ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share Posted June 22, 2018 October 2019 Update — Sao Paulo We packed an astonishing eleven (11!) games into October. And what a month. We knocked off all our title rivals, opening up a sizeable gap at the top of the league. Schedule Our loss away to Avai — who currently sit in the relegation zone — was the month’s greatest disappointment. Another late, late goal (95th minute) sunk us. It’s a worrying problem. Still: We won our most critical games and lost only four point all month. The game against Santos was the most exhilarating and, perhaps, the most important. Brazilian managers are brilliant and baffling in equal measure. There’s a ton of schematic diversity, as appose to the top European league. And the managers seem to switch up from five-at-the-back to an inverted pyramid in the span of 25-minutes. It’s barmy and wild and I love it. Here’s how Santos played the first half: They kept things tight, and we went into the break at 1–1. Jair Ventura — the Santos manager — then went all out. He played a funky looking shape: two centre back; two wing backs; two central midfielders; three attacking midfielders; a forward. I don’t think I’ve faced that formation in FM before. We maintained our shape, and began to pepper the Santos goal. We outflanked them. And we were able to maintain decent numbers in the middle of the pitch, with Santos’ guys getting in each other’s way, rather than gaining the sufficient superiority of numbers. Despite going down to ten-men with ten-minutes to go, we were able to take the win, with a goal that served as a microcosm for the match: League Table A pretty sight. Also, a surprising one. I didn’t expect to put the kind of run together we have. We’ve found a settled side, utilized lots of rest, and opened up a good gap with eleven games to go. Squad List Notes: Eleven games in a month was a ton. We have eight more coming up in November. It will decide our season. Our wingers have really come on. Jonathan Copete started my time in Sao Paulo poorly, but he’s brilliant as of late. Everton has done an excellent job filling in for Soudani whenever he’s been away on international duty. Diego Suarez has gone to another level — averaging 7.54 in the last five games. Jean saved two penalties in the last month. We're into the semi-finals of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's equivalent of the Europa League. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 great season so far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share Posted June 22, 2018 November 2018 Update — Sao Paulo What had the potential to be a disastrous month was salvaged at the end. Schedule We started off well enough: A comfortable league win, followed by a draw in the away leg of the Copa Sudamericana (South America’s Europa League equivalent) semi final. And we tacked on another league win for good measure. Then. Oh, then. Utter awfulness. Three defeats in four games. We did nothing against Botafogo; were dominated by Gremio; squeaked by Ceara; were hammered by Cruzeiro. The pace of the league is brutal. It’s game on top of game. All you can do is rest your players; no training. It’s the same for everyone, sure. But the continental run adds in extra games where a break would be nice. Cruzeiro’s 3–1 win as devastating. We took an early lead through Diego Souza’s penalty. We looked comfortable and in control. Until we didn’t. We gave the ball away. Then we gave it away some more. And then again some more. Squad rotation hasn’t helped. We are fairly comfortable with and without the ball when we have our main XI. Without them, we lose our sharpness and something doesn’t quite click. Thankfully, we capped the month with three wins — putting us in position to wrap up the title — and a spot in the Copa Sudamericana final, thanks to a 3–1 win against San Lorenzo. League Table A tasty five-point lead with three games to go. Each game winnable: The run-in looks good on paper. Yet we’ve struggled to sweep away inferior sides, for the most part. They pack the midfield and make things tricky. We squeezed past Mineiro and Vitoria with late goals in November. Flamengo and Bahia away will be tough. Hopefully we have things wrapped up before that final game. Clouding all of that, is the Sudamericana Final: Two legs, with little rest between the games. Taking the double will be tough. Squad List Notes: Jean continues to be a match-winner between the sticks: Point blank saves; penalty saves; he does it all. The board has given us our budget for next season: It’s decent, not brilliant. There’s enough money — along with scheduled outgoings — to re-work the squad the way I want. I will go into more detail on the kind of players we need to overhaul our tactical system in the offseason. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 23, 2018 Author Share Posted June 23, 2018 December 2018 Update — Sao Paulo And so it came down to the final game of the season, as we offered up an all-time choke job to the Football Gods. Three games to go; one win needed to clinch the title. We kicked of our month away at Flamengo. Things were going oh so well, until they weren’t: Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable. We carried a 2–0 lead into the 90th minute, before letting our first shot at clinching the title slip through our fingers. It was the same pattern as our other late game blunders. Some it is personnel; some tactical. With ten-mins to go, I should withdraw the fullbacks and switch to a double pivote. That’s the plan moving forward. But we didn’t have that against Flamengo. And we conceded the same goal we concede time and time again. The opposition gathered the ball in the middle of the field. Initially, it looks like we’re in a solid defensive position. We have plenty of bodies in front of the ball, a compact shape: Our fullbacks pushed up. That left the centre backs isolated 1-on-1: This happens consistently, be it a pair of striker, or, as with Flamengo, a winger and a striker. The ball was pumped into a channel. Our centre backs haven’t been great at reading and reacting; our fullbacks lack the recovery speed to swivel and burst. And yet, as the winger drifts down our left hand side, we have the numbers to make a play. This is one of the things I have about this match engine. Why does that frontside centre back not get a call from the backside one? Shouldn’t he look to cut across the strikers face? Yes. Then there’s the five defenders/midfielders chasing backwards like headless chicken, all to the same spot. Disappointment against Flamengo was compounded by disaster in our next game, at home to relegation-bound Parana. I knew this match would be tough. Parana played an extremely defensive shape. We’ve had more trouble against sides who sit in and hold a solid shape than we have against bigger sides who are willing to come out and play. Our guys seemed shaky and nervous. The first goal served as a microcosm our of play this final month: Trying to play football, but stumbling and bumbling, getting in our own way. In truth it was a 50–50 game, which in itself is shambolic for a side in pursuit of the title at home. They took their chances; we didn’t. What a mess. I’ve struggled to get through to this team most of the season. My usual authoritarian methods — aggression at losing, guard against complacency — haven’t worked. The only way to get through to this group has been to tell them to relax, pom-pom wave when we’re up, and tell the side they’ve been unlucky when we’ve laboured. One game to go. Away to Bahia — fourth in the league. We still needed a win. Things started brilliantly. Bang. Bang. Bang. 14 minutes; three-nil. Vinicius Araujo, who has been poor down the stretch, was unplayable. He bagged two, and setup the other. We were cruising, until we weren’t. Bahia created chance after chance, pulling back two goals before the break. 39 minutes; three-two. I could feel the game slipping. Our players looked like they’d lost their heads, the final month turning into a nightmare. And it got worse. Madison ,our young right back, seemed to lose his mind, hacking down Bahia’s left winger in the midst of an innocuous dribble. A clear straight red. We had to play 50 minutes down to ten-men. Another Bahia goal, without a response would likely cost us the title — Cruzeiro set to play their final game 48 hours after our final whistle. I switched thing up, finally moving to a double pivote system in a bid to kill the game. Chances came, but we withstood them. Game over. Mountain climbed. Title captured. Brazil conquered. The team’s first national championship in a decade. It was a struggle down the stretch. Man, was it a struggle. But I came through on my foolhardy promise to the board. We upset the pre-season. It’s just Sao Paulo’s sixth national title — a nice boost to our personal reputation. The board and fans are equally delighted: The final standings: Title clinched by five-points. It’s worth remembering we were in 7th, six points back, when we took-over. It was a tough old road. I could never get the team to play how I wanted. But in the end, we pulled it off — the promise of the league title proved worth it. *** Things didn’t end there. We still have a continental competition sprinkled in along the way. A chance for a championship double. It wasn’t to be; it was a game too far. The first leg of the final followed the same pattern as other games: We fell behind 2–0 against an Atletico Paranaense side that constantly changed its shape in-game: Lined up at times in a 3–4–1–1. They were free-flowing and attack minded. We caught them on the break twice in the second half, enough to give us a chance in the second leg on the road. It was a tight contest. We kept the ball well. They created more: The double wasn’t meant to be. I feel like we got everything we could out of this squad. The number of games was brutal. It’s not enough to just have depth, you need quality depth. We were a game from the double, but it wasn’t really convincing. Next year we will be in the Copa Libertadores — South America’s equivalent of the Champions League. Things will only get tougher. *** Schedule One win in our final month. We really tried to chuck this thing away. Squad List The “last five games” shows our issues — almost entirely defensive. The centre back pairing weren’t good enough, and the fullbacks need replacing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 23, 2018 Author Share Posted June 23, 2018 End of season review — Sao Paulo 2018 Our first few months in Brazil have been an action-packed, exhilarating ride, like a get-revenge-for-killing-my-dog action thriller. I pitched a title win to the board during the job interview because I never thought I’d get the job. Then I did. Brazilian boards aren’t exactly forgiving. Capturing the title in my first season is brilliant. Top-Five Players: 5) Araruna A fantastic role player — happy to pitch in as the organising midfielder, or in a more advanced role. His stats aren’t great. His attributes aren’t great. His performances were invaluable. 