central Midfielders (3)

Kambala
Kambala returns as the elder statesmen of the squad.  The 31-year old is the only 30+ player retained, and proved to be a great addition last season.

Philakahle Dlamini
The coaching staff aren't as enthusiastic about Dlamini as I am, but the 22-year old central midfielder was a solid all-rounder last season, and I'm glad to have him back.

Knowledge Myeni
Myeni suffered multiple injuries last season, just as he had looked to establish himself as a starter.  This eventually paved the way for us to sign Kambala, and the 22-year old will have to play second fiddle for the time being.  He's young, driven and cheap, and if he can stave away the injuries could develop into a decent starter in the next few years.

Released: Hamza Zakari, Mfanafuthi Ntozelizwe

Wingers (5)

Mfanafikile Dlamini
The 24-year old started last season as 3rd choice right winger, and by the end of the season was our leading assister despite his lack of crossing ability.  He might have more competition this time round for the starting spot, but I'm delighted to have him back.

Khethakuhle Mbutho
I wasn't sure about renewing Mbutho's contract.  Despite making some big contributions last season, he was inconsistent and only really held a starting spot due to lack of real competition.  That said, he's still only 20, and at various points last season was learning how to play as a wing-back, a winger and an attacking midfielder.

Kagiso Shezi
Like Mbutho, he is brought back for another year in part because of his age.  He's 1 year older and a better crosser, albeit considerably worse at dribbling, and is a candidate to be sent out on loan.

Percy Makgopa
Another one of the pre-contract agreements signed in January, Makgopa comes in as competition for Dlamini on the right wing.  He was the standout creative player for a possession hungry Black Leopards side and possesses pace that we were sometimes lacking in attacking areas last season.

Yussuf Jappie
The other player I've already indicated was joining, Jappie was signed after causing us problems early in the season.  I expect him to come in as a starter on the left wing and provide a little bit more guile and experience in the wide areas.

Released: Reggy Zondi, Zeevan Haas

Attacking Midfielders (3)

Zama Rambuwane
Like Msibi, he decided to let me know in the final few months he was considering his options, but ultimately decided to stay.  His performances cooled off a little after a hot start, but I expect him to be a huge part of what we look to achieve next season.

Thato Molhamme
Molhamme did a good job as a rotation piece last season, and he's happy to come back as a fringe player.  He can play in a deeper role, and that flexibility might be important.

Haashim Domingo
Released by Sundowns, 27-year old Domingo comes in as our highest earner on R30k a week (roughly £1,500).  He's able to play pretty much anywhere across midfield, and is strong across the board, with only finishing being considered "average".  More importantly (and very boringly), he's good at set-pieces, something we've been lacking ever since I took over.

Siphesihle Tati
Very much a signing for the future, the 18-year old playmaker arrives after being released by DStv champions Sundowns.  Like Molhamme he can play a little deeper and out on the right, too, if needs be, but I don't expect him to get much senior game time this season.

Released: Victor Bakah

Strikers (4)

Tristan Nikitaridis
The big man returns.  There was no questions here.  He gives us something that very few other teams have and is a key component to allowing us to do different things throughout a game.

Richard Mbulu
Possibly a bit underwhelming after arriving late in the season, but Mbulu is back for another season.  Again, it's all down to flexibility, with him being able to play behind the striker or out on the right wing.

Ashley Cupido
The last of my raid on Cape Town Spurs, Cupido is a 22-year old advanced forward who was once again underutilised.  He finished with 6 goals last season in just over 350 minutes of game time last season and has a good all-round game that I can build around for years to come.

Thato Xulu
The last academy player to be given a spot on the fringes of the first team, the 15-year old is the youngest player training with the senior team.  His movement and finishing belies his age, although he is still (expectedly) raw.  He's never going to get a look in as a lone striker, but when we play 2 up top, he might make the bench.

Released: Nkosingiphile Phewa, Francis Baloyi

*The formation chosen is to illustrate positional options, and isn't necessarily the tactic we are planning to use. I've ranked players based on my expectations, and I'm quite surprised it lines up with their star rating.

