Catenaccio_In_FM23 - a career save

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

Can using the Catenaccio preset tactic provided within the game generate success when implemented with one of the preset formations in FM23?

I'm a fan of defensive football.  However, its been tricky to implement in many previous FMs and consequently I'll often resort to high-pressing, high-block systems to make significant progress.

Could this year be different?  Let's find out...

Edited December 14, 2022 by Catenaccio_In_FM23

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

The obvious choice of nation to start in would be Italy and never realising how little success Sampdoria have had over their history - we'll go with them.

First job - setting my Tactical Direction.

Catenaccio, of course.  But what about formation?  

The game says that the formations Catenaccio works best with are 5-2-3, 5-2-1-2 and 5-2-2-1.  Whilst defensive, I'm not a five at the back man.

Taking inspiration from Karl Rappan's Verrou system of the 1930's and 40's, I'm going with a 4-3-3 DM wide - adopting a DC with a cover duty as substitute for a Libero.

We'll work out the other roles and duties over pre-season.

Edited December 14, 2022 by Catenaccio_In_FM23

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

Staff selection - an area where it has always appeared relatively easy to me to assemble quality.

Yes, you can just use the job centre, but let's do something different and select staff members based on their tactical preference.

Digging down further, this is more than just choosing those that have a tactical style of Catenaccio.  We can also include a Direct playing style and a Less Often approach to pressing (as these are both pre-sets of Catenaccio).

Couple these three with a 4-3-3 DM wide preferred formation and we have our four criteria to select against.

It doesn't look good for those already employed by the club - out of 55 staff members, 23 have Catenaccio as a preferred tactical style, however only 1 staff member matches all four criteria.

To avoid the absolute nuclear option, the Catenaccio's can stay for the time being and we'll add staff members that match our criteria around them.  As we go forward, we won't renew the contracts of these 23.

Edited December 9, 2022 by Catenaccio_In_FM23

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

A rethink is required on the staff front.  

There is only one scout and very few physios in my game* that have Catenaccio as their preferred formation.

We are going to stick to the Catenaccio ethos for the Coaching Team.  However, we will be a little more selective for the Recruitment and Medical Teams.

[* small database, all Italian leagues loaded along with top leagues from England, France, Germany, Holland, Portugal and Spain, as well as all players from top divisions across all continents - approx player count of 150k]

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

Staff sorted.

10 members of the first team coaching staff had their contracts mutually terminated - all 6 coaches, the Assistant, the HoYD and 2 Performance Analysts.  Whilst I can't attest for great quality, all those brought in to replace them match our Catenaccio et al ethos.

Fortunately, all coaches in the U20s and U18s had Catenaccio as their preferred tactical style, so they have a stay of execution for a while at least.

We were heavily overloaded in the Coaching Team of the U18s with there being 10 coaches as opposed to the approved 5.  These have been "thinned" on the basis of Working With Youngsters being >15, then highest Coaching Assignment Star Rating.

5 scouts also left as they were all meh (<12 for JPA, JPP and Adaptability).

Edited December 9, 2022 by Catenaccio_In_FM23

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

Squad assessment reveals that we are a bang average side - three stars all the way.

However, at least we have two options for each position, other than AML - there should be no need to curse the absence of the first transfer window.  As to who is first choice, we'll use the friendlies to determine that.

A couple of large wages in the mix: Rincon at £99k/wk for very little extra quality - I don't think we will be renewing that come the end of the season.  Similarly, Conti at £61k/wk until 2025 may be one to offload.

We'll see how Winks goes, as there may well be better value in the market than the £21.5m optional fee for him come the end of the season.

Most of the third choice players are loan-ins and will be returned to sender as soon as 28 days are up - I'll use the U20's and U18's to fill any gaps should things get desperate.

As an aside, I’m not sure about the usability of the squad planner - ideally you need it to “pop out” and be editable in front of the Squad, Tactics, or Scouting pages.  As you can’t, it’s not really a replacement for a pen and paper or excel table.  It does feel like it’s a work in progress and may have better functionality in FM24.

Edited December 9, 2022 by Catenaccio_In_FM23

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

Initial thoughts on a tactic are as follows:

• DC(Co) alongside a DC(St) to substitute for a Libero in a back four.
• DM(s) rather than DM(d) provides room for the DC(St) to attack the ball.
• MC(d) to drop deeper to form a double pivot with the DM(s) and cover an attacking full-back.
• At DL CWB(s) provides width down the left flank.
• On the right, W(s) provides width on this flank.
• CF(s) drops off to allow space for IW(a) and CM(a) to break into.