4) Jean We turned down offers of £2.5 million for Jean, with all kind of sweet add-ons, before we even had our feet under the desk. It paid off. Jean struggled in the final month of the season, but he was brilliant the rest of the way. There’s no way we win the title without him. I’d guesstimate he earned us 9 points alone. At 23, he should only get better. I’m hoping to keep him around for next season. 3) Hilal Soudani Soudani scored some big-time goals in big-time games. He’s slated as the best player in our squad. And he delivered despite being played slightly out of position — though the role of “poacher” isn’t all that dissimilar to how we use inside forwards. He was prolific, but he was important. 2) Diego Souza A true star. He set the tempo for our side. He kept the ball moving and had flashes of brilliance, pulling out passes that others could only dream of. At 33, he’s coming towards the end. But I think we can squeeze an extra year out of him — shifting to the Pep System should unlock even more from him in the Iniesta role. Jonathan Copete From disappointment to superstar. Copete struggled in the early days of me taking the job. Then he transformed into an out-and-out menace. He’s another star who’s the wrong side of thirty. I wouldn’t be opposed to cashing-in on his fantastic season if we get a good offer. Award Season: Player of the Year Best Player Best Foreign Player Copa Sudamericana Best Player Brazilian First Team of the Year ONLY ONE PLAYER FROM THE TITLE WINNING SIDE?!?!?! Club End of Season Awards End of year dynamics This is interesting because it’s time for a squad revamp. We have a lot of senior players. Things need to get younger, fresher, and, frankly, more technical (odd for Brazilian football, I know). Board Update Everything is TBC, but it looks like we’ll be getting a new stadium, which is cool. Our current stadium is a 77,000 seater, but it’s rarely full. And it was built in the 1960’s. So I imagine we will get a smaller state-of-the-art modern stadia. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 23, 2018 Author Share Posted June 23, 2018 Ooo that Parma job is open again. A return to Europe so quick? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 23, 2018 Author Share Posted June 23, 2018 Offseason Plans Our offseason plans are two-fold: Inject more youth into the squad Shape the side so that we can play the ultimate Pep Style, as we did with Barcelona “B”. If you want more info on the system, go back to the first page. I have a wealth of targets in mind, £5 million to play with, a number of contracts, and therefore wages, coming off the books, and senior players, with value, I’m willing to move on. The key positions we’re looking to upgrade: Centrebacks; Wing Backs; Halfback. I’ve filtered player searches in each position in a bid to find some gems. We’re looking for technical players who’re comfortable on the ball, guys who make good decisions, and those with a solid work rate. Positional designations don’t matter to me. If someone has the tools to play as our ballplaying defender, but is listed as a right winger, that’s fine by me: we will get them, and re-train them. Centre Back: first touch; heading; marking; passing; tackling; technique; anticipation; concentration; decisions; positioning; vision. Halfback: first touch; marking; passing; tackling; technique; anticipation; decisions; positioning; work rate. Wing Backs: crossing; dribbling; passing; tackling; technique; concentration; flair; off ball; positioning; work rate. Equally as important as those skillsets are the player traits. We will scout to look for the guys who fit best, or simply try to train the most valuable ones as quickly as possible. I’ll also look to blood in as much talent from the Academy as possible. As you’d expect here in Brazil, the youth teams are loaded with talent. Reserve Side: Under-20's: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted June 23, 2018 Share Posted June 23, 2018 congrats on the title. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 23, 2018 Author Share Posted June 23, 2018 6 minutes ago, kidthekid said: congrats on the title. Thanks, man. I thought we were going to bottle it at the end. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted June 23, 2018 Share Posted June 23, 2018 Great work winning the title, loving the in-depth updates. I wish I had the patience to be so in-depth with mine too Parma job would be great but surely a continental title would be the pinnacle after going so close last season. Good Luck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 24, 2018 Author Share Posted June 24, 2018 13 hours ago, ToMexico!! said: Great work winning the title, loving the in-depth updates. I wish I had the patience to be so in-depth with mine too Parma job would be great but surely a continental title would be the pinnacle after going so close last season. Good Luck. Thanks, Mexico! That's how I enjoy playing -- building a narrative -- and, thankfully, I have the time. The Parma job is an intriguing one, but I'm staying in South America right now to build my reputation. My next move is likely to be to Russia, unless there's a job that's too good to turn down elsewhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 Pre-Season 2019 Update — Sao Paulo A new season is upon us! Last year was a great success. This year, we’re looking to improve our playing model, to go back-to-back with league titles, and to conquer South America’s top continental competition. The pre-season has been kind to us. I loaded up the schedule with a bunch of fixtures — it seems like pre-season is short in Brazil, probably due to the frantic pace of the actual season. We signed a ton of new players, and transformed our playing style; getting as many reps as possible was essential. Getting used to playing with the ball at our feet, we mauled vastly inferior teams. Schedule But that’s not why you’re here. You’re here to sign our incomings and outgoings. Let’s get to it. Transfers A ton of business. Let’s start with the outs. Some quick notes: Christian Cueva — Aquality winger, but we had better options at cheaper value. Cashing in was worth it. Reinaldo — A disappointment last year. We had to get much better at the fullback/wingback spots. I was happy to let him move on. Hilal Soudani — A money/age move. We had to cash in while we could. And I felt we’d added enough, younger, firepower to let him go. We resisted good bids from Santos before letting him move to Holland. I didn’t want to sell him within the league. Non-Deals — I looked at moving on star midfielder Diego Souza and our right back Madson, but we didn’t get decent enough offers to make it worthwhile. The ins! Banguele Not a new signing, but a new member of the first time. Banguele comes up from the reserve team. He’s a perfect fit as a ballplaying central defender. I’m super excited to see him develop. As of yet, he’s not played as a central defender, but that only adds to his versatility as he learns his new position. The stats are all there, and I’m starting him on his first player trait — to play a simple passing game. Deijair An exciting young talent who is a natural sweeper keeper. He’s a backup, but could serve as a longterm replacement if a big European side comes in with a can’t-possibly-reject bid for Jean. Rodrygo A bigee! One of the top talents in all of football. And we were able to steal him from rivals Santos for a shockingly low £1.7 million fee. He’s not the finished product, and he likely wont be here for long, but he has as much potential as any player in the division, if not the nation. Hanging out on that left wing, he’s going to get plenty of 1-on-1 opportunities against isolated fullbacks. He should feast. Lincoln Another huge signing. Another signing that boosts our team and hits one of our direct rivals. Lincoln has the perfect attributes to play the Iniesta role in our system — a central attacking midfielder, with a free role. He’s also well on the way to having the player traits required to accurately reflect the position. Currently, Lincoln’s traits are: Tries killer balls; dictates tempo. Now, I’ve got him working on One-Twos. He’s only two traits away from the main man himself (I went to sign Iniesta, but his wages are laugh-out-loud absurd). He’ll be moving from a wide role to a central one, and so it will take him some time to adapt. But once he learns the position, I think he’ll be a monster in the system. Marcal An exciting left wingback. We had to improve that position, and we have. He’s a natural in the role, is in his prime, and has all the attributes we could want. Fransergio Introducing our new Sergio Busquets; it’s our halfback. Fransergio is an intruiging talent. He has the attributes; not the traits. He will be in a battle with Eder Militao to see who picks up starting spot — they will likely rotate. Mattheus Oliveira Oliveira is a versatile player who can slide, pretty much, into any spot we want. He can play the Xavi or Iniesta