[What do y'all want to see removed/upgraded in FM25?]

0. Need I state the obvious? Bug fixes. Player interactions, AI squad building, media, AI tactics and rotation, scouting, all these need to be reworked.

1. Introducing the concept of different approaches to football per country/league. For example, most Bundesliga clubs should rely on the physicality and tenacity of their players, their tactics should reflect that hard preference, while you as a manager of a German club should come up with a tactic (and sing the right players accordingly) so that you can better face an opponent that plays like that. Similarly, teams in the Dutch Eredivisie should play more freely, have an attacking-minded approach, and look for tactically astute and technically gifted players, teams in Italy and Greece should play more defensively, English clubs should be all over the place as different coaches and footballing cultures can be found in the melting pot the EPL is, and so on and so forth. The main idea here is that one has to be experiencing different realities based on the country they manage, which is obviously more realistic an approach. That would also make managing in a league you have no idea about much more challenging, it would eliminate most plug-and-play tactics, and it would make the game more replayable.

2. Gegenpressing was introduced a few editions ago, positional play seems to be working as intended, now it's probably time for a new approach or two to be added in to the mix. Perhaps direct counter attacking, or parking the bus, even relational play if that's possible. And no, I am not talking about ready-made models that you only need to click on, I'm talking about said philosophies being feasible in game. Nowadays, since the META is a combination of high pressing with positional play, even if you manage a low-tier, relegation candidate team, you are bound to play as if you were a poor man's ManCity or Liverpool.

3. Smarter, dynamic tactics. For example, press triggers are much more complex than in game. We should be presented with an array of options: press the passing lanes, press only when the opposition player has the ball on his weak foot, press when they receive the ball, press when they stall, press with the intention of showing only your right/left wing or the centre (i.e. setting up a trap) etc.

4. Dynamic set piece creator. Currently our players resume their respective position before a set piece is taken, and patiently wait for the ball to arrive to them. The whole idea is for the manager (or the set piece coach) to be able to design off the ball movement / dummy runs / faints routines for their players, so that they can confuse their opponents and create some space for themselves to score goals. This would in turn eliminate current limits on how many players you can have sitting on each post etc. Current set piece creator is boring and uncreative.

[(FM21) These Gauls are crazy!]

So here's what the table looks mid-season. What PSG has been doing is stupid, just stupid. I mean, we are also breaking the game, but they are on a completely different level altogether. Marseille is the only other big team that has been meeting expectations so far. I reckon we're looking way too good not to push for a top3 finish. What do you guys think?

 

Neymar and Mbappe are dominating the league, and it's not even hard for them. Dolber is doing his absolute best, being by far the best of the rest, while Almada is the leading scorer among all non forwards. I am a little bit let down by Gouiri, but I acknowledge that he had a poor start to our campaign and ever since then he's back on the right track. One can also notice Thauvin extraordinary impact on Marseille's game. They were playing remarkably well until he signed for Real, and you can clearly see that in his stats. 6 goals from 7 appearances and he only registered 9 shots. We can count ourselves lucky that he isn't playing for Marseille any more.

 

This...This bothers me a bit. I know that Atal has been brilliant, and his record doesn't even do him justice. But I was certainly expecting more from the other lads. Of course I also need to stress that we've spread out our assists, so that Lees-Melou, Danilo, and Sanchez, our starting midfield trio that is, all have 4 to their name, while Almada, Gouiri, and Dolberg have 3. As with our goalscorers, no player really excels, but then again we don't rely on a single individual, which makes us harder to counter.

 

It's crazy how Nimes, currently sitting at 15th, have sneaked in between the two best teams of the league in terms of their average possession of the ball. They certainly know how to keep the ball, it's just that they don't seem to have a clue what to do with it. We can at least find consolation in our pass completion percentage, which is stupendous, even though we lack truly great passers.

 

 

Once again, as one would have suspected, PSG tops both the defensive and the attacking xGs rankings, while we come second. Their attacking xGs are a little bit blown out of proportion, as they have won 9 penalties as opposed to a bunch of teams that come second with 3 penalties won. *Coughs in petrodollars*

 

 

 

 

All things considered, we rank where we rank on merit, as most advanced stats show that we are easily the second best team right now. We also come second in terms of clear cut chances created with 20 (PSG has 22, and Metz that comes third with 15 has unexpectedly had the 3rd worst offense of all teams - I feel sorry for their manager, he's done his part but his strikers are letting him down), third in terms of shots per game (PSG by far leads all teams in shots taken, while Marseille is marginally above us), first in conversion rate, and second in shots per game against. All in all I'm very happy with how this team has been playing and the progress we've been making.

[(FM21) These Gauls are crazy!]

I'm breaking pattern once again, as this post will feature 6 instead of 5 matches, since i wanted to provide you with a few stats come the end of the first round.

As you can say, we have a tough run of 4 games in 10 days. We're not playing the most illustrious of teams, but we definitely haven't got an easy task at hand. And to make matters worse, Almada was going to miss the first game after a minor knee injury. I kinda expected this game to be tricky, and Angers gave us hell indeed. After a boring first half, they took the lead with a well placed header by El Melali. We scored a quick equaliser when Sanchez's cross connected with Claude-Maurice who headed the ball into the back of Angers' net. I switched to a 4-2-4 and it paid off at a time when I was concerned we would only be able to salvage a draw. Demir crossed the ball from the byline, and Gouiri with a close-range header gave us the W.

 

The game against Nimes was of different nature. We dominated, and a brace from Dolberg was enough to help us see off Nimes' challenge. First he converted Boudaoui's assist with a powerful finish. He then placed the ball into the back of the net with a careful left foot strike, after Lees-Melou's beautiful pass. Our passing game was once again creating one chance after another, and Nimes can only be happy with the scoreline.

 

A mirror image of the previous game. We completely dominated Lens, scored twice in the first half, missed a few more chances, and we were deservedly the ones to celebrate at the end. Almada scored our first goal as a result of a beautiful team play and Gouiri's assist. Boudaoui scored yet another screamer from outside the area, a likely candidate for the goal of the season.