Phewa is obviously the biggest surprise to the neutral.  After scoring a club-record 18 goals last season, you might have expected us to bring him back.  But, whilst he was keen, I was not.  There is no doubting his ability as an instinctive finisher, but he struggled to contribute in other phases of the game and if he wasn't scoring it was like playing with 10 players.  Nikitaridis had earned the starting spot ahead of him, whilst Cupido comes in as someone who is more capable at doing some of the link-play and dirty work required.  We have lost quite a bit of experience in defence, too, but I feel we've significantly upgraded in terms of talent.  We may need to bring in another central midfielder as we are at risk of being vulnerable should we pick up an injury in that position.

Next up, pre-season and tactics.

[GIMN]

 

Routes & Combos: An NFL Experiment

  

With a full season under our belt, it is a good time to assess whether our approach has been successful so far.  "But you stormed the league!?", I hear you scream, "of course it's been successful".  I'll certainly agree that the season as a whole has been successful, but have we been successful at executing the overarching plan for this career.  Our game plan has been well documented, and I've often bemoaned the inconsistency we have shown week-in-week-out, especially in the first 20 games or so.  I've also been quick to point out when the fruits of our labour have paid off, highlighting how our particular plan for that game was executed when we'd scored a goal.  Looking back through the thread, however, this has actually been less frequent than I would have liked.

With that in mind, I've gone back over the league games this season and tried, albeit roughly, to break down our goal output when using different formations.  This won't be perfect, but should give us a rough idea of how things have panned out.

On the surface this looks kind of like what we would expect.  The more minutes we played with a particular approach, the more goals we scored and conceded.  When we look at it proportionately, however, the picture changes:

Goals scored followed proportional trends (give or take a percent or two), whilst our defensive performance suffered significantly when we played our more attacking variants.  This should not be a shock.  When we attack more, we become more vulnerable to conceding.  The issue being that we aren't gaining the rewards from that additional risk, and we're clearly not managing to gain advantages we're setting out for in our game plan.

There isn't necessarily an easy answer for "why" this is the case.  There were obviously times when the plan was just plain wrong.  Instead of creating overloads, or clearing out space for our best players, we sometimes just eliminated our threat altogether.  There were times when the more attacking approaches saw us become too direct, sacrificing patience in an attempt to progress the ball and needlessly conceding initiative.  Then there were times where the supposed weakness we were trying to exploit had the games of their lives.

Counter to this, we had our "main" formations which were deliberately designed to be defensively sound and balanced, and because we knew we would play the (slim) majority of the game in these formations the team selection prioritised effectiveness within those shapes.  We have tried to improve the flexibility of options available within the squad, but this approach is always going to create round-per-square-hole scenarios, and maybe that is just a bit too ambitious.

There is also the element of how the team instructions changed between our "balanced" set-up and our "attacking" set-up.  Whilst there were tweaks game-to-game, this was the core set up for each approach:

*It is worth adding that there were times when a "balanced" formation would be deployed with an "Intense" set of instructions.

I don't think there is anything necessarily wrong with the tactical styles, per se, but I imagine the constant yo-yo-ing between the two can lead to disjointed performances.  There could be an argument that in our attacking phases we were still a little bit too cautious.  Our balanced approach was built, in part, to help us conserve energy for our attacking phases, and we could have probably been more aggressive with our line of engagement and pressing intensity during these periods accordingly.  That said, I think there is an argument for the changes to be more specific.  Rather than a set of instructions for our attacking phases, we might benefit from focussing on a specific outcome during a set phase.  E.g. for one phase we might just increase tempo and passing direction.  For another, we step up and suddenly start pressing intensely.  Might be more successful than trying to do all at once.

It might seem absurd to say, but despite our successes on the pitch, the experiment so far has been a FAILURE.

New Season, New Tactics

Bold statements on failure and wild speculation to justify that conclusion is one thing.  The real question is how to remedy this, and whilst the simple answer would be "I don't know", I have a plan nonetheless.  That plan, as boring as may be, is to work more within structure.  Gone are the asymmetrical formations.  Game plans with 17 slightly different shapes are consigned to being a thing of the past.  Instead we will focus on combining roles to achieve the effects we want in game.

