[FM17] The Florentine Renaissance Deja-Vu

[LPQR]

Hi everyone and welcome to this story As you might have noticed from my previous work, I'm not usually too deep into story-telling, however I've found that this is the most important part of any FM project that I'm doing. If there's a narrative - there's drive, there's hope and there's focus.The project with Sparta Bucharest has been a first dive into that kind of thing, and it has been my longest and most enjoyable ever FM save. A few days ago I was struck by an idea of a Football Manager project that should tickle my vanity for the considerably long foreseeable future, however, without the story element being written out in as much detail as I see it in my mind, it would perhaps make less sense for an outside viewer. So I've decided to try out something new this time - it will be a project that alternates the lyrical narrative, tactical discussion and general management issues and will have a format that varies from post to post in that sense. Hope you enjoy the ride and feel free to leave a comment, a suggestion, or ask about anything that springs to mind

Part I - Prelude

 

Hi, my name is Martin Toss, a 22 year old Swiss doctor in Renaissance studies with English citizenship, having spent half of my life in Nottingham, UK.

With inhibited self-esteem issues about my own football knowledge and an inexhaustible passion for a world that is now long gone and yet one I have dedicated my mind and heart to, I've reached the point where I have to make a change in my life....

 

 

Here we are... another typical, grey-clouded uninspiring day in Notts and I'm done trying to find excuses for my lack of enthusiasm about the speech I'm supposed to give in a couple of hours at the University of Nottingham ball room. I know, I know... Botticelli isn't really anything new but it seems to give everyone a hard-on whenever there's new research about his work. So I'm going to do my usual, academic and methodical rant in front of a crowd of pseudo know-hows and puffing overage hipsters that only have one thing in common...a false impression of their own wit. Having said that, I don't rule myself out of those pots either, having immersed myself in Renaissance studies since I can remember having an active consciousness. And yet...20 unprofitable books later and still at the age of 22, I'm finding my passion and drive is somehow lost due to how disconnected I feel I am from that reality...where brilliant minds have wine poured over their backs in lust-filled orgies, the smell of fresh quarried stone and old paint in the enormous workshops, the constant gossip and drama of the ruling dynasties and their incestuous endeavors, the flamboyancy and flair of teenage boys trying to impress both, their masters and the fitter girls around.... ahh... if only there was a time-machine so I could teleport myself in that age, away from a place where the most exciting thing that can happen is... a Sunday roast... Oh yeah, and the Forest matches. Always playoffs and always next year...Tradition? History? Culture? Naah, p**s off, it's just an oil-rich owner playing Fifa and throwing the fans' hearts into all kinds of puddles. I'm done trying to believe there's a point there either.

When it comes to football, I'm really shy about my perspective as I often seem to feel that me voicing it in the midst of a football debate would make me look like a geek with asperger's syndrome. I'm overly analytical of everything I see in a match and I definitely don't understand what 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 means. What I do see is patterns of role-interchange, layers of positional transitions articulated to situational play, I see space coverage and dynamics of transitions... oh, see what I mean? Yeah, I'm probably the least talkative football fan you'll meet but there's stuff happening in my brain when the referee blows that kick-off whistle, I assure you. I'm not going to lie, it's tempting to take up some research-based job at a football club around here and try to slowly mold a change in my career, but... is this what I want to do? Really..? Spend all my life in this black hole of middle-England, occasionally lit up by hopeless Robin Hood stories? To be fair, the only statue of the man acts as public toilet on nights out, so if that doesn't wrap up all there is to know about this place then I don't know what does... And then again, do I really want to sit in my office and draft 50k pages research papers that no-one apart from a tight bunch of knit-wits seems to care about? Right! That's that, I'm done whining, f**k the conference and them bunch of old artsy-fartsy wannabes, I'm getting a ticket to Florence! 30 quid? Yeah, I'll take that any day. I'll sort something out when I get there... I'm sure...

It's 7pm and I've just got here, on the Piazzale Michelangelo, and this is the view that I get:

I've lit up a fag and just let it all sink in... My academic career forever gone to ashes and the hundreds of years of history and art that I have riddled into my mind for so many years... now standing right in front of me in spectacular fashion.. Ahh, definitely worth it! Off to my cheap motel where I've got a couple of nights to spend wondering and planning on what I'm doing next. One thing is for sure... I'm not going to settle for anything else than something life-changing and something that's going to keep me here... I'm done roaming about - this is the place I've got my heart in, and who knows, maybe I can find out just how deconstructivist my football understanding is in some bar conversation with what seems to be a far more receptive crowd to cynical introverts like me than the one in England...

 

[LPQR]

Part II - Ritornello

Two days in Florence and I'm already a different man. Can't help but thinking... you know what? People actually want to enjoy themselves here compared to that nihilistic, self-sabotaged mindset you encounter in the UK. Aye, it does help grow the necessary, darker parts of the heart, but it seems not everyone's so keen feeding themselves stories of life's futility... certainly not here. On my way to the Piazza de la Signoria, I stumbled upon a meeting that was taking place in one of the more discrete bars around. And guess my absolutely unexpected delight at finding out what it was about and who was attending...

For those of you with a shorter cultural breath, the Medicis are almost synonymous with the city of Florence since the 15th century. One of the most powerful dynasties in world history and the main commissioners of artwork during the Renaissance period, helping artists like Michelangelo, Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci produce work that would forever grace the reputation and aura of Firenze. Check this out for a better read about them. 

I was mesmerized at the opportunity of seeing the last member of the Medici in flesh and bone, literally meters away. I didn't stop there, though... After the meeting had finished and everyone started dipping into the bowls of Parmigiano tasters, I tried to look as casual as I could while approaching the Prince, even though my mind was an absolute boiling pot. He actually looks like a very simple guy, and boasts a smile that somehow managed to convince me his political aspirations are not the reason he'd put it on...

After a two hour-long conversation which started casually but gradually escalated with passion and excitement, I couldn't actually believe what we'd just decided on...I now have an appointment at the Prince's office tomorrow morning to discuss....founding a football club! No words can describe my feelings at the moment, it's like a million puzzles fit in the right place all of a sudden.

The next day, the Prince told me he would love the idea of having a new football club in Florence, one that would represent the people and history of the city more than businessman Della Valle's Fiorentina does. While the latter tried to bring it all together under one emblem, that is - commercial intent, the city's tradition and the supporter's hearts, it's pretty obvious that the three of them are conflicting, since he's only fussed about one thing only - profit. That, along with the Prince's ambition and multiple other projects on re-unifying a sense of local integrity in Florence seemed more than enough to convince me he is fully behind this and that, overwhelmingly.... so am I!

