Huge, Huge Problems Developing. Like An Unavoidable Iceberg.

[FMunderachiever]

Hello everyone.

Please help, ive got enormous problems.

Im manager of Colo Colo. I have a team with an AVERAGE age of nearly 32. All my key players are pushing FORTY.

No one can

• Compete Physically
• Run
• Handle multiple games in short periods of time
• Stay fit without constantly getting injured

I have a transfer budget of zero.

But despite this, at the half way stage/winter break, ive managed to get them to top of the Chilean Premier League. However, this is not going to last, my team is going to completely implode soon.

 

The thing that worries me most, is that my key players are all displaying the same alarming report cards:

 

All my players other than a couple of them, are AT BEST worsening as players.

Ive highlighted a couple there, but i have FOUR players with the report card "Showing signs of a TOTAL COLLAPSE"

 

Im playing this tactic at the moment, which takes into account the factors i discussed at the top:

 

To add to my panic, recent performances have been dull, where i have managed to come through with wins by the skin of my teeth. But ive just been dumped out of the Chilean Cup with a 6-0 defeat:

 

Is there anything i can do, tactically, selection wise, training, anything? im massively worried

 

Thank you in advance

[themadsheep2001]

There's little you can do, because you're not trying to hide the failings of a couple of players. It's all of them, and that's an almost impossible task. 

If you're happy with your tactical set up, then all you can do is try and keep them as fresh as possible, rotation, dont over train, as they arent going to get any better (so I'd lower levels tbh).

Long term you need a new squad. Personally I'd limp that side to a title and get the hell out while on a high

[FMunderachiever]

21 minutes ago, themadsheep2001 said:

There's little you can do, because you're not trying to hide the failings of a couple of players. It's all of them, and that's an almost impossible task. 

If you're happy with your tactical set up, then all you can do is try and keep them as fresh as possible, rotation, dont over train, as they arent going to get any better (so I'd lower levels tbh).

Long term you need a new squad. Personally I'd limp that side to a title and get the hell out while on a high

One thought i had was perhaps to move the DM to a half back and then look for wide overlaps.

My thinking behind this is if i look for overlaps it will delay the forward movement long enough to allow highly unfit and slow midfielders to join in with the attack, as the half back provides cover against the counter.

Both wingbacks i use have 12 for stamina so could just about get up and down but its mostly to buy time to get the team up the pitch.

 

Perhaps a forward who can hold the ball up too?

[themadsheep2001]

1 minute ago, FMunderachiever said:

One thought i had was perhaps to move the DM to a half back and then look for wide overlaps.

My thinking behind this is if i look for overlaps it will delay the forward movement long enough to allow highly unfit and slow midfielders to join in with the attack, as the half back provides cover against the counter.

Both wingbacks i use have 12 for stamina so could just about get up and down but its mostly to buy time to get the team up the pitch.

 

Perhaps a forward who can hold the ball up too?

Honestly? all good ideas, but its like sticking a plaster on a gaping wound.

The squad is boned. Your real issues are all off the pitch, and only fixable through new players who aren't literally on the verge of collapse. Feels like you're doing better than you should be, and you'll have done an excellent job if you manage to hang on

[Robson 07]

Personally I wouldn't play 'direct' with a team losing its legs.  Direct requires runners.

[FMunderachiever]

Just now, Robson 07 said:

Personally I wouldn't play 'direct' with a team losing its legs.  Direct requires runners.

Im sort of trying to get everyone to hold their position and build up through the left side for a switch of play to the right winger who is the one player who actually has some pace and acceleration (15 acceleration and 13 pace) to attack the box.

I kind of dont want them to leave their shape or they wont recover especially guarding against counter attacks

[Experienced Defender]

In relation to these 3 players from the screenshots, they are all in a very advanced age - one is 33 and the other 2 are 37, so no wonder they are on the (steep) decline. Simply, in that age players' attributes will naturally drop, and often rapidly. But what about your other - younger - players? 

33 minutes ago, FMunderachiever said:

Im sort of trying to get everyone to hold their position and build up through the left side for a switch of play to the right winger who is the one player who actually has some pace and acceleration (15 acceleration and 13 pace) to attack the box

If so, I would rather play Paredes as a DLF on support and the AMR as IF on attack. Alternatively, the AMR can remain a winger on attack, but then I would play Paredes as a simple poacher (so that his intelligence and experience would make up for the lack of speed).

Btw, with such a slow striker, low crosses make little to no sense.

Finally, you are playing with two wingers. But whom are they actually supposed to cross the ball to? Plus, if your idea is: 

46 minutes ago, FMunderachiever said:

Im sort of trying to get everyone to hold their position and build up through the left side for a switch of play to the right winger

Then AML as a winger makes even less sense.

[FMunderachiever]

17 minutes ago, Experienced Defender said:

In relation to these 3 players from the screenshots, they are all in a very advanced age - one is 33 and the other 2 are 37, so no wonder they are on the (steep) decline. Simply, in that age players' attributes will naturally drop, and often rapidly. But what about your other - younger - players? 