 

 

We now have to face St Etienne twice in a row. First for the Ligue 1, and then for the Coupe de France. Well, suffice to say we weren't the best of hosts, as we annihilated them in our first game. We were really poor in the first half, at least until the 43rd minute when Atal's cross met Dolberg's header, and the second greatest Dane after our Lord and Saviour Nicklas Bendtner gave us the lead. A penalty kick from Almada, followed by an amazing screamer by Danilo, and Demir's first goal with a composed lett-foot finish after a great through ball by Lees-Melou, humiliated the most decorated French team in the history of the league.

 

 

As I couldn't care less for the French cup, I once again fully rotated the squad. You might be able to spot a couple of new signings - we'll get there of you bear with me. However we still managed to get an away win, albeit at the very last moment. Claude-Maurice, who truly has an eye for goal, and Yuriel Celi at his debut, helped us qualify to the next round where we will face another Ligue 1 team, Nimes.

 

Reims have been performing well above expectations, sitting in the 4th position at the moment. I have to be extra careful with them as they are surely so successful on merit. Dolberg scored an easy goal after Danilo headed the ball into the area, and the Dane beat everyone to it. We then scored another gem of a goal, when Dolberg found Gouiri with a through ball, and the French striker sent it into the back of the net with a right foot strike. It was then that Livakovic decided to be once again the fool of the day, when he rushed out to claim a long ball slower than a handicapped old lady, and Reims were back in the game. That is until a few mins later, when Almada scored one of the most delightful goals of the season. A great team play resulted in a spectacular assist by Gouiri, that carved the opposition defense up, and the Argentine was simply too good of a player to miss.

 

[(FM21) These Gauls are crazy!]

The next run of games will determine our final position in our E.L. group, as well as who's going to have the upper hand between us and PSG. As you can see, being filthy rich means you can bribe the schedule-makers into giving your opponents a single day of rest between their continental game and your derby. I hope you're feeling proud of this PSG!

 

I firmly believe that a rotated squad is a happy squad, and that keeping our players happy is key to our current and future plans. Therefore, I decided to give our subs the chance to prove me right against Jablonec. Well...they didn't. The Czechs scored very early on, with a low cross from the left hand side and a neat finish by one of their CMs who made a great forward run. Our response was timely, with Claude-Maurice scoring a beautiful goal after yet another display of our tiki-taka and a great through ball by Maolida. What followed was beyond anyone's expectations, as Jablonec took the lead again in the 35th minute. After clearing the ball, they won the header, and our disorganised defense was caught off guard when a clever through ball resulted in a goal. To make matters worse, a couple of mins later, another clearance from their GK created a clear cut chance for their striker, who chipped the ball over Cardinale, giving his team a two-goal lead before half time. Another through ball, this time after a set piece, exposed our defense once again, and the Czechs scored their 4th goal of the game. Pelmard scored a consolation goal after a corner kick, but it was too little too late. Our first defeat of the season, and what a defeat that was. I wouldn't quite say we're in trouble, but had we won, we would have sealed the first position.

 

We now travel to the westernmost big city of France, Brest, to play against the local team which is doing remarkably well so far. Gouiri's placed header gave us an early lead after yet another brilliant assist by Atal, and after some fast-paced tiki taka, Kamara made a low cross which took a deflection on Duverne and hit the back of the net. Dolberg sealed the W with a precise finish after a perfect corner kick by Lees-Melou, and the game was effectively over before the end of the first half. I'm glad the shocking mid-week result didn't affect us, as we now have bigger fish to fry...

 

As I mentioned before, we only have a day of rest between the Group derby against Olympiacos, and the toughest game of the season thus far, against PSG. Ideally, I would have fully rotated the squad against the Greek champions had we won the game against Jablonec, but now I need to tread with caution. I opted for a partially rotated squad, and I still have no clue if I did the right thing, as the left back veteran Jose Holebas decided to end Marcinho's career with a horrendous tackle and he was consequently sent off effective immediately, which in turn ensured our complete domination against a very determined team who fought till the very end. A Claude-Maurice header from Boudaoui's cross made our lives easier in the 11th minute. Nsoki's assist and Gouiri's composed finish made it 2-0 for us, and finally Gouiri's excellent run on the counter and beautiful cross gave Maolida the chance to score another goal. As with our previous match, the game was over by the 41st minute. We have topped our group with one game to go.

 

I'm gutted. We didn't deserve this. I mean, PSG is obviously the better team, but It was as if my team had collapsed before the game even started. It was Kurzawa, of all people, who started the game as a RB(!!!), that gave them the lead with a Thierry Henr-esque finish. Our beautiful passing game yielded results, when Almada found Dolberg in the opposition area, and he scored the equaliser. Nevertheless, we defended a set piece like a bunch of amateurs, and Paredes scored after Kimpembe's failed effort. An early second half goal shattered our morale, as Neymar made a run, passed the ball on to Kean who made the low cross, and the Brazilian place the ball in the back of the net. They scored 3 goals from their first 4 attempts. I made my thoughts crystal clear to everyone, it was an appalling performance and we needed to improve vastly in the next few games.

 

Having licked out wounds, we will now give the chance to our subs to impress me against Astana. We were a joy to watch at times, but our leaky defense sort of ruined it. To cut a long story short, Maolida, Claude-Maurice, and Boudaoui showed once again how valuable second options they are, while Cardinale still has a lot to explain.

 

 

Topping our group meant that we would hypothetically have a relatively easy draw in the round of 32. But I still couldn't have asked for a weaker opponent. There are no excuses here, we have to advance to the next round and, why not, mount a challenge for this year's Europa League. Some of the teams out there, nominally Barcelona, Arsenal, Tottenham, and Napoli are the clear cut favourites, but with a little bit of luck we can reach the later stages and from there on, fingers crossed.

[[FM22] A career in northern Greece]

Good luck with Iraklis. Here's a video on their most legendary player, a true virtuoso:

 

[(FM21) These Gauls are crazy!]

The next run of games is of the utmost importance. Two tough matches against over-performing Montpellier and Marseille, and another couple of continental games that I treat as must-win.

