Creating a Legacy - Detailed Blog

[7Bestie7]

I decided that with the release of the FM13 Demo and the launch of the full game not too far away it was time for me to get the framework for this thread in place.

Throughout my playing of the CM/FM series I have had one goal in mind. To reshape and rebuild a club from the ground up in the style of Busby, Ferguson, the Boot Room managers and Johan Cruyff. This isn't about constant success but a legacy that permiates from the youth teams up to the full team in a system and style of play, a personality of players and a backroom consisting of past friends who all understand exactly what it is that it means to be an "X player." FM for me is about the Ajax/La Masia concept in game form. With my recent forays into creating tactical threads and sharing ideas I've had for a few years with the rest of the SI Community, I've decided that I would also take you through this journey with FM13 on exactly what/how I do this, the whys, the repercussions and what you can take from it to use for your own games.

This thread is going to cover my (in no particular order):

• Backroom Setup
  
• Tactics - Why I play what I play and how it influences my decisions
  
• Training
  
• Player purchases
  
• Pre/Post-Season
  
• Tutoring
  
• Reserves/Youth Teams
  
• Loans - My choices, mistakes and fixes
  
• Whoops - My mismanaging of players
  

I'm happy to do more if there is any other areas people want me to go into so if anyone has any comments/ideas/help before I really get this thread going, by all means share them.

Now this is in no way a definitive guide to FM and I'm sure that there are things I do within the game which may not be the best option/get the best out of my players but this is about me shaping the club in MY image, for good and bad, and I think that is the real key to playing a game of FM.

[furiousuk]

Sounds good bud, I'm a fan of always building a team up and creating a stable base and some history. It helps to define a 'flavour' for a team which often persists even when you've re-created a team when your first crop of players begin to retire.

It's an involved topic, good luck squeezing it into one thread! Should be a good insight though and make for a cracking slow-burning thread.

Good luck with it

[lam]

Sounds interesting..... you got a +1 subscriber here.

Can I suggest that you add 'blog' or something to the title. I think you'll get more of an audience.

Regards

LAM

[7Bestie7]

Thanks, Furious. It's definitely going to be my long-term slow game on FM13.

LAM, good idea and done.

[tejas]

Definitely going to follow this. Very interesting. What team are you going to be?

[7Bestie7]

Definitely going to follow this. Very interesting. What team are you going to be?

Man United. Aside from being the team I support I've found it interesting because of the clash of philosophy between how I prefer to play (much more controlled and possession orientated) than how Ferguson does. I enter at a club routed in 4-4-2 when it's a system I almost never play.

[lam]

you need to change the main title. Advanced edit or something.

[tejas]

I support them aswell. I prefer our new style of play with Rooney as the man behind RVP and Welbeck/Chicarito. Not sure about Kagawa on the wing. Would much prefer Danny peeling off to the left a lot more so shinji can play more in the middle.

[DMX]

Hi 7Bestie7 sounds very interesting, you should consider a you tube blog ive seen a guy do it with Blackburn where you watched his games and dealings throughout the season it was fascinating stuff.

[Bluenosebear]

Will be paying very close attention to this thread it's always my aim in the game but more often than not a great job gets offered and I jump ship or as a Rangers fan I can't bear to play in scotland anymore (although starting at the bottom this years gives it a new dimension).

Good luck mate

[ZdlR]

Wow, that's a bit disappointing. Thought you were going to say Le Havre or Scunthorpe or Chonbuk Motors. Man Utd already has a legacy, you won't really be changing much bar the style of play.

[7Bestie7]

I support them aswell. I prefer our new style of play with Rooney as the man behind RVP and Welbeck/Chicarito. Not sure about Kagawa on the wing. Would much prefer Danny peeling off to the left a lot more so shinji can play more in the middle.

Kagawa is definitely not being integrated into the team as well as he could be. Taking over United will give me a squad built on 4-4-2 wingers/diamond and I've always had it a challenge to balance keeping the success going, changing the style of play and not doing wholesale changes.

