jla
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Post by jla on Jul 8, 2020 15:44:22 GMT
IntroAfter joining this forum to basically get back into FM, I've been ridiculously inspired by the saves that are going on here. There's such an amazing variety of saves in interesting places to play the game and you guys deserve credit for that. I was more than happy playing in Blackburn, but plain and simply I just want to join the party and try something new so after some discussion with Guido, I'm off to the K-League. As you can see above, we're going to Seongnam with the imaginatively titled Seongnam FC, a club that is basically owned by the city council, an idea I quite like for some reason. As a club they are former league champions and Asian Champions League winners, but that was before their rebranding as Seongnam FC and takeover by the council, and adoption of much of the city's associated features, such as the magpie logo and the colour black (I also like that they wear all black, which few football clubs do for some reason). For reference, Seongnam is basically a district in the larger area around Seoul. In game, they've just been promoted from the K-League 2 (after being relegated in 2016) but I've started in January 2020, so I'm not entirely sure how that'll have affected things. In terms of Korean players, we're not in a bad position at all, with quite a few decent midfielders and centre backs in particular. A few were transfer listed or on expiring contracts as the game started, so I've resigned about four important players that will be important domestic cogs for us moving forward. One major weakness of the club is in their foreign players (both names are clickable) striker Tomislav Kis (on loan) and attacking midfielder Jamshid Iskandarov. Kis just wasn't good enough to warrant taking up one of our foreign player slots (we can have 3 non Asian players), so his loan was terminated, leaving only Iskandarov. Part of me is tempted to go Korean only, but I'm not entirely sure on this approach yet. Pre-season went decently well as we developed our system. We really lack any quality upfront at all, whereas we have plenty of quality in midfield and in defence. As a result I decided to go with a strikerless system - at least for the time being. It has developed through pre-season, beginning as a narrow 4-1-2-3-0 and through the first couple of K-League games, but this is how it currently looks ( click here). The board are expecting us to finish mid-table, which is interesting considering the media think we'll finish 9th, but it's nice to have a challenge to begin with. The board (or effectively the city council) have also been really good so far, funding improvements to the training and youth facilities. Right now they're only adequate so we need to keep going. If we're going to eventually become a continental power to rival the likes of Guangzhou Evergrande et al. from China, we need to keep pushing on this. This is a league I've not played in before and I'm really enjoying it thus far. Hopefully you guys will enjoy reading about it too!
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jla
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Posts: 52
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Post by jla on Jul 8, 2020 16:13:03 GMT
I should also probably have mentioned that I have made one signing since joining the club too. Aside from the foreign players not being up to standard, one of the biggest weaknesses that jumped out at me was the utter lack of quality in goal, with one of my Under-22 players (you have to play one U-22 player every game) being classed as the 'first team keeper' and being far from good enough. As a result, we spent £105k on Park Joon-Hyuk from K-League 2 side Jeonnam Dragons. Quite how he was in the second league and not in the top league confuses me, but he's a really solid keeper (you can only use Korean goalkeepers in the K-League). This was the only money I spent (my budget remains around £3.1m) before the window closed, because I was - and am - still figuring out quite what my approach will be regarding foreign players. Part of me is considering going Korean only, but then I'd also like to focus on bringing on Brazilian players and be like the Guangzhou of Korea.
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jla
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Post by jla on Jul 8, 2020 17:50:01 GMT
Our Number 10 and star player Im Seon-Young gives us a 2-1 lead in our last match as we defeat the then 1st placed Incheon United 3-1.
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Post by Nick on Jul 8, 2020 20:41:51 GMT
Now there's a formation Guido would be proud of. I like the idea of Korean only but, based on my experience of Asia so far, there are some really good, relatively unknown, players kicking about from all over and it'd be a shame to miss out! The league looks fairly competitive in my save so hopefully it's the same for you. Good luck mate, I'll be following.
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Post by jawzy on Jul 8, 2020 23:53:09 GMT
I remember nick doing a save with Jeonbuk years ago! I also usually stick to saves in the UK, but do find self drifting away from UK based saves I love black kits or black and white ( or any text colours that are black and white) , so this club has been on my radar for a while, but yet to get the desire to go Korea, So its nice to see someone else give it a go!
good luck and have fun!
I assume S. Korea still have the 0 foriegn goalkeeper rule too?
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Post by Nick on Jul 9, 2020 0:17:32 GMT
You do? Are you sure it was me? I don't think I've ever managed in South Korea before.
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Post by dalenichol on Jul 9, 2020 8:12:40 GMT
I'm a sucker for nice kits and smart badges, and Seongnam usually do both, so I'm fully on board with this save.
