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Football Manager 23... What can you say about this enduring series of games? The first is I wouldn’t recommend anyone playing it as a newcomer unless you’re unemployed or a student. There’s so much going on that to get close to a real understanding you’d need to dedicate an ungodly amount of time to videos, research and most likely losing. The good thing is if you’re happy losing, and getting fired, you can probably pick it up as a normal gamer. You will learn, you will get better, but because you’re not impatient you won’t rage about, ”THAT’S BULLSHIT!” FM23 is the new edition of the game where you, as the name says, manage a football team, and it’s come in for a bit of controversy. As ever, with yearly updates, people complain, “Nothing has changed.” The difference is this time some of the heavy hitters have joined in with the complaints. I’d argue things have changed. The game is better at showing a more realistic match in the graphics. They don’t look visually better but they have included wayward passes, more mistakes and players with a bad first touch messing up your whole play. It’s a lot more chaotic, much like a real football game, and it means it’s exciting and somewhat interesting to watch. But what does this have to do with a Let’s Play? The beta has been out for a few weeks and I’ve been playing that. One of the problems that has cropped up in it is defenders occasionally making the most boneheaded mistakes (something I think real defenders do.) Another element is the game reacts to your performance much better than before. The AI manager is more likely to think, “Hey! Your team is doing quite well, actually. Maybe we should do something special to stop you,” a little quicker than in previous years. This AI manager reaction happens both across a season and even within a single match, how exciting! The fundamentals of the game still apply but the game is going to throw a lot more spanners/wrenches in the works. So for a Let’s Play this means more strange events can happen, more “BULLSHIT!” and hopefully more drama. So down to the most important question; what will I be doing for the Let’s Play, i.e. who will I be managing?  Jenny Noodle There’s a simple answer. I start unemployed. Many have done this in the past, going through the motions of seeing what team will hire them, often starting with no experience and no coaching badges (coaching badges are the officially recognised education system for managers. A lot of professional players getting towards the end of their careers will start doing these if they want to continue on into coaching and eventually management.) The problem I have with the “no experience, no badge” start is this is unrealistic for the level of football in Football Manager. Any decent level team, maybe even semi-pro, will have coaches with some level of coaching badge even in their youth teams. In fact, in real life I worked with a former professional player who played in England in the 80s and had moved on to training Irish teenagers in a generalised, non-club setup during the football season, and every one of those coaches had quite high qualifications. So, I start with my first level of Continental Badge—Continental C—and playing experience up to national level. How do I set up my manager? Her attributes? Well, I think I’ll be a former goalkeeper who specialised in fitness before going into coaching. This has the benefit of if I start at a really low level team I need neither a goalkeeping coach or a fitness coach on my staff. Cheesing it? A little. But goalkeepers get to watch a lot of football (because they’re lazy standing at the back of the pitch the whole time.) As well as that there’s going to be a high level of adaptability, so if I end up in Wales again (like in FM22) I can get out again as fast as possible. No slight on Wales, I’m sure it’s a lovely country, but by god the football is depressing. In another slight cheesing of the game I’ll be giving myself two languages, both what I learned in school, French and German. Unfortunately I don’t think Sports Interactive lets you set your level of comprehension in those languages to, “I can order a beer and then ask where the library is,” so I’ll have to be fluent in them. I then load every league and see where the world takes me. Any rules for this? Just one significant one I can think of. I don’t manage in Ireland for my first team. I am Irish. I want to travel the world and see the sights—as long as it’s not Welsh football (although for the right paycheque, who knows?) And that’s that. The next post you see will be one of Jenny Noodle, my manager, searching for a job, dismissing jobs as I feel they’re beneath me—but they’re really not—and then, hopefully, finding a job and finding out all about my new team, and my new city. --- A note for the style of this Let’s Play. In the past I’ve attempted to do narrative Let’s Plays. This is where everything I do in the game world is integrated into the fictional narrative I write, justifying every decision in the game as part of a creative, storylined endeavour. I will not be doing this again. It’s far too much of a mental strain to play the game, play the game while also thinking of stories, create the graphics, write what happened in the game, then come up with a coherent fiction of it all. To do that properly, with a regular release schedule would quite literally be a full time job. That means this will just be the football, just be the managing, but still with all the excitement of following a team, and following Jenny Noodle through her passion of yelling at Foot Mans.
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Nov 8, 2022 05:50
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 15:53 |
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My journey begins with me considering my abilities and skills, and why despite being an obvious tactical and coaching genius I’m still unemployed. Not only do I speak French and German, as well as my obvious English, but I also seem to have picked up fluent Spanish from my fitness coaching internship in Spain. I also apparently speak fluent Irish, but I think that’s just stereotypes. Outside of that I feel I’m a pretty good coach. I’m above average when it comes to instructing people on how to run for longer and lift heavy things, and I’m pretty balanced when it comes to helping goalkeepers develop their art. Despite all this, I am unemployed. Is it the American part of me? Is that what’s putting teams off? “Americans know nothing about football!” I can’t help it that my grandfather left for America, gained citizenship, then realised he’d actually prefer to be back in Ireland.  I take a quick look through the available managerial positions on LinkedIn, because that’s where manager jobs are advertised, but quickly decide I’d prefer to let the algorithm suggest things to me. I’m a football manager, not a recruiter, damnit!  Some absolute hack approaches me to fill space in his newspaper or blog called The Irish Football Post or something, asking whether I’d be willing to work abroad. It doesn’t take me long to say, “Abso-loving-lutely.” And a few days later he’s running an article in his newspaper or blog or something about how I’m, “Excited about potential foreign jobs,” because of course a chairman of a club in Singapore or Australia will be reading his interviews.  Days go by and my inbox is quickly filling up with all the managers who’ve been sacked from their positions with other football teams. The upside is there’s more jobs available, the downside is there’s more competition for those jobs, and I’ve just thrown my hat into the ring as someone searching for a managerial role.  More time passes and the tele-personal-assistant/recruiter guy I’ve hired whittles down the available jobs to a number of recommendations. The first is in South Africa, and it looks like they have plenty of wage budget to go around. This might be slightly out of my reach but also South Africa isn’t too appealing. Ever since hosting the World Cup football has grown in South Africa team but it’s not a typical footballing hotbed, at least not for growing your cache as an up and coming manager.  Still, the club forwards a quick squad list to me to look over, not that I’d know their players and a quick glance tells me this is all wrong. They have so many players it’d be an absolute pain to manage them. All wanting to play, all competing personalities. This is definitely not for me, whether they’d hire me or not.  Ypiranga in Brazil is the next club I look at. Again it’s squad factors that make my decision for me. Compared to the South African team the squad is more manageable, but it’s just a little bit too tidy. My half-arsed look tells me the players won’t have the flexibility needed to implement the type of ad-hoc, mid-game changes necessary for rescuing a losing scoreline, not with their limited ability to play across the pitch. One of they keys in modern football is being able to make small adjustments in position, or player role, to affect the changing flow of the game. Ypiranga’s squad, at least according to their chairman’s review, won’t be able to mix in and out of positions and tactics as needed.  Finally we’re down to two Chilean teams. Immediately my eye is drawn to Fernández Vial. A search of their team make-up shows me they have a lot of ability in attack and on the wings. This feels perfect for the modern game, not that I know a lot about Chilean football, but for the style I want to implement it’s right on track. I’m not sure if I actually want to manage in Chile. It’s an appealing country, mountainous and beautiful, wildlife and traditional culture, horses which are very much an Irish thing too, but it would be a massive move for me when I was really only ever thinking of something in Europe. But then again, football is a global game.  Still, I throw in my application. At the very least it’ll give me practice at interviews with the boards of clubs.  I’m not expecting much but I quickly get a response from Fernández Vial. Their Managing Director Sergio Rebolledo wants me to attend an interview discuss both my and their plans.  After the introductions and welcomes they ask me if I can work with limited resources.  Seeing as this is only a practice interview I throw caution to the wind and tell them money comes second after football, and if I get the team to achieve on the pitch then the money won’t be a concern. My answer seems to go uncommented on and more questions are asked about giving the club the right platform and seeing the club’s vision true. They ask about me working with their Director of Football, not a problem for me, and whether I’d need a budget to change the staff. Again this is only practice for me so I say I’d need a fair amount of cash to make changes. It’s not the best to go in with massive demands for a job you want, I think, but every club needs better staff if they’re not already elite. And again I’m making my demands as I’m not too serious about this. They set out their goals, including a mid-table finish despite being towards the bottom at the half way point of the season. I’m fine with this as it’s the standard I’d set for myself anyway. We play hardball on wage budgets. They offer me none, I say I can’t work with that, and things move on without much give from either side. Or at least with no-one letting on which way will win out.  Finally we get down to what promises I’d want from the club. My focus is improving my career and employability. I can’t see myself here for more than a few years, so getting my badges is important. They say no. I insist, and they seem to give in. After that the interview is over, and I’m back to searching the job listings from my comfortable position in Ireland, knowing a little more about the back and forth, push and shove of an interview with a bunch of suits.  Despite that, despite this being a trial interview, the appeal of Chile bubbles up in my mind every hour or so. I quickly find myself googling information about the country, including what money would be needed to get me there.  Word gets out that I met with the board for the Fernández Vial job but I give a quick “No comment.” I don’t want my mock interview to follow me around in the future, that I’m desperate for jobs.  To my surprise Fernández Vial are back to me within five days with a contract proposal. I genuinely thought I pushed too far in my interview. I give it thirty minutes thought, about what’s holding me to Ireland, and quickly sign it. The club are delighted to get my signature, so delighted it dawns on me that I could have demanded more from them. It’s a one year contract on a reasonable wage, but I’m not sure it’s the money they’re so happy about rather the “one year” aspect. If I perform they can hire me again if they so choose, if I don’t they can be rid of me. I have no job security of being bought out of a second year in my contract for my full wage—should I fail—while I’m moving halfway across the world for a team in a fairly poor position! I didn’t have confidence to demand the extra year and they certainly weren’t offering. A practice interview turns into a big lesson. Next thing I know I’m in Chile, dealing with press conferences, being introduced to my staff and players, and being shown around. Not that I actually know where exactly I am in Chile with everything having happened so quickly.  It’s time to get straight down to football. I get my tactics to the squad and ask my Assistant Manager to pick the best team to play to it. Unfortunately the team’s tactical familiarity with my style is absolutely rubbish. This could be a problem. I have to get the team winning straight away and it looks like they’re not ready to play how I want them to play. They way I know football teams win. The other problem is the team’s midfield. They have none. Or at least no depth in it.  The only defensive midfielder of any quality on the team is Arturo Sanhueza and he’s 43 years old. Older than me, in fact. I can see why the board wants me to sign players under the age of 23 for the squad. A lot of these guys are nearing the ends of their career, or should have already ended their career.  At least my initial impression that the attack has some potency to it, mostly on the wings, was correct, even if like the rest of the team the only quality comes from ageing players. Kevin Harbottle should post a threat, and I’m sure he’d pose in a threat in a lot of divisions. The problem is my lack of scouting knowledge from all the way in Ireland didn’t let me know the truth depth of Fernández Vial’s problems. Maybe my one year contract is a blessing. Get the team to the mid-division, build my reputation a little, and leave for greener pastures.  My star player, at least as far as I can see, is Fernando Ponce. He plays at left back and in central defence, but with his ability to attack down the wings I’ll definitely keep him on the left. My team will never control the midfield, and certainly not if we get any injuries, but if we can get some threat on the wings, knocking balls to the far post from our full backs and onto our striker and wingers coming in quickly we might be able to outscore teams.  Even more of a bonus to all this is Fernando Ponce seems like a real leader. He’s only 29, which means he could lead the club for another few years, so I make him my captain despite Sanhueza’s wisdom of 43 years being the previous captain under the former manager. I’m so focused on watching my players, figuring them out and seeing how to get them to play a tactic they don’t know how to play I don’t realise the club doesn’t have a performance analyst until the day before my first match. Performance analysts are mildly helpful in that they can tell you, in analytical plans (hence the name), how to shape up—at least theoretically—against a team, and then how you actually shaped up against that team once you’ve played them. They’re the guys running around with their own video cameras and tablets on the sidelines, coming up with very important stats and graphics. As you might expect, this can be helpful when trying to learn how to play a formation.  I go straight to the job boards and aim to hire someone as soon as I can, hoping they accept the contract and agree to join before my second match in charge. It’s then I realise there’s more things I haven’t looked at, at least not properly. Mainly the rules of the league.  And one of the rules I don’t quite understand is that u21 players must have a certain number of minutes in my play time. Considering my u21 players are mostly rubbish this is a problem. Problems which seem to be mounting up.  As if this isn’t all enough seeing as I’m coming in mid-season I get an immediate appraisal of what our new youth intake—the young players joining the youth team—are going to look like. In a word, they’re rubbish. Much like any other young player in the squad. And if I don’t give youth minutes the team could be looking at a financial hit, and even worse, a points deduction.  As the last thing I do after our last pre-match training session I take stock of how the team’s mood is. Whether they feel they can pull themselves out of their slump. The simple answer is, no, they don’t feel they can. They’re all down in the dumps. So going into our first match the things we know are: - Our young players are rubbish - We have no good youth coming in with the next crop of young players - Our squad is ancient - We have no midfield - Our morale is in the tank - But at least we might have a good attack if the players’ legs don’t fall off Wonderful stuff! I had dreams of getting the team to play the ideal form football. Now depending on how my upcoming first match goes it might be straight back to the whiteboard to figure out how to nurse the squad to mid-division mediocrity. Otherwise I’ll be crawling back to the social welfare office in Ireland pretty loving quickly.
