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Post by shrewnaldo on Feb 10, 2019 20:38:51 GMT
"I've tried to teach it to defenders before but have never got it to work. However, judging from those GIFs, he does a decent job already - I am really intrigued to see how it goes.
I don't want to pair him with a libero, but want to use this as a different approach. It's very Bielsa-esque but have a 3-at-the-back for when facing two strikers to a flat back four against 1 striker does appeal to me. You've seen my standard 4-2-3-1 but I could maybe line up like this:"
Yeah, sorry, I wasn't very clear with my post. I meant "pair them" as in pairing the libero role with the PPM, i.e. the same player. I've had success with the libero pushing into midfield when he doesn't have the ball, would be great to pair it with the ability to dribble from deep (although I've abandoned my experiment with 3CBs for now)
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Post by Ben on Feb 10, 2019 22:21:10 GMT
January 2034
A tougher month than I've really witnessed in the rest of the season - with points dropped between ourselves and the top two, also allowing Sporting back into contention. We recorded, surprisingly, our first ever victory over Porto and my first win over their boss, Nuno Espirito Santo. We won't be adding the Taca da Liga to our trophy cabinet this year as a slightly weakened side lost to Sporting. I went full pelt at Maritimo, knowing I had Porto left and wanted to build some morale. We should have had at least ten but that was not enough to rally us record our second win in the month over Porto, who are looking very strong in the league. Transfer deadline day has come and gone and I've managed to reject massive bids for five or six first teamers, showing the strength of our dressing room. I allowed Diego Vargas to leave as he needs some more regular football - making just 8 league appearances for me this season. He's gone out to a mid-table club and I may want to extend this loan if he does well. Incoming, I just made one deal: 19 days after moving to Man Utd from Gremio for £16m - Tessio joins on loan and we are paying just £19.75k of his ludicrous £200k p/w deal. He is, star rating at least, on a par with Folha but attribute wise is better. However, he is not my player and, as such, will mistreat him somewhat - using him off the bench or to rest my own players, who are my ideal focus. There is no chance I would ever be able to sign this lad permanently so view this very much as a short team assistance. We enter February which means it's nearly intake day and the new back room team is ready to roll...
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Post by Ben on Feb 15, 2019 19:01:12 GMT
February 2034Another really solid month for us where we have stabilised some defensive woes and pushed on a bit albeit with a reasonably easy set of league fixtures. We were very lucky to be leave Denmark with a draw as new loanee Lucas helped us out but did follow that up with a well earned (but left late) victory over Sporting - in the past we'd probably struggle here due to the travelling but I've been able to rotate much better of late. Next month sees the youth intake and a busy month as we face Bilbao in the second knockout round of the Europa League - a competition I am purposely targeting this year.
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Post by Ben on Feb 15, 2019 19:07:26 GMT
2034 Youth Intake
Yeah, that experiment didn't work...
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Post by Ben on Feb 16, 2019 14:21:15 GMT
Player Development - Cristian MedinaCristian signed on the 27th July 2033 and with the date, in game, now being 25th March 2034 - my development plan takes a much shorter time span than most, just eight months. However, when Medina signed, he was a central midfielder and occasional left back. Here he is now: A few of his attributes dropped when he began training as a centre back - finishing, long shots and crossing, for example - but I feel that this may be due to the 're-allocation' of important attributes based on CA for his designated role. That is minute compared with the gains he has made! He dropped a point in Determination, as have most of my squad sadly, but the general personality had a great impact on him and that tipped him from Pro to M.Citizen - the best (in my opinion) personality you can have as a footballer. In the eight months since he has signed, he has gained 1 point on his workrate and has made 'slight' positive changes overall to technical, mental and physical attributes but the main difference is that he has gone from ineffectual to accomplished at CB in that time, whilst being trained as a Libero. He has yet to 'perfect' that role (and by that, I mean reach natural, move to fluid on the tactics screen and fill the circle in green) but that, alone, is phenomenal. He has also learnt the 'brings ball out of defence' trait which is the first time I've ever had success with that. Watching him in game is a fantastic thing and he's fast becoming my (joint) favourite player (can't disregard Folha that quickly!)
