engamohd

Cheers!

Thank you, what a noobish error on my part, will fix it! I will be updating soon, it is just that the past few seasons has been quite similar, demolishing locally, and coming with a few European upsets. The next update is quite big, since we just reached the UCL semis after a luckily easy run!

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT MY BLOG (ahmedcoffeehouse.com) === Welcome back. We just came through the second season. We ran away with the league in the second season,to win it for the fourth consecutive time (the second for me in charge). The gulf in quality is evident as we won the league by a mighty 34 point margin, losing only once (compared to 11 losses to the runner up, UCD). We still did not manage to win the FAI cup so far, as we lost last season to the eventual winners, Derry City. I usually heavily rotate the side in the cups to keep the players fresh for the league and the European competitions. I even prioritize the league, so that we ensure getting the best possible income and entry at the UCL. Hammering Following our unexpected qualification to the CL, we were handed an exceptionally tough group, with PSG, Chelsea and Shakhtar. Our games went exactly to plan, getting hammered against PSG in both games with a 0-7 scoreline, while managing to keep things respectable against Chelsea, coming very close to nicking a draw at home, only for Lukaku to deny us in the dying moments of the game. The surprise came against Shakhtar Donstek, as we went head to head against the Ukrainians, and were more than a match for them: In our greatest European season, we managed our first - and so far only - ever group stage victory, giving us a sweet victory bounty: Rovers were once again on the good side of luck, as the rich clubs put more against Shakhtar than us, consigining us to a respectable 3rd place finish and a place in the Europa League knockout stages! It is was totally unexpected to make it this far, but it seems that the luck of the Irish is a force to be reckoned with. This luck did not last long though, as we drew one of the toughest teams in the competition, last season's beaten finalists, Napoli: Some fans were optimistic, or perhaps deluded, and consider us a better team than Napoli. Thanks Ava! Napoli made short work of us at home, trouncing us 4-0, in a painful one-sided game. The reverse fixture in Italy was a completely different story. Shamrock decided to go down fighting, putting on a heroic performance, and embarrassing the Italians in their own turf, scoring one and having another called for offside: This made no difference though, as Napoli progressed easily. However, I expect a MASSIVE reputation boost after this great performance. Financially, we had a huge spike in prize money: https://i.imgur.com/47Puu7b.jpeg Once again, the money is put into good use, improving the training facilities, and the board generously giving me a 6.5M transfer war chest for the third season. Our total earnings from the European competitions reached about 21M. Reputation Boost We were the biggest over-achievers in the UCL, one which ended by Man City beating Bayern in the Final. For the second seasons running, the Irish league is the most improved, going 16 places up to 63rd. To put that in context, it was 85th at the beginning of the save. Naturally, Shamrock moved a fair bit up the European rankings, reaching 77th. This increased reputation saw the prize money for the league to increase a little bit for the first time in the save, reaching 217K from 172K. Sadly though, no change in the qualification spots has happened this year, and we will have to start from the first qualifying round once again. Conclusion Slowly, but surely, Shamrock is improving its standing in the continental game, pulling the entire Irish football up the ranks with it. Our last season's run was exceptional, and we can only hope to have a repeat of it this year. As always, thanks for reading. Ahmed

Originally posted at my new blog (ahmedcoffeehouse.com) === Welcome back. We had to wait till July for the new Champions League campaign. It started against some semi-pro Faroese champions, whom we put 11 past them. Our first real test was against Norwegian side Rosenborg in the 2nd qualifying round. Fielding a strong team, we won 2-0 at the first leg, at home: The team needed no second invitation in the second leg to do a professional job in holding firm against Rosenborg, scoring a further third goal, to qualify to the next round, beating the Norwegians 3-0 on aggregate. Our counter attacking formations have been working quite wonderfully at Europe, were teams would go all out against us, leaving them vulnerable to our specialty counters. The next draw was against Azeri side, Qarabag, who have a strong experienced team: Though we were followed by a loyal contingent of 74 fans, we still lost in Azerbaijan, completely dominated and soundly beaten, but managed to nick a precious away goal: The entire XI was fined after such dismal display. For the return leg, we started a strong lineup, hoping for the best. And that exactly what happened. An exemplary display of defensive solidity and efficient use of possession (32%) saw us overturn the first leg defeat, and score 3 against the Azerbaijanis to fly through to the playoff! To the Group Stages! We managed to avoid the strongest of the remaining teams, Fenerbache and Olympiakos, drawing our last season's Conference League group-mates, the Belgian side, Antwerp. Last season, we beat Antwerp 3-1 at home, and lost 1-3 at the reverse away fixture in the group stages. This was not the case tonight, as the Danes met a much improved side this season. Our counter attacking game proved too much for Antwerp to handle, and was brutally efficient, as we beat them over both legs to get through to the GROUP STAGES! I am so proud of the team punching way above our weights, thanks to the squad's stable tactical identity that they are very familiar with two seasons in the game. More importantly, the victory bounty for reaching the group stage is almost a whooping 10x our balance. Prior to our qualification, we had £1.5M, in the bank. For progressing, we were handed a sweet £12.75M! Everything comes at a price though, as we are drawn against Chelsea, PSG and Shakhtar, which will undoubtedly cost us a considerable morale blow with loss after loss. But Shamrock will do it! Will do it for IRELAND! We instantly set to improve the training facilities and youth recruitment, hoping to get decent Irish regens later, and continue to qualify to the group stages in the future. Conclusion Season 2 is definitely more successful, but I am very worried, yet excited, to see how will we cope with the difficult European fixtures. As always, thanks for reading!

