[Fiorentina.]

First season at Fiorentina. Went a lot better than expected. 

 

Won the Conference League and the italian super cup. 

 

Still, let me share the pain...

 

 

[Atlético de Madrid post-Simeone. A new era begins...]

First of all, this will be my first career thread ever, so I hope you enjoy it.

After failed saves this year with Parma and Everton (on both of them, I crashed on burned midway through the first season. Lots of defensive errors and bugs, on saves pre-patch), I was undecided between PSV, Atletico and Leeds. In the end, I decided to go for Atletico because I wanted an “easier” save, wanted to play counter-attacking football and was really curious to see what I could get out of João Félix.

I'm portuguese, a Boavista FC supporter. I started as a national-experienced manager, with all the badges. So what do I get from it? A bit of pressure from the board and not a lot of respect from the players, from an unknown manager.

I’m currently starting season 2, but I’ll give a recap of season 1 on my first post.

 

 Season 1

 

First meeting with the board. Right from the start we are told that we should be presenting a title challenge, reach later UCL stages and a Copa del Rey title challenge for the first season. That’s kind of tough, right from the start, I guess…

The supporters want us to play a high press, defensive and direct brand of football, with a lot of set pieces goals. Kind of (not everything) in line for what I have in mind.

 First thing I check on all my saves is the technical team. Simeone really got the job done with very few coaches. I get keep the assistant manager with me (Nelson Vivas), get rid of some less then decent staff and revamp the coaches team. I think I’m pretty happy with what I’ve got.

  

We’re short on the scouting team, so I revamp that as well.

 

Now, for the main squad:

 Mostly balanced, but I should really be getting a back-up for Molina as a RB. Since I see no starting place for Saul on my team, I trained him for the RB position (I confess, I forgot he is left footed).

 

TRANSFERS

First of all, a side note. I'm not using any wonder kids list. Trying to just use the scouting data and the IRL knowledge that I have of Portuguese football.

The initial transfer budget is around 1M €. For this level, really low. To make up some funds, I tried to sell Matheus Cunha (not keen on his decision making and lack of focus) but in the end I stuck with him, as there were no viable offers. So, no moves on the transfer market till January.

Come January, I really had to do something to the squad. As Carrasco was one of my highest valued players, I tried to sell him, but again, no decent offers. So I sold Lemar to Simeone who is now managing Tottenham Hotspurs. I really didn't want to sell him, but we needed the money. With the funds we got, we were able to get another RB (Tiago Santos) and a replacement for Lemar (Schjelderup), sold Felipe (his contract was running out) and started to use Witsel as DC when needed. Also bought some kids, to invest in them for the future. Gulliksen looks like a future star, but not yet. I loaned him back till Dec. 2023.

In

Out

 

TACTICS

Tactics wise, I started with a fluid counter-attack 4-2-3-1 and worked from there. I want the team to be fast on the counter, using open spaces, but not too direct. I want to take advantage of my attacking players creativity and off the ball movement. As you can see, I’ve changed some roles and instructions on the base fluid counter-attack 4-2-3-1 formation to try to balance the team and achieve the kind of football that I want.

Both WB will run up the flank and provide wideness to the attack. One of the DM is now on a support role, and on harder games, I make them both take a defensive role. Felix has the freedom to attack at the AMC position and Griezmann is used as an IW(a), that sometimes I change to IF(a) to take advantage of the opposition positioning. Morata is used as a CF(s), as a focal point of the attack, creating and finishing.

Most of the positions have good backups, but on some positions I change the roles when I substitute them.

	Starter	Backup
SK(d)	Oblak	SK(d)	Grbic
WB(s)	Molina	WB(s)	Saúl
CD(d)	Savic	CD(d)	Felipe
CD(d)	Gimenez	CD(d)	Hermoso
WB(s)	Reinildo	WB(s)	Reguilón
BWM(d)	Llorente	BWM(d)	Kondogbia
DMC(s)	Koke	DMC(s)	Witsel
IW(a)	Griezmann	IW(s)	De Paul
AM(a)	João Félix	AM(a)	Matheus Cunha
IW(s)	Carrasco	W(a)	Lemar
CF(s)	Morata	F9	Correa

 During the pre-season, I only worked this tactic. When the season started, I started working on alternate tactics for games against weaker foes. Custom Gegenpress 4-2-3-1 and Custom Ball Control 4-3-3:

 

 

 

Pre-season results were decent (a 2-0 loss against Man United, and the rest just victories against weaker foes). I use my main tactic on all away games and most of the home maches. Against really weak opposition at home, I got for one of the alternatives and try to train the team up to it. Now, for the results by competion...

 

Copa del Rey

Easy road till the 4^th round, but lost at San Sebastian. Not what I was expecting, but Sociedad wasn’t the easiest of opponents. The game was balanced (ignore the low ball possession. That’s how we roll), but in the end, Oyarzabal goal from a set-piece was what stroke us down. Meh. The board wasn’t happy, but there will be more games next year.

