FM24 | A Sporting Heritage | The Guajes of Gijón

[Shrewnaldo]

Promoted, so now what?

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

Promoted in second place, we limped over the line on the final day by the narrowest of margins. Having lost the Asturian derby in Oviedo, we'd handed the advantage to Levante - who had defeated champions-elect Almeríá to be in charge of their own destiny on the final day. Two early goals for Osasuna, themselves battling for the final playoff spot, opened the door for us and, despite going 1-0 down at Elche, we were able to seize a difficult 2-1 victory, second spot and promotion to La Liga.

Again, it was defensive solidity that really carried us forward - having the best defence in the league by 8 goals (or 25%) is rather impressive. At the other end of the pitch, our goalscoring improved by 15 goals (25%) on last season, despite Uroš Sremčević going on a 15-hour barren spell right in the middle of the season. Instead, our top scorer was Pablo Pérez - the former Guaje signed on a free from Primera club Rayo Majadahonda.

 

Looking back through Pérez's 14 league goals, only 6 were scored from the ground - 5 with his right foot and 1 on his left. The remaining 8 were headers with 2 from corners and 1 from a free-kick. All of which explains his success over previous strikers - 6'2" with 16 jumping reach and elite level strength, aggression, bravery and work rate... he is really well suited for getting his bonce on the end of a few crosses.

And I think this is the sole explanation for his stats exceeding the other options at 9. He makes 3.77 shots per 90, cf 1.54 and 1.68 for Quiepo and Sremčević respectively - correlating nicely with their individual aerial records. Again, Pérez is miles clear of the younger two with a quite phenomenal 57% aerial success rate and double the number of attempts compared to the average of the other two.

It's interesting that Sremčević has a better conversion rate than Pérez and takes better quality shots than the latter (0.19xG/shot cf 0.13) but that hasn't mitigated against the far, far lower volume. All of which tells me that I really need to be looking at aerially dominant strikers or a change of approach (my two best newgen strikers are 5'10 and 5'9" with 6 and 3 for jumping reach...)

The other key performers were wingbacks Guille Rosas and Pablo García, and my preferred pairing at 10 - loanee Aarón Molinas and guaje Gaspar. I'm hoping that promotion will stave off any thoughts Rosas and Gaspar have of leaving, whilst Molinas' future is somewhat in my hands. He has a £5.25m future fee in his loan deal from Boca Juniors and I am sorely tempted to activate it. 

 

Compared to the average 10 from last season, his performances have been exceptional and ideally I'd like to keep him.

But £5.25m is quite the chunk of our £10m prospective budget for next year and there are any number of gaps which that money could be used to fill. If Quiepo could stay fit then he might develop such that we don't Molinas but this season has convinced me that Nacho Méndez and Fran Villalba can both be allowed to leave. The former is a guaje but just isn't of the required quality, whilst Villalba looks like he should be a primary creator but doesn't consistently come up with the goods. 

Having convinced the board to let me keep 100% of any outgoing sale fees, selling Villalba for something around £3-4m would go a long way to covering that Molinas fee... that would leave me with Molinas, Gaspar and Quiepo capable of covering two 10 spots... but that's assuming I stick with the current shape.

On the left is what I've been using for most of this season and on the right is what I'm considering switching to, or at least having in our pocket as a fallback option.. The below is a typical example of our defensive shape with the 5-2-2-1, the two AMs being #20 and #19, splitting wide.

My concern is that the two DMs collapse back towards the defensive line too much. Whilst I like that, in the screenshot above, they're making a pass to the opposition 9 and 10 impossible, I don't like how much space they surrender in front of them. I wonder if one DM to protect that space and prevent that pass into the strikers' feet would suffice, whilst two MCs pressing a little ahead of the DM protects the central space better. The trade-off is going to be in wide areas - the two 10s, as you can see in the screenshot above, will drop wide when we're out of possession and almost make it a 5-4-1 in defence. It's not always the most effective 5-4-1 but I think a switch to 5-diamond-1 would rob us of some of that natural width. Defending on the ball's side should be fine but the narrower midfield would leave the far side exposed to quick switches of play.

I'd wanted to experiment with the 5-diamond-1 variant a bit more this season, but was constrained by how tight the promotion push was. Funnily enough, I was forced into in for the final game of the season due to available personnel and you can see an example of what I feared here:

Our midfield diamond has been drawn to our right flank as Elche have attacked down their left and they're now recycling the ball back through the centre-backs. The right-most player in the 3 of their 2-3-5 shape is the danger man here - completely free and with masses of space in front of him. A quick switch before we can shuffle across could see him driving at our back line and with a series of 1v1s in front of him.

With the ball, I've also found that a single 10 tends to get lost - in the Elche game, Molinas made only 30 passes which is about half of his average output when played as one of two 10s. I think I would prefer to keep the two 10s but encourage the DMs not to collapse back on top of the centre-backs quite so readily. Perhaps this is something to (attempt to) sort during pre-season.

A pre-season which promises to be exceedingly busy, for 10 isn't the only position in question. Far from it. In fact, I'd say that only goalkeeper and the wingback slots are fairly secure (barring outgoings). Cuban goalie Christian Joel Sanchéz was given the #1 spot this season - as a guaje, I wanted to give him the opportunity to develop ahead of Rubén Yáñez. Still only 25, I think Sanchéz is 'just fine' for a season or two, whilst I give the B-team 'keepers a chance to exceed expectations.

At wing-back, the phenomenal Guille Rosas continues to excel but he was surpassed by the surprise package of the season Pablo García. I had ear-marked Diego Sánchez, sold to and re-loaned from Southampton, as the incumbent on the left flank but García made the position his own after January - leading the league with 1.14 chances created per 90 (in 1496 minutes).

The increased game time for Sánchez, Rosas and García has seen a boost to the proportion of minutes given to guajes - taking a healthy jump towards our 50% target.

I think it's likely that next season will see these numbers take a, hopefully temporary, drop. There are very few guajes of La Liga quality and most of these won't be coming back to El Molinero any time soon. Bordeaux's Pedro Díaz would be a welcome addition but looks set for the gold mine in Saudi Arabia, whilst Olympiakos' Jorge Meré isn't going to swap continental football for a return to Asturias just yet. The one genuine option for a return is Espanyol's José Gragera.

Just two La Liga starts last season and a player that I would absolutely love to bring back - possibly as a 6 but more likely as a centre back. Sadly Espanyol narrowly avoided relegation and Gragera's asking price is likely to remain high - within reach but, similar to Molinas, one that would dominate the outgoings and constrain us elsewhere.

And with so many gaps to fill, I just don't think I can splash £5m on a single player. Loanee centre back Rafa Marín has been excellent throughout his 3856 minutes but will return to Real Madrid and leave a big gap to fill; Jonathan Varane, Mario Lemina and Nacho Martín are solid options at 6 but will need some quality back-ups... potentially from B-team promotions; and I'm going to need at least one striker to supplement the unexpectedly excellent but entirely expectedly aging Pérez.

Yes, there are options in the B-team who would have been promoted for a season in La Liga 2, but are they good enough for the top tier? Probably not. I don't see much merit in accepting relegation with sub-standard players just to meet arbitrary targets. Instead, the reputation boost from continued La Liga membership should improve the newgen quality and lead to longer-term benefit. Combined with the successful re-negotiation of our affiliate deals with Orlegi clubs Atlas Guadalajara and Santos Laguna - such that Mexican newgens from these clubs should start coming through our intake - we're building towards something 4-6 seasons down the line.

And so this summer is likely to see us pick up a handful of quality players that can fill a temporary gap to keep us up. But I have no intention of abandoning the principles of the save completely and so I will be looking for experienced players with positive personalities that I hope will mentor the raft of talent that we have coming though. Another busy summer awaits.

¡Siempre Sporting!

[Shrewnaldo]

1 hour ago, _Ben_ said:

Really good work Shrew - clear to see that this has stuck and you're engaging with it as well as enjoying the success.

Will have a deeper dig through stuff over the next day or so but can I get an update on the above lad please. I'd said about a DLF but interested to see what he looks like a year on...

Surely. For comparison, this was Soriano when he came through:

And here he is now:

You'll notice that he's now an AMC but has really struggled for game time which has probably held him back. 

Weirdly, his free-kick taking ability has got worse by two points but his dribbling and off the ball have improved, along with a significant jump in some of his physicals. I don't tend to use a DLF, but perhaps if I switch away from two 10s then a move to two 9s is a natural progression in which case I'd definitely be looking for one of them to be a DLF type player

[SixPointer]

I agree with your tactical pondering. It’s a fine balance especially with narrow systems, the switch of play can be deadly. I’m thinking about a 4132 or maybe even a 4321 the old Xmas tree, I’ve really not settled tactically yet. Using a. 4231 is abit boring. But looking  at your thought process has brought mine to life. 
 

Also the step up in opponent will be a big influence on your decision. 

[Shrewnaldo]

So I've discovered why I can't improve the youth facilities. There is a bug where you are prevented for asking for upgrades if you share youth facilities with an affiliate club. Our agreement with E.F. Mareo Logroño not only includes this type of deal, but it is a long-term deal which cannot be cancelled.

Therefore, I am in the sub-optimal position of needing to buy the in-game editor so that I can cancel the link and overcome the bug. Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to use the in-game editor to just remove the sharing of facilities 

So I bought the in-game editor and removed the link... then holidayed to test that it would work... and holidayed... and holidayed... and holidayed. The option never appeared. I've tried other ways of editing the link but none of them seem to bring back the option to request upgraded youth facilities. 