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Post by jt on Jul 9, 2020 9:41:53 GMT
I clearly missed the memo on Asian FM saves being in vogue during 2020. Looking forward to seeing where this save goes. Now to try and shake off the urge to play in Asia
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Post by ttgb on Jul 9, 2020 10:27:54 GMT
I clearly missed the memo on Asian FM saves being in vogue during 2020. Looking forward to seeing where this save goes. Now to try and shake off the urge to play in Asia I thought it was all about Africa this year......
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Post by Nick on Jul 9, 2020 10:56:38 GMT
I did post the memo on the secret forum...
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jla
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Posts: 52
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Post by jla on Jul 9, 2020 11:36:48 GMT
Now there's a formation Guido would be proud of. I like the idea of Korean only but, based on my experience of Asia so far, there are some really good, relatively unknown, players kicking about from all over and it'd be a shame to miss out! The league looks fairly competitive in my save so hopefully it's the same for you. Good luck mate, I'll be following. Cheers mate. I'm using strikerless largely because it's the only system that suits us right now with a lack of quality upfront. Our Number 10 Im Seon-Young is into his 30's though, so I see him moving into central midfield soon and playing more of an Iniesta role within the system than a Messi role. That's not to say I won't keep things strikerless, but I think the system needs a little refining, and we appear to be very open on the counter attack as a result of our style/roles. I'd also like to move the SS out wide, as the right flank is our main area of weakness quality wise. We're definitely the possession team of the league though, last time I looked we were on 59% average, top by quite a distance. I assume S. Korea still have the 0 foriegn goalkeeper rule too? Yes indeed they do. That's why I quickly signed a new keeper, because it was a glaring weakness, and I didn't want anyone to sign Park Joon-Hyuk when he's a very good standard for the league. I'm a sucker for nice kits and smart badges, and Seongnam usually do both, so I'm fully on board with this save. Ngl, so am I Dale. Big part of why I picked them, along with not having a massive squad as a lot of the other lower teams do. More teams should play in all black, it looks cool in any sport. They're somewhat of a fallen giant too, so it has that element to it. Really loving playing in a league I've never looked at before, and it's small and simple to play in with easy registration rules.
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Post by Nick on Jul 9, 2020 11:55:14 GMT
There reason why more teams don't wear black is because referees always used to and it would clash. More and more refs now wear different colours so we'll see more black kits (Dortmund being one)
I want the Sunday team I manage to wear black, but we can't because grassroots referees still wear it.
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jla
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Post by jla on Jul 9, 2020 13:24:14 GMT
Oh of course, duh. I'm a huge American football fan, so I always associate black with the Raiders (my team), so fear/intimidation etc.
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jla
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Posts: 52
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Post by jla on Jul 9, 2020 14:05:33 GMT
Debating signing this guy on a free, using up one of our foreign player spots. I'll discuss this in a more detailed post soon but Gustavo is one of the options I'm debating. He can play on the right flank cutting in (one of our weak areas), which woujld give us a more defined 4-3-3 shape with the striker dropped to AM. His scout report ( click here) is pretty decent too. I am concerned that he may not be a game changing level of player considering I'm using a foreign player spot, and he does have some weak areas (mentals). What do you think guys? He's currently wanted by Nick's old club in the CSL and Western United in the A-League.
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Post by Marshdweller on Jul 9, 2020 15:55:04 GMT
My hot take would be that there are more negatives in the scouting report than positives and his mental attributes are a little weak compared to his technical attributes (11-12 compared to 13s and 14s). At 28 he won't improve much, but I have no idea where he sits compared to the rest of the players in the league. If you could give him a short deal, would that influence your decision?
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jla
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Post by jla on Jul 9, 2020 16:43:43 GMT
My hot take would be that there are more negatives in the scouting report than positives and his mental attributes are a little weak compared to his technical attributes (11-12 compared to 13s and 14s). At 28 he won't improve much, but I have no idea where he sits compared to the rest of the players in the league. If you could give him a short deal, would that influence your decision? Yep, a lot of those concerns are exactly my thoughts. Glad to see I'm not off track. I think for a foreign player I'm expecting higher than that.
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Post by Nick on Jul 9, 2020 16:55:51 GMT
I actually thought that his scout report was the best bit. He’ll adapt easily, he’s consistent, and he enjoys big matches. Three big pros that would usually be a game changer for me. His negatives are all fairly trivial. He can’t jump? You don’t need him to. He’ll need to learn the language? Everyone you buy that isn’t Korean will have this and his adaptability will see him pick it up quickly. No international experience? Not really an issue - he’s Brazilian. He’s selfish. Potential problem but not a deal breaker.
