[FM19] Not all that glitters is gold.

[_Ben_]

Incoming Transfer

On the look out for an AMC to add depth to a weak area of the squad and coinciding with the ending contract of Magalhaes, my first ever signing, I sent my Mexican scout to North America. He found on-loan Colombian Valderrama. I was, obviously, sold by just the name. Although Marlon hasn't had the best season at New York City, runners up in the MLS in 2031, he was a signing I feel is a good enough risk for me. There is clear, clear quality - a wonderkid and a very good array of attributes. My scouts worried that he may have some issues settling and is possibly a card happy (only 6 yellows last year though) but he will clearly offer me a huge chance at a profit.

His parent club, Atletico Nacional, has a £1m release clause for foreign clubs, which Angel Di Maria took up.

I already have a very good midfielder in Andre Guilherme and, actually, these players are both very similar with Marlon probably edging it due to the attribute skew of being two-footed:

With the above signing of Marquez, too, I am now building a squad that is capable of competing on multiple fronts.

[kidthekid]

those are two good signings indeed

[_Ben_]

January 2032

We have kicked off the year with a great month and now sit pretty in a very attainable third place, as highest scorers in the league. The draw away at Sporting leads me to a prediction that, now we've gone undefeated against them - should finish above them in the league. I doubt we can catch the top two and do have to play both of them again but this could potentially be our year to break the grip on the table. We started very poorly against Moreirense but fought back with a well-earned win over Setubal. The Taca de Portugal, a cup I've never won, saw us demolish a decent Chaves side before then putting four past Nacional; with new signing Mendoza opening his account for us. I wasn't too disheartened at the cup exit to Sporting as the final was scheduled just three days later, and this is very much a 'league points on the board' approach right now. We continued our hot streak win wins over struggling Guimaraes and Penafiel and rounded off with a somewhat fortuitous draw in Lisbon.

Next month we play all of the bottom three but do sandwich that around our Europa League adventure. In this moment, the league is the precedent as third gives us our first ever shot at the Champions League (which I know winning the EL will, but that's not realistic right now). 

[_Ben_]

February 2032

We extend our league unbeaten run as we move above Benfica, for the time being, in the league. The focus on the defensive side of our play at the start of the season has paid off as we now can spend our time attempting to play decisive, free flowing, attacking football - scoring freely.

Sadly, a European exit has tarnished the month but, as previously mentioned, top three is the aim here as it gives me a chance at the riches of the Champions League.

[_Ben_]

2032 Youth Intake

Absolutely fantastic, with depth where I need depth and a good spread of 'experiments' for developing. The standout here, and a player who is already good enough for the first team is Tiago Silva - the left footed central midfielder that I was going to try and sign from afar this summer. He's obviously a little raw and untested but that hasn't stop Marques, the centre back who came through last year, getting significant minutes in the first team. Torres is rated higher though, I am hoping that Silva hasn't already peaked!

Tiago Silva

Andre Torres

[_Ben_]

March 2032

Unbeaten and performing well. We move towards the business end of the season in 2nd place but face Rio Ave, Porto and Benfica next month.

[turnip]

Depending on how the club reputation's going, Valderrama looks like a £25m+ sale within a couple of seasons.

[_Ben_]

9 hours ago, turnip said:

Depending on how the club reputation's going, Valderrama looks like a £25m+ sale within a couple of seasons.

That is certainly the plan. He's not setting the world alight, let, at the club but he'll either go on to be very important for us or a good sellable asset as he has a great base of skills.

[_Ben_]

April 2032

A tough month for us, fixture wise. Facing three of the top five in a row is hard at the best of times, but, when considering that this is the end of the season and our squad is somewhat depleted by injuries and a lack of depth, we were always up against it. A Folha-less side went to Benfica and, despite our numerical advantage in the midfield, just struggled to control the game. 19 shots to four and with 11 on target to our two, we never really had a chance. The Porto and Rio Ave games were both much more even and we do tend to play well against the 4231 shape, nullifying the threat of their AMC with a defensive minded CM but then causing havoc with our own AMC, either Guilherme or Valderrama. A Taca de Portugal final against Porto awaits in a competition we have never won before, preceding a couple of pretty straightforward league games.

We face Portimonense and Setubal in the final two games, and neither of these have anything to play for - with 2nd place up against us as we surrendered our advantage in the defeat to Benfica.

[_Ben_]

End of Season 2032

    

The season has ended on a pretty decent note, albeit seeing us throw away the potential of finishing second due to an eight minute collapse at the bitter end of the Portimonense game. The victory over Setubal was a great demonstration of how far we've come, showing mid table teams that we are far superior to them on a regular basis. The untimely announcement of the U20 World Cup saw me without a total of 10 players for the Taca de Portugal, starting with a 18 year old goalkeeper and an untested defensive setup. Sadly, we couldn't hold on and lost on penalties - meaning we have still not won this competition.

At the bottom of the table, it is sadness for Real and Sacavenense, two teams who played in the third tier at the time that we did. Both lasted two seasons but haven't managed to solidify enough to stay up. Replacing them are Pacos Ferreira, largely down to a loanee from ourselves and Maritimo.