Wow, that's a bit disappointing. Thought you were going to say Le Havre or Scunthorpe or Chonbuk Motors. Man Utd already has a legacy, you won't really be changing much bar the style of play.

There are some great threads out there about smaller clubs being brought up through the ranks/becoming European Champions and there will be again. The aim of this thread isn't about the who (club) but the what and why. Almost all the decisions that someone makes when they take over a United, Barcelona, Madrid or City/PSG will relate to the lower teams.

[tejas]

Kagawa is definitely not being integrated into the team as well as he could be. Taking over United will give me a squad built on 4-4-2 wingers/diamond and I've always had it a challenge to balance keeping the success going, changing the style of play and not doing wholesale changes.

Yeah. It will be interesting how you will implicate the more complex passing element into United. Are you going to completely sacrifice width or at least play Valencia?

[7Bestie7]

Kagawa is definitely not being integrated into the team as well as he could be. Taking over United will give me a squad built on 4-4-2 wingers/diamond and I've always had it a challenge to balance keeping the success going, changing the style of play and not doing wholesale changes.

Yeah. It will be interesting how you will implicate the more complex passing element into United. Are you going to completely sacrifice width or at least play Valencia?

It's been a long time since I played without any width on an extended basis but I've also found that Valencia (and Young in FM12) don't do well personality wise to my style of management. For me Valencia requires a lot more man-management than some of other players I've managed without proving himself a viable enough asset to be singled out. It's very much wait and see on him this year but I do prefer some type of width in my teams.

[7Bestie7]

My Tactical Development

The very first team I consciously took the time to analyse was the 98/99 Treble team. I've probably watched the last three games of that season (vs Spurs, N'Castle Final, Munich) close to fifty times and seen highlights of that season totally two days and in FM parlance I translated that great season as:

Peter Schmeichel - GK, distribution Quick Throw.

Gary Neville - RWB (Attack)

Jaap Stam - CB

Ronny Johnsen - CB

Denis Irwin - LB (Support)

David Beckham - RM (Support)

Paul Scholes - CM/CPM (Support)

Roy Keane - BWM (Defend) or DM (Support)

Ryan Giggs - LW (Attack)

Dwight Yorke - DLF (Support)

Andrew Cole - AFW (Attack)

With the strikers swapping positions unless Solskjaer played. Now for me I felt there wasn't too much difference between the DLF or using an AMC if the player knew how to play the position correctly. Two games which stood out for me that season were the group games vs Barcelona who became my "second team".* This love for Barcelona grew as I watched the growth of the Frank Rijkaard era with Guily on one wing and Ronaldinho on the other. Who can forget the impossible when the Brazilian received a standing ovation from the Santiago Bernabeu faithful? It was watching Ronaldinho's Barca career that grew a very deep and passionate love for the role of a wide Inside Forward that continues to this very day. As you can imagine, watching the development of Cristiano Ronaldo into the world's greatest IF and the emergence of Messi on the right just took this passion to an entirely new level and as such I have always incorporated it into my FM tactics when the chance arose.

And so you have my tactical preference coming from the roots of the Treble team and being infused with the dangers of one/two Inside Forwards. In following United I grew incredibly frustrated during the early years of the 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 development when the team had Veron. This wasn't because of my dislike for the player or system but that I understood the squad was stuck between the two (4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1/4-3-3) systems. As my obsession with tactics grew and I studied both the Barcelona of the late-Rijkaard/early Guardiola (plus other teams) I can to obvious conclusion that the midfield area is both the most flexible and critical part of any tactical system.

There is only a small tactical switch between a ball winning midfielder and someone who sits in front of the midfield just as there is a small switch between the Scholes/Lampard role and someone like Tim Cahill doing the exact same job from the AMC position. As previously mentioned there is also a small switch between a DLF and an APM if you have the right players. So my internal question became could I create a tactic that was flexible enough to be a hybrid/mid-way point between the Treble team, the 2008 United team and the Barcelona of Ronalindho and Eto'o? The answer was a resounding yes!