Ok, down to business, we've decided we will name the club Associazione Calcistica Artium Firenze, as Artium is the latin word for artistry, or art as a craft, which is definitory of the identity of this place as well as the relationship of the Medici's with it. Furthermore, we decided that the name won't simply be a historical reference and that it will also influence the club philosophy. So, the key points of that application to the way we'll run things in the club will be:

- play an attractive style of football, focusing on entertaining fans as much as possible

- focus on developing and 'nurturing' local talent and prioritize keeping them at the club over financial gains

- to not play defensive football and to have the liberty to improvise in all club matters

 

this is the club logo we have decided upon, after I've offered myself to design it:

The logo is actually very symbolic of the club's meaning - it is based on the House of Medici coat of arms, which is still found encrypted on hundreds of buildings in Florence:

The mini-dome symbol represents the gorgeous Duomo, a city symbol by all means:

The Florentine Lilly had to be there too, of course, as well as the two olive branches, which signify the city's Roman origins.

The Prince did, however give me an immediate task, which would serve to prove at least some of my competence in this project:  'Martin, tutto bello e bene, but if you can find me a sponsor in 24 hours, I'll consider expanding your influence in this project and maybe we can even get you an office and a proper room, not that vergogna of motel you're staying in now'   

That's all I needed to hear. TAAAXIII! on my way to talk to some of the most long-standing businesses that have a special connection to the city. After a couple of failed attempts due to my still very poor Italian, I've had a very productive chat with the (happily) English-speaking owner of  La Marzocco - one of the most innovative coffee machine producers in the world and a proud ambassador of the city's heritage. She loved everything I had to say and immediately agreed to be the main sponsor of the team and we finished off the paperwork in an hour, which we then crowned with a superb, home-made espresso from the hands of the owner herself - 'per il piu bello inizio!' she said (for the most beautiful beginning), looking me directly in the eyes with gripping excitement. I left her office heart-warmed and charmed by her class and elegance, and burst my way into the Prince's quarters with the papers held high in my hand....15 hours before the deadline he'd given me. He burst into laughter and reminded me no one actually takes deadlines that seriously around here...With all of that done, and with the help of a good friend of mine in England, Marc Bowen, who helped us out with the design aspects of the club, this is how our kits would look like

The Prince pulled some strings too and got 'Diadora' to sponsor our kits and sporting material production, which I couldn't be happier with. All in all, it looks fantastic - the Medici Red Balls as a reminder of the House's patronage and input into this team as well as the city's standing and the colors that we hope will soon be in every supporter's heart in this city... and beyond! 

We managed to get a license to play in the Italian Promozione Toscana A, which is currently a division in the 6th tier of Italian Football.

A long, long way from the top and yet an absolutely spectacular start for my football adventures, as just 4 days ago I was contemplating existential bollocks over a cold cod and chips in bloody Nottingham. Our home matches will be played at the Bruno Buozzi stadium, with 1500 standing/seating capacity, for which we will pay a nominal 2000 euros per year renting fee.

Since we have an 'amateur' status, I was assigned the task of roaming around Florence's football academies and looking for U21 players willing to sign up to play for us on amateur contracts.... yes, that means no pay. After 2 weeks of intensive negotiations and running around the place, this is the squad I've managed to put together:

Pretty much all of them free agents, I was quite lucky to assemble a squad that, by the looks of it, seems pretty strong for the standards of our league. In fact, we're predicted to finish 1st by the media! Woah... I didn't expect this at all... 

The big question was now of course... the manager... I'm still not very well connected in this line of work to know suitable local candidates or even consider inquiries, so I left the task entirely up to the Prince. And holy cow, was I not looking for something to hold on to when he rang me up and offered me the position! ME?? I haven't got a clue, I don't even play Football Manager! Well, that's not what came out of my mouth though.... 'Si, certo, comincio domani' I replied so nonchalantly, I'm even scared to wonder why...

What the actual **** From tomorrow I will be the manager of a football club based in Florence that I helped co-found with a live member of the Medici's! I knocked myself out with a couple of bottles of red wine, just to let that sink in properly and, well... literally

here we are, my first day at the job, and I'm taking a moment to savor this beautiful sight of the club's overview screen Here's what my stats as a manager look like, having started with no qualifications or experience:

we are at the very bottom of everything - from facilities to staff(non-existent atm) and reputation, but all great stories start with a rise from the ashes, or more appropriately in this case - a true modern day Renaissance

Word got out pretty quickly, and there seems to be a real buzz around the city and, impressively... the whole country! I've got hundreds of e-mails inquiring about partnership and marketing opportunities as well as agents and all kinds of football enthusiasts. This is encouraging for our long term plans and I really hope I can repay Ottaviano's faith with some decent performances on the pitch. Well then... let the real deal begin and ....Forza Artium!

[LPQR]

reserved for honours

[LPQR]

part II updated

the first two posts are a sort of background/OP to the story. from now on there will be a mix of progress updates and storyline developments  

[Keano16]

Great detail! I love the kits and crest too, looking forward to seeing how you do.

[ManUtd1]

You wonderful, miserable bastard! Won't be long before I'm being sacked for failing to keep up with your side!  Papa Quintino approves. Pietro is glamorously skeptical.

Followed, in hopes that you'll divulge your secrets like a Bond villain so that I can stay one step ahead in Florence...

[Jimbokav1971]

I love your posting style so this is going to be great I'm sure. 

ps. Travel Man : 48 hours in Florence on CH4 tonight at 20:00. 

[LPQR]

11 hours ago, Keano16 said:

Great detail! I love the kits and crest too, looking forward to seeing how you do.

glad to hear  put a bit of effort into it but it does feel a lot more special this way

4 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

You wonderful, miserable bastard! Won't be long before I'm being sacked for failing to keep up with your side!  Papa Quintino approves. Pietro is glamorously skeptical.

Followed, in hopes that you'll divulge your secrets like a Bond villain so that I can stay one step ahead in Florence...

 it will take me at least a decade to even get close to Serie A, so you can breathe easy.... for now! as for secrets, I'll see what the Medicis say about it, but I'm happy to let the fan-base know what's going on at the club

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I love your posting style so this is going to be great I'm sure. 

ps. Travel Man : 48 hours in Florence on CH4 tonight at 20:00. 

cheers Jimbo! I've been there myself actually  stayed for a lovely 72 hours and fell in love with the place

[ManUtd1]

3 minutes ago, LPQR said:

 it will take me at least a decade to even get close to Serie A, so you can breathe easy.... for now! as for secrets, I'll see what the Medicis say about it, but I'm happy to let the fan-base know what's going on at the club

Just stay away from Appollonia...