 

It would be amazing if FM finds a way to take into account the impact very long flights like this, from the Southernmost coast of France, to the Central Asian steppe, have on the players. Either way, I almost fully rotated the squad, giving a 16 year-old Gavi the chance to make his first appearance. The game started as I expected, after Kamara's cross, Demir headed the ball to Claude-Maurice, who gave us the lead with a ferocious strike. He doubled his tally a few minutes later, after a smart pass by Marcinho, only to miss a penalty on his way to a hat-trick. As you can see though, we completely dominated them, and the final score rather flatters them. On the negative side, Boudaoui suffered yet another injury, just a day before the game. He's playing well when he's available, but he will have already missed 8 weeks of game time before the end of November...

 

 

The game against Montpellier was different. First of all, I was genuinely surprised by the quality of their players, some of whom could have very well featured in the starting 11 of top tier teams. As a matter of fact, Montpellier was sitting on the 4th spot of the league by then, and the game was surely going to be a grindy and stressful one. Even though they played a 4-5-1 with 2 DMs, 2 WM, and an AM, I decided to play our 4-1-3-2 as it was a tough away game, and their starting AM, Mollet, was a pretty solid player. We had a perfect start to the game, as Almada run on the counter, whipped the ball in from the line, and Mendes beat Gouri to it only to send it to the back of his team's net. I'm pretty sure Gouri would have scored if it weren't for Mendes as the ball had already gone past their Goalie, so I wouldn't quite call us lucky here. A few minutes later, Sanchez passed the ball to Gouri, who struck again, this time with a very tough shot from right inside the area. From that point on, I knew it was gonna be up to me to make the right tactical twitches in case Montpellier tried to put the pressure on us, which of course they did, and my team held on to that precious lead remarkably well. We conceded a 83rd minute goal from a set piece, when Congre was left entirely alone, and Livakovic was kind enough to just let the ball go off his hands and into the back of his net. Thankfully that was the last he heard from them, and we managed to get the W. Even though this was the first game, if my memory serves me well, that our opponent had a higher xG than us, if we take into consideration that our first goal was an own goal and that from the 20th minute onward we had a very firm lead, I can't really say that they outperformed us. But it was a close game that could have gone either way, so I was happy with the result.

 

We now once again rotate the squad, as we travel to the Czech Republic to face off Jablonec, arguably the weakest team in our group. An easy tap in from Dolberg after Nsoki's cross gave us an early lead. After squandering one chance after another, I brought Sanchez in, and he scored two truly spectacular goals from outside the area. What a performance that was for the Bolivian, and for our team in general, as we registered 28 shots.

 

Next on our agenda is a home game against Lorient, one of the weakest teams of the league, and a side that decided to play a 5-4-1 flat formation against us. I was a bit worried that we would struggle to find open spaces, but an early penalty gave us the lead, and Almada doubled his tally with an easy tap-in, after an amazing run by Atal, who put on his Dani Alves suit, dribbled past every single Lorient player, only to see his shot parried away by Nardi. Lees-Melou scored an easy header after a set piece, and then Lorient decided they've had enough of this. If your opponent is humiliating you, you need to teach them a lesson, right? Alas, they failed to injure any of our players despite their best efforts. All they were left with were two straight red cards.

 

Oh boy. Marseille has started the season playing some top-notch football, siting on the 3rd spot, outscoring every single team whose name is not PSG. Now admittedly, they were simply brilliant in the first half of the hitherto season, since they had retained the services of Thauvin. After selling him to Real in the first days of October (remember this is a COVID season) and replacing him with Vazquez, they have went back to normal. Either game, I knew we were about to face arguably the toughest opponent so far. But one could say the same for them. After all, we were the ones to take the lead, after some beautiful vertical tiki-taka, with Dolberg converting Gouiri's assist. We were in charge of the remainder of the game, until Jorge el loco Sampaoli decided to play a 3-4-3 flat no later than the 55th minute. I switch on to a defensive minded 4-2-2-2, in the hope that I would clog the midfield and hit them on the counter. This tactical twitch succeeded in neutralising Marseille, and we were still the most likely candidate to score. It was in fact in one of those deadly counter attacks of ours that Kamara fouled Gouiri, and as I result he was sent off with a second yellow card. To make matters worse for Marseille, a few minutes later Nsoki crossed the ball to Claude-Maurice, and he tucked it in nicely. Gouiri sealed our victory after Maolida's effored cannoned back off the crossbar, et voila.

 

The team is progressing remarkably well. Not only are we performing way above expectations, but we are improving by the month, taking the most out of the vast majority of our players. If we manage to get Gouiri more involved, if Livakovic ups his game, and if Demir starts providing goals and assists, then all we need is to avoid season-defining injuries and we can certainly push for ChL qualification. I know our honeymoon isn't going to last forever, and that we cannot possibly maintain this level of performance, but our start to the season gives us every good reason to remain optimistic that we will finish somewhere in the top4. After the next run of games, I will be posting some advanced stats, what the league table looks like, etc.

[(FM21) These Gauls are crazy!]

After a great start to our season, the depth of our roster is about to be properly tested against a packed schedule, as the Europa League begins shortly. We were incredibly lucky in the draw as you can probably see for yourselves. Bear in mind that our meagre coefficient meant that we were placed in the 3rd pot, and so the chances of us being drawn against some tough opponents were very high. Thankfully, that wasn't the case.

 

We obviously need to top this group, there are no excuses here. Ideally I will have the chance to rotate the squad a fair amount, as we also get to play a bunch of challenging matches in the days leading up to the Europa League games. The games against Astana and Jablonec will also provide us with an excellent opportunity to play some youngsters like Gavi, in the hope that they will develop faster and become even more motivated and ambitious.

 

I wasn't 100% sure that the game against Nantes was going to be as easy as our fanbase was quick to point out. Everyone was expecting the W, but I was a bit skeptical. Admittedly, our opponent had seen better days, but they were still a decent team, featuring the likes of Lafont, Augustin, and Corchia among others. Suffice to say that my boy Almada put all my fears to rest before Nantes even realised what was going on. A great shot from right outside the area after some neat passing game and an assist by Dolberg was followed by a successfully converted penalty kick, and the rest was history. We dominated the game, played very well indeed, and I got the chance to rest Ahmedhodzic who's on the verge of a yellow card suspension. He can't miss any of the next couple of games, that would put us in danger.