Edited December 9, 2022 by Catenaccio_In_FM23

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

Blown away by Inter, or should I say Lukaku, in the first pre-season game 4-0.  Whilst not expecting to beat them, I'm hoping that a lack of tactical familiarity was at least partly to blame - all players in all positions less than half a green bar.

In response, I've amended training to focus on match preparation, whilst keeping a level of fitness training.

Arranged friendlies every four days with the intention of playing the same eleven as much as possible to help improve positional familiarity - all subs to be available for U20's, with their friendlies arranged the day after first team games.

Easier games to come with Padova, Pescara, Parthenope, Parma and Saluzzo - fingers crossed for better performances.

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

It's fair to say that nine league games in and things haven't gone to plan...

Friendlies were okay, but we were expected to be dominant.  Parma beat us with two goals in the last five minutes to knock us out of the cup - giving us more time to focus on the league.  Anyone with any pedigree gave us a spanking - Juve must have had an off day.  This leaves us 13th in the league, which to be honest feels generous...From watching the games, albeit on Key Highlights only, it feels like we surrender possession too easily through our direct style of play and that we drop off and give the opposition too much time on the ball allowing them to take lots of shots or find runners very easily.  Both issues are symptomatic of the Catennacio style - it's just how we can we manage this better.  

At the other end, we don't create many chances and aren't scoring a lot - we did score the only goal that Milan have conceded all year, but that just seemed to make them angry.  We also appear to regularly lose out in aerial duals with opposition defenders.

Something needs to change but what?  In wanting to stick to the Catennacio ethos and a 4-3-3 DM wide formation, we will likely be limited to changes to player roles and duties.

Time to take some time and have a long hard look at the match stats and see if this confirms my initial thoughts and identifies areas we need to tinker with.

Edited December 12, 2022 by Catenaccio_In_FM23

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

Let’s start with a review of the Team Stats.  I've highlighted where we are at the extremes as these are things we are doing well and need to continue or things that we are doing badly and need to find a way to improve.

• 19th for average possession with 35%
• 3rd highest headers won
• 19th for Headers won ratio
• 18th for yellow cards with 8

Broadly speaking a total lack of ability to keep possession.  We win a lot of headers because the ball is always in the air,  but we could win a lot lot more as we are the second worse side for headers won ratio.  Our discipline is very good - related to our dropping off and not putting in a tackle which we'll come to.

Attacking stats - really not pretty...

• 16th goals per game with 0.89
• 4th for expected goals over performance with 2.89
• 18th for expected goals for with 5.11
• 17th for cross completion percentage with 10%
• 19th for crosses completed with 15
• Only 1 goal from set pieces (a corner)
• 20th for pass completion ratio with 75%
• 19th for passes completed with 2573
• 16th (=) for chances created with 11
• 17th (=) for shots with 54
• 12th (=) for shots on target with 27
• 1st for shots on target ration with 50%
• 3rd (=) for conversion rate at 14%
• 19th for shots per game with 6.00
• 20th for possession lost at 1177
• 3rd for high intensity sprints at 848
• 20th final third passes with 225

We're not scoring goals (8 in 9 games) because we are not shooting as we don't work our way into a position to create chances to enable us to do so - highest possession lost in the division, lowest final third passes, rarely crossing the ball and having a low chance creation.  We've only scored from one set piece - a corner.  However, when we do get in a position to take a shot we have the best shots on target ratio in the division and a good conversion ratio to match.  We also appear to be pretty energetic with the third highest intensity sprints.

A similar story with the defence...

• 19th for goals conceded with 19
• 1st for expected goals against with 18.63
• 20th for goals conceded from corners with 5
• 12th (=) with 2 clean sheets
• 20th for fouls made with 59
• 20th for tackles won with 132
• 16th tackle won ratio with 72%
• 1st for blocks with 73
• 1st for possession won with 1043
• 3rd for clearances with 147
• 2nd for interceptions with 248
• 20th for shots against with 150
• 20th for shots on target against with 58
• 20th for passes attempted against with 6436
• 20th for passes completed against with 5790
• 19th for opposition passes per defensive action with 6.33
• 20th for final third passes against with 688

We concede a lot of goals (over 2 per game) and don't keep clean sheets (but it looks like very few do).  We don't make fouls as we don't make tackles.  When we do tackle, we don't have a great percentage for winning the ball back.  We've also conceded five times from corners.  However, we are impressive at blocking, winning possession and making clearances and interceptions.  Despite all this though, we are getting overwhelmed - with the opposing making passes and taking shots at will.

Edited December 10, 2022 by Catenaccio_In_FM23

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

In looking at the player stats for the league it is difficult to see where some players could do any more.  In particular RFB(s) Beresyznski and DC Colley who has played as both DC(co) and DC(st) and at both DCL and DCR.

