Time Travelling Submarine

[Tikka Mezzala]

I think there are now nineteen editions of the Football Manager franchise, and I have been ****ing ***** at all but two of them. The 2008 and 2017 instalments were the only exceptions to my abject failures and I pretty much stumbled upon winning formulas by accident in both games. As I watch the AI foil my plans in every save I attempt in FM23, I think back to those halcyon days where, inexplicably, things worked out. In times of stress and strife, we often romanticise mythical pasts when things weren't so dark and upsetting; simpler times when people got on with their neighbours, didn't have to lock their doors, and used sliders and arrows in Football Manager. I am a weak man - a man who refuses to try and get to grips with the present reality, preferring instead to seek safety in unreliable memories of bygone days. And so it is that I run into the arms of Football Manager 2007, 

You might wonder why I have ventured back one year further than my first successful experience playing the game. Well, the truth is that I am a different man from the boy who conquered South America in FM08. That game to me is like an old flame who provided me with many happy days. Revisiting the relationship might tarnish those memories, especially if I fail to replicate the magic of the first time around. I would like to put the game on again and take it for a spin, but not until I'm ready. The best preparation will be the preceding game. Within the world of FM07 I can try to re-learn the ropes and perhaps achieve something that I failed to do the first time I played it: win something. 

In thinking about who I should manage, I have decided not to take on a team that is expected to win a title. There are two reasons for this: (1) I'd like to feel a true sense of achievement; (2) chances are I'd get sacked by a team expecting to win something. That being said, I'm not really wanting to take on mission impossible either (I'm nowhere near good enough). With all of this in mind I have opted for Villarreal CF in Spain's top-flight. It's a club with something to build on and not necessarily a team who'd sack me for a trophyless season. 

The game begins in the summer of 2006. Here are some memories from that time to help immerse ourselves in the appropriate time and place: 

• Italy have just lifted the FIFA World Cup in Germany, beating France in a final marked by Zinedine Zidane's farewell headbutt. 
• Barcelona are the Champions of Europe having beaten Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League final in Paris. 
• Middlesbrough's UEFA Cup run comes to an abrupt end as they lose 4-0 to Sevilla in the final in Eindhoven. 
• Chelsea have been crowned Champions of England for a second consecutive year under Jose Mourinho. 
• Juventus have been demoted to Serie B after their involvement in the match-fixing scandal that rocks Italian football. 
• Hearts of Midlothian split the Glasgow clubs in the Scottish Premiership, finishing 2nd ahead of Rangers. 
• Olympique Lyonnais have won their 5th consecutive Ligue 1 title. 

Some notable transfers from the period: 

• Andriy Shevchenko moves from AC Milan to Chelsea. He is joined in London by Michael Ballack. 
• Carlos Tevez joins West Ham United. 
• Ruud Van Nistlerooy trades Old Trafford for the Santiago Bernabeu. 
• Patrick Viera and Zlatan Ibrahimovic jump ship from relegated Juventus to rivals Inter Milan. 
• Ronaldo joins AC Milan from Real Madrid. 
• Sergio Aguero signs for Atletico Madrid. 

Villarreal have just come off a season in which they finished 7th in La Liga, but reached the UEFA Champions League semi-finals where they lost out to Arsenal. The club will, therefore, compete in the EURO Vase competition with a view to qualifying for the UEFA Cup. 

Our media prediction is 5th, and a look around the other teams suggest our main rivals for the European places will be Valencia, Sevilla, Betis, Atletico Madrid, Espanyol, Osasuna, Real Zaragoza, and Deportivo. I expect it to be a very competitive league this season (gulps!). 

So what is our squad like at the start of the game:

I'm pretty content with the team. I think it will give me something to work with in the first part of the season, though how well I'll utilise what I have at my disposal remains to be seen. 

I have a few things on my to-do list that I'll crack on with before my next update (training, tactics, contracts, staff etc.), but I should note that as well as having the major European leagues loaded, I've also loaded all of the South American ones, as I intend to continue Villarreal's transfer policy under Manuel Pellegrini which involved utilising the South American market. 

I'll be sure to explain my thinking behind the tactics I set up and we'll see how it goes. I have a bad feeling about this...

 

 

[Tikka Mezzala]

I've set up a training regime that seems logical to me, but the effects of the regime will only be apparent after a few months of the season. I won't go into too much detail about it, because it really is pretty straightforward. I've set different schedules to cover different positions, and in each schedule the emphasis is placed on the key attributes for that position. I'll be keeping an eye on two things going forward: (a) the impact of training on the attributes of the players; (b) the impact of training on fitness (condition, injuries etc). If I'm happy with both of those things going forward, this will be the basis of my approach to training from here on in. 

