_Ben_

Yeah - it must record that with the position they are in when they play the game. Just makes the analysis a little more complex... Absolutely would be good to look at! It hasn't taken much time to put together but is pretty strong in what it shows (the opposition's home record is on the left and away is on the right): Essentially, we're dropping points to teams who, maybe Vitesse away aside, who are performing well at either at home or on the road. Just another thing that goes to show that we've had a really strong season!

Thank you so much! Posters like @SixPointer and @13th Man have been of huge inspiration to writing these more tactically based posts because, as you can probably see, my background (outside of FM) is more of data and data analysis so it's much easier for me to port those skills into the game and explain my processes. I, too, did not know that the Data Hub even had that tab until, probably, the off-season break in this game. Now it's my go-to and, with the Next Opposition tab (which I've been writing more about given that I'm about to play against PSV), it's probably become my most important and used area - giving me that extra feedback from what I see during the games.

I love that question and wanted to really dig into to see what I could find. For reference, below are the draws we've had this season and here is the table right now. However, the issue with that stat I posted is that it counts the results from the time we played them meaning that, there are only actually two teams that are currently in the bottom half. Whilst that shows us how wonderful our football has been against the weaker teams, it also makes the analysis more difficult. Here is the xG match story of our defeat to ADO Den Haag and the draw against Vitesse: In pure xG terms, we didn't deserve to not win either but there are clear areas where we just have a bad time. In the first game, that comes for nearly forty minutes mid match period. Sadly, it's too far back to be able to dig any deeper to find out what happened. Against Vitesse, we've had a succession of low quality shots across the game but, once we finally score, we just seem to have given up. It's almost like we've huffed and puffed so much that we had nothing left once we got the equaliser. Whilst I've not really been able to answer your question, it has really opened up a thought process that I can use going forward - so thanks for that!

No. Sadly not. I am unable to find it anywhere in isolation as it just appears the report is generated with what it’s generated with, if you know what I mean! Will keep trying though.

(End) February 2038 Another slightly shorter one with just two games to update on but two wonderful performances as we keep pace with Feyenoord above us. In terms of players, I was sadly unable to agree terms with Danilo Duarte as he insisted on more than double the wages of my next top earner. However, wages were not a problem as I wrapped up the Benjamin Kokora deal, in what I hope will be an absolute steal at full back. My loanees are still performing really well with me often dropping in to NAC and Roda games to keep an eye on them: a place that Pander will likely stay at should they not earn promotion this year. Lastly comes a wonderful table that can only be found in the stat pack against the next opposition but is really important: I love these kinds of things because it starts to bring together match strategies and allows us to work on weaknesses. Clearly, from this, I need to improve against teams in the bottom half - with five draws considered to be dropped points. However, the biggest thing is the fact that we've never won when going behind. Granted, this isn't a huge amount of games but still something that I really need to sort out. --- A really pleasing victory coming off the back of two draws but, longer term, there is much to be learnt from this kind of game. As I alluded to, our record, particularly with draws, against teams in the bottom half, isn't great and Vitesse - in that bracket - nearly did the same to us. You can see, from this pass map graphic above, that, against teams who just sit back against us, we can end up with a very ineffective shape. We end up holding the ball for too long in the defensive or middle third and, by that time, all of the running has happened. This leaves us with all of our offensive players in a line and outnumbered by their defensive players. Again, this is a match by match thing that I really need to work through, identifying those triggers early on and overcoming. In this case, we were somewhat lucky, but I'm not going to write any kind of complaints about getting three points when my tenure here has been beset with far too many draws. Some moans in the last game but absolutely perfect here. A convincing win with a tactical victory and two goals for an academy graduate who is getting game time in order to assist in my decision making for next season. Excelsior play a pretty standard 4-4-2 so my plan was to push both wingers onto their inside feet and also change the defensive width to as wide as possible, cutting off those crossing opportunities. With two against two in midfield, I went tight on them, even though mine very offensive but this is something that I've utilised in the past to good impact. Keeping on the Tight Marking from the staff feedback a month or so back has been a great addition as we are regularly seeing the feedback of not allowing many touches in our box. Again - it's these little tweaks that make these wins super pleasing!

Absolutely! It's really been a breath of fresh air and, as you may be able to tell, I'm loving it! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my ramblings! I have spent much of my 'FM career' as you have in your Jersey save, using the instant result. I sincerely hope that none of my posts about that past come off as patronising or undermining the ability of FM players who play like that, but I've really found another gear in terms of FM play and really enjoy it. Having a forum like this where I can literally air my thoughts and learnings is great and I'm privileged to sit and reply to people who enjoy reading that!

I can see he’s underperforming his xG but what are his key pass/chances created stats like? I’m still backing that theory that Kortijk aren’t a great team and that’s skewing his performances but that he’ll come back and smash it into a title winning side!

Without making it too gamey, his two footedness is potentially skewing his CA by upwards of 10 points and that's the difference between a solid Eredivisie player and, well, not one. Yes, that OtB is a little lower than you want but it's not going to be too far below average for youngsters in that division, which is a big step of realisation I've made this year. Plus, there are a lot of other good attributes at the 12/13 level and that, used well - which I know you're good at - could be just what you need at certain parts of the game. On a side note, he's actually a left back in my save but, at 33, I'm just giving him a scout as he's available on a pre-contract and could add some depth! Will share a screenshot when his attributes are uncovered...