Below are the first team squad, sorted by minutes played:

A small injury from Braz (and being on U20 duty) has meant he has missed three games from the season - but I have managed to rotate to a large enough degree that I have kept performances high, with only three players below that 'magical' 7.0 average rating. Firstly, Andre Folha has, once again, led the line and scored on a regular basis - albeit now seems to be finding the dry patches a little harder to escape from. I think this is largely because of the more defensive minded approach the opponents are taking, limiting the spaces for him to work in. Andre Guilherme created nearly one and a half key passes a game and led the team in terms of assists, although I would like to see a bigger goalscoring return from our AP. Similarly to this, Vitor Pereira has developed into quite a wonderful player, yet 6 goals from a very attacking team for a player who essentially plays as a wider forward just isn't good enough.

This season has also seen me use the loan market well:

Amazingly, Tinoco, Louro and Laranjeira have moved to wonderkids whilst being out on loan and Tinoco, playing for second tier winners, has amassed 16 goals and 15 assists in his 46 appearances. With Jota picking up a serious injury and returning early from his loan - I had a space in the tail end of the season in which I needed cover for, long term. Instead of looking outside of the club, I feel Pedro deserves a chance. Secondly, Joao Louro has excelled on loan - you don't win the Serie A top goalscorer, in a team finishing sixth, for nothing. I (Angel Di Maria) rewarded him with a new £8k p/w mid way through his loan and he'll return to the first team fold experienced in a big league. Botelho returns from his loan now ready for top tier action, Candeias has now played two full seasons in the top flight and Laranjeira and Almeida are developing well in the first team's of other mid table clubs.

If last summer was about revolution in the transfer market, this is about evolution. I want to look at how the younger players within my team have a route to the first team and ensure they have their chances.

[_Ben_]

Unwanted sales

I never like to go into a transfer window under-prepared or unplanned but I feel as if there is now a possibility we may either go into the season weaker than last season or may end up spending money on a player who I haven't researched and analysed in enough detail. 

First up is Elias Quinteros - a £240k signing from Huracan, in the Argentine second tier, two seasons back. He has moved on for a fee of nearly £25m to Chelsea:

Elias had two years left on his deal but was angry about not being allowed to discuss a new one. He then decided to bring a few other members of the team into this, who also turned on me. Whilst he is a great player - at nearly a 100x mark up on the signing fee - I can't turn down this kind of deal.

Next up is centre back Jorge Avalos:

He was my second favourite signing last summer - coming in for just £150k from his native Peru - a true diamond found by my scouting set up. He performed well last year and his heading ability brought something that we have, historically, struggled with. Never the less - one year into his own deal, he too decided he wanted a new one. A polite 'no' followed and then a complete meltdown occurred and,  of course, he took the side of Quinteros when he moaned. He's Resolute and Level Headed which (if I recall) has a small window on his professionalism, loyalty etc - meaning they'll be ok, but not great. I have no place in the squad I am building for players who are unprofessional and bad news and despite his clear ability, Avalos falls foul of that. The loan deal brings me £100k a month and all of his wages paid - so that'll save me nearly £340k in his wages and bring in just over £1m - a mark up on his incoming fee. I have no idea what the plan at the end of next season will be as I could only move him on to a much less reputable league.

It does leave me two first team players down and, with the date rolling into July - only a short window to make replacements, of which I wasn't planning on doing.

[Mandy42]

caught up with this, though must admit I was likely to follow along just for the title alone. Looking forward to next season!

[_Ben_]

Decimated

Transfer deadline day has not been too kind to me. A settled squad, even with the two aforementioned sales, having played a few games and settling in to a new season. Even with nearly £70m in the bank - the board have decided to get involved and sell off two of my first team players:

£13m was enough to allow Louro to move on. He was superb in Serie A last term and, despite being second fiddle to Folha, was going to get some serious minutes this year. 

£22m, raising to £25.5m was enough to move on a player that I signed for just £75k. Laranjo had become an integral part of the first team and we are much weaker without him.

 

The problem with deadline day? I'm now stuck until January...

[_Ben_]

Future Plans

We are, sadly, still not in a position to hold our own within the transfer market - if we are not usurped by transfer fee (strange as we now have over £100m in the bank yet only 47% of that is made available for my own transfers) we have our players unsettled by a mid table club in a more reputable league. This save is a long term thing, and if I hark back to the flow chart I made about six seasons back (see below), we are most definitely still in the progress phase - developing my squad and attempting to break the dominance of the big three in Portugal.

However - whilst I am not part of this elite group of European teams, or even not the elite group of Portuguese teams - i need to adopt a slightly different approach. If I can enter that domestic dominance with hundreds of millions in the bank and profitable players in the team, I will be in a strong position. Therefore, during this time, I cannot be too upset if a player leaves as I am building up stocks ready for the time I may need to splash £100m on the only player that could improve my team. I will continue to allow players to move on to further their careers and replace them, either with academy graduates or new options. This will no doubt slow my progress down but I feel that it's somewhat realistic.

