fmCharlie

Season 5 Review I rattled through the summer and into the new season without doing a preview of season 5, so here's everything that's happened since my last update. Including a debatable personal award, won after last season's exploits. As a result of last seasons return to European competition, and a summer clear out, we were able to invest some of the acquired funds into the club. I was able to convince the board to improve our Youth Training and Youth Recruitment. This means our current facilities are as follows: Good training facilities Good youth facilities Excellent academy coaching Excellent youth recruitment I'm pleased to be setting up the club with foundations for success in the long term, with the aim of becoming established as one of the stronger teams in Dutch football. Next summer hopefully we can get some movement on the facilities, as even though one of the required objectives of the board culture is to develop our own youth players, this was their response regarding youth facilities... Anyway, on to the summer clear out... Transfers Annoyingly (for ease of getting screenshots), I did most my business very early so they ended up counting as transfers for the season before. Outgoings dominated the window, so I'll start there. Out Berkay Gungor - His heroics in the European playoff final gave me a lot of joy, but I never trusted him to be a consistent performer, as shown by only making 2 starts last season. His value was high, despite some serious flaws in the mental side of his game, so I saw an opportunity to cash in on another homegrown player. He joined Paris FC for €2.2m, a healthy fee for someone I would not ever have considered first choice. He's gone on to do well there, so win-win. Lars David - This one did leave my feeling a little sad. I've regularly tried to give him opportunities since the start of the save, and he is technically an outstanding prospect. But his development has been slow, and it was becoming harder and harder to give him minutes. There was never any interest in taking him on loan for some reason, so when a decent bid came in I decided to let him go, mainly because I thought it would be the best thing for his development. €750k, plus a percentage of his next sale seemed fair. Unfortunately, he's barely played for his new club and I think that may be the final nail in his developmental coffin. Resley Kessels - A pretty similar situation to the one I've outlined above. Kessels spent the last 2 years out on loan, and failed to pull up many trees. There is clearly talent there, but he's hindered by a lack of determination and weak physicals. There were times throughout the busy periods of the season where he likely would have got opportunities, and I had a bit of regret about letting him go too soon. €1.1m I felt was too much to turn down in the name of promise, and so Resley went to Austria. I never enjoy letting academy players go, but I think I made the right call in terms of maximising their value to the club and cashing in at the right time. It means in the last 2 seasons we've made over €8m from academy players, which has sustained the club, and covered running costs for the academy. As well as these 3 sales, there was the usual loans and a couple of smaller sales of young players with limited futures. In We had plenty of funds to play with (by our standards), and we ended with an influx of Swedes! Bilal Hussein - He nearly joined last summer, but at that time we struggled to meet his wage demands. Purchased from recently relegated Fortuna Sittard for €975k (bear in mind we sold them Lars David for 750k), he can cover Odriss at DLP as well as play right back. And just about every other position on the pitch. Always nice to have someone so versatile in the squad. Daniel Svensson - Left back has always been a pretty well stacked position in our squad, but when a player as rounded as Daniel becomes available for free, and sits comfortably within our wage structure, it felt too good an opportunity to turn down. A naturally attacking, overlapping left back is something I've not used in the save, so he gives us a different option. Felix Lange - Another free, another Swede. This time from Wolfsburg, Felix is now the most complete central defender at the club in my opinion. In the end, I barely spent any money and so the club had a very healthy balance of around €8m-€9m in the bank. I failed again to find a striker that was both good enough to improve on what we had, and available in our budget. I got very excited at the prospect of signing Rodrigo Muniz on a free after being released by Fulham. His ability to play pretty much any role up top, including a complete forward, is exactly what I want. But his wage demands of €17k per week were too much for us (our top earner makes €8k). In the end he joined West Brom, on €52k per week. It served a stark reminder or where we're operating, and even though a return to Europe meant we now attract a higher calibre of player, financially we're limited. Going into the start of the season this is how I envisaged us lining up: I wanted to get the most of van Zutphen, and a back three allows him to have more protection from his physical flaws, and at WCB he can also make use of his ball playing skills. New signing Daniel Svensson can then also be unleashed as wing back on the last hand side. This is a departure from what I've done for the first 4 seasons, where Janssen would tuck in on the left, and van Aken would overlap on the right. Janssen moves into central midfield therefore, to make it an all homegrown midfield two. Smans stays up top for now. European Campaign Our season started early with the qualifying rounds of the Conference League. We failed to make it into the League Phase in our first attempt two seasons ago, so that was the aim this time. Fortunately a kinder drawn meant gave us a good opportunity. Levi Smans put on a masterclass away in Greece against AEK which helped book our slot in the league phase. That led to a €15m bid from Monchengladbach on deadline day, luckily he wasn't massively interested so I batted it away. It was my first ever taste of the new European system on FM, and we struggled initially. We were fortunate to draw at home to Genoa and then were comprehensively beaten in Portugal by a very good Vitoria team. Smashing FCSB renewed my confidence, and we ended with a respectable 10 points from 6 games, and 16th position meaning we'd play in the next round. Swiss side Luzern were dispatched of with ease in both legs, which took us to the Round of 16 versus Danish side FC Midtjylland. Interestingly, the Danes actually topped the league phase as the only team to win 6 from 6, and so I expected a couple of difficult games. We lost both 2-1, but gave as good as we got and arguably were the better side across the two legs. At home in particular, the xG was 2.13 vs 1.3. In the end I'd put it down to the quality of player on each side. They took all the chances they were presented with, whilst we were wasteful in both games. But to make it this far was a brilliant effort from such a young group, almost all of whom have had no European experience. The benefits to the club's reputation and finances should stand us in good stead to make European football a regular occurrence. Domestic Campaign Despite last year's 7th place, the media only fancied us for a bottom half finish of 12th. I expected a tough season with all the European games, and we were operating with the smallest squad we've had to date. We ended in 8th, meaning a third ride in the European playoffs. At the start of the season I'd have probably accepted a good European run, and maintaining a similar league position. After all, 50 points is our best total so far in the top division. However, it felt for a long time that we'd be able to qualify automatically for Europe, potentially even the Europa League. At Christmas we were 4th, leading the