I like him! How are Kortijk doing in the league? I’ve got a couple of lads out on loan who are struggling but that’s because their team is, too. Attribute wise, his two-footedness skews those attributes and a run in the first team could certainly give them a boost. You’re a strong team and I’d be using him in the last 20 to either kill a game off with his pace or give him that experience he needs.

Could you not use the transparent option in the colour preferences for each attribute number? Not sure whether that’s a ‘one size fits all’ approach or not though.

Here is the breakdown of our books and below is the overall key figures: We need to sell to survive because our wages are essentially double our sponsorship income and the 22,000 stadium (of we average 19,000ish attendees) is barely just a cover for our youth setup. In an ideal world, I'd want the following things: Sponsorship >= Team Wages Gate Receipts >= 50% of Team Wages Prize Money and TV Money >= 200% of Team Wages Scouting, Youth costs, fees and bonuses to not exceed Team Wages Now those are just numbers and ideas off the top of my head as finances is something I've really not had to dig into given the riches of Krasnodar, but, in the short term, at least, we've got to be so sensible with our recruitment!

(First half) of February 2038 This month, after my reply to @danielgear, has been all about recruiting and continuing to build the squad for next season, knowing that I'm not quite at that final touches stage but am certainly past the overhaul stage that happened last summer. As such, I've split the month into two sets of two games as my thoughts are away from the tactical side, momentarily, and onto the data analysis and squad building side. However, even with a PSV surge, we're still looking strong in the league and, even dropping down to fourth - whilst would be a shame given our form to date - would signify European qualification and good progress. ---- FC Groningen 1-1 Feyenoord These games are such fine margins and, if it wasn't for a lack of Composure from Zambrano here, miscuing a clearance that went nowhere other than to the feet of their striker, we may have won this match and moved above Feyenoord. However, a draw is a solid result against a team that kept the ball well and made it harder than a lot of teams for us to exploit space and create chances. I think that this result shows just how far we've come this year: yes, we beat PSV 5-0 and also drew twice with Ajax, but against a team in really good form who play in a slightly different way to the rest of the league is of great significance to our development. FC Groningen 1-1 Heracles From one strange shape to another; Heracles' 4-3-2-1 Christmas Tree is a tough shape for me to counter given the concerns with making sure I don't allow up to six players the chance to counter through the middle whilst our CM(a) are elsewhere. I went for the double pivot again, using IF(s) and a PF(a) in front of the sole CM(a) and it worked relatively well. That is, however, our tenth draw of the season and, whilst we wouldn't/couldn't/shouldn't win all of those games, imagine the difference if we were somewhere near twenty points better off. Only Fortuna Sittard - in 14th - have drawn as many as us and only the top two have lost as few as us. The next job, and one that will really decide how we progress over the coming years, is to turn those draws into wins, through whatever means necessary! --- On the recruitment side, I've kicked off my plans for the summer, starting with full backs. My method at the moment kind of merges what the scouts and analysts do in game with a bit more intelligence - and by that I mean using collated data for leagues and areas to find undervalued or high performing players. I think that this is a pretty robust, yet realistic approach as the data for players across leagues is widely available, in real life, on the Internet and I think that any data analyst, worth his salt, would be comparing and looking through these number in addition to those players he's watching and compiling numerical work on. For my wing backs, I want to target those who are already playing in European top flights and have excellent (> 2.00 per/90) outputs for both Dribbles and Interceptions, as those are key in my shape. I also wanted the added bonus of Key Passes but accept that this is, especially for the AI, an area where they may not excel. After filtering through the players who are interested, I was able to create a shortlist of the following players: With Pawel's wage demands sitting at over €30k p/w and with the Polish league not modelled, I settled on two impressive targets from leagues whereby I can a) watch the games and b) they are modelled in more detail to produce more realistic statistics. You can see their full screenshot by clicking on their thumbnails: Now, I've been burnt pretty badly with Adilio Rocha coming on from Portugal but genuinely believe that these two lads could be really special for us. Benjamin Kokora, an academy graduate of Newcastle now playing in Portugal, is available for €1.7m, his release clause. Obviously, his personality is top notch but I also really like his speed and overall mental attributes. Second in the list for Interceptions/90, and, around the level of my own full backs, which signifies a man with intelligence who can come out and meet the ball before engaging with a tackle. My own statistical analysis has him down as a very strong defender but also one who, whilst can be a little brash in possession, also creates some really good passes. With Chaves struggling at the bottom of Liga NOS, I envisage that his offensive side is somewhat compromised but still being in the top 30% of all full backs for Dribbles/90 is a great achievement. His wage demands and status should be no problem and I envisage that he'll come in as first choice right back. Despite being a natural Left Back, Duarte has played mostly at right back for another relegation threatened Liga NOS side, Nacional, however, I do love that his two-footedness will allow him to play on either side. Again, a man with a really cheap release clause and some quality statistics, leading Interceptions/90 on my shortlist and, from my own analysis, sitting in the top 20% for all recorded offensive actions. My only concerns with this deal is that his demands are slightly higher than Kokora and I worry that he'll be unhappy in a rotational role with the very impressive Schuur. However, having two strong players in each of these key roles for the club is important and something I need to press on with. I'll be handing these two over to DoF Tyrick Volkers, should the final reports come back with no red flags about their hidden attributes and they perform to an adequate level in the games I can get over to Portugal and watch. Two, seemingly, undervalued players who could form the corner store of my defence for years to come! I think that the easiest way to look at what else needs doing is by this basic depth chart: Green players are those who I am happy with within the team, whereas orange are players who maybe aren't quite ready yet. The yellow players are older, squad players who have no real need to move on but may be usurped by my youngsters and Ikeda, the only player in white, will be leaving as I'm unable to honour my promise to him. You can clearly see the need for full backs and a centre back here. Whilst the above scouting has thrown up a couple of diamonds in the rough, potentially, I'm finding it much harder to work through this process with a centre back given their importance to their teams and, as such, their values and interests in moving on. Essentially, if they're 24 or older and still not playing in a transitional league (e.g. Portugal, Holland, Belgium) then they're not good enough but if they've already moved to their or one of the big five leagues, I probably can't afford or tempt them. As my scouting ability and reputation grows, I'll try and cut out that first step, seizing young players from target markets but that's some distance from where we are right now.

