_Ben_

This feels like it’ll be quite a strange end of season review: particularly when we’ve won the league and have met my own expectations and exceeded those of the board, to win promotion to the top flight. Yet, it feels like we’ve somewhat bumbled our way across the line, without playing that swashbuckling brand of football that I have been able to do, in both my promotion season at GIF Sundsvall and the league titles at Elfsborg. The full breakdown of player stats can be accessed here. In goal, David Raya allowed eleven goals in during his seventeen league displays. That, to me, feels like a poor return; yet a total of 4.91xG saved means that he’s come out ranking pretty highly. I dug deeper into some performances where his save ratio was poor, but, looking where the goals were scored from – I think that these relatively high xG chances mean that more has to be done in terms of not allowing them next season, with the added benefit of a keeper who is now bedded into the team and speaks the language. I don’t feel that, ahead of him, I could necessarily fault any of the false back three either statistically or with the ‘eye-test’ and the gamble of using a L(d) instead of a BPD(d) has been all about balancing risk and reward, although, annoyingly, the better early progression of late hasn’t been demonstrated with more creative forward performances. Probably most concerning is the performance of number 10 – Javier Fernandez – his four goal contributions have come from a mammoth 9.80 expected goals and assists combined. If my newly signed playmaker had finished the season with figures of that, around a goal or an assist every two and a half to three games, I’d be delighted, but I’ve now really got to question what to make of it. Things have been very sloppy in places, particularly up top, and we’ve blown pretty hot and cold throughout, with Tchetchoua enjoying a great season, on the face of things, with eighteen goals. Yet, digging a little deeper, his goals have come from an expected 19.22 goals, an underperformance of 0.04xG per 90. As the season drew on, a switch from a CF(a) to an AF(a) was utilised to give him an opportunity to just focus on goal scoring and three goals in his last five demonstrated that. As a team, this xG performance was also true – our fifty-nine league goals, the second highest, came from 57.33 expected goals. Both us and second placed Heidenheim recorded an xG overperformance of just over one, showing that we both struggled to break down tough defences and take our chances when presented. Carlos Molina, a huge worry from last season, registered nineteen goal contributions, up from six last year, as his move to the T(a) role really paid off. Ranking inside the top 10% of players across the continent for dribbles per game as well as open play key passes meant that, whilst we lost some creativity centrally, we still had it out wide. That being said, his six assists only demonstrates an xA overperformance of just over 1.00 assist – not a huge amount in itself. Another player who contributed well was Felix Passlack, whose seven assists and 1.41 crosses completed as well as 4.46 progressive passes, ensured a threat down the right-hand side. That being said, I think I’m making some progress towards my long-term tactical goals. The plan here in Germany was always style over substance and, whilst I cannot believe I’ve already been here for two full seasons and ninety-three games, I think that there is a clear vision for where the club is going. I am beginning to see elements of my gameplay change, in both the minute-by-minute action, but also in the key metrics for our style: The contentious points here come when I decide that actually something within the style isn't working and, as such, it impacts a lot of other things, such as removing a winger to replace with a Trequartista, who, through my development, is kind of a best of both worlds but not naturally instructed to dribble as much. This then removes one third of my real ball carrying players within the team - the two wide men and a marauding centre mid - and, as such, has huge impact on the team metrics. Still, we've made a small improvement there and are second best in the league, although I cannot say how much that figure would differ if the methodology was kept across an entire season. Then, there are metrics that really don't paint the whole picture. I've felt we've been weaker at the back and always could concede, yet our opponent conversion rate has dropped. This season, we've conceded just two less goals than last, so there must be an assumption that we've faced more shots - something that'd easily, and probably rightly, be construed as a tactical step back. Obviously, the next concern comes from what this style looks like when we're not among the better teams in the league. Set out with a 2-2 box in defence with 3-3 split forward line ahead of it away at Bayern Munich and we'll get battered, as we probably would trying to out dribble the likes of Leipzig or Dortmund but become a park-the-bus outfit and I'll end up falling asleep in the hours of highlights I watch. At the end of the day, though, we're CHAMPIONS and I have, within three years, made a return to management in a top flight. This one, unlike Sweden, I'm predicting will be much harder. The summer window, before I even get to any games, will be tough as I look to strengthen and build without much prior knowledge of players interested in joining me. A move to the top flight will raise our reputation but will coincide with an increase in greed of players, especially those who think we'll be heading straight back down. It'll be hard but it'll be fun! I can't wait to write about my adventures managing in the Bundesliga for the first time in about six or seven editions of FM. Nur de VfL!