roles, can slide into the halfback one, or move further forward as an inside forward. He gives us much-needed depth and skill. Ricardo Ferreira A centre back we will be re-training as a halfback. He will offer good cover at a vital role. Moses Simon Ohhh, boy! An exciting one. Moses is an electric talent. Smarts, decent technicals, versatility, and bags of athleticism. I love him in the inside forward role on the right. He’s exactly what I’m looking for, sans the finishing. We need him to hug the touchline, and like Rodrygo, can isolate fullbacks 1-on-1. Sebastian Perez A late on in the pre-season schedule. We needed another central defender. Right now, we’re re-training plenty of players in the role. Until they’re ready, we needed someone who could step in right away. Perez is that guy. The loan deal is costly, but he has exceptional technicals for a central defender. He’s not a natural centre back, but he’s further along in his development than the other guys. Other quick squad notes: Everyone is learning some kind of player trait that I deem essential for their position within this system. If you’re interested in anyone, let me know and I’ll post an image. I wanted to add a new right back, but I ran out of money thanks to the Lincoln deal. On the whole, I think that's still a net positive. We have a three-way battle for the false 9 spot. Gonzalo Carneiro is a natural in the spot, but he’s still pissed that he didn’t get many starts last season. Vinicius Araujo is still here, but he’s no natural F9. And there’s Brenner, an incredibly talented young player. He’s the longterm F9, for sure. But he might not be quite ready to start the season: It will be a fun battle to watch. Pre-Season Predictions We’re projected to come 6th. That puts us in the second-tier behind the top-four: Flamengo; Gremio; Curzeiro; Corinthians. Our goal, of course, is to retain the national title. Fortunately, that prediction should help us as we implement the new style — we shouldn’t be on the hot-seat right away as the guys learn the difficult system (I hope!). Before the national title, we have the Sao Paulo state title to compete in: A 12-game league sprint, followed by a knockout tournament. The board expects us to reach the final. A quick aside: I've been touted for numerous jobs in Europe, much bigger ones that I anticipated. But it took so long to identify and land the right players for this system, that I just want to see it in action -- at least through the 12 game State Championship run. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 26, 2018 Author Share Posted June 26, 2018 March 2019 Update — Sao Paulo An excellent first month of the new campaign, with only one hiccup. Schedule We’ve blitzed all the weak teams in the State Championship. It’s an interesting tournament, which we can basically treat as extra pre-season fixtures until we have the top sides. Our formation is gelling nicely with our players. We’ve hammered fools early on, scoring more goals than any side in the Sao Paulo state thus far. Plus, we’ve yet to concede a goal outside of the Santos debacle. And what a debacle. And what a worry. Santos are a top side. Their counter attacks cut through us easily as we gave the ball away over and over again. I’m going to put that down to us still learning the system, if only to keep my own sanity. Some of the football has been glorious. We are dom-in-ating the ball. I’m talking 65–70% possession without even blinking. And it’s not aimless passing just to keep the ball; we’re creating a ton of chances. Red Bull Brasil beat us last year, before I arrived. We wiped them away with 72% possession and eight chances combined. The only concern, obviously, is the long shots. I have everyone with “don’t take long shots” and the team instructions also telling the team not to take long shots. But that’s FM. Guys get frustrated, and with the False 9 dropping deep, guys ping shots from all angles. The San Lorenzo game was a good example of how we look against better sides. We played them last year in the Copa Sudamericana semi-final; they’re a good team. We still had total commanded of the ball, without conceding a single chance — while we had four, three clearcut. I’m pretty sure a reel of free-flowing ball movement and quality defensive positioning constitutes pornography for Johan Cruyff. The heart of the team has been that central diamond: the pivote, two playmakers, and the False 9. It’s working perfectly so far. This snapshot perfectly illustrates what we’re looking for: Wingers spreading wide, sitting 1-on-1 with the fullbacks; the central diamond; extra width from the wingbacks; space for the playmakers to operate; the halfback in a good position to recycle the ball or snuff out a quick counter: League Table The games have come thick-and-fast. We’ve through five already in the state championship, and have our first Copa Libertadores victory. Squad List Notes: Our midfield three already have the green triangle. They fit the roles well and have played excellently. Lincoln has taken to the central role better than I had imagined so early on. He’s just on another level to everyone else; he sees passes others couldn’t imagine. This system breaks down without the individual brilliance of those playmakers. I’m still working on who the starting central defence pairing should be. The sheer volume of games means we get natural rotation at the wide spots: Inside forwards; wingbacks. That’s nice, cause we get to see everyone and there’s little moaning about playing time. Arajuo has claimed the false 9 spot. The younger lads have bags of talent, but have been inconsistent and won’t stop moaning. Shoutout to Fransergio, the Fernandinho of our group: Unsung; brilliant; vital. Every time a Spanish manager is sacked, I am listed as the top candidate to replace them. And we’re talking big teams: Villarreal, Osasuna, Malaga, and Levante. So it seems like a Spanish opening is there, at a decent club, whenever we want it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dllu Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 I've never dabbled much in the Brazilian leagues myself, but the SP state championship sure has a weird structure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Campeonato_Paulista Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 26, 2018 Author Share Posted June 26, 2018 It’s 7:15am when FourFourTwo first sits down with Francisco Lapello in the bows of Centro de Treinamento Frederico Antônio Germano Menzen, Sau Paulo’s training complex. The Spaniard has already been here for two hours. His office is as clean as his face. Everything is ordered neatly; pen stacked on top of small notepad stacked on top of an iPad stacked on top of a larger notepad. When we enter, he’s staring at a giant screen, mounted at the edge of the desk, sitting so close you feel compelled to tell him he might strain his eyes, as a mother might. He rolls his chair back-and-forth then back-and-forth, from one side of the desk to the other, like a pendulum moving to the rhythm of his football mind. It’s a restless mind. One with too much to do and too little time. He’s watching video of his newest addition, Lincoln, a club record signing acquired this pre-season from rivals Gremio. Lapello has Lincoln’s best moves from last season cued up and goes to work. It’s as though he’s in the midst of the fight: gesticulating, muttering, shouting. “Why, why, why?” He jumps out of his seat. “Look!”. He swivels the screen around. It’s one of those classical nightmare moments: caught in the middle of a school exam you haven’t prepared for. “See it; do you see it?”, his eyes leaping out of his face. His face contorts: a mixture of confusion and father-like disappointment. Lincoln has picked the ball up on the left side of the pitch, danced by a defender, and driven towards the goal. As he did, two more defenders closed on his position. Lincoln takes a pause, rolls the studs of his left boot over the ball, and waits. He waits some more. Eventually, he unfurls an audacious lob, clipping the ball over San Lorenzo’s centre back, hitting his team mate, Luan Viera, in stride, on a diagonal run. Viera scores. Lapello shakes his head. “Everything is so vertical and individual and focused on wide areas,” he says, “That goal took four-five moments of brilliance from two brilliant players. I love the freedom and movement of this football, but it’s so individualized.” Lapello has been in this room for two hours plotting and planning as he bids to transform his championship winning side and, in doing so, change the culture of Brazilian football. “Alright,” He slaps the underneath of his monitor and it flicks to black, “let’s get started.” *** It starts on a train. A chance encounter, as so many of these things do. Lapello is sat opposite Txiki Begiristain, performance director of the City Football Group — often referred to as the Director of Football at Manchester City. Lapello was in Manchester to take in training sessions with Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola. Both coaches were happy to open their facilities to a young coach who never quite made it as a player. “I stunk,” he says, laughing, “I think Jose identified with that! Pep less so.” His journey to Manchester the same as plenty other wannabe coaches who failed to live up to their dreams as players, “lots of spaghetti, bad hotels, and sleeping in rental cars”, he says. Begiristain had spotted Lapello on the City training pitch. “I had to double-take”, Begiristain says “he looked just like Pep.” Shaved head, stubble, tall and slender, with one of those tight-fitting, European cut shirts. “When I got on a train later that day, I recognized him immediately.” Lapello was continuing his coaching odyssey, taking trains from Manchester to France, before moving on to Eastern Europe. The couple of hours he spent talking football with Begiristain, a former member of Johan Cruyff’s dream team, and a close confidante of Guardiola and the Barcelona hierarchy, changed everything. “He had such