Let's take a basic 4-4-2 which might look something like this:

Some alternatives from this shape might be:

1. Flood on the left-hand side:

• A player on the left clearing out and pushing the defence deep (W)
• Players from central positions moving out to the left flank (F9 & CAR)
• Attacking option on the opposite flank (W)

2. Clearout for a central playmaker:

• Players pushing the defensive line deep to create space in between the lines (AF)
• Players maintaining width so central areas don't become clogged (W)
• Vertical space

3. High-Lo against the opposition left-back:

• Two players putting pressure on the same defender (W & FB)
• Supporting players occupying defenders who may be able to come and help (P & CAR)

  

Again not an exhaustive list, and even the base formation isn't necessarily how we will set-up but just for illustrative purposes.  The plan will be to have an arsenal of role combinations in a variety of 4-man-defence formations, specifically a 4-4-2, a 4-3-3 DM Wide and a 4-4-1-1.  Because of the reliance this approach will have on being able to use central players to help in wide areas, I'm keen to stay away from the double-pivot used in a 4-2-3-1 wide, although we might have a couple of options for late on when we're trying to hold on to a result.

There is the hope this will come with added benefits.  Firstly, I no longer need to maintain 30 tactics.  Instead I'll just have the base tactics, which I'll load copies of into the backup slots and adjust according to our game plan, whilst we'll try and ensure our training also spreads attention across an expanded set of tactical styles:

As always this is not an exhaustive list, and there are some instructions I consider to be a lot more situational that will never make it as part of my base settings, but may be chosen depending on game state or opposition.  Things like Counter, Run At Defence, Be More Expressive/Disciplined and Focus Play [area].

Secondly, this should help us maintain some familiarity between games.  This wasn't necessarily a problem last season, as we were still able to achieve reasonably decent levels of familiarity (based on the eye test I'd say about 80%), but more consistency in shape can only be a good thing.  Of course I say this knowing full well I'm heading into pre-season where I'm trying to incorporate at least 3 formations, 5 tactical styles and an assortment of role combinations.  Even if we ignore role combinations, that's 15 variations across 6 games.  Or 36 minutes each.  Obviously that will serve no benefit, so instead we will focus on the basics - switching between Conserve & Force, whilst only deploying a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 DM Wide.  There'll be time to develop understanding of other approaches as the season progresses.

[_Ben_]

One of those posts where I don’t have a lot to say and can’t pick apart anything you’ve written but will fully engage with this five or six times and take some inspiration from it. Top work!

[GIMN]

7 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

One of those posts where I don’t have a lot to say and can’t pick apart anything you’ve written but will fully engage with this five or six times and take some inspiration from it. Top work!

Thank you, although I'm mainly responding to say I know what you mean.  So many times I like a post because I don't have a response, but it never feels like enough!

Ironically, I've finally freed up some time to play FM, and I'm probably going to spend the next day or two just working out how I can incorporate NFL concepts into these new formations.

[GIMN]

Routes & Combos: An NFL Experiment

  

True to my word, I've spent an inordinate amount of time conceptualising different combos, feeling underwhelmed with my decisions, starting all over again and never pressing the continue button.  A thoroughly productive experience .  Despite the procrastination, we have some foundations that we will work from.  The way we've focussed our recruitment, there are certain things that will be true regardless of what formation we play, or how we will look to take advantage of perceived opposition weakness.  Starting with defence:

Left-back Rushwin Dortley was arguably my number 1 target this summer.  An elite tackler with recovery pace, he doesn't offer much going forward, whilst centre-back Liam Bern is likely to be the deputy should Dortley be unavailable.  This lends itself to us maintaining 3 at the back when we are in possession.  Whilst that shape is rather difficult to achieve out of a back-4 in FM, the key principle is to keep 3 players deep enough to provide cover and offer options for recycling possession.  Whilst there may be situations we want to be more direct, I don't want us bypassing midfield and so they will be encouraged to pass short.

