SixPointer

Nice intake! Academy is well known in Groningen hopefully this carries on for you! The next Arjen Robben would be special

Dortmund taking a whipping for tuchels arrogance

Dortmund taking a whipping for tuchels arrogance

A very good start, it’s good to see you still being critical of things though. Your setting your standards high and noticing the drop of in form. I would be shocked if managers have worked you out already but things I usually check are defensive line height and pressing intensity. If teams come to play you and are below the average they usually set these it means there parking the bus.

We only lost one game at home all season, and we dominate the ball a lot. But I would need to do more digging to see if other teams tire out a lot quicker. Thanks bud. Yeah I’m trying to get back to my tactical ways after last years speed playing! 4-2-3-1 has been very effective which we all know only to well as it’s really the most generic formation these days. Thanks, it’s definitely all a working progress but the basic philosophy is there. It’s good to be back. In truth the 4-2-3-1 isn’t my favourite of formations but going up against a lot of 4-4-2’s it’s allowed my two attacking midfielders to run riot at times. The IWB is acting as the double pivot also helps. I really wanted to get the 4-4-2 going but a need a better libero.

Love your writing style! The EPL is actually the most intriguing it’s been for a while. I was tempted to do a Man United save myself.

Beautiful part of the world, and certainly a very interesting team to manage. Following closely. Best of luck.

Great idea for a save. A club with a great history of bringing through talent. You have started well. The passing shapes are very impressive for a first season.

A generational gap.

Looks a very promising transfer window! Re investing is crucial to make your mark in Europe. The fact your attracting players from England is a huge postive

If you’re not enjoying it bud I would move on, we all get like that with saves. When the love for it is gone it’s hard to regain a real interest. In the end we all want to play the game for enjoyment, so be selfish don’t feel like you need to keep the story going for readers. Everyone will jump on to your next save anyway and like you said you’ve done what you set out to do. The only other suggestion would be leaving and finding a new club within the save. I never ever used to journeyman now I love it!

What’s Milanst recent trophy haul been like?

Real lack of physicals. Can it be attribute to the HOYD? What’s his profile like? Is he just focusing on the technical side of the game and letting these youngsters miss out on some old fashioned hard running.