clarity”, Begiristain remembers, “it’s as though he’d plotted everything; that he knew exactly what he would do, down to the second, whenever he ran a club of his own. I was intrigued. Who was this guy?” Lapello remembers the experience a little differently. “I was awed by the tempo of it all. The speed of the ball, the speed of the instructions, the quickness with which the players heard two syllables and adapted their entire games”, he says. “I thought, “I’m out of my depth at this level”. I can take some things, sure, but I just don’t have the vision these world class players and coaches do.” The Begiristain made him anxious. “Everything I thought was derivative of Cruyff in some ways. Now, here I am, talking to one of the players from that team! I thought he couldn’t wait to get away from me.” Begiristain didn’t run. He took contact details from the young Catalan — a courtesy, Lapello was sure — and put in a call to Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who just happened to have an opening with the club’s “B” team. “I think I’ve found your guy.” *** “Ball. Ball. Ball. Ball”. Lapello is on the training ground at midday. He likes to take part in the warmups: the jogs, the shuttle run, the foam rolling. Once the proper work starts, he retreats to the coaches roll. He walks around. Struts, really. Keeping an eye on everything and everyone. Sau Paulo have started the season well, clinching wins in all over their early Sao Paulo state Championship games, bar one, and earned a victory in their first Copa Libertadores matchup. Everything is different this season. Lapello arrived just under a year ago. The side had crashed out of the state championship in humiliating fashion, and were sat 8th in the national championship, with a quarter of the season gone. Lapello’s appointment changed everything. The team went on an almighty run, playing incisive, counter-attacking football. They clinched their first national title in a decade, cementing the Spaniard’s status as a local icon, not five months into the job. “Unbelievable,” he says, “when I interviewed for the job, I laid out an approach of how I thought the team should play, where the inefficacies lay, and how we could win. Did I think we would do it in the first season? No, not really. But we just kept winning. And we beat our closest rivals. We ran out of steam towards the end and didn’t exactly play the style I wanted. But we won; that’s all that matters.” Now, they’ve transformed their playing model — investing a lot of money to re-define the first team squad. Lapello wants to play the totallest of total football. To bring Cruyffism and Guardiolaism to South America. “We must never stop questioning the status quo” he says, irked at the presumption that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, “especially when things are going well. “Ball. Ball. Ball. Ball.” he screams again. Every member of the squad is split into groups performing rondos — small circular exercises in which players retain the ball with one or two touches, while a pair of defender chase and pressure the ball. It’s an intoxicating sound. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. The balls flow and move at a rapid pace. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. “We have so many technically gifted players”, Lapello says “but we were **** at these when we first started. You think Brazil; you think technical excellence. But body positioning, close quarters control, and the nuances of the drill were lacking.” “The idea is to dominate the ball”, he says, smirking. But he rebuffs the idea that his sides look to use possession for possession’s sake. “All that tiki-taka stuff is ********”, he barks, cutting off a follow-up question. “That stuff is idiotic. It’s not possession that matters. It’s the intent. We want to dominate the ball because if we have it, they don’t. Obviously. If they don’t have it, they can’t score. Obviously. We press high up the field because if we win the ball closer to their goal, we have less distance to travel. Obviously.” Every “obviously” delivered with a piercing stare and a pause. Lapello bristles at direct Guardiola comparisons, too. “We have a similar lifestyle background, and similar footballing outlooks. But that’s because, to me, it’s the way that makes the most sense. Not because of some kind of sycophantism towards Cruyff or Pep himself.” “Ball. Ball. Ball. Ball.” He yells once more. Sao Paulo work for 55-minutes a day on the training pitch, that’s it. High tempo. High intensity. Music blaring. Mostly with the ball at their feet. “We do the teaching afterwards. Why waste the guys time when the adrenaline is pumping and they’re doing what they love most: kicking a football and laughing with their teammates. We want to rep as much as possible, in as short a time as possible. It’s high intensity ball work — like shuttle sprints in passing form. And we do it every day, to form habits.” They work on defensive shape, too. Lapello turns from coach to performance artist. He sprints, full speed, across the pitch, grabbing and moving players. He blows up every 10–15 seconds to readjust the body position of a fullback, or to move a winger five feet to his right. This isn’t perfectionism, it’s psychosis. He claims to do the teaching in the classroom, but that seems more like an ideal than a reality on this day. He takes Moses Simon, the team’s new winger, aside to give him detailed instructions. He’s a 22-year-old Belgian in Brazil; a true fish out of water. “That can go one of two ways”, Lapello says, “as with any person, they can get lonely or not settle and it can affect their performance. Or, they can throw themselves into their work and engage in a culture they have never experienced before.” Simon seems engaged as he takes in the instructions away from the group. Lapello wants his players to close the opposition in their own area. The aim is to be tightly packed, bar the wingers, allowing the side to press the opposition, thus cutting off counter attacks. Simon has a tendency to drift inside, and while it seems small on the face of it, Lapello explains how it distorts the team’s shape, and the mindset of the opposition. “The half spaces are so important”, he says. “We have this morphing diamond in the middle of the field: A halfback; two playmakers; a forward, playing as a false 9. Those guys shift and move, they need space. Pinning the wingers towards the touchline opens up gulfs in those alleys between the fullbacks and central defenders. What Moses and the other wingers do without the ball, is just as important as what they do with it.” For a coach so intensely obsessed with retaining the ball, Lapello demands defensive perfection on the training pitch. “Attack is more based on innate talent, defence is about the work you put it. We have gifted players. We will score goals. To win games, we must become a solid unit.” *** A cultural revolution doesn’t just happen on the pitch. Lapello is looking to change things from the ground up. He’s installed clocks in every room in each of Sao Paulo’s training buildings and team complex’s — there are four (!) training facilities — so that no one can ever claim to have been accidentally late. Dressing rooms have been converted from traditional boxes, to cylinders; no corner-bound cliques allowed. There are motivational posters everywhere, and a hoard of new staff members, with the focus on developing a “Sao Paulo football language.” They even hired an official team linguist (something the club’s sporting director and ex-player, Rai, greets with a spirally finger pointed as his temple — “craaazzyyyyy”). “I picked up a bunch of that stuff from La Masia, as well as Manchester City,” Lapello says. After his encounter with Begiristain, Barcelona reached out to Lapello, offering him the role as the club’s “B” team head coach. He was a great success, taking a side predicted for relegation from the second division of Spanish football, and lifting them into the top-half of the league, playing the traditional Barcelona way. “We loved our time with Francisco”, Josep Segura, Barcelona’s Sporting Director says, “He just got it from the very first meeting. He didn’t have to change. He understood our identity, and we understood his. I knew from that first talk he would be a great fit and a future star.” Lapello reflects on his time fondly. “I learned so much”, he says “It was a blank canvas. That’s kind of how a “B” team is. Certainly, there’s a ‘Barcelona style’, but that style is my style. From a football language and identity point of view, I could do my own things. I trialled thing I’m not sure I would have done in my first job had the club who absolutely needed the wins.” Note: Barcelona “B” are unable to gain promotion from the second division, meaning Lapello’s side could not go up during his year with the club. That idea has extended to Sao Paulo. He’s trying things. Different things. Lapello has taken after the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team, with a policy of respect instituted across the board. Rather than running off to the club bar to share a meal with their friends and families post-game, the players must now stay behind, mopping, sweeping and tidying the dressing room, home and away, in an almost meditative silence. They shower, take care of any media obligations, then clean their individual spaces, before scrubbing the room as a team. “The easiest work day of my life!” Bruno Alaves, the changing room manager at Guarani FC, a local second division side that Sao Paulo recently played — and beat — in the state championship, told FourFourTwo. “I’ve truly never seen or heard anything like it. I couldn’t get into the room after the game. I thought ‘what’s going on here’. The captain came out to tell me they’d be twenty minutes or so. I looked past him and saw all of the players, broom in hand, sweeping the floors. There was no music; total silence. It was so unusual as to be disturbing.” “It’s a cultural thing”, Lapello says. “Not in terms of any one person or upbringing