Absolutely not! As I've said, the problem right now is the change in reputation that qualifying for Europe will bring. If I go for a fairly rudimentary search - realistically approaching the weaker teams in the top leagues, signing players who we already know and are statistically doing well - I get these results: Hardly a full database of potential incomings. The other thing to take into account is that, whilst we do have over €20m in the bank, we lose a couple of million a month and therefore I can't go ahead and spend €15m on a player this summer as it'll financially cripple us until we're regular Champions League qualifiers. Then you come to my actual plans for the summer... Ignoring the Jong team sales, I'm losing two full backs, a centre back, a backup goalkeeper probably and intend to lose my backup striker. I've been so obsessed with getting the best from the crop I currently have, that I've somewhat neglected the recruitment part in the past months. So much so that I added signings for the first team to my DoF (to compliment the youth signings that my HoYD initiates) but everyone he made a move for failed to really impress me or meet the needs I have. It's early February in game right now and I've got to get myself into gear - especially if I want to continue with the performance related, fully scouted realistic model that I've used to date!

Thanks! It's the fine tuning element that I'm really enjoying at the moment. I am a lot more confident in judging what I see on the pitch and adapting around it so that's the plan right now - getting my wingers to be a constant threat and, mainly, improving their conversion rates.

Good work Makoto! How are Castel di Sangro doing? Rare to have a database this low so nice to check up on them…