So I'm a little stumped. My last option is just to use the in-game editor to bump my facilities and then subtract what I consider to be a reasonable amount of money from the club's balance. So, a couple of questions:

1. Has anyone else come across this bug previously and know a way around it?

2. If not, how much is a reasonable cost for upgrading the youth training facilities from 'Great' (3 1/2 stars)? I'm thinking £2m?

 

[ifinnem]

Can you not just remove the affiliate entirely with the editor. Then get the option working and re add the affiliate if needed?

[Shrewnaldo]

3 minutes ago, ifinnem said:

Can you not just remove the affiliate entirely with the editor. Then get the option working and re add the affiliate if needed?

No that's what I tried. But the option to request improvements to the youth facilities has never re-appeared, and I holidayed forward about 6 months as a test.

Which makes me wonder whether the problem really is this affiliate link or something else?

[ifinnem]

Oh I misunderstood, thought you just changed the sharing facilities option. That is frustrating 

[Shrewnaldo]

2 hours ago, ifinnem said:

Oh I misunderstood, thought you just changed the sharing facilities option. That is frustrating 

I've tried a different experiment, using the in-game editor to reduce the youth facilities to 9 out of 20. And then the option appears to ask for an improvement. So it turns out that the affiliate is not blocking it after all and perhaps it's not even a bug. It's just that I can't even ask the board if they'll improve our youth training facilities despite them being downgraded whilst we were in La Liga 2 and us then getting promoted... I don't understand

[ifinnem]

Did you try experiment by raising the team rep and see if that unlocks it?

[Shrewnaldo]

7 hours ago, ifinnem said:

Did you try experiment by raising the team rep and see if that unlocks it?

No but that's a good shout. It feels odd to me that rep would only constrain the youth facilities and not the training, junior coaching or youth recruitment. And to the point where the option just doesn't appear.

I don't get it. The options almost always appear for everything else and they just say no if the parameters aren't aligned. 

[Shrewnaldo]

19 hours ago, ifinnem said:

Did you try experiment by raising the team rep and see if that unlocks it?

So I did this and instantly the Youth Facilities option has become available.

And now I'm left with a conundrum. In the second tier, we had 4* youth facilities and were able to improve our training facilities to 4.5*, plus max out our junior coaching and youth recruitment. Then our youth facilities were downgraded due to technological developments. And clubs with the same reputation as us (3.5*) have up to 4.5* youth facilities (Girona).

I think I'll stick it out until the end of this season and see what happens. Assuming we get another rep boost then hopefully it should sort itself out. If not I may revert to the in-game editor.

[youthintake]

2 minutes ago, Shrewnaldo said:

So I did this and instantly the Youth Facilities option has become available.

And now I'm left with a conundrum. In the second tier, we had 4* youth facilities and were able to improve our training facilities to 4.5*, plus max out our junior coaching and youth recruitment. Then our youth facilities were downgraded due to technological developments. And clubs with the same reputation as us (3.5*) have up to 4.5* youth facilities (Girona).

I think I'll stick it out until the end of this season and see what happens. Assuming we get another rep boost then hopefully it should sort itself out. If not I may revert to the in-game editor.

I was in the same situation in my save, but once I was properly in LaLiga, the board was happy to upgrade my facilities.

 

The B-team situation has to do with rep, as well, luckily your team got promoted right away.

[Shrewnaldo]

Half a window

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

I was expecting a busy summer and frantic transfer window but, having made some early moves to bring in the priority targets, the last month or so just sauntered on past without much fanfare. This was not through choice. Indeed, I was desperate to bring in more players but simply ran out of money and couldn't move players on as I'd expected, leaving me with a couple of unwanted players and a squad that I'm less than convinced will keep us in the league.

The signings we did manage should come as no surprise to those who had been reading the thread to date. José Gragera is a former-guaje who was struggling for game time at Espanyol and has cost me more than I'd have expected for someone who got two starts last term. But Gragera is one of the few options for former academy players and, following retraining, can fill a concerning gap as a ball-playing centre back.

Where Gragera will play on the right, Marín will play the cover role in the middle and joins permanently following a successful loan period from Real last term. He was outstanding in the promotion campaign and is certain to make us a tasty profit if nothing else. Over-performing our centre-back averages from the 2023/24 season in all but two metrics, and in some cases massively exceeded them, he was a no-brainer at just £1.2m and £4400 a week.

Molinas also made his loan spell permanent when I activated his £5.25m optional fee despite Boca indicating they wanted to stick him in the first team next season. Similarly standing out statistically, Molinas had a net possession impact (possession won minus possession lost) of 7.28 per 90 cf the 23/24 average of 4.36, creating 0.71 chances per 90 (cf 0.41) and with expected assists of 0.24/90 (cf 0.15). He was such a huge step up from Fran Villalba that the latter played only 763 minutes and was destined for the exit.

Indeed, Villalba's exit formed quite a significant part of my strategy as I anticipated using the proceeds from his sale to fund a couple more first-team signings - particularly an additional centre back and a physical forward. And then the contract demands started...

Five or six players complained that their deals were no longer commensurate with their ability, or La Liga football, and demanded significant increases that I couldn't really resist. There were even a number of players whose wage was below the minimum required for La Liga registration and I had to give them new deals or they'd be unable to play. All of which meant that I would have to use Villalba's fee to increase my now bust wage budget. Bust to the tune of £17,266 a week (10% of my £173,930p/w budget). 

Worth noting that despite busting our budget we are still very much the pauper of the league - with our wage bill 50% below the next lowest (Elche), 15.7% of the league's average and 3.2% of Real Madrid's.

And then we ran into another problem. Villalba wouldn't leave. First he rejected contract offers from Tenerife and Levante, and then all interest disappeared completely. No-one was interested at any price. With his contract expiring next summer and in desperate need of the funds, I tried all the options but came up blank.

As such, the only other deals we could manage were a free Mexican centre back to fill out the B-team, a rotation right-back / centre-back on loan from Mexican affiliate Club América and a 6'4" Slovakian striker who had massively over-performed in the Segunda.

The last deal is exactly the sort I'm looking to replicate more and more - a loan deal for a Mexican player who looks like he could have a bit of talent and wants to put himself in the shop window for a potential move to Europe. Espinoza is far from being the best Mexican prospect but he's clearly got something about him and has been put in my B-team to prove himself until the winter break. 

Barring the financial constraints, I'd have liked to spend a lot more on bringing in under-20 players to strengthen the B-team. I'm pretty pleased with the prospects that we have at 17 or younger - but those between 18 and 22 are short of where I'd want them to be. There's maybe 3 or 4, shown in the posts above, who I think could be good squad players but only one, Lucas Ferraras, who I think will be a solid first-teamer. That left scope for a handful of, preferably Mexican, arrivals to fill those gaps. Maybe next summer.

In the meantime, I thought it'd be useful to check in on the first newgen intake - particularly to gauge how problematic our lagging youth facilities are. Of the prospects outlined in the first intake, all are progressing relatively well. The worst performer is 'keeper Roberto Vacas but he didn't get much game time last season - prompting me to let incumbent Nel González leave. Centre-back Welton looks like he's going to be excellent, whilst Jaime Luis - of the excellent moustache - and Francesc Polo are now 4.5* prospects. Particularly pleasing has been Luis Ochoa.

In a little over 16 months, Ochoa has grown an inch and put on half a stone in weight. More importantly, his attributes are soaring. To do it all in bullets would make a long list but: Corners +2, Crossing +1, Dribbling +3, Finishing 0, First Touch +1, Free Kick Taking 0, Heading +1, Long Shots +1, Long Throws 0, Marking +1, Passing +2, Penalties 0, Tackling 0, Technique +2; Aggression 0, Anticipation +3, Bravery 0, Composure +3, Concentration +1, Decisions 0, Determination 0, Flair, +2, Leadership +1, Off the Ball +3, Positioning 0, Teamwork +1, Vision +2, Work Rate 0; Acceleration +3, Agility +3, Balance +1, Jumping Reach +1, Natural Fitness +1, Pace +2, Stamina +1, Strength +2.

• Technicals:   +14
• Mentals:       +16 
• Physicals:     +14

44 attribute points in a little over a year. I mean wow. And somehow he's picked up a trait I didn't train him.

30 games for the under-19s last season and a positional training regime - AP(S) - along with alternating additional foci has produced the goods so far. And he's only 16. Ochoa, more than anything else, gives me great hope for the development system I'm trying to run here.

My one remaining uncertainty is about the transition from under-19s to B-team. I had intended to keep the newgens in the under-19s until they were too old, then they'd progress into the B-team for one or two seasons before finally making the jump to the first team. Obviously this can be accelerated in exceptional circumstances but I'm now wondering whether I need to have another step for more than just the exception. I've knocked back any number of Primera and Segunda loan offers for my under-19 players this summer - with our B-team being in the Primera I could just use my own system instead. But assuming the B-team is promoted this season or next... would Ochoa as he is now be good enough for Liga 2? Probably not. But certainly the Segunda and perhaps the Primera.

With the C-team not showing any signs of promotion into senior football, we could look to re-negotiate our affiliate deals with Cultural Leonesa or Lealtad, both Segunda clubs, and use them as that interim step. That, however, is tomorrow-Shrew's problem. Today-Shrew is more worried about top-flight survival with a questionable squad.

The target is 32 points, which would have seen us survive comfortably in the last two seasons. Having been given an incredibly generous start with home games against the other two promoted sides and trips to Mallorca and Granada, we're 25% of the way there after four games... With a trip to La Real and then a visit from Atlético next on the agenda, I suspect it is only downhill from here.