I will give you a list tonight but a start might be using Notepad++ or similar to look for the string that TCS posted. I don’t think it’s used for anything else!

You can export! I was worried too but I tried it last night and it exports only the number as intended!

This code: <record id="widget_info" class="attribute_label" alignment="centre_y,centre_x" multiline="false" colour="bg lighter" style="bold" size="10" use_attribute_colour_as_bg="true" appearance="profile/paper4"/> controls that and is in lots of places across the player areas. A risky way is to delete the graphic (paper4) but I can't remember where else I've used it. Otherwise, you can replace all existence of that with this: <record id="widget_info" class="attribute_label" alignment="right,centre_y" style="semi_bold" multiline="false"/> And it should work!

Statman24 v1.6 OUT NOW: https://www.mediafire.com/file/vlv6214e0156du5/Statman24+v1.6.rar/file Changelist: Staff attributes re-added to the game Properties added and amended to show data visualisations where possible for per/90 stats - KNOWN ISSUE: you cannot sort on your home screen but can on the player search screen. Amendment to Team Squad panel to allow more space for statistics. Amendments to player popup panel Re-added graphical attribute tracking into player progress Many other QoL tweaks. Enjoy. Please be honest and open about the skin - I know it's not for everyone but I hope it brings people as much joy to play with as it does me!

No. You can do something like this: Where I've added together total values and displayed in a different way - in this case, in bar charts. But, as far as I know, you cannot take 10 goals + 10 assists and have it represented as 20 goal contributions. Before adding that contribution widget, I toyed with the idea of making small attribute analyers, but I think they're too small!

He speaks 'good' German but there's a deeper element I need to explore, which, as @milenec11 points out, will need to be done with a bit of deeper analysis! It'll be in the summer post! Have I not conveyed the emotion of playing the games and the tactical decisions enough?! Every game is played on comprehensive highlights, which I often sit and re-watch multiple times.

I did this, went out and thought about it whilst driving. I wonder if I can just add another property - changing the ID to whatever I want considering that it then uses a widget I've created, anyway. I guess there is one way to find this out... EDIT: YES, you can! <!--test--> <record> <integer id="id" value="Ptes" /> <integer id="width" value="150" /> <integer id="minimum_width" value="150" /> <translation id="name" type="use" value="TEST STRING" /> <flags id="customisation_context" value="any" /> <translation id="category" translation_id="248359" type="use" value="General" /> <integer id="auto_hide_priority" value="98" /> <record id="widget_info"> <symbol id="class" value="client_object_viewer_xml_panel" /> <string id="file" value="widgets/personality widget" /> </record> <record id="column_widget_properties"> <flags id="alignment" value="left,centre_y" /> </record> <record id="column_heading"> <flags id="alignment" value="left,centre_y" /> <translation id="text" type="use" value="TEST STRING" /> <translation id="hint" type="use" value="TEST STRING" /> </record> <record id="search_filter"> <integer id="id" value="pfpu" /> </record> </record> I have no idea what I will do with this information but you can now create widgets that show anything and assign them to any property within the game.

I think that - within reason - you can put anything into the widgets which now replace the normal stats. Here, I repurposed a stat that I've never seen used (penalties faced) and changed it to mirror the passing metrics I use elsewhere in my skin: gold: chance creation, dark blue: key pass, mid blue: progressive, light grey: boring passes, light blue: incomplete passes.