Colley has won the most headers at 118 and Bereszynski and Colley are ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively at winning possession back 152 and 146 times each.  Colley is 2nd highest for key headers/90 with 1.81 and has the highest number of key headers with 16.  Colley is 9th for shots blocked/90 with 0.79.  Bereszynski is joint 1st for tackles won ratio with 100%.  Bereszynski is 1st for interceptions with 51.

Colley and Bereszynski appear elsewhere too, but also allow other defenders to get in on the action.  Augello (LCWB) is 3rd for blocks with 11; Bereszynski if 6th(=) with 9 and Colley 9th(=) with 8.  Colley and DC(st) Amione are joint 8th for key tackles with 2.  Colley is 3rd for shots blocked with 7 and Ferrari is 13th(=) with 4.

You'd think that the game would recognise Colley's and Beresznski's efforts in these areas with stirling average ratings, but no they are 6.43 and 6.87 respectively.  I suspect that this is linked to them losing possession so frequently with Colley being 5th for clearances with 16 and Bereszynski is 14th with 12.  These same two players have also lost possession frequently - Beresyznski 8th in the league with 131 and Colley 16th with 116.  Bereszynski having the slightly higher average rating maybe as he is 3rd for the most distance covered at 111.10km and probably most tellingly 1st(=) for assists with 3 which is 19th for assists/90 at 0.33. Neither have scored a goal which would have been a sure fire way to increase ave. rating.

If we hadn't have had a plethora of injuries at DL and consistency with. a DC partner it would be interesting to see whether two regulars in these positions would produce a similar weight of defensive stats.  It might be evident through dissecting and piecing together the squad stats.

I'm pretty sure there is a GK issue, although this may be the weight of work he has to get through and needs a bit more of a deeper dive to get to the bottom of.  The man in question is Audero who is 4th for goal mistakes/90 with 0.22 - may be down to his relatively low handling - have seen a couple of highlights where he has spilt shots and the opposition has scored.  But he is also 3rd for saves held/90 with 2.44, 3rd for saves tipped/90 with 0.89 and 4th for saves parried/90 with 1.22.  Overall he’s 2nd for saves/90 with 4.56 a little below his 2nd place for expected saves/90 of 5.37.  Saves held, Audero is 2nd(=) with 22 and 1st(=) for saves parried with 11.  Perhaps most decisively he is 10th for expected goals prevented/90 with -0.21, 14th for save percentage with 70% and 15th for expected save percentage of 83%.

Looking for positivity - it is pretty slim pickings.  However, something is going on down the right wing.  Leris as a RW(s) is 13th for dribbles made with 27 and joint 12th for dribbles per game with 4.20 - flair 16, agility 15, technique, acceleration, pace and first touch 14 and dribbling on 13.  Perhaps most surprisingly is Pussetto, who has come in for the injured Leris recently playing the last six games and in that time is joint 6th top scorer with 4 goals.  Worryingly this is an over-performance by 2.33 xG.  Although, he is joint 8th for shots on target with 10 and has a 90% shots on target ratio.

Elsewhere, Verre playing as CM(a) is 8th for distance covered with 105.90k and bizarrely is 19th for crosses attempted with 47 - I remember a number of  highlights of pull backs from the byeline once he's surged forward.  Duricic playing at LIW(a) is 16th for pressures attempted with 121 and 3rd for pressures completed with 41 and CF(s) Gabiadini is 18th most fouled with 18.

Edited December 10, 2022 by Catenaccio_In_FM23

[LeLaga]

 Hey!

Fellow fan of defensive football here. I'm currently trying to make it work, although on FM17.

 Will follow Your progress here, just don't dare selling Bereszynski! . 

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

In assessing the squad stats, with very few exceptions, there is little discernible difference between the performances of the first and second choice players for each of the positions identified in my initial squad assessment.  As my squad of 22 were pretty much 3-star ability across the board this is perhaps unsurprising.

However, if we are going to rise from the lower reaches of the table we need to use the stats to inform changes to roles and duties to get the most from this group of players.  I suspect it’ll also tell us that the players available for one or two positions just aren’t suited to playing within a Catenaccio ethos.  So lets have a look…

Aerial challenges

Those positions that attempt the most aerial challenges/90 alongside their headers won ratio are:

• SC ~20 at ~25%
• DCs ~15 at ~85%
• AML ~12 at ~28%
• AMR ~9 at ~40%
• DL~8 at 56-85%

With all the clearances and Catenaccio’s penchant for direct balls perhaps no surprise that attempts at aerial challenges are highest for the SC, and for that reason also for AML and AMR.  Unfortunately, we don’t typically win these challenges and this goes a long way to us struggling to hold the ball in the oppositions half.