¡Siempre Sporting!

Edited January 30 by Shrewnaldo

[SixPointer]

Some beautiful growth from Ochoa. Out of interest do you control his full training and add him into the senior team unit? Youth development is something I really need to get better at. 

[OYTNANAK]

15 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Besides the attribute growth (which is really insane), his potential also went up from 2,5 yellow stars to 4 yellow stars. I know that the stars are just based on one of your staff's opinion, but still. I'm getting a lot of players like Luis Ochoa who just came through they youth intake only having 2,5 yellow stars (3,5 white stars) potential... my question is: should I take those guys into my team too and hope that my staff's opinion on their potentials are wrong? Or did you just get lucky with Ochoa.

 

5 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Some beautiful growth from Ochoa. Out of interest do you control his full training and add him into the senior team unit? Youth development is something I really need to get better at. 

And this, can you share how you develop your youngsters? Thanks ahead!

[_Ben_]

16 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

In a little over 16 months, Ochoa has grown an inch and put on half a stone in weight. More importantly, his attributes are soaring. To do it all in bullets would make a long list but: Corners +2, Crossing +1, Dribbling +3, Finishing 0, First Touch +1, Free Kick Taking 0, Heading +1, Long Shots +1, Long Throws 0, Marking +1, Passing +2, Penalties 0, Tackling 0, Technique +2; Aggression 0, Anticipation +3, Bravery 0, Composure +3, Concentration +1, Decisions 0, Determination 0, Flair, +2, Leadership +1, Off the Ball +3, Positioning 0, Teamwork +1, Vision +2, Work Rate 0; Acceleration +3, Agility +3, Balance +1, Jumping Reach +1, Natural Fitness +1, Pace +2, Stamina +1, Strength +2.

• Technicals:   +14
• Mentals:       +16 
• Physicals:     +14

44 attribute points in a little over a year. I mean wow. And somehow he's picked up a trait I didn't train him.

 

I read this as I’ve been toying with the idea of bringing attributes back into my Statman skin in certain areas and this kind of attention to detail is what I’ve missing and have been craving with youth development, which has always been my favourite element. I’ve enjoyed the post and I must thank you for helping to make my decision on the skin. 

[Shrewnaldo]

11 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Some beautiful growth from Ochoa. Out of interest do you control his full training and add him into the senior team unit? Youth development is something I really need to get better at. 

 

5 hours ago, OYTNANAK said:

Besides the attribute growth (which is really insane), his potential also went up from 2,5 yellow stars to 4 yellow stars. I know that the stars are just based on one of your staff's opinion, but still. I'm getting a lot of players like Luis Ochoa who just came through they youth intake only having 2,5 yellow stars (3,5 white stars) potential... my question is: should I take those guys into my team too and hope that my staff's opinion on their potentials are wrong? Or did you just get lucky with Ochoa.

 

And this, can you share how you develop your youngsters? Thanks ahead!

 

There's always been a bit of variation in the reporting (which I think it totally fine) but it does seem to have increased in recent years. Ochoa is far from being my only example of players whose potential has increased since spawning. In fact, nearly all of them now have higher potential star ratings. Jaime Luis, Welton, Alejandro Soriano and Francesc Polo all now have 4 gold stars and an additional grey star, compared to 3 and 4 when they came through.

So I wouldn't write your players off at all. I'd be tempted to give nearly every newgen a chance.

Maybe I can do something fuller about trying to maximise development, if you're both interested.

4 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

I read this as I’ve been toying with the idea of bringing attributes back into my Statman skin in certain areas and this kind of attention to detail is what I’ve missing and have been craving with youth development, which has always been my favourite element. I’ve enjoyed the post and I must thank you for helping to make my decision on the skin. 

Are you going to create another version of Statman with the numericals back?

It's interesting how different my game has been when I'm trying to play this way. In my Feralpi / Hellas game, I did a lot of micro-managing individual matches and spent a lot of time tactically planning for games. In this save, I've even stopped playing on Comprehensive - instead my focus is now elsewhere and I'm itching to just get to newgen day. Same game, different focus, very different experience.

[OYTNANAK]

14 minutes ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Maybe I can do something fuller about trying to maximise development, if you're both interested.

Thanks for the answer. And yes, I am interested. 

[_Ben_]

2 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Are you going to create another version of Statman with the numericals back?

Yes! A hybrid of both performance data and attributes will be coming, soon. I don’t want to derail your thread with it; the quality of your discussion and planning is too good!

[lfds89]

Em 24/01/2024 em 22:15, Shrewnaldo disse:

...and that looks much tastier than either the preview or last year's intake. So here goes...

Sorry for going back so much. Something caught my attention: have you set your new HOYD to be responsible for the youth intake? I'm asking this because it was your DOF presenting the info, which might suggest it's him responsible for it.

 

The change in the affiliate link is great for your purposes. Getting those Mexican youngsters from teams with such high reputation in their countries will certainly help you a lot.

[Shrewnaldo]

2 hours ago, lfds89 said:

Sorry for going back so much. Something caught my attention: have you set your new HOYD to be responsible for the youth intake? I'm asking this because it was your DOF presenting the info, which might suggest it's him responsible for it.

 

The change in the affiliate link is great for your purposes. Getting those Mexican youngsters from teams with such high reputation in their countries will certainly help you a lot.

That's a great spot - I confess that I'd missed that completely. I've just checked and my HoYD is down on the staff responsibilities page as being assigned this task. I don't know if something got mixed up last season when I sacked my old HOYD and appointed the new guy? Quite possibly because the personalities don't seem to align with the HOYD at all... which reminds me that I should source a new DoF whilst I'm at it.

100% agree on the affiliates. I'm really looking forward to the newgen spawn day this season as I'm really hopeful, given the upgrade in youth recruitment and rep alongside the affiliate links, that it'll be a great one.

[Shrewnaldo]

At the halfway point and we're well on our way to the 32-point target that should see us survive.

The January window has opened and we could do with a couple of reinforcements. I'm weighing up going for a striker to support Pérez (0.47 goals per 90 but starting to pick up a few injuries) and Sremčević (0.55 goals per 90 but massively skewed by a hat-trick against cup no-hopers). I think the latter will come good but is wildly inconsistent at just 19. 

However, I'm of a mind to just promote one of the B-team strikers and give them a shot. I don't think either Oyón or Tzalo will be good enough to 'make it' but this feels like an opportunity for a free hit. We're probably unlikely to go down from here... although being only 6 points clear, I'm thinking I might need more than 32 to stay up this season... and I'm not too keen on bringing in someone who will stifle future development opportunities for either Sremčević or the Mareo youngsters.

So the other option is a loan or bringing in Pedro. The now 38 year-old former Barca and Chelsea winger is still turning in top performances for Alavés in the second tier and would make a perfect tutor with his Model Professional personality. All very tempting.

I've also continued the Mexican recruitment focus, bringing in Alejandro Gómez for just £475k. I was quoted £4m for him in the summer but his contract was expiring next December and our affiliate Santos Laguna were happy to let him go on the cheap. Gómez becomes the 8th Mexican at El Molinón, including two on loan, and whilst he won't become a star player, I really liked this trend we're developing. We started with youth players coming through, moved into B-team support players and can now attract squad players. Mexico is relatively high-rep and the clubs play well so we're not yet able to attract the real stars of Liga MX but we're getting there.

¡Siempre Sporting!

[Lestri]

2 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

At the halfway point and we're well on our way to the 32-point target that should see us survive.

The January window has opened and we could do with a couple of reinforcements. I'm weighing up going for a striker to support Pérez (0.47 goals per 90 but starting to pick up a few injuries) and Sremčević (0.55 goals per 90 but massively skewed by a hat-trick against cup no-hopers). I think the latter will come good but is wildly inconsistent at just 19. 

However, I'm of a mind to just promote one of the B-team strikers and give them a shot. I don't think either Oyón or Tzalo will be good enough to 'make it' but this feels like an opportunity for a free hit. We're probably unlikely to go down from here... although being only 6 points clear, I'm thinking I might need more than 32 to stay up this season... and I'm not too keen on bringing in someone who will stifle future development opportunities for either Sremčević or the Mareo youngsters.

So the other option is a loan or bringing in Pedro. The now 38 year-old former Barca and Chelsea winger is still turning in top performances for Alavés in the second tier and would make a perfect tutor with his Model Professional personality. All very tempting.

I've also continued the Mexican recruitment focus, bringing in Alejandro Gómez for just £475k. I was quoted £4m for him in the summer but his contract was expiring next December and our affiliate Santos Laguna were happy to let him go on the cheap. Gómez becomes the 8th Mexican at El Molinón, including two on loan, and whilst he won't become a star player, I really liked this trend we're developing. We started with youth players coming through, moved into B-team support players and can now attract squad players. Mexico is relatively high-rep and the clubs play well so we're not yet able to attract the real stars of Liga MX but we're getting there.

¡Siempre Sporting!

I always love the ageing professional with great mentoring ability signing. So I am pro Pedro!

[Shrewnaldo]

22 hours ago, Lestri said:

I always love the ageing professional with great mentoring ability signing. So I am pro Pedro!

You'll be loving this then?

[Lestri]

34 minutes ago, Shrewnaldo said:

You'll be loving this then?

😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

[ATV]

On 24/01/2024 at 22:15, Shrewnaldo said:

The Second Intake

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

I'm flying through the save, loving it, and have already reached the second youth intake day... and it looks rather promising. Just like last time, I'm going to go through it 'live' on this post.