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Post by Ben on Feb 16, 2019 15:37:45 GMT
March 2034A little stutter with two draws against weaker teams but we are hot on the tails on Benfica, even if Porto are probably out of sight right now. I think, catastrophe aside, we have locked up third place and a return to Champions League football next year - plus, we also face Lazio in the Quarter Final on the Europa League after a decent win over Bilbao. Sadly, we have been proven as still a selling team as winger Mendoza has had his release clause of £30m activated by Inter. He'll move on in the summer and I really want to replace him from within - as we've lost our way somewhat with bringing players through and have, on paper, the weakest U19 side in the past ten years.
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Post by Ben on Feb 17, 2019 21:17:26 GMT
April 2034The month started with an absolute pasting in Rome - where I really underestimated the quality of Lazio. They currently sit third in Serie A, just five points behind big dogs Inter and have some quality players. Unfortunately, our run ended as we could only muster a draw in the home leg. Aside from that - we've had a fantastic month, topped off with a great win over Benfica that has been us all but tie up 2nd place (it is on head to head and we have the better and our goal difference in significantly better, too). We also face Braga in the Taca de Portugal final.
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ianf
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Post by ianf on Feb 18, 2019 2:33:00 GMT
Looks like an almost perfect Libero you have there!
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Post by Nick on Feb 18, 2019 8:38:05 GMT
Flying, Ben. What's your head-to-head like with Porto?
I noticed that Benfica are managed by Mourinho on my save, and they've just gone unbeaten through the whole season with a 27-7-0 record. Monchi as DoF as well, which completes the dream team.
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Post by Ben on Feb 18, 2019 11:09:38 GMT
Looks like an almost perfect Libero you have there! I know! He's been fantastic and is, looking at him on the pitch, looks like he's been playing there forever. I'm toying with a 3 at the back idea to see what I can get from him but I do like the way he can step out of the four and help us build from deep - especially as teams are really sitting back against us now and we need that deep lying creativity.
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Post by Ben on Feb 18, 2019 11:24:54 GMT
Flying, Ben. What's your head-to-head like with Porto? I noticed that Benfica are managed by Mourinho on my save, and they've just gone unbeaten through the whole season with a 27-7-0 record. Monchi as DoF as well, which completes the dream team. Better! A 0-0 and a 2-0 victory means we would win it if we finish level on points. Benfica seem to be the team with the most 'potential' for me - they have had some really great players as the save has gone out but can never seem to do it on the pitch. Porto have a great squad and that's why they've been able to win most of the league titles whereas Sporting are producing phenomenal kids but having to sell them off and not replacing them adequately. That is some team, although unsure why Mourinho would go to Benfica after his time at Porto, but still - a great coup! In my game, Nuno Espirito Santo manages Porto, the combo of Rui Costa (DoF) and Diego Costa are at Benfica and Diogo Coelho (a non-regen player who didn't do a fat lot in his playing career) is at Sporting. The leagues are littered with ex-players who are now managers: Emerson Hyndman (ex Beira Mar U23 manager) - Braga Danny - Maritimo Andre Silva (spent most of his glittering career at Chelsea) - Setubal Lucas Torreira (moved to Benfica for £43m in 2022 and has been in the country since) - Belenenses Kostas Stafilydis (Greek legend with 114 caps) - Nacional Antoine Griezmann - Estoril (mid table second tier) Radja Nainggolan - Mirandela (mid table third tier) Steve Mandanda - Felgueiras (also mid table third tier) Marko Arnautovic - Chaves Satellite (managed in the Liga Pro but dropped down to third tier and reserve club of Chaves) Elsewhere, we have (including some strange ones): Bernado Silva (glittering career at Man City) - Leverkusen Pietro Iemmello - Roma (after stints at Bournemouth and Villa) Taulant Xhaka - Hannover and Granit Xhaka at Fiorentina a 70 year old Mark Hughes still at Southampton Darren Moore - Aston Villa (after 12 years at WBA...) The usual merry go round too - Simeone at PSG, Klopp at Chelsea, Marco Silva at Man Utd, Ancelotti at Man City and Allegri at Arsenal.