The first thing to note is that my WB/FB in the defence has been reversed from the 99 team. This is because in the initial system my Inside Forward is on the left wing, cutting in, and so I need the extra width a WB provides. I have no qualms about moving the RW into the RM position if required but I prefer my wingers to stay high against all but the toughest opponents. My DM is a supportive player to let him have the chance to get higher against weaker teams and become a BWM. The AM is the most versatile position in my system as I will be able to move him deeper to become a third central midfielder or higher as a striker as the situation/opposition requires. However the above is the key basis of everything I want my team to do. Attack but with short passing so that I have control over a game, threats from both out wide and cutting in with creativity and goal threats from the central two attacks (CM + AM). This system will be played from the U-18s, Reserves and first team and any youth player I bring into the club will be automatically assigned a role within this system and trained for that role rather than alternating my system to fight the player.

*Both Barcelona and Ajax can be considered my second/third teams because of the style of play that they've stood for and their focus on their youth systems. I say this because of my passion for United, the magical and almost mythical Babes and the Class of '92 which shows that all three clubs prefer to build than buy. They are also the only two teams I would ever consider doing FM games with.

[guspjmh]

I like the concept of this, but to be honest doing it with a team like Man Utd rather than a minnow is just changing style slightly. It's like getting a haircut vs getting a new head, so consequently a lot less impressive regardless of the outcome.

[Cleon]

It seems people are missing the point of this thread, ignore them and stick with it. We need topics like this on the forum regardless of who you play as. You only have to look at anything SFrazer did to see that the team you use doesn't matter. What matters is how you translate the info onto here. Everything you do and write will be relevant to any team in any league, people need to realise this. That FM tactics are universal, understanding them however isn't and is something majority of users struggle with.

[7Bestie7]

Cheers, Cleon.

I don't expect everyone who reads this thread to get any/everything out of it but I'm hoping it makes a difference for some who have trouble with building a club over the long-term.

[llama3]

AM interested to keep tracks on this Bestie - I like to think myself fairly adept tactically, but I am still learning a huge amount of things still, and I am always interested to read anything which can inform this and make me a better player.

[robterrace]

The idea behind this is intriguing, and its definitely something I'll be keeping an eye on.

[OneAVB]

I will be following this.. It's something I like to do in my long term save especially after reading about SFraser and his approach.. great idea for a thread

[DreamsDefined]

Great concept, will be following with interest! And perfect timing, as my first FM13 save will be Ajax.

[Smac]

Just wanted to stop in and echo Cleon's sentiment. I've enjoyed your posts before and look forward to this one.

[7Bestie7]

First of, apologies for taking so long to get this up and running. I've been snowed under with work + being sick. I'm in the middle of writing up everything I look at during the first day/couple of weeks of the pre-season and it'll be posted later in the week.

Bestie.

[Evertonbloke]

Sweet, I was gutted when I thuoght this had gone under!

Good work fella

[7Bestie7]

(This isn't all I have but I thought you people would like the start so you have something to read before I get the rest up)

First Day

So to start the managerial life we're given a personal message from the chairman of the club that:

Welcomes the user to the fold.

Breaks down your new contract.

Gives expectations of the club's philosophies.

A reminder that staff will accept mutual termination of their contracts.

And meetings involving the club spokesman and assistant manager that you may choose to skip if you want to.

The first thing to look at is the expectations of the club's philosophies. United have two:

- Play Attacking Football.

- Develop players using the club's youth system.

These are fine and in regards to my own personal style are nothing more than what I do generally. However it's important to make sure you are either adaptable enough to go along with a club's philosophy or smart enough to join a club that matches your style of management. The last thing you want to do is have a clash of ideals between manager and board even if you're bringing in success.

The second thing is the meeting. I have no guarantee that avoiding such meetings negatively affect your interaction with the board but I prefer to go through these types of meetings as a way of immersing myself in the entire experience.