As a reminder, this was the rather uninspiring preview:

...which prompted me to sack the Head of Youth Development and replace him with a newgen staff member that has a better personality, leading to this intake.

...and that looks much tastier than either the preview or last year's intake. So here goes...

Manuel Navarro

Centre back 'elite talent'

I like the aggression and boy are the physicals better than last year's intake. Balanced personality is mid, as my son would say, and Determination of 7 will need to be increased. But nothing is catastrophically low - Heading and Marking of 7 will need a bit of work but technicals should increase nicely over time and it's always nice to have a left-footed centre back with a bit of pace. This is an excellent start to the intake, particularly knowing that centre back has a number of gaps in our squad planner across the B-team and under-19s.

Raimundo Montiel

LB/CB - 'elite talent'

Oddly Montiel is listed as a left-back only for me to notice that he's only natural at centre-back... this bug has existed in FM for years and it's so infuriating... anyway, another left-footed centre-back with better physicals but poorer in the air that Navarro. Personality is mid again. I'm thinking Montiel might make a better wingback afterall, or perhaps a defensive 6. He seems to be pretty well-rounded but the low Dribbling and Flair would push me away from a wingback role that I'd want to be more creative. I'll hold off for a while and see if his aerial ability improves in a few years.

Carlos Rojas

Ball-winning 6

Yikes, that personality. 'Temperamental' means he has low Professionalism and that can be a killer for development... which is a real shame because just look at those mentals! He looks like he'd be an absolutely phenomenal ball-winner at 6 so I'm immediately thinking that Perfectionist Mario Lemina will be asked to mentor Rojas and encourage him to realise the obvious potential that he has. The physicals might have started on the low side but the technicals are just about there and those mentals...

Tomás

Playmaking 6 - 'top talent'

Much better personality and your eye is automatically drawn to his outstanding Passing and Determination, plus Technique and Teamwork - so the playmaking 6 role looks about right. Low Flair would keep him in a deep role, to my mind, whilst there are obvious defensive deficiencies to keep him away from a ball-winning role.

Javier Bravo

Shadow Striker - 'top talent'

Again, physicals are just so much better this time around... and 14 for Dribbling, Flair and Technique could make for a fun watch. But there are quite a few gaps for me - his mentals are particularly concerning without Anticipation, Off the Ball and Vision. Is he a creator or a finisher... or neither? I can't say I'm overly excited by Bravo - although he reminds me of Alex Lozano who I've just played twice in the league due to injury troubles... I wasn't too bothered about Lozano but he's scored in both games so... maybe I should shut up

Hugo Quinones

Playmaking 10 - 'top talent'

Decent beard for 15. Fair play.

Physicals are a massive yikes, although at least the Natural Fitness may imply they will increase? Another with some top-heavy eye-catching attributes at First Touch, Technique and Flair... then looking closer he only has two mental attributes below 8, and I think I'd only be looking for a prospective 10 to have better Finishing amongst his technicals. So I think Quiñones is another with real potential.

Mario Rodrígues

9 - 'top talent'

Ok... he can't jump and he'd get blown over by a light breeze but there's some real potential here. Determination and Aggression obviously catch the eye but he's also got really solid starting attributes for Dribbling, Finishing, First Touch, Technique, Flair and Off the Ball - all of which have the makings of a lovely poacher. Personally, I like my lone strikers to be more imposing physically and 5'9" / 3 Jumping and Strength... that just feels like it's never going to get up to scratch. So maybe as part of a front two...

Dani Moya

Left back - 'decent talent'

Just hang on a second there. My HoYD / coaches say he's got 2* potential... but am I crazy to think there's a player here? The mentals are impressive enough with only Concentration something that might cause any concern for a defensive player. Technically, he's only 3 points away from double-figures on Marking and Tackling. His Spirited personality implies decent Professionalism, as does Level-Headed media handling. I don't use them at the moment but I can see a solid inverted full-back in Moya, despite being rated as the second worst of my intake.

And he's been using the same beard oil as Quiñones.

-----------------------------------------

Outside of that, there are 6 'good talents' and 2 'decent talents' which I think are complete duds. But we've got 8 players out of this intake who look genuinely quite handy. I think Rojas, if we can sort out his personality, is the most promising of the bunch so he'll probably come straight into the first-team training set-up so I can organise that mentoring (what a stupid system that is by the way - surely they can be mentored without need to train with the first team. Ridiculous).

 

@-Jef- I think, from the Evidence Based FM video, that only the HoYD's personality directly influences the personalities of the intake, but I'm not 100% sure. I always pay attention to the personality of the staff regardless, though - more out of superstition that any knowledge of its impact. I'm very happy to be enlightened otherwise.

interesting that the DoF did this years intake, after you removed the previous HOYD. Have you changed the staff responsibilities so DoF now does it? (I'm still a page behind on updates so forgive me if there is an update in future reading)

Edited February 3 by ATV
question answered

[Shrewnaldo]

On 31/01/2024 at 14:12, Shrewnaldo said:

That's a great spot - I confess that I'd missed that completely. I've just checked and my HoYD is down on the staff responsibilities page as being assigned this task. I don't know if something got mixed up last season when I sacked my old HOYD and appointed the new guy? Quite possibly because the personalities don't seem to align with the HOYD at all... which reminds me that I should source a new DoF whilst I'm at it.

100% agree on the affiliates. I'm really looking forward to the newgen spawn day this season as I'm really hopeful, given the upgrade in youth recruitment and rep alongside the affiliate links, that it'll be a great one.

 

1 hour ago, ATV said:

interesting that the DoF did this years intake, after you removed the previous HOYD. Have you changed the staff responsibilities so DoF now does it? (I'm still a page behind on updates so forgive me if there is an update in future reading)

No forgiveness needed, I'm just ashamed two people in this thread have seen it but I didn't. See my initial response above. Hopefully this year's runs properly 

I haven't yet sorted out a new DoF. I'll leave that until the summer. 

[rich ruzzian]

11 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

You'll be loving this then?

The legend 

[Shrewnaldo]

The Third Intake

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

I had high hopes for this intake. A new HoYD with his Professional personality, maxed out Youth Recruitment, maxed out Junior Coaching and an increased reputation from being in the top tier... and then, of course, we received the obligatory 'golden generation' preview... with a goalkeeper!

Of course, when the intake arrived it didn't look quite the same... but still promising? Maybe.

Three 'elite talents', two ostensibly in positions that I don't use; then four 'top talents', all in positions that I don't use... but positions are flexible so perhaps better to take a deeper look across the intake.

Elite Talents

Carlos Gil - Goalkeeper

Ok, that's a good start. Super high Determination and really good starting values for Aerial Reach, Command of Area, Concentration, Decisions and Agility - most of which can be difficult to train. Handling and Reflexes have good starting point and only his basic Positioning is uncomfortably low, for me. Of course, he's still only 16 and, as a goalkeeper, isn't likely to see the first team for 5 seasons or so - by which time we can hope that Positioning has soared.

Goalkeepers are often a difficult position to fill from youth intakes and our current goalkeeper, Cuban Christian Joel Sánchez, is just 26. Sanchez, a guaje, isn't top drawer but he'll do a job for now and gives us the time to develop Gil.

Ander Aguirre - Left-winger, or not

In classic FM style, Aguirre is listed as a position in which he is not 'Natural'. Indeed, he is naturally a striker. You can see why the game has pointed him towards the wing though as his attributes would imply that he'll be far more proficient there. Spirited isn't a terrible personality and his Determination is suitably high, whilst his physicals are much better than intake 1 and he has some really good starting attributes for Technique and Flair. Currently, we don't play wingers though - and I can't see him developing well enough at 9 to usurp our other options there... at 10? His winger attributes of Crossing and Dribbling are 2/3 points better off than his finishing attributes (Finishing / Composure) or his creative attributes (Passing / Vision). So winger he probably is.

Aguirre is just one of a number of players whose arrival and development is making me consider a switch from the current 5-2-2-1 system.

Javi - Actually a left winger

Having not played wingers, two of our elite talents in one intake play the same position. Fairly Professional is good to see, and his Determination >10 is enough for the development metric. There's some similarities with Aguirre - his creative attributes start from an even lower floor, whilst his finishing attributes are not great; but he's much more of a team player. It's a shame the 5'9" Aguirre can head but not jump; whilst the 6' Javi can't head the ball. But such is life.

Another to make me reconsider the current system we're tailoring the team towards.

Top Talents

Martín Vega - Left winger

Another one. Sigh.

In a fit of pique, I've cancelled Vega's trial and he can go find employment somewhere else. The poor Determination, the lack of pace, the lack of work ethic, a winger who can't cross. With two far superior options available in Aguirre and Javi, I was perfectly happy for Vega to pack his bags.

José Manual Ortega - A something?

What is Ortega? Except rather unfortunate on the follicle scales at 15? Super aggressive and hard-working with relatively good physicals, if a little short. Technically, he can dribble and finish - which wouldn't appear to lend itself towards the ball-winner he is professing to be. Yet he can play at 10 or 9, so perhaps a Pressing Forward? Similar to Aguirre, I don't see him being better at 9 than some of our other prospects, especially considering we only use one 9 (for the moment).

There's something about him, though.