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Post by fmsamo on Feb 18, 2019 12:24:39 GMT
2034 Youth IntakeYeah, that experiment didn't work... Just caught up again after a few weeks, lovely as ever. Your libero looks outrageous, would comfortably perform over a number of roles really if the experiment doesn't come to much... On your youth coaches/intake, was it at the beginning of the season you revamped the setup, or during the season (nearer to the intake)? For a weird reason I always think the newgen process for that season starts at the beginning of that season. So if, for example, you've had a youth facilities improvement and it's completed in October, it wouldn't kick in properly until the following season... This is 99% likely to be a huge FMMyth I've just made up though
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Post by Ben on Feb 18, 2019 12:50:00 GMT
End of 2033/34 Season ReviewDespite a resounding 5-0 win over Portimonense and a 1-0 win away at Braga, we couldn't secure the title due to Porto just being too good. However, a tally of 84 points would have won the league in 11 out of the 16 seasons that this game has been running for. Once again, we were the record scorers, notching 85 times this year and Andre Folha winning another top goalscorer award, his third in four seasons. What we did this year though is reduce our goals conceded, from 36 to a mere 19 - just one more than Champions Porto let in. 2 defeats, a 0-2 at home to Benfica and a 1-2 at home to Guimaraes blotted our copy book, with Porto only losing once, to Benfica. One win in six has put Diego Costa's job at Benfica under pressure, with them falling behind Sporting who will have a chance at qualifying for the Champions League. Rio Ave started really well but faded a little at the end but certainly have enough about them to be perennial contenders. The squad performances have been pretty fantastic, as you'd expect from a team with deep runs into cup competitions and a great offensive record: Once again, rotation has been the key to keep this group of players fit and I have tried to share out the minutes wherever possible. Mendoza will be a huge miss as he moves on to Inter this summer but I do have plans afoot for this and Pedro Tinoco, the opposite-side winger, was the highest AR in the whole league. Raposo is giving me a headache as his continually good performances (and the fact that he is left footed) makes it hard for me to drop Medina, who is becoming the complete package. 'Midfield orchestrator' Valderrama seems to be in and out of form, leading to a relatively low AR but, when he is on form, is a joy to watch. Plenty of minutes for youngsters Marques, Silva and Furtado as they continue their development into the first team. I have no spending plans for the summer but one game-play move which may allay some fears I have over the perceived potential of this team.
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Post by Ben on Feb 18, 2019 12:51:40 GMT
2034 Youth IntakeYeah, that experiment didn't work... Just caught up again after a few weeks, lovely as ever. Your libero looks outrageous, would comfortably perform over a number of roles really if the experiment doesn't come to much... On your youth coaches/intake, was it at the beginning of the season you revamped the setup, or during the season (nearer to the intake)? For a weird reason I always think the newgen process for that season starts at the beginning of that season. So if, for example, you've had a youth facilities improvement and it's completed in October, it wouldn't kick in properly until the following season... This is 99% likely to be a huge FMMyth I've just made up though Thanks Samo, appreciate it! Yeah - Medina is an awesome player - I just need to keep hold of him now! My coaches were completed in August so if your idea is true, then that could be why. However - I need to remember than 3* is actually a really good player in this league and my team is strong compared to the league. Ideally, I want to be in a situation whereby the players who do not make it with me can still move on and play at a good level.