In wide positions, the above players will be primarily responsible for the combination plays we'll be looking for.  Clearouts will involve one player pushing to the byline to create space for the other deeper, who will be encouraged to cross from deep.  If we take the left hand side, for example - sometimes we'll have an Attacking Mezzala clearing out for a Supporting Wide Midfielder with Hold Position; other times it might be an Attacking Winger clearing out for a Carrilero.

In a 4-4-2, the striker will be involved in wide positions to help create Floods or High-Lo concepts.  They will also be used to clearout space behind them for Inverted Wingers or Wide Playmakers to push into the space between the opposition defence and midfield.  In a 4-4-1-1, the right-centre mid will find themselves more involved in the attacking phases for creating Floods/High-Los.

The two formations mentioned, are the ones we've settled on after pre-season.  Despite experimenting with a 4-3-3 DM Wide, we lacked compactness when playing with a DM and high wingers.  Like the National First Division, a lot of teams deploy a 4-2-3-1, and I don't want to leave our full-backs too exposed.  Our base approach will be the "Conserve" style - a low block, defensively narrow and wingers who will be pivotal in helping to prevent crosses from coming in.

Of course, all of the above could change once we get into the season proper.

Our pre-season schedule could be described by an outside observer as soft.  Our "training camp" was decidedly local and, as such, the "local" venue happened to also be our home stadium.  In honesty, there were only 2 games that mattered from a tactical perspective - AmaTuks and Rochester - and for both these games we were missing key players.  I am delighted that Msibi, Bern and Dortley are getting recognition at an international level, but I would've loved to have had them around to familiarise themselves with our setup.  With a few injuries thrown in to the mix, too, preparation has been far from ideal and despite getting the wins we were far from convincing.

Kambala is the biggest concern, as he will miss the beginning of the season.  I alluded to us being in danger if we end up with injuries in central midfield, and I wish I hadn't foreshadowed this.  Our scouts are working hard on identifying players available on free-transfers, but pickings appear to be slim.  We've had a few trials, none of which quite fit the defensive midfield profile we need.  Ryan Baartman may find himself pushed into midfield in the early part of the season.

That's not ideal, as we're unsurprisingly expected to struggle.  There's a significant gap in odds between us and Richards Bay who are predicted 14th, but maybe we can take consolation that we're not considered the WORST team in the division.

 

Momentum is so important, and I always hope to start the season well.  Whilst the fixture list has shown some mercy, gifting us 3 home games in our opening 4 fixtures, we open with a game against the reigning champions, followed by 2 other predicted top half teams.  At the risk of sounding pessimistic, our first possible win of the season may not be until we play Richards Bay at the end of September.  Last season 32 points was required to avoid the relegation play-off, so I can't help but feel we'll need to pick up some unexpected points before then.

[GIMN]

Routes & Combos: An NFL Experiment

  

A new season means a new layout for updates.  Those that have had the (dis-)pleasure of reading some of my previous threads will have noticed my tendency for text-inside-images.  The main reason is it makes it easier for me to standardise what I write, but also because the forum doesn't support text wrapping.  I'm sure this won't be the last time I change my approach (I've completed 1 season, and this is my 3rd layout), but we're going to try something different for a little while at least.  It also allows me to compile it in a separate app - which might spare me from accidentally submitting the update before I've finished writing (which has happened far too often already)

Now you might be wondering if the change in layout means I'll stop posting links to the absolute banger of a tune from the Uthongathi dressing room.  I might not be consistent, but that will remain a constant for as long as I manage them, regardless of the inability to centre align the video:

 

[_Ben_]

Great start! I recognise the name of Andile Jalisco and Allende is currently doing well at Fenerbahce in my save, so must have far too much quality to be in South Africa. 

I must say that I really like the update style. You can get a lot into the image and it means I can zoom and around nicely on my phone. Can’t quite sections like I normally might but that’s not a huge issue!

[GIMN]

3 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Great start! I recognise the name of Andile Jalisco and Allende is currently doing well at Fenerbahce in my save, so must have far too much quality to be in South Africa. 