José Antonio Vaquiero - Right winger, maybe

Another FM classic - listed as a right-winger but natural at 10. Again, though, you can see the winger-ish aspects to him. Pace, technique, flair and decent dribbling / crossing. But Vaquero also looks like a handy finisher and can pass a bit - even is his Vision is currently limited. At 5'1", though, he is the very definition of diminutive and there's no way that I'll play him at 9. Winger? Perhaps. 10? Perhaps. If we can boost his Determination to at least 10, that'll help his development along and he may offer the right-flank option to the left-wingers that arrived above.

Gabriel Vera - Right-back

We currently play wing-backs and very attacking ones, with the likes of Rosas and Garcia being our main creative outlets on the flanks. Vera really doesn't look like that sort of fullback to me, lacking the pace, dribbling or crossing to ever threaten... not to mention Off The Ball of 1. One.

And at 5'7" he's never going to be a centre-back. Yet perhaps there's something in him - defensively he's there or thereabouts for most attributes with Positioning and particularly Strength needing some help, and his passing is... ahem... passable. With the prospect of out-and-out wingers, there may be scope for a defensive fullback or, my preference, a defensive inverted wingback. With his low Vision, he's never going to be a creative IWB but using an IWB(D) could release the midfield options further forward. Again, though, this would precipitate a chance of system.

Good Talents

Seydou Diawara - 9/10

There are 6 good talents in this intake but I'm only going to highlight a couple that I think could push on and Diawara is first amongst those. Excellent Determination and a Resolute personality indicating strong Professionalism, he should develop well from what I think is a really solid base. With a shout out to intake #1, his physicals are the biggest issue but he's only 15 and already has decent Finishing, Flair and Technique. Lacking the pace to get in behind or the physicality and work rate to be a link player, I'm not entirely sure where he'd fit in but by god do I want to see some of those overhead kicks.

Pablo Giménez - Large

6'8". Six foot eight. With 19 Aggression. Yes, his defensive technicals and Positioning need some work, along with that Strength, but I reckon Giménez is going to score double figures from corners every season.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's your lot. I'm disappointed by the lack of Mexicans in the intake but there's always next year. My overall take is that I'm a bit underwhelmed. It's great to have got a 'keeper through but the other good options are all in positions that we our system doesn't use - so it's either an evolution away from the 5-2-2-1 or some time-consuming re-training to put square pegs in round holes.

I think I'll follow this up with a bit of an overview of all the best prospects and lay them out into some sort of coherent system because I get the feeling that I'll need to switch it up in order to get the best out of the guajes currently coming through Mareo. I'll couple that with an update on some of development to-date and how I've been trying to get the best out of the existing prospects. Spoiler - it's been a really disappointing season for development in some of my favourites.

That will have to be later though.

¡Siempre Sporting!

[_Ben_]

I think you’ve got yourself some good prospects here, again. Interested, more than anything, to read about the development of those from previous intakes. You mention it’s been poor - how many are getting first team minutes? Or are they B/u19 players? I can imagine it being hard to balance results and minutes after a promotion…

[rich ruzzian]

Does the favorite formation of your HOYD infleunce the yearly intake of newgens? 

[Shrewnaldo]

1 hour ago, _Ben_ said:

I think you’ve got yourself some good prospects here, again. Interested, more than anything, to read about the development of those from previous intakes. You mention it’s been poor - how many are getting first team minutes? Or are they B/u19 players? I can imagine it being hard to balance results and minutes after a promotion…

There's a handful of IRL youth players that are getting first-team minutes - the newgens are still just B-team and U-19 minutes, but I'll do a bit more on that shortly.

1 hour ago, rich ruzzian said:

Does the favorite formation of your HOYD infleunce the yearly intake of newgens? 

Good question and I can't recall if the Evidence Based FM videos covered this. I'll go back and check. 

[SixPointer]

4 hours ago, rich ruzzian said:

Does the favorite formation of your HOYD infleunce the yearly intake of newgens? 

Yes I’m sure it does. That’s what I was about to say. Pretty sure I read somewhere that it has an effect on positions as it’s the formation he would use in youth teams in which we can not see.

If possible I always try to match formation and playing styles, I think it’s changed slightly on this years edition with the additional set piece stuff 

[Shrewnaldo]

55 minutes ago, SixPointer said:

Yes I’m sure it does. That’s what I was about to say. Pretty sure I read somewhere that it has an effect on positions as it’s the formation he would use in youth teams in which we can not see.

If possible I always try to match formation and playing styles, I think it’s changed slightly on this years edition with the additional set piece stuff 

Similarly, I've read people saying the same but I can't recall if I've seen any actual evidence that it does. There are an awful lot of people who say an awful lot of rubbish about this game, but say it with great authority and then are believed. 

Edited February 4 by Shrewnaldo

[SixPointer]

3 minutes ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Similarly, I've read people saying the same but I can't recall if I've seen any actual evidence that it does. There are an awful lot of people who say an awful lot of rubbish about this game, but say it with great authority and then are believed. 

Very very true my friend. Sounds like it warrants some investigation from yourself. Personally I wouldn’t take my word for it, youth development is my weakest point. 

[Shrewnaldo]

Progress and a Re-assessment, Part 1

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

Per my post above, I wanted to re-assess the prospects that we have at the club from end-to-end. At the moment, all three teams are playing 5-2-2-1 (with wingbacks, two DMs and two 10s) - and the idea was to mould the newgen intakes towards this system. Through the RNG of the intakes and the natural development of the players at my disposal, I'm no longer convinced that this system will get the most out of the talent available. So I wanted to outline the general system we've been running and, in the process, look at who the best prospects are - then how they might fit together in a few years' time.

So where to start? Perhaps just with the facilities because the very first thing we've done has been to ask the board to improve everything at every opportunity. This has worked fine for the Training Facilities, Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment which are all now maxed out. The Youth Facilities, however, are a major problem.

I've discussed it a number of times in this thread but I have never been able to ask the board to upgrade the Youth Facilities - the option just never appears. After a bit of experimenting using the in-game editor, it appears as if the club's reputation is not sufficient - but it makes absolutely no sense why this would constrain only the Youth Facilities and yet I can apply for, and then max out, the other three facility options. If the option doesn't appear come the end of the season, then I might take matters into my own hands.

In terms of staff to work within those facilities, my initial intention was to allow the Technical Director to recruit appropriate coaches etc. This hasn't worked out as he has hired some absolute shockers. I then raised job adverts for all the positions at both the B-team and under-19s, receiving precisely zero applicants after months of waiting. I just never got a news item to show me any applicants. This is just one of a number of bugs that seem to exist thanks to the way the B-team is treated in FM. It's also a little odd that first-team coaches can coach the B-team; whilst all the Goalkeeping and Fitness coaches at the club can work with the U-19s. Regardless, we have a full contingent with all the attributes that you'd expect.

I've created custom schedules for the coaches to implement - using the same schedules for the first team and B-team, with youth schedules for the u-19s. There are four schedules which I just run on a rotation.

I'm not claiming to be a training expert but the schedules I've created use a combination of the findings from Evidence Based FM's training videos and prioritising the schedules and attributes which I am aiming to mould the squad towards - so technical schedules primarily. Some of EBFM's conclusions I disagree with - for example on Recovery sessions. His results indicated that Recovery reduced average injury days from 12 to 8 over the season. Whilst he indicated that he was happy to accept 4 more injury days a season, I've interpreted it as reducing injuries by a third. It might be 4 days on average, but that could be representing one player across your 25-man squad with one fewer 100-day injury. Worth it for me.

In addition to the team training, each player is given role-specific training - for this I train to improve the key attributes for their chosen role, rather than try to improve other gaps in their arsenal. The Additional Focus each player is given might do the latter, and this is rotated every three months. I'm terrible at remembering to this so have now added a recurring reminder to the Notes in my manager profile.

I've tried to use Mentoring as much as possible - bringing in 38 year-old Model Professional Pedro and 40 year-old Professional Guillermo Ochoa solely for this purpose - but I rarely see much, if any benefit. In previous sessions, Domingo Escribano's Determination of 8 hasn't moved an inch; and so far Javier Bravo's Temperamental personality has yet to be influenced by Pedro. This is one of the biggest frustrations for me so far, with some of my best prospects having sub-optimal personalities.

The final and most important consideration is game time. I am trying to run each squad so that every single player gets at least 25 games, or 2000 minutes. This means tailoring the squads carefully so that I don't have 4 strikers vying for the single 9 spot, for example. And I also want to make sure that the right players are getting the game time - so occasionally I'm dumping a higher CA player into the C-team so that a high-PA option will get the game time. Nothing too complicated but it just takes a little bit of care and admin.

This season, I've also looked at loan deals as a bridge between u-19s and the B-team. I'd originally seen a direct transition between the two but, spooked by a lack of development in a handful of players, I wondered whether senior game time would be more effective than the juniors - which FM considers 'non-competitive'. As such, 7 members of the u-19s have been loaned out to various Segunda clubs - never accepting anything less than a commitment to be Regular Starter.

I should probably point out one thing which I haven't been doing so far - which is assigning traits. I have no idea if learning traits reduces training time or the resulting CA / attribute growth, but I'm happy to wait until after the players have turned 20 and their attribute growth begins to slow. Traits are so, so powerful though and I'd really like to have the opportunity to get that extra 5-10% - but before I do that, I need to be sure what system the players will slot into... and that is very much up in the air.

Currently, this is our most common starting system - although occasionally we push the 6s to MC or drop into a diamond in midfield, and sometimes I switch it from 2-1 to 1-2 up top. And, to be fair, it's been working out pretty well across all three teams.