(Late) January 2038 Four league games to end the month and, as has been custom this season, a huge amount of depth in terms of my decisions on players and tactics through the month. We're ending the month in a position I never thought we'd be in but with a squad that I'm developing into a really aggressive threat to others. I see this project having another two or three years left to run on it but the progress we've made in the year and a bit since I took over has been sublime. In player news, we've been quite active: Thijs is one of the most promising youngsters at the club and the second central midfielder off the recent production line to go out on loan, following on from Asante. They're not the same type of player and Pander is a little rough around the edges but he's got decent attributes for both the roles I use: a runner and a creator. Moving to NAC - in the second tier - will be a good move for him as he's going to become an important player in a team that is winning and chasing promotion. I don't envisage him being 'ready' to return to the first team after just six months, but he's certainly one to watch. I hope that Thijs can follow in the footsteps of Alfred Asante, who has made absolutely phenomenal progress in the last five hundred days or so since I moved to The Netherlands: What he's done here is made sustained progress in all areas of his game, adding physicality but also developing as both a finisher and a defender. Obviously, with the way I play the game - using a transparent font for attributes under 7 - I can see that, at minimum, he's improved four points on his Finishing in that time, which was the focus he had. He's also improved at least three in Concentration, as well as five in Pace and three in Acceleration, presumably coming from his work on the Mezzala training schedule as well as a short period of time using the Shadow Striker focus. Whilst his personality is good, it's not what's been considered the perfect in the past - but it shows how well, in this instance, my micromanaging has done. He's still lacking a little in specialising to be either a runner or a playmaker but his sheer physical presence is contributing to some decent performances in the second tier. He's just put pen to paper on a new contract, which will more than likely see him part of the first team next year. In terms of permanent transfers, HoYD Melnik has brought in Jonsson, Vilhjammson and Tarasovs, all of whom will play in the U18 team for the time being. I like the look of the young Icelandic winger but, most of all, I appreciate the realism in someone else dealing with signing these youngsters as it's not really something I envisage a manager having much of a say in. I also let first choice keeper Westerveld move to Heracles, for €625k up front with the same amount also paid in instalments. My hand somewhat forced as I was able to complete the below signing: (Image is clickable) I was told of Parma's bid so ended up submitting a bid one transfer window earlier than I intended but I got the man I want. My issue with Westerveld was his lack of presence but, with 15 for Command of Area and a 6'5" frame, I think the Fin will change that. What also impresses me is his footballing ability - a really good passer with some decent Vision to boot. His Rushing Out also means that I can continue with a push for a slightly higher line, knowing that I'll have a dependable 'keeper in behind. His signing does mean that I'll be breaking a promise to cup keeper Ikeda, who I had said would have a shot at the first team in order to cement a World Cup place but Westerveld was the more-sellable option, covering my costs here and also four years older. He's one of the higher earners and can leave for a €13m but that would signify a huge profit, anyway. ---- FC Groningen 0-0 VVV Venlo Didn't quite get this one right. Again, opting for the double pivot against the 5-2-1-2 that Venlo play and, again, using the PF(a) at the head of my attack, giving me a little more mobility when using just one central midfielder. However, thie really pulled Sharpe around and limited our ability to pull defenders out of play. As you can see from the shot map, so many of our shots came from 'in front of' their defensive line. Even our IF(a) were marshalled well by their (this time) less aggressive wing backs. With some injuries running through the squad, I wasn't able to move to the more risky Christmas Tree shape in order to try and overload their defensive three, negating their offensive issues as they hadn't offered much. As I've maintained all season - I think it's much easier to turn a draw into a win over the course of the next couple of years, as opposed to a defeat into a win. FC Groningen 0-1 Ajax This is one whereby I've executed my game plan almost to perfection but their class has just told at the end. We ensured that we were super compact and, as you can see from the heat map and action zones, let them have the ball in the middle of the pitch. We allowed them to have a whole host of shots but the average shot xG of just 0.06 tells you where they came from. We exit the cup and end with a record against Ajax of P3, D2, L1 with two goals scored and three goals conceded: not bad! What the cup has also allowed me to do is to give some minutes to youngsters. One of the biggest differences I've found between this and the Russian league is that I'm back to only have three substitutes, which was perfect to use the last one or two on youth players. Seven players from the Jong team have appeared, with Koji performing remarkably well across his cup games - so much that he's featured in the league too. My aim is to continue this kind of development across matches in the league - ensuring that I'm picking players who are training and developing well. This game also highlights the concerns that I have around Emile Escalona, particularly from his scout report, above. With just one goal in six on average at the start of his career, which has come mostly against lower level opposition, I am starting to worry whether I've thrust him into the first team too soon and without the pre-requisite experience. Emile is a good, well rounded player, but I have to confess that, maybe, the focus on utilising him cost me the future for Henry Westra. He's recorded 3.64xG but scored twice this season, once against Venlo and the other against Heerenveen with the former as an AF(a) and the latter as a F9(s). I wanted to take a look a little bit deeper into this so compiled data from all games he's played this season across each age group, split by position: I think we can probably exclude the game as a SS(a) in my Christmas tree shape as the Jong team demolished the reserves on an amateur side but there are some interesting things to note between playing as a F9(s) and as an AF(a). He's less involved, as you'd expect, with the ball and that really limits his creativity, yet has still created some assists. It also seems that the role hasn't hugely impacted his finishing ability, although he's been far more clinical as a False Nine. I want to see Emile a bit more in the Jong team in the AF(a) role before I fully make a decision on how his future may play out. Moving entirely away from a creative forward means that Jonsson, who I've spent much time a) deliberating with and b) developing, would become somewhat of an extra. Valued at €50m, he'd bankroll the future of the club but the real test would be converting him back to a midfielder or trying to shoehorn him as some kind of an AF(a) - making use of his Off the Ball: 16, Agility: 15, Balance: 17, Finishing: 12, Composure: 13. What this has definitely told me is that a striker will be on the shopping list in the summer to allow Escalona to get some first team football, unless I decide to move either Sharpe or Ter Burg to that role leading to a new wide man being needed... FC Utrecht 0-1 FC Groningen Not a huge amount to say here as the game was relatively dull and we ran out of steam inside the last twenty minutes or so, given the exploits of our squad against Ajax previously. I often find that we are able to exploit spaces in a 4-2-3-1 shape with a F9(s) so opted for Ter Burg to play there, flanked by Sharpe and Cespedes but we had little luck against a very cautious opponenent. Still, three points is three points and we continue to march on with our unbeaten league run. Heerenveen 1-4 FC Groningen Off the back of the thoughts and then poor showings against Venlo and Utrecht, I have taken another look at my tactical approach, focusing on my wingers. I posted this back in October: Obviously, the resounding win over Cambuur gave me a lot of hope that this system would help with the outputs from the wide players but I actually think it's created more concerns than answers. Yes, the way that they stretch the play is fantastic and really necessary to those central overloads, but I think I can get that without having to use very attacking mentalities. I believe that this is the cause of those rushed shots and poor conversions. As you can see, there haven't been a huge number of goals nor assists from these lads but I think the biggest barrier is that their attacking mentality changes how we play, especially when we use an AF(a). The changes make our mentalities look like this: IF(s) - Both very attacking AF(a) - Very attacking This can be altered quite easily with a move from Positive to Balanced if I feel that they're too attacking but, from the game, a comparison of the IF(s) position with ball (green) and without (red) shows that not much has changed, just they sit a little deeper to start with. The game itself, against our big rivals, was great. We controlled the spaces and, as I wanted, the IF(s) kept their width (graphic shows touches, dribbles, crosses, crosses received, gained possession and heat map) and the ever impressive Bouma set up a goal with the most sublime touch. We conceded from a lapse in concentration, allowing them to get to the byline and put a cross in: something that can cause us problems with our Tight Marking instruction becomes confusing with deeper runners, particularly in a 4-4-1-1. Obviously, Ter Burg netted twice, which is great and doubles his tally for the season but I'm making little reference to them as neither of them can be attributed to our style - one came from a set piece and the other was a strike from the edge of the area. --- Feyenoord come to town in the first game of February and, somehow, this really feels like a six-pointer that could decide second place: a position that I only thought we'd achieve in my wildest dreams.