Yep. Have a look in my Statman thread and you can see what I’ve done! It’s for every metric I have collated data on within the game, so pretty much every per90 stat.

January is done and I held off, once again, from spending any real money. However, I have brought in - arguably - the most famous player to ever play for Bochum, even if his in-game career has been slightly more anti-climatic than his real-life one potentially could be. At 35, my eyes are not necessarily on the future with this deal, but I've never really tested just how far a goalkeeper can go! David Raya joins for just €625k from Tenerife, a mid-table La Liga side at present as I was able to make a profit, selling old number one Gebhardt for €2.6m to PSV. Overall, there's a few things that are different as this signing is all about our style. Firstly, my Spaniard is an absolute whizz on the ball. His involvement in moves, as seen by this goal, is clear to see and his progressive passes and overall passes completed per/90 have already shown a significant increase on the man he replaced. Whilst being a couple of inches smaller and considerably more eccentric, David is far more Determined and his overall personality is, in my opinion, stronger. I really need to have a leader in this area of the pitch and we've managed to upgrade there, too. Lastly, the traits: Raya's 'tries to play way out of trouble' is something that I have never experienced before for a goalkeeper and I feel is essential in us being able to bait a press and play through our opponents, especially as his distribution is just so good. I managed to secure a deal that costs us just €25k per week now, with an added 40% wage rise upon promotion, taking him to still below our top earners. This clause meant I was able to forego a lot of the other expensive clauses and bonuses that he could've demanded - a treat but one he has to work for! Probably the most exciting area of this deal, though, is what he will also be used for: a mentor. As well as a first team signing, I also dipped my toes into the water for two youth players. Full player profiles can be seen by clicking on each thumbnail. Lino could well be the heir to the Raya throne as I've carefully scouted a player who has enough of a ceiling to be good for us but also has a base as similar as I can make to the Spaniard. I've set up a mentoring group - which, already, has disappointed me and I will have to look at the longer term implications of this. My intention was that Raya would be considered a highly influential player and be able to quickly impart his traits but that might be a longer term project. However, Pedro will have this year and another year in the U19 team in order to develop well enough to move into, probably, the number two slot. Lambert joins from Belgium as my scouting team appear to be finding significant gems, such as Sitang - the first ever Botswana born player to impress me! I think that these youth signings, allowing at least a full season in the youth squad will continue to be important as I look to work my way through intakes like this: The entire youth intake actually doesn't seem too bad. I've signed Rasiejewski, Reich, Rice, Rodier, Seidl, Sonkaya, Thomas, Emre Bilgin, Flessman and Leemhuis but my process is now far less about first day surprises and more about long term development, particularly as I have six players - below - who will be moving up from the U19 team in the search of first team football. It would appear that none of the below are good enough, at this point, for first team football here and all, but Drexler, have time left on their contract, in which they will likely spend in the 3.Liga or, hopefully, the 2.Liga or equivalent league. I've been tracking attribute development across my youth players in order to be better aware of how I build my training schedules, something which I intend to review over the summer, particularly with what will be my largest crop of youngsters in the youth team looking to create a sixteen player squad that can rotate positions and roles across the youth team. I feel that our successes on the pitch and the number of youth players within the first team now shows that this is working but I do want to ensure I'm giving it the best shot! Despite the relative doom and gloom about this, I have been impressed by the development of several of the new intake with Tarnowski and Schulz two of the better ones! --- We've hit a bit of a rough patch, if I'm being honest! The goals have dried up - Tchetchoua hasn't scored in ten games and scored more than once in a game just the solitary time since January - hardly league winning form! Even more worryingly, the goals are coming late, or early in the game largely - a show of our fitness or a show of my ability to motivate the team but not really a showing on continued tactical evolution and an effort to work out areas to exploit in the opposition. My newly skinned area is showing me that my players are, mostly, doing well at the things I want them to but Raya's seven goals conceded in ten isn't great, nor is Tchetchoua's goal scoring or Fernandez's overall contributions. However, Heidenheim are faltering themselves and the gap back to the chasing pack continues to feel like a nice buffer for me. Our run is isn't too much: Paderbon, St Pauli, Osnabruck, Karlsruhe, Furth, Aachen and Kiel represent a mix of top and bottom sides but, as always happens at this time of the year, the momentum in me is dipping. I need to dive right back in and see the last seven games out to secure our promotion! Nur de VfL!