It's the fortunes of the B-team specifically which has given me pause for thought. Earlier in the season, they were comfortably top of the Primera - having been promoted from the Segunda last term. Yet it was clear from the Development Centre that the players had stopped developing, flat lines across the board, and then in December the results started to go awry. This is the team that's supposed to be providing the next wave of players to fit into the 5-2-2-1 so I thought I'd take a detailed look into what prospects we've got - in all three teams.

Goalkeepers

Christian Joel Sánchez is first-team's #1 and, at 26, can do a job for some years to come. Which is just as well because the immediate options are uninspiring. Damián García-San Pedro is ok for the B-team but I'll be surprised if he gets anywhere near first-choice; More has dropped off further and has gone on loan to Deportivo Caudal so he gets some game time. In terms of newgens, Roberto Vacas came through the first intake but seems to be going nowhere fast, although obviously with all the time in the world.

And then we had Gil come through this year. All my focus will be on Gil as the 'chosen one', meaning that Vacas is either going on loan next season, or being pushed into the B-team to make sure the younger player gets game time.

This doesn't mean much for the 'system' though - a goalkeeper is a goalkeeper and I'm never convinced by much difference with sweeper-keepers in FM.

Defenders

When I started the save, our best prospect was a centre-back. Unfortunately, Borja Montes seems to have gone backwards. Here he is at 19 and now at 

Horrible red arrows all across the technicals and mentals. I really have no idea why. He's had 30 games this season and does not appear to have any fatigue issues but for the last two campaigns has regressed to the point where I've more or less given up on him.

And then I have the example of Lucas Ferraras, who is probably my favourite centre-back option:

Last year he had exponential growth, including +5 for Composure, Concentration and Positioning. And then summer came and he had an almighty dip, something I wasn't too concerned about as I just assumed it was natural inactivity over the close season. Yet he hasn't recovered at all this term, with only one attribute point gain. Why?

29 games in the Primera for the B-team, I think he should be flying. Why the change from one season to the next? The Primera is a higher reputation competition than the Segunda and he's playing the same number of games. He's only just turned 20 and his performances, averaging 6.98, have been really good. It can't really be a morale thing either because at one point the B-team were flying at the top of the league yet his development had still stalled. So I'm a bit stumped.

I still think Ferreras will be excellent and he's one of a contingent of promising centre-backs. Brazilian Welton, from our first newgen intake, has already been moved to the B team and continues to impress; whilst David Paz and Jaime Luis have each gone out on loan. I also brought in newgen Genar Puigdollers from Lleida Esportiu - not an Asturian but he has a Model Citizen personality and is quite the prospect. I'm hoping he rubs off on the players around him. 

And then we have Manuel Navarro from our second intake. I really like Navarro and think he, Ferraras and Welton could easily be starting centre-backs for us in three to four seasons.

Looking at it from a system point of view - I think the main takeaway is that we have enough centre-back prospects to cover a shape that utilises either 2 or 3. Further, Ferreras, Jaime Luis and Navarro are comfortable playing at left-back as IFBs, Welton can already step into DM and David Paz could play right back. None of them, though, are really strong ball-players - adding to the disappointing development of Borja Montes.

Looking wider at players who can only cover the flanks, we've had very little come through on the right.

Rossano was at the club at the start of the save and is handy but is never going to tear up any trees. Moroccan Haddad came through the first intake and was considered an ok prospect - yet continues to perform miracles for the under-19s. So far this campaign, Haddad has 17 assists in 21 starts; last season it was 24 in 25. I expect this is down to his physicals and his clear technical deficiencies will hold him back at any higher levels.

So again thinking of the strategy - we don't have any obvious successors to the outstanding Guille Rosas as a flying wingback. 

On the left, Mexican Valenzuela is starting to knock on the door of the first-team and then we have the afore-mentioned Jaime Luis who, along with Raimundo Montiel, can cover the flank and the middle. But we're in the same position as the right - there is not a single prospect at full-back / wing-back where I think a future system has to be built with a marauding player in mind. Sergio Muñiz might become that player but I think it's a bit of a stretch as he's already 18 and was unable to command playing time at Segunda club Compostela.

So where does all that leave us? With really strong prospects at centre back, enough to accommodate a system with with two or three, and a number who could also play as inverted wingbacks, inverted fullbacks or liberos to create different shapes depending on what happens in midfield. And whilst our current first-team is full of flying wingbacks, there isn't much in the same vein coming through the youth system.

-------------------------------------

This post has got ridiculously long, so I'm going to post this as Part 1 and then do a second post with midfield and attack.

 

Edited February 4 by Shrewnaldo

[Shrewnaldo]

Re-Assessment Part 2

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

Ok, so into midfield and things start to get more interesting. Take your pick out of these options for 6, all of whom came through the academy:

 

I say for 6 because these are the four main contenders for the DM slots in the current system. Rojas and Quiñones are my current favourites, with the former being the ball-winner and the latter the ball-player. Escribano continues to be there and thereabouts whilst Chirpus was the first to seek a loan deal and convinced me that it was worth employing across the board.

Of course, all of them could as easily play at MC as at DM and Quiñones could also play at 10 if he continues to develop - his 9 goals and 7 assists for the under-19s primarily coming from the more advanced role. At DM or MC, I think the three Spaniards would be capable of playing in a 2-man midfield given their work-rate, but Chirpus might become a liability and necessitate a 3-man centre (or 4 as we currently use). And that lack of work rate also applies to the IRL prospects - the likes of Diego Matabuena who hasn't yet kicked on and will be a luxury player at best.

With a lower PA but sufficiently fleshed out CA attributes, Damién Caceres has already made the jump to the first-team and has performed admirably in La Liga. From 7 starts and 16 appearances off the bench, he leads the squad with 5.9 progressive passes per 90.

Looking further forward again at the 10s, the likes of Angelo and Enol Prendes continue to get regular game time for the B-team but have struggled to perform. The latter is a particular disappointment as, outside of his physicals, I think he looks like he should be a really handy player. I suspect Prendes would benefit from a switch to a front two as he seems more suited to a deep-lying forward role than either of the 10 slots we operate just now.

 

In the under-19s, Bravo, Ochoa and Soriano are the main prospects but all with drawbacks. With Bravo and Soriano it's his personality, with Ochoa it's physical. The bigger problem is that I'm less than convinced that they are natural 10s. Or to put it better - I've always tended to base my attack on maximising the strengths of my best players. And I don't think shoe-horning these guys, plus my new-found wingers, into a 5-2-2-1 is going to get the best out of them.

Ochoa I can see as a bona fide 10 but Bravo and Soriano look far more comfortable on the wings. Add in Javi and Aguirre from this year's intake and I'm thinking that moving the 10s out wide is going to be inevitable.

So wingers, perhaps? But then I run into another problem.

The striking prospects are all born of the same 5'10" mould and can't jump. Polo is the most aerially dominant with Jumping Reach of 6 and he's not even quick. He seems to be the most creative though and the game fancies him as a deep lying forward. Polo and Rodríguez look like a front-pairing waiting to happen - with Polo dropping off into space and Rodríguez looking to get in behind.

All sorts of thoughts are now going through my head about what we should built into and the pros and cons of each.

I appreciate this has been a meandering ramble without much structure but I'd be very happy to hear what others may think of the prospects on show and how you'd build them towards the first team. Would you stick with the 5-2-2-1 and shift the players around? Or would you evolve towards another system - if so, what? A 4-2-4 / 4-4-2 with the inherent weakness of a two-man midfield? A 4-3-3 and accept that one type of striker will have to retrain to a wide position? How would you utilise the midfield options and how would you shape that defence noting the lack of out and out wingbacks?

Of course, we can always supplement these players with recruitment - so if there's an obvious gap, at say wingback, then I know this is the area for the scouts to focus. I would, though, like to ensure that I'm absolutely maximising the potential of the guajes and prioritising their development at every opportunity. 

----------------------------------

In other news, this is a bit weird. Just the game over-valuing the human manager's players again

Edited February 4 by Shrewnaldo

[Lestri]

59 minutes ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Re-Assessment Part 2

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

Ok, so into midfield and things start to get more interesting. Take your pick out of these options for 6, all of whom came through the academy:

 

I say for 6 because these are the four main contenders for the DM slots in the current system. Rojas and Quiñones are my current favourites, with the former being the ball-winner and the latter the ball-player. Escribano continues to be there and thereabouts whilst Chirpus was the first to seek a loan deal and convinced me that it was worth employing across the board.

Of course, all of them could as easily play at MC as at DM and Quiñones could also play at 10 if he continues to develop - his 9 goals and 7 assists for the under-19s primarily coming from the more advanced role. At DM or MC, I think the three Spaniards would be capable of playing in a 2-man midfield given their work-rate, but Chirpus might become a liability and necessitate a 3-man centre (or 4 as we currently use). And that lack of work rate also applies to the IRL prospects - the likes of Diego Matabuena who hasn't yet kicked on and will be a luxury player at best.

With a lower PA but sufficiently fleshed out CA attributes, Damién Caceres has already made the jump to the first-team and has performed admirably in La Liga. From 7 starts and 16 appearances off the bench, he leads the squad with 5.9 progressive passes per 90.

Looking further forward again at the 10s, the likes of Angelo and Enol Prendes continue to get regular game time for the B-team but have struggled to perform. The latter is a particular disappointment as, outside of his physicals, I think he looks like he should be a really handy player. I suspect Prendes would benefit from a switch to a front two as he seems more suited to a deep-lying forward role than either of the 10 slots we operate just now.

