[Squad/Players understanding of interviews]

34 minutes ago, Hovis Dexter said:

The positive and negative responses relate to the question that has been asked. A positive response is one that agrees with the tone of the question whereas a negative response disagrees with the implications of the question. Very often a so called negative response can very often have positive impact on your players.

Awesome, so the response itself matters, not just the tone with which the question was asked and how that is reciprocated. 

Thanks! 

[Squad/Players understanding of interviews]

Hi all, 

More a curiosity than anything else really but....

Do players understand the context of press interviews and what the reply is or just that its positive, negative or neutral? 

There have been a few questions which have popped up and I feel remiss for not having saved them, where I felt the "negative" response would be beneficial to the players, so was just curious how "clever" the players are at contextualising the press conferences/interviews, etc. 

Thanks! 

[Height vs. Jumping Reach]

Might be helpful. The table that they use is in this thread: 

 

 

[Football Manager 2021 Early Access Beta Official Feedback Thread]

Just now, Drunkerone said:

Exactly! Nice quick math

 

[Sheffield United- Sharpening The Blade]

Reserved 

[Sheffield United- Sharpening The Blade]

Reserved 

[Sheffield United- Sharpening The Blade]

With the overview of how I ended up here at Sheffield out the way, we can now press on with my ideas and thoughts for the new season. As a side note, i realise that this may come across as rather hodgepodge and to be fair, you wont be too wrong in that assessment, I apologise for the layout , I am trying to get these thoughts down whilst I still have them. 

First up is the introduction to my KAM's or Key Attribute Markers. 

Taken from the Rashidi's excellent information about Club DNA and the run through of TIPS and all the other acronyms that he goes into, I have decided that I need to establish an identity and club philosophy, which will influence how I develop and recruit within the club. In order to establish what the DNA of the club should be, we need to first look at the club vision.

Our vision is as follows:

1)      Make the most of set pieces

2)      Develop players using the club’s youth system

3)      Play possession football

4)      Sign players under the age of 23 for the first team

The above have a tangible impact on the DNA of the club. As I need to play possession football, I need to gear my training, recruitment, etc. on the premise that the players need to be able to help fulfill the vision of the club- the players are the medium through which the club vision is enacted.

My club mission statement is therefore as follows: to provide fans with the most aesthetically pleasing match day experience whilst ensuring that the club are fiscally responsible to provide the club a strong, stable footing in the Premier League.

I vaguely remember a video from BusttheNet on YouTube wherein Rashidi and two other people were discussing long shots and how to counter them. In the video, can’t remember where, I heard Rashidi say that he goes along the lines of, in terms of a hierarchy of needs, so to speak, with Mental being the top need, physical the second need, and finally technical skills being the final of the three. After thinking about this, I agree with Rashidi. For example, our player thinks/decides, spots an opening in which to run (decision, anticipation and off the ball)., have the physical capabilities, (acceleration, balance) and the technical attributes to continue play (first touch). This breakdown, along with how I want and need to play, have helped me identify my Key Attribute Markers.

Sheffield’s KAM’s

1)      Anticipation

2)      Composure

3)      Concentration

4)      Decisions

5)      Off the ball (Attack) Positioning (Defend)

6)      Acceleration

7)      Natural Fitness

8)      First Touch

My KAM’s will, and in my opinion permeate through all I wish to do. They should influence my training schedules, any PPM’s which my players have or develop, staff which are brought in (especially in regard to youth) and finally my tactical approach.

As Dennis Bergkamp said, “behind every kick of a ball, there has to be a thought”.  I think this has hit the nail on the head. My KAM is designed to give my players the best possible opportunity to play the ball. They first need to make the decision to play the ball, run into space, etc. by using the mental stats, anticipation, concentration, decisions; they then need to have the mental stats to play the pass, composure, anticipation; then they need to be able to set them selves up to technically make that pass, first touch. The physical aspects come into play when the players are looking to burst into space or take on an opposition player in a 1v1 situation, but again, that is all decided before they need to utilize the physical attributes mentioned.

(I hope that has made some sense and I am not too off the mark).

First touch is the key technical attribute as a solid first touch allows one time on the ball, and to set up the next step of the action. Again, I use a quote to emphasize my point, this time from Dave Jones, “he [Carlton Palmer] covers every blade of grass, but that's only because his first touch is crap.” If you cant trap a ball, then you don’t have a chance to execute the next phase of play as you will be chasing down that first touch, which takes the flow out of the phase of play, allows the opposition to close you down and to organize themselves against those running into space, to receive the ball, etc.