(Early)January 2038 There is a natural break here to split the friendlies and competitive fixtures up into two posts, hopefully making them a little shorter and easier to digest. There is never any fun in playing teams this weak, particularly when the goal is match fitness for the first team players, meaning that I'm not going to use it as a time for run outs for youth players or experiment with much tactically. However, the clubs too far away wouldn't travel and my board wouldn't approve our own travel to far afield. I think that I need to assess the need for these friendlies next year and whether Match Practice - in training - would suffice. The first game, against the only real opposition we faced as a good one. We battled hard and tried to experiment with corners - this one leaving two men on the edge of the area. Interestingly, Mouscron didn't commit many players forward and it was easily collected by Ikeda. The Katwijk game saw a classic Matryoshka-move as a diagonal ball creates an overload and a low cross is put away by Konté, who impressed on debut. As I'm still experimenting with an AF(a) in some shapes whilst Jonsson is out, you may notice a familiar face. Here is Raul Budunov when I took over at Anji and here he is now. Sadly, he's probably not quite up to the level I need but this shape was essentially built for him to excel at. His form, below, albeit against poor teams, shows there might still be life left in the old dog: He's on trial for a month and is regaining match fitness after leaving Ural at the end of last season. Jonsson has missed 34% of the season to date and, whilst I'm lucky to have two IF(a) who can play up top, do feel that relying on Escalona in the short term probably isn't the wisest of ideas. The last game, whilst a cakewalk, shows the issue with this shape, particularly when I use an AF(a). A huge chasm is created between the attacking and defensive phase and we would, against better opposition, be wide open to be countered here. I'm a little unsure of what to do here. The CM(a)s are integral to the way we overload centrally and I am, therefore, loathed to move them back to supporting roles or even have one supporting. Using different roles, such as an AP(s) would change the shape, probably for the better, but would also create a ball magnet that I just don't need with this style. My other thoughts would be a pair of BBM(s) as they do get up and down but are largely supporting players. That fits Konté's skillset quite well but really won't work for the likes of Bouma or even Pander, who I hope to promote in the coming years. --- On the transfer front, I now face a really important summer. With us looking likely (hopefully!) to qualify for Europe, our scouting work this season pretty much becomes obsolete as we become able to attract a far higher quality of player. I'm saving the money ready but haven't been able to really assess and key targets. Further than that, three important players - more so in the hierarchy than playing ability - will be leaving us: Vos has accepted a contract double what I was willing to pay him, Rensch will spend the remainder of his career in the sun of California and Regeer has agreed a move to South Korea, although I did miss the email! Whilst this removes three older players, all of whom are declining, not playing much and have a history of moaning, it does leave me very empty in defence and will also lead to new team leaders being appointed. As I've said, I want to move now to fill those gaps but I've already missed out on the experienced Tim Bos as he moved for 400% of what I'd offered him and Richardly Bazoer, who moves to Utrecht for a similar wage but a more important squad status. Unrelated, but, as expected, I missed out on Juluis Munz, who went to Nurnberg, meaning the signing of Konté is even more important. I'm not sure if this is working as intended but there are only around 2,000 Dutch players in the entire database, meaning that, right now, signing anyone of note is very hard. This equated to roughly 2% of the entire gameworld. I am aware that, whilst we're not able to have the pick of the best Dutch players, we have to be smart with recruiting and I will be making the most of the lesser valued nations, such as Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and the Balkans. But, as I have said - we don't have an up to date database given our changes in reputation and continental competition that will hopefully follow this season. All fun and games...