chasing pack behind the three usual suspects. You can see all our league results here. Things hadn't been perfect, and I was tweaking my tactics a lot in search of more clean sheets. This mainly meant operating with a lower block, and deeper back line. I thought that would suit the wingback system, but it seems we aren't very good at soaking up pressure, and the more we invite teams onto us the worse we play. In the end I just accepted we might concede regularly, but as long as we were getting results I could look past it. The heavy rotation demanded by Europe probably also played a part in a lack of fluency, and by the winter break it did feel as though the squad was being seriously tested. We ended up crashing out the Dutch Cup in the second round, which was the last game before a well needed festive rest. In the second half of the season we managed to maintain our position in the automatic slots largely, before failing to win any of the last 5 games which saw us tumble down to 8th, and spot in the familiar playoffs. We've won the European playoffs twice, but momentum wasn't feeling great going into them this time. A third success from as many attempts in the playoffs would have been quite something, but it wasn't to be this time. Coming up against NEC, a team I find we often struggle against, we didn't have enough. I actually thought we played really well, especially considering our poor form in the lead up. On general play I thought we were the better side, but a terrible 5 minutes before half time took the game away from us. Rasmussen and Svensson, who have often been our key attacking threats, both had poor games and ended up being subbed which is disappointing in such an important game. After enjoying our European run so much I'm really disappointed not to get another go next season. Player Performance Goalkeepers Benjamin Ballis didn't have as strong a season as last time out, but then defensively as a team we were poorer so that has to be taken into account. The real conundrum here is when to throw the gloves to Arjen Post. His development hasn't been as rapid as I first imagined, and I think he needs first team football sooner rather than later. There has been minimal interest in a loan, so maybe we throw him in the deep end? Ballis is going into the last year of his contract, so do we cash in? One to think about on the summer holidays. Defenders Felix Lange was the stand out here. Since signing in the summer his development has been outstanding, consistently topping training reports and already earning himself a new contract to ward off potential suitors. Diego van Zutphen had a stronger season as a wide centre back, as I'd hoped. Max Rosenfelder and Finn van Breemen are both going into the last years of their contracts, and Finn is most likely to leave. Kofi Amoako, naturally a midfielder, was a success at right centre back. In the wing back positions, Daniel Svensson was the star. Signed on a free, from left wing back he got 18 goal contributions (6 goals, 12 assists). On the other side, Jurre van Aken has consistently developed since joining two seasons ago from AZ, but doesn't have the consistent attacking threat Svensson has. Bilal Hussein did his best work from right wing back, though he also operated in central midfield. Midfielders The star of the team was undeniably Rasmussen. From the right hand side he was stop scorer with 22 goals in all competitions, regularly proving to be a match winner. Unfortunately in January he declared he would consider his options at the end of his contract, and then before the final game of the season decided he wanted to leave as soon as possible to a bigger club. It was a gutting moment, and I'm annoyed with myself for allowing him to get into the last two years of his contract. Replacing those 22 goals for the €6.5k per week he's currently making is going to be tough going. Simon Janssen had his best season to date after moving into central midfield from his previous left back slot, which is perhaps slightly embarrassing for his manager who took so long to try him there... Mohammed Odriss was his usual consistent self, though his development seems to have stopped with him still slightly lacking in the technical areas. Marchus Melchior and Ringo Meerveld both had strong seasons operating as a playmaker from the left hand side. Forwards Levi Smans continue to grow into his role as talisman, having by far his best season in terms of output with 19 goals and 5 assists. Ali Rami, a free transfer from SC Cambuur last season, offered something different from the bench, scoring mainly as an impact sub. Rami is not the type of striker I've used so far in this save, though he clearly has big potential so we shall see how his situation at the club develops. Looking Back Taking a step back, it was a strong season. It's a shame though it could have been a great one if we'd gotten back into Europe. With Rasmussen deciding to leave we're going to have to do well over the summer to replace him and stop the team from regressing. He should demand a hefty fee though, so there will be funds to work with. I have a clear idea in my mind of areas I'd like to improve, whether we're able to find players who are improvements within our budget is another question entirely...

Season 4 Review - There's Life in The Good Old Yet After raising some questions for myself in the last post, the second half of the season provided me with answers. We sat in 8th at Christmas, and finished the regular season in 7th. Our results look like that of a classic mid table side, never too up or too down. But they were enough to earn us a place in the European qualifying spots for the second time in our three seasons since promotion. In the playoffs a goal from talisman Levi Smans, combined with our new found defensive discipline, won us the semi, and took us to the playoff final against NAC Breda. It was an intense match between the two black and yellow teams of Dutch football, with NAC Breda taking the lead after a stunning long range strike. The always composed Mohammed Odriss equalised to take the game to extra time, before Berkay Gungor, another homegrown boy who'd come off the bench, set up two goals to secure a great end to the season. It was pleasing to see Luca van der Velden grab the third, his first senior goal. He's done brilliantly for the youth teams, but needs a taste of senior football out on loan before he can regularly compete for the senior side. A mixture of suspensions and injuries meant he was introduced off the bench in a crucial game. The second goal, and real match winner, was my biggest source of pride though, as a number of Venlo youth products combined to take the lead in extra time. 7f5b1a1e-1804-417c-8b37-6cb7ed258696.mp4 Simon Janssen starts the attack from his inverted wingback position, he already has over 225 appearances for Venlo at the age of 26. Levi Smans off his man before releasing up and coming winger Gungor, who then returns it to Smans. I think he can feel unlucky not to be attributed the goal. And so we'll get another go at the Conference League next season. Looking at the table, NAC Breda probably feel robbed after finishing 8 points ahead of us. The success was not only confined to the league, as we had our best cup run to date, reaching the quarter finals. We were well beaten in the quarters by AZ, which was frustrating as I felt we had an outside chance of reaching the final considering they went on to draw Go Ahead Eagles. So things feel much more positive than at the end of last season. Our media prediction of 14th was exceeded, in a large part due to our vastly improved defence. Benjamin Ballis finished with the third most clean sheets in the league (15 in 33 appearances), while conceding just 36 goals. I tried to give young goalkeeper Arjen Post a few starts, and he did well in the cup, but struggled in the league, conceding 9 in 3 which inflated