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Nov 8, 2022 12:18
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Good to see another FM thread. I'm waiting to give it a go with Gamepass when I finish some other games, and I expect to suck at it a lot and end up reading LPs about it, as every I've done with every other game in the series.
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Nov 8, 2022 13:32
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Gotta love football LPs, I'll be following this one.
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Nov 8, 2022 18:32
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That 70% u21 requirement is bonkers. In. e: Is there any way to see what the current % played is without manually adding up all the minutes? Because you might well already be over the limit in which case just take the 6 point hit and play your "best" players whenever. sebzilla fucked around with this message at 20:47 on Nov 8, 2022 |
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Nov 8, 2022 20:44
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We’re up against Magallanes, away from home and there’s nothing left for me to do but face into my first match as a manager. Of course that doesn’t stop me futzing about and I immediately check the league table to see exactly what it is Magallanes are, and what to expect. I look at the table and still don’t know what to expect. We’re in 13th and they’re in 12th. We’re one point behind them. There are two schools of thought with this. The first is that it’s better to face a relatively weaker team straight away. The famous new-manager-bump could see us through, with my team looking at my absolutely gorgeous face and taking inspiration from my beauty to see us through to a win against poor-ish opposition. The other idea is that we’re going straight into a must-win game. Being only one point behind them means we’re facing our direct rivals competing for the mid-division spots. A loss here could see a team go beyond our reach, or at least beyond our own destiny and make the fight to achieve the board’s expectation that bit harder.  As we travel to the match something occupies my thoughts, namely that I’m relying on my backup goalkeeper. When I asked my assistant manager to recommend the team that suits my tactical vision he put Gamonal in goal. Unfortunately Gamonal is out of contention for at least another week. Whatever you say about squad depth elsewhere on the pitch, losing your hard crunching central defender or your top goalscorer going missing, being without the guy between the sticks who your assistant manager says, “Is the man!” is not what you want in your first tie.  I have no choice in the matter though. Merino is my man, for now. And to be fair to him, he hasn’t been shaping up too badly in training.  For our last minute preparations for the match my assistant manager recommends some instructions for dealing explicitly with Magallanes. I’m happy to implement them, my assistants are there to pick out exactly what the flaws and threats in the opposition are allowing me to focus on my own team. The other thing he recommends is that we change to a more balanced attacking style. I’m not too sure about this. I don’t want to overcommit in attack and would prefer to see if my team can sit back a little, take what the Magallanes team brings to us, then build threats with our wide attack moving into space. That’s one bit of advice I don’t take from him.  Just as I’m about to make my speech to my team I’m told a little interesting fact. We actually have better form in our last few games than Magallanes. I was at a loss at what to say, having never done this before, but I do know we need confidence. Confidence as a team, confidence in our ability to win, and the players need confidence in me that I can implement a successful approach. I tell them we’re doing better than Magallanes and some, close to most, take it well. I don’t want to push the matter, trying to eke out the subtle motivational advantage in each group, or in individual players, I know I don’t have that influence yet, so I leave things there, happy to have had some effect.  And this is how Fernández Vial are shaping up in our first match with little old me as their manager.  A minute into the game and we’re playing out from the back. This is a real heart in mouth moment because I’m genuinely not sure if we have the ability to do this. I know our full backs should be able to, and our centre backs aren’t bad, but whether the team cohesion and understanding of each other, or the tactical familiarity of how they should be playing out is there I don’t know. What’s worse is Magallanes seem to be setting up with a high press to stop exactly this type of play.  There’s some back and forth and eventually a ball is sent a bit forward. Gotti goes up for it, not even in the final third yet, but loses the battle. What I can tell from this, at least, is that both teams are set up to not overcommit in attack. My assistant manager’s instruction to be more balanced in attack might be correct, we could put them under pressure a little more but I’m happy to let my tactical style face off against theirs rather than force any issue. I’m not sure we have the confidence to force things. And in this phase of play, despite their player winning the header, with more of my guys behind the ball we win it back from his loose nod.  We pass the ball forward where Gotti is again in a battle, this time at his feet, and this time he wins it. He makes a forward run with Magallanes regrouping quickly and lays the ball off to Hernandez rushing on from midfield. Hernandez blazes the ball over the bar with a long range attempt, never in contention, but it shows we have some endeavour. We’re not all the way behind in this match and we can make positive moves. The question is whether we can turn them into real chances, and from real chances into actual goals.  We create another few chances, including some from my man Harbottle like this one where he pulls the ball back Zuniga who unfortunately sends the ball wide and across the goal. It’s a good opportunity, and the onrushing midfield and opposing wingers coming on to put on pressure while the winger with the ball pulls it back shows my side have some understanding of our tactic.  Magallanes get a few chances like this...  And this... To show it’s not going to go all my own way. Whatever about the team faring better and making fewer mistakes than I anticipated we’re still being put under pressure. It’s a real two-sided game, where each team looks like they can score if they weren’t bloody useless with the final shot. My prediction of our attack shaping up while our midfield lets us down isn’t quite right. The midfield is doing better than expected but we’re still letting Magallanes get chances they shouldn’t have, but which they do deserve.  This seems to be the shape of the game with 25 minutes played. Teams maintaining their own ball in defence, getting it forward against the opposition who have far more men back than the attacking team are willing to put forward, and then hoping a mistake comes somewhere that allows the attack to take advantage and actually bring their men forward.  It’s all much of a much-ness, although Magallanes have had the closer chances, until 34 minutes in when Magallanes send the ball forward with a wild clearance. We come onto it from defence and knock it back to our forwards where Magallanes offer up an even worse clearance, to just outside their box where my carrilero Sáez is waiting having committed to our forward balls.  He dribbles the ball with a clear run, the Magallanes defenders being left standing by their own bad clearances, and manages to get right into their box. He gives it a poor toe-poke towards the bottom right corner.  But their keeper completely fluffs an easy save, badly trying to fall on the ball which ends up in the back of the net! Goal for Esteban Sáez! Goal to Fernández Vial! We’re 1-0 up!  We get another attack before half time where a ball is sent out to Harbottle on the wing and he dribbles it towards the goalkeeper but fluffs his shot straight into the keeper’s hands. Minutes later, again before half time, the same thing happens again. This time, however, Harbottles takes the ball, dribbles to the line and cuts it back to our striker Gotti in prime position.  He takes a strike, and unlike our goal the keeper does better this time to the pulled back and Gotti’s passed-towards-the-net ball, the keeper not going down but sending his foot towards it.  But it’s not enough! The ball just sneaks past his stretched left foot. Going into half time we’re 2-0 up!  At half time my mind turns to how we keep our win and what Magallanes will throw at us to pull the game back to them. I know I’ve checked how many substitutions are allowed in this league but I’m onto my phone and checking again to be sure before the lads are back in the changing rooms. Five total subs is great, but I’m not sure we have the depth on the bench in the areas where fatigue makes a real difference.  Then it’s a case of telling the team they did well, and they’re all delighted. A translation misunderstanding seems to have occurred where they take my, “You’re doing very well,” to mean, “You’re doing brilliantly.” But they’re all pumped up at my comments so the slight miscommunication doesn’t seem to matter too much.  It might not be fashionable in football, especially when you have a winning team on the pitch, but I’m very much in favour of being proactive with substitutions. Magallanes haven’t thrown much at us in the first ten minutes of the second half but still Garrido isn’t doing too well so I take him off for Bastián Salano.  I also know our right back Diego Sanhueza can play some level of defensive midfielder, although not very fluently, so I bring him on for our gassed looked Arturo Sanhueza. Which is fair enough. He is in his forties. It’s just not what you want from a team of premier athletes.  The game finishes out without much incident. Magallanes get a few chances like this one, from far outside the box, posing little threat. Equally we pose little threat in the second half. We played well and Magallanes looked demoralised, but that’s not the true tale.  With a few minutes left on the clock I’m taking stock of how we performed. Our midfield did better than I expected, although a lot of that was because both teams took a casual approach to any battle. And even then we don’t have much depth should anything go wrong, it’s bare bones there. Our full backs didn’t do as well as I’d like, but I’ll give them time to play into the formation, especially as they supported our wingers who created the goals. We didn’t really out-shoot Magallanes, we created slightly better chances but a 1-0 scoreline might have been more reflective of the pattern of the game, or even a 0-0 draw if we were unlucky. Still, a win is a win, we looked good when we looked good, as they say, but the flow of the game wasn’t a massive inspiration.  That’s not what the team needs to hear, though. They did win but the win will be quickly forgotten during the week when the buzz wears off and they remember how most of the season has shaped up so far. I do what I can and tell them they did well, something they hopefully carry forward with them, and Fernández Vial take the jump up the table to the next spot, overtaking Magallanes.  After the mixed emotion of the match—an important win but against a team not performing—it’s back to the business of football. We’re short one coach, lacking in defensive coaching, and we have no scouts. Which isn’t good considering I have absolutely zero knowledge of Chilean football.  I go looking for coaches but it seems anyone with any ability is looking for far more than we can pay. He wants €1.5k, we can offer €350. I do this over and over and eventually have no choice put to place an ad looking for a coach to see who’ll respond. Maybe someone will see my ad at the newsagent’s notice board.  I move on to looking for scouts, which is probably more important than a third coach at this point.  I exhaust the staff search, offering roles to everyone I can who’ll take our wages and we, at the very least, have some contract offers out there. A few scouts, a recruitment analyst, and we’re still waiting on an answer from our head performance analyst to show how we fared in our games. I have to place more ads for physios, as that’s another area where people won’t sign with us. So the business side of football isn’t going great, but it’s not the worst either.  A few days later I get news our head performance analyst has agreed terms. We now have someone who’ll point out the analytics of where our team is failing, and where they’re gaining momentum.  I immediately set up our training to include explicit tactical match preparations and match reviews. This should make a difference, a small one but still something, in how our team familiarises with how I want them playing. Then it’s a case of looking forward towards actually playing our next game. I don’t feel one game is enough to really gauge how a player performs, I don’t think two games is even enough, but to set out how we’ll be approaching things as a club long term I have to see minutes on the pitch.  What throws a spanner in the works is that the last day to register players and make transfers is coming up in a week. And it’ll only be after I have two games in charge.  Not only that, but one of the scouts I’ve offered a contract to is attracting multiple bids from multiple teams. So not only will I not have enough time with my team to make an informed choice about where we need reinforcements but I also might not have enough scouts to tell me who we can sign. And it’s not as if they’ll actually have scouted anyone explicitly for me. I’d purely be going off the depth of knowledge the scouts have built up throughout their career.  Then I think back to my interview with Fernández Vial, and what exactly I said. When asked if I could work with limited resources I said if we focus on the football the money will sort itself out. Now, my current situation isn’t all money problems, rather staffing problems, and depth and age problems, but the same advice applies. We’ve won our first game with me in charge, we have another game coming up against the team in 10th place. If we just keeping winning nothing else really matters. I’m worried about the back-office and technical side of the club, but I’m pleased we’ve won the first game with me in charge. If I keep that in mind—if I keep the football in mind—who knows what will happen? Just keep winning, it’s easy.
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Nov 9, 2022 14:20
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sebzilla posted:That 70% u21 requirement is bonkers. If there is I haven't been able to find it. And I'm not sure it's even written very well. I can't figure out exactly what it means, but I think it's that 32 minutes of 90 minutes must be played by your two u21 players in the squad/team or something. So averaging out all your u21 players' play time they must have had, as a collectivised two players, an average of 32 minutes played in every game. I can't see how it'd actually be 70% of your playing time must be from u21 players when most of my squad is about 33 years old.
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Nov 9, 2022 14:55
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This is a world cup year and fmtide is upon us. Once world cup starts, it's going to be frenzy-watching football and playing FM (thankfully I'm working from home). This is going to be a good warmup!
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Nov 9, 2022 14:55
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The playing time required seems to be 70% of 32 matches of 90 minutes, so 2016 minutes in total (or just above 60 minutes per match). The minutes are likely cumulative so if you have a scheduled loss just field a whole U-21 team and get half your requirement done immediately, it's not some insurmountable problem. And if you get a singular decent player that's a first team regular then that's basically it.