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Post by Ben on Feb 19, 2019 10:10:39 GMT
Developing the next generation of (probably average) Beira Mar playersI want to make a small game play change that will help me in the long run of this save. We are at a point where, compared to the rest of the league, we have a very very good set of players. This, annoyingly for me, has a knock on effect on the star ratings of my players. Whilst I don't pay a huge amount of attention to them - they do catch my eye and, to be honest, I do base a lot of judgement on these stars, which can be a hindrance. Take Andre Folha, for example: He is the best striker at my club and, whilst I am under no illusions about him being world class, is very good - 196 goals in 341 games in the top flight of a decent league shows that. However, my staff rate him at just 3* - because I have stronger players elsewhere in the team. I don't mind that rating but he is my key starter, and I dislike the fact that he's only classed as 'good' by them. Therefore, my plan is to remove the stars from every screen (profile/comparison/coach report/team depth) etc and look at other things: These dark green pros immediately make that look better, and, when I add in the others below (likes big matches, consistent, fairly pro etc) I am reading about a top player who is perfectly suited to the job at hand, rather than just a good player in my team. Again - the stars are just an 'indication' but I can't help but feel that they don't fully represent the big picture, nor do they take into account what I see on the pitch - and that is a top quality striker who not only can do it in the league, but has scored 42 times in 6 European seasons - meaning he can do it on the big stage too. This will obviously have a knock on effect, and one that I want to focus on for the future of my team. I feel that I have lost a grip on bringing through academy players - 8 of my first team are products of the academy but only one third of those under 21 in my first team have come from the academy. I know that I cannot produce stars year after year but I feel that the coach reports are making me write off prospects immediately. Take Elson Paulo, below: According to the star rating system - he has 2* CA and 2(+1 black)* PA - meaning that he's never going to be a great player. Normally, I would think that there is little point pursuing his development as he'll never be as good as what I have in the first team but, when looking at his coach report, you can see that there is hope. Only one more star of (possible) potential but could improve 'a lot' - I know what I would believe, from an optimistic viewpoint. Despite being 2* CA, he's already reasonably well suited to the top tier of football, and has scored twice in his three appearances in the league to date - so needs time off the bench. He's consistent, which means I won't have the issues of youngsters getting an 8.0 one game and a 6.3 the next and, with some work on some of his attributes, could be a solid player. He's got two years left on his deal and, previously, I may have sent him on loan and just let it run down, knowing that his star rating means he won't really ever be good enough. Now - I'm looking at his attributes (specifically those for my DNA) and, whilst he lacks work rate and some strength, could be a decent winger for my system with the correct training regime. He'll move from the standard Winger (s) routine to a WTM because that trains more of his weaker attributes and I'll look at adding traits to get the best of his game as an agile, small and reasonably pacy winger - maybe even moving him to the left as an inside forward. My aim always has been to develop players for my first team and, if they don't reach that level, ensure that they can continue their development at other professional clubs. I shortlist all ex-academy players who move on, as seen below: There are several more who are below these players and, if I'm honest, this list should be significantly bigger and include a lot more players playing at a higher level. That is my aim from now on.
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ianf
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Post by ianf on Feb 19, 2019 16:16:56 GMT
Interesting approach as usual Ben. Is there a way to systematically remove the stars?
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Post by Ben on Feb 20, 2019 9:46:35 GMT
New Signing - Claudio SantosDespite making a concerted approach at developing the youth at the club, I have made a signing of an aging player who wasn't from our youth academy. However, as seen by the biography of Claudio - he is not only an asset because he is a good player (I haven't got round to deleting stars from everywhere and he is actually only a 2.5* rated player) but has the experience that we are really missing. He becomes the eldest player by a huge eight years but the personal and team accolades as well as playing for a very strong Atletico team, scoring 134 league goals, brings something to the squad that we don't have. Even excluding the star rating system, we are quite short of attacking players and some depth was necessary. He'll more than likely play the 5 matches needed to extend his deal for another year but that is fine. I had a similar situation when I signed an aging Gabriel Jesus, but his attributes literally fell off a cliff - I am hoping that this ends differently. ---- I've signed a couple of youngsters, too, but that is probably the end of my dealings this summer as I look to work with what I have got.