If so, I would rather play Paredes as a DLF on support and the AMR as IF on attack. Alternatively, the AMR can remain a winger on attack, but then I would play Paredes as a simple poacher (so that his intelligence and experience would make up for the lack of speed).

Btw, with such a slow striker, low crosses make little to no sense.

Finally, you are playing with two wingers. But whom are they actually supposed to cross the ball to? Plus, if your idea is: 

Then AML as a winger makes even less sense.

The low cross is really meant to go to the back post for Costa the right winger who usually cuts inside from that wing.

Paredes i gave DLF on attack given he has the PPM to come deep so my thought was to have him link play and then get up to attack the box from deep.

Ive noted the point about low crosses. This was mostly selected as no one is outstanding in the air.

As for younger players..... i dont have any.

All my key players are not just old, theyre really old. Often i field a matchday squad without anyone under 30.

 

 

[Experienced Defender]

29 minutes ago, FMunderachiever said:

Ive noted the point about low crosses. This was mostly selected as no one is outstanding in the air

Maybe whipped ones instead? 

 

30 minutes ago, FMunderachiever said:

All my key players are not just old, theyre really old. Often i field a matchday squad without anyone under 30

Can you buy or at least loan some younger players? Or get some free agents?

[Dfs]

4 hours ago, FMunderachiever said:

One thought i had was perhaps to move the DM to a half back and then look for wide overlaps.

From my own experience half back is a very demanding physically role. Donno if your dm will be up to the task. All in all there s not a lot you can do except for search for players which contracts will expire in 6 months and try to sign them for free and then supplement the squad with loans. This ll be interesting and very hard so good luck!

[Hovis Dexter]

I know that everything written about age in this thread is in relation to football but it’s really depressing to read that everybody over 30 is thought of as being very old 😢

[FMunderachiever]

3 hours ago, Hovis Dexter said:

I know that everything written about age in this thread is in relation to football but it’s really depressing to read that everybody over 30 is thought of as being very old 😢

I played in a charity game a couple of weeks ago. I'm 34 now.

 

It was my first game since I was 31, when I retired after breaking my leg.

 

I feel quite fit and thought it would be no problem, I was always decently quick, and I thought 34 was no age, there will be 34 year olds playing.

 

I can tell you now, ive never been so glad to hear a final whistle in my life! by about 70 mins I was absolutely dead. And what made it worse was I was playing right full back and they had a guy on their side who was absolutely roasting me for pace from the beginning, it was even worse as the game wore on!

 

Never felt so old in my life! it felt like every time I made a sprint, I couldn't recover fast enough to then make another one.

 

But to be totally honest, I play other sports now and enjoy them a lot more than football.

 

 

 

[FMunderachiever]

I am still top as Colo Colo, but we are only 2 points clear now, where it was 5 points.

We are undoubtedly stumbling and its a huge worry.

 

Ive changed the tactic slightly, and ill post when I'm done at work

[Experienced Defender]

3 hours ago, FMunderachiever said:

I am still top as Colo Colo, but we are only 2 points clear now, where it was 5 points.

We are undoubtedly stumbling and its a huge worry

But what is media prediction and board expectation? I guess they don't expect you to be 1st in the league with a team like yours?

[FMunderachiever]

22 minutes ago, Experienced Defender said:

But what is media prediction and board expectation? I guess they don't expect you to be 1st in the league with a team like yours?

They expect to finish 1st.

They don't regard the Chilean Super Cup or Chilean Cup as important. Ive won the super cup but knocked out of the Chilean Cup.

In Copa Libertedores they just wanted progression to the knockout phase. Ive achieved this, and I drew 3-3 in first leg of 1st knockout round v Sao Paulo but away leg to come, so having conceded 3 away goals I'm not in great shape unless I can win over there.

 

[BadAss88]

I have the feeling you're being very dramatic!

Yes, you're players are getting old and degrading, but the report card also says they are leading or star players in the division. So I presume that the other Chilean clubs aren't any better.

Like in Argentina, it's very common to have lots of 30 year olds in the team. Because most players in their prime will play in Europe, I think it's the same in Chile.

[FMunderachiever]

58 minutes ago, BadAss88 said:

I have the feeling you're being very dramatic!

Yes, you're players are getting old and degrading, but the report card also says they are leading or star players in the division. So I presume that the other Chilean clubs aren't any better.

Like in Argentina, it's very common to have lots of 30 year olds in the team. Because most players in their prime will play in Europe, I think it's the same in Chile.

I wish you were right but im not being dramatic.

The squad is shot to bits

 

[BadAss88]

Can i see the comparisation screen with the other teams in Chile?

[Experienced Defender]

2 hours ago, FMunderachiever said:

They expect to finish 1st

Okay, then I can understand why you are so concerned. 

[thehig2]

@FMunderachiever can post screenshots of your players who are younger, you said you have a couple.

Someone might be able to recommend some adjustments to focus play through those players and get them to do the teams dirty work.

[FMunderachiever]

3 hours ago, thehig2 said:

@FMunderachiever can post screenshots of your players who are younger, you said you have a couple.