I must say that I really like the update style. You can get a lot into the image and it means I can zoom and around nicely on my phone. Can’t quite sections like I normally might but that’s not a huge issue!

Aha, glad to hear you say that, because in my next update I was going to mention the issue with quoting!  You can highlight the image and quote an entire section, but the tradeoff is not being able to pick out a singular sentence.  I'm also glad to hear that you read it on phone, too, as this is something I'm particularly mindful of.  I don't know how many people read career threads on phone, but I find the inability to wrap text particularly cumbersome when on a mobile.

Yeah, Allende seems a class above, but he was a little underwhelming last season, only managing 6 goal contributions in 25 league appearances.  He immediately got added to my shortlist after the game.  Never going to be able to afford him at Uthongathi, but he has the kind of creative profile I like and could be an exciting option if/when I change jobs.

[GIMN]

Routes & Combos: An NFL Experiment

  

A weird start to the season sees us play our 2nd game in 4 days, before an 18 day break.  Before we can get there, however, there's a small matter of the transfer window closing.  We still have a need for defensive midfield cover, and we are considering a loan move for Pretoria Callies 26-year old Gift Masanganyi.  He lacks the ball-winning ability I would like, but makes up for it in determination and aggression, and that's something I can work with from someone who would likely be nothing more than a back up.  It's a sensible option, and Pretoria are happy to do a deal with no monthly fee and only 50% wages paid.

What we don't need is another winger/attacking midfielder.  Rambuwane, Jappie, Mbutho, Shezi, Domingo, Makgopa, M Dlamini, Molhamme and Tati means we've got more than enough cover in those positions...

So let me introduce our new signing, Oswin Appollis.  Appollis was a player I had courted for much of the offseason - an elite dribbler with bundles of flair, he was a free agent after 17 goal contributions in 28 games for Pretoria Callies last season.  He had his sights a little higher than Uthongathi, though, and was originally demanding R70,000 a week.  Far beyond our budget.  We moved on, and signed Domingo instead.  A very talented player himself, but not quite in the same league as Appollis.  With the window coming to a close, and Appollis still without a club, we thought we'd test the waters again, and his demands seemed less outrageous.  R22,000 a week is a lot more palatable and helps reinforce our options even further.  We will look at which of our wingers/attacking midfielders could potentially be retrained as strikers, which can be retrained as central midfielders, and look to utilise P Dlamini as cover for the more defensive midfield role.

That signing takes us over our wage budget, but I hope it will be worth it.  As a result, the loan bid for Masangayi was rescinded.

Window closed, our focus turns to Royal AM.

I would've been happy with 1 point from these opening 2 games.  To somehow have 6 is quite astonishing.  A draw might have been a fairer result against Sundowns, but we very much deserved our win against Royal AM, and I did not expect that at this stage of the season.  An away game against last season's runners up Amazulu will surely be a tough test, but things are looking good so far.

(A little oddity.  I forgot to screenshot the teamsheet, meaning after the game I saved, reloaded the last backup, and had to go through a replay just to get the screenshot.  I pop the game on commentary only, and made no changes during the match.  We won 4-1.  I think my tinkering might be holding us back)

[GIMN]

Routes & Combos: An NFL Experiment

  

The International break served as a reminder for me to arrange some Reserve friendlies to help keep the fringe players match fit and give an opportunity for those returning from injury to get back up to speed.  We've done a pretty good job in pre-season of getting everyone's condition to a decent level for the season start and it's going to be important for us to maintain this over the course of the year.  Young winger Sthabiso Ngwenya has picked up a hernia injury and will be out for at least 3 weeks.  I now this sounds callous, but he's so far down the depth chart that it's not really a cause for concern.

We dominated the ball, and provided absolutely no threat.  7 shots for a whopping 0.43 xG, with apparently our only "Key" highlight being a pot shot from the edge of the area.  I'm not concerned, though, as this was very much expected given the standard of opposition we played, but we do need to be mindful of if this pattern continues against worse teams playing a similar approach.  Until we play a team in that situation, we'll never know.