our goals against column for the season. I'd earmarked him for a swift rise to the first team, but a slow first year of development put the brakes on that. Last year his training and personality have improved, so I still have hope of him inheriting the number 1 spot whenever Ballis departs. In the youth teams he made 15 clean sheets in 36 games, with an average rating of 6.97. Key Performers The standouts players this year could all be found in midfield. Soulyman Allouch returned to the club and had the highest average rating at the end of the season, with 7.19, as he scored 7 and assisted 9. To me he's the classic maverick winger, either doing nothing or winning you the game. But when he's hot there's not much stopping him. Marcus Melchior continued to be as steady source of goals and assists. I wanted him to play as a Mezalla, but his performances are significantly better from the right wing. It's interesting that despite being a natural central midfielder, he really seems to struggle when playing through the middle, perhaps due to his lack of strength. Our marquee signing of last summer delivered the goods, especially in the first half of the season. I'm surprised to see his average rating is only 6.88, but he was second top goalscorer playing as an Inverted Winger from the right hand side with 10 goals. He's similar to Allouch in the sense that he can flitter between being a match winner, and being anonymous. His current value shows how good a deal we got only paying €2.5m for him. I always seem to mention Odriss, I think mainly because he represents how I've tried to give as much opportunity to our own academy products as possible. His attributes aren't particularly amazing, and I could probably invest in a higher quality deep lying playmaker. But he's one of our own, and in the four seasons so far he's never dropped below an average rating of 7. Hopefully he has 1 or maybe 2 more years to tick some of those attributes a little higher so he can stay on the journey with us as long as possible. A Star Is Born After much debate, Albin Hamelink decided signed a new 4 year contract. With another opportunity to have a go in Europe, and some cash in the bank, there's optimism about the future of the club. This summer I plan on cashing in on some squad players, and adding another 1 or 2 to the starting team, while still trusting the core of Venlo boys, who now have a new member in their ranks... A 15 year old perfectionist, valued at €39-€53m. Yes please. Another reason not to go anywhere just yet. Conclusions My three parameters for the save were to play forward thinking, front foot football, prioritise developing my own players, and continue Venlo's tradition of being a stepping stone to European football for Japanese talent. The last of those three hasn't been possible yet due to my scouting limitations, but I'm pleased with the results of the other two. However, going into our fifth season I think it may be time for an adjustment. This is partly due to how the squad has evolved, and partly because of how the last season went. I got a lot of satisfaction from how we tightened up defensively, so I'm thinking this is something I'd like to build on. After four seasons of attack-first football, I think it's natural to want to try something different, and a more conservative approach may serve our goal of prioritising home grown players in the short term. With rumours swirling over a potential takeover, it's an exciting time to be a VVV Venlo supporter.

Season 4 - A Midseason Interlude As there was quite a gap between my last two posts, I thought I'd come with an earlier. And what a difference a year can make. At this stage last season we were sat second bottom, having conceded the most goals in the league. Now we find ourselves 8th, with the 5th best defence in the league. . In many ways, it's been very successful. Switching to 4-3-3 in the hope of fixing our leaky defence has clearly worked, though it has come at the expense of our usual heavy goal scoring. As can be seen in the above graphic, summer signings Soulyman Allouch and Christian Rasmussen have performed very well, the latter currently top scorer, and joint top assister, from the right wing. Morale is good both within the squad and the stands, and with Albin Hamelink's contract expiring in the summer this message found it's way into my inbox: And all of a sudden, an existential crisis was born... Or actually, I'd already started to wonder about the future of the save, and this contract offer brought those thoughts to the forefront of my mind. So really, this is not a January update, but a chance to think through the future of Albin Hamelink. The main theme of the save so far has been prioritising the development of VVV's young players, and it's been successful and very enjoyable. We've had a promotion, and a taste of European football, while maintaining a core of academy players. I can't find the graphic in my inbox, but I'm pretty sure we've produced the 3rd most current Eredivisie players, and that's because they all play in our current team. But the group of young players I inherited at the start of the save seem to have hit their ceiling. Players like Levi Smans, Diego van Zutphen, Simon Janssen, Mohammed Odriss, and Guus Willemssen have all become top division players, but none will ever be better than mid table in my opinion. So will we be limited as a team overall if we want to prioritise having a core of homegrown players? Take Diego van Zutphen for instance, he's probably been the best development story in the save, but has sadly found himself out the team and results have been far better without him at centre back, likely due to his lack of physicality. Below this group, there's a few good prospects, but nothing better than what we have. As our board have pointed out, we do have strong facilities for a club of our size, but they still only sit at Good, so we're unlikely to get the real future stars anytime soon. So in my mind, there are 3 options... Stick it out. The foundations have been built for VVV to be an Eredivisie mainstay, and the players I've mentioned above might have a little more development left in them. So we could build a team around their strengths, while adding one or two like we did last summer. In this scenario, I could see us becoming a Conference League or maybe Europa in the next couple of years. Cash in and invest. Financially, we aren't competitive at all, and every summer we either have to choose between investing a couple of million in the team, or the facilities. However, this generation of academy players attract regular interest in the market. If I were to sell Smans, van Zutphen, and Janssen, I would likely raise around €10 million, which would allow us to take our facilities to the next level, and hopefully get a higher level of youngster. This will likely take years though, and in the short term mean weakening our first team. Will that be fun to play? Would it be interesting to read about? I feel like the heart of the save for me would be ripped out if all the kids were to leave now, but also is loyalty holding us back? Move on. Four years of success with financial limitations, and an ability to turn the tide in difficult times, all the while developing young players. Albin Hamelink has developed a reputation as an interesting up and coming manager. Maybe it's time to take these principles to a grander stage? It's not something I really considered when starting this save, but it's hard not think we've hit a wall if we want to stick to the principles we've used so far. At the moment, all three of these options appeal to me in their own way. The second half of the season will likely make up my mind. It's unlikely, but sneaking into Europe again would definitely be persuasive because of the financial and reputation benefits. But if we were to fall away to a dull mid table finish, my eyes may start to wander...