(Late) December 2037 An absolutely wonderful way to round off the year as I feel that things are really starting to click into place for us. We head into the short winter break in a position that exceeds my expectations: granted, AZ and PSV are having poor seasons but to be pulling away from the chasing pack, sitting nicely behind the two big sides is a wonderful achievement. Thirty goals scored could be worked on but the joint best defence, eight conceded, shows the work I've put in to ensure that we aren't losing games. Again, we will need to turn seven draws into three draws and four wins next year if we want to challenge a bit higher - but we're hard to beat and that is a big part of my tactical identity. ----- VVV Venlo 0-3 FC Groningen e A heavily rotated side for the cup but we dominated Venlo with three goals for three different academy graduates: essentially, my holy grail. What pleased me most is that, with Venlo's attacking mid and two strikers, I've finally been able to create a more offensive, fluid, double pivot shape. Utilising one MC(a) and a AF(a), instead of a F9(s) and asking the keeper to distribute to the flanks, seems to allow us for a bit more penetration, particularly against their three defenders. I particularly liked how we pushed their wing backs inside, knowing that they had two pretty tall forwards and would, probably, look to cross to them. The win is great but the draw less so. Ajax. So much for an amateur side similar to the one that Utrecht put thirteen past in this round... Go Ahead Eagles 1-2 FC Groningen Go Ahead have been somewhat of the fairytale of the Eredivisie this season but we put pay to their strong start, creating a huge number of chances. The smooth interplay as seen in the reply to @tyler16 set us off well but we conceded, rather unfortunately, from their first shot of the game after a bit of a mix up at the back. I've often moaned at our inability to then perform after conceding, especially when we concede first, but our game plan stayed and, despite a slew of low quality chances, took one late on with the super-impressive Bouma. A huge underperformance based on xG but a strong win never the less. I gave a first team debut to Theophilus Etim - a lad I'm trying to develop, who is progressing nicely. The most important thing about this can be seen with his place of birth. He was poached into my intake from Sheffield United and born in Leeds so, because of this, holds a British passport. I know the value, in this post Brexit world, of English talent and could, should he continue to develop like this, fetch us a small fortune given that he'd not take up a foreign slot of have Work Permit issues. N.E.C 0-5 FC Groningen We see the year out with a cracking win over relegation candidates N.E.C. With Jonsson injured, again, I went with Gregory Sharpe up top but decided to utilise a PF(a) rather than a F9(s) - a change I've been making more often of late. Looking at the passes received by both the midfielders, I think that the role selection of the striker allows them more space. When using a False Nine, this seems to be the area that he'd be occupying and, maybe, my central trio needs to be a bit more variable: 2x Mez(a) and F9(s) 2x CM(a) and AF(a) 1x CM(a) and PF(a) when playing a double pivot Aside from the slight tactical tweaks, it was pleasing to see us tear a side apart as it's been coming for some time. We were a little more loose defensively, although a big, 0.42xG chance for N.E.C did skew that slightly but once again, created a plethora of good chances, entering their final third 75 times. When you look at the types of entries, you can see a lot of those diagonal balls, which are a by-product of creative inverted wing backs and wide, offensive, wingers. This pleases me greatly! --- Not planning a huge amount of dealings in January aside from the pre-contract sales of a few elders in the squad (two of the team leaders' contracts end this summer so I see this as a natural changing of the guard) as well as Westra's departure (€3.7m to Metz) and Rocha's (€4.8m to Eibar) but there is one player who has really caught my eye across this season. Clicking on the thumbnail takes you to his profile. I had already identified the central midfield area as one I wanted to improve, with the aging Speksnijder not featuring much this season thanks to his part in Westra-gate and Hernandez aging and not as impressive as the others. With Julius Munz, identified in an earlier post, now attracting the interest of bigger German clubs, I need to move faster to identify a possibly undervalued player. Konté brings something to the table that we don't have - and that is a really combative midfielder. Whilst there are areas he certainly is not excellent at, which should worry me for an attacking midfielder, I simply love the Aggression, Bravery, Stamina and Teamwork. He'll essentially function as a de facto box-to-box player who'll never tire of making marauding runs. Whilst we are compact and not an aggressive pressing side, his tenacity will help us win the ball back in an area that tactically we make ourselves vulnerable in. What is the best thing though, for me, given the way I play, is looking at his statistical analysis at a very poor N.E.C side: Top 10% for assists/90 7% of his passes are 'key' but does not appear to be a set piece taker Top 2% of all Eredivisie centre mids for key passes/90 Involved in 44% of all N.E.C goals this season Needs to work on finishing his chances but hasn't been presented with high quality opportunities. But, because of his low average rating and poor performances of his team, isn't really attracting any interest from elsewhere and I can hopefully snap him up even cheaper now I've uncovered that he has a minimum release clause that is active. I'm happy to delay any confirmation until he's fully scouted but there is nothing really that shows as a red flag.

Some ups and downs, as you say but that's to be expected with both the time off and the fact that you've built a whole new squad here. You're making great progress with the challenge - honestly - and fully expect you to complete the Ajax leg this season or next. Now you enter January, do you have any areas of the team or new signings that you're particularly worried about?

Absolutely! I think, even with no youth recruitment, you're still going to bleed the tiny town dry and have players will then come from elsewhere. I can only imagine your frustrations if, once you do make some progress, that superstar comes from three towns away! Any ideas on your approach for that: don't sign then or try and sell them on for some money straight off the bat?

Good luck on the run in! I've been following this from afar and, as someone who one day will hopefully be making the move from Holland to Germany, I'm envious of your achievements.

Italian lower levels. Ridiculous rules. Makoto back after a period of time where he hasn't played the game for 23 hours a day. This is the one for Summer 2022. Good luck!

Great question on Swager. To be honest - I don't know! He's back in the Jong team and doing really well but it's probably going to be another loan, which, if it yields the same results, will more than likely see him sold. I guess that's the cut throat nature of football. Yep, Bruneck is from the academy and I really like him. Not because he's the best product we've had but because of how well he's taken to the loan deal - improving really well across this season so far. He'll be back and in training with the senior squad as, essentially, fourth or fifth choice centre back. Given that he's not quite where I want him yet, that'll suit us perfectly as, hopefully, he continues to develop. My whole attacking shape is developing really nicely and I hope that this impacts on the players that we have, too. This little clip was going to be used in my next update but it really shows how we're quick, vertical and take risks with our offensive play. As you say, the wingers are purposely really wide but it's all been about finding that balance between width and scoring threats. Sharpe - IF(a), links nicely with Bouma - MC(a), who then plays in Ter Burg - AF(a) in this instance, who can feed through Nilden-Lindnder - MC(a), who scores. It's the influx and movement of bodies that I love to see in my attacking play.