My focus for players still maintains a similar focus to before - the academy takes precedent but I have added a few more 'layers' to this:

The first two layers still remain, but the third layer mainly represents the type of player like Laranjo, above. He was signed from the second tier for £75k and sold on for nearly £25m. There are some fantastic players in the second and third tier and some of them, even in their mid-20's (like Magalhaes a few years back) can come in and make a difference, even to my side. I will still look at Buenos Aires, even if that takes me to Argentine's in general but the market is normally pretty costly - even if there is a big sell on value. I added the MLS a few years ago and now I'm planning to focus on mainly South American players generated by the smaller clubs, before they enter the MLS draft. They are all amateurs and therefore cost me nothing but, given their nationality, can become profitable for me. Next - free transfers are always ways of making profit for the club - so will look to arrange deals early on.

Hopefully this can see me enter the next phase of this game in an even-sounder financial situation.

 

[_Ben_]

July and August 2032

Busy month(s) to kick off the season but we have managed to make progress into the CL groups, for the first time ever. we even managed so despite losing to Trabzonspor despite them not actually having a shot on target - their only goal coming from the foot of Mendonca, my own centre half. We have started the league campaign well, despite a much thinner squad, of which I will share the incoming transfers shortly.

[_Ben_]

Transfers in

Sergio Martins. Andre Hugo. Jonas Mussa

The three above players are perfect examples of the above transfer policy - a combined £216.75k has been spent on them, with little in wages or signing on fees. They are all young and offer opportunity to sell on, whether they have broken into the first team or not. Hugo will be re-trained as an IWB(d) on the right hand side as, if he does make the team, offers me an option I don't have, instead of being an average player in an otherwise crowded role in midfield.

Jailson is a gamble (isn't any striker with 10 for Finishing?) and will now be needed in the first team following the departure of Louro. However, he has absolutely fantastic mental attributes and is very physical for a 19 year old. He was playing at second tier Avai and I attended a couple of their Santa Catarina State games, in which he performed really well as a lone striker. Obviously, the level of these games is way below what he'll potentially be playing here but I felt that his decisions, anticipation and off the ball made up for his relatively poor work when he was on the ball - he'd get into good spaces where 'most' people could finish. He had a £300k release fee for foreign clubs and I feel that this is certainly a gamble worth taking, given how much he will give in training due to his personality. He is rated very low on PA but I really feel like he'll outperform that, given on those attributes. The scouts pulled up nothing with hidden stats, which helped too.

In terms of his development here - I already play a PF(a) so won't worry about that and I will watch him play within my system before I decide on whether any kind of traits would help.

Martinez could become the heir to the Laranjo throne. He's signed on a year long loan and Rayo are, understandably, not keen to let him go but he does have a ~£3m release clause, although this is twice my current transfer record. With the departure of the above name - he'll also be getting more first team football than I intended - as I had brought him in to see how much he'd develop and to give myself an option to buy, should I want to. I am not too excited about developing a player for someone else so his initial form will determine his future but I like his balance of attributes and the fact he is good with both feet. He has a competitive streak which I will watch but he could be a great player.

I'm not 'happy' with the summer, per se, but I hope that we've got enough quality to be in and around the top four again.

[Mandy42]

spending 1% of the transfer of 1 player on 6 new ones, yes you'll be rolling in it in no time!

[_Ben_]

September 2032

A fantastic month in which I celebrated six hundred games in charge - with a 52% win ratio, losing and drawing 24% each. We have, four times, scored four goals this season with our forward play looking absolutely scintillating at times. In both Rio Ave and Setubal games, we decided to give up after half time, conceding a silly goal at a lapse in concentration both times. The Olympiakos game - on the other hand, saw us 3-0 down after 25 minutes - where I felt the real 'Champions League' would kick off but a great comeback - where I singled out aging full back Diego Dalot, allowing Mendoza to run wild, gave me a cool £2.5m in prize money. The high point of the month though is the Benfica win - where we have shown that we can mix it against the big teams and no longer need to sit back and try and hit them on the break.

A perfect start but I, once again, foresee a top three finish as a target here.

[_Ben_]

On 21/01/2019 at 00:56, Mandy42 said:

spending 1% of the transfer of 1 player on 6 new ones, yes you'll be rolling in it in no time!

Well - yes. I've never been too fond of splashing the cash but If I can bring in £50m+ each season and spend no more than £500k, then I will be very very rich very very soon!

[WillHoward42]

Can we get a screenshot of Mendoza? He seems to be on fire!

[_Ben_]

On 23/01/2019 at 14:16, WillHoward42 said:

Can we get a screenshot of Mendoza? He seems to be on fire!

Of course. I play him as an IF(a) with the intention of him staying really far forward - almost a wide forward, on the shoulder of the full back. He scored seven times in 18 games last year but already has eight in ten this season in all comps.

[_Ben_]

October 2032

If September was fluent, attacking football, October has brought about offensive uncertainty. Three deep crosses cost us against Portimonense, where we did field out 5'3" full back, Tiago Ricardo, but I couldn't hall him off due to the lack of cover on the bench. Our first team (stupidly forgot to make U23 players ready and they played on the same day) easily beat Sernache of the third tier before a run of a couple of timid performances. We went to Madrid fully on the defensive and I think that I may have gone a step too far. We have always looked to be tight before scoring but we are certainly looking like we lack creative influence going forward in a 4-1-4-1 formation with a flat four in the middle. We restricted Real to a couple of shot (so they're certainly not over running us) but barely threatened ourselves. I need to address this going forward. The game after the biggest ever tie would have to be against league champions Porto, wouldn't it? We were tired, lacklustre and never really threatened them - completely deserving the defeat. That continued into the Guimaraes game where it was only two late screamers by Vieira that saved us and we then, again, failed to perform against a very weak Nacional side. 