Board Meeting:

• After the introductions I'm told that "the fans really appreciate it when a newly-appointed manager has taken time to increase their knowledge..." as well as an option of receiving more information from the chairman to my inbox. The wording suggests that the fans are privy to whether I accept the offer or not and that my relationship with them will be more positive if I accept the information. Since this doesn't hurt me in the long-run, I accept.
  
• The club's expectations and financial details. Wages - £1.71mpw, Transfers - £30m. In all of my games of FM I have never adjusted or argued the financial constraints given by a board. I usually go for the smaller goal (Title challenger rather than title winner) as I feel that by undershooting expectations this allows me a greater margin of error. Therefore I accept these expectations.
  
• I accept the offer of creating a press conference.
  

Meeting with Assistant Manager:

[*]No Inter-Club friendly. I think that these usually come too soon in my pre-season and, as the option to decline states, I find watching my players against other teams far more beneficial.

[*]Summary of the players at the club. Why wouldn't you want to see this?

[*]Accept meeting with the rest of the staff.

[*]I ask for the regular reports to come on a fortnightly basis. Now there may only ever be 1 item in ten that actually interests me but I consider it a worthwhile endeavour to receive as much information as possible to make the best available choices.

[*]End of meeting. I'll arrange for all responsibilities elsewhere.

Transfers/Loans:

After these two meetings the next piece of business tells me the players I have out on loan. The first thing I do is check out who they are and if I can recall any to my club so that I can take a proper at them. United have six players out on loan with none of them able to be recalled. I'll be using one of my scouts to keep an eye on all of them.

Scouting:

With the next message being from my Chief Scout, this is the perfect time for me to go into the scouting screen and trim/sign new ones. The club has 18 scouts even though the board advise only 14 right now. The first thing I do is get rid of all scouts who JP and/or JA are less than 17. This removes 5 scouts (leaving me with 13) and allows me to sign one more.

Subscriptions:

My choices of subscriptions are:

Major International Competitions.

As many youth international competitions as possible (Plus U19s CL).

Any club that is an affiliate (or who becomes an affiliate).

Meet Staff:

Mostly about the formation/set piece takers which I usually ignore as these are set individually by me. The report on the youth players is something to look at but, again, requires a much more detailed look. Later on.

Staff Setup:

Director of Football - The club has none (with 1 advised). Even though I won't be using the DoF to its fullest capacity in regards to responsibilities, I still do want one at the club. Thankfully there is one who has almost everything I want in a DoF already at the club in the role of a Scout; Les Kershaw. This will also cause his contract to jump from £1K a week to £15K (nice if you can get it).

His responsibilities will be:

Finds and makes offers for young players for the future.

Finds new cubs for transfer/loan listed players.

Head of Youth Development - McClair is the current HoYD and is actually the type of man who I would have picked. My only issue with McClair is that his preferred formation is 4-4-2 but that can be forgiven with his suitability to the job.

Assistant Manager - The club has 1 (with 2 advised) in Mike Phelan. Phelan is decent in regards to Tactics and judging potential but weaker (14) with his judgement of ability. I am looking at bringing in a second AsMan to compliment his weaknesses.

Reserve Team Manager - The club as 1 in Warren Joyce. Although Joyce is a good coach, I find his style of play an antithesis of how I prefer to play football and so how I want my reserves to play.

Under 18s Team Manager - Like Joyce, Paul McGuinness is a good coach for me to use but doesn't have the right playing style/tactical preference for me to be comfortable with him being the Under 18s manager.

[slipknot67]

(This isn't all I have but I thought you people would like the start so you have something to read before I get the rest up)

First Day

So to start the managerial life we're given a personal message from the chairman of the club that:

Welcomes the user to the fold.

Breaks down your new contract.

Gives expectations of the club's philosophies.

A reminder that staff will accept mutual termination of their contracts.

And meetings involving the club spokesman and assistant manager that you may choose to skip if you want to.

The first thing to look at is the expectations of the club's philosophies. United have two:

- Play Attacking Football.

- Develop players using the club's youth system.