I've been working on a way to add more detail to the rows and columns within the game and have been able to create the images below. For those that didn't see this in the 'Show your Skin' thread, the premise has been to add a second layer of info to various areas - personality and media handling group as do games and goals across a career. But, the biggest change is adding the metric dots to this area. The hint, here, is built into the skin but allows me to really easily see, at a team level, where the strengths and weaknesses lie. To get that to occupy as much space as possible, I've removed the bits of analysis from the right hand side and added the button, below, to the top panel to pop out when clicked: This also drips down onto the player search areas, where I can now see this - for example: I'm able to save a click, essentially, to easily compare the outputs for these players. Because of this - in my game (and not on any release) - the player search area will be hidden so that I can only see this data from those who I have scouted. However, that is a personal choice and I won't push that on others. --- This and the staff attributes will be in the next version, hopefully to be released this week!

I've added this to the player comparison.xml <!--STATMAN STATS--> <container id="stats" hidden="false" > <translation id="title" value="Statistics" draw_vertical_dividers="false"/> <layout class="arrange_horizontal_attachment" layout="-1,-1,-1" > <global id="gap" name="ui.main_box_gap"/> </layout> <layout class="stick_to_sides_attachment" alignment="vertical" inset="0" apply_to_children="true" /> <string id="skin_style" value="subtle box" /> <!--Player 1 report--> <container class="contrast_box" red_replacement="bg lighter"> <layout class="vertical_arrange" vertical_layout="-1" vertical_gap="10" /> <!-- STATS --> <widget class="player_additional_stats_panel" id="pcr1" file="player/stats/comparison/player performance stats combined comparison"> <record id="object_property" get_property="objt" set_property="objt" /> <translation id="title" type="use" value="Comparisons" /> </widget> </container> <!--Player 2 report: not called 'box 3' but just helps with notes panel--> <container class="inner_contrast_box_no_margin" red_replacement="bg" width="450" id="not" hidden="true"> <layout class="vertical_arrange" vertical_layout="-1" vertical_gap="10" /> <container class="filterable_notes_panel"> <record id="object_property" get_property="Pers" /> <animation class="slide_in_top_animation" /> </container> </container> <container class="contrast_box" red_replacement="bg lighter" id="box3" hidn="false"> <layout class="vertical_arrange" vertical_layout="-1" vertical_gap="10" /> <!-- STATS --> <widget class="player_additional_stats_panel" id="pcr2" file="player/stats/comparison/player performance stats combined comparison"> <record id="object_property" get_property="objt" set_property="objt" /> <translation id="title" type="use" value="Comparisons" /> </widget> </container> </container> I used the pcr1 and pcr2 to buy myself another ID that meant I could build as many different things as I wanted (such as a full player profile) in that one file - player performance stats combined comparison - and it'd show in both places.

Ermm. Not sure! Let me get back to you...

Yes. I had to skin over it with that secondary container. One of the things I left as it was because the latter is more impactful in my eyes.

I’d thought about taking it a long way but might need to take a step back. I’d thought I could have goals/xG, goals per90/xG per 90 etc for the actual stats. With that - I’d then be able to add in a metric image - such as the 5 dots (20% for each) that I use elsewhere. I think that I need to stop and just take check on how much work this would be! Like this, but on a bigger scale... And, so far, on the Player Search panel: What do people think?

And here it is: Quite nice for trying to analyse opposition threats from previous form..