The good start seems to have slowed down but fourth is exactly where I am expecting come the end of the season - given the reduction in quality in the squad and the potential resurgence of Sporting after last year's disappointment.

[_Ben_]

November 2032

A bit of a stop start month, where we again made a fool of ourselves against Moreirense - the Champions League hangover is real! I am slightly worried that, should Benfica win their game in hand, a six point gap is already open between us and the top three. 

I have secured the signing of several young players over the past month, of which I will review in due course.

[_Ben_]

December 2032

A largely successful month where we eased into the sixth round of the Taca de Portugal and somehow scraped into the knockout rounds of the Champions League - going through at the expense of Milan. However, we meet Man City in the first knockout round so, presumably, our dream ends there. Annoyingly, we capitulated against Rio Ave and, as such, exit the Taca de Liga at the third phase. The pattern of previous years seems to be repeating - we are better than the chasing pack, potentially eight points ahead if we win our game in but we are a little off the pace of the top three. The gap isn't too big now and over the past six seasons, maintaining this ppg average (2.13) we would finish on 72 points and in 3rd, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 3rd and 2nd, which shows that we still need that extra something to get to the top.

The past few months have seen intense scouting missions to North America and I have managed to secure the signings of several young players who will, hopefully, becoming profitable for me in the future or move into first team roles.

Marcos Sotelo

Victor Rodriguez

Henry Nino

Cristian Luque

Francivaldo

There are a couple of Portuguese based lads that I'm tying up deals for, as well as a Colombian wonderkid on loan at Roma with a stupidly low release clause. I am, hopefully, close to building a squad that has real potential to be a league winner in a few years and any gaps will hopefully be funded with sales from these 'profitable' signings.

[_Ben_]

Missed opportunity

Am I angry that I didn't pay the £5m to take him from Leiria a few years back? Probably. Does that mean there won't be more players who can make the same moves? Definitely not.

[_Ben_]

January 2033

A fantastic month of free scoring football that has sandwiched a double header that probably has all but killed off any chance of finishing in the top three this season. I am beginning to experiment with different attacking roles used to expose areas in the opposition - such as the AP(s) or (a) when facing highly attacking wing backs or bringing the primary playmaker within the team back to the MC strata if the defence is overly deep or crowded. It was the former that led to a resounding cup win again Sporting, albeit largely their team of kids. I know they are a different team in the league but that, if anything, is the hope that we need to one day overthrow them. Eight seasons in the top flight and we are certainly the closest that we have ever been. I am unsure as to exactly what was to blame for the two Boavista games - just profligacy in the opposing area. Folha is finding his scoring boots again after a tough start to the season and it shows as we have roared our way back to the league top scorers but I do need to reign in the goals conceded column.

In January, I also added this man - Carlos 'Nelly' Furtado for just £150k.

He'd already made two appearances for Portimonense in this tier and is clearly already a special player. He's going to make the move to the first team over the next couple of years but I could haev a real star on my hands here.

[_Ben_]

(Probable) end of the road

This post nearly became something else. What started as a tactical masterclass has ended in what is probably our last home game in the competition this year. Man City are, obviously, a team full of talent, but it was their left back, Hallyson Carlos, that stood out to me. A complete wing back, who loves to get forward and also knocks the ball past his opponent. To counter the threat from him, I started full back Diogo Marques in the AMR role - as a W(s) but marking tightly and tackling hard, specifically on Carlos. Knowing he would be spending most of the time upfield - I then moved Andre Folha in to the STRC role as his normal PF(a). This then put him on the outside of the centre back and into the hole vacated by the full back. In my penultimate, I stuck Bento Raposo, the left centre back as a BPD and instructed the play to go down the left hand side, but with underlaps. This was a ploy to pull everyone over to the left and then allow the creative Mendoza (now an AP(A) to switch the ball into the big space left behind. 

It worked amazingly, we roared into a 3-0 league, Folha and Mendoza netting before half and AMC Guilherme scoring a great 'tactical' goal on the hour mark. I moved Folha back, lowered my line of engagement and attempted to soak up all the pressure. Two absolute screamers (and I mean that - they will probably both be in the running for Goal of the Tournament) and then a scrappy goal from a corner saw our lead eaten away.

Sadly - I doubt we'll be able to do anything in Manchester but I feel like I'm getting a grip of what I want to be able to do tactically.

On the other hand - our youth team seem to be doing pretty well...

[_Ben_]

February 2033

65 goals scored and 25 conceded this season - pretty much matched this month. Great going forward but often prone to falling asleep and conceding, normally when we've got a bit complacent. I need to spend another bit of time looking at how I approach the later parts of the game - changes that I make are currently mainly for injuries/yellow cards or giving youngsters minutes - maybe this will need to change as I continue to find ways in which to restrict and expose the opposition. I also will look at how I'm using shouts and team instructions - I often find myself going in for the kill when two or three goals up and this does leave us short on the break, at times.