ORIGINALLY TAKEN FROM MY BLOG (ahmedcoffeehouse.com) === Welcome back to FM23, and a recap of the first European season we compete in. The European season ends midway through the local season, so we begin the new European competition in the middle of one season, and the Final is played in the middle of the next season. We got to play Austria Wein in the first knockout stage in the Conference league, early during the second local season, where we lost 2-1 as expected over the two legs: Am not disheartened, as I am very happy to get to the group stages of the conference league, and qualify too, so anything else is a bonus. Moreover, these games were the last I fielded the unusual asymmetric 4-1-4-1 shape, and formally changed to a very similar 4-4-1-1 shape. I have written a lot on the 4-4-1-1 and why it is probably the best formation in football in my eyes. It has become a habit for me to try out lots of formations, but only feel comfortable with the 4-4-1-1 shape. This is how it looks like, all while retaining the same tactical identity. I am actually proud that till now, I have not deviated from our tactical identity in any single match. Ireland Takes a Step Forward West Ham surprisingly hammered Nice 6-0 at Hampden Park in the Final of the Conference League: Our great run in this competition has, as expected, pulled Shamrock Rovers and also Ireland higher up the rankings. The SSE Airticity League was the most improved league: And Ireland moved 8 spots up in the European nation coefficients: Seeing the 2nd spot go to the Europa League instead of the Conference League: Prize money did not change though, which I hope does increase with reputation. A New Poacher Although I don't plan on writing about transfers in detail, especially we had a massive influx of players to increase quality and quantity to challenge in all local competitions, and do as best as we can in Europe, one particular transfer stands out. As Gaffney was ageing, I needed to replace him soon. And no one was better than the man who beat him as top goalscorer last season, Colm Whelan of UCD. He was signed quickly on a Bosman, and hit the ground running instantly, averaging more than a goal per game so far. His best performance so far came against his previous team, as he seemed to have a personal vendetta, scoring four past UCD in the league, obtaining a perfect 10.0 rating: Colm "The Fox" Whelan Here are Whelan's perfect performance against his former employers: A performance that warranted a tiny bit of an overreaction by my assistant manager: Thanks to all for reading, and if you have any ideas or thoughts, please fire them away in the comments. Will be back with an update soon.

While playing, mainly on Extended highlights, I always find myself wanting to see how my keeper (or the opposition's keeper) deal with playing out of defense. Usually this is not shown on any highlights, which forces me to go to Full Match highlights mode to see this event, before resetting back. What I am suggesting is that there would be a list like the one of the Show Replays dropdown, that shows all events that are shown in the current highlights mode, with the ability to select additional events. So for example I am on Key highlights that mainly shows goals, big chances and VAR checks. I could choose to additionally see: goal keeper distribution events or key tackles/headers passes to a certain position etc.