DC’s are as expected and deal with aerial balls well, so no concerns there.  Bringing in SCs (in particular) and AMLs & AMRs with great aerial ability should also increase the DCs losing possession stats (identified from the league stats assessment) and should subsequently increase their average ratings.

Crosses

AML & AMR attempt ~3 crosses per game and LCWB ~1.5.  Unfortunately, cross completion percentage for all is woeful.  AMR~13%, AML~7%, CWB~8%.

These guys are not bad crossers of the ball (15 for AML and CWB and 11 for AML) - Is this more a function of there not being a SC in the box - the CF plays on support and the CM(a) might not be getting into the box before the balls been crossed as we’ve broken too quickly?

Mistakes

Two players have made two mistakes each that have led to goals.  GK Audero - no doubt from poor handling and DC Ferrari - no recollection of them, but will keep an eye out from now on it.

Movement

All players other than DCs and GK are running in excess of 12km/90.  The SC and CM(a) are leading the way with 13km+/90.

High intensity sprints are completed in relatively equal measure by FBs, CMs, AMR and AMLs.

AMRs Leris and Pussetto dribble the most with 4.58 and 3.02 dribbles/90 respectively.  Duricic at AML also reasonable at 2.35.  FBs and SCs are between 1.0 and 1.5 - little difference in stats between the CWB and FB.

Passing

Most passing attempts are made by DC’s  and FBs all ~45/90 mins and with DM and MC(d) at ~37/90 mins.  AML, AMR and GK are at ~26/90 mins and SC down at ~16/90 mins.

Passing completion is not awful - bar GK (27%), DCs (75%) and DR (77%), all are 79%+. 83% for SC and LCWB top the list.

Open play key passes/90 only being made at >0.7 by SC, DM, DR and AMR.  Next best are AML and MC(a) at ~0.4.

Progressive passes/90 are led by the FBs and DM with 2.75-3.00.  GKs at 2.00.  Of note, Pussetto is at 2.64, whilst other AMR Leris is only 1.62.

We haven’t scored enough goals to look at assists. DR with 3 is the only player with >1.

Shots

In terms of shots it is dismal.  Only Pussetto (AMR) and Gabiadini (SC) have taken more than 5 shots with 11 and 9 respectively; but both at massively different ratios - 91% and 44% respectively.

Tackling and interceptions 

GK Audero leads the blocks/90 and interceptions/90 with 6.4 and 7.3 respectively - these may have inflated our Team stats covered previously?

As expected DCs, FBs and DM are all 0.91-1.38 for blocks/90 and 1.2-1.7 for clearances/90.  Similarly, interceptions/90 range between 3.5 and 5.5 for these positions.  Pressures attempted are the reverse with SC, AML, AMR and MC(a) leading the way with between 16.7 and 12.5.

In terms of tackling, Rincon at CM(d) leads the way with 2.75 - 16 tackling, 18 aggression and 16 bravery certainly helps here.  However, AML Duricic, a man with 4 tackling and 9 aggression is second with 2.35 tackles per game and most tackles attempted (27)!  Closely following behind are the FBs with 2.30 (RB) and 1.88 (LB).

Typically tackle completion ratios, even Rincon’s, are mid 70s, with AMLs, AMRs and SCs dropping to 60%.  Bereszynski ’s 100% with 23 tackles attempted and won is exceptional.

The way forward

After all that, what conclusions can we draw - as with most teams concede less and score more.  Hopefully, a couple of tweaks to roles and duties can:

• Tighten us up at the back - changing the LCWB to a LB(s) as the CWB hasn’t given us anything going forward - few dribbles and crosses and low key pass/chance creation.  Beresznski at DR has shown us what is possible from this role and duty.
• Make us more competitive in the centre of the park.  The squad stats don’t appear too bad, but when compared to the league stats we are not tackling and intercepting enough.  Would a double BWM be overkill - replacing the DM(s) and CM(d) to reduce opposition time on the ball around our box?

In terms of posing a threat going forward, from somewhere we need to find some aerial ability to retain the ball once it’s lumped forward.  This may mean the end of Gabbiadini at SC which is unfortunate as he’s a quality player - a square peg in a round hole if you like.  Maybe in the short term a pressing forward at SC would get us into the game in the opposition half?  At this stage in the season 2 WTM and a TM at SC is probably a little OTT.

Edited December 10, 2022 by Catenaccio_In_FM23

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

Using the four games until the World Cup/Winter Break we've had a tinker and settled on this...

.

In addition to the changes considered previously, we've installed a pressing forward on defend to try and reduce the time the opposition DCs have on the ball to launch through balls over the top (even though I play with a lower line on defend mentality they still manage to find the ball to get in behind us!).  This may only need to be a PF(s), but we'll keep an eye on it.  