[LATB]

Oh yes, looking forward to this. And regarding the team's artistic identity if I see any attacking players with the flair stat less than 15 I will be demanding answers 

[hasdgfas]

ah, wonderful! If this is anywhere close to as interesting as the Sparta thread(which I expect it will be by the intro), it'll be a complete delight. I'll definitely be following this.

[oneronaldo]

So basically the aim is to beat Fiorentina's purple-wearing-Barney-the-dinosaur arses into submission and restore Florence's football dignity?

[LPQR]

1 hour ago, LATB said:

Oh yes, looking forward to this. And regarding the team's artistic identity if I see any attacking players with the flair stat less than 15 I will be demanding answers 

 a team full of Da Vinci's? Not sure anyone would Moan a Lisa about that! I was actually planning to spend the next post going into more detail about the philosophy and its implications, so hold your breath!

1 hour ago, hasdgfas said:

ah, wonderful! If this is anywhere close to as interesting as the Sparta thread(which I expect it will be by the intro), it'll be a complete delight. I'll definitely be following this.

grazie, mister and good to have you on board  I'm not making any promises, but the idea is to run away from the shallow season-by-season updates which kind of kill the context and meaning of the club you're doing it with.

I don't know...  FM is not that hard, anyone can take a team in the last division and eventually work their way up, however long that would take. The way I see it, the only thing that's left in the end is the story and the beauty of the journey at the end, unless you really really like those cups and titles and how much of a manager they make you feel  The tactics, of course, will play a big part and I'll try to provide as much detail as I usually do. The Sparta journey taught me so many things it's quite unbelievable, given I play FM for so many years now and always thought I was 'alright' at it   I actually recommend a youth challenge for anyone willing to learn about tactics.... it forces you to think twice and work with what you have, which, in my opinion is kind of a fundamental skill of management   You will see how puzzle start fitting into place and eventually you will know and will actually able to visualize the most important thing - how you want to play! 

I went a bit over the top here, but there's my thinking behind it if anyone's curious)

1 hour ago, oneronaldo said:

So basically the aim is to beat Fiorentina's purple-wearing-Barney-the-dinosaur arses into submission and restore Florence's football dignity?

why do people like simplified descriptions of complex things, why? yes, more or less - it's about restoring both, the Medici's former influence and glamour in Florence, and the city's identity as a place of artistry... now expressed through football

[LPQR]

Part III: Creativity, Intelligence, Technique - A Club Strategy

As my Italian swear-word vocabulary is vastly improving, along with developing predilections to specific types of pasta, one could say I'm settling in quite nicely in Florence. Still, nothing beats my appetite for football at the minute. Since that infamous phone call at 4 in the morning after which I've learnt I'm now the manager, I'm taking things as seriously as one possibly can. I've even been given funding to get better at it:

So yesterday I called Ottaviano (yes, we're pretty much pals now) to discuss the broader strategy of the club and to propose my vision on the future of this fantastic new member of the Calcio scene. In the last meeting we've decided upon some generic principles:

1. play an attractive style of football, focusing on entertaining fans as much as possible
2.  focus on developing and ‘nurturing’ local talent and prioritize keeping them at the club over financial gains
3. to not play defensive football and to have the liberty to improvise in all club matters

Apart from point 2, everything else is still widely open to interpretation, so I've decided to propose an all-encompassing club strategy that would clarify the finer details. One of the beauties of running a football club is that there are hundreds of elements that contribute to what we see on the pitch, from infrastructure to fans, from coaches to youth recruitment. Having a clearly defined common goal is crucial in that sense if there is any hope of achieving anything in football. Whilst I'm no Cruyff to come in with some revolutionary idea of football and shape the club from top to bottom to achieve a specific style of football, I am similarly inclined to believe that there are a few areas of quality that influence how efficient a football team is both, collectively and individually. In my vision, the club will work to educate these values and qualities in footballers from the youth set-up all the way to the senior team:

Creativity 

Football can be perceived as chess or maths in a sense, however even there you have figures capable of more complex actions which can 'unlock' the game. To define this word in the football context is hard, however my interpretation of it is based on the players' individual ability to find solutions in complicated situations and the team's ability to manipulate the de-facto situation on the pitch to its' advantage. 

Intelligence 

Intimately related to Creativity, football intelligence is perhaps even more un-quantifiable than the latter. A player's understanding of the situations of play, his ability to make the right decision at the right moment, his ability to anticipate the opponent's move, all these are indications of a high element of cognition within the parameters that the football game sets out. So yes, a matter of the brain as well.

Technique

 Imagining what you can do without the means to do it...means you're just imagining it. In this context, the above two qualities are far less effective if the player/team can not perform them technically, so it's crucial if not natural that the third and last concept of our DNA relates to the feet more than the brain. 

All in all, and resonating with the 3-point philosophy we have set out initially, these are the attributes that training will focus on throughout all levels, wel... in FM terms:

• composure, vision, concentration, decisions, anticipation, teamwork
• technique, first touch, passing, stamina

The style of football I will be looking to play will evolve and develop according to the squad I will have at my disposal, however the focus will always be to exploit these qualities whether we play high tempo or low tempo, high block or low block, wing-based or exploit the middle... As for formations, I am inclined towards an asymmetric (khm khm) 3-4-3/3-4-1-2 as the skeleton of our shape, however I keep my options flexible in that sense. Almost fluid, actually...

And when it comes to 'not playing defensive football', what we've agree that means is that I will by no means look to play 'the catenaccio' or 'long-ball' or any kind of destructive forms of football. The fans want goals, beautiful pro-active football, team-play and that's what me and the Prince want too....

This vision is of course, closely related to the infrastructure of the club and we will be looking to invest as much as possible in training facilities and coaching staff, or otherwise it will be practically impossible to shape up these qualities in our players through training. 

Developing local talent is the other key element of the club strategy, and it fits well into the overall purpose of the approach, as having a home-grown squad helps team cohesion on and off the pitch, as well as... of course, the input in the nation's development as a larger football set-up. In that sense we will have a strict signing policy:

• The club is only allowed to sign Italian nationals aged 21 or under
• Any player of a nationality other than Italian (except dual citizenship) that is brought through by the club's youth system is ineligible to play for the club

This is the long term vision and the club strategy we have agreed on and while there are, of course a number of finer details of the ramifications it will have in day to day management (PPM training, Role training/re-training, tutoring, etc.) the direction is now clear and the club can move forward laying the foundations. 