Originally taken from my new blog (ahmedcoffeeehouse.com) === Welcome back. I have completed Season 1, and quite honestly, it was a relief to see the end of it. Here is a round up of our season. We started the season brightly -as expected- and looked to be on track to run away with the league. It is worth noting that the Irish season begins in January and ends in November. Our first European game was in July. Despite our 5-month winning run, marred only by 3 draws instead, I wasn't very satisfied with our performances. We were on a blitz, winning with moments of brilliance, but it felt like an elephant on a tree branch. Our brilliant run was mainly due to Rory Gaffney the Poacher, running havoc, scoring for fun. Our first defeats The main issues of the original 4-3-3 were many: constant vertical balls from deep to the poacher, getting our midfield out of play lack of buildup play inconsistent support to the poacher One might argue that it does not really matter as long as we are winning. That may be correct, but I am certain that our good form will sooner or later come to an end when teams capitalize on these weaknesses. 5 months in, and I decided to try out different formations, but keeping the same philosophies intact, which are deep compact low block system, that relies on quick direct attacks, and utilizes a poacher. Two successive defeats after I decided to use a deep 4-2-3-1, but still it was too disjointed. Relative Success in Europe Luckily, we had a good CL first qualifier game against the champions of Montenegro, where we made short work of them. Next round wasn't very nice, pitting us against Norwegian side, Bodo/Glimt, who won on penalties and consigned us to the Europa League The footballing Gods were kind to us once again, pitting us to face Armenian champions, Pyunik, before failing once again against Gent in the playoff conceding 6!! goals over the two legs. Although we were expecting to lose against Gent, the Gent games confirmed my second thoughts of my system, and how open defensively we are, which contradicts the main tactical identity I want to instill. This prompted me to tinker a lot during the league games. However, on the bright side, we fell directly in to the Conference League group stages! I never expected that, and we had a *very* favorable draw. Thanks to the great Rory Gaffney, and Jack Byrne -our creative outlet- we qualified comfortably from the group, finish second in the group, after beating Antwerp, APOEL and Slovacko in one leg, while suffering 2 defeats and a draw in the other leg. We drew Austria Wein in the Conference League knockout stages, the games that will be played during the Irish 23/24 season. Change in Formation By the end of the season in Ireland, I have already decided on our new shape, one that solves all the issues I had encountered earlier with the 4-3-3. I decided that the playmaker should be right behind the Poacher, and support should arrive from the midfield. This should make us much more solid, given the right improvements in the squad: Asymmetric 4-1-4-1 This change in formation saw us play the final games of the season much more fluidly, and let us end the local season on a high. Rory "The Fox" Gaffney The real hero of the season was the Poacher, that although was the consistent part of a unstable formation/roles, he always delivered. Gaffney ended the season with 45 goals in 48 games. I never had such stats from a player as far as I can remember, and he is making me fall in love with the Poacher role: Here are some of Gaffney's typical goals, being a constant thorn for defenses, pouncing on any mistakes and making lots of clever runs. One particular aspect I like from the poacher is that he remains central and does not move into channels during attacks and counter attacks. Despite Gaffney's rich vein of form, he missed on the top goal scorer in the league, largely due to rotation during the period of European games. Gaffney finished 2nd with 23 goals in 28 league games, behind our new signing, Colm Whelan, who scored 34 in 36 league games. Conclusion It was a quite eventful first season, that saw me ditch the 4-3-3 for a more unusual shape going forward. However, a great European run, that is extending to the second season, and the money from this run is making up for our inconsistent and dissatisfying performances, particularly being a bit porous defensively for my liking. I am excited to use the system in the upcoming season, and see whether Whelan will dethrone Gaffney as our Poacher or not... Hopefully our performances in the Conference league so far would push Ireland higher up the coefficient tables. I will be back soon with another update and thank you reading.