Someone might be able to recommend some adjustments to focus play through those players and get them to do the teams dirty work.

Certainly will do when home from work yes

[thehig2]

40 minutes ago, FMunderachiever said:

Certainly will do when home from work yes

A screenshot of your sqaud list would help as your in first season so we can look up players profiles to see there stats, I have a few potential suggestions but need to see the sqaud to know if they would work.

 

[FMunderachiever]

3 hours ago, thehig2 said:

A screenshot of your sqaud list would help as your in first season so we can look up players profiles to see there stats, I have a few potential suggestions but need to see the sqaud to know if they would work.

 

ok so firstly, the squad looks like this.

There are some younger players within it, however for the big occasions and big games, the only players you can rely on are the experienced older players who are all getting really old.

So matchday squads, other than the filler i put on the bench to meet league rules, its all 30+ veterans taking the field:

 

So quite often, i pick a starting 11 that has a 37 year old keeper, with 2 33 year old centrebacks, a 37 year old next to a 34 year old at the heart of midfield, and then a 38 year old striker.

For me these are all key players that i can rely on to give me a consistent level of performance the youngsters cant.

That means that phsyically, we are well down on the competition, especially in pace and acceleration, but also fitness:

 

In terms of young prospects, i would say the best ones coming through that have shown they are capable so far with me and out on loan would be the following:

 

I would assume there is the opportunity to retrain the players, ie with Provoste, i could train him to be a central midfielder rather than an AM, but to accomodate these promising players i would have to change system.

Im top of the league with 6 games to go so certainly not looking to blood the youngsters in a pressure situation chasing the title, but the current tactic i am using that has me top of the league is this one:

Current league position, 6 games to go:

Thanks for all the help

[Joe.]

Looks to me like you simply have to come to terms with the end of a golden generation.. If you can get away with replacing these players 1 at a time, you should be ok - but if you change all at once it could all go tits up. I imagine the keeper will plug away, but your older striker and midfielder may need to make way fairly sharpish.

 

I do like this thread though, so few people play with squads over the age of 30 - it's a totally different problem to what we often see on here. 

[thehig2]

@FMunderachieverSorry dont really have any suggestions, it seems your already doing as well as can be expected with the squad you have, selection wise you gotta play your best team if you want that title so your right not to mess about with youngsters.

Tactically you could give a PI to Valdes of Less Urgent Pressing, and Dribble Less. 

This will lessen his games work load, as he already holds position being a deep lying playmaker anyway, and dribbling less decreases the chance of him getting a rough tackle and a nasty injury. 

To compensate demand a little more from Carmona, more urgent pressing PI

[Snorks]

4 hours ago, thehig2 said:

@FMunderachieverSorry dont really have any suggestions, it seems your already doing as well as can be expected with the squad you have, selection wise you gotta play your best team if you want that title so your right not to mess about with youngsters.

Tactically you could give a PI to Valdes of Less Urgent Pressing, and Dribble Less. 

This will lessen his games work load, as he already holds position being a deep lying playmaker anyway, and dribbling less decreases the chance of him getting a rough tackle and a nasty injury. 

To compensate demand a little more from Carmona, more urgent pressing PI

A quick read-through the thread and this is the answer for me.

Looking at each player's Natural Fitness attribute and  individual workload during a game, Ease off the training, they ain;t gonna learn much and all you do is tire them out - a 'maintenance' training schedule is all that's needed with plenty of recovery and rest.

Find a couple of younger, hard-working, determined players to do all the dirty work on the pitch, chase the ball down, win it back then give it to the older star players.

[FMunderachiever]

39 minutes ago, Snorks said:

A quick read-through the thread and this is the answer for me.

Looking at each player's Natural Fitness attribute and  individual workload during a game, Ease off the training, they ain;t gonna learn much and all you do is tire them out - a 'maintenance' training schedule is all that's needed with plenty of recovery and rest.

Find a couple of younger, hard-working, determined players to do all the dirty work on the pitch, chase the ball down, win it back then give it to the older star players.

I think although the report card says he is due a total collapse, Paredes is giving me some great performances and i think if i give him a role where economy of movement is key, then with his 12 stamina and 12 natural fitness, i think he may have another 15 goal season in him.

I think of him a bit like my ryan giggs. A dedicated pro and i think his performances suggest even at 38 theres some life left in him.

For Valdes, i think a replacement is needed as in very big games like the libertedores he just doesnt seem to offer enough. 

I like him in the role he has because he links well with Costa with his PPM to switch the ball to the other flank.

Ive been trying to find a way to use him a bit like pirlo but i dont think i can do that and use a 4-1-4-1 with him in it.

I do have a possible replacement lined up for him.

Paredes is crucial though. His long shooting, intelligent running and come deep PPM are golden for my system and it seems every striker around chile is an advanced forward type player.

Ideally im looking to only sign Chilleans for now as i struggle to meet league rules on foreign players.

I try and rotate Insaurralde and Zaldivia at centre back but Insaurralde is 34 so really Zaldivia will give me 7 or 8 years service and i might have to let Insaurralde go who is one of my real leaders.