Season 4 Preview A first full season at the revamped De Koel dawns, and a first summer of significant activity has been completed. After last years trials, investment was clearly required if Venlo were to become a reliable Eredivisie side. With an initial budget of €1.8m, plus some expected player, I was hopeful about our prospects in the market. A Change of Tact As I alluded to above, I've decided to move to a 4-3-3 this season. This meant the key areas I would be looking to improve were defensive midfield and on the wings. In My first two signings of the summer can't actually be seen above, but they are familiar faces. Star of season 1, Soulyman Allouch, returned from FC Twente. He's had two frustrating seasons in a poor Twente team, flittering on and off the transfer list, and I actually almost re-signed him once before. He came back for €1.2m, having sold him initially for €2m. While he did little for Twente, I still think when used correctly he is a dangerous winger. The other returning face was goalkeeper Benjamin Ballis. Despite early concerns, he turned in enough strong performances across last season to take a chance on him as a free transfer. Still only 21, he should continue to develop and I can cash in on him in a couple of years ideally. By then Arjen Post will hopefully have developed further, after a slow start that's put the burners on his rapid accension to the first team. The most expensive signing of the summer was Christian Rasmussen, another winger, who joined from Ajax. They actually signed him for €3 million as a 16 year old, but he found himself on the transfer list and I was more than happy to pounce. He'll likely start on the right hand side and immediately improves the squad. Sven Kohler is the oldest player I've signed so far in the save, and doesn't really fit our model of developing players. But I felt DM was a key area we needed to improve to sure up our leaky defence. So in this case I'm happy to bring in someone with experience. He joins on a free from OB in Denmark, and will play as a half back at the base of my midfield. Max Rosenfelder joins to provide competition at centre back, for a very good price. And Vincent Manuba is yet another loanee from Bayern, he'll be backup to van Aken at right back. Out We made a couple of significant sales, along with the usual loans for young players, and a few sales of youngsters I didn't think will develop further. Mohamed Hegi left the club in the last year of his contract for €2.8m. I'm still not sure how we got so much for him, perhaps this is due to the increasing reputation of the club. Ruben Martens-Fleurkens departed for €1.5m. I had a soft spot for Ruben, especially when he played as a WCB in a back three, but he never ousted Simon Janssen as starting LB, and the fee we received was too good to turn down. In my opinion, these player sales vindicate my approach to giving young players a chance. They are academy products who were given a lot of first team experience when perhaps other options could have been available. While neither are now at the club, and when they were they weren't considered nailed down starters, between them we've made over €4m in pure profit that can be reinvested in the club. After the investments I've made, we still comfortably have the lowest wage budget in the league. We also still have nearly €4m in the transfer budget, but I don't want to spend for the sake of it. Despite all that, I still think we enter the new season with a stronger squad. We very much remain minnows though, Feyenoord (champions every year of the save so far) have just splashed €46.5m on Sergio Reguilon (I know...). And PSV boast a team containing Neymar, Jeremy Doku, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin... This is I how I see our current first choice XI at the moment: The points of interest are probably: Levi Smans playing as a DLF. He has all the attributes to be in this role, so it will be interesting to see how he adapts from his attacking midfield role. Marchus Melchior has been consistently one of the best players in the team, so far operating off the right wing as a AP or IF. He's excellent at dribbling, so I'm hoping he'll continue to thrive as a mezalla. I'm hoping for a dramatic improvement on last year. With a better all round squad, I think we should push towards a similar finish to the one we had in our first year in the Eredivisie. If we can sure up the defence, scoring goals has never been an issue. Let's see how it goes...

Thanks very much. Your piece on rest defence was one of the inspirations that led me to thinking a 4-3-3 would be a good way to become more solid!

Don't think a total revamp is needed, and probably wouldn't be possible on our current budget. I basically feel the same as I did last summer, I think 2 or 3 proven, consistent Eredivisie players would make a masssive difference in such a young team. They'll most likely be at CB, DM, and a winger as I plan to move towards a 4-3-3. It was certainly the biggest test I've had in a while on FM. Cheers. Thanks! Hopefully more to come.

Season 3 Review Thank god that’s over. I outlined our early season struggles in my previous post, and they never really went away. Our first competitive game of the season, and a first European match for the club, was a great success. Lined up in our new back three system, a 4-0 win at home against Puskas Akademia of Hungary promised great things. But a tough opponent in Ukrainian giants Shaktar would bring a swift end to our European travels. The 4-1 defeat in the first leg was very frustrating, as we actually played very well but two goals conceded in quick time during the second half snuffed the life out of the tie. I was disappointed to not get a go in the next stage of the competition, but performances were still looking promising. Jump forward to the winter break and I’m sat in the boardroom trying to convince the board to keep me in the role. I pointed out that performances didn't necessarily match up to results, and fortunately they agreed. The stats did seem to back up that decision. At this point we were 14 points below our expected points tally, and we'd conceded 16 more than our expected goals against. In some ways it felt harsh to be defending my role. Following two years of undeniable success, and no opportunity for investment there was always going to be a dip. Admittedly, the dip was pretty extreme. . The main issue was defensively we were a shambles, and arguably I should have been sacked on that alone. Nothing I tried seemed to stem the flow of goals. In the 5 games preceding the break we conceded 14 and picked up 1 point. Worryingly they were all fixtures I'd fancy us to get something from too, so I was really starting to question how to turn things around. January Changes Something had to be done, otherwise my time in Venlo would come to a premature end. I felt like van Zutphen needed a new partner in defence, and an injury to centre back Damian van Bruggen put me in a desperate position. Finn van Breemen was available after not getting many minutes for FC Basel. He left Dutch football in year one of the save for €1 million euros, and I was able to bring him back for a deal that would total €450k. I wouldn't say he's a huge improvement, but what he does have is height. Standing at 6'4 I hoped he'd help with our issues from crosses and set pieces. Without much left in the bank we signed Grayson Dettoni, another centre back, on loan from Bayern. And Filip Ronningen Jorgensen also joined on loan from Ajax. I'd prefer not to use loanees, but without the funds to invest we didn't have many other options. The other change I decided to make was to revert back to the 4-2-3-1 we'd used in season one and two. While we still played good football in a back three, it clearly wasn't going to get us enough results. In hindsight, we probably don't have central defenders who are physically good enough to defend big spaces when we pressed high and the wingbacks went forward, and so they were regularly exploited by balls in behind. Every game after the break was rumoured in the press to be Albin's last, and this set of results would prove a microcosm of this season. A rare clean sheet against PSV gained an undeserved point. Away at Hercules we played brilliantly and led 2-0 with 10 minutes to go. We'd then concede twice, including a 90+4 pen, dropping 2 points from nowhere. At home to Helmond Sport, a game we should dominate, we deservedly lost 2-0. And then away to Almere again we played great football, coming from 2-1 down to lead 3-2, and then conceded an equaliser at 90+5. At this point I was wondering how it would ever turn. Even games we dominated and scored 2 or 3 goals we still couldn't win. But a nervy win versus N.E.C turned the tide, Kofi Amoako coming off the bench to strike home a winner. And from there, all I can really say is we just about did enough to stay up, though it wasn't pretty. Funnily enough, we actually still exceeded press expectations of 15th in the end. The flaws were still there, conceding goals regularly in games we should have won. But we got enough points to steer clear of the relegation places, mathematically sealing it against Twente. This was a rare game to enjoy, as all 5 goals were scored by academy boys (Smans, Willemssen x2, Odriss, Hegi). The Players Marcus Melchior & Levi Smans were players of the season, consistently contributing. Smans though had a tough season with injuries for the first time, hopefully that's something that won't continue. Overall as a squad we saw an increased number of injuries so that needs to be monitored. Guus Willemssen is a player that continues to bewilder me. He is almost always top of training performances, and at 22 his development doesn't show any signs of slowing down. His First Touch, Technique, Off the Ball, and Flair are all above 15 so there's a lot to like about him, but despite top scoring with 14 league goals, he is by no means prolific. His career stats to date are 94 senior appearances, with 33 goals, and I can't see him ever improving on that 1 in 3 ratio. Looking Ahead After a year to forget, it's time to head back to the drawing board. I think playing with a back three needs to be shelved until we have a higher quality of player. What is likely holding us back at this point is we still don't have a settled system to build the squad around. We also need to improve the quality of player available to us. The core of the team is academy players who are continuing to develop, but they need proven quality around them. So far my scouting has been fairly limited, and focussed on players under the age of 19. I plan to revamp this in the summer and identify more first team ready players. Thanks for reading.

