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Post by Nick on Oct 30, 2018 17:48:08 GMT
Ben, I'm keen to get your thoughts on the new mentoring system and how you feel it differs from what was tutoring?
I haven't played enough to gather anything yet, but early signs are that it's one of those things SI put in without explaining it.
Looking at your screenshot, and "mentoring group four" specifically, you've got four players in there, aged 30, 26, 25 and 31. All of them are considered influential or highly influential. What's the thinking behind that?
Similarly, but not related to your screenshot, if I have two senior, influential players and one younger player in a group, how are personalities and PPM's transferred? Say one senior player is a Model Pro, but the other is Resolute, how is that transferred to the younger player? Same with PPM's.
I realise you may not have the answer to these questions yet, and I may even transfer this to a separate thread, but I wanted to get something written down!
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Post by Ben on Oct 31, 2018 7:36:20 GMT
Be nice to see Trabulo's attributes His name is hyperlinked! I must admit that the formatting on this board does make it hard to see - there is no formatting to the hyperlinked text at all.
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Post by Ben on Oct 31, 2018 7:37:20 GMT
Ben, I'm keen to get your thoughts on the new mentoring system and how you feel it differs from what was tutoring? I haven't played enough to gather anything yet, but early signs are that it's one of those things SI put in without explaining it. Looking at your screenshot, and "mentoring group four" specifically, you've got four players in there, aged 30, 26, 25 and 31. All of them are considered influential or highly influential. What's the thinking behind that? Similarly, but not related to your screenshot, if I have two senior, influential players and one younger player in a group, how are personalities and PPM's transferred? Say one senior player is a Model Pro, but the other is Resolute, how is that transferred to the younger player? Same with PPM's. I realise you may not have the answer to these questions yet, and I may even transfer this to a separate thread, but I wanted to get something written down! Funny you should say that - I was going to do a whole post on that actually. I've got an end of season review to write up and then I'll be working on it.
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Post by Ben on Oct 31, 2018 7:49:41 GMT
End of Season 3 Update
We have completely exceeded expectations here - finishing 22 points above the drop zone, although I feel that this is largely due to the weakness of the two relegated sides. However - on paper, we are considerably weaker than the vast majority of this league and rank lowest in average attributes for several markers, even some of the key ones that I am building my footballing foundations on. We kept it tight throughout, and, to finish in the bottom half with a positive goal difference, shows that we are building something from the back and actually protecting my sub-par goalkeeper and poor heading defenders. Here is my first team squad that played the vast majority of the season. There is one thing that clearly stands out - lack of goals! Vagner Silveiro has scored 28 times in 75 games over his career- not a bad return for a one dimensional forward, but, when you consider that he's gone 24 games without a goal this season - scoring both of his strikes at the early end of the season - one might suggest that he is out of his depth. However - he actually averages less than one shot per game so that might be an indication that we are just not getting the ball to him in the right places - which I'd tend to agree with more. Digging deeper than goals - there is still a huge statistic that stands out for me - Sergio Couto - my central defender, only winning 2/3 of his headers. That simply isn't going to cut it going forward, but, is clear, when he's 5'10" with 4 for heading attribute. The introduction of Luis Trabulo hasn't been easy - it's hard for a full back to come in to the first team as a) this FM has made it harder to just pick up the tactics and go and b) his game isn't necessarily judged on things that will give him good ratings. I would like a bit more from him but for a 15 year old in the first team - I cannot really complain. Next season, my plan, once again, is just for survival. With the emergence of Trabulo, I will be slightly tweaking the team shape to allow current right back (and accomplished LB) Eduardo Diaz move to the IWB(S) slot and, in turn, move the 2xDM/1xMC trio t 1xDM/2xMC to give him the space to move into.
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Post by Ben on Oct 31, 2018 8:02:33 GMT
Mentoring Update(I think it's working) My current 'group 3' for mentoring (original name, I know). My understanding for mentoring thus far is that it can work in two ways - you can have one 'team leader' or something with a good personality/determination/traits and then two or three youngers players or you can have 1 younger player and two or three players who have those good personal attributes. My belief is that their influence on the group will be how much they influence the other people and not how successful being in the group will be. Tiago Ramalho has 13 for DET and is F.Pro. He's been in this group since the beginning as he's a non-regen and always been a first team player. Jorge Dias has risen from 12 DET to 13 - nothing significant here but, then again, I wouldn't expect him to exceed that of the 'person he is being mentored by.' Joao Estevao has risen from 9 to 10 in DET and has gone from unambitious to F.Pro. Tavares already has 13 for DET but I'm hoping that these 3 F.Pro players can transform his personality. The real case study can be done for players who are no longer in this group - particularly Bruno Quintaneiro - who started with 12 for DET (now has 13) but as a Mercenary. He has moved from that, to fickle and now on to F.Pro - again, matching that of the two influental players in the group. In fact - here is my squad sorted by DET level with personality shown: Out of this group - Eduardo Dias had an 'off field' change that saw his DET rise by 10 and only Letz hasn't been in the Dias/Ramalho group (as he's been leading his own). It's a slow process but it's working and I like that it's not position specific and really uses the dynamics/qualities of the players.