 

 

CHAMPION’S LEAGUE

 Lucky draw. I had won the group by match 4. Gave a change to some fringe players on the last 2 games. Draw against Celtic, lost at RB Salzburg.

Next up was Bayern. I though we were going down, but we were surprisingly strong against them. We were also lucky that Sabitzer was sent off during the second leg, but we were really good during the game.

 Next was Barcelona. We had recently won 2-0 against them for La Liga, but this time was different. We were lucky to came way with a draw at Nou Camp. At our home, a Ferran Torres goal, thanks to a Morata mistake when we were defending a corner was enough to defeat us.           

That ended our UCL campaign, but the board was pleased about it.

 

LaLiga

This was fun.

We got off to a decent start, until we lost 3 matches in 5. The board and the fans were starting to feel unhappy, but then the team gelled. 18 unbeaten matches streak. 10 wins in a row. Only one defeat since then, against Barcelona. We finished 2^nd, losing the title on the last match of the season, when we needed a win and a Real Madrid defeat (they were losing at Athletic until they scored at 74’, ending up winning that game by 1-2). The board were pleased with the 2^nd place. We scored a lot of goals in the process, broke the club’s record for victories and points during a single season. But still, Real were better.

Tactics wise, I was really pleased with the team and with what we achieved. We gave possession away most of the games, but it was worth it. We won a lot of games on the counter.

 

 

That's the end of the first post. Next, I'm gonna try to make a recap of my squad performance. The great performers, the flops and a view of the most important games of the season. I hope you're enjoying it so far.

 

[*Official* Football Manager 2023 Feedback Thread]

3 hours ago, andu1 said:

Just look at these fixes for touch we need right now on PC

 

-Adjusted the directness in some teams.
-Reduced the number of unrealistic lofted passes.
-Reduced players losing ball too cheaply when playing with back to goal.
-Reduced the frequency of defenders giving the ball away in and around the box.
-Tweaks to defender anticipation when running towards the ball to attempt an interception.
-Tweaks to defender decision-making for aerial balls.
-Fixed defenders incorrectly stepping up at times when defending in a back 3 with no fullbacks/wingbacks.
-Improved centre defender decision-making when covering for fellow CB outside the area.
-Improved corner defending, particularly defending at the near post.
-Tweaks to defender reaction times in situations where they've switched off and made a mistake.

Well, after reading this, I’ll just wait for the ME patch before I load the game again.

[*Official* Football Manager 2023 Feedback Thread]

8 minutes ago, ejleal said:

Are you using offside trap by any change? i'm saying this because I play with a high line and max pressure but without offside trap. I've found we defended better and balls over the top were significantly less.

Do you mean the "Hold defensive line" instruction?

[*Official* Football Manager 2023 Feedback Thread]

You may be right about it, but I'm playing serie B against the likes of Cesena and Ternana. Buffon may lack on some regards, but the CD are the ones making the most mistakes. Giving the ball away, freezing, being disarmed. But let's consider my previous Everton save. I gave up after some 15/20 matches played. 2 clean sheets, with a defensive duo mosltly of Coady and Tarkowsky. Pickford on the goal. Regulard DC ratings below 6.5. Against Arsenal (0-3), they both had below 5.9. It's a regular, either I play a mid block or a low block, with a lot of pressure or not. Last year the game felt too easy, but now it's the other way around. 

Yes, I may be to blame for failing to understanding the new systems yet, but this is not normal.

1 minute ago, Jellico73 said:

Teams winning games but not keeping clean sheets with a 44 YO keeper who is clearly on the downside of his career isn't realistic?

 

[*Official* Football Manager 2023 Feedback Thread]

8 hours ago, DarJ said:

technically it affects the AI too so it's not really that unfair but I get your point 

Yes, it affects the AI also, but I don't feel like it does as much. A considerate amount of opposition GK are motm on a regular basis. I'm on 9 games played in the season, none one clean sheet. And the games I win are results like 4-3, 3-1, 3-2. A lot of goals, even when I concentrate on  the defence. It doesn't feel realistic.

[*Official* Football Manager 2023 Feedback Thread]

I really have to reinforce the feeling that the defence is broken. I’m managing Parma. Buffon is on a average bellow 6.3. Most of the goals I concede are either from defensive errors or balls over the top. 
 

I like challenges, but this feels unfair.

[Is there a DM role that consistently drops in and then brings the ball out of defence?]

Still, on FM22, when I instructed that, it was like I described that my player worked. Haven’t tried it on FM23 yet.

[Is there a DM role that consistently drops in and then brings the ball out of defence?]

1 hour ago, Lordluap said:

This, make sure "Play Out From the Back" isn't selected.  Ask GK to Distribute to DLP in the DM strata and he will sit nicely in/behind the Central Defenders.

I thought that playing from the back, with distribute do DLP on the DM role would force the DLP to come closer to the GK. Am I wrong to assume that?

[Is there a DM role that consistently drops in and then brings the ball out of defence?]

Are you looking for a DLP, with GK instructions to pass to him, and play from the back? Or did I miss understood?

[Logos not displaying correctly on the kits]

5 hours ago, Francis Mooney said:

Hey all, just to confirm that this is something we are aware of. 