Congrats on such speedy success! So interesting to see how your system has changed since the first post, and how you're tweaking it as you go.

Thanks Ben, appreciate you taking the time to read and comment. I haven't had much opportunity to play since this post, so it will be interesting to take a look with some fresher eyes this week...

Season 3 - Emergency Update Six games into season three and VVV Venlo are rooted to the bottom of the league, the only side in the division yet to win a game. There have been some mitigating circumstances. In August we played 8 games in 24 days. For a young squad getting their first taste of European football this was always going to be a challenge. We've lost a couple of key players to injury in this time, including key defender van Zutphen who only made his first appearance of the season versus Almere. With the increased number of games, wear and tear injuries were inevitable, and it's meant we've struggled to regularly play our strongest side. With this in mind, I wasn't too worried about the slow start. But the three back to back defeats against Helmond Sport, Almere City, and NEC have made me start to stress. These are games I think we should be winning at least 2 of, and with the change of system still fresh in my mind I wanted to investigate what's going wrong, and note down my thoughts here. xG Is Back In the previous two games especially, we were far the superior team. So I wanted to check the expected points table... Damn. According to this metric, we should be sitting in 5th place. But instead we're 18th, with 8 points(!) less than the data would suggest we could have. Now I did feel hard done by in some of the games, but I wasn't expecting such a drastic differential between this table and the actual table. This has eased my worries slightly, and at this stage I'm thinking the issue is more down to individual performance, rather than a flaw in the new structure. Issues In Goal As mentioned in my last post, we changed GK's so maybe there is something to look at there. Last years number one Jan de Boer didn't have great numbers, and it seems the incoming Benjamin Ballis has continued that trend. He currently has an average rating of 6.5 and the worst save percentage in the league. He was playing so poorly I actually dropped him for the past 2 games, where Zidane Taylan came in and did just as bad, making only two saves in those games, with an xG prevented of -1.77. This diagram below shows we've conceded five goals in the six yard box, which seems very high. One thing de Boer did have in his favour was height, standing at 6'6 and I fear we've have lost a presence in the box, meaning we know struggle to deal with set pieces and crosses. On the face of it there doesn't seem to be a huge difference in the quality of the two players, but de Boer clearly was a more effective presence aerially. This is a small sample size and hopefully over the course of a season Ballis' performances will even out. After all he is a new signing and may take some time to settle, it's just frustrating that his poor performances seem to be directly impacting our results. With no one ready to replace him though, I'm not sure what option I have but to keep the faith. One thing I am going to do for now is use the team instruction Stop Crosses in an attempt to provide some more protection, and focus on set piece defence in the build up to games. At the Other End After significantly over performing xG last season, so far we are slightly under. Our xG is 9.2 from 6 games which I'm not pleased with considering the emphasis I want to place on attacking. But beyond the data, on the eye I haven't been convinced. We consistently look good building up in the first 2/3's of the pitch, but around the opponents box I feel like we're too cautious , with a lot of players coming toward the ball, rather than stretching opposition. Often when van Aken does stretch the play down the right hand side he's had no one to pick out surging ahead of him into the box. For that reason I've decided to abandon the Trequarista role for now. Since we've switched to a back three we've lost a player up the pitch, and we seem to be lacking a bit of penetration, as only the Shadow Striker would threaten in behind, and even then only on occasion. I'd quite like to also put the wingbacks into midfield so we can be effective pressing high, but van Aken can't play RM at all currently. I've switched the roles around slightly in the front three. Hopefully the AF will threaten in behind and occupy opposition defenders, allowing our two 10's more space to operate. I've also chosen to remove Work the Ball Into the Box to make us a little more direct in our attacks. If we aren't going to keep the ball out we'll need to be much more productive going forward. Movement in the Right Direction? With these changes made, the first test would be a tough home match vs AZ who sit in 3rd. They line up in a 4-4-2, which I always fancy us against because of our superiority in the centre of the pitch. A first win of the season, and a sigh of relief. Willemssen profited from the change to AF, his first goal coming from him darting into the box to get onto the end of a cross. His second came from a defensive mistake, and between his goals was an OG we forced following a corner. So going forward, the changes seem to have worked as we created plenty against one of the stronger sides in the league. At the other end things were not as rosey as Ballis yet again had a poor game, and we conceded another goal from a set piece. The way we set up to try and take the game to our opponents means we are likely to give up chances, and having a goalkeeper who can bail us out in those moments is what we seem to be lacking at the moment. Conclusions Things aren't as bad as they seemed to appear. My main worry was that the change of system was the cause of our issues, but having taken a deeper look I'm not sure that's the case. Over the course of the season the I'd like to think results should start to align more with performance. Our problems in goal will need to be monitored, as will our issues at set pieces, but for now I'm going to put those down to poor form rather than a critical issue. It's probably also important to remember we've had two seasons of over achievement so far. And while that doesn't mean I'll be accepting of a drop off, we do still have the youngest squad in the league and the lowest wage budget so expectations need to be realistic. It's going to be a tough season by the looks of it, but hopefully not as tough as August has been...