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Nov 10, 2022 11:42
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 With the transfer window coming up I check to see if anyone in our youth squad is being recommended for a call up. There’s one guy our coaches rate, a 21 year old midfielder, but he’s just not there mentally. He wouldn’t have the ability to stick the pressure of a match. And at 21 he’s getting past that point where he could really make something of himself. He has the technical ability, and plays where we need players, but it would be irresponsible of me to put him into a full flight game when he doesn’t have the mentality to withstand the pace and tactical needs.  Those are the thoughts occupying me before we come onto our match against Iquique, in tenth, two positions above us. I don’t make any changes from the first team I picked. We did win our last match but some players didn’t quite perform. I’d still like to give them a chance. They have the ability and it could be a once off that they didn’t show their full range of play. Writing someone off with just seventy, or even ninety minutes isn’t what I do.  They kick off and it’s ten minutes before we see much of anything. We get a few opportunities but they’re low quality, nothing to report on. Then the ball is played out to our right wing with Zuniga taking the ball. Jerez overlaps him and I’m screaming for them to exploit the width and run but the ball is passed back into midfield. I think it’s all over, and it should be, except Hernández takes a pass to where he’s standing well outside the box and fires a shot towards their goal.  Their goalkeeper springs for it but it sails past him, soon rippling the back of their net. Our first real attack and we score a goal. Which shows what I know about exploiting overlaps versus going through the middle. There is however a doubt in my mind at how unlikely this goal was. A long range shot, executed perfectly, to be fair, but it’s not exactly a clear cut chance even if all goals count the same.  A corner twenty minutes in goes to waste for us, which tells me I really need to get some corner routines setup soon-ish. I’ve been letting the players do their thing because I don’t want to overcomplicate their training when I’ve just arrived, but gaining those small chances and turning them into goals is how you turn losses into draws, and draws into wins. At least we’re actually ahead in the game this time, so it’s less of a kick in the proverbials not to have them practised yet.  We get to half time having had the better chances and being one goal ahead. It’s strange to admit it but I’m somewhat thankful we only scored a single goal in the first half. They haven’t posed a threat but if we pulled further ahead they’d be almost certain to change things up with their team talk. With just a one goal lead they might stick to their tactic, and I know we have them beat there. I don’t think we have them beat should it come to on-the-fly adjustments to new threats posed. So I simply tell the lads they’re doing well—it’s all about the confidence, still—and the second half kicks off.  A few minutes into the second half and Garrido still isn’t doing well. I’m not sure if he counts for our u21 playing time but he just hasn’t performed, not in this game or the last. It’s an easy sub to make.  They do seem to be trying to use the wings so I yell at the players to force their attack inside where they might not pose as much threat.  Seventy minutes in my newly hired performance analyst has mapped the match momentum and is telling me we’ve dominated. It’s something I can see with my own eyes but it’s good to have the statistics back me up. If we lose this game it’ll be because of a single, big mistake, not because of a poor general performance or a flaw in our approach.  Those mistakes do come but thankfully they’re not able to capitalise. Merino was caught flat-footed here but the ball was shot wide. We’re still 1-0 up.  83 minutes in the tale of our last match plays out again. We knock it forward and they badly clear it. Diego Sanhueza—a sub—traps the ball at his feet, takes it on for a step, and places the ball across the goal, past the diving keeper, and into the bottom corner. With less than ten minutes to go we’re 2-0 up and the game is won. It’s a solid victory.  Back in the office I know the transfer deadline is approaching but I want to wait until Monday morning to see if the scout we’ve offered a contract to decides to sign with us. I doubt he will, he has offers from some bigger teams, but the increase in knowledge he’d provide would help with my immediate transfer concerns. We need a defensive midfielder, preferably an all rounder who can fill in anywhere in midfield and not a specialist taking up one of our valuable bench spots. Also, I’ve come to learn, our striker isn’t performing as well as he should. I think he might be fine to see out the rest of the season but the priority needs to be getting in some young kid who’ll be ready for next season—much as the board instruction says, “Sign u23 players for the first team.”  Also, with Garrido not performing as well as he should I need to think of bringing in a central defender. Aboue interests me at first glance, when his scouting report hits my inbox, but when I compare him to Garrido I’m just not sure he offers a significant improvement. There could be a big difference in mentality between the two, allowing Aboue to perform where Garrido hasn’t, but that’s not information I have available to me.  I search our databases for defensive midfielders who could come in and do a job but the only people available are all in their mid to late thirties. Not what I need when I need to build a younger squad to replace our ageing out players.  Cesar Perez is a player who might be able to do a job for us. I have very little idea about him but what I do know of him shows he might have the ability, and he’s available on loan. Available from a team we just beat. I make on offer. No wage contribution, no fee, which Magallones are happy with, and hopefully I get him in in time for the next match.  With not much luck in transfers I offer trials to whoever is willing to come in and isn’t geriatric.  Which turns out brilliantly, of course. They’re useless, good in some areas but some absolutely massive holes in their ability meaning they could never be relied on. I cancel most of the trials but keep on a few of the full backs who might be able to do a job for us next season. They won’t make the transfer deadline this year, but with Jerez being one of our older players in full back, and that he’s considering his options at the end of his contract, I have to start thinking about the future. This last week before the transfer deadline isn’t working out so it really is time to start thinking about next year. Even if I might not be still in Chile I don’t want to get a reputation for leaving clubs in the lurch.  Things aren’t looking too good as the transfer window closes, and then I get worse news. Our one loan. Our one movement that should have come through gets cancelled because the back office couldn’t get the paperwork sorted in time. I bet they’ll blame the fax machine, or something.  So that’s that. We’ve done the sum total of gently caress all in the transfer window, apart from one last minute offer to a right back who’s trying to be poached out from our trial by another team. And even then he won’t be able to play for us until next season. All I can do is look forward to our next match. Again, focusing on the football and letting everything else sort itself out. Except our next match is against the team first in the league.  I do make a change to the team, bringing Carrasco in for Garrido. And although our supposed ‘starting’ keeper has now recovered I decide to reward Merino’s form for the past two games and keep him in goal.  25 minutes into our game against Santa Cruz and not much has happened. The two teams mostly seem to be counteracting what the other is doing with a stalemate in play. We do get a corner and it again dawns on me I haven’t worked out any proper set piece moves. This time it could hurt us, but I was just too busy unsuccessfully trying to bolster the squad. Of course our corner goes nowhere.  A good way into the first half we get our first real chance. Zuniga gets a ball with a bit of a head start on the defender and takes it towards goal. It’s not the easiest of shot with defenders closing down on him, putting him under pressure, but he absolutely murders it pulling it far wide and never threatening the goal. Zuniga, and Harbottle as well, unfortunately, don’t seem to be as good in attack as I predicted them to be. When we bring subs on they generally tend to outperform them, and I’m not sure why that is. Harbottle isn’t doing too badly, and has created goals, but our analytics are saying the subs are doing better. For the moment I’ll put it down to opposition fatigue. Harbottle is doing the hard work against fully fit defenders, while his sub is going up against tired players. Zuniga does need to shake the rust off, though. He’s had chances, he just hasn’t converted enough of them.  With my analytics coming in I see we’ve definitely had the better opportunities but just haven’t taken them. Going into this game I’d have taken a draw but now I’m wondering why we aren’t winning. Are Santa Cruz really that good to stop all these chances while creating none themselves? We’re at home and should have the advantage. No matter how good the opposition is.  Santa Cruz do get chances but it’s sound defending that means they’re sent wide, or blocked and sent wide, and not ever really clear cut. Here Carrasco is rewarding my decision to start him over Garrido by throwing his body in the way of a shot. I’m still wondering if we should be winning this game, but again, no real complaints from me with a draw when going in I didn’t know what to expect.  At the final minute I see it is a missed opportunity. We should have won the game, we had most of the momentum. Still, there’s plenty of games where you have the momentum and lose, especially against teams at the top of the table who manage to find goals from nowhere. Our 0-0 draw isn’t perfect, but it’s not a disaster either.  The main problem as I see it is despite two wins and a draw under my charge we haven’t made the progress in the table I’d have hoped for. Other teams have games in hand and around us they don’t seem to be dropping points. It looks like it’s going to be a slog to finish out the season, getting to where we need to be, but with no new players coming in, and the same squad I started with, now it’s all about getting the most out of them with no other distractions. I still think we have the ability to meet the board’s expectations, but ideas of outperforming those expectations are leaving me. It’s almost soothing, knowing I just need to do enough and not press for outlandish success. Maybe I will stay here next year. My reputation certainly won’t have increased by leading a team to mid-table mediocrity. Still, I’m liking Chile. Maybe it’s the air?
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Nov 10, 2022 14:43
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 Our next two upcoming games are real opportunities. The first is against San Luis de Quillota and the second against Universidad de Concepcion, respectively fourth and third in the league.  With the league being so compacted, in general, only really the first place team being far ahead, a win and a draw could make a significant difference in our standings. Something entirely possible if we continue the form we’ve begun with, taking maybe three points at home and keeping it even away.  First I have to deal with Carrasco’s suspension. He’s picked up too many yellow cards over the course of the year so is being forced to sit out a game. The obvious answer would be to bring Garrido back in but he just hasn’t been performing. Still, it’s an option because Garrido counts for our u21 minutes, something I don’t think is actually being tracked by anyone in the office, or at least they’re not making the details available to me.  However, I take a look at Ethan Espinoza, another u21 player, and he might be able to do a job for us at midfield while still satisfying our minutes. I also have to take a stab at playing around with our wingers, Zuniga hasn’t been the best. When it comes to Harbottle I have faith in him producing at least one outstanding moment a match. I wonder who I can bring in on the right to really create from that position. I decide to leave it closer to the game to make up my mind. All our players there are old, and with a potential team rebuild for next season I want to figure out which of these ageing players can still do a job for us while we bring youth through should I be here next year.  With the idea of bringing youth through I set up the one scout we have on the books to search for players for the first team, transfer or loan. They can play any position on the pitch as long as it fits our first team tactic, and I set a limit of 23 years old in the search.  I get a notification that Luciano Diaz is going to be considering his options at the end of his contract, which basically means he doesn’t want to stay with us, not without something drastic changing. This isn’t ideal. He’s not in my plans at the moment, but he is still quite a young player. If we survive this year, or to be more precise, if I survive, then a younger team with a full season with me in charge could see him gain a place. At least on the subs bench. Unfortunately, at the moment, I have to prioritise sheer quality, no matter the age, over building a team, just to meet the board’s expectations. And that’s despite knowing a lot of these ageing players absolutely cannot support us long term.  I get a notice that Diego Subiabre’s trial is finishing with us tomorrow. I’ve already offered him a contract, a versatile fullback that can play on either side of the pitch is exactly what we need with our right side full back probably leaving. Versatility is of huge importance with my proactive approach to subs and he could make a difference for us from the week of training I’ve seen him in.  And the very next day we get a notification that Subiabre has rejected our contract and signed with someone else, which seems to be the way all our transfers have been shaping up.  With our two games coming up within four days of each other I have to set up our training to get the most out of our preparation. To be at our best to play against third and fourth in the league and in doing so I finally remember to get the squad working on their attacking corners. I get two routines set up for both sides of the pitch. Attacking the near post and the far post is enough for now, but in the future I know I’ll need to set up someone coming to the middle of the box. Teams have gotten very good at research these days, and having the same option at corners, repeating the same routine over and over will have teams set up to stop all your attacks. I have performance analysts now, the other teams have always had them.  My one scout finally seems to be getting into gear and has a recommendation for us. And he’s not too bad, the question being whether we could afford his wages. And to answer the wage question—whether he’s worth a sizeable pay packet—I need to find out more about him. I tell the scout we do have to keep an eye on him for another two weeks, and then I might be in a position to make a decision, or at least to add him to a shortlist. At the same time I have my ads for both a physio and more scouts out there and we’re getting a response to them. None of them are very good but after headhunting people we found their wage demands were far too high so we have to make do with whoever offers themselves to us. I offer a few contracts and hope because they’ve approached us they’re willing to come on board.  While I’m adding backroom staff I’m offloading some of our dead wood. It’s mostly u21 players who will never have the ability to make a difference for us, but those few hundreds could be the difference between a balanced budget and financial pain. I agree to some wage contribution, basically paying €20 of his wage until his contract would be finished with us anyway, but to save on €100 for a player we don’t want will mean my backroom staff additions aren’t going to hurt. At least not as much.  Going into the match I decide to take Zuniga off, our AMR hasn’t worked out for us yet, and I bring Munoz in. Another old player but one who’ll be fighting for a contract next year.  Before the game I tell the players to make use of home advantage. They’ve played well for me so far, they should enjoy playing at home. They should enjoy playing for their own fans who turn out to see them, and they should make other teams dread coming here. They take my talk well. And it’s on to hopefully getting a win here, and then doing our best against the third placed team in our next match away from home.  The game is quiet for twenty minutes or so, we only get one significant attack. As the game could be summed up we get the ball from a poor clearance and it’s sent forward to Hernandez who has two defenders on him. I don’t know how we can make something of this which appears to be their approach. Keep us locked down, double up on men in our attack, and actually capitalise on our mistakes, unlike other teams who’ve played against us.  Except Hernandez does the impossible. Instead of taking on the two defenders in front of him he drags the ball back, goes inwards into the middle of the pitch and out towards the edge of the box, and curls one in from the space he has. I have no idea how he could score from here, but he one hundred loving percent does! An absolutely tasty ball into the top right hand corner with the keeper wondering how he got it into the tiniest bit of a space left between the keeper’s hand and the goal. We’re 1-0 up.  We keep the pressure on, corners and free kicks around their area. We never get a clear cut chance, but they are definitely rattled, although I’ll never not be worried about some of the braindead moments where we give up opportunities despite outplaying the opposition. It’s the nature of football that you can’t be on the whole time, but we’ve been lucky that mostly the opposition hasn’t converted.  Not even two minutes of the second half are played when I’m out of my seat. Gotti takes the space off a defender’s shoulder and places a perfect through ball from Harbottle into the net. Except it’s not perfect. Although the ball was great Gotti was just offside. It’s so tight I’m celebrating before I see the linesman slowly putting his flag up. A gut punch for what could have given us a comfortable lead.  Before ten minutes have passed, Harbottle, who again hasn’t been playing well, offside balls and all, comes up with his magic moment. He spots Gotti in some space and threads a ball right in front of him. Gotti takes up the space, gathers the ball and gets his shot off before the defenders can finish closing him down. The keeper is left standing, the ball is in the net, and we’re 2-0 up. Two easy! I hear myself saying. And Gotti has made up for his offside.  With ten minutes to go I change up our midfield orientation to see out the match, dropping a few players mentality back towards a defensive approach, hoping to close it all down. No easy chances given up, I’m thinking.  It’s the smart decision, a good tactical move, but it turns out it’s not needed. With two minutes left in normal time we get a penalty and Harbottle calmly nudges it right into the bottom left corner, the keeper having no clue what happened, stuck standing.  We win 3-0 and have absolutely dominated. Not only that, but the young fella, Espinoza, has played well. It’s a pity he’s only in on loan with us, he could absolutely do a job long term.  With all this happening, I am, of course, delighted. Things are too good, and with that in mind the inevitable happens. An injury to our full back, Diego Sanhueza, in the final minutes, the one guy on the bench who could cover both the DR and more importantly the DM position for our ageing, 42 year old Arturo Sanhueza. We do have more options, but they’re not as versatile. I wait for confirmation after the game, and it looks like he’ll be out for at least five weeks. This ain’t good but I’ve got to truck on. We’re on a roll and need to not let setbacks like this upset us.  