Season Two Review Our first full season in San Cristobal with Deportivo Tachira fc. The first season was about turning around a bad start, this year was about getting the foundations right to go win multiple titles and become the undisputed champion of Venezuela. We were tipped as favourites to win the league, but there has been a huge player turnover from the minute the Argentine arrived, that coupled with Fabricio Coloccini trying to implement his positional tactical philosophy would make for a very interesting challenge. Team Competitions - Deportivo lived to the early season billing and brought home their 11th league title, they now trail competitive rivals Caracus by 1 title. Caracus from the capital would have some joy though as they knocked out the team from the andes in the Copa Venezuela, which Colocinni’s' old team and fellow Andean rivals Merida went on to win for the first time. This year Deportivo qualified for the Copa Sudamerican, they faced off against the great Boca Juniors two time winners, Cerro Porteno the Paraguayan powerhouse who often rival Olympia to rule football in Paraguay and finally fellow Andean club Cusco from Peru which gave us a nice Andean clash. Depor topped the group, something no one would have expected, and make it through to the second round. On top of that they came away with a famous 4-0 victory at a packed out La Bombonera. Going up against one of the top teams in South America was always going to be a huge occasion for us, but they stuck to their game plan and passed the ball well, making use of their excellent set plays. The arrogance from Boca's manager added an edge to the tie and in the end he turned out to be a very sore loser. Three systems used throughout the season, all designed to offer the same principles and philosophy of positional play. Creating overloads and underloads, creating man for man isolation, players between the lines. As you can see the team instructions this season have been kept very simple, nothing elaborate allowing the roles and duties to create our patterns of play. 4-4-2 - Something a little bit different and in truth still a working progress, originally i had a Libero at the LCB role, and two IFB roles, but my centre back was lacking the ability to play the libero role. Looking to draw the opponent to our right hand side, the DLP, DLF and IW all linking on that side to try and free up the Winger and AF on the opposite flank. This one of all three is the least used at the minute but I think once we have a libero it could become lethal because when played this season the front two have linked well. 4-3-3 - The safest system of the three, a pretty standard positional play setup. The half back role this year is exactly what i have wanted it to be for years, salida lavolpiana is seamless now, as the half back drops into the back line, to overload the first line of the press. Double Mezzala, and inverted wide men dominated the half spaces while the wing backs offered width. I would prefer a complete forward but at this level hard to come by, so DLF is used to draw the opposition's backline out. A good example of the build up shapes and passing patterns from the 4-3-3. You can see how the half back drops in and becomes the conductor of the team. Something Pep did in the early days at Barcelona, with Sergio Busquets being absolutely incredible in the role, his football intelligence was off the chart, his positional awareness second to none. The shape creates lots of diamonds and triangles, allowing us to progress the ball, the wide men are asked to stay wide to stretch the play and they do just that and get 1v1. The 4-2-3-1 Our most used and effective system but some distance, with this in mind i'll take a much closer look at this system, delving deeper into my tactical workings. The idea is to transition from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-2-5 shape, with an emphasis for overloading the left side of the pitch then scoring on the right. Transitioning into a back three allows us to cover against counter attacks, the BPD on cover adds a further line of defence to balls over the top of our high line, while the IWB moving into the pivot ensures we are outnumbered centrally. As the IWB transitions into the midfield the RCB moves wider (stay wider PI) the BPD drops into the centre and the IFB tucks inside to create a numerical advantage over the opposition front line, allowing for better ball progression. The IWB has now created a diamond shape in the centre with the BPD, DLP and AF. The wide men again stretch the play and look to get 1v1, the Mezzala moves forward in the half space on the right to make a triangle, the AP shifts to the left aided by the focus of play down the left, he now becomes a real ball magnet and draws the opponents with him. A great example of the overloaded left side drawing our opponents over and allowing a 2v1 on the right hand side, the playmakers link and then switch the ball at the perfect time for the winger to attack the back post and score. This time I'm going to zone in on the important role the IWB plays in linking the play, and covering for counter attacks. Looking at his positioning here he can offer himself to be the man to switch the play to the 1v1,s on the right side. He is also well positioned to cover the gap between the BPD and the RCB. On the left the diamond overload has formed and pulled six opponents into the area, allowing the AF(A) to get 1v1, and the MEZ(A) and W(A) that's all three attacking duties ready to exploit the space in their man for man zones. Now the IWB has possession, the wide triangles have formed on the right hand side there is a clear 2v1 now on, the full back has a real decision to make if the play is switched. The AF still has space to attack in his 1v1 and the IWB could easily play direct straight into him. The AP and IW have space to attack as the ball advances. The IWB opts to play the Mezzala in the half space who draws the full back with him and opens up the channel for the winger to attack, the Mezzala lays the ball back to the inverted wing back who lift a great pass in behind the defence, the winger exploits the space and fires home into the far corner, attacking positional play at its very best. Passing one side to score on the other. In the same game but this time building up on the right, the overload opens up the other side. This is absolutely crucial in terms of keeping the opponent guessing although we are aiming to use the left the right still has to offer an overload to stop playing being predictable. It does just that here, in this instance the ball has been progressed by the RCB, and now the DLP has its centre of the pitch, the IW has come narrow to join in with the AP and AF to overload the RB and RCB 3v2. The ball is switched to the back post and the RB has chosen to narrow his position this allows the IW space to get on the ball and fire past the keeper. The great thing about postional play, the systems can be flipped very easily. If i come up against and opponet whos formation is suited to me playing the 4-2-3-1, but lets say me overloading the left side of the pitch suits their system, for insatces they could have very strong defensive players, or and attacking out let that could expolit my agressive right wing and get 1v1 with my RCB. So flipping the system becomes adabanatges, here you can see the IWB comes from the left back slot and the winger is now the number 10. Nothing reallt changes the wide men still hold width for 1v1. the back three still forms and the half space is still where we want our advanced midfulers to expolit, with the double pivot giving them license to get forward. The comparison of the pass maps when the systems are flipped. It's a great way of showing how the roles and the shift of focus to a side effects our passing patterns. This is a good weapon to have up your sleeve with the 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 aren't viable options and play is stagnating down one side. UP Next Having covered the tactical systems next i will look into the team stats and player stats and the squad building and youth development since Fabricio Coloccini took over at the club, i had intended it to be one post but i get carried away tactically and end up getting in too deep, so ill cover it separately.

Getting there slowly but surely though! Remember how far you’ve come 🤣

Huge success already! Great to see the club being rejuvenated. How’s the tactical plan looking?

I’ll second this!! Although they have been struggling in real life for a while. They do have an absolute wonderkid in their ranks though, Sverre Nypan. He ripped us (heart of Midlothian) apart in the qualifying rounds of the conference league. Although we beat them over two legs he was head a shoulders above every player over the two legs.

Great league win! What team do you support in Greece? I visited in September time last year. What a beautiful country. We visited Athens and I somehow managed to miss the Athens derby by one day!! As we had already travelled to Naxos on the Sunday. The game was originally the Saturday but was moved to the Sunday. Then we travelled to Paros and finished up in Crete! I think OFI is my adopted Greek team as it was the only stadium I could get into see!

Wonderful insight Shrew, and great planning. I think the Mexican link provides something special, linked in with your youth driven thinking it’s going to produce some wonderful FM content for us to read into.

Couldn’t write it 🤣 Things are certainly going well, domestic front especially. Just need to keep building for Europe.

Besides Hibs winning the league things are going well. A title challenge and the last 16 of UCL. Really like your tactical style as well. Very positional play. You must get some wonderful diamonds and triangles and some real half space dominance

Sorry I can’t follow the save anymore. Anyone but Hibernian!

A like the idea of replicating Fergie adds another edge to your journey. I would give the wide playmaker role a go, see if you can replicate Beckhams role.

In red hot form, but looks like Częstochowa are up for the fight!

My beloved Hearts are in the champions league.