Thanks, mate! Cheers.

[Logos not displaying correctly on the kits]

7 hours ago, matthrix93 said:

you must cancel the entire folder where you put logos and the folder where you put the no fake file. The reinstalling FM21. That worked for me.

 

I did that, but it didn't work for me.

[Logos not displaying correctly on the kits]

Ok, even after reinstaling the game, and before using any custom logos pack, the problem is still here. Guess we got to wait for a fix.

[Logos not displaying correctly on the kits]

Hi there.

 

As you can see, the club logos are not shown correctly on the teams kits. In the licensed teams, no problem, though.

I've tried it with 2 diferent logos packs. The issue persists.

 

Any help, please?

 

Thanks

[So, I just got sacked and I don't think it was fair...]

13 hours ago, Gross_Ballon said:

Most of us don't understand or cant read Portuguese 

Yeah... sorry about that. But even so, you can understand the thumbs up symbols, and the manager's performance 20/20.

[So, I just got sacked and I don't think it was fair...]

1 hour ago, Tyburn said:

Did you play on a bit to see who they hired after you? Was pep or Zidane available?

Roberto Mancini. Zidane was training Lokomotic by then, btw. And Pep was at AC Milan.

[So, I just got sacked and I don't think it was fair...]

9 hours ago, jim owen said:

i do, they ask you to do something, you willingly chose to disobey them, if i was your boss i would sack you

As I said, they prefered that I hired german players. Prefered. Not demanded. Also, check the screenshot I atached, just before the sacking. 

I hate to do it, but I reloaded the save. The first time I do it since FM14. I feel that it was too unrealistic.

[So, I just got sacked and I don't think it was fair...]

1 hour ago, jim owen said:

they asked you to sign German players so why wouldn't you just sign german players? In real life they would have signed them for you and blocked your transfers, but this is the games best equivalent. If in real life your boss told you to do something and you did the opposite, they would fire you, whether or not you thought it was fair.

 

 

 

Simple solution, next time the board tell you to do something and you sign a contract telling you to do it, just do it. Will make your life much easier in the long run

Do you think it's fair sacking? I'm leading the league. They finished 9th on the previous season, and they were asking me for a CL spot. I think I was giving them more than what they were asking for. I havent bought enough german players because they weren't good enough for us, or costed a fortune. Also, the "sign german players" is preferable, but not demanded, not top on list of the club culture.

[So, I just got sacked and I don't think it was fair...]

18 minutes ago, FrazT said:

Agreed that it would appear to be an unfair sacking open a thread in the Bugs forum and if you can upload a  save from just before the sacking message that would help.

Thanks. I've done what you asked. 

[So, I just got sacked and I don't think it was fair...]

Also, I simulated the season till the end, and this happened. Dafuq...

[So, I just got sacked and I don't think it was fair...]

Long story short:

 

Started save with Hamburg.

1st season - won Bundesliga 2

2nd season - finished 8th (expected to fight for survival)

3rd season - finished 7th (expected mid-table)

4th season - hired by Dortmund. Expected CL qualification, semi-finals on cup (Dortmund had failed to qualify for europe). Club vision: hire bellow 30 yo, pref. bellow 23, pref. german. Must play offensive football. 20 games into the season, I'm leading with the best defense and the 6th best attack, bought mostly young players. I'm having a 19 grade with club, despite they only being disapointed with the lack of german players hired. So I go against a B2 side on the cup and I lose 3-2 (it was one of "those" games, and I tried diferent tactics and players. My bad). And so... I'm fired for not following the club vision.

 

FFS! I'm currently leading Bundesliga! I think I'm overachieving, considering that they would be happy with a 4th place finish, and they sack me because I don't hire enough german players???

 

In the real world, I highly doubt that this would happen.

 

What is your thought, guys? Reload? I really think this was pretty unfair, considering the good season we're having. Really felt cheated on this one...

[What should I do?]

21 hours ago, gunner86 said:

Am I reading that right?

They're offering you 147million euros a month in salary on a 2 year deal?

Nah... they “just” offer me 147.000€ per month in salary. In the Portuguese version the small “m” means thousand, and the big “M” means million, since thousand=mil in Portuguese (ex.: 5000 = cinco mil).

[What should I do?]

A little update. 
 

I went up to beat my new team 0-1 at their stadium. Finished 7th, and got qualified for Europa League qualifiers. Dortmund finished 9th. No Europe for me next season, I suppose...

Reached the cup final and list 2-0 to Werder Bremen (in my defence, I had my best wingers injured).

Looking forward to start my Dortmund story. They decided to demand just a CL spot for my first season there, so I’m more comfortable with my decision.

[What should I do?]

18 minutes ago, Steve8066 said:

a real manager wouldnt be on here asking for advice lol

I don't think so. It's always a big step. Lets say that by asking you guys, it's like I'm asking my assistant manager for advice.

[What should I do?]

Well, **** it. I'm jumping the boat. Doing what a real life manager would most likely do.

 

I hope I don't regret it...