I’m eager to get to our next match, to continue this run, but with our scouts finally on board I get all their scouting programs setup. We have two guys, our two better guys, looking for players for our tactic under the age of 23 and our last guy, who’s fairly useless, is looking for anyone, really, as long as they have a few years left in their legs.  Our scouts have already found a few players who could work for us, like Axl Rios who can play anywhere from a DC, DM, or MC. When I approach his agent, though, he tells us Rios won’t sign and is waiting until closer to the end of his contract. This happens across a few players I try to get in, they’re all planning on waiting a little longer. This is fair on their behalf, they want to see how the season plays out, but as a manager needing to rebuild a squad it’s not ideal.  I do get some offers out, including to a 19 year old Adalberto Cordoba who’ll be 20 next year, and so count for our u21 players. He technical ability is great, his physicals are alright even though he’d trip over his own shadow, but his mentals are poor. A season of coming off the bench might be the boost he needs, and with his potential he could turn out quite decent. Then it’s our game against 3rd placed Universidad de Concepcion. And after such an easy game against 4th place Quillota I’m wondering if we could snatch a win here instead of the draw I aimed for. It’s away from home but with the players performing I think it’s a distinct possibility.  Our search for a right winger to really lay claim to the spot continues, this time with Delgado coming in. Delgado being a player who has done well on the left when he’s come on for Harbottle.  After ten minutes we get a corner, and continue to get to use our new attacking set pieces. They haven’t quite worked out for us yet and that proves to be the case again, with a near post corner getting easily headed out by the defending player. I’m not too worried about this, corners are a numbers game and expecting to score them all, or even half of them, is far too much. They’ll come good, eventually, and hopefully exactly when we need them to.  With not even a quarter of the match gone we get an attacking throw in. It’s given to Sanheuza who passes it back to a free-to-cross-the-ball-in Espinoza, the young guy who’s really turning up for us.  The ball clears the defence with a lovely little rise and drop and lands right on Harbottle’s bonce. It takes another little rise and fall and the goalkeeper gets his hand to it, except he can only knock it onto the bar. I think the keeper has just about kept it out but when the ball falls it falls just behind the goal line. 17 minutes and we’re 1-0 up. Get in Fernandiaz Vial! And get in Harbottle! You can keep being a poor player in general if you also keep magicking goals for us while you’re generally playing crap. That’s a trade off I am definitely willing to make.  We don’t get it all our own way, though. Universidad get a free kick wide outside our area. It’s sent too deep but pulled back to their player waiting outside the box while our defence is far too congested defending the crossed ball that didn't quite go into the area. Contreras runs forward, gaining some ground, and gets a clear shot. Except Merino is up to his usual standards and snatches the ball out of the air before any Universidad player can run on to tap it in. Not perfect defending, far from it, but Merino is rewarding my faith in him.  Gotti and Delgado haven’t done great for us, they haven’t been bad but they haven’t stood out either. I take both of them off. This is especially high in my mind when Gotti has been playing so much for us, knowing I need an alternative at striker should he not play well, keep tiring out—fatigue will become an issue soon—or god forbid, he gets injured. I bring Zuniga and Jose Luis Munoz on.  Ten minutes later, around sixty minutes into the game, we get a free kick outside their box and Zuniga steps up to take it. He curves it around the wall, it hits the top bar and bounces in behind the Universidad keeper. Zuniga didn’t have a hint of nerves about him despite being substituted on, and makes a claim for his case to be starting again. Sixty minutes are gone and we’re 2-0 up, with the crossbar playing a role in both goals. Can we hold out?  Unversidad step up the pressure and begin to really go on the attack. An over-the-top ball is sent to Contreras who has a free run on goal, but again our luck holds out with him sending his shot wide. At any other level they’d have gotten a goal back on us, but maybe the mentality of players at this tier means they can’t quite hold it together when their opposition goes ahead? And I know I’m just trying to make reasons for why our luck is holding out because I also know it won’t always be true. Some days we’re giving away this goal and are losing our momentum.  Arturo Sanhueza, our 42 year old is looking absolutely gassed with twenty five minutes left and a defensive midfielder will be key in keeping Universidad out. I substitute him off for the specialist, Julio Zuniga, who I had to put on the bench to explicitly cover this position. This is the result of the injury to Diego Sanhueza who could cover two spots, but I’m not left with many other choices. Not any other choices if I’m being honest.  I also make a change to how the midfield plays. They’re more defensive while still offering some attack with one mezzala in there, but this worked to close out the game last time so I have to hope it’ll do the same for us this time. Six points from games against fourth and now third would be huge.  And we do hold out. We’ve absolutely dominated and fully deserve our win. I can’t praise the lads enough and the bus trip home is full of the worst shite on the speakers, something I can’t complain about. They're idiot footballers celebrating. Although I should complain. Their taste should be better considering most of them are about the same age as me.  When I check the table it’s looking good for us. The media have questions about us entering the promotion playoff places but I know we won’t still be there when the rest of the league’s games get played out. What I do know is that the team has the ability to reach its targets this year. Then? Maybe? How about a two year contract for me? I feel like I can spend time in Chile, I’m enjoying this club. The team next year will be one that’s rebuilt, and it won’t have the experience or even necessarily the ability to compete for the same position in the table. What it might have is me for two years, and me building a long term foundation for success.
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Nov 11, 2022 15:31
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 With my thoughts turned to a second year of a contract and building something I take stock of Kevin Harbottle’s abilities. I think he has another year in him, definitely.  I get onto his agent, “We’re a bit interested in doing a deal,” I say in absolutely fluent Spanish but a thick Irish accent. And the agent seems reasonable. €650 to €875 a week, we can work with that.  I get straight into negotiations, striking while the iron is hot and the terms are in our favour. He wants two years at €700 a week, €150 less than what he’s on at the moment. At 32 years old I’m not sure I can do two years with him, so I up his wage to €750 and drop his terms down to one year, changing nothing else. And he absolutely knobs us. He could see me coming a mile away! His cuteness on the pitch in magicking moments from nothing is reflected in his agent. He immediately gives us an ultimatum. “We’ll take your €750, thanks for the extra fifty quid, but unless you offer us two years we’re walking.” He’s got me over a barrel and I have no choice but to agree. It was all going too well.  I take a look at our next match, which is against Deportes Puerto Montt at home. There’s some distance between us, temporarily in fifth, and them, in twelfth. We really should win this, and I decide I can do some back office stuff in the build up to the match instead of entirely focusing on training, but it could very well be a banana skin undoing all our hard work.  I take a look at the likes of Kevin Leiva and feel he could work for us, as a backup, going on through the years. Especially if we can over perform—at least according to expectations—with our older players this season. It’ll be a step down in quality but maybe these long term players could make a go of it. Now is the time to really figure out where we need people coming in, and where we’re going to be weak.  I go through a raft of players, tying them down to longer contracts where I feel they have a bit of life left in them. I know some managers are all about the action of deadline day and the transfer window. They have half their squad’s contracts expiring and no-one agreed to join them for the coming season, with it all being done in a one month intense window between the passed and coming season, but that’s never been my style. When I joined Fernández Vial—and still to a large extent—the team cohesion was in the dumps. Swapping around an entire squad will never allow that cohesion to build. Even if I have technically better players available to me they won’t even be able to recognise each other on the pitch for the first half of the season. A few losses at the beginning of the league and suddenly your whole campaign is over. Better to have some stability, and a bit of improvement, instead of an entire re-tooling.  I manage to get Ponce, Vidal, Carrasco, Leiva and Avalos all onto longer terms. Avalos not really featuring yet but someone who can make up the backbone of a backup squad, especially with us absolutely barren in midfield, with the rest being elder statesmen.  To fund all this I have to make some changes in the coaching setup. We have wage budget space, and we’ve gotten players on lower paying contracts in return for longer terms and guaranteed money, but I’m hoping we can sign a few coaches to really bolster our training when my adverts start paying off. With that in mind I get rid of our goalkeeping coach, it’s something I can look after myself. The question is whether I bring in a fitness coach so I’m not doing double duty, or whether I focus on the outfield-playing training more.  I’ve identified two players from our scouting reports I really want to sign. Marcelo Ryan is a 20 year old winger with real ability and who could still push on more.  And Ruan is a young left back who could probably play on both sides, given a little time, and be with us for years. Of course neither of them sign with us, in the end. As soon as our offers were in for them other teams all came out of the woodwork and felt the rush. A (formerly) poorly performing second division Chilean team just can’t compete.  Still, looking towards next year, I begin to plan out what the squad will look like in that season. We have some depth in most positions, even if it’s with older players, but midfield is almost entirely bare across the three different spots. Hernandez, is the only seriously quality extension I’ve made there. Saez is considering his options at the end of his contract, and Arturo Sanhueza will be 43. I desperately want to make some signings in those positions, and I have one contract offer out for a defensive midfielder. But there are some other younger players I could keep on for longer there...  Matias Avila is a big fat maybe...  While Julio Zuniga is an even bigger maybe. He’s well rounded, no huge flaws in his game, but he’s not the higher level ability player you can build a midfield around. I know he’s going to get time to play with injuries and the geriatric we have at defensive midfielder, so if he can perform on the pitch then that might be enough to bring him through another year with us.  The one guy I still have a contract offer out for is Claudio Zamorano. As soon as my scout report came in from him I made a move. We’ve been taken out of bids before, just not able to compete, so I have to be ready to take someone on at the shortest notice.  And he agrees to come in for us on €575 per week. Not a cheap wage, but not ridiculous either. It’s probably a fair consideration when his technical skills are great but he’s a little lacking in physical ability. He should know in the battling divisions physical ability rules over everything else. If you can out-muscle and out-run your opposition you’ll do the better. I’m just betting his physicals in midfield won’t make as massive a difference as they would if he was somewhere out wide, or running off as, or to keep up with, a striker. With one midfielder extra on our books for next year my thoughts turn towards the next game. We have to sign more midfielders, we have to see who we can get in attack out wide but we also have to decide whether to sign Gotti up again. Gotti hasn’t been too outstanding, and we need to start seeing something from him. We also definitely need another right back, to add to a seemingly never-ending list of wants, but, equally, with us winning it’s now time to start bringing in some of the younger players I’ve been ignoring.  The initial plan was to only use our best players, however old they were. Now we’ve established we can compete with our best players on the pitch it’s time to start swapping in some of our youth who may not be as skilled as the older guys. Just to see if we can still win, but this time with a new mixture of age and ability, along with youth and potential.  And although I say, “Potential,” a lot of these guys are in their mid-twenties, so it’s not like they’re up and comers, they just haven’t eked out every last bit of development and experience like the granddads on our team.  Going into the game we have our team. I’m going to be looking at some of the few younger players here, namely Salgado, to see if his energy can overcome the ageing players’ better ability. Especially as some have been playing poorly, mainly on the wing. I’ll also be looking at Espinoza, to see about maybe bringing him in permanently? Equally Gotti needs to start scoring goals for us. They’ve been coming from everywhere on the pitch recently, except for our strikers.  One minute into the game and Harbottle takes the ball in his usual advanced left wing position. He’s pushed off the ball with the defender’s leg around him in what can only be compared to a judo throw. The ref is looking directly at it, and Harbottle makes the exact same motion to the ref as I’m doing. Except the absolute loving arsehole doesn’t give it. He probably has views about this being a contact sport and letting play develop despite fellas being bodied. I’m not happy, but we have another 88 minutes to make it irrelevant.  My analyst has mapped how Puerto Montt are shaping up and it’s a five at the back. If they park the bus on us I’m not sure how we break them down—if we’re good enough to do it. I have a slight worry about them hitting us on the break but it’s not a big one. If they stay behind the ball and wait for us we won’t be committing players forward, instead relying on our few attackers to make something. It could be a draw on the cards, but it’s still early and anything could happen.  My prediction that they’ll sit behind the ball proves to be correct. With some astounding tactical awareness our players decide to keep it at the back, passing it from left to right to see if we can draw them out. Eventually Jerez makes a run down the right with Salgado taking off in front of him clear of any defender. Salgado gets the ball in free space and crosses the ball in.  Gotti gets it a fair way out, and only manages to gently knock it towards the safe hands of the keeper, but it’s encouraging signs from the young lad I’ve brought into the starting role.  With 30 minutes gone we’re dominating on possession and passes completed but there’s been no clear chance at the goal. It could be a case of snatching one from a miracle pass or great solo effort and then seeing the game out.  A few minutes later we get a corner, another chance for our set piece routines, but Puerto Montt clear the ball to the edge of their box. It’s there an absolute brain genius move is deployed by Benjamin Vidal pushing over the Puerto Montt player right in front of the ref. I’m thinking red straight away, it was absolutely stupid and an obvious shove. The ref calls Vidal over, and to my shock he warns Vidal that this is the last time he’ll tolerate something like that. It’s not even a yellow! This ref definitely does like a game with a bit of an edge to it. I just hope he doesn’t let it get away from him. We’ve been the dominant team here and shithousery to keep us out is a real possibility.  We’re coming up on half time and I’m wondering where our break will come from. We get a throw in right in the corner, the ball is thrown short and then crossed in. Gotti is standing on the edge of the six yard box and somehow flicks his head on a pivot to send the ball right into the top corner. It’s a beautiful goal and I’m astounded that Gotti has had the skill to direct the ball like that. He’s been short on game changing moments recently but this one is an absolute beauty.  At half time I tell them I’m happy with the shots we’re getting away, which isn’t quite true, but they’re all delighted. I’m more happy with the momentum we’ve gained during the game. We’ve been clearly in control and if we keep it up we should be able to see out the game.  Ten minutes pass with us still dominating possession, and getting a couple of corners that amount to nothing. I really need to add a third variation to our routines. Then Jerez gets the ball again on the wing. I’m looking at Salgado again, because the young fella has been tasty for us out there, but Jerez puts the ball back to Espinoza, the loanee we have. Espinoza sends the ball into the box connecting with Hernandez from midfield.  Hernandez nods the ball down, with it bouncing right under the keeper. 55 or so minutes gone and we’re 2-0 up. Espinoza has been really good for us since I gave him a chance, and now I’m seriously considering getting him in permanently, even if he does just become a bench option for us. I’ll have to make a phone call. With the goal, however, it’s a question of whether I make a tactical change to make us more defensive. With thirty-five minutes to play it’s a lot of time to invite them onto us, and we have dominated, so I decide to stick with our approach for another five minutes, at least. Maybe they won’t be able to play through our attack?  The whole team has been playing well, except for the one player who I made the big decision to give a two year contract to. Harbottle’s not been that great, probably spending his new, financially stable bank account rather than playing. I take him off and bring Delgado on.  Salgado continues to take his opportunity, going one way around a defender and taking the pass to him on the other side, leaving the defence all over the place.  Salgado plays the ball to the feet of Gotti in the box where Gotti passes it beneath the keeper and into the net. We’re 3-0 up in what’s possibly been the best performance the team has put in so far. Is it the mixture of youth and experience? The team coming together as a unit? Or have they started to understand my tactic a bit more? Whatever it is I’ll take it. The question now is whether I can keep their mind focused on their performances with them riding high.  As soon as the goal is scored I’m scribbling out some instructions for how to change up our play, because I’m sure Puerto Montt will now be forced to come at us when my assistant lets out a yelp.  Purto Montt have stormed us, getting a cheap and easy goal back while I was trying to get my team to change up their shape, it was that quick. I now have to wonder if they’ll fire back again, boosted by their goal, and if we’ll squander a three goal lead.  But a few minutes later we put the game to bed with another blistering attack down the right wing. The ball is sent into Gotti who heads it into the top corner, securing his hat trick. He’s been an absolute danger with his loitering in the box.  It’s all done and dusted, with us even managing to score a fifth goal. Our biggest win yet and the team have played like superstars.  Which I of course say to the players who look absolutely thrilled.  We’re on a roll now, and I can start playing around more to see how the team will shape up next season. Even players—who I’d love to have—asking for over two grand to come play for us—which I won’t pay—can’t but it a dent in the confidence I have for this team. If you don’t want to be with us, that’s fine. You’re the one missing out. We’re really building something here! Up the Fernández Vials!!