Never the less - we enter the final ten games of the season with an outside shot at the title. Given the huge similarities between the top three - I think a good season will see us win the league, whenever that may be, but then could quite easily finish fourth again the next season. I must say I'm really enjoying the challenge of trying to break them.

[_Ben_]

2033 Youth Intake

Somewhat disappointing, in comparison with the past two seasons anyway. Star of two years back, Guilherme Marques, is now a veteran of over 60 appearances for the club and last year's star, Tiago Silva, is already training with the first team and has had some, limited, minutes across nine games this season. I really don't see any of these players being able to reach that kind of level but have included the 'media description' column to the end of this screen - with a hint of a 'promising' player usually a solid indication into hopefully some good PA.

We have a problem with determination in the squad - there are few outliers but the average is around 13 to 14 - so everyone seems to be dropping down to that level. Sadly, this intake will do nothing to improve that squad average and it is annoying that top prospect, Batis Balde, fits into that poor category. Determination aside, he's got a solid base but there is nothing overly mind blowing. He'll still get some time and focus on his development as it's an area that I don't have huge amounts of depth - particularly in wingers that work reasonably hard and for the team. Joao Rodrigues is the second player I've picked out - only because his heading is in double figures - a rarity I have found in my game. Sadly, he's very small for a centre back and cannot position himself.

I'll get some scouts around to find out if anything good has been produced in Portugal this intake day.

[_Ben_]

March 2033

No table this month as I've accidentally played into April...

A valiant effort in Manchester makes me rue those wonder goals even more. We have, however, made the first knockout round of the Champions League in our first venture in to the competition - but sadly, it looks like likely that we won't feature next season, especially after the loss against Porto sees us drop back to ten points behind third placed Sporting. 

[Mandy42]

You'll just have to go all the way this season then if you can't make it into next season  

[_Ben_]

Securing the next generation of Beira-Mar talent

Looking back at my youth intakes - I would say I have been extremely lucky with the sheer amount of generational talents I have received. However, I have been somewhat disappointed with the spread of these and the lack of decent squad players (I mean squad player for a top four team rather than the fully youth only approach from the second and third tier). Looking at the first team players that have come through my academy - they aren't grouped together:

Tiago Silva - 2031/32

Guilherme Marques - 2030/31

Pedro Tinoco - 2028/29

Vitor Pereira - 2027/28

Andre Folha - 2025/26

Francisco Bolas - 2025/26

Bento Raposo - 2024/25

Antonio Vieira - 2023/24

Whilst it is highly unrealistic that a team, in real life, would be able to secure a first team player each year for eight years (not that this is how their 'intakes' work but it shows that 2025/26 aside (where we also had Teles who is now one of the best players in Europe) we have managed to only produce a great talent and then not a lot else (the rest of the squad members are made up from imports from other academies).

What is the cause of this? Facilities? Junior Coaching? Recruitment? May be - but that have all progressed over the past few years. One thing that has largely remained untouched is the youth staff. Below is the current set up:

Tiago Rente. Clemente Dinis. Andre Gomes. Sao Garcia

Sao has been here since 2020 and she is the strongest youth coach I have, whilst manager Rente joined in 2022 so has coached all of these players at some point in their career. Dinis signed in 2025 and Gomes, by far the weakest, joined in 2031.

These staff work with my HoYD, Matias Silvestre:

Silvestre is a much closer fit to what I imagine is useful for a HOYD - his preferred formation nearly matches mine and his pressing style, mentality and marking style match my own. He is Argentinian but this has not allowed him to bring through a single dual nationality in his time here.

The average determination of the group of youth coaches is just over 11 - a worrying trend even if that is offset slightly when including Silvestre, taking it just over 12. Two of the staff share a coaching style of 'Mental' whereas one is fitness and the other is goalkeeping. I have literally no idea what impact this has on players but there is obviously big gaps missing from the whole spectrum of styles. They average 12 in WWY, just over 12 in Discipline and just over 9 in Motivating. Again - unsure of this impact on generation but this is evident to me:

The players in the youth team (Sergio Martins aside as I purchased him) like these coaches. Yet they aren't that great. What if I could get the best coaching team? Am I generating three of four good players a season but not having the correct people develop them? Maybe. Is this a risk I feel I can minimise? Definitely.

I will attempt to revamp the youth training team over the summer and see what difference that makes.

[_Ben_]

April 2033

One thing we are incredibly good at this season is scoring goals! 15 league goals in four games this month shows a tremendous return for the six players who have reached double figure this year. However - should we want to really challenge for honours, we must sort out our defensive frailties - a single clean sheet and two games, against poor opposition, where we have been beaten three times. It is lucky that we have the firepower to reverse that. I will look in a bit more depth at the exact reasons behind these goals and attempt to do something sooner rather than later!

[_Ben_]

2032/33 End of Season Update

Despite us dropping a place to fourth and, as such, losing entrance to the Champions League for next year, I feel very happy with what the season has taught me. I cannot remember the last time I have witnessed a team of my own score as freely as we have this season, breaking the league record for goals scored, despite not winning the league. I am, however, concerned at the sheer amount of goals we have conceded - whilst just over 1 a game isn't, at all bad, you only have to look at the top two - particularly Porto, to see that it is possible to score a decent amount and keep tight at the back simultaneously. The league has now very much become a four horse race and, although Sporting overtook us this season - we are still some distance from the top two. The margin of error is tiny, with Benfica losing just once all year, a 2-0 defeat against us early on in the season.