Originally taken from my new blog (ahmedcoffeehouse.com) === Welcome back to Football Manager! For FM23 I'm heading for my first time ever to the Emerald Isle, Ireland, through their most successful side, Shamrock Rovers. It may seem odd to start with a side expected to run away with the league, but I feel it is a choice that perfectly fit my aims for this save. For a long time I have wanted to improve a nation to be a major force in European football. For this reason, I view the league as a "training ground" for European games, in addition to using it in a bid to improve other teams as well. I plan to do so initially after building a sound financial and infrastructure by overpaying to local teams for average players, and sending my fringe players to them to assist their performances, the matter that should improve the league reputation after a few seasons. The club owns good facilities, and excellent youth recruitment, and a 8000-all-seater stadium. This serves a great base to work from, with plenty of room to improve. Director of Football For the past few iterations, I have left the matters of scouting and transfers to my staff, led by the DOF. I have the final say on who to sign, and I also may select the transfer targets. Otherwise, the DOF is the one initiating purchases from our scouting pool, which he manages as well. I wrote about this play-style a couple of years ago here. For this, I recruited the best DOF I can get as soon as I took charge. Meet Jimmy Adjovi-Boco: Tactical Identity It is important to decide a tactical identity to build the team around. My objective is to be *very* sound defensively, and lethal on the counter. I have done this several times before, but I have always had the team be initially aggressive in defence, even with the lower LOE and DLs, since this is always relative to the team Mentality. Usually playing on Positive or Balanced, makes the team naturally more aggressive than what I want. The style I love to create is one that employs a *literally* deep block, staying compact and solid, absorbing pressure and then attacking when we win the ball. Theoretically, by staying deep, we are inviting opposition to over-commit and be vulnerable in defense, a situation we would look to take advantage of with quick attacking transitions. To be completely honest, I have always failed to create an initially passive low block teams. This has changed after I read a perfect guide by Cleon, who has built such a system based on a 4-4-2 diamond with his Icelandic team, guiding them to the latter stages of the UCL. It struck me that I needed to use aggressive roles and TIs to have any sort attacking presence as a passive low block. With this in mind, and coupled with my desire to create a successful tactic based on this style and incorporating a poacher (think Di Natale), I have come up with this: 4-3-3: Solid and lethal The main idea is to be deep and retain defensive solidity, press deep in our half, and attack quickly and directly, with plenty of runners and support to the poacher. A basic, but very enjoyable style when done correctly. As the poacher is the star player of this formation, this is the fella that will initially fill this role, until I hopefully can get an upgrade soon: Rory Gaffney the Poacher His pace isn't good, but he makes it up in other departments, especially the mental ones. Season 1 - European Coefficients To measure and compare our progress, I will post by the start of each season the current nation ranking and European coefficient. This is how it stands by the beginning of Season 1: Season 1: European Coefficients Also, here is the prize money for the SSE Airtricity League, which I hope it increases when the league gets more reputable: What to Expect? I don't plan to delve quite deep in details of each season, unless something really interesting happens, as the main aim is to improve the Irish leagues, while remaining true to my principles. My main topics will be how our tactical identity is being fulfilled, poacher performances, and the club (and country) European progress. Thanks to all for reading, and if you have any ideas or thoughts please fire them away in the comments. Will be back with an update soon. I'll leave you with this statement by my sycophant Assistant Manager about our Poacher, after scoring a brace in a league game Sycophantic Cronin

Thats brilliant! I am so glad to see this kind of success with a direct high tempo 4-4-2!

In the low 50s, ranking high overall just below high possession teams like Juve (60s), Napoli and Lazio. We hold the ball a lot in deeper areas.

I follow Cleon’s guide above, I watch if we are getting overrun when the opponent attacks, especially in midfield, I may drop to defensive. I may also add time wasting. I also have a plan B formation 4411 with exact same style which I use when I want to have more control in the midfield. Attacking wise, it is usually personnel changes so far, nothing drastic.

Our season is turning out to be one of the very best sides I have EVER had defensively, noting that I play almost exclusively since over a decade ago focusing on defensive tactics.

I have noticed this too, yes, but I did not yet dug deeper. I think it is due lots of misplaced passes from clearances or that sort of issue

I'd like to share my experience with low blocks, I have written on that topic before, but I did not manage to get initially passive low blocks to work well. I was working on a very similar project using a 4-2-4 DM, a formation which I view as quite balanced, but I was struggling to get the team to attack effectively. This great thread has given some ideas which made things click well, and started a new save with Udinese (expected to finish 16th) to being things from scratch. At the beginning, I have fallen in the mistake of using conservative roles and TIs in low blocks with lower mentalities. This is correct if I want to shut up shop and be happy with a point, but that is not what i want. As @Cleonclearly explains, being deep and initially passive, does not mean you should not attack well. I fixed this using a neutral formation with aggressive roles and duties and adding aggressive TIs (More direct passing + higher tempo), the changes that made our team look VERY dangerous everytime we win the ball. Additionally, it is not that we are passive and look only to attack on the counter. We can play a lot of passing football and create chances from open play, an example is our latest goal, against top of the league Napoli - which I started on Defensive mentality due to the massive pace in the starting lineup of Napoli-: and below is our avg positions with and without the ball, in spite of using the defensive mentality the entire game and our current form so far - conceding 4 in 10 so far I don't want to hijack this thread, but the ideas presented here are quite clear and is basically what most people look for in a low block that attacks well. Thanks a lot @Cleon!

The Godfather is back with a bang! Great read and guide