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Nov 13, 2022 16:16
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That was a right drubbing there, can you make a late push for promotion? How much is the first vs. second divison difference in Chile anyway?
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Nov 15, 2022 13:31
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TitanG posted:That was a right drubbing there, can you make a late push for promotion? How much is the first vs. second divison difference in Chile anyway? Promotion is a possibility, but I'd say an outside one at the moment.  Notice there's a lot of clubs with one or two games in hand down to tenth on 32 points. There's a lot of congestion around the middle of the table, including right up to second place in the league. The league leaders are currently ten points ahead, so automatic promotion is basically out. Then it's a case of keeping our form for the rest of the season—something I think we could do, more or less—and going through a playoff; semi-final and final. I find those can go any which way. I have no idea what the Chilean first division is like. I do know our better players are our older players, and they'll all be losing ability by next year. The big tale of this LP so far is banking on the skilled older players while slowly introducing younger, but less able, players to see if they can make it in the second division. I don't think they're able for a step up. In fact I can't imagine doing this well with Fernandez Vial next season with most of the older players gone, and getting in younger players with a similar ability as them has been quite difficult so far. Also, I want to say thanks for the comment. Knowing people are going to interact with the story is really encouraging (and the opposite is discouraging.) I should have another update by the end of the day.
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Nov 15, 2022 15:20
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Well, I don't really have much to say but I'm following the story 
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Nov 15, 2022 15:32
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Average Lettuce posted:Well, I don't really have much to say but I'm following the story What this guy said. I’m not even a big fan of professional soccer but this LP is engrossing!
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Nov 15, 2022 15:53
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 The first thing I notice is that our next game is almost a full two weeks away. I’d hope the other league games get played in that time, so we can actually gauge where we stand in the table, but I’d guess this is the space laid out for a domestic cup. One our former manager got us knocked out of. That’s fine by me. It means I’m not judged on it and my players have more time to rest.  But is it too much time to rest and will their match sharpness be affected? I schedule some match practice during training. It should keep their physicals up to scratch and also improve their familiarity with my way of playing. At the same time I do also schedule some extra time off as well as some recovery sessions during the two weeks to allow them to recuperate.  Then, for me, it’s onto scouring through scout reports. We have fellas like this guy, Jeison Gamboa. Not the best but his physicals mean he could be alright. It’s a watch and wait with him, I think. See what we really need in the future.  It’s really the likes of Alexis Villarroel who I’d like to bring in. The problem is I can’t sign him on an ‘end of contract’ approach, he has at least another season with his team, presuming they don’t sign up him for even longer. And we have no transfer budget even approaching his minimum valuation. The alternative for players like this is to bring him in on loan next year. He’s listed as a ‘breakthrough prospect’ so he might value some regular playing time with a team, to help him develop, even if we don’t take him on permanently. I add him to a shortlist and I’ll see how we stand next season.  Cristian Becerra is really the type of young guy we could attract, not great, and unattached and without a contract, and there’s a reason for that. There’s no obvious problems with him, he’s just not very good, not with his anticipation and composure, key parts of a midfield. I could bring him in now but the only real role he’d be playing is making up numbers in training, all the while hoping a player ahead of him gets injured. And even then he’s not the type of player I’d want to be bringing in should someone have a long term injury.  There are these kinds of players, like Matias Alaniz. Amazing at first look but then my scouts have a little extra information to add...  Being susceptible to injuries isn’t ideal, but then if he doesn’t fare well in big matches as well it’s a bit of a problem. If you have a great player but can’t rely on them in crunch games then you don’t really have a great player. The only thing he’s really missing from the downsides in my scout’s report is that he’s inconsistent. So at least he’ll generally perform in matches that don’t matter. Great stuff!  Brian Lopez is the kind of player who could bring balance to a side. He’s well rounded in his technical ability, if not particularly stand out in any area. I like well rounded players. They’re versatile and when a game goes to poo poo they can move around and help you get back on track.  But my scouts have something to say there as well. He’s not well suited to moving to another country. Normally, if you’re with a big club, this is fine. Especially with a younger player. Sign them for their ability, then give them six months or a full season to settle down and get settled into their new home. You still have another three or four years left on their contract for them to earn their wage. For the likes of Fernandez Vial, where a player might be on a single year’s contract, or two at most, you can’t have a guy who’s homesick for half the time. They need to be able to make a difference straight away.  Anyone known to me, especially at midfield, that doesn’t have a contract and my scouts haven’t scouted fully I offer a trial to. Best to get them in for a few weeks and see if they can make it in the squad, even if it means my first team’s training goes to pot with so many newbies hanging around.  Delving through scout reports I do find one player who stands out. Henrique Luro. He has skills where he needs them, his mentals aren’t too bad his physical ability is fine, OK, at least where it counts. Adding to all that my scouts don’t have many bad things to say about him.  I immediately get into contract negotiations with him. I won’t be able to register him until next year but he can acclimatise and get used to the squad. We have the wage budget Or so I think. This is the most I can offer. €625 plus some heavy bonuses.  He wants, after I’ve negotiated him down from €1,200 a week, at least €950. And his agent doesn’t have much patience in negotiating any deals.  I make my final offer, the best I can do despite having €3,000 spare wage budget. And he accepts! He’s almost halved his original wage demands.  With an astonishing lack of depth at centre back next year Henrique Luro would be a valuable addition.  And of course as soon as my contract is with him news about it gets out and other clubs start sniffing around.  I really want Luro but equally I have plenty of people in on trial with us, and if we can find one quality player out of that lot we’ll be in a much better place. Two new players coming in—Luro and someone else—who have ability would give us that bit more wiggle room in contract negotiations going forward. If we sign another midfielder, we still need more there, but then the only other really, absolutely vitally necessary additions for the backbone of the team are an attacking midfielder, somewhere, and a right back. Presuming, of course, Luro isn’t snatched out from under of us like so many other players before.  At least one other offer comes in for him and I’m expecting more. He could very easily go where the money is, or to a better team, or to any other number of places, for any other number of reason.  But he’s doesn’t! Henrique Luro has agreed to come in with us! A quick decision on his behalf! Is there something I’m missing? Are Fernandez Vial real contenders in Chilean football now?  We might not be able to offer massive contracts, and in this case it worked out for us, but we do have a wage budget to allow us make moves. Presuming, of course, we get the same amount next year and don’t have to sell.  After a few days Luro joins us, and the fans are pretty happy to have him here. So that’s not something I have to worry about—the fans yelling and screaming at the board that I’m doing a terrible job in the transfer market. We’ve been fine in the league under me—which is what should matter, the end result—but football fans are a strange bunch.  Something I didn’t realise, which is a bonus, is that Luro is actually still considered an u21 player. He doesn’t need to be registered for us and can play immediately! With our two week break still underway, and with him being so young, he can even get a game in with the youth squad to get some minutes in his legs. He’ll take a while to settle in and adapt to the team, even just to learn the tactic, but this is all working out really well.  Of course things are never that great. After a few days I notice something I didn’t pick up before. Luro’s stamina is pretty loving bad. It’s not vital for his position but more and more defenders are playing a decidedly active role in the game. They don’t just sit back and soak up play any more, but are, and should be, contributing everywhere on the pitch. I think it’ll be OK, or more I hope it’ll OK, but we’ll give him a few games and see what my tactics will be to mange this minor (or slightly more than minor) mistake from me.  To get me back on track we get another batch of good news, Gotti, our striker, has signed on for another year.  And with that our two week break is up. A two week break where the board, and the fans, have decided they’re not just happy with how I’ve been getting us up the league table, but now are so happy they’re telling me what games they want me to win. Absolutely brilliant!  I know we’re not in the playoff places for real, with other teams having games in hand. But still, we’re doing quite well. I don’t need the pressure of the board coming to me with their and the fan’s expectations. And the team certainly doesn’t need it. Just a few weeks ago they were all miserable from so many losses.  But into the game it is! And this is how we line up.  But this is how Deportes Melipilla line up. It’s another five at the back, something that definitely has the ability to frustrate us, as well as keep us out if we’re not at our best in breaking down a defensively robust formation.  And that seems to be the story of the first half. Jerez—who we’ll miss, seeing as it looks as though he’s retiring at the end of the year, or playing elsewhere—runs the ball down the wing, lays it back to Espinoza—a loanee probably going back to his parent club—who sends the ball into Hernandez who blasts a shot in from long range. Blasting a shot because he just has no option to work a better, more telling move. The Melipilla players—of course—have plenty back and one of them puts their body in the way. We’re getting no luck against them.  Which is no wonder. When we have the ball in the middle of the pitch this is how Melipilla are shaping up. They have all ten of their players compacting the midfield and giving us no space to work. We could try lumping balls forward and over them but we’ve never practised that and I’m not sure I, as a manager, know how to effectively work it. I also don’t know if we want to get into a battle of long balls.  A battle of long ball as is obviously Melipilla’s desire, where they put a ball forward to their striker, who takes it on but fortunately is pressured into putting the ball high over the cross bar.  With most of the first half played it looks like we’ll be in a battle of substitutes. It’s going to take the second half, with us putting more pressure on them, and bringing on fresh legs, to see a break in their tight setup.  At half time I try to fire the team up, telling them they need to perform better, and I also make a substitution. Our fans want to see our new player, Luro, and so do I. With Vidal picking up a yellow in the first half it’s the perfect opportunity to see how Luro performs.  Whatever the Melipilla’s manager said at half time it seems to backfire because we get two attacks within the first two minutes of the second half. The second of which is a ball threaded through to Gotti who’s dancing right through the middle of their very many defenders.  And for Gotti it’s no problem. He coolly passes the ball past the keeper and into the net.  We’re 1-0 up inside two minutes of the second half.  Five minutes go by and I’m wondering if we change to a more defensive setup to keep them out, but it appears we’re keeping the pressure on with a free kick outside their box. In the scrum, that I absolutely cannot discern anything from, the referee sees a push, and it’s a penalty to us.  Harbottle, who again has been pretty bloody useless for us, steps up to take it.  And he places it beautifully into the corner, past the keeper who did guess the right direction but wasn’t off the mark fast enough to stop it. It’s already too late, we’ve given Harbottle the contract, but I am wondering if it was the right decision to do so. He’s been poor since the extension, no moments of magic, and I don’t know if occasionally coming out of nowhere, and occasionally scoring penalties, had me putting too much faith in him. Like I said, it’s already too late to change anything, but I might have to eat my decision, and the money. It could very well be the case—unless he begins to perform again—of seeing about getting two more options in that position, the attacking mid, versus just the one I really need for next season, at least according to my immediate, still-in-the-middle-of-the-season plans.  Two goals to the good, now, I decide it’s time to see about some of those players I’m wondering about. Whether they could work out next year. Equally it’s about seeing the game out with fresh legs. I bring Matias Avila on, along with a few others.  The game plays out more evenly after our second goal, but there’s no threat, or goal, from Melipilla that really forces me into a tactical change.  We get chances like this, with Gotti, that aren’t completely clear cut—can you tell it was a ball from Harbottle? Melipilla have men in the way and the game finishes out that way, with us pretty much even. Our two goals early in the second half deciding things.  We more or less dominated in the stats when it comes to the match, good value for our 2-0 win.  But the player ratings from our analysts tells a more important story. Henrique Luro put in a fine performance, according to our men-with-computers, even if I didn’t see much of him. Especially for his first half of football with us. Matias Avila didn’t show much. I don’t know if it’s because he wasn’t fully match sharp, if he didn’t have enough time to make an impact on the game, or whether he simply doesn’t have the quality. I’m thinking it’s the ‘doesn’t have the quality’ but hasty and rash decisions are coming back to hurt me, so I’ll decide to wait. The hasty and rash decisions basically being the one with Harbottle, whose rating of 6.9 is inflated from having put away a penalty. I’ll always be thankful for someone scoring a penalty. It’s not a dead cert no matter what the fans would have you believe. But that alone should get him to around 7.2 on our ratings system. An average performance and a penalty goal will definitely have you out of the 6s. The rest of his play is pulling down his overall score. This ain’t good.  Out of the match—a good performance from us according to the journalists and commentators—I’m immediately hit by some news from Sergio Riffo. He’s planning on considering his options at the end of his contract.  He’s a decent player, and his transfer listing by the previous management might have clouded my judgment in not playing him. Especially when I’m looking at the quality of player we’re actually able to bring in, or who’s at least available to us as free agents at the moment. If I’m to win him back over to us it’ll involve giving him starts, increasing his morale and making sure he’s happy with us. That could take making sure he’s involved for most of the games for the rest of the season.  And it’s the rest of the season that’s the question. Do I push for playoff places, knowing if we keep this form it is a possibility? Or do I play around with the team, building for next year and bedding a team in, knowing we probably wouldn’t win a playoff—both semi’s and finals—anyway? Or at least it’d take the bounce of the ball and a lot of luck. It’s a question of pushing for our best performance this year, and maybe underperforming next. Or building towards next year hoping we can equal or better what we do this year? Either way we keep playing. A dip in form will come and then it’ll tell me more about the players. The same will happen with injuries cropping up. We’ve had people come in, people that maybe weren’t the best signings, but our long term shape is firming. I was given a team of ageing players to rebuild, and to ensure they survive their league. They are doing a little more than surviving at the moment, but with the limits of the club the rebuild will take another season to see through. I just hope those limits aren’t lower than how we’re doing now. And I hope I’m up to the task of rebuilding to a rather young team.