or nation. My players all have fine parents, of that I’m sure. It’s about instituting a club culture, something that will carry from generation to generation. Even our uniforms change every year now. In ten years, what connection will those players have to my squad? The sponsors will be different, the stadium different, the footballing philosophy will be different. How about we keep something the same; something that knits this club together; a tradition.” For their part, the players seem, on the surface, fine with it. “At first I was like “what the f*ck”, says Rodrygo, the 17-year-old prodigy, linked with moves to any number of Spanish and European giants before swapping his Santos shirt for a São Paulo one. “Francisco convinced me to join. The way he spoke about football spoke to me. I’ll get a Spanish football education, playing in a style like Barcelona, without having to move out of the country. I didn’t expect this, though. This is something I’ve never experienced in football.” It harkens back to old-school apprentices in theBritish football system, where youth team players would clean the boots and changing room of the first team. “That doesn’t feel quite right to me”, Lapello says, “take responsibility. Clean your own things. Respect this space. Respect the people who work tirelessly to make you as good an athlete and person as possible. We have a 30-man squad. It takes them, like, ten minutes to clear the entire space. Why not do it?” Lapello delicately straddles that line between old-school, principled, disciplinarian, and new-age Silicon Valley mind. “I don’t care for any of that heart monitoring or dehydration chart stuff. That’s a personal responsibility thing for me. If a player is not looking after himself, he won’t play well. If he doesn’t play well, I won’t pick him. I don’t need to be out monitoring the streets to keep my players out of clubs or anything. If they’re there, they’re there. Go blow off steam. Have fun. Be safe. Be aware. If not, they don’t play.” And yet the Spaniard is insistent on a uniform approach once players enter the team’s complex for training or match-days. “I don’t want any brain power used on clothes or any of that nonsense”, he says, evoking a Zuckerberg-like tech billionaire, "I think I picked that one up from an old episode of Twenty Four I think American presidents do it -- wear the same suit everyday. We have defined training clothes, and defined match-day clothes. Save that energy for thinking about your game and the opposition.” *** “Ball retention. Ball movement. Ball retention. Ball movement.” He’s barking again. This time the team is taking part in a 7 vs. 11 drill. The goal is for the offensive side — seven players — to circulate the ball with speed. And for them to get used to penetrating the levels of a defensive, rather than circulating the ball in that long, sweeping arc that irritates so many fans. “Concentrada! Concentrada!” — Lapello speaks a bundled version of Spanglish/Portugalish on the training pitch — He means it for both sides. This is as much about keeping switched on defensively, despite having a numerical advantage. “These aren’t my original ideas,” Lapello says later, sitting over a post-training coffee. “Everything is stolen. The false 9 existed in football as far back as the days with the Argentine’s Adolfo Pedernera. The playing model is Cruyff’s. The idea for a gym in the stadium for match-day, I took from Pep at Bayern” Sao Paulo installed a small gym at their current stadium at Lapello’s request, with plans for the state-of-the-art facility to be included in the club’s new stadium, which was announced this preseason. “There are only so many ideas. And there’s so much football, and so much sport. It’s about getting the right collection of football things and psychological things for your specific squad.” Lapello’s transfer dealings were an exhaustive enterprise. “mental and technical makeup are the things. Who can take hard coaching. Who wants to improve. Who has the skill to retain the ball? Who has the mentality to never, ever give the ball away. Who will fight like a dog to win that ball back. There aren’t too many of those guys, and we certainly couldn’t get them all. We searched everywhere for specific skills for specific positions. I didn’t care if the guy had never played that role before. If he has the skill-set and mentality, he will learn it.” As our conversation winds down, Lapello gets more self-reflexive. Perhaps he’s becoming more comfortable. Perhaps it’s the caffeine — he’s absorbed three coffees and two red bulls before the clock ticks over to 2 pm. “Winning the title has opened up so many things. The goal now is bigger than wins and losses. It’s cultural. It’s changing the landscape of football at this club; changing the landscape of Brazilian football. Teams go down in history because of the way they play, the way they do things, rather than wins alone. I want this team to go down in history. Then, who knows?” Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUFCspeni Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 As usual, really enjoying this! Excited to see you in Brazil too, South America (and indeed the rest of the world bar Europe) seems to get overlooked a lot. There is a lot of talent around, and its fun to mould that to your own playing style. Pretty much doing the same thing in my own career, but using Bielsa as a basis rather than Pep Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 26, 2018 Author Share Posted June 26, 2018 3 hours ago, dllu said: I've never dabbled much in the Brazilian leagues myself, but the SP state championship sure has a weird structure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Campeonato_Paulista Oh yeah, it's an odd format. Particularly given that so many of the big teams from the national title play in the state title. 50 minutes ago, LUFCspeni said: As usual, really enjoying this! Excited to see you in Brazil too, South America (and indeed the rest of the world bar Europe) seems to get overlooked a lot. There is a lot of talent around, and its fun to mould that to your own playing style. Pretty much doing the same thing in my own career, but using Bielsa as a basis rather than Pep It's fun! South America has some bonkers things. Europe is so much of the same. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 26, 2018 Author Share Posted June 26, 2018 !!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
john1 Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 Are you tempted to take the job if they offered you it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 26, 2018 Author Share Posted June 26, 2018 3 minutes ago, john1 said: Are you tempted to take the job if they offered you it? I've always enjoyed the Bilbao challenge. It's a job I'd like at some point, but I'm connected to this Sao Paulo side at the moment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 that article was well done. Top work Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 27, 2018 Author Share Posted June 27, 2018 11 hours ago, kidthekid said: that article was well done. Top work Thanks, man. I really appreciate it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 27, 2018 Author Share Posted June 27, 2018 March 2019 Update — Sao Paulo A top, top month. It feels like our team, for the most part, has gotten to grips with the tactic. We are really commanding games and most importantly of all, creating a ton of chances. Schedule The month kicked off with the derby day win against Corinthians. It took a 93rd minute Moses Simon winner to knock them off, but it was thoroughly deserved. We owned that game. They stung us with an undeserved 80th minute strike, so the late-minute winner was warranted. (Corinthians’ manager made a giant mistake — they had struggled all game playing a 4–4–1–1. They switched to an attacking 4–2–2–2 with 15 mins to go, and scored. Then they switched back to the 4–4–1–1, and gifted us the ball again) Lincoln has struck up an excellent relationship with the wide players. He’s developed a nice knack for driving through the middle of the field, while the wide players hold their positions. That gives him a bunch of options. If he keeps carrying the ball, and no one comes towards him, he’s through on goal. If he’s closed down, the wide guys can peel off his marker — as the false 9 occupies the pair of central defenders. As expected, the majority of our goal output us coming from those wider areas. We haven’t got much effective play out of the false 9, regardless of who plays in it. Arajuo had one monster game — five goals against Santo Andre — to swing his month. The rest of the time he was ineffectual. I mixed in Brenner, the 18-year-old wonderkid, who acted like he didn’t even want to be here. Losing Gonzalo Garnerio to a six-week injury hurt. Our problems at the moment are obvious: On the road against top sides. We lost twice, comprehensively, in those circumstances this month. We just haven’t been clinical enough when chances have come in those games. It may be worth switching back to the Quick Transition system for those type of games. Also: Lincoln is becoming a super-duper-star. I’ve fallen head-over-heels for his style of play. This free kick was a beaut: League Table I’m happy with finishing second given the tactical overhaul. We also finished tops in goal difference, which is likely more predictive moving into the playoff format. Non of the big teams bombed out, so it will be tough to claim the title. Squad List Notes: Anderson Martins has returned form an injury and immediately stuck up a bond at the back with Sebastian Perez. Rodrygo has been ree-dic-u-lous in the last five games. Lincoln already had 33 passes (!!!), more than twice as many as the next guy — the Brazilian Iniesta indeed. Shaylon has been excellent impacting the game off the bench. The sheer volume of games is, once again, staggering. Depth has been crucial, particularly at those wide spots. Fransergio is sneakily my favorite player. He’s owned that halfback position. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fola Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 This is brilliant mate, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 28, 2018 Author Share Posted June 28, 2018 10 hours ago, Fola said: This is brilliant mate, Thanks, man! I appreciate it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 28, 2018 Author Share Posted June 28, 2018 April 2019 Update — Sao Paulo A mixture of back luck, bad form, and bad play combined for a poor month. Schedule Two wins; three draws; two defeats. Not good enough. We squeaked by Ponte Preta in the quarter final of the State Championship, playing poorly on the road, before clinching the tie at home with a one-nil win. We fell at that next hurdle. And we threw, that’s what hurts. We led 2–0 against Corinthians after 25 minutes, on the road. A penalty; a screamer from Mattheus Oliveria. Our first half performance was as good as any this season so far. The second half was terrible. We conceded a goal 40 seconds into the second period, before a 60th minute red card reduced us to ten-men. We were overrun; switched to a strikerless formation. It didn’t matter. Corinthians were rampant — racking up four clearcut chances and six half chances. Escaping with a 2–2 draw was a relief. The second leg picked up where the second half left off. We were missing a bunch of talent: Moses Simon, Anderson Martins, Shaylon, Lincoln, and Rodrygo. Not an excuse, just the reality. This month has proven we lack depth and quality when some of the sides top stars are out. We’ve played most of the month without Lincoln; we haven’t had Diego Souza until the last couple of games. Corinthians deserved the win, for sure. But it stings to not have faced them without our best players. Corinthians went on to clinch the state Championship: Semi Finals/Finals Elsewhere, we’ve gone-done battle in the Copa Libertadores. This month wasn’t great. A draw and loss to Junior FC put us in a tough spot. Fortunately, we ended the month with our best performance, throttling Santos 4–0 at home. That puts us in a decent position heading into the final group game. Now, onto the National Championship! Squad List Notes: This Vinicius Araujo situation is becoming critical. He failed to score all month, despite getting some decent chances. His role is much, much more than finishing chances; he’s a facilitator, our Bobby Firmino. But that doesn’t mean he has free licence to miss shots when they come. He has been. Gonzalo Carneiro is back to full fitness. It’s time for him to get his shot as the starter. Fransergio continues to own a place in my heart. He’s a straight baller. Lincoln and Moses Simon returning from injuries should be a big boost moving forward. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 30, 2018 Author Share Posted June 30, 2018 May 2019 Update — Sao Paulo An excellent month. Schedule It kicked off with a comprehensive win on the road in the Copa Libertadores, advancing us to the knockout phase of the competition. Our league form has been superb. Three wins out of three, putting us top of the league: We haven’t faced a top-top side yet to see where we stack up, but I’m delighted with how the team is playing. Elsewhere, we crashed out of the Brazilian National (FA) Cup, falling to Internacional over two legs. Squad List We’ve got a settled side right now — Rdyrgo being away on international duty the only player missing. With Carneiro back, he’s become the starting false 9, performing at a higher level than Araujo. Shaylon, Everton, Souza, Cipriano, and Araujo gives us lots of fire-power off the bench. Notes: Let’s wrap-up the State Championship with all our delightful awards: Team of the Year (Only two players!) Best Player Copete has continued his extraordinary form from last season. Somehow, he was the best player, but didn’t make the Best Team. Highest Average Rating A stunning run of games from Lincoln. Young Player of the Year Militao has taken that right wingback role and made it his own. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 30, 2018 Author Share Posted June 30, 2018 Around the World — 2018/19 Season May is here, and while the Brazilian league is just kicking into top-gear, the European calendar has wrapped-up. Let’s take a look at how things have gone. Premier League Pep’s first Premier League title, clinching the thing via goals scored. That adds even more points to Guardiola’s HOF point total: There’s a long way to go! Also: Pochettino is out at Spurs. La Liga Another Title for Real Madrid; another disappointing year for Barca… in the league. Ligue 1 100 points for PSG. It’s not even competitive. That Lyon job is open, though. Bundesliga A hotly contested title race in Germany. Bayern still claimed the title, but it went down to the final day of the season. Serie A A fairly comfortable win for Juve, another second place finish for Napoli. That Lazio job looks a little tasty. Russian First Division Portuguese First Division UEFA Champions League Back-to-back Champions League championships for Barcelona: Unai Emery beating his former club in the final. Poor Arsenal, lost the final in extra time, lost the title to goals scored. UEFA Europa League It’s not the European cup win Juventus wants, but it’s a European cup win nonetheless. Job Openings Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted June 30, 2018 Author Share Posted June 30, 2018 So this is an interesting proposition... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
john1 Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 Lyon would be interesting job if you take it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlatanera Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 Agreed. Unless there's been a fire sale, a lot of very technical players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUFCspeni Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 I would argue Lyon would be an excellent club to build a Barca-esque side. Lots of good, technical players, and a cracking youth system. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 Personally I would take one of the Portuguese clubs or Anderlecht, smaller nation in Europe to build rep up before moving to a bigger nation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 June 2019 Update — Sao Paulo An enlightening, frustrating month. We didn’t lose a game. We also drew four. Schedule Creating chances hasn’t been a problem. And as you can see, we only conceded three goals in eight games. Our biggest issue has been fire-power from the wide spots. Rodyrgo has spent much of the month on international duty or injured. When he was back, Moses Simon swaggered off to represent his country. The false 9 spot remains an issue. Carneiro has no-doubt been an improvement, but he’s far from the finished product. League Table We’ve opened up a decent four-point leads, unbeaten heading into July. A lot of tough games litter next month, after a fairly straightforward June. Squad List Notes: When Sebastian Perez and Anderson Martins are healthy, our defence is close to impenetrable. Perez has been awesome. He carries the ball out of the back confidently, striding forward and breaking the first line of defence. Lincoln, Marcal and Copete have carried us in the final third this past month. I turned down the Lyon job. It was an interesting one and had some appeal, but I just didn’t get that feeling that made me want to jump at it. I’m enjoying the Brazilian adventure too much. If the right Euro chance comes up, I’ll move. But Lyon didn’t give me that tingly feeling. Lyon went with Phillip Cocu instead, who's been dominating Holland with PSV. That kind of shows where our reputation is at in Europe. I had one of those delightful moments where you forget you penned a player to a pre-contract agreement. Welcome, Allan: I love how diverse tactics in Brazil are. Just look at this beautiful monstrosity: Who starts out with that as their ideology?!?!?! It’s the best! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 16 hours ago, john1 said: Lyon would be interesting job if you take it 16 hours ago, zlatanera said: Agreed. Unless there's been a fire sale, a lot of very technical players. 14 hours ago, LUFCspeni said: I would argue Lyon would be an excellent club to build a Barca-esque side. Lots of good, technical players, and a cracking youth system. 13 hours ago, ToMexico!! said: Personally I would take one of the Portuguese clubs or Anderlecht, smaller nation in Europe to build rep up before moving to a bigger nation. I passed on the Lyon job. I agree with the points above: A good club, winnable league (perhaps not the title -- but second is in play), with stacks of young talent. However, it just didn't feel right. My return to Europe will likely come soonish, but that just wasn't the right job. I thought about that Anderlecht gig, too. It's another one with a bunch of good points. But I'm just not feeling moving to the Belgian league now when my side is settled and the Brazilian league is fun. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 July 2019 Update — Sao Paulo A terrible month, with just a pair of wins staving off an otherwise disaster. Schedule The month started perfectly. Our win over Corinthians was my best in my time with Sao Paulo. We dominated one of the best teams in the nation from start to finish. In the first half alone, we racked up 71% possession and created a couple of chances — Carneiro burying one. The second half was much of the same. There was a subtle dip in the possession numbers, but we remained in clear control. And we racked up even more chances, finishing with a comfortable two-nil win. It was downwards from there. A bunch of draws were compounded by the pair of defeats, away to a poor Ponte Preta side and home to Internacional. Most infuriating of all was the series of draws. Each was different. Either we owned the game, were not clinical enough and then were hit on the brake when the opposition created one or two chances. Or we created nothing. Or we routinely fluffed our lines — missing chance after chance. We failed to score in three games. We never scored more than twice. I just can’t get that false 9 position to play to the standard I need. League Table Still: We’re top of the league. Seven draws doesn’t look great. It’s clear to me that Palmeiras are currently the top side in the league, with little separating ourselves and Internacional. Squad List: Notes: Our dynamics have suffered. Every single player who isn’t playing every single game — in the first team or reserves — is moaning, constantly. They want loan moves; they want transfers; they want playing time; and they want no new signings. The foreign transfer came and went. We whiffed on some mega deals I had lined up. We just couldn’t get them over the line. One that I was particularly excited about was Carles Alena, former Barcelona “B” stud: We were, however, able to wrap-up a deal for Gabriel, another ball playing central defender. He gives us a different option, and someone who’s already a natural at the role. The Managerial Merry-Go-Round What an enthralling, interesting, bizarre, flashy managerial hiring season. The current comings and going: Jupp Heynckes — Bayern Munich— Retired Diego Simeone — Atletico Madrid to Bayern Munich Massimiliano Allegri — Juventus to Atletico Madrid Zinedine Zidane — Real Madrid to Juventus In that sequence alone, four of the biggest jobs in world football opened up. I applied for all of them, and got job interviews, which is an encouraging sign for a no-name plying his trade in Brazil. There was another fun sequence: Mauricio Pochettino — Tottenham — Sacked Carlo Ancelotti — Napoli to Spurs Jorge Jesus — Sporting Lisbon to Napoli Paulo Sousa — Unemployed to Sporting Lisbon I applied for each of those gigs, bar the Sporting one. I feel, given the other interviews, I’d have had a good shot at landing it (It’s not like Sousa is blowing anyone away). For whatever reason, the job just didn’t appeal to me. I didn’t get that exciting feeling in stomach; I’d have just been moving for movings sake. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 In a stunning development, Real Madrid are set to name Sao Paulo manager, and former Barcelona “B” boss, Francisco Lapello as the replacement to Zinedine Zidane, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to AS. Lapello met with Florentino Perez and other members of the clubs hierarchy late on Tuesday evening, with two sides thrashing out the terms of the deal. The Spaniard’s name was on the club’s initial shortlist to replace the Juventus bound Zidane, with the likes of Chelsea’s Antonio Conte, Paris Saint-Germain’s Arsene Wenger, and Germany’s Joachim Low leading the way. Sources confirmed to AS that all of the above rebuffed Perez’s overtures. The top candidates are said to have been “uneasy” with the prospect of taking the job just a week before the Spanish season starts. Lapello’s quick rise, first with the Barcelona youth team, and now in Brazil, has seen him linked to a number of high-profile jobs this summer, including Bayern Munich, Juventus, Napoli, and Tottenham. The young manager blew away Perez and company with a detailed presentation outlining his playing philosophy, recruitment style, and the changes he would make to the clubs, per team sources. “Like with Zidane, Florentino wants to catch a young manager on the rise, rather than throw money at the biggest name,” a source with knowledge of the situation said. Other sources adamantly deny this. “All the previous lovers — Mourinho, Carlo, Benitez — turned him down. He had to go for an unknown.” Since Zidane’s departure, the club has undergone a tumultuous time, attempting to mask perceived weaknesses with the mega-money signing of Paulo Dybala. “Things have been a mess”, a source who requested anonymity said. “No one knew Zidane wanted to leave. There are, literally, hundreds of unfilled jobs at the club, from sporting director down to ticketing staff. And then there was the head coach! Big name signings and the holdover of winning the league title mask some of that, but much of the playing staff has been unhappy, and under-coached.” Lapello is set to arrive in Madrid today to pen to paper on his new deal. A press conference is arranged for Monday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dllu Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Very interesting development! Can you beat Barcelona at their own game? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidthekid Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 wow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUFCspeni Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Definitely didn't see that coming. Would be interesting, for sure. More of a Barca guy myself though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToMexico!! Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Thats an offer you can't refuse! Hala Madrid Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 August 2019 Update — Sao Paulo/Real Madrid So, umm, this is interesting, hey? Who’d have thunk it? I turned down the Lyon job, I toyed with the idea of rebuilding a fallen Parma side — a team who had turned me down a year prior. Now, I’m rocking up at the Bernabeu, home of, arguably, the biggest club in world football. Umm, what? Yeah, I’m a little puzzled too. We over-performed with Barca “B”, we over-performed with Sao Paulo, ending their title drought and playing truly beautiful football. But that doesn’t scream of the kind of candidate Madrid would be interested in. Profile Madrid is a five-star job. Francisco is, almost, a three-star coach. In reality, this job opened up so late in the hire/fire period, I don’t think there was anyone available — a 63-yead-old Russian boss, currently managing Watford, was the favorite before I was offered the job. The yarn I spun above makes some sense, I guess. Florentino is bonkers. The Offer It’s three-years. Perfect -- if we’re not fired. I’ll be radically transforming the football identity of the squad; tackling Cruffyism in Barcelona with post-Cruffyfism in Madrid. It’s almost poetic. The expectations: Win everything. Always. Gulp. Leaving Sao Paulo Genuinely not an easy decision. I had planned to spend three-years at each club, transforming the playing/team philosophy along the way. that was happening with Sao Paulo. We had a real chance to win back-to-back titles and the football was truly superb. We left the side on with a run of three wins, two of which saw us score more than two goals. Stunner. And so it hurts to say goodbye to this brilliant squad: But this is Real. Like, Real. I’d be bonkers to turn it down. It’s a fun challenge given the context of this save — I’m not just plugging superstars into a tactic I know works. That kind of save bores me. I have to squeeze round pegs into a Guardiola shaped hole, until I use the considerable resources to build the squad necessary to play our style. And there’s the Barca angle. That’s just delicious. It’s Barcelona’s football being played against them. It’s Francisco Lapello, the former Barca “B” boss, a Catalonian, strolling into the Nou Camp as the head coach of Los Blancos. This is gonna be fun. I exit Brazil among Sao Paulo’s favoured personnel, with a title in the bag, and a new stadium on the way. Adeus e obrigado. Onto Madrid And so here we are. There are virtually no members of the senior staff left, which is great fun. I’m hoping to build out a top-tier staff that would be happy to bounce around Europe with us post-Madrid. Fair to say pretty good? Just the 12 European Cup titles. 34 League titles — the reigning holders. The Squad Simply ludicrous. The frontline alone is lough-out-loud funny in its stackedness: Ronaldo, Bale, Dybala, Firmino, Benzema, Assensio. Of course, the side is an ageing one. Modric, Ronaldo, Benzema and Ramos are all the wrong side of thirty. All have been lynchpins of Madrid’s dynastic European run. Fortunately, pieces are in place for our style. There are few players better suited to that pesky false 9 role than either Dybala or Firmino. And the likes of Matthijs De Ligt, Raphael Varane, Kingsley Coman, and Marco Asensio are the top young talents in the world. So the squad needs a few tweaks, but clearly nothing major Just look at that. We’ll run the Quick Transition system to start with. We need wins, and the first game — the two-legged Spanish Super Cup — is in six days. The style fits these players, while not departing from my overall style or philosophy much. Dybala A superstar of the highest order. Likely the best player at the club, given Ronaldo’s advanced age (I CANT BELIEVE I JUST TYPED THAT SENTENCE!) Ronaldo Still a beast. I don’t know if I’ve ever managed him in FM. Bobby Firmino Spoilt for choice in the false 9 role. De Ligt One of the top wonderkids around. He’ll be the star of our defence as we work Ramos out of the team and squad. Club Overview Legends on top of legends on top of icons on top of icons. As always, I’m hoping to bring some of those guys back as staff members, to get that club DNA rolling. A reminder of the objectives for those who don’t want to scroll back to the first post. The ideological: “Implant a defined playing model” — a pass and move system from the branches of Cruyffism/Guardiolaism “Develop a team spirit” — dynamics, baby! “Establish a clear identity” — play great football, rebuild the academy, play homegrown players “Establish a unique language in the academy” — load up the academy with future star prospects “Win trophies” — win the top league titles across Europe and win as money European cups as possible. And so in style. The game: Win each of Europe’s top five leagues — We’re here now, so we have a chance. Win back-to-back European Cups — Madrid offers us as good a chance as any. Manage Liverpool — Madrid opens the door to any and all top jobs. Manage Barcelona — Except this one. Probably time to say goodbye to that dream. Manage in South America — Tick this one off. And it was so much fun. The setup is a little barmy. But it’s unique, and that’s fun. I now love Sao Paulo; who knew. It’s one of those situations where the team doesn’t register on your radar and now you have a real-life affection for them. Win an international tournament —TBD. Achieve icon status at a club (it seems impossible to reach legend status, even if you win 7 leagues titles and three European cups in eight years — not that I’m bitter or anything) — Ooooo we had to be close with Sao Paulo. I think back-to-back titles would have secured it. Play beautiful football — Tick. Let’s get started. Halal! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 5 hours ago, dllu said: Very interesting development! Can you beat Barcelona at their own game? That should be part of the beauty of it all! Certainly intensifies the stakes of the save. 4 hours ago, kidthekid said: wow. Wow indeed. 4 hours ago, LUFCspeni said: Definitely didn't see that coming. Would be interesting, for sure. More of a Barca guy myself though Me either. And me too! 4 hours ago, ToMexico!! said: Thats an offer you can't refuse! Hala Madrid Unfortunately not. I was loving my time in Brazil, too. But this ratchets things up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 August 2019 Update — Real Madrid Well, our feet are well and truly under the desk now. We kicked-off our time in Madrid with your bog standard sixteen-nil win; a decent sign. Schedule The crucial games, of course, were the actual games. We kicked things off with a Supercopa win against our crosstown rivals. Atletico claimed the first leg. We were poor in possession and they punished us with a clinical finish. Despite Ronaldo and Benzema missing out through injury, we claimed the second leg comfortably. I say comfortably, but it wasn’t a sure thing. We dominated the ball and created the vast majority of the chances. We led early, but couldn’t get a second goal to edge the tie on aggregate. Gareth Bale changed everything. He had picked up a knock prior to my arrival (surprise) and we unleashed him with half an hour to go, though he was still struggling with fitness. Still: His blend of pace and power transformed the game. Atletico pushed forward. Bale galloped into the vacated spaces. He laid on both goals, clinching my first trophy with Los Blancos. Our first game of the league season was a cruise-control victory over Celta Vigo. Bale stared again — starting this time — with a pair of assists and a goal in the first half. But it was Asensio who really stood out. He’s competing with Luka Modric for one of the starting playmaker spots. His youth and legs are showing up strong in the first few games. League Table Start as we mean to go on. Squad List Notes: This is a small squad, which I usually like, but injuries have already kicked in. Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo, Dybala, Firmino and Carvajal have all picked up knocks. Ronaldo is out for a few weeks, the best were back — or are set to be back — after a single game. I don’t think this is great: Even if you stick the transfer budget into the wage budget, we’re a £100k down. I have a deal agreed to sell Benzema to Napoli. Given our fire-power, his age, the finances, and the direction I’m taking the club, he’s on the outs. The issue, however, is the squad size. I don’t have the money to bring in another player I would want, and we don’t have a ton of bodies. So I’m torn on whether to let him go or not. We could always kick transfers down the road until January, or really start the revolution heading into year-two, like at Sao Paulo I have overhauled the backroom staff. Here’s what it looked like on day one: Now the departments are full. Our coaches: Get used to our assistant manager, Juan Carlos Carcedo. I’ll be hoping to bring him around Europe with me when our adventure moves on (unless he goes running back to his friend Unai Emery). And our scouting staff (I’m also hoping to bring a ton of these guys with me in the future): We’ve been drawn into a fairly easy Champions League group. United obviously offer some resistance, but I wouldn’t want it any other way in my first venture into Europe’s elite. I’m re-training De Ligt as our halfback of the future. He will certainly be one of the world’s best ballplaying defenders, but his attributes are very, very tasty for that Busquets/Guardiola role. I guess it depends on which star name we can bring in at either position. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz4la Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 You should make one of those articles again but with a total in depth breakdown of the whole tactical setup, that would be really interesting! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted July 4, 2018 Author Share Posted July 4, 2018 7 hours ago, raz4la said: You should make one of those articles again but with a total in depth breakdown of the whole tactical setup, that would be really interesting! That's a great idea! I'll put it on the list. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted July 6, 2018 Author Share Posted July 6, 2018 September 2019 Update — Real Madrid An excellent first “proper” month, with one slip-up. Schedule We’ve gelled fast, and blitzed people. Only one goal conceded all month is pretty phenomenal. Unfortunately, that was really cost us — as we fell away to Gijon. The rest of the month, however, was as close to perfection as you could. As I thought: the quick transition tactic fits these guys perfectly. It’s typical Madrid stuff, to be honest: Pacy wide-men, fullbacks bombing forward, a middle man to link play, and a superiority of numbers in midfield with a single pivot system. Dybala has been extraordinary, bagging two separate hattricks and another brace. The fire-power is overwhelming. I’m constantly rotating the front-three, which keeps everyone engaged. The loss to Gijon hurt. But we deserved to lose: The outplayed and frustrated us; we lost our heads. Down to ten men, we were in trouble. I gambled an shifted to a back-three, keeping all the attacking options on the field. It failed — hand up, my bad. League Table We’re tops, with an imperious goal difference. Squad List The back four is settled, and Toni Kroos is an ever present. I’ve vacillated between Asensio and Modric in the advanced playmaker role. They’ve both been great; they’ve also been great playing together. I’ll continue to keep each of the midfield three — Asensio, Modric, Zielinski — fresh by constantly rotating. I’m not a big believer in “knowing your best eleven”. To me, that’s silly. Every game, every opponent is different. And there’s injuries and suspensions. The key is finding the balance with rotation, keeping everyone involved and fresh while still having guys learn to play together and learn the system. I agreed a deal to sell Benzema to Chelsea rather than Napoli, allowing us to keep him as backup until January. That gives me time to re-allocate the funds and add one of my long-term targets in January, where they’re hopefully available for the stretch run (though unlikely the Champions League). Speaking of the European Cup. We’re favorites. No pressure then: Our dynamics are, umm, good? The players don’t trust or like me. I don’t blame them — I’m a no name most of them will never have heard of from the Brazilian top league. Thankfully, they love one another. I’m re-training Vinicius Junior. one of the top youth prospects in all of football, as a false 9. I know I have Dybala and Firmino, both of whom will still be in their primes before I leave. But I just like how his attributes fit, and want the youth development to be a real part of the “football language” goal of this save. Not just signing five-star potential guys, but leaving my imprint at clubs be re-training young players into Pep-like positions and giving them style-specific player traits. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted July 6, 2018 Author Share Posted July 6, 2018 Ugh. He was dominating, too. Good job we can turn to the bench and bring Ronaldo on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie laaaaaaaad Posted July 8, 2018 Author Share Posted July 8, 2018 October 2019 Update — Real Madrid A perfect month, barring injury concerns. Another month in which we conceded only one goal, and this time it was in a blowout win against United at home. We’re in cruise mode already. The big match-ups, of course, will be the Classico’s against Barca, the derbies vs. Atletico, and the Champions League knockout rounds. For now, things are going swimmingly. One thing that’s evident from our transition from Sao Paulo to Madrid: Speed. Speed of the players; speed of movement; speed of thought; and speed or ball circulation. Everything is just that beat to two-beats quicker, and it shows. We’ve been poleaxing inferior teams early in games, racking up leads in the first half, and then hitting teams on the counter attack once they commit men forward. The Bale injury is a bad one. We’re looking at getting him back for the final, final stretch of the season — perhaps the Champions League semi-finals if we’re lucky. But the league will likely have been decided by then. And it’s not just Bale. Modric went down. A nasty hip injury that will rule him out of the winter period. We’re fortunate to have a decent rotation in the middle of the park, but it’s a nice reminder that, at 34-years-old, it’s time to start looking a replacement to the Croatian maestro. League Table Little separating Barca and ourselves at the top. Atletico have had a shocking start to the season, ruling themselves out of the title race already. They will turn it around. It may come under a new manager. Squad List With Modric and Bale out, we now have a settled squad, with some injections of magic and legs ready and waiting on the bench. Dybala has been outrageously good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUFCspeni Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 Some pretty hefty wages in that squad Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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