Player wise - we are really making strides to get the best out of this group of players. Six players into double figures, two in their twenties and an excellent amount of assists for number 10, Guilherme. Braz has, once again, played every minute of the season but I have tried to rotate where possible. My dealings for the summer are already underway and this has seen the promotion of both Vargas and Silva to the first team and the relegation of a couple of players I hope to move on.

The summer sees us attempt to rebuild the backroom, re-shape a little bit tactically and strengthen in one or two areas - expecting very little first team movement.

[_Ben_]

Evolving the playing style

I feel that, with my ongoing development and learning of the match engine and the continuous development of our playing squad and standing within the game, I need to ensure that I am making continuous movements with my playing style to ensure that I am moving forward on the pitch.

I still want us to play a high pressure game when not in possession of the ball - the gegenpress style has served me well until this point and produces many chances to score lots of goals, which has been evident this season. However, I feel our play whilst on the ball needs to evolve. Below shows my thoughts on how it's changed so far in the game:

The start of the game saw us able to win the ball back, play long balls and run after it - physical players in the lower leagues worked wonders and we got the ball wide and put teams to the sword. As we entered the top flight - we were able to counter teams that saw us as a weak link - this meant that we would play slightly deeper with a lower block and then use the pace and physicality, already needed for the off the ball style, to get the ball forward. Again, we could get away with weaker players who were physical. The next stage has been a fluid attacking style - teams are starting to get cautious but we can utilise having better players than their defenders and being able to pick out 'that' pass or move it around quickly and make them pay. I will, as I continue my search for the league title, face more and more teams that are parking the bus - Portugal tends to favour a 4-2-3-1, which in itself is attacking as it has nobody in the defensive strata - but this will entail two banks and full backs who do not commit forward. This will mean that I will simply be crowded out - my forwards are unable to find the space they need to work the magic. Therefore I need a deeper option to create chances and players further back who are good on the ball. 

On the pitch, this may see me using a DLP(d) or even a IWB(s) or (a) and ensure that recruitment and development for my defensive unit focuses on ball skills more so than before. I have also added another two attributes to the 'DNA' that I use - first touch and vision. Below is my squad, a few new signings short, with the new DNA shown:

Pre-season will determine exactly how I utilise this kind of approach...

[Mandy42]

interesting to see it written out like this as in my save I am most definitely at the point where "most teams park the bus" especially when they come to Stamford Bridge, and I have to be wary not to just fling everyone forward and then get caught on the counter. 

Do you get a lot of resistance trying to train "DNA" numbers for players who think they don't need those stats to play their position? As I do, I have box to box midfielders who love taking shots from distance but don't feel they need to work on their single digit shooting!! 

[_Ben_]

On 04/02/2019 at 10:25, Mandy42 said:

interesting to see it written out like this as in my save I am most definitely at the point where "most teams park the bus" especially when they come to Stamford Bridge, and I have to be wary not to just fling everyone forward and then get caught on the counter. 

Do you get a lot of resistance trying to train "DNA" numbers for players who think they don't need those stats to play their position? As I do, I have box to box midfielders who love taking shots from distance but don't feel they need to work on their single digit shooting!! 

I've watched games where they are seven players back, marking my three forward players and we just cannot create anything that way - it's just another means to an end, I hope.

As for the DNA - sometimes, yeah. Either my youth products have to be rounded or my recruitment needs to focus on them. I haven't really had any success yet or 're-designing' a player to fit my needs.

[_Ben_]

Pre-season 2033/34

A difficult one for us - I've had somewhat of a clearout of my reserve team and those players struggling to get minutes in the first team - however, I haven't really replaced them and now am left with a group of really promising youngsters who I am not sure are entirely ready for the first team, yet. Firstly - here are the outgoings:

The major money has come from the sales of Tiago Ricardo and Leonardo Ramos - both rotational options last year who just haven't played the minutes necessary. I have brought in a replacement for Ricardo but feel that the depth we have on the wings will, hopefully, cover the loss of Ramos. Want-away centre back Avalos moves to Spain and I am happy that, after a loan deal, I've picked up nearly £5m for a player I paid about £100k for. Jailson Schulle was an experiment that didn't work but has left me very depleted up front and youngsters Botelho, Laranjeira and Mendes all move on after failing to make the first team since coming through the academy. These players aren't exactly quality but I do feel that we are somewhat weaker as a squad, overall.

Below are the incoming deals:

A really disappointing window, to date. We have failed to make any dents in the market and it would seem that, even with a budget of over £100m, there just isn't to scope of players interested that I require. All of the free transfers are players for the youth team - potentially sellable assets in the future but I now have worries that we may be forcing our own youngsters out of the picture with ten or so of these players joining in the last two years. The only player for the first team is young Colombian, Juan Ramirez:

I was a few days too late when I started my approach last summer as he moved to Roma on a long term loan deal. I made use of his £900k minimum release clause to ensure he'd sign at the end of his deal. Unfortunately, his time in the Italian capital was not hugely successful - 1 goal and 3 assists in 35 games at an average of 6.69. Whilst he is clearly already a very solid box to box player - my intention is to use the sale of right back Tiago Ricardo and the implementation of deeper creative players to use him as a playmaking wing back. He's a little on the small side (yet way bigger than 5'3" Ricardo) but has solid defensive attributes and some decent potential, according to the recruitment team.

