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Post by Ben on Nov 17, 2019 9:41:16 GMT
October/November 2021
With one game away from the half-way point, we find ourselves in an incredibly good league position and are currently on a ten-game unbeaten streak. The board are still not too happy about the lack of 'exciting' football but clearly they are clueless to the wonderful off-the-ball movement and short, slick passing that we are currently employing. I envisage that we'll struggle at some point this season - we have already matched the amount of wins that we had in the entirety of last season and we have been very lucky with injuries to date. We started the October off with a hard fought draw against Osasuna's B side - who attempted to kick us off the park. All 25 of our away attendance watched an incredibly dull match that saw a share of just two shots on target in the match. It's these kind of performances where I need to have that extra bit of tactical nous to 'find' us that goal from somewhere. Consecutive wins over Tudelano, where we had 73% of possession, Llieda, where we restricted them to just one shot that was off-target and Cornelia, who were top at the time - saw us climb to these heady heights. Another one of those 'what-if?' performances followed where we clearly were the better side against Tafalla and they were happy to attempt to contain us but we were poor in front of goal and Pena, in particular, squandered a lot of chances. Despite a missed penalty against Getxo, we saved a point late in the game, which was probably undeserved due to our rather average performance. A big win away at Olot shows the difference from this season to last - we'd have rolled over against bigger teams away from home in the past - but we deserved at least a point fro this one. Another five points from the next three sees us hot on the tail of Andorra, although they did demolish us 3-0 earlier in the season and we do need to go to them. --- Things are ticking over very nicely - a few first team players have now developed traits that I wanted - in particular, I now have none that are classed as 'Left Only' or 'Right Only' through developing their weaker foot - a particularly positive step when I want to be able to control possession and have technically skilled players. Julio, the central midfielder I signed in the summer, has added the 'Plays One-Twos' to his game, which I hope will work in connection with his more aggressive running game, leaving Tiago Rodriguez as the 'passer' from the central midfield role. Felix Rangel is also progressing well as I look to turn him into an Inside Forward from the left flank. --- Lastly, I signed a one-year contract extension:
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Post by Ben on Nov 17, 2019 21:51:30 GMT
Brian Pena - the missing link?
I've had a slight change in formation this year, dropping the ST back to the AM role and using, arguably, a role that is still a 'striking' one - the Trequartista. I say that because the Treq offers nothing defensively, is only available on an attacking duty and still plays quite far forward. Aside from that though - there has been little movement with roles. I fully admit that there has been some key personnel changes - Julio, Restrepo and Albert have all added quality to the side, particularly in the creative area. However, the comparison between Pena, my other new signing this year and Edgar, my out and out striker, once rated as the best player at the club, from last year, is particularly showing. Edgar often played as a DLF(a), a role in which FM anyway, said he wasn't particularly suited too - yet he has a decent ability to pass the ball as well as the ability to finish. The attacking duty meant that I expected him to pick the ball up a little deeper but then still be in the box to finish the move. Regardless of differences in players, formations and styles, it is clear to see that Pena has been a fantastic addition to the club and the move to incorporate him as the Treq has paid off very well, being head and shoulders ahead of Edgar in all areas except for a similar passing and no assists this season.
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Post by Ben on Nov 17, 2019 21:55:49 GMT
Youth Intake PreviewDoesn't look like a good one... This news comes after I complete a deal for a new goalkeeper - giving me, essentially, a spine of a squad that I intend to keep together and accompany with my own youth products. Looks like that plan is going back to the drawing board.
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Post by Ben on Nov 17, 2019 22:26:05 GMT
Creating a balanced midfield
I really enjoyed looking at the data produced on the radar and I'm desperately interested in trying to make my analysis a) more useful for me and b) nicer to look at, so I've decided to make another one. This time, I'm looking at my midfield duo of Tiago Rodriguez and Julio. With Restrepo settling in as a DM at present, I have settled with these two as my CM duo, in a CM(s) and BBM(s) pairing. I've used support duties on both to encourage the fluidity throughout the team (3 defender, 7 support and 1 attack). Normally - I want to set my midfield duo up as opposites - I like a tackler and I like a creator. However, with the focus on both a shorter, slicker passing game and a clever footballing approach whereby making a tackle means that someone, somewhere has not done their job properly (as I type - I realise I've forgotten the interceptions on the radar), I actually want both players to do a similar job but in different parts of the field. Julio needs to be slightly more direct but I want him running without the ball rather than with the ball - even if I expect to see an increase in dribbling numbers. Here is the comparison - Tiago Rodriguez is in purple and Julio in yellow: Both players are very similar actually! As I'd want - Julio creates a little more (0.05 assists per/90 to Tiago's 0) but I like that Rodriguez also is making key passes, but from deeper, as these tend to be forgotten about. Julio is a bit more 'up and down' so I'd expect him to be tackling more (interestingly, Tiago has 1.47 interceptions/90 compared to Julio's 1.4, which does back this theory up). I like how similar these are despite the different roles, which tells me that they are suited to the style of play and the game that I want to play. Both players average over 7 (7.05 and 7.04 - fourth and fifth highest in the team) and are important players for me. --- I think, going forward, I'd like to swap dribbles with interceptions and also add assists as well as maybe distance covered - which will help me look at how much pressing they are doing for the team.