PS: I'm not sure the referee is familiar with the concept of yellow cards. It really isn't what he thinks it is...

.

 

Bordeaux was a much better team in 20202 that I had previously remembered. Packed with experience provided by great veterans such as Koscielny, Ben Arfa and Costil, and relying on Musa's blistering pace, they were certainly a force to be reckoned with. Maybe another team would have struggled. Not my lads though. If it weren't for an amazing Costil, we would have stomped them. Dolberg gave us a deserved lead with an amazing finish from a tough angle, and then Lees-Melou doubled our lead, with a composed right-foot strike converting Atal's cross. A few mins later, Boudaoui found Dolberg with a back-heel pass, and the Danish striker doubled his tally. Bordeaux registered their first shot on target in the 76th minute, taking Livakovic by surprise as Koscielny headed the ball in. They tried to push forward after this, but to no avail whatsoever.

 

And now the Cote d'Azur derby against Monaco. A trip to this minuscule city-state, known for being a taxheaven, for its famous Grand Prix, for its casinos, for being home to more celebrities than one can count, and for its great football team. Now, in game, Monaco is very clearly in the second tier of Ligue 1, if we agree that PSG forms a tier of their own, and that Lyon, Marseille, and Monaco are the only teams that can realistically hope they may one day dethrone the Qatari-funded giants. Much to my pleasure, their 2 starting CBs are ruled out for this game with injuries, and the same can be said about Golovin and Diatta (A player who for some reason was starting over Gelson Martins, so I wasn't all that happy when I saw the Portuguese winger warming up. I would have very much preferred to have played instead against the pacey yet unconvincing Senegalese.) We were not in a much better shape though. Both Papetti and Pelmard. my 3rd and 4th choices for the CB position respectively, were also ruled out with an injury. That left us with bare bones, as we could only feature Nsoki (also our substitute LB) in case something went south, not to mention how important it was for Ahmedhodzic to avoid seeing a yellow card that would rule him out for the next game. I obviously started with a DM, to provide better support to our defense, and that turned out to be a rather good idea as both teams neutralised each other until the very last minute of the first half. Atal had one of his many forward runs, he was under a lot of pressure but he had the composure to see Sanchez arriving late in opposition area, passed him the ball, and the Paraguayan tucked it in from the penalty area. Great finish from a great player, and yet another assist from Atal. The second half didn't change much, as both teams were content with trying to keep the ball and wait for that moment where they could hurt their opponent. And then, we were FMed. Ben Yedder, their quasi world-class striker was having a horrid season, with 0 goals and 0 assists in the 7 games leading up to our derby. As soon as I saw this, I knew. Boy did I know. A 1,70m striker beat Todibo who stands at 1,90m to a header after Aguilar's cross, and scored an equaliser. Once again, we conceded our opponent's first attempt on goal, which makes want to go medieval on Livakovic. Anyway, Todibo learnt some new swear words after missing that header, I instructed the boys to play a bit more directly, and I moved Almada to a MEZ position, knowing fully well how dangerous he is from a wider position. In the very last moment of the game, we overloaded our left wing, and Almada crossed the ball from the corner of the area, finding Dolberg who moved in the channel, and very comfortably placed the ball in the back of the net with his left foot. What an assist that was and what a move in the open space by Dolberg, at a time where I had already accepted the D and I was even happy with it. My team showed some character here!

 

We now have to practice our English, much to every Frenchman's disappointment, and start our Europa League trip facing off Olympiacos, the perennial title contenders in Greece. I decided to rotate the squad a fair amount. I'm gutted I can't field Papetti, I felt like these were the games we would start and show me what he's got. After a quite first half, we started the second half with a nice goal from Maolida, converting a Badaoui's cross from the corner of the area. I was really happy to see that underlapping MCs receiving the ball from forward-pushing WBs and crossing/scoring from the edge of the area is now becoming a pattern. Olympiacos tried to hit us back, and they even switched to a 4-2-4, which prompt me to switch to a very defensive-minded 3-4-2-1, given how many first team players were by then benched. Thankfully we held firm and Gouiri punished them on the counter with a near post header after Maolida's cross. I was happy to have taken an early lead against our main opponent for the first place of the group, all while resting a few players.

 

The game against Strasbourg was arguably the easiest of the five. It's not that they are a bad team per se, it's just that were playing them at home, our morale was high, the team was starting to roll, and everyone was confident and optimistic. It came as no surprise then, when Almada gave us an early lead with a screamer from outside the area. Another attempt of his took a deflection, and Dolberg hit the ball in on the rebound. That early 2-0 lead was enough for us to secure the W. We dominated Strasbourg who couldn't even register a single shot on target. As you can see, I played a 4-1-3-2, as Strasbourg was playing a 3-5-2 with an AM, and I needed to make sure they wouldn't exploit their numeric lead in zone 14. A comfortable win which gives us the chance to focus on the forthcoming games, starting with our trip to Kazakhstan. But that's for another episode.

[(FM21) These Gauls are crazy!]

3 hours ago, xray1324 said:

Have you tried resizing them manually in paint or something like that before posting them?

 

I haven't, I was under the impression that this forum doesn't allow for larger images to be inserted in here.

 

Edit: Haha, nevermind, I think I fixed it. Thanks for taking the time to help me though!

[(FM21) These Gauls are crazy!]

Alright guys, I know I'm breaking pattern with this post, but I just couldn't help but sharing with you a couple of WTF FM moments:

First of all, what on earth is PSG doing? What are they on? How am I supposed to compete with them, even in the long run?

 

 

Second, I knew that the board was happy with me. What I didn't know is that they would be willing to deconstruct the concept of time just to please me. I've always believed that French philosophy is mental, and now I have adequate proof to back my opinion.

 

I'll be back with the next 3 league matches, as well as the first 2 Europa League games.