I've had to make a rather quick decision about tactics because of our involvement in the EURO Vase competition. Instead of having friendlies to experiment in, I'm pretty much having to hit the ground running if I'm going to be involved in European football past the summer. The draw for the EURO Vase has pitted us against the winner of Dinaburg v FC Moscow. We're without question the favourites against either of those sides, but I'm not confident about getting things right tactically without having some free hits in the form of friendlies. So I'm a little bit nervous about our season hitting the rocks before it even begins. 

My thinking behind this shape is simple: we have limited options in the wide areas due to Robert Pires' long-term injury (8-9 months). The likes of Jose Mari, Ordonez, and Marcos are sub-standard for a team who want to finish in the top six. Cani can play across the AM strata, but there's little cover for him should he get injured/need a rest. The only other option for a wide player is Senna who could be moved to the MR position, but I think he'd be wasted out there. 

Given that we have options at CB, have decent attacking wingbacks, options in the CF area, and two capable AMCs (Cani and Mati Fernandez), this shape seemed like the best choice. I can't say I'm entirely comfortable with a three at the back shape, and I don't like having one player on the flanks, but this will be a learning experience. 

Having done some digging about in the tactical archives, it seems that a good strategy for this edition of FM is to create individual mentalities for the different strata of the team, with the mentality increasing slightly as you work your way forward. Depending on how attacking/defensive you want to be, you start your mentality ladder on an appropriate number for your approach and go from there. I'm going to be very pragmatic here and create many iterations of this shape that will range from my base mentality structure (11-15/16) to a much more defensive approach (1-6/7). I will also throw in a highly attacking one in case I am chasing a game. 

My research has also provided some insight into an approach for our DF line, width, tempo, and pressing. According to the tactical gurus of yonder year, DF line and closing down should be set at the mid-range of your mentality ladder. So in my 11-16 system, we might set these at 13 or 14. I think this makes some sense, so I'm happy to give it a bash and see how it goes. However, there is another school of thought that would have us scale our closing down back the further we get away from our CFs. I'm inclined to agree that my CBs shouldn't be closing down too much, because my memories of these early FMs are littered with defenders getting drawn here, there and everywhere by pacey forwards. I'd like my CBs to be a bit more conservative. Perhaps I'll allow the wider CBs to close down a bit more and have the central one holding his position. This is ideally where friendlies would allow an experiment. 

I've read quite a few different theories about width and tempo and I'm really going to have to allow experimentation to dictate how I use these things going forward. I think these things are often linked to a tactical style, but I prefer to use them situationally. As a basic rule, I'm going to keep them close to neutral and play around with them in different scenarios. Then maybe it'll become clear what the best approach is for my team. 

In terms of the individual player instructions, I'd like my two CMs to be conservative, so they will not typically be making forward runs and I'm going to limit their creative freedom. The AMC is going to be our playmaker (hopefully Riquelme can help here when he returns from his loan at Boca Juniors), so I am going to have to mess around with the instructions to see what gets the best out of him. In theory, I don't think he should be making forward runs, because I want him to get on the ball in deeper areas. I'll experiment with a free role for Mati Fernandez and see how he fares. The WBs should be making forward runs and I'd like them to offer plenty of assists from crosses. We have a variety of CFs with differing strengths, but ideally the partnership up there should have someone who is concerned mainly with finishing off moves, and someone who is more willing to get involved in the build up. I'll play around with the mentality of the creative CF and have a tinker with forward runs, through balls etc. 

The other parts of the tactical setup will be played around with over the early part of the season. Things like marking, use of a target man, counter-attacking, tackling intensity, creative freedom etc. But the above is my thinking ahead of playing any games and seeing things in action. 

We only have around £3m in the transfer budget, and £5m in the bank. So we aren't going to be bringing in any marquee signings. Thankfully, back in the summer of '06 you could still sign decent players without having to pay astronomical fees. So it's possible we might be able to add a new face or two. I'm tempted to look for a winger in the market, but at the same time I'm reluctant to play with wingers while we still have little depth there. So it might be better to focus on a CB who can give us more depth and be ready to step in when our ageing backline needs replacing. Being somewhat faithful to real life here, my prime target would be this fella:

Valued at only £210k, 20 y/o Diego Godin would be an excellent addition to our squad. Assuming I can get him for under £1m, it would also allow us to probe for more cheap options on the South American continent. I'll list a few people I have in my thoughts at the moment:

No bid have been made so far, but Godin will be the first pursuit. I expect we'll be able to hash something out with Nacional that doesn't eat up our budget, and then we'll see where we stand.