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Post by Ben on Feb 20, 2019 13:57:30 GMT
Squad DepthAs I look to move forward with a squad (and not just a team) that can challenge for the league and, in future, European competitions, I need to keep an eye on the next four to five years. With the removal of the rating system, I'm looking at attributes more in depth, coach reports and actual performances on the pitch. Below are my three squads, and I'll write a bit about each one... First TeamThis is a strong squad. Of the 20 players, there is a good mix of youthful players, but those are relatively experienced (see G.Marques with 105 appearances by 18, A.Braz with 228 by 21) and some homegrown players who are entering the main years of their careers and are good first team/rotational options, such as Folha, Raposo, Bolas and Vieira. I have only one change that I would like to make to this squad - that is to find a left and right winger who can come in on loan for a year whilst Elson Paulo gets some more experience. He's good enough for this league so I would like to send him to another Primeira Liga side and hope he develops well. Reserve (Under 23) teamThis is where some of my concerns begin. Firstly - lets look at DNA attributes, alone. Out of this group of players - Andre Hugo, Cristian Luque and Vitor Rodriguez are probably the standout players, in terms of having the core group of attributes that are beneficial to our style of play. Hugo is somewhat of the odd one of this group - coaches say he's ready and good enough for this league even if he's not yet consistent and has just completed a loan at Braga, playing 24 games in this league with an AR of 6.79. His route to the first team though is blocked - Diogo Marques broke the record for highest AR in my team last year and Juan Ramirez's stock is rising as he was just named Young Player of the Tournament at the 2034 World Cup. Hugo is ready but will need loan time, again, to prove he can surpass one of those two. Both Luque and Rodriguez were part of a (short lived) attempt to recruit S.American's from amateur American sides - and they are both highly experienced in first team football - but all of that is at a poor level (IMG Academy and NRYB U23 sides, respectively). This brings me to my next thought - if you've played that many senior games and, in Rodriguez's case, have won international caps, you shouldn't still be in the Under 23 squad of a team who aren't even the best in their league which isn't even the best in Europe. A huge group of players, Diaz, Francivaldo, Pahiama, Torres, Sotelo, Marcos and Torres all fit into this category. They've played first team football but have returned in a position still not good enough for the first team so, realistically, need to be moved on. This process will take a few years as, ideally, I want a path that stems from youth development to one or two years out on loan and then straight into the first team. Youngsters Fernando, Agostinho and, to some extent, Hugo Silva, will be the first of the 'new wave' whereby I will develop them as much as I can and then choose to loan them 'if' I feel that this will lead to a chance of them returning to the first team. Loan deals for a majority of the others are being negotiated as a) a last chance saloon and b) getting their name into the shop window to move on but hopefully remain in the upper echelons of Portuguese football. Under 19sI have written this lot off previous to this season but I am now planning to do my best with them and ensure that at least 75% of these remain in football at a decent level. I will be doing the majority of my 'changing' at this level - for example Rodrigues is being transformed into a tenacious midfielder as he's brave and works hard but not tall enough to be a centre half. Then I have prospects such as Carvalheira and new signing Guedes (he cost £300k from Penafiel) who I hope have enough potential to become reasonably rounded in the next couple of years. With us securing a second placed finish, these kids will be playing in the Youth Champions League so it brings a great chance to play at the highest youth level and hopefully grow. Overall, I need to work on the very poor personalities but, with the way mentoring works, I don't want to move these to the first team as it removes from developing with their own group of team mates. I want to see how well the likes of Guedes (RES) and Carneiro (PRO) can rub off on the others in the squad.
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Post by shrewnaldo on Feb 20, 2019 22:28:15 GMT
Nice idea in removing the star ratings. Is there an option to do that in preferences or have you had to do some custom modding of the panels?
I've never been one for using the star ratings to judge players' current potential but have to admit that I'm heavily influenced by it for potential ability yet, as you quite rightly point out, a prospect who is "only 3 stars" is essentially your coaches telling you that he'll potentially "only" develop into a player as good as club legend Folha and his ~200 goals... which when you put it that way, feels ridiculous. Something for me to think about.
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Post by Ben on Feb 20, 2019 22:28:42 GMT
Outgoing TransferNot what I needed, considering Hugo has left the club on loan and Sotelo permanently...