 

Edit: Apparently I have a huge issue with resizing my images so that everyone can see them. Any tips?

[(FM21) These Gauls are crazy!]

The start of our campaign seems a bit challenging. We are playing against Rennes, Lyon, and Lille, three top-tier teams that will hypothetically compete for European qualification. We should grab a win against Dijon and Metz at home and see what we can get against our more illustrious opponents.

 

 

Due to some incomprehensible rules (remember, this was the first covid season), we weren't allowed to acquire any new players (unless their contracts had expired) before the 15th of August, and as a result our team lags behind in terms of cohesion. The opening game against Rennes was the first one where our newly acquired players would get the change to develop some form of chemistry with their teammates. And what a game it was! We outplayed Rennes to the extent where, even though I was convinced until the 83rd minute that we wouldn't start our fixtures with a win, I was buoyant with our performance. We played great, but we were simply too profligate with our chances. And then Maolida, who had just came in as a substitute for Dolberg, headed the ball in after a great team play and a rabona-cross from Boudaoui, another player who came in from the bench. It was only then that Rennes tried to attack, but their efforts were fruitless. We could have won by a much larger margin, and despite their xG, they didn't really deserve to score any goals at all.  Unfortunately a few days after the game, we lost Badaoui for 4 weeks due to an ankle injury.

 

Now we have bigger fish to fry. Lyon presents an insurmountable challenge for us, and the fact that we're playing them at their home turf makes all the more difficult for us. We started the game with a 4-1-3-2 formation, as we expected Lyon to dominate this game, in the hope that would minimise space for them while trying to peg them on the counter. That is not to say that our chances were dependent on counter-attacks only, after all, even this system is still fairly attacking-minded and based on positional play. The game starter better than I could have ever hoped for, as after a couple of missed chances for us, Dolberg scored a nicely curled free kick, before delivering a beautiful through ball to Almada, who run from deep to get into Lyon's area, only to tuck the ball in. This goal pretty much epitomises our brand of football. Players constantly running in open spaces, those in possession of the ball looking for the most clever pass, creating overlaps, etc. But the game was far from over, as Lyon were gifted a ludicrous penalty. I was glad I wasn't asked about my opinion on the referee after the game, as I was about to punch my screen upon realising what had just happened. Right before half-time however, we scored another goal. This time it was Sanchez from a corner kick. During the second half we didn't play that well, as Lyon were quick to hit us on the counter with who-else-but Depay. We were still the better team, but it seems they were way too lucky and efficient up front. After a brief spell of fruitless dominance, I played more defensively for the last 10 mins or so to secure the W, and this is exactly what we did. Don't let the xG fool you, if you take away their penalty it's crystal clear that we vastly outperformed them. A thoroughly deserved victory against all odds.

 

One would have expected that we would have stomped on Dijon. They are expected to struggle against relegation, and they relied on a very defensive 4-1-4-1 system. As you can see, I played Marcinho as our RB as Azal was on the verge of being suspected for the next game if he received a yellow card, and I deemed Lille to be the tougher opponent. Unfortunately it was our worst game so far, failing to create meaningful chances up front, all while our defense was being outplayed by a single guy, their fast-paced striker Assale. All they did was clear the ball, Assale would beat each and ever defender of ours to it, dribble past the rest, and either score or miss a great chance. Things looked promising up until the 52nd minute though, as Gouiri headed the ball in after a beautiful cross by Danilo. The latter doubled our lead with a screamer from right outside the area in the 51st minute. I thought it was a great opportunity to give the chance to Papetti and Demir to shine and gain valuable first-team experience, but alas. Assale put up his Mpape costume and abused us, scoring twice against Livakovic who is surely to blame for at least his first goal. I tried to push my defensive line higher, playing an offside trap as Assale was simply too quick for us, but it barely worked out. After the equaliser, I employed a 4-2-4, risking it all. Papetti finally scored after a set piece, to give us the lead, which he held on to until the end of the game. Definitely not one for the faint-hearted.

 

We now travel to the post-industrial North, and more specifically to Lille, where we face off one of the best teams in the league, featuring off the likes of Renato Sanches, Maignan, Ikone, Bamba, Yazici, and Botman. Once again we played brilliantly, but Maignan was simply too good for us, despite being given a 6,7 rating for no obvious reason whatsoever. He made 5 indredible saves, all of which could have very well gone in, not to mention some other chances that we squandered. On the one hand, I cannot be happy for the D, since we were so much better than Lille. On the other hand though, we played so well away from home and against a very tough opponent, that I can at least appreciate the effort. I told the lads that they were unlucky not to have won, and they nodded in agreement.

 

Metz proved to be tougher to break than expected, mainly because we were once again profligate up front. A spectacular early goal by Dolgerg after some positional play and passing game that can only be described as eye-candy, we failed to capitalise on the momentum that early lead generated, and we were simply content with being in control of the game. Metz did nothing to worry us, but their hopes were only put to rest in the very last second of the game, where Badaoui who had just came back after his injury, converted a beautiful cross from Almada.

 

Our start to the season was beyond all expectations. We deserved to win each and every game we played, and we gained 13 points, topping the league along with the likes of PSG and Marseille. I don't think advanced stats are meaningful after such a short spell of games, so I will save those until we reach the first third of the season. All I wish to add at this moment now, is this screenshot that shows how much room for improvement there is. If we perform like that without having developed some sort of chemistry and cohesion, if we dominate the game and score goals after some spectacular team efforts well before our players start to blend in together nicely, than I cannot wait for what's about to come. Stay tuned!

[(FM21) These Gauls are crazy!]

So how will I go about instructing my team to play? We will mainly rotate between the following 2 functionally similar tactics:

1) 4-3-1-2

The mere sight of this formation brings the sound of Neapolitan Tarantellas to my ears and the smell of pesto to my nose. Yes, it's as Italian as it can possibly get, but let's not forget that Nice was an Italian city up until 1861. Well, that's not why I chose to set my team up like that of course. I have uploaded my tactic on the below-mentioned link, so whoever wants to have a look and read more, is welcome.