Whilst I'm not itching to jump ship just yet, it is worth noting that the MLS season is only 3 games away from the end of the league stage, and it might be interesting to see if there are any interesting vacancies that pop up.  In particular, Jaap Stam's job at Columbus Crew is currently believed to be insecure, and if he doesn't survive the chop, I might have to consider if it's worth putting my name forward.  This is where the lines between real-life and fiction blur.  Whilst Callum Peters backstory includes experience with the Colorado Rapids, my interest in Columbus Crew is largely because, as an NFL fan, I support Cleveland Browns, and the Crew are the only Ohio based MLS side.  It is probably thematically consistent to try this NFL inspired approach in America, so maybe it would be easy to convince myself this is a plausible move.  Of course, that's even if they'd consider my application.  Or the job becomes available.

[GIMN]

Routes & Combos: An NFL Experiment

  

No significant news or developments, so we're able to put all our focus into our upcoming fixture against Richards Bay.

Take it away boys...

 

[LUFCspeni]

Not commenting too much, but really enjoying this! Shame set pieces are a bit naff, there would be huge scope there for some NFL-type set plays or NBA-style inbound plays.

Where would your ideal move be next? Surely the States as it fits with the NFL theme? Can't move to Europe without a ring 

[GIMN]

4 hours ago, LUFCspeni said:

Not commenting too much, but really enjoying this! Shame set pieces are a bit naff, there would be huge scope there for some NFL-type set plays or NBA-style inbound plays.

Where would your ideal move be next? Surely the States as it fits with the NFL theme? Can't move to Europe without a ring 

I'd love to have some stupidly elaborate set piece routines to call upon.  I should be probably grateful that the options are limited or else I'd never actually play a game.

I think realistically it's going to be Australia or the lower divisions in Netherlands or Belgium.  Jaap Stam has now been sacked from Colombus Crew, but I think there's too much of a gap in league reputation to be considered for the role.

[GIMN]

Routes & Combos: An NFL Experiment

  

I can't think of a more appropriate time to play/update that in the midst of the NFL playoffs.  With some big gaps between games in the early stages, there have only been 4 games come the end of September, but that's time enough to take a look at the table:

Obviously it's been a dream start to the campaign as we sit amongst some considerably larger clubs.  3 consecutive clean sheets have played a significant part, as there is already quite a discrepancy in the goals for column between us and the other teams in the top 4.  Our next game is against 5th placed Marumo Gallants, the only team in the top half of the league to have scored fewer goals than us.  I have a feeling this game has 0-0 written all over it.

That was not a 4-1 game.  I didn't feel like Marumo Gallants were as much in the ascendency as the Match Momentum chart suggested, but we definitely had to weather a lot of pressure after we went 2-0 up.  Their goal came just after we'd made some changes to try and wrestle back control, and despite the immediate set-back we responded rather well.

And that only leaves one thing:

 

[GIMN]

Routes & Combos: An NFL Experiment

  

After already having a 2-week break after the opening 2 fixtures of the season, we now don't play a game until November.  A massive 34-day gap between competitive games, means our attention turns towards friendlies.  We do have a couple of players away on international duty.  Kambala and Mbulu with their respective senior teams, whilst Liam Bern and Rushwin Dortley have been called up for the U23 African Cup of Nations.

Inter-season friendlies can be tricky to arrange, as the standard of opposition available is not necessarily conducive to providing any real challenge.  As a result, we end up playing against Durban FC and Rochester again - two teams we'd faced off against in pre-season.  Nothing major learned from these games, but it was an opportunity to integrate Oswin Appollis into the first team.  I think there's a real possibility against similar/weaker sides where we see Appollis, Rambuwane and Domingo playing together as quite a dynamic attacking midfield trio.