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Post by Ben on Nov 18, 2019 21:00:42 GMT
New SigningMy third ex-Barcelona player, after Sola and Pena, Sergi Puig signs on a free transfer. He absolutely fits the bill in terms of what I want from a goalkeeper - good on the ball with good technique and a decent sot stopper to boot. He's young and has a good personality and will be, hopefully a mainstay for the foreseeable future.
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Post by Ben on Nov 18, 2019 21:25:29 GMT
Player transfer?
He wants out. There is no chance of keeping my star centre back - time to find his replacement, on deadline day...
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Post by Ben on Nov 18, 2019 21:45:57 GMT
December 2021/January 2022
A perfect December had led to a worrying January - two defeats, one away at mid-table Sociedad and the other at Sabadell, fighting relegation, who clearly wanted it more than us. With these three games on the road, I knew they'd be tougher but we've really missed injured Brian Pena this month. --- As you saw - Javier Hernandez left but I was quick to ask my DoF for a recommendation as a replacement DC. He came up with this absolute gem: Ferran is yet another ex-Barcelona player who, at 24, has experienced football in the second tier of Spanish football with their B-side. He's not a natural DC and is a little short - but pairing him with 6'2" centre back Javi Sanchez. When looking at their attribute comparison - (Javi in the garish blue and Ferran in the equally garish red), they are largely like-for-like, if only that the latter is a bit shorter and not as physical. He is my highest earner, but with £220k from the Hernandez deal in the bank - I can and need to make this kind of deal to solidify my promotion chasing squad.
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Post by Ben on Nov 18, 2019 22:12:03 GMT
Tactical growthI've been growing into this game (I don't know if you can tell from the amount of posts?!) and, in particular, have enjoyed developing the tactics - even if we are massively overachieving this year. Below is the shape that I have settled on: It's still very much a work in progress and the team instructions are certainly things I am looking at developing over the next months. --- Firstly, the goalkeeper is pretty straightforward SK(d) and he takes short kicks, meaning that we are able to build from the back. The two centre backs are both ball-players, once again allowing us to build from the back. I have opted for the dual IWB(s) as, with no striker, I found that overlapping wing backs, particularly those who are decent crossers of the ball - are pretty much wasted here. I've opted to have them cut inside and form extra numbers in the middle to that I can allow my CM(s) and BBM(s) to get further forward and to generally have more players around the T(a), who is the focal point of my attack. Esteban Restrepo has made the DM role his own and is acting a DLP(d) even if I did bring him in on the premise of being a central defender and then went out to replace my central defender who left. Below is how he has performed: I don't know why the radar has gone so small but he has averaged 88% pass completion - a given within my system, which I'd expect but has also had nearly 4 key passes per game. I think he's had the pre-assist as this hasn't translated to just 0.2 assists per 90 but that is fine. He's won ever single tackle (12 in total in the DLP role), made nearly two interceptions per game and conceded, on average, a foul every five games. To the right shows the top rated players in this league and, given his stats on the pitch, it is absolutely no surprise that he is head and shoulders above every one else when based on Average Rating. As previously documented, I'm using the CM(s) and BBM(s) in the midfield strata and this is complimented by both the wing backs and wingers - who are able to feed the ball as well as move up and down the pitch well. Further forward, I've moved both wide men to wingers so that they can hug the touchline, allowing space for runners from deeper. This does, technically, mean that my IW(s) Jony is surplus but I want to be careful with recruitment at the moment. --- I'm having a bit of trouble with the 3D match at the moment but will get some screenshots up when it's resolved...
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Post by jawzy on Nov 18, 2019 22:55:01 GMT
I briefly went to a strikerless per se in one of my beta saves. because the strikers didnt seem as effective, though noticed in recent beta matches, the issues with strikers seems to be abit better resolved. assumed things have been tweajed or updated. im enjoying reading it glad your enjoying playing.
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ianf
New Member
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Post by ianf on Nov 19, 2019 2:02:10 GMT
Did you manage to start your save before the bug with all the ‘1’ for determination and hidden attributes in youth players?