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Nov 15, 2022 21:37
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This is really fun so far! I don't really know much about football at all, so I'm not quite sure what a lot.of the formations entail, but I'm enjoying this. Hopefully next year will come with a budget increase.
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Nov 16, 2022 09:31
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Got to push for playoffs, seems like you'd have as much chance as anyone of getting through them and then your rebuilding job would be much easier with the increased money and reputation of playing in a higher league. There's room to do that and also keep the fringe players happy with a game here and these. Maybe check their Agreed Playing Time and see if you can adjust anyone's expectations downwards if they're not good enough, at least you're being honest then. Riffo looks good enough to be at least a rotation option for the back end of the season, especially if Harbottle isn't performing. Have a word with Kevin and tell him he needs to start playing better, and haul him off after 45-60 minutes in the next game if he's still floating around the mid-6es. If there's an option to have a conversation with Riffo too and let him know he's going to get opportunities to impress off the bench and can make a bid for a starting spot if he does well you might get some strong performances out of both of them! Managing in minor leagues and choosing between players who are either mediocre at everything or terrible at most things but with a few outstanding attributes is a lot of fun. Luro looks like a very solid pick-up though, a little more jumping and strength would be nice but that insane natural fitness means he should be able to play all season with no issues. Not sure what the rest of your centre-backs are like but I'd be trying to pair him with an absolute physical unit if I could. Cover one player's weaknesses with another's strengths.
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Nov 16, 2022 10:19
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This is tempting me to have a go at the gane in gamepass, but every other time I’ve tried I’ve crashed and burn after looking at my team squad and being overwhelmed. I also refuse to automate anything. No, there is nothing wrong with my brain, this is obviously the game’s problem.
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Nov 16, 2022 10:37
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How do manage an aging and respected player on your squad that wants playing time against younger players that need the experience to live out their potential?
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Nov 16, 2022 14:00
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Nea posted:This is really fun so far! I don't really know much about football at all, so I'm not quite sure what a lot.of the formations entail, but I'm enjoying this. For today’s post I thought I could answer this, and help give some insight into how we’re achieving what we’re achieving, at least with our tactics. Bear in mind Football Manager is a complex game, and I am by no means a tactical expert at it. This is a formation I’ve figured out and refined over two editions of the game, needing to tweak it again with FM23 from FM22. It might not make complete sense, especially to someone who knows the game better than me, but this is what I believe that tactic does, and what I see it doing when I watch.  Here we have part of our tactical overview, so let’s go through the positions, starting at the back.  Our goalkeeper is playing as a “sweeper keeper.” This basically means he’s more likely to come off his line to take on through balls that get between his defence and him. If he was a standard keeper he’d sit back waiting for the ball to come to him or for the defensive line to clear it up. Not so with sweeper keepers, they’re a lot more proactive. He’s also more likely to start attacks, and be keen to get some forward momentum with the ball. Even coming off his line to do so. With all that being said my keeper is set on “defensive” mode, so it’s the least outgoing of the options (the others being “support” and “attack.”) With the quality of my keepers I don’t want to expose them too much, but I do want him being active. This is an active formation and tactic I’m playing.  Now, my backline. At either side of the pitch we have some wing backs. Wing backs are more attacking versions of full backs. They especially play a part in getting forward on the pitch and contributing. If you were to take a look through the type of player I want to sign for my wing backs I’m going to place a higher emphasis on attributes such as dribbling, crossing, vision, passing, etc. When we get to my attacking midfielders you’ll see how having players coming up the pitch from deep defensive positions, especially out wide, plays into the system. In between those two players we have our centre backs. The heart of the defence. But, again, they have to play a part in the attack. They have to be able to pass the ball forward as well as be a stout part of stopping the opposition. Both these players are “Ball Playing Defenders” meaning exactly what it says. They’re neither lumps to power people off the ball, or speedy players to catch up with through balls, although that would be helpful, it’s just not their sole purpose. Vision and passing again play a part in what they’re supposed to be doing. They are as much active players as they are a stable baseline.  Now we’ll jump up to the forward areas before we get into the midfield, because this forward area really defines how my midfield is set up. Some would say the key to an attack is your striker. They’d sort of be wrong with my tactic. My striker is a poacher, lurking around the top of the field, ready to get a jump on a defender if a ball is played through to him. It’s also one of the simplest attacking roles to play. It’s all about physical ability, pace especially, and composed finishing. We’ve seen it work in previous games where Gotti dances through defenders from a ball through the middle, coolly passing the ball into the net. What may actually be the key to my attack, though, are my wingers. On the right I have a traditional winger on attack. Supported by my wing back from defence he’ll start off attacks from out wide, crossing the ball in. What’s good about this iteration of Football Manager, and to some degree the last, is that a good winger will know if his side of the pitch is crowded by a wing or full back getting forward from defence it leaves him some freedom to move inside. When my wing backs attack you’ll often see all three between my striker and attacking midfielders move in a line towards the box. Mainly, though, that’s not the focus, at least not when we’re breaking forward. What is the focus is the left wing, with my Inside Forward. This is a player playing on the left wing, in attack, who’ll cut inside with or without the ball, and get into dangerous areas. Either creating with the ball or being present in an attack. Often, from the right side, a winger or wing back will cross the ball into my poacher and my inside forward posing a threat in the box. The wing back on the left will fill the space the inside forward creates when cutting inside, ensuring there’s still someone to pick up balls that might get knocked out there. Because both my wing backs are on support it means they won’t get completely forward, but they will lurk ominously waiting to hammer a ball back in or play the ball around with my standard midfield. If my inside forward comes inside, but the ball gets sent back out, my midfield or wing backs will be there for it. As well as coming inside for crossed balls from my winger, the inside forward can drag the ball diagonally across the pitch, towards the box, looking for the pass for darting runs from my poacher and my winger from the other side. This isn’t completely naturally how any attack shaped like this would play, but when combined with my instructions it’s how it works.  Now for my midfield. The easiest to understand is the mezzala on the top left of the three. He’s there to crowd the space my inside forward runs into. With the poacher at the very front, and the inside forward coming inside, the mezzala on support will take up a position a little behind those two, either to pass the ball forward, to take on a long shot, or if necessary combine with the other two in attack for balls crossed or passed in from the right side from my winger or my right sided wing back. He’ll even take balls off the left sided inside forward, allowing the inside forward to move without the ball.  On the front right of the midfield we have a carrilero. The description from Football Manager describes what they do extremely well. Basically they link between my defensive midfield and my forward running mezzala, as well as sort of between defence and attack. As FM says they’re not a box-to-box midfielder, they’re not supposed to cover the length of the pitch, they’re a stout option in midfield—with ball playing skills—whose duty is to support the midfield especially. Any other option there would expose the midfield by dragging the player up and down the pitch more, or set them to be too attacking or defensively minded. My carrilero may be key to the stability I have in midfield. Finally we have my defensive midfielder, sitting a little further back. Naturally, in this position, the player will contribute to a defence. However, as a regista, they’re also more likely to be a powerful creator when it comes to attacks. My focus isn’t playing balls through the middle, but the player here can be a powerful starting point to an attack that’s coming out from the centre of my defence. Or more likely, if an attack gets broken up and the ball is sent out back to me they can restart it with their attacking skills.  But wait, we’re 2-0 up and they’re coming for us! I change my midfield. My regista is no longer set to create in front, he’s now a Ball Winning Midfielder, specifically in the DM position, designed to break up attacks. My carrilero stays as is, as a real key in midfield, while my mezzala changes to an advanced playmaker, looking to create instead of my regista, while being on support he can still contribute to crowding out the midfield by not getting as forward as if he was on an attack oriented role.  Separate to this my two wing backs get changed to full backs, and my ball playing defenders get changed to No-Nonsense Centre Backs. I don’t want my defence getting exposed by plunging forward. This, I will say, still isn’t completely figured out tactically. But it does soothe me a little if a team is really attacking and trying to pull goals back against us. We still have some attacking mentality, it’s just we have a more defence minded system behind our attack.  But, with my regular tactic, how do I tell my team to play, outside of their roles? In defence it’s rather simple. We harry them a lot, all the way across the pitch. From defence right up to attack. We don’t want them getting comfortable on the ball. That being said, my defensive line isn’t ridiculously high because I know with ball playing defenders, etc. my attack focus means we’re susceptible to long balls over the top, so I set my defensive line—how deep my defenders are—to be ‘standard.’  When it’s not clear who has the ball or what exactly is happening, if we’re defending and they’re attacking, or we’re attacking and they’re defending, then we do some simple things. We counter-press them when they’re winning the ball from us, to put them under pressure. And when we win the ball we go for it. Basic stuff. For launching attacks my keeper sends the ball to my full backs/wing backs. As I pointed out with my role analysis, a lot of my focus—at least for initial phases—is down the wings. Once the ball gets forward my midfield can come into play, but for the first point of attack it’s out to my wing backs.  So, finally, they key to it all. How do we attack? At a basic level we want to be fairly wide and use the width our formation gives us. But we don’t want to be too wide, we still want some amount of congestion with our mezzala coming forward, and our midfield picking up balls and passing them through to our poacher and wingers coming inside. We play out of defence, it’s best to build play rather than lump the ball forward and hope something comes of it. Equally we’re a team who will run with the ball, coming at a defence while I allow the team to be creative. We have a lot of synergies and doubling up with our positions, so I want the players to be able to use their footballing noggins to take advantage of that by going at the opposition, especially out wide. We pass the ball into space, meaning it’s not always to a player’s feet, because I want those doubling ups and synergies to drag a team around. Some spaces on the pitch with my setup can get crowded, so if a ball can be played to an empty space one of my players can run into, that’s a great thing. Finally, we play shorter passes, no hoof ball for me, I want my players to use their skills, and we play with a slightly higher tempo because I feel my players can headfuck with the opposition if we keep them always guessing.  So that’s that. All this means we need fairly rounded players. Every player—at least in defence and midfield—is expected to contribute everywhere. Which means they need the ability to contribute everywhere with technical skills. Also we need our players to be able to last a game with a high tempo and a lot of pressing because it is physically demanding, especially if it rains or the weather bogs down the game. A full season playing football this way can really take its toll on a player, both physically and mentally, so we also need quality in depth. I feel this is a powerful, attack minded way of not quite total football, but somewhat approaching the complete package. It does have weakness, especially to dedicated destroyers playing long balls over us and teams packing defences and hitting us on the counter attack. So far that hasn’t stopped us yet, but it will at some point when the other teams and their coaches figure us out. Then it’s time to change things up—maybe just a little—and go again. But that’s what being a football manager is.