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Post by Ben on Oct 31, 2018 11:44:24 GMT
Tactical Tweaks - Season Four
With the emergence of a new starting RB straight from the youth intake - I need to quickly adapt my tactics. We've been performing really well under my management - I've got a 54% win ratio at the moment which is excellent but I feel that we are missing out on a few things. I've also been someone who, tactically, at least, follows the less-is-more protocol with team instructions. Above - you can see the new shape (the left back turns to IWB(S) with a personalised role where necessary and the W(A) switches to a W(S) to allow for some more wide defensive cover whilst the IF(S) on the other side turns to an IF(A) to give an attacking threat. This flexibility is what I aim for within my squads and I like to have players that can play in these variety of roles and positions. Back to the team instructions - there seemed to be too many. Firstly - I've lowered the tempo to minimise long shots and added work the ball in to the box. There was a stat popped up that we've only scored twice from over 300 touches in the box (or something like that) which made me ponder this. We've now added an extra body in the MC strata so will have an extra player in and around the box to help up maneuvre the ball into the box. We've also switched from narrow to 'normal' as the W(A) or W(S) was just being pushed into the half space the the CM(A) was going and also reducing any chance of him being able to cross - something which I know we can take advantage of. In transition - I don't want us just giving the ball to the centre backs as neither of them are good with it and often led to a hoof up field. Our full backs are decent with the ball as is the A(D) so they can start attacks. I've also removed the get stuck in as we had the worst discipline in the league last term and removed the offside trap as I was fed up of being caught out by long balls over the top, with our relatively poor decision making across the board! Hopefully what I've done is fairly logical and will pay off this season as we look to cement ourselves as a decent side in this league.
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ianf
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Post by ianf on Oct 31, 2018 14:30:13 GMT
Yay, a BeN save!!!! Can’t wait to read and be inspired.
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Post by Ben on Oct 31, 2018 14:53:05 GMT
Forced Sale
Annoying but actually working out very good for us. Sergio was unhappy that I was trying to keep him and this has given us a fair bit of income to hopefully keep us in the black this season. The plus side - I managed to bring him back in on loan for the season - as seen here. Annoyingly, I gave him the #1 shirt by right clicking his number and not checking! As a squad number OCD sufferer - this pains me greatly! £150k now with some installments - a big chance of more money if he moves on and keeping him for at least another season. I guess it's a victory for me!
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Post by Ben on Oct 31, 2018 14:53:56 GMT
Yay, a BeN save!!!! Can’t wait to read and be inspired. Hi Ian! Great to see you. Can't wait to delve into reading your saves too. Got anything in mind?
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Post by jawzy on Oct 31, 2018 16:07:58 GMT
Be nice to see Trabulo's attributes His name is hyperlinked! I must admit that the formatting on this board does make it hard to see - there is no formatting to the hyperlinked text at all. Very nice young player indeed. and I wouldnt of noticed the hyperlink if you had not said wow.
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ianf
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Post by ianf on Oct 31, 2018 17:10:57 GMT
Yay, a BeN save!!!! Can’t wait to read and be inspired. Hi Ian! Great to see you. Can't wait to delve into reading your saves too. Got anything in mind? I have some ideas - early on thinking about a Dutch club and country effort depending on what international management is like. I have a new job and way less time to play unfortunately so I may need to use FMT these days to make any kind of progress but we will see. Great read so far. I look forward to learning about the mentoring system in here as I’m sure Ben will pay close attention to it. The lack of hyperlink formatting is very odd... I like the tactic tweaks - the earlier shapes when you moved away from the CMa seemed to lack a runner from midfield so I can see how goals would be scarce.
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Post by Nick on Oct 31, 2018 18:38:44 GMT
I'll see what I can do about the formatting of hyperlinks.
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lee
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Post by lee on Oct 31, 2018 22:15:20 GMT
Ben!
So glad to see you back and writing again. I've really enjoyed catching up so far. Looking forward to seeing more updates!