Tactic:

 

2) 4-1-3-2

When we're facing up a stronger opponent we might need to provide some extra cover to our centre backs, as well as use a pivot to help build offences in a more organised, efficient way. Notice that it bears a lot of similarities with our main tactic. In essence, our AMC has reverted back to a CM(A) role, while our deep lying playmaker is now a DM rather than a CM. The team is playing a tad more carefully, but also faster, more vertically, inviting just a little bit more pressure in, only to hit them back on the counter more.

We tried to be as active as possible in the transfer market. To begin with, all loanies with unrealistic future clauses as well as those without one, saw their contracts terminated. Since I'm looking to set the foundations for a team that will dominate in the years to come, players who won't be staying long with us have absolutely no reason to be here, no matter how talented they might be. Todibo was, thus, the only one to say, since his 8,5M clause is not that shabby, and we make activate it if he turns out to be a good player.

In addition, we tried to get rid of all the dead wood - that is, players over the age of 30 as well as mediocre players sitting on a huge contract. We also decided to sell Benitez, our starting GK, as we thought we could replace him with someone much cheaper and better, and thus improve our team while making a profit.

Finally, I brought in a very promising cohort of players. I know fully well that you're all pretty much fed up seeing the same players being picked up over and over again, but let's face it. FM after a few saves tends to get a bit repetitive and after all, each player develops differently in every save.

 

 

• Marcinho is going to provide cover in games we need to rest our starting rb, Youcef Atal. He's solid, cheap, and happy to be a complementary option.
• I had the next few years in mind when I signed Gavi of course. Mind you, in FM21 he's not the monster he currently is, but he's still a promising player, not to mention that his 400K release clause was way too tempting for me to look the other way.
• Richard Sanchez is a pretty solid midfielder, fairly balanced in terms of his atts, costing but a fraction of our initial budget, and earning a below-average salary. He will most likely be a starting option for us this season, and hopefully we will end up selling him for at least 10M.
• Anel Ahmedhodzic is a...well you know who Ahmedhodzic is. He's gonna be the one to lead our defense.
• Yusuf Demir is our most expensive purchase and he's gonna start providing cover at the AM and CF positions effective immediately. The sky is the limit for this lad, and we will make 100% sure that he will blossom into a world-class player.
• Thiago Almada will be our starting AM. Technically gifted, creative, tactically astute, and only 19 years old. What else is there to ask for?
• Dominik Livakovic was the sole reason we unloaded Benitez to Ajax. In short, he's better and cheaper than the Argentine.
• Andrea Papetti is going to be my 3rd option for our CBs. Insanely talented, I was fast in signing him, beating major European clubs that were hesitant to make a move for him. I expect him to be a starter pretty damn soon.
• Finally, Ali Mohamed was a cheap option with some amazing atts, who's gonna provide cover for our starting MCs. A bargain buy, nothing that stands out, but a very good player all along. In case you'd like to see a screenshot of a specific player, let me know, and I will upload it.

 

I have also signed Matias Arezo who's gonna join is on January, and I am also waiting for Yuriel Celi to make up his mind, as I feel like we need someone to boost our creativity. Most of our CMs are decent all around players, but they lack the flair and artistry of the Peruvian midfielder. In any case, until the next transfer window, this is how our starting eleven will look like.

 

In the following post, I will present the first five games of the season, as well as some thoughts on how the team is progressing. Until then, let me know what you think.

 

[(FM21) These Gauls are crazy!]

Right, I know FM23 is coming out pretty soon, but like many other addicts out there, I was let down by the underwhelming announcements SI made, so I thought about giving another shot at FM21. One last save, I promised myself. One last save.

After having enjoyed very successful stints at the EPL (Brighton), the German Bundesliga (Hertha), the Serie A (Roma), La Liga (Real Sociedad), the Belgian (Anterlecht) and the Greek League (PAOK), I realised I hadn't touched upon the Ligue 1. And why would I, after all? What used to be the single most crazy, unpredictable league in the world up until the early 00s, turned out to be a boring tournament where PSG can only lose if they pay little to no attention, focusing instead on the UCL. But what if, instead of trying to face them off by spending a ******** of money on expensive veterans, we try to build a team for the future that will eventually outplay them?

Now don't get me wrong, I do love a challenge, but I'm not a masochist. I immediately ruled out all teams that would have no realistic change of mounting such a challenge. That left me with a bunch of exciting sides. Lyon was ruled out as it's my usual pick when I play in France at FM and because I deemed it to be a lesser challenge given the depth and quality of their squad. Marseille lacked the "it" factor, being ridden with overrated or older players. Monaco had that extra something, with lots of young prospects, but it's too big of a club to make it mean something. After all, they were the last team to have won the league before PSG swept it away again. Lille won it that year irl, so it'd be a bit meh, Rennes was all about Camavinga and nobody else, the sleeping giants of St Etienne, Nantes, and Bordeaux have yet to wake up, so all we are left with is Nice. Having signed Gouiri for Hertha in a previous save of mine, I was flabbergasted by his immense quality, not to mention how promising players like Dolberg and Atal looked.

So here we are, managing a club playing in one of the most beautiful European cities.

 

As you may or may not know, Nice is not the most successful club out there, having won the Ligue 1 four times, none of which in the post-1960 era. Their last trophy was in 1997 when they won the Coupe de France, and the last time they were more than mere pushovers was in 2017 when they finished up 3rd in the league.

I laid out the following ground rules to make the game feel even more fun:

• We will try to sign bargain players, players whom were skipped and/or overseen by others, but in whom we have full trust that they will succeed while playing for Nice. In a similar tone, players who have been tutted to be future stars but haven't quite made that extra step in their careers, will be among our primary targets too.
• A significant chunk of our annual budget will be channelled towards newgens. That's right. How very original of mine. There is no other way of beating PSG however, so we'll have to stick to that.
• We will try to become a successful selling club. Now, that is not to say that we will be selling our best players. That is to say that we will be actively trying to buy cheap and sell dear, at least the players we don't mind losing to other teams.
• The team will be looking to play an attractive, attacking-minded brand of football. We will at times get a bit more pragmatic when need be, but we will never sacrifice our principles for ephemeral success. Fast passing game, lots of goals, positional play, multiple scorers, sensational team goals are some of the selling points of our tactics.