To add some more attacking intent we've changed the AMR from W(s) to W(a).  

The CM(a) has been changed to a AP(a) to try and attract the ball from knock downs or provide an out ball for players rather than just lumping it forward.

I also felt that we needed to increase the degree of risk in our play and increased this to Cautious.  Unfortunately, anything more than this starts to affect the team instructions - moving away from the Catenaccio ethos that I set out to instil.

Personnel wise, we scoured the U20s and U18s and found Ivanovic a 6ft 2inch Serbian and stuck him in up top.  This meant that we were able to move Gabbiadini (also 6ft 2) to AML, which meant forgoing Duricic incredible tackling, but height/aerial ability is viewed as more important at this time.  Leris is preferred at AMR with his 6ft 1 frame.

The results don't really change, but there has been a noticeable improvement - particularly in goalscoring and the introduction of Ivanovic looks to be an inspired one.  To be fair we were unlikely to be Lazio, Atlanta or Inter.  The Empoli game was billed as a "sack race" - them being second bottom, so glad we won that one - and coming from a goal down. 

The winter break and subsequent friendlies will allow us to increase tactical familiarity in the new positions and increase moral by spanking some lower league sides in friendlies.  We also need to think about recruitment and contracts.  There's a fair bit of unrest in the squad which needs to be cracked down on and hopefully bring in some players that better match our ethos.

 

Edited December 12, 2022 by Catenaccio_In_FM23

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

Christmas Eve brings the recruitment feedback meeting for the transfer window and my first venture into the new scouting function - having let the Chief Scout do my scouting up until this point.

In looking for players I place a considerable amount of importance on Consistency, Big Matches (ability to handle pressure) and Determination and add any players that are not described as being poor in these areas in the Cons section of the scout reports received throughout the season. This has garnered a list of 202 players to work my way through.  Those that are bad in these areas get added to the Not Interested List.

I also use the list to assess the quality of my scouts and how much faith I should put in the accuracy of their reports - I would have hoped that at least the top three, if not the top five would have been identified by the scout report as having poor determination, but it appears they haven't.  On closer inspection, all of these reports come from the same member of my recruitment staff - the director of football.

As you can see from the abilities of the recruitment team, my director of football is one of the better ones at JPA and JPP, which is worrying and makes me uncertain of how reliable everyone else's reports are.  I can understand that there is a degree of  uncertainty around scouting IRL, but the rating is in the game for a reason so you would expect it to increase in accuracy as it increases and not to be a totally random exercise - otherwise why bother with looking for decent staff? 

Getting off my soap box, we have zero transfer budget until we sell someone, so I don't expect us to be particularly busy in the January window.

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

The players nearing the end of contract notification prompts me to look in detail at who is going to be around next year.

Rincon on £99k/yr is scandalous - stealing a living.  Hopefully making it clear early that we are not re-signing him will free up some of that money in future budget calculations.  However, with the others I'll try and offload in this window and claim what cash I can for them - there is already interest in Murillo.  How he's 3.5 stars I don't know...

It's a similar story with the U20's and U18's.  Although, I've kept the GKs, as we will need a certain number of homegrown talent for squad registration purposes.

I could also list another fifteen or so players to try and offload them in this window, but that would leave me very short of players towards the crunch end of the season and would cause major disruption to the squad dynamics.  We all know how quickly this game can turn into morale manager if you are not careful.

Speaking of which friendlies done and wins against lower leagues as expected to improve morale. 

Most goals through set pieces though, which have been tweaked - not to become overpowered by focusing on a delivery area, more from an attacking point of view to stop us being caught on the counter and with defensive corners to make sure that we've got tall players zonally marking the front and back posts and someone goes after the oppositions best header.

You might also have noticed my new spearhead up front - welcome Fernando Llorente...

Edited December 12, 2022 by Catenaccio_In_FM23

[wdoorn]

I hope it gets better

[Egecann]

Interesting project. Keep up the good work! Topic is much better with screenshots 

[lied90]

I'll be following. I think Grazianno Pelle would also be available on free from the start, shame you didn't get him.

 

Regardig your PF(D), I doubt he presses the opposition CBs much with such low LOE?

[De Nile]

I like this a lot.