My issue with him is that he’s not THAT good. I definitely think that, with some scouting and a better reputation, you’ll be able to attract Korean options that are equal to him and even better. Certainly other Asian options that will be. At 28, he won’t improve a great deal, if at all. I’d definitely save some money and look elsewhere.
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jla
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Post by jla on Jul 9, 2020 17:25:47 GMT
End April/Start May Update 2020Ok, so we're ten games into the league season (we'll play 38 but split after 33) with only FC Seoul still to play in the league so time to have a look at how we're getting on. Firstly ( click here) here are our results thus far. We currently are in a very good position sitting in 4th, but I'd hazard a guess that we'll slip slightly further towards mid-table as the season goes on. Either way though this is a very good start that I'm happy with. When you consider we're predicted to finish 9th, and we're 11 points clear of that already, we're in good shape. We're still playing the slightly assymetric 4-1-2-3-0 system that I showed earlier in the thread, and at least for now that will be our standard system for now as it really focused on our best players. Long term, I have ideas about how I want to develop it, but it's working for now and we're developing a tactical style that I wasn't necessarily looking to go for. Some of our results have been surprosing to say the least. We've beaten everyone else in the top 4 apart from Ulsan Hyundai, and that was because I made a tactical error not to mark the left back with our Shadow Striker. We are not perfect though to say the least. I don't think our play at times is the way I'd like it to be, and sometimes we're actually more direct than I'd like - as you can see in the goal I shared above - and it may be that a mentality change will improve that. Despite that, we still lead the league with 56% average possession, which is helping us have the second best defence in the league. The player stats clearly show that we've had two standout performers (Kim Dong-Hyun has been solid in the DM-D role too tbf, recycling possession to a high percentage as I'd want) in Im Seon-Young ( link) who plays at AMC and Kwon Soon-Hyung ( link) who plays the important AP-S role in central midfield. My concern is that both of them are on the wrong side of 30, but I do have a plan for them as they age that should be quite a fun thing to do in this save. They are comfortably our best players in the absense of any quality foreign players. I have thought about that, and I think I am going to use foreign players, I just need to make sure they're the right ones. Right now our scouting package is rubbish so I'm not able to access Brazil in the way I'd like but that's my focus. I have a decent amount of wage budget free as well. It may simply take me scouring the Brazilian clubs to find some bargains. The only issue with that is that I don't know any Brazilian bargains! Either way, I'm absolutely loving this save and its's so different to anything I've done on FM before. These have been some good first steps for Seongnam FC.
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jla
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Post by jla on Jul 9, 2020 17:52:19 GMT
I actually thought that his scout report was the best bit. He’ll adapt easily, he’s consistent, and he enjoys big matches. Three big pros that would usually be a game changer for me. His negatives are all fairly trivial. He can’t jump? You don’t need him to. He’ll need to learn the language? Everyone you buy that isn’t Korean will have this and his adaptability will see him pick it up quickly. No international experience? Not really an issue - he’s Brazilian. He’s selfish. Potential problem but not a deal breaker. My issue with him is that he’s not THAT good. I definitely think that, with some scouting and a better reputation, you’ll be able to attract Korean options that are equal to him and even better. Certainly other Asian options that will be. At 28, he won’t improve a great deal, if at all. I’d definitely save some money and look elsewhere. Yeah, I'm more saying about the fact he's 28, won't improve and his mentals are weak. You're spot on in that there are parts of the report I like, which is why I was tempted, along with some deceptively good technicals (I'm always a sucker for those).
You're right though, he isn't good enough, especially his mentals, and I think for a foreign player I'm looking ideally at stats of like 16-ish.
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jla
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Post by jla on Jul 9, 2020 18:21:04 GMT
Easily our best performance of the season thus far. Absolutely dominated FC Seoul, they barely had a kick. 6 CCC's, 67% of the ball, Im Seon-Young with two goals. We were absolutely perfect and 3-1 made them look far too good.
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Post by Nick on Jul 9, 2020 19:23:57 GMT
These have been some good first steps for Seongnam FC. I would agree with this entirely. Great to see something different work tactically and you should be happy with the start. You don't seem to be struggling with the Korean names yet either, which is a bonus. Going back to Gustavo briefly, I always feel that when you're playing in leagues that have strict restrictions on foreign players, those players need to be the ones that win games for you. The ones that stand out from your homegrown players. Mainly because they'll be demanding more money and I want a return, but also if you look in the right places, those players are actually really good.