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Post by fmsamo on Nov 1, 2018 9:49:59 GMT
Yes Ben! Lovely to catch up on what's happened so far and can't wait to follow the rest. I'm actually off to Portugal myself for this version, but decided to just jump in straight at the top tier with Vitória (Guimaraes). I've no doubt you'll be surpassing anything I achieve!
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Post by Ben on Nov 2, 2018 8:25:30 GMT
Thanks lee - any plans to post any of your own saves here? Thanks fmsamo! I'm an avid reader of your blog, so, of course, already knew this! If you're after some youth players - make sure you have a look at Real down in the third tier - they have, historically, churned out some quality players!
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Post by Ben on Nov 2, 2018 8:27:39 GMT
11-game Tactical Tweak Review
Eleven league games into the new season would seem like a good time to review the changes I've made and to look from a overall view rather than a game-to-game approach. Here is how we've done: On the whole - I'd say that we have done very well here. Wins over the two relegated sides - Aves and Feirense show that I really don't need to fear the 'big' sides in this league and, despite having a very weak squad on paper, we may be able to mix it with the top few in this division. I mentioned last season that I struggled with goals - maybe from playing too defensively at times and maybe due to the way I played - one 'runner' in to the box, narrow width even with a winger and at such a fast pace that I probably encouraged that 'no options so take a long shot' approach. I believe I have found the remedy for that by playing a CM(A) next to a BWM(S) in the MC strata - with only the starting position of the BWM altered from his old role. The below screen shows a marked increase in the amount of shots per game for my attacking players, which in itself, doesn't prove anything but the increase in shots on target % would suggest (and back up from what I've seen in game) that these shots are coming from closer in and are resulting in more goals. The stand out point - I lost two games 3-0 whereas last year I didn't lose a game by more than a goal. A regressive step, may be? Again - I would say no. I've since watched both games back now that the red mist has gone and I can attribute the majority of the goals to other things, as opposed to tactical issues. vs Olhanense Goal 1. At this point, we are down to 10 men after 30 mins so I've opted for a 4132 narrow shape as I didn't want to make an early change as we were on top of them. The lack of a wide play has allowed their FB to double up and has far too much space near our box to pick the pass for the goal. A tactical error but not one directly related to my intended style. Goal 2. A stupid goalkeeping error, where a 30 yard shot is parried out to the feet of the attacker who has an easy finish. This is clearly a development/recruitment issue but, as I can't sign any one, need to rely on his own skills. 13 for handling and 13 for concentration would suggest he should be able to save that but a mistake is a mistake. Goal 3. A penalty. It happens. vs Camacha
Goal 1. Another penalty. The 'Get Stuck In' has most certainly been removed for good. Goal 2. Not a lot I can do about the free kick - I think we were organised well. Goal 3. The man on the ball (the scorer) did get past my RB a little too easily but you wouldn't expect him to be able to score from there - a really good finish. I don't think there is anything tactically to blame for that goal. I think that, on the whole, we've made some positive changes to the tactic. My worry is that a loss of form may be just around the corner and, with a small squad, this could have a huge impact on us. My goal was to get out of this league in five years and I think we're doing pretty well towards that target.
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lee
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Post by lee on Nov 2, 2018 18:51:34 GMT
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ianf
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Post by ianf on Nov 5, 2018 1:48:22 GMT
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Post by Ben on Nov 5, 2018 22:16:59 GMT
I knew that! I've read it over a few times. Wasn't sure whether you'd planned to keep a copy of it on a site. I often think about doing/returning to a blog - but I don't think the way I post about my save (little updates, often) really fits that. Do enjoy reading about others though. On this save - I had a player called Arthur, who reminded me of a certain Brazilian you had. That must have been way back on FM12/13, right?
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Post by Ben on Nov 5, 2018 22:18:47 GMT
Thanks, Ian! I'd seen that but, being as I've gone back to having the 'DNA' in the squad view - I will keep numbers for now as you can't actually show that in any other form - although I'd love to represented in stars, maybe...
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Post by Ben on Nov 5, 2018 22:24:03 GMT
Backroom staff updateI like to put a lot of emphasis on the backroom staff within my team and with training take a more realistic step this year, I feel that I need to make sure that my assistant (at least) is on the same lines as me, tactically. I've tried to approach this in a way that I haven't really seen done (or at least documented) by others - and that is to sign unproven coaches, who are cheaper but have some of the attributes in the correct place, and develop their attributes through coaching courses. My staff currently looks like this: I've seen a large increase in the amount of model citizens in the game (I think there was 3 or 4 last year) and I believe that they are the best possibly personality: "Model Citizen Pro 18-20, Det 18-20, Pre 18-20, Amb 18-20, Loy 18-20, Spo 18-20, Tem 18-20" They also have decent determination and working with youngsters as well as largely favouring the same style as football as me - a 4141 or 4231 with passing and pressing. However - they don't have the greatest of attributes - see German Lux but, with six or seven more badges he can earn - I hope he has the staff potential to improve. It gives me that dual Portuguese/Argentine backroom that will hopefully allow me to bring through some regens.