Season 3 Preview At the end of last season I was set on investing during the summer market, something I’m yet to do with any significance during my time at Venlo. But after delivering VVV European football for the first time in their history (as far as I can tell anyway), the board in their wisdom decided to impose a negative transfer budget. The irony being last season I had €2-3 million sat in the bank with no appetite to use it, and now when I’d decided I had to invest in the starting eleven, I could not. It would soon become apparent the board had something up their sleeves, and an expansion to our stadium, De Koel, was announced. The 4,000 extra seats is an increase of 50%, taking the overall capacity to 12,000. Last year I’d worried about how much the club was losing month to month, and this will go some way to improving that. So really it’s good long term thinking from the club, and I suppose I’ll just have to double down on the academy boys for another year. Frustratingly other requests for off field improvements fell on deaf ears. Our youth recruitment, coaching, and facilities all still sit at Good and the board don’t feel we’re ready to improve those yet. Our training facilities had dropped down to Average, but the board signed off on an improvement to take them back to Good, for a cost of €1.1 million. I’m hoping another solid Eredivisie season will allow for more investment in youth development soon. A New System I’ve been angling for a move to a back three since the beginning of the save, and the lack of funds available in the Summer actually reaffirmed the decision for me. Left wing had become a problem position that would have required investment, but that will no longer be an issue. Playing with two tens also suits the makeup of the squad as we have a number of talented attacking midfielders at the club, and now they should all see increased playing time. Team instructions and mentality are exactly the same as in the 4-2-3-1 we’ve used so far. The TI’s and mentality represent the blueprint for how we want to play, while the shape dictates we operate within that framework. I’ll maybe do a more in depth look at the system once we’ve played some competitive games. Transfers The negative budget meant we’d have to look for value in the market and gamble on players, rather than target the finished article. Fortunately there were a few sellable assets I was happy to part with, and so we were able to wipe that negative budget. With a new system there would also need to be a slight rebalancing of the squad in a couple of areas. Out Michael Nduka was brought in on a free last summer but wasn’t very convincing, either in the first team, or youth teams. Go Ahead Eagles came from nowhere with a bid that could rise to €500k which I was more than happy to accept (not shown above). Jan de Boer made his expected departure, heading to Japanese side Kawasaki-F for €1.5M, a solid fee for the GK in his last year. Elias Sierra was one of the first players I highlighted when I joined. Upon closer inspection my opinion started to change though, and by the end of last season he barely featured. He’s hardly developed in my time at the club, and upon entering the last year of his deal I was keen to move him on. In the end it took the help of an intermediary and we only received €110k. It was a similar situation for Robin Lathouwers. After a promising first season he disappointed in the Eredivisie, and did not justify being one of the top earners at the club. Again it took the help of an intermediary, this time bringing in €215k. Resley Kessels left on loan to FC Emmen. He’s an exciting prospect and last year made 6 starts with 15 sub appearances. With the move to playing two 10’s he’d likely have seen increased first team minutes, but he was keen on a loan move and Emmen were one of the strongest second division teams last year. A full season as a regular starter should maintain his development. Mohamed Hegi, Berkay Gungor, and Samuel Dikos are all young wingers who I’ve sent out on loan to ensure they continue to get minutes which they would unlikely receive in the new system. In Jurre van Aken signed on a Bosman from AZ (not shown above) and will start as first choice right wing back. At 22 he already has 70 appearances across the Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie, and with high determination I’m hoping he has room to grow. He also has ideal player traits to be a threat in the new system (Gets Forward Whenever Possible, Hugs Line). Benjamin Ballis joins on loan from Bayern Munich for the season. With Arjen Post already earning plaudits in the youth teams I wanted someone who could hold the fort for a year, and Ballis is a cost effective way to do that as we’re only paying 20% of his wages. I’m considering committing heresy and rotating my GK’s to give Zidane Taylan time to develop as well. Ringo Meerveld is another free transfer, and he’ll add some needed depth in midfield. Finn Stam, no relation to Jaap, will add depth at CB. Initially I’d hoped to strengthen more in defence but lacked the funds to make a significant signing. Finn is a very strong passer which is interesting and something that could be utilised. Overall, considering what we had to work with I'm pleased with the window. Early signs suggest van Aken will be an upgrade at RWB, and I feel we have good depth throughout the squad. I've also managed to move on players who seemed to have stagnated. And by raising some funds the club is looking more healthy financially. I do have my eye on one experienced free transfer, but I'm waiting for his wage demands to drop. Squad Update One of the aims for the save was to place an emphasis on academy players and developing our own talent, so I thought it would be interesting to give an update 2 seasons in. In our usual starting XI we currently have 5 academy products, and within the regular first team squad of 25, there are 13. This are pleasing numbers so far, the challenge will be kicking on toward the upper part of the league while keeping a majority of academy graduates in the squad. We are developing a nice core that can be built around, with Arjen Post GK, Diego van Zutphen CB, Simon Janssen LB, Mohammed Odriss CM, and Levi Smans AM. Though that does rely on us keeping them... Season 3 in Venlo and a European escapade then, off we go.