I think you could experiment with an asymmetrical tactic, if I take your profile photo as example there is at least a wider midfielder acting as an forward and to form a front three with the two other forwards, so you can create an asymmetric 4-4-2 (which would look like a 4-4-2 in defence), which attacks in a 4-4-3 shape. Although a lot of examples of asymmetrical tactics are very positional-play based, they can work for defensive minds, it just needs to have a strong influence on the most dangerous zones on the pitch; 2. Presents more than one option for the counter-attack/ long ball. Of course, I don't mean to derail your initial option of using Karl Rappan's tactic for inspiration, it is just help for people who want to play catenaccio and see the 5-man systems from SI, I think the catenaccio philosophy is needed and nothing more if the best defence in your eyes is - [insert tactic here] - than use it and apply it using the philosophy.

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

2 hours ago, De Nile said:

I like this a lot.

I think you could experiment with an asymmetrical tactic, if I take your profile photo as example there is at least a wider midfielder acting as an forward and to form a front three with the two other forwards, so you can create an asymmetric 4-4-2 (which would look like a 4-4-2 in defence), which attacks in a 4-4-3 shape. Although a lot of examples of asymmetrical tactics are very positional-play based, they can work for defensive minds, it just needs to have a strong influence on the most dangerous zones on the pitch; 2. Presents more than one option for the counter-attack/ long ball. Of course, I don't mean to derail your initial option of using Karl Rappan's tactic for inspiration, it is just help for people who want to play catenaccio and see the 5-man systems from SI, I think the catenaccio philosophy is needed and nothing more if the best defence in your eyes is - [insert tactic here] - than use it and apply it using the philosophy.

This is definitely harder than I expected and unfortunately I think it is mainly because of the restrictions that I've placed on myself.

From what I've seen of how Catenacco plays out in game, having two upfront (and possibly one behind) to fight for the direct ball is most probably a better way forward than a central SC and two on the wing (and also without a AMC behind).  Similarly, sitting so deep and having a mixture of duties for the DCs means that they are always getting caught out with through balls and clever off the ball runs and without the space behind them they don't have the time to recover (even if they were quick enough).

I've just finished the January transfer window (update on how that went tomorrow) and also come through an unpleasant Monthly Board Performance Meeting by persuading them to right off this season, so will continue with 4-3-3 DM wide until the end of the season to see if things pick up with the players I've brought in.

However, I'll almost certainly change to one of the five at the back systems that incorporate a proper libero and go to either a 5212 or 5221. It looks as though those "works best with" recommendations in the tactics setup screen, at least in this case, would appear to know what they are talking about and are worth taking heed of if using the tactical presets - who'd have thought it!

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

I was busiest in the transfer market throughout January...

As you'll see, only one of significant expense.  Hopefully, I've been able to find value with other four.

Let's look at them all in a little more detail.  The first was the best of my buys in terms of star rating but all had to do a job.  There was a definite focus on bringing in players aged under 22 as these would not need to be registered.

Marchizza was bought to replace Augello, who was a decent enough full back that I fell out with when I refused to improve his contract.  He lacked height and really was more winger than full back.  Definitely a Tony Pullis choice of a full back, so should fit into the Catenaccio ethos superbly...

Rodrigues was brought in to replace Ferrari, who was an okay player and I would have happily kept him, although he wasn't great aerially.  However, he had the indescript balanced and media friendly mentality which meant he didn't agree with anything I said to him.  He was also a poor trainer.  Rodrigues though is a giant of a man and has potential, so let's get him in and give him a go.

I couldn't get a tune out of Rincon despite his cracking attributes at either DM or CM, so have taken a punt on Mounanga becoming a DM - adding more height to fend off corners into the centre of the six yard box and breaking up play without becoming massively aggressive, which was the state that Mr Rincon was permanently in.

I went with Murgia as a bit of a last minute, six hours to go deal.  We'll lose Winks next season so wanted someone to replace him in the centre of midfield.  With his attributes for a BWM I'm surprised he's only 3 stars.  Not sure yet whether his player traits are going to be a help in getting us up the field or leave us with gaps at the back - wait and see time again.

Pappetti comes in to replace Murillo and also provide cover at DR.  Good in the air, can put in a tackle and is good positionally/at marking.  Hopefully has a fair bit of potential to grow into too.

Of those of significance not mentioned that have left the club, Caputo started the ball rolling in providing funding for a lot of the deals early on in the window - even if it didn't complete to the start of the Russian window.  He was allowed to leave as De Luca recovered from his damaged knee cap and in addition to Llorente, should give us a fighting chance up top.

Murru (DR) and Conti (DL) - both really WBs rather than FBs, were loaned out to reduce the wage budget and may come in handy next year (if they will still speak to me - both were keen to stay) should we change to a 5 at the back.

I'd previously mentioned my monthly performance review - straight after the window closed - you wouldn't let a manager spend all the money if you were going to sack him?  It didn't look good and I can understand why, but I managed to get a positive outcome through using the "lots of injuries excuse" (which we have had, but I think the problem is a little more deep rooted than that).  Whether the board are good to their word, only time will tell...