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ianf
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Post by ianf on Nov 6, 2018 18:51:48 GMT
I believe the old personality templates no longer apply for FM19. More Model Citizens doesn’t mean more players with those hidden attributes but rather I think the definition has changed
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Post by Ben on Nov 10, 2018 20:10:45 GMT
Season 4 Youth IntakeA very poor intake across the board for us - with only a couple of players I'm at all interested in: Miguel ResendeMario Abrantes
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Post by Ben on Nov 10, 2018 20:14:29 GMT
First Senior InternationalSadly not for Portugal but a youth product has made it to the top of the game for his adopted nation, Angola. He played 35 minutes in the victory over Mauritius. Hopefully the first of many.
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Post by Ben on Nov 10, 2018 21:24:15 GMT
Season 4 Review
Our second season in the second tier is complete and we are making positive progress - six points and five places better off than last year, although we have yo-yoed between third and tenth across the season, showing our inability to put together a really strong run - with games catching up on the small, and weak squad. Going forward - I'm at a crossroads in this save now. We, despite having poor quality on the pitch, are a settled team (as you'd expect from a youth only save) which allows us to over perform, and the tactic, and player traits, are getting the best out of these players - which is shown by our overall league performance despite the low average ratings for my players. We are also heavily in debt - losing nearly half a million pound a season and having very little form of income. This means that we cannot afford to improve any of our youth facilities and increase the quality of player we are getting through our own youth system. We'd get money for being promoted but I'm 99% sure we will get mullered by literally every team in the league, which just isn't fun! I think that we are not far from going up, but clearly not good enough for the top tier. Let's see what the summer brings! I want to, again, revisit training schedules because, despite the ratings being good, I don't feel I'm getting the best out of the players in terms of widespread attribute development.
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Post by Ben on Nov 11, 2018 20:35:45 GMT
New Contract
Delighted to tie my best player at the club for another two and a half years, especially considering his reluctance over the previous year. Sadly, (and I love this new feature) he's not actually made any progress in that time - but a lot of that is due to the level we are at, the coaches and facilities and the fact he is already way better than anyone else.
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Post by Ben on Nov 11, 2018 22:12:01 GMT
Season 5 Youth Intake
It happened again! After an appalling last intake (and no internet for a week, hence the close proximity of these updates), I've had a star generated again for me. Vitor Filipe - happily that he's signed a pre-contract, too. Euclides Gomes
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Post by Nick on Nov 12, 2018 18:53:14 GMT
Jesus, Vitor Felipe is a bit good isn't he? Interesting to see who you get to mentor him, because his personality is garbage, but his determination is more than decent. What sort of role will you play him in?
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Post by Ben on Nov 12, 2018 22:19:02 GMT
Jesus, Vitor Felipe is a bit good isn't he? Interesting to see who you get to mentor him, because his personality is garbage, but his determination is more than decent. What sort of role will you play him in? I'm probably going to put him in the main mentoring group. The vast majority of my players who have successfully been mentored have 13 for DET and are F.Pro - although I do have two players with 14 DET and Bal. so may opt for that one: He's a complete forward if you ask me - passing is the only one below 10 (the marker I'm using for a good attribute) at this level. I am really conscious that my last great intake player, Luis Trabulo, has become a regular and played over 60 games at 17 but has not actually progressed at all. I hope that Filipe will make some attribute gains.
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Post by Ben on Nov 12, 2018 22:34:05 GMT
End of Season 5 Review
We blew it. 27 games in and we were sat atop of the league, two points ahead of of Operario and flying - then the above happened. I watched these games in incredibly amount of detail - trying to pick out why we were conceding, then adapting training the next week to address these errors. However, largely goals were down to something as silly as a misplaced pass in the middle third, a moment of excellence or a penalty so adaptation and preparation was hard to do. As soon as I entered May, morale was shot and the loss to Varzim - a game where we dominated the ball and they sat back, hitting us with one perfectly timed counter, summed up the end of the season. I have high hopes for next season after coming so close - the first lesson is that there will be heavier rotation earlier in the season to keep players fresh and I will consider building training schedules entirely from scratch to minimse injuries etc. I will also use the opportunity to blood a keeper who came through this intake, Paulo Miranda, who is already better than first choice Marco Pais - but wasn't on my initial short list of promising graduates due to the excitement of Filipe. Four seasons is enough in this division!
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