Yeah you're right, I got caught in a rabbit hole which led me to trying to find patterns that weren't there. It's something I'm going to keep an eye on though out of curiosity. How we match up next season will be very interesting, especially with the additional games. And the board has decided to make it even more interesting by giving me a negative transfer budget... Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Season 2 Review The bookies expected VVV to make an immediate return to the Eerste Divisie. But in a season where Feyenoord were crowned champions of Dutch football, VVV emerged as one of the surprise stories. What felt like a rollercoaster of a season ended with a 6th placed finish, and a spot in the European play-off places... Which we ended up winning, meaning next year we'll be in ****ing Europe. I can honestly say I'm not just being humble when I declare this feels like a fluke. Three defeats in a row to start the season were followed by a triumphant 4-0 victory in the Limburgse derby against rivals Fortuna Sittard. Young striker Guus Willemssen wrote his name into Venlo folklore with a hat trick that will live long in the memory. From there a strong run in October and November earned Albin Hamelink a 2 and a half year contract, adding some needed security to the project. After that it was a very up and down season. Terrible results from December to February had me thinking we’d slide toward a relegation fight to close the season. However, a sudden up turn in results somehow catapulted us to 6th. An emphatic 5-0 win vs FC Twente put to bed my relegation fears, and 5 wins in our last 7 drove us up the table. This included our most impressive performance of the season, a 2-0 victory against Ajax. I’m not sure it says much for the strength of the league that a team that was tipped to finish mid table in the division below last year has been able to come 6th with almost no investment in the team. We comfortably have the lowest spend on wages in the league, and I still think we’re lacking quality. How did that happen?! My initial belief was that we’d found ourselves in a bit of false position, so I thought I’d take a look through some of the data for more answers. We were 5th top scorers, and 4th in terms of possession, which suggests our quest to play attacking, dominant football is still on course. We created the 6th most chances but, interestingly, we’re only 12th for most shots taken. That, partnered with a conversion rate of 17% (best in the league), would suggest we are a team that creates quality rather than quantity. This is likely a result of the team instruction Work the Ball Into the Box. That would probably also explain why only champions Feyenoord made more passes in the final third than us. One final stat that caught my eye is an over performance of our xG by 10.77 (3rd in the league), and in fact our xG ranking was 8th. I’m never quite sure how to interpret xG. Does this reinforce the belief that 6th is a false position? You could suggest over performing xG a sign of quality, as you possess players who are able to score from low value chances. The two teams who exceeded their xG more than us were Feyenoord and PSV, comfortably the best 2 teams in the league. But just below us is Heerenveen, who over exceeded by nearly 10 goals yet finished 11th. So could it mean an over performance will inevitably end with regression to the norm? For me the clearest sign of an effective team and system is regularly producing high quality chances, and considering that I’m not convinced by a number of my attacking options at this level, I feel being so far ahead of our xG might be an outlier and not something we’re likely to necessarily repeat. Being 12th for shots taken further muddies the waters for me, as you’d think over performing xG and shots taken may be linked? I’d be interested to hear if anyone has any thoughts on this, or could explain to me if I’m completely misinterpreting what’s happening. Player Performance Goalkeepers Jan de Boer, our 6’6 giant of a goalkeeper, has decided to consider his options when his contract ends next season. This is becoming a worrying trend, he’s the third senior player in two seasons to do this, despite on field success. Jan isn’t an academy product though, and I was always expecting to replace him relatively soon. Also, his performances this season haven’t been great- his xG prevented was -1.87. I'm not sure what he thinks his options are going to be, but I'm happy to cash in this summer. This leaves us in a similar position to last summer, debating whether to promote from within a player who’s not really ready, or enter the market for a proven player. His immediate internal successor could be Zidane Taylan, who’s done well in a handful of appearances as the season came to a close. Youth intake day rolled around though, and a third option has been put on the table… A goalkeeper who's just turned 16 and is already rated 2 stars. Our first intake was not worth noting, but our second was more promising and Arjan is the star of it. You don't see many very young goalkeepers, but I want him in the first team ASAP. The plan will be to use him in cup games for a season, while he plays for the youth teams week to week. Hopefully with another year of development under his belt he can become first choice next season. He's not quite Donnarumma, but he will be a teenage number one for VVV. l just need someone to hold the fort for a year... Defenders Diego van Zutphen continues to star. He is developing at a very good rate, going someway to rectifying his lack of pace and strength, and at 20 he should develop physically a little more still. Beyond his physicals he is turning into a stellar modern defender, comfortable on the ball and good in the tackle. His average rating was 6.92, not bad at all for a first top flight season. At right back we struggled, with neither Robin Lathouwers of Moreno Rutten proving their quality at a higher level. Lathouwers I was expecting more from, and I think this is an area we could look to improve over the summer. On the other side, Simon Janssen similarly struggled to adapt to the higher standard with an average rating of 6.7, though is attributes are still improving at the age of 24. I will be looking for more from him next season. Summer signing Joshua Uwakhonye got plenty of game time and a far better average rating of 6.93. Both of them can perform in a variety of roles, so we have good options on this left hand side. Midfield I had high expectations for young Kofi Amoako and he duly delivered in his first season. 6 goals and 5 assists while mainly operating as a box to box midfielder was very pleasing. His form did fade toward the end of the season, that may be expected for a young player in their first full season. He's shown some development to his attributes and at 20 he still should grow. He's so well rounded I love the flexibility he gives us. Levi Smans brought in 6 goals and 5 assists which are numbers not too dissimilar to last season. The coaches rate him as the best player at the club, and I feel like we could get more from him. A lack of quality on the left and up top probably has held him back. I've trained him with the traits Gets Into Opposition Area, Tries First Time Shots, and Plays One-Two with the aim of making him a threat running beyond, but that requires a Trequarista who he can dovetail with effectively. Marcus Melchior stepped up very well on the right wing, scoring 5 and assisting 9. He's proven a shrewd piece of business since joining on a free 18 months ago. On the left, as expected, we didn't have enough. Mohamed Hegi tried valiantly but with only 3 goals and 4 assists from 29 appearances I'm struggling to see him ever being more than a rotation option. Last season one of our main threats came from isolating the left winger, but this year we lacked someone with enough quality to exploit that. Mohhamed Odriss was identified as one to watch in my last post, and he is a player who keeps surprising me. An average rating of 7.02 from 15 starts and 14 sub appearances was one of the highest in the squad. A lack of Concentration and Determination have always made me slightly wary, despite obvious quality as a deep lying playmaker. He's someone who perhaps deserves more responsibility. Strikers In my preview of the season I mentioned I'd be sticking with academy graduate Guus Willemssen. He did a decent job scoring 11 in the league, although this included the aforementioned derby day hat-trick. He probably shouldn't be a first choice Eredivisie striker, and he's not developing at a rate that convinces me it's worth giving him so much responsibility again. As an academy graduate I'm in no rush to move him on, but as with right back and left wing, this is an area we could immediately improve upon. Conclusion On the face of it, a huge success. To come into a new division having lost a key player and not invested massively, a 6th place finish and European football is outstanding (even if it feels undeserved). As I've explained though, I'm not going to be resting on my laurels. A strong youth intake this year, headlined by Arjen Post, is pleasing considering our long term aim to be a consistent producer of talent. Our facilities, coaching, and recruitment all currently are ranked as 'Good'. I'll be looking to further improve this over the summer. Such a high finish has helped us financially, and that was a relief as currently we're losing around €500k per month, which is worrying considering we already have the lowest wage spend in the league. Hopefully continued strong league performances, supplemented by some player sales should keep us in a relatively healthy position, and allow for investment on and off the pitch. Now I have a feel for the Eredivisie, I'm going to be more focussed in terms of player development. Thus far I've been giving pretty much everyone an opportunity, but now I have an idea of who will develop into first team options I can prioritise their minutes and development. This summer I'm aiming to add 2 or 3 quality players to the starting XI to ensure we don't suffer second season syndrome and cope with the extra demands we could face in Europe. And finally, I'm 100% moving to a back three next year...