Thanks! Coming to have a check up on your thread shortly. I am absolutely loving Holland, it must be said. I don't think it's in particular Holland but just the move of country, which has really focused my attentions on learning about a new place: Krasnodar and Russia was, sadly, a little stale. The quality of the league, overall, is probably better than Russia but, yes, Groningen are a step down on the team that I won the league with at Kransodar. This was always a stepping stone to a big German club - Leipzig or Bayer fit my needs - but it's been the absolute best move I've made in Football Manager. I hope that the people who read along feel that and also enjoy my journey!

(Early) December 2037 So much to go through this month, that I've chopped it into two. Genuinely, this is the most invested I've ever felt in a save and the words keep spilling onto the page - we're at nearly a dissertation length for this season alone! In player news, Herman Swager is, apparently, struggling with the pressure of first team football - which may, @tyler16, be the reason behind his awful loan spell. It also absolutely adds weight to the fact that, for many years, I have overlooked the necessity of loaning young players out, which wouldn't have necessarily uncovered this (and, if it did - impacted our own performances) and my own practice needs to develop. Furthermore, Henry Westra, the man who came to me upset at being played back into form, now is upset that he's no longer considered a squad player. Fortunately, there are offers in for him; he's not a player I want to sell but I can't accept players who aren't willing to fight for their place in the team and accept that they will be dropped if their form isn't good enough or another player is just playing and training better than they are. --- First up, I was rocked by news that Rocha wanted to leave but, given his performances, I was not too worried about being able to replace him. For us to receive €2.4m upfront and another €2.4m in instalments is a simply wondrous turn around for a 31-year old with 83 minutes of football this season, who signed on a free a matter of months ago. Patrick Bruneck., as seen in a comparison with Rocha will be recalled from his loan at Roda to make the fourth centre back. Whilst there is a step down in quality, clearly, the way Patrick has developed has really earned him a place within my first team. As we're into December and discussing one incoming, it's a good time to review all of the signings that made the move to Eurobug this summer: Sigurdsson: A 9th in the league for interceptions per/90 but also contribution a near league high blocks/90 and fouls conceded/90. Whilst blocks is a little concerning as it shows we're having to engage in more last ditch defending, it shows he's doing it well. In the top 20 for key passes/90 too, which shows that he's added more than just defensive solidity. The only downside is that he's left footed, like de Wit, but I'm more and more open to playing two left footed defenders. A real coup on a Bosman deal. Schuur: A+ Leading the league in dribbles for a full back, which, given his attribute profile, is probably expected. However, he's also rated inside the top 20 for key passes/90 and assists/90, showing that he's no slouch creating either. 1.22 interceptions/90 more than the Eredivisie average for defenders is also a good comeback. Gets an A+ as he had really big shoes to fill following the departure of Sebwe in the summer. Untested at this level and only costing €180k; I feel that this is a great bit of business. Nilden-Linder: B Ahead of the league average for midfielders in goals/90, xG/90 assists/90 and key passes/90 is really great - even with the skew that comes with slightly less minutes played. Yet, gets a B because I haven't quite found him a partner to play with. Certainly fits the runner-role (as opposed to the playmaker in the duo I like at CM) but hasn't really clicked with a particular playmaker or a duo in a runner-heavy setup. I'm sure that, in time, this will iron itself out and he'll show his quality but it's been in fits and spurts, really. Diallo: A+ Times have changed since turning down 32 year old midfielders! He's the exact type of player we need and he's above the league average in Interceptions/90, Blocks/90, Headers won/90 and Clearances/90 - the exact thing that we were really weak at last year. His presence in that area of the team is essential to allow the players in front of him to be more creative. Even in his advancing years, he's holding steady with his fitness and could be really key for the next couple of years as Zambrano really develops into the role as his successor. Couto: B Two penalties skew his goals/90 but, at nearly 40% completion, he's been great with crosses and is way above average for full backs in Key Passes/90 and Dribbles/90 too - just second in the latter category to the much more suited Schuur. A very able backup and certainly someone who could take advantage of any openings that may appear. Ter Burg: C One of the new look forward line and like the rest, a man who I think will benefit hugely from the change to more aggressive wide players. Above average on xG/90 but scoring less than the average winger and a conversion rate of just 2.86% is a real concern to me, especially as 42% of his shots hit the target. Above average in Dribbles/90 too but I want more direct and more clinical play from him. Cespedes: C- At 5% conversion, he's slightly better than Ter Burg but takes 2.2 shots/90, which is way more than average, hitting 55% of them on target. Underperforming his xG - 0.24xG/90 to 0.11xG/90 means that he should come good at some point. Has hit a bit of a bump in the road with his development, which is pretty much non-existent at this point but he'll need time to bed in to the country and get used to the new style. Sharpe: C- Hot and cold. Matching his xG/90 performance with 0.19 goals/90 and way above average in Key Passes/90 but a wasteful shooter and not excelling in terms of ball carrying ability either. Has had the most up and down form of the three new wide men - ranging from 6.20 to 7.30 but, like Cespedes, is raw, young and not adapted to the country yet. Rocha: E Not enough minutes for any data viz to be generated - however, what I watched on the pitch was pretty horrendous. Turning like a fridge, scared of a 50/50 and no positional sense at all. I fully appreciate