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Post by Ben on Feb 20, 2019 22:31:12 GMT
Nice idea in removing the star ratings. Is there an option to do that in preferences or have you had to do some custom modding of the panels? I've never been one for using the star ratings to judge players' current potential but have to admit that I'm heavily influenced by it for potential ability yet, as you quite rightly point out, a prospect who is "only 3 stars" is essentially your coaches telling you that he'll potentially "only" develop into a player as good as club legend Folha and his ~200 goals... which when you put it that way, feels ridiculous. Something for me to think about. Thanks Shrew! I know - it's a bit silly when you are a club that is strong in the league. 3 stars, when considered out of 5 - is 'alright' or 'average' yet, in my position - that's still a top player for this level! Yeah, it's a modding of all the panels, something that I am a complete novice at. I'm learning to look through the code for each panel and remove what I don't want - with some trial and error! I've removed them from the scout pages, the player profile and just working through the scout reports/coach reports when I've got a few minutes.
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Post by Ben on Feb 20, 2019 23:05:04 GMT
Depth IssuesThe above forced sale of Ramirez came from nowhere - his minimum release clause that he insisted on signing expired at the end of the August 2034 transfer window. Guess when the deal came in? The last minutes of the August transfer window. This has given me no chance to replace him and, with the minimum 28 day spell that a loan can run, I cannot terminate Andre Hugo's deal to get him back in time for the registration window and I sold off my other full back due to the perceived level of depth we had. Step forward new project - Fabio Maciel. He's pretty poor. But he's all we have. However - he now becomes my main project this season - what can I get from him and is there a need to rush out and buy a full back. With stars showing - I reckon he'd be about 1.5* CA - significantly below my first choice right back, Diogo Marques. Let's look at what he does have going for him: He's consistent - he may be consistently below the level we need right now, but there will be nothing to worry about there. He is brave - that's not a key facet of our game but his bravery and decent decision making means that, despite poor-ish tackling and reasonable positioning, he'll get stuck in when needed. He can improve a lot in the future and already has improved - this, to me is significant, considering his awful personality. This tells me that there is potential there and, if I can get the mentoring right, can unlock a lot more in him. I was initially training him as a left back for some extra versatility but will re-focus that to solely a right back now he'll be playing first team football there. Looking at some of the other key defensive attributes, I can compare them to the rest of the defenders in the league: Marking - 10. Team Average - 12.78. League Average - 12.15 Positioning - 11. Team Average - 13.44. League Average - 12.89 Decisions - 13. Team Average - 15.11. League Average - 13.8 Crossing - 8. Team Average - 8.78. League Average - 6.76 Concentration - 10. Team Average - 13.11. League Average - 12.72 This does include central defenders, and, to be fair, I have cherry-picked these attributes to compare somewhat. Again - looking at those attributes, there are several 8s and 9s that always 'look' better in double figures. He doesn't appear to be too bad for his age. I don't mind his trait, at all, and has the decisions, stamina and positioning at a reasonable level to get back into position if he loses the ball and I may consider getting him to play simple passes - a) to hide his poor passing and b) to move the ball on to either Medina or the midfielders. Below are his weaknesses: Aside from his personality, which I hope can be resolved in a mentoring group with Medina (M.Citizen and 17 DET) and Santos (Pro and 20 DET) there are issues with his heading. In comparison with my full backs - he averages 6.5 in the heading (Heading and Jumping Reach) whereas outgoing full back Ramirez averages 9.5, Xuxa 13.5 and Almeida 5 - so, whilst he is below Xuxa, who has an abnormally good jumping reach, he isn't too far behind the others. The big problem here is that his current ability is perceived to only be good enough for the third tier. I will counter that by saying that he was a top performer in the youth sides last year, as seen below: This tells me that he deserves a chance in the first team. He'll play in the easier games and cup games but, with the amount of rotation needed and the busy jobs my full backs have - I need to trust him. From the above, I take about four or five positives (potential wise, anyway) and only the one negative. I'll have to box clever for the first few months with him in the team - but hopefully I can polish myself a diamond here!