As mentioned above, KAM will influence my next topic of training.

[Sheffield United- Sharpening The Blade]

Overview

 

 

Hello and welcome to my first post in a while and its an ambitious one too! 

I have recently struggled with finding THE save that I can sink my teeth in, so I started a save as unemployed and before I knew it, Sheffield United lost their Manager (he moved to a different club, he wasnt fired) and found themselves bottom of the table. I used to hold out for Villa to become available or to see if a big team would take a chance on me and allow me to jump in right at the top. I took a look at Sheffield and thought, "this could be the save for me to sink my teeth in", and I was right. 

After a bumpy patch, I managed to take them out of the bottom  three and after a 5 game unbeaten run (mostly draws to be honest) I found myself in 17th place. Following this, I checked my closing run of games and low and behold, I was faced with some mammoth games ahead, to save the club from relegation: 

 

 

 

I was not overly happy with this being how I would see my season out, but I grit my teeth and watched through every match and these were the results )spoiler: nothing special, this is not an oooo look at how phenomenal my tactics are). 

 

Nine points proved to be enough to ward off relegation from the Premier League. Of course, it was helpful that my co-relegation candidates were in similar situations with their fixtures, but none the less, we avoided relegation from the Premier League. 

 

I was very happy to keep The Blades in the Premier League, and I was exceedingly happy with the transfer budget circa £45mil, that was handed my way, with a massive increase in wage budget too. 

This brings us nicely to the start of my Sharpening The Blades save. 

Post Season Analysis: 

As you can see, we didn't score the most goals, indeed it was very low. This is where we need to sharpen up. We need to put the ball in the back of the net, A perfect example of this is our draw against Man Utd, we had a boat load of chances and had loads on target, but couldn't score for love nor money. 

 

So with the backing of the board and the readings of @Rashidi under my belt, I forged ahead with the re-build and tactical approach of Sheffield United. 

 

I wanted to keep a similar approach that, I think kept me in the league- Vertical Tiki Taka. However, I wanted to modify to try to create the opportunities for my players to score more goals. It was after reading and watching a bit of Rashidi and after reviewing my team and the key players within, I decided to take the following approach: 

The above is by no means a finished article, and I do welcome criticism of the above. I am undecided on the IW on the right flank, but for now and a few friendlies, I will monitor what he does and decide if i like what he has to bring to the table. 

The basic premise of the tactic is to defend narrow then expand when the ball has been won; I need to create space in which my RMD (toss up between this and the IF-A), MEZ and BBM could run in to and I need to hold that width with the on rushing full backs (part of my indecisiveness of the IW role is to do with the BBM role on his side, I am a little worried they will take up the same space)- this, I think, will be generated by the lower LOE and a slightly lower DL. 

I will be going into my KAM (Key Attribute Markers) and the skill set of my players at the club and those that I brought in later, but for now I wanted to get my thoughts on the tactic and what I want to do and how I wish to achieve it on paper, so to speak. 

As we didn't concede too many goals, relative to those in and around the bottom half, I therefore have decided to stick with the same roles and duties and in some ways, players which played in my back four, as last year- I am sure its more complicated than this but for now, indulge my naivety. 

I will be updating the following over the course of the day: 

• Make up of my team, KAM (Key Attribute Markers), club philosophies and training
• Transfer targets and acquisitions
• Youth to develop
• Tactic analysis
• Training 

 

[When's the BETA out speculation thread]

This is how I imagine the process to be...

 

[When's the BETA out speculation thread]

[Football Manager 2018 Announcement]

3 minutes ago, KUBI said:

[How do I get the build my team around the regista?]

I would like to know what those people who have a formation with a regista have built their team, and whether he is just another player in the team or if he is the player/position that the tactic has been created around. I have not used the Regista position much, if at all in my previous tactics but, I like the idea of a Pirlo-esq type player pinging balls from deep and spreading the play. 

I am looking for help with everything, from best formation, pairings with others in midfield, strikers and wingers. 

Thanks!  

[Pairs & Combinations FM2015 - UPDATED]

I tend to play my favorite tactic which is

Gk- D

LB/FB/S

CD- D

CD-D

RB-FB-S

DM-DM-D

CM-A

CM-DLP-S

RW-W-S

ST-F9-S

LW-RM/IF-A

I like to keep posession and control mentality.

Any suggestions?

I think in terms of balance it's pretty balanced, I think I might have too many up top on support duty?