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Nov 16, 2022 18:06
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that's a cool writeup. the football manager games were always way too involved for me so it's nice to read about how they work
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Nov 16, 2022 20:00
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 With our next game in a week I decide I can’t be spending all my time on contracts and signings—I’m sure you’ll know how that’ll work out—and instead look towards my team I do have. Patricio Jerez is suspended for the next match after picking up too many yellows, giving me a chance, or more, forcing me to give a chance to some other players. This forcing of my hand is especially helpful because Jerez is considering his options at the end of his contract. He’s very good, but he’s also 35, so does he want less intense football? Does he want a final season of high intensity football as a squad player in a high performing, competitive side? Or does he want to retire? I don’t know but the chances are he won’t be with us next year.  I bring Saez in at right back. He’s a versatile option, playing at midfield as well, but he’s had a few injuries so I’m not fully sure of his form.  I ask my coaches to give me a rundown of how he shapes up, offering up more information than purely what I’ve seen in games and it turns out he’s actually fairly inconsistent. I was thinking about keeping him around next year but this isn’t the best attribute to have with a player.  Instead I take a look at some of the players I’ve been ignoring. Ávalos isn’t the best, he’s not quite there mentally. Not that he’s crazy or a looper or anything, he’s just liable to not be switched on entirely throughout a game, and could make mistakes during key moments. Still, his raw technical ability is quite good. His ball playing skills might make up for any mid-match brain farts so I decide to give him a chance. Why sign players when you can build with what you have?  I look through my preliminary starting line-up for the next match, and how they’ve been performing. They’ve been good. Our results prove that, but they’ve not been outstanding. I know we’ve been pushing for promotion places, or at least playoff places, but if this team faced off against teams from a higher division I’m not sure our performance analyst ratings are telling me they have spare capacity to keep up at the higher level.  In more back office business we’re getting towards the end of the season. Less than ten matches to be played so I decide to see how the crop of youth coming into the team with our next recruitment day from our junior setup is looking. And it’s not too great. In fact it’s far from great. If I offer contracts to three of these young guys I’d be surprised, unless it’s to fill out the youth team. They’re not our golden generation. Not even a bronze generation. Tin? Mud? Poo? That’s a terrible thing to say about fifteen and sixteen year olds. I’m sure some of them will stick around.  I get some news that one of our players has the flu. Julio Zuniga. He wasn’t in my plans but it’s still not good to have someone carrying a virus around the training grounds. It’d be nice if I could get our club doctor to look after him, I’m sure if it turns really serious he’ll go to him, but I have to just send him home to look after himself, or his girlfriend, boyfriend or Mammy can look after him. If covid has taught us anything it’s that infectious illnesses can really spread, and it’s better for him to keep away from people.  We do have players in on trial, training with us, while all this is going on. And some of those trials are ending.  This is how our list of trialists lines up. And it’s up to me, along with my coaches, to go through them all, their performances in training, what we can figure out about them, and see who can do a job for us.  There’s the likes of Jeraldino, not perfect but could be pretty OK, and a few others.  But then of course the dreaded report comes in. He can’t perform in big games. And when you’re competing and a target for other teams most games are big games.  There’s even worse from other players. It’s not that they simply don’t enjoy big games. They dread them. Exactly what you need!  Marcucci is the obvious standout player. And there’s no obvious flaws that my coaches can point out. He’s not that old either, in fact he’s really in his peak years. It doesn’t suit my instructions to sign u23 players for the first team but midfield is an area of the pitch I can’t gently caress around in. Not with our lack of depth.  I go to sign him and I’m crushed. Absolutely bodied by his wage demands of €1,200. There’s no way this can fit into the club wage structure and I’m forced to walk away.  I whittle the trialists down to those without obvious flaws, or at least obvious flaws we’ve discovered so far.  I’m intrigued by Diego Aravena. His tackling is dirt, meaning he could only really play for us as a mezzala, and even then he won’t be the best. Also his natural fitness is shocking, so it’d take careful nursing over the course of the season to see him through the entire campaign. Other than that he’s quite the player, though.  I won’t say my board or staff are ever the greatest at this type of judgment, but I do take some comfort from the idea I won’t be crucified if I do sign Aravena. They seem to rate him highly along with me. Actually, they rate him higher than me, but it’s a similar kind of faith in him. Sort of. I wonder how much he’ll cost?  I offer him a two year contract, a fine wage, no promotion bonuses, but he’s not having it. He only wants to be with us for one year; the end of the season, just now—when he can’t play or be registered—and next season. Personally, I can’t go through another season of a complete rebuild so I want to take the risk of signing him on for the two full seasons.  And he agrees to those two years. But at the cost of a 30% promotion bonus, which he’ll get if we do get promoted despite the fact he’ll not have played a game in the campaign. Still, what would be €400 a week doesn’t seem outlandish for a pretty decent, if not perfect, player in the top division. I’m pleased with this. We’re continuing to make moves.  As we’re leading into the match against Santiago Morning I get some news that we’re doing 100% perfectly on our u21 minutes. Better than perfect even. We need 70% play time and we’re at 100%. This is good, if any of our starting u21s get injured we can afford to drop down a little. At least the previous manager at the club did something correctly.  I also get my weekly training report and I go to the players performing well to tell them they’re doing well. I like being told when I’m doing a good job so it’s definitely the same for my players. A nice, “Good job, lad. You done good around the training grounds!” will put a little pep in their step, and that’s exactly what we need.  No sooner do I praise my players but I get a bit of praise for myself. The board seem pretty happy with what I’m doing. And it’s similar from the fans. My bosses—chairpersons and fans—are rather complimentary of me. I’ll take it! After Santiago Morning we have at least six more games, and if I can get us to the playoffs then maybe the dream can happen. It won’t be a league title, we were never in that position when I came in, but can we really give a go at this? Could we be in the top division in Chile?  With the match coming up my assistant manager recommends a team to me. A swap around in midfield, which I don’t want to do. Some other changes I’m not on board with either, and he wants Saez in at right back. I don’t do this because I want to see Braulio Ávalos. It’s getting to crunch time and no right backs that I’ve seen have on trial really have the ability. An inside man would really put us at ease.  The last thing in my inbox before the game is the news Diego Aravena has signed with us! I’m pleased with this and it bodes well for our future. There were no other teams offering contracts—maybe a bad sign—but I see something there, maybe? I know it’s strange, being fearful of getting to the playoffs, and possibly getting a promotion, but I still don’t know if I should have been holding off for the off-season in case we do, heavens be, if we do get promoted and can attract a better player. Or whether it’s right to build a solid team for now and know we can do a job at what our level actually is. I do know I want to be the best, and promotion is the best. And I’ll give it my best until the end of the season, whatever comes.  Of course, going into the game against Santiago Morning, my assistant manager again warns me about Ávalos. He’s not match fit. I know this. He hasn’t played, and if he’s to be match fit—and maybe win a contract—he has to be played into match fitness.  This is how we shape up against Santiago Morning, and thankfully, I’m thinking at this point, the opposition teams haven’t seen enough of my style to really figure me out. I hope.  Six minutes in and it’s the first significant action of the match. Santiago Morning get a corner and send it in, but Merino—in red—comfortably grabs the ball out of the air. Easy...  But what’s this? Arturo Sanhueza shoved someone? Santiago Morning want a penalty!? And it’s given!! I absolutely did not see that in the madness. And this is madness! No way is it a penalty ref. No way! But I don’t have a say in this and the penalty is happening despite my protests.  And Merino goes the wrong way, not that I blame him. This is absolute bullshit! It’s 1-0 to Santiago Morning.  We’ve had one other half chance, since Morning’s bullshit goal, when Salgado gets the ball on the wing and passes it off to Gotti. Gotti shrugs off his man after a little tussle and gets some space ahead. He dribbles ahead, clear on goal. But the goalkeeper pulls off a good save.  Thirty minutes have gone by and the usual suspects are usual-suspecting. It hasn’t been an outstanding performance, but in any other circumstance where we weren’t completely loving screwed by a ref I’d have confidence that we’d eventually get the goal we needed. That’s the story I’m telling myself, anyway. Now we’re down 1-0 so it needs two from us, presuming Morning don’t do anything themselves. Like scoring a goal. Like our opposition being good at the auld football, you know?  After 35 minutes Espinoza picks out Gotti standing between the middle of their midfield and defence. What I don’t spot is Harbottle picking out a run on the far side, but Gotti does see him. He puts a ball through, not the greatest and Harbottle takes a heavy touch, sending the ball forward towards the keeper.  But Harbottle collects his blunder. And it’s mistake from their keeper in not coming out to close off the space. Harbottle shoots, not quite powered and not quite placing it either. I’m convinced he’s hooked it wide but still it sneaks in at the far post. We’re equal! 1-1. And after all my complaining about Harbottle, and my lack of faith in him, and my doubting his ability with him playing like a binman, he pulls out something magic from nowhere and finally does it again for the first time since he signed his new contract.  They get a deep free kick and lump men forward. But we win it in the scrum and send the ball forward. Harbottle gets on it and runs down the flank, is this going to be a magic game from him? Are we going to get a goal ahead before half time after going down to bullshit? Harbottle lays the ball forward to Gotti who’s running ahead where he cuts it back, and my man gets fouled! In the box!? In the box, ref! He’s taken down, ref! Ref! REF!!!? This referee is definitely penalty happy but I’m not arguing this time. We 100% deserve this. There was a boot to shins while Hernandez was lining up a shot, unlike their penalty which was just the usual tussle for a corner. I’ll take this. A chance to go 2-1 up before half time.  And Harbottle steps up and nails it. 100% laces. Harbottle sends it down the middle but it’s fully his boot through the ball and it explodes in the back of the net.  Going into half time we’re 2-1 up. And we deserve it. We totally deserve it!  In the second half Santiago Morning get a few chances like this. Nothing chances. Well outside the box where we can close them down. But we still keep piling on our kind of pressure on them.  It’s a bit of a risk but I’m feeling confident in this game—they’ve shown nothing outside the penalty—and I bring Ávila on. He’s a player I really want to succeed, being one of the OGs from when I came in to Fernandez Vial, but he’s not showing much when he has come on in previous games.  We get a throw in and send the ball into the box. Santiago Morning clear it out to our midfield. Despite that they don’t push their defensive line forward and both Harbottle and Gotti stay lurking in the box for a ball straight back in from Hernandez. Look at Harbottle and Gotti lurking! Look at them!  Harbottle is completely clear when he receives the pass and lays it off to Gotti taking a few steps towards goal where he gentle nudges it beneath the Morning goalkeeper. We’ve got another, and we have to see out this match now. We have to! I do wonder, though, how many of our goals have come against absolutely useless keepers. If we’re facing a level above are they going to be stopping these? Will they be peppering our own goalkeeper with shots? For now, I’ll take what’s in front of me. And Harbottle and Gotti definitely took this defence for a ride.  Ávila, my great desire, hope and wish hasn’t been doing well. OK, but not great. A 6.7 in a team outperforming that. But with three minutes of normal time left he gets the ball in open space and pops a lovely ball over the defence, beyond a running forward Gotti. Gotti can’t do anything with it but it’s a sign Ávila might have something—if he’s not pressed. I’m just not sure if we need another player like Harbottle who doesn’t contribute but can come up with, ‘moments.’ I’ll have to play Ávila more, I think, but only off the bench.  In the literal final minute of the match Santiago Morning are in desperate defence mode. They slide into Harbottle advancing on the box, but the tackled ball goes to Gotti. They slide into Gotti—no penalty—but the half-defended ball goes straight back to Harbottle who hasn’t given up after he was tackled. And deservedly—I think—he bags another goal. Another ball beneath their shitey keeper. Harbottle got a hat-trick this match, and probably player of the match. Whatever my doubts about him over the past few performances, well, they’re still there. He can disappear for games at a time. But when he shows up he really shows up. It’s just like he’s choosing when, or his years and age are deciding for him, when exactly he performs. Maybe not a player to build a team on, or a player to completely rely on, but he can do well when he’s in the right mood.  After the game I’m caught between telling them the truth, that they’ve blown Santiago Morning away... And they have. They went down 1-0 to a bullshit penalty inside six minutes and then came back to win 4-1 without the opposition getting a real threat on goal. Or... Whether I tell them to not get comfortable with their wins? To not get complacent?  I tell them not to get complacent. They’re probably feeling a million miles high now, and while they should they also need to keep in mind they need to finish out the season, and possibly playoffs. There’s no medals—or promotions—for teams who win 4-1 in one game. They need to be focused. So I say that to them. And they seem to respond to it.  In the cold light of day, the morning after our game, I call Harbottle aside and tell him he played well. Hopefully he’ll keep in mind that playing well is a good thing and not be anonymous for another two games. He doesn’t need to be in retirement mode, just having fun and vibing, while he has another two year contract with me.  The other thing I do is take a look at the right back I took into the game. Young-ish (at least for our side) Braulio Ávalos, at an aged 26 years old. One game and a 7.0 rating. He’s made more of an impact in one game than Ávila has in multiple substitution appearances. I’ll definitely give him another chance.  But after pulling back that win, after the penalty, and with Harbottle finally appearing since he signed his contract... After bringing in some more new players for next year, and with some new players on the pitch, do I go to the board with this request? Do I ask for a new, personal, managerial contract with Fernádez Vial? Do I want to stay in Chile? Do I want another year, or possibly a board-confidence two years? There’s only one answer in my mind right now, one definitive, decisive answer. I think I’ll sleep on it, though. Just to be sure.