that there is a bedding-in phase and he doesn't know the language or culture but what I don't appreciate is the moaning and the inability to accept that he's not playing because he's playing so badly. As I said - I'm happy he's off and I know you can't win them all... But it does then move me to who I might want to bring in. Now, neither of these players are for now - they are on the DoF transfer target list and the status will only change if I hear of another club making a move for them. The plan is to ready the deals so that they can go through next summer, providing that both scout reports come back nice and positive. Both thumbnails are clickable. Munz is another runner in the same mould as Nilden-Lindner but is much younger with, hopefully, a higher ceiling. He's got thirteen goal contributions this season in the second tier and has a great personality to boot. At €3.5m, he'd be a record signing but I've recouped that, and more, moving on an aging centre back in Rocha. With two keepers that are both over 30, I need to think longer term and the scouting team quickly found Leino, who, at first glance, seems big, commanding and cheap. They're raving about him so I shall take a better look and maybe trigger that deal to go through at some point even if I have to maintain some reservations about the quality of player that hasn't left Finland despite being a regular in the national team. ---- VVV Venlo 1-1 FC Groningen A slightly tweaked line up following on from my previous thoughts to counter their 5-3-2 with an AM. I always want to maintain the extra man at the back but opted for the pace of Sharpe to disrupt behind their back line rather than the positional play of Escalona (as Jonsson is injured) int he False 9 role. On the half hour mark, I concluded that this was the correct thing, tactically but the previous issues of touches in the box still rang true as we lack that really clinical-ness. We conceded from a header that has absolutely no right to be scored from and, worrying, Westerveld looked dodgy with his positioning on other occasions, too. Maybe the need for a new goalkeeper is rising. We levelled late on thanks to a ter Burg goal and, like most times, we deserved it and maybe more. FC Groningen 2-0 Excelsior For my 500th game, I decided to take on board some pre-match advice from the backroom team, which must actually be the first time I've actually listened to it: The feedback I keep getting is that we are allowing too many touches in the box to the opponents so, by marking them tighter, we should look to minimise that - despite the fact that we're among the best defences in the league. I know Excelsior are what I'd consider lesser opposition but just by some screenshots - here or here - I can't say that there is really much difference made. It does appear that it has actually pulled the defensive solidity out of line a little as they seem to be following a player rather than controlling the space, which is the whole reason why we play a compact, low block. Looking at the image below, you could say that I've solved that problem but I really think there is more to it than this. Yes, they touched the ball less than the other games (38 vs VVV Venlo, 36 vs Heerenveen, 25 vs Heracles and 15 vs AZ) but there is more to it than that. It's against a different formation and, as I said, a slightly easier opposition. (Last five games, left, versus last game, right) In terms of the game itself, I was pleased: a searching pass from Couto - the exact thing I need the IWB(s) to do given the space in front of him - set up Neira who scored the second. We should have had more, showing some liquid football like that but annoyingly Cespedes could not find the back of the net from there. It stretches our unbeaten run to ten but was a timely win as we'd drawn the last four. FC Groningen 1-1 Ajax This is quickly becoming the longest post I've ever written so I may as well dive into the next thing I wanted to think about: defending corners. Whilst we don't look too vulnerable defending corners (none so far in the league), we, as a counter attacking team, never seem to make the most of them when can clear the ball. As it takes ages to load and watch old highlights, I'll just start back at the Venlo game and move forward from there. I've just taken a selection from each side rather than screenshotting every single one. VVV Venlo Corner 1 Corner 2 Excelsior Corner 1 Corner 2 Corner 3 It's interesting that, against both sides and from every corner, they had 6 men forward and we always had 8 men back with one on the area, who sometimes ventured back into the box. For reference, Heerenveen lead the league in goals from corners so I looked at a few of theirs. In this example, they have 7 men forward, forcing PSV to pull 9 men back but at other times, in the same game, they range from 4 men forward to 7 men. Each time, PSV have two men spare. What I want to know is what the trigger for the number of players they send forward is but I am aware that against Ajax is not the time to try this out. If I was to, for example, just keep three men back, would Ajax not send their normal six men forward, wary of us on the break? I then wonder what the tie breaker is - if it's an attacking manager, might he still put six forward against our three defenders when a defensive manager would not? i decided to replicate my shape from the away tie, creating a compact 4-1-4-1 despite being at home, in order to watch their marauding full backs, pushing them, and the wingers, wider through opposition and team instructions. The first issues came when I had used a Jong game for match fitness, meaning that half my squad became ineligible - seen here by the squad numbers. We conceded early to a Trigas strike where Westerveled, in my opinion should have done better - failing to meet the through ball and, at least, make him self a big target. However, we came back strong and, despite not putting up much in terms of xG ourselves, really stopped Ajax from the 30th minute onwards.. What it does mean is that we are unbeaten against Ajax this season, which is an insanely good win to take forward. In terms of the corner experiments - I sacrificed my man at the back post as I've not seen anything scored from the back post in games I've watched across the Eredivisie and added a second man up top. However, there was nothing really to note from the game: the experiment continues...