Nice is playing in the Europa League and is expected to reach at least the First Knockout Round. As for the Ligue 1, we agreed upon a realistic but higher than originally expected target (mainly because I could use for some extra budget). The team will try to qualify for next year's European Conference League. In short, these are the club's demands for the season to come:

 

On the following post I will focus on our activity in the transfer market, the two main tactics I will use, as well as some ideas for our starting eleven, future transfers, etc.

[4-3-1-2 fluid vertical tiki-taka]

I think the combo of a WB, a Mez, and a CF works wonders. But to be fair, I've never really tried to use a Trequartista over the course of, say, 5 games or more. It just doesn't seem to work for me.

[4-3-1-2 fluid vertical tiki-taka]

Greetings everyone!

One could argue that there are two main philosophies that dictate a team's style of play. You can either win by outscoring your opponent, or by conceding fewer goals than them. While managers like Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, and Maurizio Sarri have been staunch proponents of the former, others, nominally Jose Mourinho and Diego Simeone, have recently popularised the latter, forcing attacking-minded managers to adopt a more pragmatic approach. Indeed, pragmatic coaches such as Zidane, Deschamps, Tuchel, etc. seem to be the ones enjoying success in the recent major tournaments. Buoyant, sexy football is over, it's only good if you want to win over neutral fans. If you truly wish to win titles, then favouring a balanced, cautious tactic is the way to go.

Is it though?

Since I absolutely despise boring, reactive football, I've tried to put together a nexus of instructions, commands, rules, and principles that will be represented in the pitch in the form of a 4-3-1-2 set up, aiming to win it all while delivering some quality, eye-pleasing football. My principles are the following:

• I will win each and every game by scoring more goals than my opponent. My team needs to create more chances and score more goals than any other team, regardless of their stature in the league.
• Passing game is key. Clearing the ball from defense is strictly forbidden, Dribbling one player after another instead of playing through them is punished. Crossing from deep is stigmatised.
• We have to outsmart our opponent. No rush decisions. No desperate attempts. We will recycle possession till we get a good chance to score.
• Our team shall not rely on a single player. We need to bring as many bodies as we can in the box, and attack with up to 8 players. Now granted, I am not expecting everyone to bag 5+ goals over the course of a season, but then again, I won't be suprised if more than 5 of our players end up with a fair amount of goals.
• We will minimise our opponents' chances to punish us for our ambitious approach. We will suffocate them with smart pressing.
• Football is all about spaces. We need to contract and expand spaces as if we were playing an accordion. Trick our opponents into thinking we are going to attack from a certain position, only to exploit a remote area that has as few bodies as possible. Force them to attack the least dangerous areas. Use space to our advantage.
• Crosses are fine, attacking from wide areas is brilliant, but we will focus down the middle. Ideally, the ball is not gonna spend much time in the air. We will try to create most of our chances via through balls, one-twos, passing in space, etc.

So how do we go about achieving that? Can we play like this with any given team? Well, the answer is obviously no. You can't play the jogo bonito with the Fulhams and Spezias of this world. But you don't have to go with the Barcelonas and ManCitys either. Any team in the top third of their respective league is in principle a solid choice. As you will see in the screenshots below, I tried to find success with teams that were expected to do well, but with the exception of PAOK, were not listed among the league favourites. Staffing the squad is not an easy task though. Technically gifted players are always welcome, but tactically astute ones are far more important. Athleticism is key here if we are to exploit spaces as well as to stop counter attacks. Our lads need to make the right decisions, be determined, always display some top-notch teamwork, concentrate on their game, possess good stamina which will allow them to work their socks off, and be able to pass the ball even through the eye of a needle. On the contrary, we have no time for virtuosos who are renowned for their lack of work rate, and their dribble-first, pass-second approach. Now granted, our attackers and wingers must be able to dribble past their man, but only when it's the right call to make. Last but not least, since we need to play with spacing, positioning, off the ball, and acceleration/pace are defining factors in what makes a player fit our system or not.

Why the 4-3-1-2 then? Well, since we want to create as many passing options as possible, and given that ball travels faster when it's not glued to a player's foot, we need to opt for a formation that connects players with as many teammates as possible without allowing the opposition to intervene, steal the ball, and punish us on the counter. Therefore, we need to pass the ball short, and we need to be unpredictable. Our lads have to pass and move in order for them to provide their teammate who has received the ball with an extra option for his next pass. As a result, we need as few ball hogs as possible, and as many static roles as possible. Coupled with our preference to pass through the opposition defense, I have come to the conclusion that two players on each wing is redundant. A lone striker will suffer compressed between two, or even three centre backs. On top of that, controlling the midfield is pivotal in our effort to dominate possession and look for the right moment to attack. Since we need to link-up play between our lines, we cannot possibly go for a narrow 4-3-3. If we use an attacking midfielder instead of an extra forward though, the team has an extra option to pass the ball to in the final third, and a rather unpredictable player who can arrive late in the area and act as a third striker on occasion. I think we are now ready to see what our formation looks like:




Our team is instructed to play out of defense, pass short, and work the ball into the box as you might expect. We compress the pitch by playing more narrowly to open up space for our wbs, and we are looking to pass into space to create more chances via through balls. We are not giving them the time and chance to bounce back though, our tempo must always be high to allow our team to capitalise on the opponent's mistakes. We counter-press and look to hit our opponent in the counter, which works remarkably well if you have two men up front. Finally, we are not willing to allow our opponent to build up their play from defense, and we drive them to wider areas where they are a lesser threat to us.