These are fine and in regards to my own personal style are nothing more than what I do generally. However it's important to make sure you are either adaptable enough to go along with a club's philosophy or smart enough to join a club that matches your style of management. The last thing you want to do is have a clash of ideals between manager and board even if you're bringing in success.

The second thing is the meeting. I have no guarantee that avoiding such meetings negatively affect your interaction with the board but I prefer to go through these types of meetings as a way of immersing myself in the entire experience.

Board Meeting:

• After the introductions I'm told that "the fans really appreciate it when a newly-appointed manager has taken time to increase their knowledge..." as well as an option of receiving more information from the chairman to my inbox. The wording suggests that the fans are privy to whether I accept the offer or not and that my relationship with them will be more positive if I accept the information. Since this doesn't hurt me in the long-run, I accept.
  
• The club's expectations and financial details. Wages - £1.71mpw, Transfers - £30m. In all of my games of FM I have never adjusted or argued the financial constraints given by a board. I usually go for the smaller goal (Title challenger rather than title winner) as I feel that by undershooting expectations this allows me a greater margin of error. Therefore I accept these expectations.
  
• I accept the offer of creating a press conference.
  

Meeting with Assistant Manager:

[*]No Inter-Club friendly. I think that these usually come too soon in my pre-season and, as the option to decline states, I find watching my players against other teams far more beneficial.

[*]Summary of the players at the club. Why wouldn't you want to see this?

[*]Accept meeting with the rest of the staff.

[*]I ask for the regular reports to come on a fortnightly basis. Now there may only ever be 1 item in ten that actually interests me but I consider it a worthwhile endeavour to receive as much information as possible to make the best available choices.

[*]End of meeting. I'll arrange for all responsibilities elsewhere.

Transfers/Loans:

After these two meetings the next piece of business tells me the players I have out on loan. The first thing I do is check out who they are and if I can recall any to my club so that I can take a proper at them. United have six players out on loan with none of them able to be recalled. I'll be using one of my scouts to keep an eye on all of them.

Scouting:

With the next message being from my Chief Scout, this is the perfect time for me to go into the scouting screen and trim/sign new ones. The club has 18 scouts even though the board advise only 14 right now. The first thing I do is get rid of all scouts who JP and/or JA are less than 17. This removes 5 scouts (leaving me with 13) and allows me to sign one more.

Subscriptions:

My choices of subscriptions are:

Major International Competitions.

As many youth international competitions as possible (Plus U19s CL).

Any club that is an affiliate (or who becomes an affiliate).

Meet Staff:

Mostly about the formation/set piece takers which I usually ignore as these are set individually by me. The report on the youth players is something to look at but, again, requires a much more detailed look. Later on.

Staff Setup:

Director of Football - The club has none (with 1 advised). Even though I won't be using the DoF to its fullest capacity in regards to responsibilities, I still do want one at the club. Thankfully there is one who has almost everything I want in a DoF already at the club in the role of a Scout; Les Kershaw. This will also cause his contract to jump from £1K a week to £15K (nice if you can get it).

His responsibilities will be:

Finds and makes offers for young players for the future.

Finds new cubs for transfer/loan listed players.

Head of Youth Development - McClair is the current HoYD and is actually the type of man who I would have picked. My only issue with McClair is that his preferred formation is 4-4-2 but that can be forgiven with his suitability to the job.

Assistant Manager - The club has 1 (with 2 advised) in Mike Phelan. Phelan is decent in regards to Tactics and judging potential but weaker (14) with his judgement of ability. I am looking at bringing in a second AsMan to compliment his weaknesses.

Reserve Team Manager - The club as 1 in Warren Joyce. Although Joyce is a good coach, I find his style of play an antithesis of how I prefer to play football and so how I want my reserves to play.

Under 18s Team Manager - Like Joyce, Paul McGuinness is a good coach for me to use but doesn't have the right playing style/tactical preference for me to be comfortable with him being the Under 18s manager.

You may have found this out already by the time I've posted this but '2 advised' assistant managers is very misleading, it means 1 first team ass man and one reserve/u19 team assistant. If you try to sign a second first team assistant the board will probably cancel it.