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

After my fourth visit to the board room in just over a month, the guillotine falls...

[DavidBeckham]

unlucky mate! What are you planning to do next?

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

Swallow my pride and adjust my tactical philosophy to one closer to Hellenio Herrera and play five at the back with a libero and a rampaging wing back.

I couldn’t get a DC cover & stopper or cover & defend combination to work at all, so would be interested to know how others have got on, particularly when using a low block.

Most importantly though is finding combinations that consistently keep possession above 30% whilst still keeping the Catennacio team instructions.

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

I didn’t think I would have to swallow as much pride as I did to get another job - and whilst I was unemployed for only 24 days, the number of rejections I had in that time, even from Teams in Serie C, had me worrying that I could have been put out to pasture for good - my time at Sampdoria was not being looked at favourably.  However, Lecco in Serie C/A were sufficiently desperate to offer me a job - three games to go, four points would probably see them safe, two wins definitely (easier said than done as I never won two games in a row at Sampdoria).

I was offered the chance to join at the end of the season, which in hindsight may have been a better plan.  But I just wanted to get back in and work on my new formation.  This is what I've settled on…

• The Libero comes in - never played with one so we’ll see how we go.  The player that looks most suited attribute wise is only 1 star ability.  There is a 3 star ability one - but they don’t have the attributes to bring the ball out from the back.
• I’m blessed with two good left wing backs, so adding the CWB(a) on the left is firmly in keeping with Herrera’s approach.
• With three centre backs to fill gaps at the back, I am not as concerned about breaking up opposition play in the middle of the park and have gone with a creator and a runner combination.  The DLP is on defend duty so he sits deeper and in doing so hopefully encourages the DCs to give him the ball occasionally rather than booting it long all the time.  A SV has the fruitless task of running after everything.
• I’m inclined for the WBR to lock down the right flank with a defend duty and thereby also providing the DCs with a second short passing option.
• I’ve gone with 2 AMs and a SC rather than a 2 SCs and an AM as I found that most second balls were knock backs/DCs winning the ball rather than flick ons and therefore the weight of numbers in the AM area may mean we recover the ball more.
• This central three also means we have a wolf pack to chase down DCs and DMs and possible reduce the amount of long through balls that caught us out regularly.  Using opposition instructions for the first time to target reduce the time on the ball these players have.
• The SC needs to be on an attacking duty to allow space for the AMs, so we’ll start with PF(a)

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

With the teams future uncertain none of our players want to sign new contacts (even if they haven’t already formally announced that they are considering their options at the end of the season).  We could lose a lot of players here (28), although this could be to our benefit wages wise - leaving a core of 18 and a sprinkling of (poor quality) youth/reserve team players already having signed up for next season before my arrival.

With this in mind and the season rapidly coming to a close we need to get on with scouting.

For context, I play with attributes masked and don’t use the player search function so I’m totally reliant on scouts to find players.  In previous versions of FM I never truly got on with the scouting system and particularly the inconsistencies that lay within it - uncovering hidden attributes for a player where it says the player was 100% scouted yet the report card also states that there are still 7 areas to complete, being a particular bug bear.

However, from what I’ve seen, I like the new approach -  attributes appear quicker and extensive knowledge appears to mean just that - I’ve had no cases of a players report card changing dramatically once I’ve bought them.  A fair number of recommendations also appear relatively quickly without much effort.  Admittedly, I did have a degree of quality in the recruitment team at Sampdoria - here not so much; so it’ll be interesting to see how much of a difference this makes.

For a starting point, 10 of my existing shortlisted players are interested in joining Lecco and should be of decent quality for this level so we’l track those hoping that they will be released.  Other than that, I have no knowledge of the third tier of Italian football.  So, out my four scouts go with a broad brush approach just to increase my knowledge base - the further detail being players with contracts expiring within 6 months.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2022 by Catenaccio_In_FM23

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

So this is how we faired, our first game being at home to Pordenone.  I think you'll spot the three morale boosting/positional familiarising friendlies against lower standard opposition...

Turns out that four points wasn't enough and we ended up in a playout, drawing 2-2 on aggregate and going through as we were the higher seeding - I thought we'd been relegated on away goals!

Even so, and whilst this is thoroughly depressing, there is a feint glimmer of light with this tactic in that we appear to keep the ball better, averaging just above 40% for the six games (with Sampdoria this was mid-low 30s) and have seen the number of shots reaching double figures in four of six games.  Will this be enough to out perform the board requirements next season, we'll see.