 

In the under-19s, Bravo, Ochoa and Soriano are the main prospects but all with drawbacks. With Bravo and Soriano it's his personality, with Ochoa it's physical. The bigger problem is that I'm less than convinced that they are natural 10s. Or to put it better - I've always tended to base my attack on maximising the strengths of my best players. And I don't think shoe-horning these guys, plus my new-found wingers, into a 5-2-2-1 is going to get the best out of them.

Ochoa I can see as a bona fide 10 but Bravo and Soriano look far more comfortable on the wings. Add in Javi and Aguirre from this year's intake and I'm thinking that moving the 10s out wide is going to be inevitable.

So wingers, perhaps? But then I run into another problem.

The striking prospects are all born of the same 5'10" mould and can't jump. Polo is the most aerially dominant with Jumping Reach of 6 and he's not even quick. He seems to be the most creative though and the game fancies him as a deep lying forward. Polo and Rodríguez look like a front-pairing waiting to happen - with Polo dropping off into space and Rodríguez looking to get in behind.

All sorts of thoughts are now going through my head about what we should built into and the pros and cons of each.

I appreciate this has been a meandering ramble without much structure but I'd be very happy to hear what others may think of the prospects on show and how you'd build them towards the first team. Would you stick with the 5-2-2-1 and shift the players around? Or would you evolve towards another system - if so, what? A 4-2-4 / 4-4-2 with the inherent weakness of a two-man midfield? A 4-3-3 and accept that one type of striker will have to retrain to a wide position? How would you utilise the midfield options and how would you shape that defence noting the lack of out and out wingbacks?

Of course, we can always supplement these players with recruitment - so if there's an obvious gap, at say wingback, then I know this is the area for the scouts to focus. I would, though, like to ensure that I'm absolutely maximising the potential of the guajes and prioritising their development at every opportunity. 

----------------------------------

In other news, this is a bit weird. Just the game over-valuing the human manager's players again

I've seen a lot of people retrain their wingers into Wingbacks, which has its flaws, have you considered that? Noting that most do have pretty weak defensive attributes that it would be a risk. 

[Shrewnaldo]

4 minutes ago, Lestri said:

I've seen a lot of people retrain their wingers into Wingbacks, which has its flaws, have you considered that? Noting that most do have pretty weak defensive attributes that it would be a risk. 

Given the lack of attacking wingbacks coming through, this would make a lot of sense and I did consider it but have so far discounted it for exactly the reason you provide. The defensive attributes of the wingers are just way too far off and I don't think I could accept the inherent weaknesses that this would bring.  I just feel that wingbacks would need to be more balanced.

[Tibalg]

Il y a 12 heures, Shrewnaldo a dit :

Progress and a Re-assessment, Part 1

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

Per my post above, I wanted to re-assess the prospects that we have at the club from end-to-end. At the moment, all three teams are playing 5-2-2-1 (with wingbacks, two DMs and two 10s) - and the idea was to mould the newgen intakes towards this system. Through the RNG of the intakes and the natural development of the players at my disposal, I'm no longer convinced that this system will get the most out of the talent available. So I wanted to outline the general system we've been running and, in the process, look at who the best prospects are - then how they might fit together in a few years' time.

So where to start? Perhaps just with the facilities because the very first thing we've done has been to ask the board to improve everything at every opportunity. This has worked fine for the Training Facilities, Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment which are all now maxed out. The Youth Facilities, however, are a major problem.

I've discussed it a number of times in this thread but I have never been able to ask the board to upgrade the Youth Facilities - the option just never appears. After a bit of experimenting using the in-game editor, it appears as if the club's reputation is not sufficient - but it makes absolutely no sense why this would constrain only the Youth Facilities and yet I can apply for, and then max out, the other three facility options. If the option doesn't appear come the end of the season, then I might take matters into my own hands.

In terms of staff to work within those facilities, my initial intention was to allow the Technical Director to recruit appropriate coaches etc. This hasn't worked out as he has hired some absolute shockers. I then raised job adverts for all the positions at both the B-team and under-19s, receiving precisely zero applicants after months of waiting. I just never got a news item to show me any applicants. This is just one of a number of bugs that seem to exist thanks to the way the B-team is treated in FM. It's also a little odd that first-team coaches can coach the B-team; whilst all the Goalkeeping and Fitness coaches at the club can work with the U-19s. Regardless, we have a full contingent with all the attributes that you'd expect.

I've created custom schedules for the coaches to implement - using the same schedules for the first team and B-team, with youth schedules for the u-19s. There are four schedules which I just run on a rotation.

I'm not claiming to be a training expert but the schedules I've created use a combination of the findings from Evidence Based FM's training videos and prioritising the schedules and attributes which I am aiming to mould the squad towards - so technical schedules primarily. Some of EBFM's conclusions I disagree with - for example on Recovery sessions. His results indicated that Recovery reduced average injury days from 12 to 8 over the season. Whilst he indicated that he was happy to accept 4 more injury days a season, I've interpreted it as reducing injuries by a third. It might be 4 days on average, but that could be representing one player across your 25-man squad with one fewer 100-day injury. Worth it for me.

In addition to the team training, each player is given role-specific training - for this I train to improve the key attributes for their chosen role, rather than try to improve other gaps in their arsenal. The Additional Focus each player is given might do the latter, and this is rotated every three months. I'm terrible at remembering to this so have now added a recurring reminder to the Notes in my manager profile.

I've tried to use Mentoring as much as possible - bringing in 38 year-old Model Professional Pedro and 40 year-old Professional Guillermo Ochoa solely for this purpose - but I rarely see much, if any benefit. In previous sessions, Domingo Escribano's Determination of 8 hasn't moved an inch; and so far Javier Bravo's Temperamental personality has yet to be influenced by Pedro. This is one of the biggest frustrations for me so far, with some of my best prospects having sub-optimal personalities.

The final and most important consideration is game time. I am trying to run each squad so that every single player gets at least 25 games, or 2000 minutes. This means tailoring the squads carefully so that I don't have 4 strikers vying for the single 9 spot, for example. And I also want to make sure that the right players are getting the game time - so occasionally I'm dumping a higher CA player into the C-team so that a high-PA option will get the game time. Nothing too complicated but it just takes a little bit of care and admin.

This season, I've also looked at loan deals as a bridge between u-19s and the B-team. I'd originally seen a direct transition between the two but, spooked by a lack of development in a handful of players, I wondered whether senior game time would be more effective than the juniors - which FM considers 'non-competitive'. As such, 7 members of the u-19s have been loaned out to various Segunda clubs - never accepting anything less than a commitment to be Regular Starter.

I should probably point out one thing which I haven't been doing so far - which is assigning traits. I have no idea if learning traits reduces training time or the resulting CA / attribute growth, but I'm happy to wait until after the players have turned 20 and their attribute growth begins to slow. Traits are so, so powerful though and I'd really like to have the opportunity to get that extra 5-10% - but before I do that, I need to be sure what system the players will slot into... and that is very much up in the air.

Currently, this is our most common starting system - although occasionally we push the 6s to MC or drop into a diamond in midfield, and sometimes I switch it from 2-1 to 1-2 up top. And, to be fair, it's been working out pretty well across all three teams.

It's the fortunes of the B-team specifically which has given me pause for thought. Earlier in the season, they were comfortably top of the Primera - having been promoted from the Segunda last term. Yet it was clear from the Development Centre that the players had stopped developing, flat lines across the board, and then in December the results started to go awry. This is the team that's supposed to be providing the next wave of players to fit into the 5-2-2-1 so I thought I'd take a detailed look into what prospects we've got - in all three teams.

Goalkeepers

Christian Joel Sánchez is first-team's #1 and, at 26, can do a job for some years to come. Which is just as well because the immediate options are uninspiring. Damián García-San Pedro is ok for the B-team but I'll be surprised if he gets anywhere near first-choice; More has dropped off further and has gone on loan to Deportivo Caudal so he gets some game time. In terms of newgens, Roberto Vacas came through the first intake but seems to be going nowhere fast, although obviously with all the time in the world.

And then we had Gil come through this year. All my focus will be on Gil as the 'chosen one', meaning that Vacas is either going on loan next season, or being pushed into the B-team to make sure the younger player gets game time.

This doesn't mean much for the 'system' though - a goalkeeper is a goalkeeper and I'm never convinced by much difference with sweeper-keepers in FM.

Defenders

When I started the save, our best prospect was a centre-back. Unfortunately, Borja Montes seems to have gone backwards. Here he is at 19 and now at 

Horrible red arrows all across the technicals and mentals. I really have no idea why. He's had 30 games this season and does not appear to have any fatigue issues but for the last two campaigns has regressed to the point where I've more or less given up on him.

And then I have the example of Lucas Ferraras, who is probably my favourite centre-back option:

Last year he had exponential growth, including +5 for Composure, Concentration and Positioning. And then summer came and he had an almighty dip, something I wasn't too concerned about as I just assumed it was natural inactivity over the close season. Yet he hasn't recovered at all this term, with only one attribute point gain. Why?

29 games in the Primera for the B-team, I think he should be flying. Why the change from one season to the next? The Primera is a higher reputation competition than the Segunda and he's playing the same number of games. He's only just turned 20 and his performances, averaging 6.98, have been really good. It can't really be a morale thing either because at one point the B-team were flying at the top of the league yet his development had still stalled. So I'm a bit stumped.

I still think Ferreras will be excellent and he's one of a contingent of promising centre-backs. Brazilian Welton, from our first newgen intake, has already been moved to the B team and continues to impress; whilst David Paz and Jaime Luis have each gone out on loan. I also brought in newgen Genar Puigdollers from Lleida Esportiu - not an Asturian but he has a Model Citizen personality and is quite the prospect. I'm hoping he rubs off on the players around him. 