The first few years will see us play in the amateur levels of Italian football, which will make it very hard to have a consistent squad with which I can start building blocks. The turnover of players will be massive, if I suspect correctly, so the short-term approach is to bring the club to a position of stability from where we can start building towards the above mentioned direction. This means one particular task, which will be accomplished by results and promotions to higher divisions: turn professional! (at all costs) 

If we can't keep or train players, everything else turns to ashes, so immediate results are needed with the bunch of kids I managed to gather around the city. In the next part we will be looking at the tactical aspects of our fresh experience in the Italian lower leagues

[LPQR]

I'm not sure this format is entirely suitable for this part of the forum, and I'm having my doubts to whether I'll keep posting updates here. In any case, I hope you guys enjoy it, and check out my blog channel  for future updates on this story

[LPQR]

Part IV: Back-to-back promotions and the low-risk 442

Yes, you read that right. From the last part of this series, which brushed off the final bits of the initial set-up we're now two years ahead in Florence. And what a couple of years these have been....To sum it up, those local boys playing for us with literally no pay whatsoever, have just lifted the club from the obscurity of amateur football all the way to Serie D. 

2016-2017

2017-2018

Oh yes, and there's this as well...

None of this would have been possible without the 'iconic' Mariani, who I'm still not sure how we've managed to keep at the club after this kind of record:

Truly great stuff and my time here hasn't been easy given the fact that it's almost impossible to field the same starting 11 for more than two matches in a row, as everyone is on an amateur contract and 2-3 good performances usually see the player snatched away by some bigger club....hence my complete amazement at Mariani still being with us. Nevermind the fact we don't have any coaches and we only train once a week So yes, absolutely delighted with this feat, which I believe was in no small part thanks to the tactical approach used for these two years. As I've mentioned before, the short-term club strategy is to get the club to a position of stability, at least until we can keep our players under professional contracts and have a basic coaching/training infrastructure. Anything else than that simply won't allow us to develop in the direction outlined in the club strategy, so the goal for these first few years had to be one thing only....results!

After analyzing the squad and singling out my forwards as the best players in the squad, I've decided settling on a 442 formation. The challenge of LLM will always be about creating a system which will produce simple but good football. What does that mean in FM terms and how do I argument that?

• This level presents players of insufficient quality for complex style of play, whether it's from a technical or tactical point of view
• Inability to shape the squad via training, recruitment and long-term development (in this case)
• High demand on the physical aspect of the game

When it comes to issues like the complexity of the style or the simplicity of it, I really believe it to be one of the hardest views to explain. Yet, let me try: I have two notions that help differentiate things.

• complexity - a strategy of play that demands highly intelligent decisions from players and relies on superior technical ability to execute their required duties.

• variety - a strategy of play that enables the team with a number of ways of attacking the opponent, creating space or un-settling the opposition. In other words, a system designed to focus on covering as many situations of play as possible by having players perform individually simple yet collectively varied tasks.

Formation&Roles

the system that I wanted to create would aim to rely on variety, as per the above definitions. I also don't want to over-stress the focus on the practically non-existent technical and tactical ability of the team so I won't take high risks or demand a high intensity style of football from my team . I aim to keep a good balance between, let's say passing and crossing, dribbling and movement off the ball. what does that mean? That means I want to have my players perform a number of different yet individually simple tasks and move in a way that disrupts the balance of the opposition. After shaping up PI's, this is the movement we achieve on the pitch:

the left midfielder cutting inside, the left CM dropping deep and the left FB pushing high up the pitch helps us create that very concept of variety that I was talking about. In the final phase of the attacking transition we have the following 'mechanism of play':

• width attacked and covered by two players (FB and W)
• the movements of the CM's plus the WM's disrupt the defensive shape of the opposition. they also create a passing triangle in midfield
• DLF drops deep to create space for the attacking AF and W
• the CM(D) covering for the attacking fullback+deep passing option
• 3 defensively disciplined players that stay back (CB, CB, FB)
• along with the CM(S), the inside running WM creates additional support for the attacking trio on the right (or FB on the left) as well as supplementary incisive movement in the box

Ideally I would have used the wing-back role on support for the left defender, but I really don't like how it behaves under the current ME, so the closest role I could get to replicate the movement I wanted was the FB(A), which means we now have two attacking duties on the left flank. One thing I don't like, however, is to think in such 'labelled' fashion. So basically, let's look at the issue of having two attacking players on the same side of the pitch, why would that be a problem? Well, the mentality of the player defines how aggressive they are and how much risk they will take in their decisions, meaning that if you have an area of the pitch which isn't covered by players willing to make less aggressive movement and behave more defensively responsible you risk exposing it to the opposition. So when considering the bigger picture, what are we talking about? space management. The ability of the team to cover space in a balanced way and complement each other's movements is key to a coherent set-up. Okay, then there's the more specific issue which relates to the role of the attacking/supporting player in the system. So, let's see the instructions for my WM(A)

So technically, I want this player to run in behind the attacking trio formed by the AF, DLF and W and I want him to either feed through balls to them or run into space himself. Now the WM is a very defensively responsible role by default, and even with an attack duty he will track back regularly to help out in defensive situations. So, overall, we have a player on (A) duty performing.... supporting options! Especially when the overall risk (or mentality) instructions for the team are set to low (or defensive). The attacking intent of the player is reduced even further by that. Speaking about risk, I did mention I wanted a set-up that doesn't rely too much on technical ability, quick decision-making or intelligent movement. A low risk mentality will benefit that intention in the following way:

• more time for players to assess the situation and make a decision, i.e. players deciding how they pass, if they make a run, if they initiate a counter-attack or recycle the ball, if the move into a channel or roam, etc. 

• reduced chance of being exposed by the opposition, i.e. not committing too many men forward and minimizing the situations we have to defend

The implications of playing on a defensive mentality can be very deceiving if only because of the name of the mentality. Taking low risk doesn't necessarily mean defensive football. In fact, we scored a lot of lovely goals along the way which had great build-up movement and inter-play. And well... we're the second highest scoring team in the league too

The league climbing is of course, a lot of fun, but we're making a massive step-up from amateur football to the professional realms of the game, and that is reflected in the 135-place gap between the league rankings:

 

So far so good and hopefully we manage to assemble a competitive squad that gives us a chance of progressing further. Unless there will be a drastic change in the positional distribution of quality I don't see us changing the system too much, so the toughest test of the outlined principles is yet to come

[LPQR]

probably more suited to the tactics forum, but hey, just turn a blind eye

 

[ManUtd1]

The story of your careers definitely revolves around tactics, so I'm not complaining!