With his signing - this leaves my strongest XI looking like this:

I do have some concerns about the age and experience of these players - with three of my back four having played less than 100 appearances and central midfielder Tiago Silva just making a dent, from the bench. I very clearly have a lot of quality here and these players are certainly good enough to make a mark in the league and potentially in Europe but the age of them is so young. I am a firm believer that consistency is built over a games early in their careers and these players just haven't had the experience, overall, at a higher level. Pedro Tinoco is a fine example of someone who has - he's played a year in the second tier, ripped it apart and now come back ready and performing really well. This is even more evidenced when you look at the other player within the first team:

 

Very inexperienced and I'm actively searching for some loanees who will be able to provide cover whilst the likes of Vargas and Furtado earn their stripes in men's football.

[Mandy42]

Marion Valderama looks like a beast!

[_Ben_]

Incoming Transfer - Cristián Medina

In what was fast becoming my most disappointing transfer window in the last four of five years - I believe I may have pulled off a deal that could take this club to the next level. Cristian Medina joins from Racing, in Argentina, for his £3.7m minimum release clause, just a year after he was snapped up, for another release clause (£1.8m) from Colo Colo, in his native Chile. I had been watching him since I spotted him at the U20 World Cup back in 2031, where striker Franco Gutierrez was on my shopping list (I've now reminded myself to look again!). Medina sees me add an addition £2.1m on to my previous transfer record but some of my fans already seem against this:

However - the beauty of this experiment is what I can possibly get from him. I don't see him as a Mezzala and I am stacked in the middle of the park but I believe that he is one of a few players in this current game world that is a) left footed b) over six foot tall and c) can head, tackle and pass. 13's and 14's aren't world class, by any stretch of the imagination but he's certainly good enough for this level and has the potential to develop some more - although I hope I don't take too long from his development time changing his position - remembering that he is not far from being 21. I plan to train him as a libero, as seen below and develop a trait that I really have always wanted, and always failed in defenders, to get him to bring the ball out from the back. Although he'll play as a BPD(d) - the LIB(a) role trains more of the style I want and his attributes fit that quite well (which may even see me go to a three at the back if I can use the libero to get him into those spaces for those ridiculous long shots!)

A

Although we are only playing a friendly match against second tier affiliate Benfica Castelo Branco - I want to have a look at how he might fit in to this defence. Firstly - below is how I intend to line up. Xuxa is a relatively conservative left back and he already has the trait of 'plays on two's' - so I can see a nice little ball playing option down on the left flank where possible. Guilherme Marques is the 'natural' defender of the lot and his trait of 'stays back at all times' will allow Medina to move forward when possible. Ramirez, the signing mentioned above, has already ticked over to 'accomplished' at RB and he is bit more offensive - a good out ball for Medina. Medina, himself, lines up as a normal BPD(d) with the added 'dribble more' PI on him to hopefully get him bringing the ball out where possible.

Whilst I had visualised the defensive mechanism - I had forgot to look ahead of Medina and how he would link with the midfield and beyond. The game started off reasonably well but this is what I saw, looking at the early analysis:

The CM(d) is far too close to Medina to allow him to actually move forward with the ball. I am not someone who tends to make lots of changes over the course of the game but I did make one change - swapping the BBM(s) to the left centre and the CM(d) to the right centre. The first GIF below show the exact kind of movement that I want from Medina - picking the ball up deep and moving forward with it. I now need to address what he does with it - ideally picking out options and creating chances. The second example shows him picking the ball up from the goalkeeper, playing a one-two with Xuxa and then moving the ball across the field and wide to the right wing back. His movement has allowed us to switch play quite comfortably and this could be a major factor in breaking down stubborn lines of defence.

Example 1

Example 2

He ended the game like this:

His pass map, with orange being unsuccessful passes:

His touches of the ball and average position within the game:

Again - I must re-assure myself that this is pre-season against weak opposition but he's played exactly the game that I wanted to. I'm hoping there is more to come!

[_Ben_]

Oh Taulant Xhaka, if only you knew...

[_Ben_]

August 2033

Historically, we have always started league campaigns in somewhat of a slugglish way and I think that this year is no different. Slask provided little challenge but we weren't even at our best in Russia against Zenit and a late equaliser has let us off against Porto. My biggest victory this month has been keeping my squad together - I've received offers of up to £25m for Xuxa, £30m for Raposo and nearly £50m for Valderrama (one such bid coming from Sporting who have just spent ~£50m on deadline day alone). Whilst the thinking behind this save has always been to allow a player to move on for the correct amount - I simply do not have the squad depth at the moment, and, despite possibly my strongest starting XI, I have the weakest U23 and U19 for some years.

[_Ben_]

September 2033

A very busy month for us which started off with a terrible performance at home to Guimaraes, who have started the season very well. Whilst I was rollocking the first team, my youth team comfortably beat Penafiel in the first of the group phase fixtures of the Taca da Liga. The first of our Europa League fixtures kicked off, with a fairly comfortable win in Kiev. A solid victory over Sporting and then two more league wins - the latter coming against a Lorenzo Insigne manager Setubal, who's default defensive formation is some kind of moronic 5-2-2-1-0 DM formation (literally a flat back five, 2 DMs, 2 wide midfielders and an AMC!) before a huge morale boosting victory against the Israeli champions.