[LeLaga]

 Shame about Sampdoria's journey ending, but congratulations on saving the team from relegation on short notice. I'm sure They'll regret firing You at Sampdoria in couple seasons, once You become the world's most renowned lockdown defensive coach! Someone should've told them that what comes easy, won't last long and what lasts long, won't come easy.

 I think coming up from lower leagues might make it more interesting, actually.

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

One of the advantages of taking over at the tail end of a season is that you have the ability to decide who you will retain and who you will let go - the AI is adept at "squad swelling" and having to regularly deal with bang average players wanting more playing time for six months of the year can be tiresome.

From an inherited squad of 46 we've done more than just a little trimming - releasing, selling or loaning out (for the final year of their contract) no less than 25 players, which has left us with this...

...and this is where the new faces came from...

...Hopefully the money for on Vasic will have been well spent - good dribbling, passing vision etc. just ignore the fact he has no agility, but in the third tier, surely must pose a threat behind the striker...

Ierardi is the only other player with a star ability greater than 3 that I brought in - I only see him as a back-up libero.  Let me know what I'm missing...

Everyone else is just solid without being anything too fancy...

Whether this has improved the 16 or that are likely to be the mainstays of the first team this season, I'm not so sure - my scouts are not good and the pool of players that I had managed to get extensive knowledge of since I took over was less than 200 by the time that players were set for release/released by there clubs.  We have therefore amassed a selection of 3 and 3.5 star ability players (which is what we had previously) and feels like all we may have done is rearranged the deck chairs on the titanic.  One thing that didn't help me with my scouting was mutually terminating my chief  scout halfway through June, as he took all his player knowledge with him and left me in the mire.

I also messed up the youth intake - it wasn't up to much anyway - but not realising that there was quite a high minimum wage (£450) for professional contacts in Italy meant that I had second thoughts when it came to confirm all the deals having brought in considerably better players on the same money.  Hopefully this won't bite me down the line when needing players homegrown at club - for one season it shouldn't.

I like to balance the books, rather than just stay within the wage budget and all this trimming has us at £10k under the wage budget.  So we should be in a position to add any players with 4+ star ability that we come across in the run up to the transfer window closing.

I also feel more comfortable in the advice I receive having recruited an assistant, a HoYD and a chief scout that have reasonable (12-15) JPA and JPP.  I'll definitely be a little more confident around the reports coming in from these guys, rather than those from the previous rabble that ranged from 2-6 in their JPA and JPP.  I just wonder how many gems I've missed out on or howlers I've already brought in.  The question I'm now faced with - is it better to have more low ability scouts, or fewer high ability scouts i.e. should I terminate those that aren't 12 plus at JPA & JPP?

I'd been toying the not bringing in a reserve keeper until I really needed one, so albeit minor, below appears to be a classic case of being FM'd the day before my first friendly - a gentle reminder that the AI is still boss (or at least reminding me not to be so daft).

Friendlies against Atalanta and Genoa to bring some cash in then four or five winnable ones to boost morale and settle the tactic in again.  

One every five days appears to allow players to recover fully allowing the same team to be fielded, thereby improving familiarity further.  I'll allow the second eleven to be available for the reserves and arrange similar for them also.

[Englishhammer]

On 12/12/2022 at 23:34, Catenaccio_In_FM23 said:

From what I've seen of how Catenacco plays out in game, having two upfront (and possibly one behind) to fight for the direct ball is most probably a better way forward than a central SC and two on the wing

This is probably a massive gem in how to make it successful imo. With the minor tinkering I’m doing now that would seem to be the suggestion anyway.

I try and make a working Catenaccio and a 442 Counter Attack every FM. The latter is far easier. Still to this day I’ve never done a successful Catenaccio that lasted a full season. 

[lied90]

I'd imagine having 1xstrikers+2xAMCs would be more viable in defense than 2xstrikers+1xAMC? Experience from my current Burnley save is that the TF usually head backwards after the ball is cleared to him.

[Catenaccio_In_FM23]

I thought I had it in late September/early October, but it disappeared again.  It should have been 7 without losing, but a stupid penalty at Zebra and a late goal for FeralpiSalo meant it was only four in a row and since Renate got a last minute draw with me, everything (particularly morale) has started to crumble.  Two penalties the latest injustice against Legnago in which was a pretty good performance for us.

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by Catenaccio_In_FM23

[DrIgz]

I'm curious to see how this develops. I've never been able to create a consistently successful defensive or even counter attacking tactic. Pretty much spam high press and easily get success, but I want to be able to be a defensive team that wins games by frustrating the opposition and a scoring small number of goals.

[willemvandoorn15]

At least youre still at lecce and youre not in relegation troubles, youre doing okay and im sure with time the team will understand your tactic better.

[Englishhammer]

Bring this back again  @Catenaccio_In_FM23