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Post by Ben on Feb 22, 2019 15:48:16 GMT
August and September 2034
First blood to Beira Mar. With the manager merry go round of Espirito Santo from Porto -> Spurs, Tuchel from Spurs -> Man City and Ancelotti from Man City to retirement,I wanted to get one over on new Porto boss, Taulant Xhaka. Taulant comes in from German side Hannover but I have a 100% record against him from his time at Braga - a 9 month spell in 2033 (although we only faced off once and I won 5-3). He favours an attacking 4-2-3-1 but doesn't press much - and my use of as many deeper lying play makers as possible really paid off as we dominated the game, particularly after they were reduced to 10 men in the 27th minute. Somehow, we outshot them 42-13 with 13 on target to their 3 and 57% of the possession - although the majority of this was deeper, with right back (at the time) Ramirez completing 105 passes and the two central midfielders with a combined 190. It somehow went to penalties with two fortuitous goals but we held our nerve to win the Supertaca for the first time in our history. The rest of the two months has been very promising - I have afforded young players game time and Elson Paulo, in particular, is impressing - he leads the scoring chart so far with 5 league goals and is using an injury to first choice Tinoco to put pressure on his place. I want to look at his development though, so will do that in a future post. My only concern is our form in our return to Champions League duty. A draw of Man City, Marseille and Olympiakos made me feel confident about second but we were wasteful in France and deserved to lose. It'll be a tough task to outscore them at home and hopefully see them slip up against sides we can beat.
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Post by Ben on Feb 22, 2019 21:17:15 GMT
Elson Paulo - DevelopmentAbove, we have a solid Primera Liga level winger who has now broken into my first team due to some injuries but has played well and, as mentioned, leads the scoring charts as we enter October. I, however, am not sure of where I see his best role and position. I'm going to go for my usual thinking-out-loud kind of approach to work it out - either considering a pro for one position or a con, meaning it's a pro for the other. Firstly, here are his performances this season: Pros of IF(a) in the AML role:1. Good finisher 2. Good Decision making means he'll end up choosing the right option to shoot or run, and he is fast and can dribble well. 3. Reasonably well composed, which when faced with being in the penalty area will help. 4. Low concentration - but he won't need to track back or defend. 5. Low work rate - I employ a high line of engagement so this will be negative everywhere but in his role - it's a pick the ball up and run with it rather than a cross or a pass if he was a winger. 6. Passing is relatively poor - he won't need to make more than a 5/10 yard pass. 7. Tackling is poor and on support duty he'll need to muck in when we are under the cosh. Pros of W(s) in the AMR role:1. He can run and dribble well and his crossing is decent. 2. He's small so won't be on the end of far post headers - a move I use for the AML slot. 3. Decent vision so can pick the cross or space ahead of him to exploit. 4. Poor concentration - could be a liability in from of goal. 5. Is natural in the AMR position so training would only focus on developing attributes and not positional knowledge. 6. Has played much better at AMR this season, even against bigger teams.
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Post by Ben on Feb 23, 2019 12:13:22 GMT
October 2034
A strange month - we have either been really good really bad! Awful against Maritimo, scraping a draw against Rio Ave after being two down at half time and somehow clinging to a draw against Man City despite scoring all of our shots on target and then having thirty plus at ours. On the other hand - we dominated Olympiakos, Oliveirnese and Leixoes but, then again, we should. We play Porto next month and I don't want us to lose ground in the early title race. On that screenshot, you can't see giants Sporting Lisbon - they current reside in 17th under new manager Diogo Colho (who they poached from Portugal following the World Cup) and are not in great form...
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Post by Ben on Feb 23, 2019 12:21:10 GMT
Speed IssuesI know that I am now playing the game in far more depth than before but I am conscious that the game in slowing down (I was in 2030 in the second week of December but has since taken me two and a half months to play four seasons) and this is largely due to the extended processing times. This is my current set up: I want to keep all of Portugal, for obvious reasons and have the big 5 in Europe for realism in club competitions. Argentina and Brazil were added as natural player movements for youngsters but then I added USA as part of the plan to sign amateurs, which has now slowed down to pretty much zero. I then added Chile and Colombia due to the quality of youngsters I was finding there and have since added South Korea as I have chosen Seoul as my feeder and wanted to see the impact that this might have on getting good newgens from there. I am looking at moving back to a more youth-centred approach so I am strongly considering removing the South American nations plus the USA and South Korea, as I will just take the 1 or 2 youngsters than come through from a feeder every few years rather than make a point to sign any. Hopefully this will speed things up!