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Nov 19, 2022 18:10
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We've got Harbottle Super Kevin Harbottle
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Nov 19, 2022 23:26
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Thank you for the post about the formations! That helped a lot with me getting what's going on here. Though I suspect I should still probably google some stuff. One thing I always wished for sports is that they would explain why certain choices are being made, little details. It's something I always really enjoy about the best wrestling announcers- even though it's fictional, they make it clear why in the fiction someone is making a certain choice, why something is exhausting or hard or difficult or wears out the opponent or wrenches at a particular weakness of an opponent- lactic acid buildup and jacking up someone's spine and so on and so forth. I always find this a little lacking as I've recently started to get into recent sports- baseball and especially American Football, which has so much going on at all times. It's hard to know 'oh, the quarterback made this weird choice to avoid a penalty' or 'Tennis players do the serve above their head because it lets them put the entire body into their swing, and it's one of the strongest hits you can make while still keeping it in bounds because you can fully extend your arm'. Obviously, they're doing it in real time, and this is a screenshot lets play, but you've done a pretty good job at bringing that information of why something is happening and the reasoning behind your choices and such in, and that's really nice! I appreciate it a lot.
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Nov 21, 2022 21:58
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Nea posted:but you've done a pretty good job at bringing that information of why something is happening and the reasoning behind your choices and such in, and that's really nice! I appreciate it a lot. Thanks for this! It means a lot. And if you have any questions about what's happening in the game or why I'm doing something feel free to ask. I'm happy to explain what I can (which might not be everything) as Football Manager is an incredibly deep game. They've done a good job with the various different staff able to take over aspects of the management (Staff > Staff Responsibilities.) It's made it a good deal easier compared to a few years when you were just dumped into the game and had to do everything. It's still daunting to start a save and see the entire list of your squad and have to figure things out, but now they prompt you to create a tactic, and then you can ask your assistant manager to pick the best players for that tactic, so you do have some help (and it's 100% what I do with a new team, then I start fiddling.) And apologies for no updates for the past few days, but y'know, the world cup has started. If I'm not shagged by the end of the games today I'll look to try and get another one done, but I can't guarantee anything.
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Nov 22, 2022 16:18
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 I take a look at our upcoming fixtures and see we have six games left in the league. The most important thing, right now, is we have two weeks to our next game and then another two weeks after that before another game.  I’ll have to throw a friendly in there somewhere, just to keep our match fitness going, but I’m not sure when exactly to play it. If I fit it in this week it’ll give the team all these matches we’ve played, plus their next game, for sharpness, then some time off to recuperate.  Instead I decide to give the team two weeks rest now, then have the game between against easy opposition so they’re not completely shagged, and before that game I can see which player has their match sharpness falling off. The other thing I check as I’m doing this is who exactly we’re playing in our final six games. Games that’ll decide if we reach the playoffs. Our next match is against 7th, then 8th, followed by 3rd, 9th, 12th and 5th. No desperately low in the table teams, but definitely against teams who’ll be looking for six-pointers against us (we drop our potential three points and they gain them.) It’ll make for an interesting run.  For some reason I absolutely do not know I decide to check in on the financial status of the club. We’re not doing too badly, only €10,000 in debt after most of a season played.  Some of this financial safety must come down to me not using my full wage budget, but equally, not being in much profit means we don’t have the spare capacity guaranteed going into next season. My extra €3k for wages disappears with us being pegged back to the €15k we’re using this year. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t use it all.  Thinking about the wage capacity I take a look at which of our players have contracts expiring next year, and how much they’re currently being paid. Most of the players not signed on I haven’t used, or are depth. Apart from a few players I know are planning on going and who I have in mind to bring replacements in for it looks like we’re finally in somewhat decent shape for next year. However we don’t have depth nor do we have the quality guaranteed to us next year that we have this year. We have younger players, mostly, who could make a go of it long term. What this might mean is we really have to take our chance this year. A playoff win means we can bring in some higher tier talent, while not going up could mean we’re stuck with the younger and less capable squad where we have to bide our time.  A zero Euro offer comes in for one of our youth players while I’m thinking about gaps in match weeks and next year’s squad, and with ability like I see with him I’m happy to let him go. His mental strength will never be there.  After saying goodbye to the young lad I get news that one of our players is out with the flu. I send him home to keep him isolated and stop any spread but it’s a little annoying. Braulio Ávalos is one of the players who could be with us a while, who I want getting minutes in his legs. He’s not a young player who needs the games to develop—at 26 years old—but he is a reasonable off the bench option.  Still, I have to plough on with what I’m doing, including finding those last few players—guys with ability like this—for next year before I go into absolute headhunting mode during the off season. Proper headhunting once I know what next year entails.  Federico Marucci is an absolutely cracking player but looking at his wage demands there’s no way we can afford him. And thinking about it now I think he’s actually one of the players I’ve looked at before, and tried to negotiate down, but he was having none of it.  Now that I feel I may be here for longer it’s time to start bankrupting the club for my own personal glory. We have one free slot in our coach position, and at the start of next year, with pre-season training, fitness training will be absolutely vital, so I bring this guy in who looks quite good. A dedicated fitness coach outside of me.  I also ask the board about increasing the amount of coaches available to us. We simply do not have enough to fully handle the task load.  Especially when I bring players like this in on trial with us. We need to see who can step in for our soon-to-be-departing attacking midfielders who are shite at important and big games—dreading them—and otherwise are horrifically inconsistent.  I get another notification, not only is that dastardly flu running around our training grounds, but so is the common cold. I don’t like colds, and I especially don’t like players coming down with the flu, so I try and get the cleaners to douse everything with disinfectant.  The board take a little time to consider it but do agree to let me have another coach for the senior team. I’ll start worrying about our underage teams when it looks like they’re getting some quality into them, which isn’t happening this year, but for now I need help managing the load with the main squad.  I try searching out the best coaches I can find but none of them are willing to agree to our wages, wanting thousands when we can offer hundreds, and not even high hundreds at that. Finally, this guy is will to negotiate with us, or just not set out a ridiculous demand, and I get into a wage discussions with him.  He starts high, and I push my wage budget as far as it’ll go. He refuses it, but I insist. I do this for a few rounds, never letting him know that my board simply won’t let me offer anything more, and eventually he agrees. “You drive a hard bargain,” he says, not understanding I had no choice in the matter and he was my last hope of a somewhat decent coach.  One of the players who’s come in on trial with us is a guy we’ve already scouted a bit. And he looks not too bad. Apart from his rubbish stamina and his not great off-the-ball he’s actually fairly decent. And at 21 years old there’s just enough scope for progression that he might improve a little in those areas with game time.  I offer him a contract on relatively little money and he agrees. It’s not quite win/win for me. I do want him to be good, but if he doesn’t turn out to be a world beater it’ll only be a dent to my pride at identifying players, not a massive dent in our finances. This is nice. I still want a few more players but it’s some depth in the team at attacking mid—at least on the left—and young depth at that.  I set the additional focus of our new signing, young Franco Rossin, to be on endurance, so hopefully that’ll get his stamina to improve a little during the rest of the season and next year’s pre-season.  I also get a notification that the top Chilean clubs are about to release players and I offer trials to any of them in any position I might have a need.  And now that I’ve got Merino starting in goal—where he’s doing fine—José Gamonal is someone we might be able to do without if we get a hot up and coming keeper to sign with us as emergency backup. Especially with Gamonal’s wage of €725 a week, a big saving on a player not starting for us.  And with those young, released players—along with some others—coming in on trial with us I get a notification that our new coach has agreed to sign with us, on my expertly negotiated wage, and has just entered the building.  Which is extremely handy because with such a big squad, and a very limited amount of coaches, training is absolutely mental with players running about. Myself, my assistant and my coaches are being run ragged. If it means we get a few players, either for the long term future, or next season, our meth-based training sessions will be very worthwhile. (WADA, or whoever the doping agency is in Chile, the meth is only for the coaches, just to note.)  Going into the match against Santiago Wanderers the board tell me they expect a draw and the fans are in agreement. I, however, do not expect a draw. Or at least I don’t want a draw. We have games coming up against the teams in third and fifth, so this really is a must win to keep our playoff hopes alive.  And I think we can win. At least until I get a notice that Gotti is out with a cold, and he’ll miss our match. I am livid! I told those cleaners to scrub the place, but their union rep looks at me like I have two heads when they hear me screaming from my office. “The board didn’t provide HazMat teams!” they say. “We need them to deep clean...” And now I’m livid at the board. WHAT IF WE GET EBOLA NEXT?!? WHAT’LL HAPPEN TO THE TEAM THEN?!?! We’ll bleed from our eyes and probably get relegated is what.  I put Delgado in at striker, and just hope our goal scoring ability isn’t dented.  What it does mean is that the young striker I signed for the future at the beginning of my reign might not be quite the backup I need for next season. Not unless I tie one of these older guys down for crunch matches.  This is how we line out against Wanderers, with a very un-match-sharp Delgado up front, something my assistant manager is screaming at me about.  After a lot of banging the ball around the middle of the park we advance a little. Jerez gets the ball out wide and cross the ball deep and far to Harbottle.  Harbottle takes the ball to the line and pulls it back to Arturo Sanhueza, well outside the box, and I’m thinking “What are you doing, you clanger?” with Harbottle up to his old tricks again.  But Sanhueza takes the ball forward, driving towards the box, and fires one towards the goal, past the diving keeper and into the net. I have no idea what Harbottle was thinking, and I’m certain it wasn’t this. While equally I’m thinking of the absolute balls Sanhueza has to take the shot on like that. We’re 1-0 up within 10 minutes and my own players are bamboozling me.  We don’t show much more over the next few minutes, and Santiago Wanderers get chances like this. A throw-in in our half, played to their man who crosses it in deep...  To their player running onto it. But they can’t convert. If they keep getting chances like this I won’t mind if we do nothing much ourselves and just protect our lead for the rest of the game.  Especially with my players playing generally quite well.  Thirty minutes in Salgado gets the ball on the wing, spots Delgado in some space between the midfield and defence, and puts it through to him. Delgado takes the ball forward and unleashes a shot, forcing a save from the keeper despite it coming from a long way out. Now I’m thinking maybe Delgado is someone we offer a contract to as backup in striker next year, as well as a utility player in attacking-mid. He doesn’t enjoy big matches, but at least he isn’t inconsistent. With some game management and a bit of luck it could work out.  Wanderers get another few balls like this, from throw ins, where their man Gama beats Ponce. The ball is sent in and their on-running player nods the ball towards goal. There’s no power on it, and it bounces off the top of the bar. Again, it’s not an outright danger, but I’d be happier if we had another goal. Equally, Ponce is having a rare poor game.  A little later Harbottle gets another ball on his wing and cuts it back to Hernandez. Hernandez takes a crack, but it bounces off Delgado who’s in the way.  Except it bounces back towards Hernandez, fortuitously, where he takes another crack.  And it smashes off crossbar, but just at the right angle where it’s clipped down into the net. Just before half time we’re 2-0 up. A good first 45 where we’ve been in complete control.  At half time we’ve been in such control I want to see how our new lad Franco Rossin will fare. Harbottle has been on fire, so I switch him to the right and take Salgado off, putting Rossin in on the now vacant left side.  Then the second half begins. And it turns out to be dull as gently caress. Wanderers are definitely getting chances but they’re absolutely bottling them. The stats and XG say we should be even, but despite them getting opportunities in the right places they’re putting the ball nowhere near the goal. I’m just thinking about giving minutes to people. I bring Diego Sanhueza on, but not for Arturo in midfield. I don’t want to take the glory from the 43 year old after he’s scored a goal. Diego Sanhueza can play at left back and Ponce has been poor so I bring him on there instead.  As the game plays out I bring Luro and Avila on, but my mind has been wandering. My performance analyst tells me with their eight minutes of play his team won’t have enough data to generate a report, needing them to come on before the 75th minute to really tell me something. I’m so bored by the game I wasn’t thinking and forgot about the time elapsing. And the game is such shite, and our win so comfortable—with Wanderers being generally useless—that I can’t tell anything about their performance on the pitch with their general play. There’s just nothing happening. It’s an easy 2-0 win for us.  And then it’s onto another two week gap, but this time with a friendly half way in. I take a look at the players whose match sharpness is dipping after the previous two week break, and who might play a role in the final matches of the league and need a boost. I know Gotti will need a game under his belt after missing the last one to a cold.  When our absolutely dreadful anti-viral hygiene hits us again. This time it’s Kevin loving Harbottle who’ll be out for two weeks. How you do torment me Mr. Harbottle. It’s never a loving dull moment with you. It’s only with mirth I can deal with our plague. Harbottle going out is a big blow to our squad. Now I need to find out if Franco Rossin can play a role straight away, or whether I need him to bed in more before I give him starts.  The friendly plays out and it’s an easy 4-0 win for us.  The problem is Rossin wasn’t as superb as I would have liked. A roundabout, roughly, generally equal performance to his substitution appearance against Santiago Wanderers.  With Harbottle out for at least another twelve days, and our next game in seven days, it leaves me with a bit of a dilemma. And not a particular nice one at crunch time in the season, with no scope to let a player develop into a role or to make adjustments in the team like during the early stages of the season.  The one good thing, however—looking at the table—is that we now control our own destiny. We are deservedly placed in the promotion playoff places with no-one able to catch us if we win all our games. If we keep doing what we’ve been doing all along we’ll be fine. It’s up to us to ensure we’re in those playoffs, and once that happens, anything could be on the cards. Mrenda fucked around with this message at 08:21 on Nov 23, 2022 |
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Nov 23, 2022 03:38
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i only remembered marcucci from the previous update because of that fantastic headshot he's got
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Nov 23, 2022 14:53
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ilmucche posted:i only remembered marcucci from the previous update because of that fantastic headshot he's got A dream-boat 11 would definitely be possible but given my age the team would be ancient as well.
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Nov 24, 2022 16:12
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