Season 2 Preview It’s the eve of VVV’s return to the Eredivisie, a challenging opening match away to PSV Eindhoven. I wanted to share a preview heading into the second season, and highlight what's happened over the summer. Transfers Out Soulyman Allouch made his expected departure to FC Twente for €2 million. Despite promotion he still had no interest in extending his contract in Venlo. It’s disappointing to lose such a key player, who was still only 22. He’s ready to ply his trade in the top division for the first time, but sadly that won’t be with us. I’m pleased with the fee though, considering he only had a year left. Rick Ketting was supposed to be the other big name departure, after asking to be transfer listed following us winning the league. He too only has a year left, but with our first game approaching, no bids even close to what he’s worth to us, have been made. As a rule of thumb I prefer not to lose anyone on a free, but unless a club comes in with a respectable offer, the value he’ll potentially provide by helping us stay in the Eredivisie will off set losing him for nothing. We also don’t have a prospect ready to step up in defence, and I haven’t found anyone in the market I’m convinced of. So, for now, he’s staying put. In On the other side, there’s been an influx across the border from Germany… Kofi Amoako was signed as last season came to a close for €155k (rising to 185k). I’m really pleased with this deal, especially considering Wolfsburg thought him a top prospect. He’s already well rounded for a 19 year old, and I’m hoping the combination of his high determination and a first taste of senior football will help him to develop into an all round midfielder who can be used in a variety of roles. He’ll likely go straight into the starting XI. 3 more talented young Germans have also joined the club, Michael Nduka, Ayman Aourir, and Joshua Uawkhonye. Nduka is a bit of punt, signed mainly due to impressing on trial and having high determination. If he does well in the reserves he’ll get some first team minutes. Aourir will operate as back up to Guus Willemssen in the Trequarista role. Though he doesn’t excel at anything in particular, I think he has potential. I have just noticed I’ve given him far too big a contract, though he did join from Leverkusen so that explains why. Uawkhonye will operate as back up to Janssen at left back. He’s really versatile and looks impressive for his age. That’s allowed Ruben Martens-Fleurkens to go out on loan to the second division. He featured heavily last year from the bench and I do like him, so hopefully he can get a full season in the Eerste Divisie, and then we can reassess our options at LB for next season. Damian van Bruggen also rejoins the club, having previously played in Venlo for 3 years from 2017-2020. He'll add some experience to the squad, and provide back up in defence. I also want to mention a frustrating episode in my attempt to replace Allouch. Koki Saito was highlighted by one of my scouts, and immediately become top priority for the summer market. He would have been the first Japanese signing of the save, while also being the perfect replacement on the left wing. I negotiated a deal I was very happy with to sign him for Lommel SK in Belgium, but when it came to contract talks he would not even hear an offer due to worries about our financial strength. This is despite claiming to be very interested in joining the club, and I would have been able to double or triple his salary (I have €20k sitting in the wage budget). In the end he returned to Japan, and that was that. The search goes on. Before the window, the two positions I was most unsure on was LCM and ST. Amoako solves the midfield dilemma, and I've decided to bank on Guus Willemssen up top as first choice. He's done enough to warrant a chance, and after all I want to give my own youth as much opportunity as possible. For that reason I'm also leaning towards not signing a replacement for Allouch in this window. I have a few raw wingers in and around the squad, all of whom are flawed, but I will give a chance to them at least until January. No one on the market except Saito has really convinced me, and so I don't want to make waste the Allouch money on someone who'll need replacing soon anyway. What I have used that money for so far is signing new staff, and hopefully to improve our youth facilities. I'll still have plenty in the bank in January if I need to bring in reinforcements up front or on the left wing. So this is the current first team squad in full. I wanted to pull out a few names I haven't mentioned in any posts so far who I think will have an interesting second season... Mohammed Odriss Mohammed caught my eye on first assessment of the youth teams. He already has some strong attributes for a central midfielder, what made me wary was the 6 for Determination. The low determination, partnered with some uninspiring initial first team performances made me question whether he had much chance of developing. However he then found his feet towards the end of the season, contributing 2 goals and 4 assists from 17 appearances, with an average rating of 7.04. He should still get plenty of minutes this season at a higher level so it will be interesting to see him this time next year. Resley Kessels Kessels starts the save as a 16 year old, and similarly to Odriss, has a lot to like but lacks determination - and physically he is way off it. But with decent technicals as well as great composure and decision making for a teenager, I think there's something there. He featured off the bench 8 times last season as a reward for the 13 goals and 16 assists he got in the youth teams. Mohamed Hegi This is one of the raw wingers I alluded to. Looking at his attributes I think I'm being overly optimistic expecting him to be a success in the Eredivisie, but we shall see. However, he is quick and very determined so I'm interested to see if I can develop over the course of another season. In the league last year he made 12 starts, with 22 sub appearances, picking up 10 goal contributions. Aims for season On the pitch, staying in the division is all I'm really after. After an unexpected promotion and with a very young team I don't think we can aim for much more. Albin Hamelink's contract runs out at the end of the season, so hopefully there will be an extension soon. It should be an interesting year in terms of player development. I'm hoping to continue the rotation we had last year, though whether that will be possible at a higher level we shall see. The opportunity to play in the Eredivisie will help determine which players have the brightest future at VVV, which will inform future squad building and player development plans. Tactically, I've got an idea for a back 3 system, so if we are comfortable enough I will try to introduce that slowly... Wish me luck.

Thanks a lot, appreciate you taking the time to read. Didn't have a chance to play over the weekend but hoping to get a season 2 preview posted in the next few days!