Congrats on the promotion!  Florence is definitely a footballing hotbed, these days!

[Keano16]

Making it look easy! I enjoy the tactics side of your posts, makes them different. It certainly helps me to think about my own tactics. 

[Chantu9Y]

On 12/23/2016 at 22:28, LPQR said:

As you might have noticed from my previous work, I'm not usually too deep into story-telling

Trust me, I would not have guessed. This is fantastic! Great intro and the tactics are very detailed. Love this team already and congrats on the promotions!

[LPQR]

16 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

The story of your careers definitely revolves around tactics, so I'm not complaining!

Congrats on the promotion!  Florence is definitely a footballing hotbed, these days!

aye, I'll be taking it a bit easier this time round though, I think there was maybe a wee bit too much of it with Sparta. I'll do these kind of snap-shot articles which I'll bring here from my blog, so there probably won't be as much of a rigorous season-to-season update style as there was with Sparta. Whenever I'll feel there's something worth writing about, I'll just do it, and hopefully that won't make you guys lose track of what's going on

Cheers I'm thinking I should put a label on this kind of challenge by now: create a club with minimal infrastructure in the last playable league and do a either youth or home-grown challenge) might be too bold though

7 hours ago, Keano16 said:

Making it look easy! I enjoy the tactics side of your posts, makes them different. It certainly helps me to think about my own tactics. 

thanks mate, I'm glad you're into it! yeah, I think I've lost the appetite to imagine credible stories for every transfer or club development since the game makes it so easy for you compared to what would happen IRL. If I wouldn't focus on tactics as much I'd probably feel too disconnected to play. And yes, haha, I know it looks easy on paper, but this is honestly one of the beast feats I've ever achieved in FM. Back to back promotion with a squad full of constantly changing amateur players gives you literally no stability so I might indulge in feeling a bit proud there

5 hours ago, Chantu9Y said:

Trust me, I would not have guessed. This is fantastic! Great intro and the tactics are very detailed. Love this team already and congrats on the promotions!

Ah thank you, after years of writing music lyrics, football fiction requires a bit of re-profiling   Glad to have you on board!

[noikeee]

I might be a bit jealous of how good you are at tactics, here was I thinking nailing a 4-4-2 was difficult in this ME and you just effortlessly get back-to-back promotions with it! Looks really well balanced.

As for whether it's best fitting for this forum, I think it is. This seems part FM Stories, part tactics forum, part career updates, and this forum is the most generic of the 3. We'll follow it anyway.

[LPQR]

12 minutes ago, noikeee said:

I might be a bit jealous of how good you are at tactics, here was I thinking nailing a 4-4-2 was difficult in this ME and you just effortlessly get back-to-back promotions with it! Looks really well balanced.

As for whether it's best fitting for this forum, I think it is. This seems part FM Stories, part tactics forum, part career updates, and this forum is the most generic of the 3. We'll follow it anyway.

glad to have you around, sir  I noticed people do updates of a similar style in the 'good team and player' section as well, so that left me really confused about the validity of the categories in the first place) so yeah, keeping it home 

as for my tactics, I've taken a bit of a different approach since playing FM16, which can be laid out in the following paragraph I touch in my opening blog post:

Lastly, this intense experience has taught me one invaluable lesson: trust yourself! The thing about football is that it’s an immense world of concepts, definitions, interpretations, perceived rules, gurus and experts and yet, the game is infinitely more complex in itself. If you are going to achieve any success or enjoyment for that matter, the only thing you can do is focus on what you can understand and start building blocks of knowledge that will ultimately click into place whatever the situation you’ll be faced with. If you constantly take in opinions from left and right and have no foundation or method to translate that into your own system of thought, you will: a) never be sure of your decisions b) never build on your understanding of the game, and  c) always rely on other people’s advice. Now don’t get me wrong, the FM community is absolutely fantastic, and the level and manner of discussion is very enjoyable and educating, particularly on SI’s forum and a few other great blogs out there. Just make sure not to ‘monkey see monkey do’ and take in any information while adjusting it to the things you’re already sure of, see what you can see, and then build from there  

[LPQR]

just a quick spoiler  

[SirManager]

30 minutes ago, LPQR said:

just a quick spoiler  

I want more.

[LPQR]

3 hours ago, SirManager said:

I want more.

hoooold.... hoooold...

[SirManager]

2 hours ago, LPQR said:

hoooold.... hoooold...

I just get so excited. 

 

In all fairness though, marvellous job buddy. It's s great read. 

[LPQR]

1 hour ago, SirManager said:

I just get so excited. 

 

In all fairness though, marvellous job buddy. It's s great read. 

cheers  glad you enjoy it

[Dave.]

Ahh I love this idea! So well written, and clearly you've performed very well so far on the football field. The view from the top of Il Duomo, which I first experienced about seven years ago, provided me with one of the most glorious view I've ever seen. Hopefully next time I'm there, Artium Firenze will be the dominant force in Florentine football. Keep it going!

[ManUtd1]

15 hours ago, LPQR said:

just a quick spoiler  

You tease!!!

[noikeee]

Back-to-back-to-back promotions, seriously? Stop making us all look like **** managers by comparison. 

[LPQR]

2 hours ago, noikeee said:

Back-to-back-to-back promotions, seriously? Stop making us all look like **** managers by comparison. 

5 star managers?  

yeah, I'm pretty blown away myself tbh

[LPQR]

Part V: Promotion threesome in Florence

Back to back to back? Surely threesome sounds better...Not that I'd be very far from the more literal interpretations of that given my half-shaved beard and weird accent started attracting way more attention than I thought it would from the overwhelmed feminine set of supporters. And yet as inexperienced in those matters I believe myself to be, that's hardly the most exciting thing that's going on right now. We've done it!

Three years from starting as a no-name club with an already posh and pretentious breath of ambition and with the Medicis behind us, we've proven everyone wrong and shown that young talent and attention to detail can serve a deadly mix of efficiency and ruthlessness.

And to have achieve all that being dubbed as relegation candidate, as well as having not spent a single Euro on wages is surely a reason for personal pride and well...the president's ultimate delight. We're now valued at 420k as a club, so he's surely over the moon with that.

As pledged under the club's policy, all the players signed were of Italian nationality and under 21 years of age. We didn't manage to steal any particular stars, however our selection included a couple of interesting talents for this level:

Simone De Angelis

Rodrik Acquaviva

Lorenzo Pezzi

All three of them key players for us, and it's more than likely we won't be able to keep them at the club due to interest from higher leagues...