Yeah... In person properties, the personality section looks like this: <!--personality--> <record> <integer id="id" value="PPst" /> <integer id="width" value="150" /> <integer id="minimum_width" value="150" /> <translation id="name" translation_id="251873" type="use" value="Personality[COMMENT - person list view column heading]" /> <flags id="customisation_context" value="any" /> <translation id="category" translation_id="248359" type="use" value="General" /> <integer id="auto_hide_priority" value="98" /> <record id="widget_info"> <symbol id="class" value="client_object_viewer_xml_panel" /> <string id="file" value="widgets/personality widget" /> </record> <record id="column_widget_properties"> <flags id="alignment" value="left,centre_y" /> </record> <record id="column_heading"> <flags id="alignment" value="left,centre_y" /> <translation id="text" translation_id="251873" type="use" value="Personality[COMMENT - person list view column heading]" /> <translation id="hint" translation_id="330307" type="use" value="Personality[COMMENT - person list view column heading hint]" /> </record> <record id="search_filter"> <integer id="id" value="pfpu" /> </record> </record> You can see where I've changed the widget_info away from personality_label and directed it to that widget. I saw that this was possible on the position one so figured that all would work! You can still use personality_label elsewhere, as seen below, as this only changes the fixed listed items, as would changing the numbers to dots, for example: The personality widget is really simple: <container height="60"> <layout class="vertical_arrange" vertical_layout="-1,-1" vertical_gap="2" /> <widget class="personality_label" autosize="vertical" font="text" alignment="left,bottom" colour="text"> <record id="object_property" get_property="PPst" /> </widget> <container height="60"> <layout class="vertical_arrange" vertical_layout="-1,-1" vertical_gap="2" /> <widget class="media_handling_label" autosize="vertical" font="text" style="semi_bold" alignment="left,top" colour="faded text"> <record id="object_property" get_property="Pghm" /> </widget> </container> </container> I've also amended the hierarchy widget to show both hierarchy and social group. The next idea is to amend the 'Last 5 Games' widget to include goals, assists and conceded in that period. I'll pop up a screenshot once done! Entirely my idea! I love the Newgan faces so like to make the rows a bit bigger than default and this means there is wasted space, which I've now found ways to fill!

The widgets can contain any separate entity that the game stores. Sadly, things like all time clean sheets appear to be formulaic and done through tables and, as such, cannot be isolated!

I’ve just seen this. I had found a workaround - I will get back to you when I’m in-game, probably tomorrow.

I've made some very minor changes to certain strings, which turns them into widgets and allows me to double up. This comes off the back of seeing the Team/League widget that comes in the game. The name is now custom to show all nationalities; the position now shows left and right foot strength as well as media description; the personality label now includes media handling and the wage label now includes an expiry date. Some changes to the Team View with this, too - namely the appearances and goals widget:

He’s been in the first team since the game started and in a mentoring group with Passlack (Resolute and Level Headed) and Lawrence (F.Pro and Level Headed) - for no real reason, to be fair. That was, until I saw that the mentoring review mentioned things like Temperament changing. When someone is Light Hearted, most of their hidden attributes are ‘good’ and I know that - because I use a star icon to show a couple on my squad view - that his wasn’t ’gold’ (15 or over) but Lawrence’s was. After just over a year at it, he’s now turned ‘gold’ and has become a Model Citizen, so I got really lucky! The Samake and Bothmann thing is a hark back to my attempt at ‘control’ - maybe it’s their Det (I think it needs to be 14) that is stopping them from being a Model Citizen. I got lucky with Kozic in hidden stuff but can see this one! I’ve got a long term mentoring ‘project’ lined up anyway - so will see how that one goes…

He looks to be quality! I think the fact that the game already describes him as BPD shows just how he has no real areas of weakness that won't be ironed out. Build your youth team around him!