[_Ben_]

October 2033

An unbeaten month whereby I have continued to heavily rotate the squad through through selections and substitutions but it is becoming apparently clear that I do not have any kind of depth within my youth teams. I currently have ten players out on loan but only one of those has any real chance of breaking into the first team - Estevao who has moved to La Liga side Sociedad since the signing of Medina. The image below shows the depth of the combined U23 and U19 team, excluding those not at the club currently:

Although a 3* player is certainly good enough to perform well within the league given my current level, there is very little star quality here. Granted, I do have 4 teenagers in the first team and a squad average age of just over 21 - but I have not really ever been in a position whereby I don't think that any of these players, Helder Teles aside, have any chance of making the first team and, in fact, have too many holes to really have any consideration of any minutes in the first team. I certainly need to minimise the amount of Non-EU talent I am signing as, when they arrive at the age of 18, are marginally better than my 16 year olds - meaning my own crop are not picked for matches, but are already two years further down the development line, stifling my players. My goal at the next intake is to take a bit more time to really micro-analyse each player and try and get the most out of them, because these lot are just bumbling along and will probably be released at 19 when their youth contracts expire.

Back on the pitch- we continued our good Europa League form and a silly shout (we were 4-0 up and I said 'encourage' instead of 'praise') which angered my team and which I blame for the two silly goals against Chaves stopped us from nearly having a perfect month. The youth team struggled somewhat against Cova but I fancy our team to put a few past Academica, which, should we match the Cova score vs Penafiel, see us top the group.

[_Ben_]

November 2033

Another really solid month for us with just the one blot on our copy book, albeit a defeat which already opens a large gap to the top of the league. We enter December with a perfect 100% record in the Europa League and into the sixth round of the Taca de Portugal, even if I had to bring on my bigger players to secure the second half victory. A late goal against Academica saved us from a surprise draw but we just didn't turn up against Benfica and Diego Costa, of all people, continues his fine start at the club.

[_Ben_]

December 2033

A month in which we have certainly remembered how to score freely, at the cost of some clean sheets! The comfortably victory over Rio Ave, who have a new up-and-coming newgen manager who plays a 3-4-3/3-1-3-1-2 kind of shape and has made some incredibly moves in the transfer market, shows that we are strong enough to be able to finish third again this season, at worst. If we win our game in hand, we are only four points back from the big two with nearly half a season to play. The rest of the month saw some fantastic attacking play and I do feel somewhat for Portimonense, 13 goals in the space of 3 days!. We finish the Europa League group stage with a 100% record and are rewarded with a fairly comfortable tie against Kobenhaven in the first KO round. We do play Porto in one cup and Sporting in the other though, so those will be somewhat more challenging.

I have very little in mind for January although there are a couple of areas I wouldn't mind strengthening - should the right player become available.

[_Ben_]

January 2034

A tougher month than I've really witnessed in the rest of the season - with points dropped between ourselves and the top two, also allowing Sporting back into contention. We recorded, surprisingly, our first ever victory over Porto and my first win over their boss, Nuno Espirito Santo. We won't be adding the Taca da Liga to our trophy cabinet this year as a slightly weakened side lost to Sporting. I went full pelt at Maritimo, knowing I had Porto left and wanted to build some morale. We should have had at least ten but that was not enough to rally us record our second win in the month over Porto, who are looking very strong in the league.

Transfer deadline day has come and gone and I've managed to reject massive bids for five or six first teamers, showing the strength of our dressing room. I allowed Diego Vargas to leave as he needs some more regular football - making just 8 league appearances for me this season. He's gone out to a mid-table club and I may want to extend this loan if he does well. Incoming, I just made one deal:

19 days after moving to Man Utd from Gremio for £16m - Tessio joins on loan and we are paying just £19.75k of his ludicrous £200k p/w deal. He is, star rating at least, on a par with Folha but attribute wise is better. However, he is not my player and, as such, will mistreat him somewhat - using him off the bench or to rest my own players, who are my ideal focus. There is no chance I would ever be able to sign this lad permanently so view this very much as a short team assistance.

We enter February which means it's nearly intake day and the new back room team is ready to roll...

[Mandy42]

would you have rather beaten Porto in the league or cup? if you had to chose?

[_Ben_]

On 11/02/2019 at 09:12, Mandy42 said:

would you have rather beaten Porto in the league or cup? if you had to chose?

Probably the cup - we are still too far away and too inconsistent in the league to realistically challenge for the next couple of years but a cup win would be nice!

[_Ben_]

February 2034

Another really solid month for us where we have stabilised some defensive woes and pushed on a bit albeit with a reasonably easy set of league fixtures. We were very lucky to be leave Denmark with a draw as new loanee Lucas helped us out but did follow that up with a well earned (but left late) victory over Sporting - in the past we'd probably struggle here due to the travelling but I've been able to rotate much better of late.

Next month sees the youth intake and a busy month as we face Bilbao in the second knockout round of the Europa League - a competition I am purposely targeting this year.