Note that PPMs are very, very important. Player and team instructions might be the backbone of our tactic, but PPMs are the nerves and tendons of it. You need to train your players to develop their PPMs if you truly wish to maxmise the potential of this tactic. On the downside, this might take some time, and your team will not reach its peak until the second season. This of course adds to the realism, but for those of you who want to win it all and win it now, it might get a tad frustrating.  Let's go through each position and see both PIs and PPMs I attribute to each role:

SK:  No added PIs.
WB: PIs: Cross from byline, shoot less often, stay wider, close down more, mark tighter. PPMs: Gets forward whenever possible. Given that our wbs are the only players out wide, we need them to stretch the pitch. We also don't want them to take many shots, and more specifically we detest poor shot selection, and we also favour a patient approach so we instruct them to only cross when they've reached the byline. Mark tighter and close down more is a PI I use for every player on my team, as I don't want my team to concede any space for our opponents. Finally, since they are the ones providing our team with width, they are expected to go forward on a regular basis. Why a wb in lieu of a cwb? Well, because first I need them to be a tad more defensively-minded, and second because they shouldn't be as fluid a player as your run-of-the-mill cwb. Their role is run up and down their respective line. Your wbs need to be pacy and possess above average stamina to be able to cope with the demands of their expanded role. They must also strike a remarkable balance between their attacking and defensive attributes.
CB: PIs: Mark tighter. Similarly, why not a bpd? A bpd tends to play longer passes and generally take more risks. What I need from my cbs is to pass the ball securely, take as few risks as possible, and be able to contribute if need be to a patient build-up. It is imperative that the combine a strong aerial presence with a high speed, as well as to be able to pass the ball like a midfielder. Don't be afraid to spend big here.
DLP: PIs: Dribble less, mark tighter, close down more. PPMs: Tries killer balls often, plays one-twos. This guy is the main hub through whom ball passes on almost all attacks. He needs to be able to protect the ball, find the right man to pass it on to, have an eye for through balls, all while he must deliver some top notch defensive performances. His rating is always going to be low (as with all players in the centre of a 3-man line), but that shouldn't discourage you. We need someone with impeccable passing, stamina, positioning, decisions, etc. He is the pacemaker of our tactic, and therefore he should be a player that's gonna have as few flaws as possible. Our pass-and-move principle is served by the PPM "plays one-twos", and our desire to play through balls is similarly served by the other PPM "tries killer balls often". He is also our last man while we are attacking, so he should minimise his dribbling if we are to avoid being hit on the counter.
MEZ: PIs: Dribble less, mark tighter. PPMs: Tries killer balls often, plays one-twos, moves into channels. Oh, the mezzala. As you might notice, our left hand side is structured in a way that will create as many overloads as possible. A midfielder that drifts wide, and attacker who drops deep and connects play, and a wing back that pushes forward. This will hopefully lure opposing defenders, opening up space for our other players to attack. Is that all the mezzala does though? The answer is no. He is a crucial player, one who both scores and assists at above average levels. Hence his instruction to move into channels. He should be the most attacking-minded and gifted midfielder, often times a converted attacking midfielder/false 10 like Bernardo Silva, Trust me, you will fall in love with whomever plays that role.
BBM: PIs: Dribble less, mark tighter, stay wider, get further forward. PPMs: Tries killer balls often, plays one-twos, moves into channels. Since our right hand side will typically enjoy more space, we need a guy who's gonna run from deep and cover that space, and what better role than a BBM. He is also expected to provide the team with a solid defensive effort. You will notice that his PIs are a bit different. He is also expected to dribble less and mark tighter, but this guy needs to attack the box as often as he can, as well as to stay a bit wider so that he can exploit the overloads on the left hand side as well as to link up play with the rb, even to overlap. Needless to say this guy should be your best athlete.
AM: PIs: Roam from position, mark tighter, move into channels: PPMs: Tries killer balls often, plays one-twos, moves into channels, shoots with power. Oh look, someone who's finally not discouraged to dribble. Well this lad here is what makes the whole tactic work. Find a good player, and he's gonna reward you with 15+ goals a season. Find a bad one, and he's gonna infuriate you. You need a great team player, a Di Maria rather than a Neymar. He should act like a third striker when the ball reaches the area, but he should also act like someone who can receive the ball, protect it, open up space in the most contested area, and pass it out wide. He shouldn't be confined to a specific area of the pitch though, on the contrary he needs to roam from his starting position and find himself the space he needs. Oh, and he should be able to blast the ball into the back of the net, since the current ME doesn't favour Thieryhenresque precise finishing.
CF: PIs: Mark tighter, stay wider. PPMs: Tries killer balls often, plays one-twos, moves into channels, shoots with power. Now mind you, none of our strikers will be playing as the lazy forward who's expecting his teammates to do the dirty work for him. Both will drop deep at points and help create many passing options. But this guy will do so even more often, and as a result will be the least prolific scorer (albeit the most creative) between the two. He will also be staying wider both to overload the left hand side, and to open up space for a marauding AM. Think of Karim Benzema during Ronaldo's reign at Madrid.
DLF: PIs: Roam from position, mark tighter, stay wider: PPMs: Tries killer balls often, plays one-twos, moves into channels, shoots with power. Our main scorer, our go-to guy when we need a goal. Similarly to his partner in crime, he needs to drop deep, drift wide, and help in creating chances. That excludes players such as Inzaghi or Van Nistelrooy, but then again he doesn't have to be the complete package. A hard-working striker with limited ego is good enough.

Now let's see what I have accomplished thus far:

I tried this tactic while managing Real Sociedad, as they possessed two great strikers in Willian Jose and Alexander Isak, as well as a world-class attacking midfielder in Oyarzabal and a great false 10 in David Silva. Once my players glued together, we finished the season second behind an unbeatable Read Madrid team.



After being gutted by the board's insistence to sign Basque players, I started a new save with Roma. We won the league on our first season, all while improving vastly on the second year and securing the title very early on. (Mind you, the season isn't over yet.)




Last but not least, managing PAOK was a great challenge. Can this tactic work in a weaker league? The team struggled in the first season, finishing second in the league, being very profligate up front and insanely leaky behind. We went down and made some changes in the roster, and this happened:




I was at a loss for words.


I don't need to iterate that this is not a finished project, nor is it a plug and play tactic. If you like the idea behind it, feel free to tamper with each and every one of its elements. You might make it worse, but you might also improve it. I'd love to hear your thoughts!