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jla
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Post by jla on Jul 9, 2020 20:34:55 GMT
I would agree with this entirely. Great to see something different work tactically and you should be happy with the start. You don't seem to be struggling with the Korean names yet either, which is a bonus. Going back to Gustavo briefly, I always feel that when you're playing in leagues that have strict restrictions on foreign players, those players need to be the ones that win games for you. The ones that stand out from your homegrown players. Mainly because they'll be demanding more money and I want a return, but also if you look in the right places, those players are actually really good. Cheers Nick. Long term it'll likely go more towards a more standard strikerless 4-3-3 esque system, but for now it's needed as we don't have a good right sided winger.
You're spot on about the foreign players. I still think that Brazil is most likely the best hunting ground for those players - the Guangzhou approach - but right now with our scouting package I just don't have the ability to find the players unless I manually go through the Brazilian clubs.
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Post by Nick on Jul 9, 2020 20:50:03 GMT
The other problem with Brazil is it's fucking massive and there are about 50 different clubs that can produce good youngsters. With Velez, I found loads of players coming from the second division were being scooped up by the bigger clubs way before they hit 18 and I could bring them in myself. Manual scouting obviously has its rewards, but takes hours trawling through everyone. I did it once a year for a couple of years and then just gave up and just trusted my scouts to find them! Way too much work.
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Post by jawzy on Jul 10, 2020 10:25:15 GMT
You do? Are you sure it was me? I don't think I've ever managed in South Korea before. Wonders who it was if it wasnt you
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Post by dalenichol on Jul 10, 2020 20:09:55 GMT
You do? Are you sure it was me? I don't think I've ever managed in South Korea before. Wonders who it was if it wasnt you I know Guido did South Korea, or at least he has a few times anyway
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Guido
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Post by Guido on Jul 11, 2020 13:55:30 GMT
Wonders who it was if it wasnt you I know Guido did South Korea, or at least he has a few times anyway Incheon Utd for two decades
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jla
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Post by jla on Jul 29, 2020 10:59:18 GMT
Apologies for not posting for a fair bit everyone, been a funny few weeks so I haven't had as much desire to play FM. I'll also be catching up on everyone's threads, so if I spam the forum a little, apologies. Before I get to another results review I thought I'd talk a little about what I'm considering moving forward tactically. Rather accidentally, we appear to have taken on the identity of being the possession team of the K-League with 56% average. Firstly, I want to lean into that identity and take it even further, but I want to build my tactical planning around it and have a target to achieve in the end. Rather ambitiously, the end goal I'll look to create my own version of is Pep's 2010 Barca side, which to this day remains the greatest team I've ever seen, and the best I believe I'll ever see. Therefore I need to find who I believe will fit the system moving forward. Obviously, foreign players - once I eventually find them - will form a large part of the very top quality in the system (such as the Messi role, the Busquets role and the Alves role). I do have some native and capable young foreign centre backs, who I think will decently enough at the back, as I won't be asking any more of them than I currently am. These two will play important roles in the eventual system.
Firstly, we've got Im Seon-Young, currently smashing it as my AMC and 2nd top of the league on goals scored. With his dribbling abilty and off the ball movement, I'm thinking that he can drop deeper and play in a more Iniesta role. Long term I'm going to see if I can train him any PPM's (may be tougher at his age) but with his passing and dribbling, I think he can be a K-League version of Iniesta.
Conversely, we've got Kwon Soon-Hyung, currently controlling midfield for me in an AP-S role, attracting the ball constantly as the only set playmaker role in the tactic. He's ageing (like Seon-Young) but he's declining much worse in terms of his physical attributes, but with his excellent mentals and decent enough technicals, I'm looking at him as dropping deeper into a Xavi like role. If he was a little better at tackling and positioning I'd even consider him for the Busquets role, but he'd be a liability right now I think. Either way, these two form a big part of my tactical plans currently, in the absense of any quality foreign players.
Nice to be back everyone!
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jla
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Post by jla on Jul 29, 2020 11:32:28 GMT
Playing second bottom Gwangju and after a having man sent off, they've gone rather defensive. Man I hate the AI sometimes.
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Post by Reiver on Jul 29, 2020 11:40:26 GMT
Man, that's worse than the box.
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jla
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Posts: 52
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Post by jla on Jul 29, 2020 11:49:27 GMT
Man, that's worse than the box. Finally managed to break through in like the 88th minute via a cross. Up to third now, but we play top of the table next so likely not for long.
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