The long wait between games has been tricky.  They say that idle hands are the devil's workshop.  With lots of time at my disposal, I noticed that De Graafschap parted ways with Adrie Poldervaart as the team lingers in 16th in the Keuken Kampioen Division.  An application has been submitted and my agent instructed to leak my interest to the public.  Their fans don't seem particularly enthused by the prospect, apparently laughing it off.  If a struggling team from a similarly rated division won't consider a manager on a 35-game unbeaten run, what hope do I have of getting across to Europe.  It's all been a bit humbling.

Oh well, time to turn my attention back to the DStv Premiership.

It's our first league defeat under my stewardship, and I can't have any complaints.  Supersports were better from the first whistle to the last.  Again, I find myself feeling the Match Momentum chart doesn't truly reflect the balance of the game - whilst Supersports dominated the opening half, they didn't really create any great chances.  At the point of the red card, they only had 0.75xG (compared to 4.31 by the end of the game), and I felt we had done a good job of keeping them at arms length.

It was an absolute onslaught from the red card on however.  Substitutions were largely used to try and maintain freshness amongst the players on the pitch, but our defence was struggling and with Bern and Dortley missing we lacked the quality needed to see out the game.

[GIMN]

Routes & Combos: An NFL Experiment

  

No word from De Graafschap yet.  I assume they're too busy laughing at my application.  Meanwhile the Sportbible GOAL50 award was announced this week - shockingly not a single Uthongathi player in there.  Do their readers not watch South African football.  Dumisani Msibi's save ratio puts Alisson to shame.

A good response to our last game.  We controlled the game well, and can be disappointed that we only scored once.  We did concede initiative when we reverted to our more conservative approach, which is to be expected, but we didn't really give up any real chances.  Galaxy's only effort of note was a defensive error.  Gulele has struggled with the step up in quality and I'll be glad when we get Bern back.

Anyway, a win is a win, and that means one thing:

 

[_Ben_]

I think that the screenshot layouts that we spoke about fit great here! Shame that you lost your first game but the honeymoon had to end some time! It'll be interesting to see how long you spend here, especially with the Dutch knockback, which, to me, seems a little harsh!

[GIMN]

3 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

I think that the screenshot layouts that we spoke about fit great here! Shame that you lost your first game but the honeymoon had to end some time! It'll be interesting to see how long you spend here, especially with the Dutch knockback, which, to me, seems a little harsh!

I thought it was harsh, too, but I have a feeling this might be a blessing in disguise.  One of the reasons I'm keen to make a move in this career, is that I'm not enjoying it as much as I'd hope to.  I don't know if that's because of the level we're at, or the actual concept at the heart of the career, I was hoping a proverbial step up would help at least clarify that.  Maybe I needed this setback to help me make a decision.

[kidthekid]

Loving the thread. I can relate with this thread on many levels. I'm an NFL fan, in my current FM save, I'm currently managing in South Africa and the long fixture breaks are a pain. Also my cable provider shows the South African league, so I actually catch the games from time to time.

Great stuff, love the detail.

[DavidBeckham]

Really enjoying this thread and loving the layout of your posts! KUTGW mate!

[GIMN]

On 16/01/2023 at 11:42, kidthekid said:

Loving the thread. I can relate with this thread on many levels. I'm an NFL fan, in my current FM save, I'm currently managing in South Africa and the long fixture breaks are a pain. Also my cable provider shows the South African league, so I actually catch the games from time to time.

Great stuff, love the detail.

 

11 hours ago, DavidBeckham said:

Really enjoying this thread and loving the layout of your posts! KUTGW mate!

Cheers both!  Unfortunately, I think this is where this "career" comes to an end, though.  Be it the concept, the level of football, or the (lack of) pace I'm playing at - I'm just not enjoying it, and going to turn my focus to something a little different.

[LUFCspeni]

Shame this had to end, this is one of the few threads I await updates and give them a full read through a few times. I guess the pace of the game is a major worry though, it is a very slow way of playing. I look forward to your next venture nonetheless! 

[anagain]

I hadn't realised I was so far behind. I can't belive it's late January!!

Congratulations on the title and that was a great start to the next season. Loved the tactical approach and the new layout was great. 

Sorry to read you're not enjoying the save. Hope you find a save you can enjoy.