I've got time! Hopefully he'll grow into the role and I can see some strong outcomes - because, right now, he's not being a part of the goal, instead the pass before the assist, which does not get credited. Aside from your Allison's and Ederson's - both of whom are in the Middle East - I think that Raya is the best ball-playing keeper in the game for me. I've also never seen a keeper (but then again, I rarely manage at the top level early in the game) who has the 'plays way out of trouble' trait! I hope to bring him in and then use him as a mentor for a youngster of the same style and see what I can do. Yeah - the build up style is still a work in progress but we're moving the ball quicker through the thirds and trying to be more clinical, which is why we are passing around by the box elss and less. --- Whilst I have you... The long term mentoring has worked! I went back and looked. Kozic had been Light Hearted but something (I think temperament) must have moved and he's now a Model Citizen. It's been a nearly two year process but there's been some successes. I want to see where this has come from because Tchetchoua is also Light Hearted and, if there is potential to move that on before he becomes too influential, I want to explore it! I also have Samake and Bothmann in the U19 team who I feel could be there with some Determination work?!

As soon as I saw Fernandez’ attributes, I really wanted to give him the opportunity to create havoc in Zone 14 as an advanced playmaker. That, however, meant that there’d need to be some switching of roles – as I don’t feel that two playmakers would work with this style and could possibly slow the play down more than I wanted. Whilst a T(a) is a playmaker, I don’t feel as they’re as much of a ball magnet and I’d already used one in a previous shape, just in the striker role. It would also mean a change to that role – with two more rounded forwards in Tchetchoua and Pejcinovic – the CF(a) role came into play and I feel I can mitigate their combined lack of heading ability through our style, anyway. With a focus already on to work play through the middle and an AP(a) role that is already quite attacking, removing the ‘Get Further Forward’ player instruction felt like a sensible option. Here, in our early build up, we have a very clear 3133 shape which means I am able to play diagonally and forwards with several banks of overloads. Having two wrong footed players in that right-sided bank – Osterhage and Molina are left footed – it means that their natural body shape brings them back inside to play in one of the three attackers. What I like most about this still in the Samake, deputising in this game, is holding his width – despite playing as a more conservative IW(s) yet the FB is still drawn to him. Whilst the ball is a good thirty plus yards away, here Fernandez is two on one with Tchechtoua up top, or, if he moves, two on one with Samake on the full back. Being able to move the ball through Ndiquidi and forward is going to be a key element of our play here. In this still, I’ve been able to get Fernandez on the ball in a pocket of space as the midfield has been baited into pressing the Molina/Osterhage/Passlack overload but the ball has bypassed them. Again, he can drive forwards and Samake and Tchetchoua are now potentially part of a 2v1 versus their full back. Even more interesting for me is how the T(a) and BBM(s) operate when the ball is out on the left. Osterhage occupies an aggressive position, one that I’d consider more akin to that of a CM(a), Mez(a) or AP(s) but a quick switch, again, can create a 3v2 with Passlack on that side. Overall, it's a little more scripted than I'd normally like in terms of team instructions as I tend to try and use roles that allow that within them. However, things like low crossing cannot be controlled by a player role and I feel you can have the same roles play the same at different tempos: a winger will hold his shape and cross at a lower tempo but will naturally progress the ball when asked to play at a higher pace. Likewise, I could overlap on the right with a Support duty there but feel that I want both, an attack minded player and an overload and I could use playmakers in the centre to naturally gravitate around. With these, I think I can move us closer to my intended playing style and the addition of 'Run at Defence' combined with dribbly-roles will only allow us to emphasise that element of our transition. I also had two further exploratory tactical things to consider... I'm in no rush to get this right and have, therefore, taken a full half of a season to explore the outputs of Fernandez in this role, with pass maps from his first three games forming the image above. My intention is for to get into that Zone 14 where a very clickbaity video tells me I can see up to an 81% increase in chances of scoring, compared to when the ball does not come through this zone. Overall, despite our strong team performances, he hasn't really set the world alight, as his stats - below - show. A lack of assists, expected assists and, to be honest, key passes is a concern for me. He's probably too aggressive to be in an area to carry the ball that much but yet it still safe - not losing the ball a huge amount of times! That being said, the eye test is positive and it's not as if we are struggling to find the net and find creators elsewhere in the team. I just need to fine-tune this one. Next up is the Pau Torres role. Whilst FM24 cannot compute this, a key metric of Pau's play is his progressive actions: he the ball 1,084 yards in Villa's win over Fulham. It is the 8th time that Torres has passed the ball over 1,000 yards in a single Premier League games this season. This link to show how Torres’ forward thinking draws in players to create spaces further up and this link shows the number of passes that Torres has made into the final third. I pondered about whether to introduce a HB(d) in front and go full out with a L(s) here, properly utilising the positional play elements to create a very fluid back three but, actually, have settled on - more often than not - the L(d) role that sees him patrol slightly ahead of the defensive line in a 325 in build up. That, again, can be altered as we look to fulfil that ideology of building up with one more man - as seen with the 5v4 here. Kozic's pass map from his first game as a L(d) is above with a 66% success rate of long, forward passes - hopefully something I can build into his game and, when compared against all outfield players, he's dribbling - per game - more than about 60% of them, that's not too bad, either. I want more cutting edge and risk from his passing game, which will, in turn, reduce the 94% completion rate but it's another work in progress role within this shape! Javier Fernandez - left - and Luka Kozic - right - statistical outputs, compared against all players in the top 25 leagues, represented as a 20% percentile band. Yet... It's working overall! We're not quite at the turn yet but we've been pretty strong across the majority of the matches, even after a shock opening day defeat. We've won each game on xG this year and are recording 2.20xG per/90 (1.90 in the league), with two goals scored a game. We look a little on the soft side at the back, but I think that an upgrade in the goalkeeping department will assist there. Tchetchoua has, unlike last season, found his scoring boots in the first half of the season and leads the league, and team, with no small part down to his five goals in the dismantling in the DFB Pokal. With so much focus on tactical development, I really feel that we're on to a winning formula here and so many players are performing well, with us working towards our goals. For reference, our metric comparisons at this point are: Possession: 54% (7% increase) Final Third Passes: 58 (decrease of four) Expected goals per shot: 0.14 (increase of 0.02 per shot) Dribbles: 15.64 (increase of 2.38) Interceptions: 21.66 (increase of 1.30) Defensive line height: 40.27 yards (increase of nearly four yards) Opposition conversion rate: 10% (increase of 1%) Pretty good going towards those targets we set at the start of this season. Elsewhere, a quick look in Sweden shows a shock as feeder team Brommapojkarna actually won the league with my ex-side Elfsborg down in fifth having changed the manager who successfully destroyed my squad! The highlight has to be Christian Brahmer, who notched twelve goal contributions whilst out on loan there. David Raya - or, at least - a player like David Raya could be the final piece of my jigsaw and, given our strong showing this year in the league combined with the fact that promotion will open up significant avenues that I've not been able to explore yet, I have gone pretty much all in on finding a new goalkeeper. His on-ball ability is, to my knowledge, unmatched within the pool of players who are willing to join us and his contract expires in the summer. His stats show him at a struggling Tenerife side, who really don't play out from the back like I want to so I'm taking them with a pinch of salt, somewhat. The fact that he's 35 does concern me somewhat but I've never truly tested the age boundary of a goalkeeper and he could, potentially, be here for four or five years. Likewise, the (hopeful) promotion means that new players will become interested in joining our journey and I may then be able to spend a more significant proportion of any budget - safe in the knowledge that I have stabilised the club financially - on said player. The other element of my development is coaching staff: and, in this case, Pablo Perez. He joins as a youth coach and, now that I have added attributes back into my game, I am able to chart his progress across months, years and coaching badges. This move follows a previous appointment in this mould, as Oscar Lewicki moves up to fill a gap within the first team. I pay far too little attention to this area of the game so wanted to make myself a bit more accountable by posting about it! Nur de VfL!