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Post by Ben on Feb 23, 2019 20:43:58 GMT
November 2034A poor month, to be fair, where we are really struggling with our Champions League hangover - something that didn't happen last year even playing a day later in the Europa League. A loss to Braga has seen us lose as many times in ten games this season as we did all of last season. A great win over Man City - a real back-to-the-wall performance at the end - sees us top our group with 10 points from 5 games. Man City also have 10 and Marseille 9, with Olympiakos out on 0. I can't foresee a way that we can go out in this situation as we face Olympiakos in the last game but we haven't 'mathematically' qualified.
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Post by Ben on Feb 24, 2019 16:49:41 GMT
December 2034A perfect month - probably the first time I have achieved this, when playing more than two or three fixtures, in this save. We haven't always been at our best - we laboured past Pacos and second tier Carregado gave us more issues than they should have done, but we took the points and the progress and moved on. Elson Paulo has particularly impressed this season as he has made the move into the first team but I have also had to introduce youngster Andre Agostinho to the fold to deal with some injuries and he has impressed me. If his mentoring goes well and his unambitious personality can be turned around - I might be able to do something with this average attributes and turn him into someone that could do a job at this level, full time (although not necessarily for me). Furthermore - my loans are nearing their half way point: There are very few players here who I feel would be able to come back into the team at this point so the second half of the season will be key to decide whether they will be staying with me or moving on. Rodriguez, Francivaldo and Sergio Martins all have deals that expire at the end of the season so they are playing for their future in the game, too.
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Post by Nick on Feb 24, 2019 17:48:35 GMT
That's much better, Ben. Plenty of green dots, with a few clean sheets thrown in for good measure. I'm in a very similar position as you with regards to players out on loan. My U21 side doesn't play competitive matches like my U18's do, so I've kept it as a breeding ground for loan players. I currently have 18 players out at other clubs at both levels in Switzerland and varying levels across Europe, but maybe only three or four of them have any real chance of making the grade with me. Like you, they've all probably got one more season on loan and then I need to make a decision on their futures. Incidentally, how hard have you found it to sell those types of players? I seem to have plenty of interest in loans, but very few actual transfer bids for them. To the point where I've been letting them leave for free, rather than extending their contracts and then transfer listing them. It's obviously always harder to get their market value when they are transfer listed, but this version seems even tougher. I was getting bids of maybe 20-25% of their market value offered to me.
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Post by Ben on Feb 24, 2019 21:02:19 GMT
That's much better, Ben. Plenty of green dots, with a few clean sheets thrown in for good measure. I'm in a very similar position as you with regards to players out on loan. My U21 side doesn't play competitive matches like my U18's do, so I've kept it as a breeding ground for loan players. I currently have 18 players out at other clubs at both levels in Switzerland and varying levels across Europe, but maybe only three or four of them have any real chance of making the grade with me. Like you, they've all probably got one more season on loan and then I need to make a decision on their futures. Incidentally, how hard have you found it to sell those types of players? I seem to have plenty of interest in loans, but very few actual transfer bids for them. To the point where I've been letting them leave for free, rather than extending their contracts and then transfer listing them. It's obviously always harder to get their market value when they are transfer listed, but this version seems even tougher. I was getting bids of maybe 20-25% of their market value offered to me. Thanks Nick, things seem to be clicking and other teams are under performing too - I'm feeling confident but realistic about our chances. The squads in Portugal are stupid! We have a U23 and U19 but some teams have an U23, U19, U19-B and sometimes a full 'B' squad, too so they have players playing in a whole host of competitive leagues. Our U23s are reigning champions and the U19 team have just been promoted to the top tier at their level and compete in the Youth CL but there isn't much scope to develop a lot of players so I send a few out on loan (yet they seem to reject my feeder in the second tier [Leiria] or the two in the third [Benfica Castelo Branco and Trofense]). I would definitely agree with you in regards to the loanees - those that are playing well tend to come back to me but aren't good enough and those that don't, just end up on countless loans and then let go for free. I've got a couple of players who, despite being rated highly by the coaches, I am happy to let go for nothing as they aren't playing well and, as such, not developing too well.
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