My twisting and turning of the 4-4-2 has led us to some unbelievable runs in the league, which ultimately ended with us finishing as the highest scoring team in the division, as well as the second best defensively...

The stars of the show have been our two strongest players, the two boys upfront, out of which our captain, Mariani - a club legend already, has been absolutely sensational:

 

79 goals in 96 league appearances is an incredible record for a player who is still on an amateur contract, much like the rest of the squad. Worryingly, we are unable to match his wage demands to renew the deal, and I fear we will lose him to what is already a queue of suitors in the Serie C. 

As I ponder potential anti-depressants in case that happens, this tiny message pops up in the inbox to cheer me up:

This is absolutely fantastic news...As outlined in the club strategy, the short term vision for the club was to bring it to a position of stability and be able to keep our players under contract so that we can have control over the players we build our squad on. In that sense, turning professional is a massive step forward and it came much much quicker than I expected, however we're still nowhere near any Serie C club in terms of our wage budget and we'll struggle getting our own players to sign any contracts. An understandable issue, given that the club's finances are simply struggling to keep up with our meteoric rise through the footballing standards. Surely a problem everyone would like to have?

Tactically speaking, our tried and trusted 4-4-2 has not changed much. What did win us a huge amount of matches, however, was paying close attention to what happens in match and using the d-line and mentality to either increase or decrease risk. We'd usually start with the following set-up:

And then, depending on the situation on the pitch we would adjust and sit deeper/playing it safer or pushing higher up with more freedom for risk. So far it has worked miracles for us and we are truly.... going places!

It seems that all of our profits are going into this, and I'm not particularly happy that it comes at the cost of us getting improved facilities or coaching budgets, however there's little say I have on the matter...

From now on only results, attendance and sponsorship will see our finances go up and that's what we'll focus on. Our squad will most likely be weakened due to the imminent departure of our young stars so I have to test my hand in the free U21 Italian market yet again... Given we have an absolutely minimal allowance on our wage budget, we're basically still operating as we did last season - looking for players who are willing to sign on amateur contracts. Staying up in the Serie C with that kind of set-up will be our toughest challenge yet, especially when the league features clubs like Parma, Siena, Padova, Ascoli... all giants compared to us, and that's reflected on the Media Prediction odds for this season:

So here we are, at this turning point for the club - moments to savour, to be proud of, and yet... everything we've done so far will be played on the craziest roulette we've ever bet on. I'm still yet to learn how to say this in Italian but...roll that bloody dice!

[BluesGuy]

Very great start so far- do you have a link to the league database you are using?

[ManUtd1]

Damn it. You're going to win the CL before me. 

*sighs and pouts dramatically*

Tremendous progress! Turning pro is huge. You *******.

[LPQR]

10 hours ago, BluesGuy said:

Very great start so far- do you have a link to the league database you are using?

thanks you can check it on FMScout, it's somewhere there

6 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

Damn it. You're going to win the CL before me. 

*sighs and pouts dramatically*

Tremendous progress! Turning pro is huge. You *******.

 can you feel me breathing down your neck? no? you should!

[noikeee]

I've never tried defensive mentality before. What surprises me is that, under defensive, you're not murdered by the AI putting you under sheer pressure all match, though I suppose you raise mentality when that happens. Probably "tighter marking" helps too, to not let them camp on your half too easily.

[ManUtd1]

5 hours ago, LPQR said:

 can you feel me breathing down your neck? no? you should!

I hear the footsteps... 

[LPQR]

1 hour ago, noikeee said:

I've never tried defensive mentality before. What surprises me is that, under defensive, you're not murdered by the AI putting you under sheer pressure all match, though I suppose you raise mentality when that happens. Probably "tighter marking" helps too, to not let them camp on your half too easily.

why would you be murdered? defensive mentality means 'lower risk', how the team handles/absorbs pressure is more down to how well your players cover space, which is a slightly different matter

 

[kidthekid]

1 hour ago, LPQR said:

why would you be murdered? defensive mentality means 'lower risk', how the team handles/absorbs pressure is more down to how well your players cover space, which is a slightly different matter

 

I haven't really tried defensive mentality since FM15 and I know that the match engine has improved, but on FM15 defensive mentality affected your defensive line and closing down instructions, so what happened was that the opponents had so much space and time. And defending being a bit suspect on FM 15, it didn't work for any people including me. I've seen posts by Cleon and Rashidi that showed how they were effective with that mentality, but personally it never worked for me.

I think the match engine fixed it in fm 16, but that experience just threw me off.

[LPQR]

24 minutes ago, kidthekid said:

I haven't really tried defensive mentality since FM15 and I know that the match engine has improved, but on FM15 defensive mentality affected your defensive line and closing down instructions, so what happened was that the opponents had so much space and time. And defending being a bit suspect on FM 15, it didn't work for any people including me. I've seen posts by Cleon and Rashidi that showed how they were effective with that mentality, but personally it never worked for me.

I think the match engine fixed it in fm 16, but that experience just threw me off.

guys, come on, before we start labeling things as 'flawed' because 'it didn't work for me' we need to look at all the things that happen in between those two assumptions. Of course, every mentality has overall implications throughout how your team will play, and therefore suitable demands on specific attributes. If you plan to play a conservative style of football that defends by absorbing pressure you need to consider things like:

- how does the team keep shape when defending/how does it cover space? Is it flexible enough to drift from left to right as a unit? Is it solid enough not to leave open spaces in the middle?

- are the players physically and tactically suited to 'suffering'? i.e. are they strong/fit enough not to be outmuscled when under pressure, do they have good stats for concentration and anticipation?

- how does your set-up of formation and roles relate to how you want to defend, transition, attack? If you play a 4-2-3-1 formation, it's very nature means that you won't be comfortable behind the ball and that the formation is suited to a different style of football. 

- how deep do I want to defend? What are the risks/implications? Do i have the suitable qualities in my team to counter those threats? For example, in the above system I've employed a higher defensive line because my midfielders are pretty good and we are able to do a good job in moving the ball around the park thanks to them, thus the chances of the opposition getting the ball and hitting us on the break are lower. The second way that my team counters that threat is by having reasonably quick defenders.

Then again, I make all these remarks but I forget that I'm probably one of the few people who hate exploit tactics that score 200 goals per season (it is possible, go to fm base, download them and enjoy yourself if that's what you want). My aim is to learn about football management as much as possible with this tool that is FM, and try to play to the full extent that the game allows me to. So yeah, why do I say all this? Because you need to be patient, even if you don't get the results you want, otherwise you won't learn a thing. I hope this doesn't sound to assertive, I'm just explaining my rationale with the wrath of reason)

[Ceching You Out]

In my opinion, you're not really playing that deep a line since your defenders aren't really playing on "Defensive". You've pushed up your line and increased closing down so they're roughly on "Counter" mentalities instead. That invites less pressure while ensuring a fairly risk-less attack, albeit one that you've given a nudge back towards risky with "Pass Into Space" and "Play Out of Defense".