And then we have Manuel Navarro from our second intake. I really like Navarro and think he, Ferraras and Welton could easily be starting centre-backs for us in three to four seasons.

Looking at it from a system point of view - I think the main takeaway is that we have enough centre-back prospects to cover a shape that utilises either 2 or 3. Further, Ferreras, Jaime Luis and Navarro are comfortable playing at left-back as IFBs, Welton can already step into DM and David Paz could play right back. None of them, though, are really strong ball-players - adding to the disappointing development of Borja Montes.

Looking wider at players who can only cover the flanks, we've had very little come through on the right.

Rossano was at the club at the start of the save and is handy but is never going to tear up any trees. Moroccan Haddad came through the first intake and was considered an ok prospect - yet continues to perform miracles for the under-19s. So far this campaign, Haddad has 17 assists in 21 starts; last season it was 24 in 25. I expect this is down to his physicals and his clear technical deficiencies will hold him back at any higher levels.

So again thinking of the strategy - we don't have any obvious successors to the outstanding Guille Rosas as a flying wingback. 

On the left, Mexican Valenzuela is starting to knock on the door of the first-team and then we have the afore-mentioned Jaime Luis who, along with Raimundo Montiel, can cover the flank and the middle. But we're in the same position as the right - there is not a single prospect at full-back / wing-back where I think a future system has to be built with a marauding player in mind. Sergio Muñiz might become that player but I think it's a bit of a stretch as he's already 18 and was unable to command playing time at Segunda club Compostela.

So where does all that leave us? With really strong prospects at centre back, enough to accommodate a system with with two or three, and a number who could also play as inverted wingbacks, inverted fullbacks or liberos to create different shapes depending on what happens in midfield. And whilst our current first-team is full of flying wingbacks, there isn't much in the same vein coming through the youth system.

-------------------------------------

This post has got ridiculously long, so I'm going to post this as Part 1 and then do a second post with midfield and attack.

 

Unfortunately some of your pictures seem to be gone.. 

And I miss mentoring from previous edition 

[Shrewnaldo]

6 minutes ago, Tibalg said:

Unfortunately some of your pictures seem to be gone.. 

And I miss mentoring from previous edition 

The embedded pictures or the Gyazo links? They seem to be there for me, so I'm checking

The old tutoring was way more effective - probably too effective. But, in classic FM style, it feels like they've lurched way too far in the other direction 

[_Ben_]

I think you’ve got a great crop of youngsters here, Shrew. Some certainly aren’t far from first team minutes, in my opinion but - then again - my experience in lower reputation leagues probably makes that easier. Have you managed to use the system to create any funds yet or is it still too early in the process?

[rich ruzzian]

2 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

The embedded pictures or the Gyazo links? They seem to be there for me, so I'm checking

The old tutoring was way more effective - probably too effective. But, in classic FM style, it feels like they've lurched way too far in the other direction 

Some pictures are indeed not showing. 

Did you think about changing maybe to a sort of 3 at the back? With no real wingbacks. 

[ATV]

Rodriguez looks promising 

[Shrewnaldo]

10 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

I think you’ve got a great crop of youngsters here, Shrew. Some certainly aren’t far from first team minutes, in my opinion but - then again - my experience in lower reputation leagues probably makes that easier. Have you managed to use the system to create any funds yet or is it still too early in the process?

I'd agree on the first team - I'd like Ferreras and Polo to be making the step up soonish.

No funds yet from the newgens but the IRL guajes have been attracting interest. Indeed, RB Leipzig met Rosas' £22.5m minimum fee release clause but he decided to sign a new contract with us instead - and his release fee is now £32.5m. I don't think it'll be long before a few of them start attracting bids though.

8 hours ago, rich ruzzian said:

Some pictures are indeed not showing. 

Did you think about changing maybe to a sort of 3 at the back? With no real wingbacks. 

I did consider it but I don't really like playing systems that the AI doesn't use - so I tend to stick to fullbacks or wingbacks. Even if I did go to a flat 3-4 at the back (with ML/MR) then I don't see the wingers' defensive attributes being enough to cover the flank. Unless and until we're a top team, I don't think that sort of vulnerability is viable.

1 hour ago, ATV said:

Rodriguez looks promising 

I like him too but think he needs to play in a two, or with someone at 10 - which might be a problem with the wingers.

[ATV]

sticking with the 3-4-2-1 with AMs? or moving the AMs to wing positions?

[Shrewnaldo]

1 hour ago, ATV said:

sticking with the 3-4-2-1 with AMs? or moving the AMs to wing positions?

I have spend approximately a million hours considering just this question - or indeed even more drastic changes as I'd outlined above. I've mucked around at the end of this season with 4-3-3s, 4-4-2s, diamonds... my indecision knows no bounds

[Shrewnaldo]

Third Season

A Sporting Heritage - The Guajes of Gijón

At no point were we in any danger of relegation whatsoever. Having started with the kindest of fixture lists, after 5 games we'd already won 11 points towards my season target of 32. We had a couple of sticky spells but that's to be expected from a newly promoted side. In the end, we were comfortably mid-table and only failed to qualify for Europe because I started experimenting with tactics in the last six games.

50 goals scored (10th best in the league), 50 conceded (6th best) and 7 points from Europe. I'll take that.

Little surprise in our top performers:

• C.J. Sánchez - the extra game time I gave the Mareo graduate last season has paid dividends as Sánchez has proven himself to be a very capable goalkeeper, with 0.1 goals prevented per 90 (8th best in La Liga)
• José Gragera - really solid season for the returning guaje, slotting into his new position seamlessly. With 73% header win ratio and 78% tackle success rate, he was actually our most technically adept centre back.
• Guille Rosas - another guaje, Rosas has been our best player for all three seasons. Not quite as creative this term, he nevertheless ends with a creditable 8 assists and jount-top 0.69 chances created per 90. RB Leipzig did trigger Rosas' £22.5m release clause, only for the wingback to sign a new contract with an increased release fee.
• Aarón Molinas - the Argentine took a while to get going despite joining after last season's loan but ended the campaign with a team-leading 10 assists, not to mention 7 goals.
• Uroš Sremčević - the Serbian finally found some consistent form this season and exceeded his xG to score 14 league goals and 2 in the cup.  The biggest surprise of the season was that Sremčević finished second in the NxGn awards - behind only Lamine Yamal as the world's leading wonderkid. There's a £15m release clause there waiting for someone to trigger - something I wouldn't be too disappointed by, despite the goals.

All of this was achieved using the 5-2-2-1 shape, with two DMs and two AMs - and it's performed really well, probably over-achieving with the players at my disposal. It's also afforded me the opportunity to continue the progression towards a guaje-dominated squad.

Yet my indecision has struck with a vengeance and I'm not sure that I'll continue with the 5-2-2-1 into next season. It's not just thoughts of what we might play in a few seasons when the newgens start to demand game time, it's also just my natural boredom with playing the same system for multiple seasons - and a perennial curiosity in how to get us playing better football. Regular readers of my threads will know that I never have any problems defensively but that I always, always struggle to combine that with sufficient attacking play.

50 goals in 38 matches isn't bad for a promoted side, to be fair, but a quick look at the 'combined' table shows something unexpected.

We have scored 32 goals away from home and just 18 at El Molinón. We also conceded 35 against just 15 at home, but it is clear that our home form simply wasn't good enough and it looks like we can afford to be much more adventurous on home soil. 

That will likely mean that we dispense with the back 5 in home games (with obvious exceptions) and use the additional player in an advanced area - perhaps switching to a 4-2-3-1 or a system with two strikers. I'd particularly like to go with the latter as I think we will need to work towards this eventually. I'm a fan of midfield diamonds and I can see this as a natural evolution from the narrow midfield options that I'm currently using.

That doesn't necessarily help when it comes to the newgens and those wingers that have arrived. Except I've been looking again at those wingers and reckon they could quite easily play central roles - Javi as a midfield runner and Aguirre as a 9. All that, though, ignores one crucial point. Reading Ben's thread, I'm so very tempted to bring back my absolute favourite role in all of FM - the AP(S) from out wide. With an abundance of natural wingers on the left and no corresponding option on the right, the space is open to retrain one of the creative 10s to play AMR. 

Polo and Ochoa would be the obvious options, being primarily left-footed - Polo perhaps the Attack duty to Ochoa's support. Both are players that I was considering bringing straight into the first-team in an effort to fast-track their development but will, at worst, join the B-team. And it is this move which is the most pressing for the long-term tactical conundrum.

I plan to sack the current B-team manager due to under-performance in the Primera, missing out on the playoffs - and I'll need to find a replacement whose preferred tactic matches whatever my long-term vision might become. That is not always easy.

So a summer of indecision and prolonged recruitment struggles. And I haven't even talked about signing players for the first-team.

¡Siempre Sporting!

[Litmanen 10]

Brilliant stuff once again. You give me exactly the amount of info that I can read through during my coffee breaks at work. As a lazy reader this is ideal type of career update for me. 

[_Ben_]

14 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

Reading Ben's thread, I'm so very tempted to bring back my absolute favourite role in all of FM - the AP(S) from out wide. With an abundance of natural wingers on the left and no corresponding option on the right, the space is open to retrain one of the creative 10s to play AMR. 

I love a wrong-footed AP out wide! Both of those lads look good and I’d rate Polo the highest - it’s just his Vision that’s holding him back maybe. He can carry the ball well and is agile and unpredictable!