You make a fair point that there's nothing unworkable about playing even a default "Defensive" mentality so long as it matches the rest of your tactic and players. Without any modifications, your team will sit deep and absorb pressure.
--When implemented correctly, that means you're near impossible to play through the middle so crosses get thrown into a packed box or they resort to long shots; that lends itself to a different type of defender than a high line.
--Your formation becomes very important to covering space because gaps aren't covered as aggressively by proximal players closing down. Hence some formations are very difficult to make work like the mentioned 4-2-3-1 or any other than cedes gaps between lines.
--Playing slow and methodically, you'll need an edge to your attack. Someone has to take a risk otherwise it's all too easy to turn impotent. Could be a playmaker, nudging the whole side riskier with "Pass Into Space", an exceptional winger dribbling past his man, speed demon to pounce on long clearances, etc.

I know at times I'm still guilty of switching mentalities without keeping formation and roles in mind. Changing a pressing 4-2-3-1 from Control to Counter can leave a lot to be desired compared to a tactic designed for that mentality.

[kidthekid]

1 hour ago, LPQR said:

guys, come on, before we start labeling things as 'flawed' because 'it didn't work for me' we need to look at all the things that happen in between those two assumptions. Of course, every mentality has overall implications throughout how your team will play, and therefore suitable demands on specific attributes. If you plan to play a conservative style of football that defends by absorbing pressure you need to consider things like:

- how does the team keep shape when defending/how does it cover space? Is it flexible enough to drift from left to right as a unit? Is it solid enough not to leave open spaces in the middle?

- are the players physically and tactically suited to 'suffering'? i.e. are they strong/fit enough not to be outmuscled when under pressure, do they have good stats for concentration and anticipation?

- how does your set-up of formation and roles relate to how you want to defend, transition, attack? If you play a 4-2-3-1 formation, it's very nature means that you won't be comfortable behind the ball and that the formation is suited to a different style of football. 

- how deep do I want to defend? What are the risks/implications? Do i have the suitable qualities in my team to counter those threats? For example, in the above system I've employed a higher defensive line because my midfielders are pretty good and we are able to do a good job in moving the ball around the park thanks to them, thus the chances of the opposition getting the ball and hitting us on the break are lower. The second way that my team counters that threat is by having reasonably quick defenders.

Then again, I make all these remarks but I forget that I'm probably one of the few people who hate exploit tactics that score 200 goals per season (it is possible, go to fm base, download them and enjoy yourself if that's what you want). My aim is to learn about football management as much as possible with this tool that is FM, and try to play to the full extent that the game allows me to. So yeah, why do I say all this? Because you need to be patient, even if you don't get the results you want, otherwise you won't learn a thing. I hope this doesn't sound to assertive, I'm just explaining my rationale with the wrath of reason)

I wasn't saying the match engine was flawed, my choice of words was probably wrong. I was insinuating that on FM 15, I felt that the defensive mentality was difficult for me because my defenders were going to boot the ball up even if I ticked "play out of defense" and "retain possession". And the highest defensive line you could go was equivalent to the default defensive line on a standard mentality.

What I wanted to achieve was a possession based style based on slowly building the ball from the back and aimlessly passing around if there was no opening. In theory, a defensive mentality should be what I was looking for, but my experience (again on FM15) was that standard and control mentality worked better for me. It seemed that defenders were more willing to play shorter passes on a higher mentality.  On higher mentalities defenders play short passes and attacking players play direct passes, now with retain possession ticked, those attacking players played shorter passes instead and by adding lower tempo, play narrower, and higher line, you were able to have a very compact team. 

I was able to achieve the style similar to Brendan Rodgers' Swansea. I read Cleon's posts on defensive arts and while I learnt a lot from the thread, I still arrived at my earlier finding, so I developed a distrust of low mentalities. The reason I mention this, is to explain why I am intrigued when people achieve this kind of football and success on defensive mentalities because I read threads like this to gain more insight.

 

[LPQR]

42 minutes ago, kidthekid said:

I wasn't saying the match engine was flawed, my choice of words was probably wrong. I was insinuating that on FM 15, I felt that the defensive mentality was difficult for me because my defenders were going to boot the ball up even if I ticked "play out of defense" and "retain possession". And the highest defensive line you could go was equivalent to the default defensive line on a standard mentality.

What I wanted to achieve was a possession based style based on slowly building the ball from the back and aimlessly passing around if there was no opening. In theory, a defensive mentality should be what I was looking for, but my experience (again on FM15) was that standard and control mentality worked better for me. It seemed that defenders were more willing to play shorter passes on a higher mentality.  On higher mentalities defenders play short passes and attacking players play direct passes, now with retain possession ticked, those attacking players played shorter passes instead and by adding lower tempo, play narrower, and higher line, you were able to have a very compact team. 

I was able to achieve the style similar to Brendan Rodgers' Swansea. I read Cleon's posts on defensive arts and while I learnt a lot from the thread, I still arrived at my earlier finding, so I developed a distrust of low mentalities. The reason I mention this, is to explain why I am intrigued when people achieve this kind of football and success on defensive mentalities because I read threads like this to gain more insight.

 

 good that you clarified

[noikeee]

21 hours ago, LPQR said:

why would you be murdered? defensive mentality means 'lower risk', how the team handles/absorbs pressure is more down to how well your players cover space, which is a slightly different matter

 

I guess I probably didn't have the correct setup whenever I tried lower mentalities. My (theoretical) issues with it are:

a) defensive naturally concedes too much space down the wings due to making your shape very narrow without the ball

b) by conceding space down the wings, if the ball reaches an unmarked player on the wing it can pull apart your shape and open up unintended spaces. Alternatively, it might allow the opposition to cross the ball too often. I don't have a good experience when this happens, particularly at lower level. Perhaps I didn't have the right kind of defenders, but letting the crosses come and trust in my defence's aerial ability has proved an unreliable strategy for me in the past. Sometimes being good in the air is completely worthless if you leave a short player unmarked for a cross.

c) sometimes in the narrow positioning, conservative closing down, of defensive mentalities, the opposition will simply figure out a way to pass into your area, or close to your area, too easily. Your defenders will also tend to keep shape well, but it only takes a single player committing a marking mistake and it could all crumble.

d) maybe the fact you have 2 strikers is the solution to this, but when I tried bottom-heavy formations with low mentalities, I really struggled moving up the ball into higher zones of the pitch. My defenders would clear the ball.... and the opposition picks it up, and we're immediately under pressure again, repeat all match. When this pattern happens and the opposition has the ball all match, you either succeed at getting a 0-0 or they eventually find a break and they score.

 

Then again I've not played often in this mentality, only occasionally on counter, so have little experience with it, and the little I have might possibly have been conditioned by unbalanced setups. There's far too many interconnected things in this game to claim that a mentality is "good" or "bad", it's far more complex than that.

[LPQR]

On 1/13/2017 at 13:23, noikeee said:

I guess I probably didn't have the correct setup whenever I tried lower mentalities. My (theoretical) issues with it are:

a) defensive naturally concedes too much space down the wings due to making your shape very narrow without the ball

b) by conceding space down the wings, if the ball reaches an unmarked player on the wing it can pull apart your shape and open up unintended spaces. Alternatively, it might allow the opposition to cross the ball too often. I don't have a good experience when this happens, particularly at lower level. Perhaps I didn't have the right kind of defenders, but letting the crosses come and trust in my defence's aerial ability has proved an unreliable strategy for me in the past. Sometimes being good in the air is completely worthless if you leave a short player unmarked for a cross.

c) sometimes in the narrow positioning, conservative closing down, of defensive mentalities, the opposition will simply figure out a way to pass into your area, or close to your area, too easily. Your defenders will also tend to keep shape well, but it only takes a single player committing a marking mistake and it could all crumble.

d) maybe the fact you have 2 strikers is the solution to this, but when I tried bottom-heavy formations with low mentalities, I really struggled moving up the ball into higher zones of the pitch. My defenders would clear the ball.... and the opposition picks it up, and we're immediately under pressure again, repeat all match. When this pattern happens and the opposition has the ball all match, you either succeed at getting a 0-0 or they eventually find a break and they score.

 

Then again I've not played often in this mentality, only occasionally on counter, so have little experience with it, and the little I have might possibly have been conditioned by unbalanced setups. There's far too many interconnected things in this game to claim that a mentality is "good" or "bad", it's far more complex than that.

It seems like your assessment seems to be based on point a), which is not necessarily true. Yes, defensive mentality means you are less likely to see players go 'adventurous' about their movement. How wide your team is when defending relates to issues like team shape, TI's, PI's and player roles. Relating to point c), I've mentioned this above, but playing on defensive mentality means you willingly set-up your squad to absorb pressure, and the players you have need to have the right qualities for that (strength, workrate, tactical intelligence). Players making mistakes and others covering for them are also a consequence of a balanced set-up with players complementing each other's duties. 

Relating to point d), how you move the ball up the pitch is conditioned by a far larger number of issues than just mentality. And yes, you're right, this is probably the perfect example of inter-connectivity - think about it this way: if you want to move the ball up the pitch quickly, you need to already have players in advanced positions so that you don't rely on players making runs into potentially unavailable space. If you want to do that via quick short passes, tempo, shape and player roles will need to be adjusted accordingly. And yes, that's not even part of the puzzle, there are many other principles you need to pay attention to: attack/support duties, balance of runners/passers depending on the focus of your style, space coverage in different phases of play, role interaction, etc. 

[LPQR]

On 1/12/2017 at 18:54, Ceching You Out said:

In my opinion, you're not really playing that deep a line since your defenders aren't really playing on "Defensive". You've pushed up your line and increased closing down so they're roughly on "Counter" mentalities instead. That invites less pressure while ensuring a fairly risk-less attack, albeit one that you've given a nudge back towards risky with "Pass Into Space" and "Play Out of Defense".

You make a fair point that there's nothing unworkable about playing even a default "Defensive" mentality so long as it matches the rest of your tactic and players. Without any modifications, your team will sit deep and absorb pressure.
--When implemented correctly, that means you're near impossible to play through the middle so crosses get thrown into a packed box or they resort to long shots; that lends itself to a different type of defender than a high line.
--Your formation becomes very important to covering space because gaps aren't covered as aggressively by proximal players closing down. Hence some formations are very difficult to make work like the mentioned 4-2-3-1 or any other than cedes gaps between lines.
--Playing slow and methodically, you'll need an edge to your attack. Someone has to take a risk otherwise it's all too easy to turn impotent. Could be a playmaker, nudging the whole side riskier with "Pass Into Space", an exceptional winger dribbling past his man, speed demon to pounce on long clearances, etc.

I know at times I'm still guilty of switching mentalities without keeping formation and roles in mind. Changing a pressing 4-2-3-1 from Control to Counter can leave a lot to be desired compared to a tactic designed for that mentality.

spot on about the points you make there! about the defensive/counter issue, however... I think this is the point where we have to step back from what it means in game and what it means IRL. It throws us back to that thread I made about tactical adaptability vs. variety, but 'you're playing counter' relates to the widely understood definition of counter-attacking football  Now 'counter mentality' in FM is something different, and it's important to understand that the mentality alone does not make you play counter-attacking football (again, as it is widely interpreted by the public, i.e. hit on the break, sit deep, back to front in quick succession and so on). Mentality relates to the risk you are willing to take as a team and the speed of the decisions that players will make. You can play possession football with defensive mentality, attacking football with counter mentality, defensive football with standard mentality and so on

[Ceching You Out]

You're completely right on mentalities not inherently matching the way the descriptors are commonly used. "Counter" is probably the best example, but it also applies to the rest. The terminology can be misleading especially when it plays into people's biases.

Mentalities are best thought of as a starting point (for risk, as you mention). You can ratchet it up, down, sideways, and around with TI, PI, roles, team shape, and formation. At times that does make it difficult to make tactical decisions when starting with a blank slate; there's no neat flowchart logic to tell you how to play.

[LPQR]

perhaps a bit way off the narrative of the story here, but do check out the intro to my fantasista experiment - https://fmasymmetric.wordpress.com/2017/01/19/the-fantasista-intelligence-creativity-technique-part-one/#more-1741

A role that I really really hope to integrate into this save if I get the right kind of player on my hands in the future  

[ManUtd1]

Great description of role. I'm wary of defining positions according to the skill/tendencies of a single player - ramdueter being a great example of that. This is a broader concept that I'm curious to see play out. I'd think that much of this, in game, would be a function of a player's individual attributes and PPMs. Wouldn't you want to keep it simple - attacking midfielder, and let the player run with it? Too many TIs/PIs would muck it up.