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Post by Ben on Nov 20, 2019 18:35:34 GMT
I briefly went to a strikerless per se in one of my beta saves. because the strikers didnt seem as effective, though noticed in recent beta matches, the issues with strikers seems to be abit better resolved. assumed things have been tweajed or updated. im enjoying reading it glad your enjoying playing. I moved back because of those concerns, too but it just feels really Spanish and I'm enjoying it - so I doubt I'll be moving back to a striker...
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Post by Ben on Nov 20, 2019 18:36:27 GMT
Did you manage to start your save before the bug with all the ‘1’ for determination and hidden attributes in youth players? Yes - I think so. All of my newgens have pretty poor determination but not at 1, I don't think! There are other newgens across the game world who aren't affected so I don't think I am!
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Post by Ben on Nov 20, 2019 21:52:56 GMT
February/March 2022It's hard to find the positives in a two month spell where we have only found the net three times. Morale is shot and we are struggling to find that last pass and create that final run in order to get on the scoresheet. With some tough away fixtures coming up - falling out of the playoff slots is a real worry here.
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Post by Ben on Nov 20, 2019 22:29:20 GMT
2022 Youth Intake
A much worse intake than last year, which, even though expected, is putting pay to my youth development approach. There is really nobody here who I see being able to challenge for the first team.
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Post by Ben on Nov 20, 2019 22:30:20 GMT
Board objectivesIt'll be interesting to see where they see us now in the next five years.
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Post by jawzy on Nov 21, 2019 18:50:16 GMT
Did you manage to start your save before the bug with all the ‘1’ for determination and hidden attributes in youth players? Yes - I think so. All of my newgens have pretty poor determination but not at 1, I don't think! There are other newgens across the game world who aren't affected so I don't think I am! newgens were not effected iirc, it was just 16-20 year olds at the start of a db.
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Post by Ben on Nov 21, 2019 21:31:13 GMT
Getting the most from my wingers
On the left is right winger Albert and on the right is left winger Jony. I've screenshotted the and I'm going to have a look into their on pitch performances because I'm a little concerned at their outputs, of late. What I want, in an ideal world, is to use quite generic roles, W(s) and allow the players ability and their traits to personalise what they do. Firstly, I can see that Jony, a right footed left winger wants the ball played into him and he'll dribble past his opponent before unleashing a shot from long range or picking a good pass with his vision and decisions. Albert is more of the traditional winger, using his dribbling, technique and crossing skills to beat his man on to the byline. However - when looking at what they've done this season, I get this: They are remarkably similar in shape. Jony has a few more goals in his total minutes, a few more tackles and interceptions per game and is getting more shots on target, whereas Albert's passing is a little better and has recorded an assist. --- I need to have a look at how I can support Brian Pena as he's scored 15 goals this season - three times more than anyone else. I want to allow the players some kind of freedom, hence using a generic W(s) and have really enjoyed using an IWB(s) behind them - so I am loathed to move back to an IW(s) and fail to exploit space out wide. Still having issues with the skin so practically playing on only commentary so it's purely an analysis game at the moment!
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Post by Ben on Nov 22, 2019 21:43:23 GMT
2021/22 End of SeasonIn the end, our season will go down as a huge success - we registered our highest ever league finish and improved our points tally on last year - taking on a couple of sides who had done very well in their respective divisions. The league table when split at the mid-way stage shows us 2nd after the first round of fixtures, just two defeats and 25 goals in our 37 point haul. A late end of season rally saw us finish 6th in that period but with only fifteen goals scored in that period, we really had to work hard for the thirty points. At the start of the save, I mentioned wanting a solid home record - sadly, we couldn't convert this year and took 34 of our 67 points at the Pedro Escartin, a slightly worrying return. We did only score 19 times on the road but our 9-6-4 record was the second best in the league. Lleida are a really strong side and, until the last few games, had pushed Andorra all the way. It is good to have the latter away from our league but with Lleida, and any of the relegated teams (can't work out geographically where Santander, Bilbao Athletic, Numancia and Extremadura will go) could pose us problems again at the top. --- Here are the overall stats for this season. As I continue to develop my analysis in this part of my game, I may not post this and, instead, post some more graphical work to demonstrate what I want to show. This season, I wanted to make sure that we were a bit more creative - so recruited Pena, Albert and Julio. I also wanted to ensure that we stayed tight defensively and altered some palyer instructions to suit. Here is the impact that it had: Despite the huge positive of Pena scoring 16 times, that is almost half of the total goals scored by the club. Not playing an out-and-out striker means that I need all of my forward thinking players to chip in, and they really haven't. However - when looking at their conversion of shots to goals - they, as expected, are behind the star quality of Antoine Griezmann, but not actually too bad. Therefore - we need to be getting them into positions where they can have more shots. It is important that I don't see it solely as 'getting them to shoot more' but continuing to be more relentless with getting into good positions in order to have shots that can be converted. Lastly, it was promising to see all my defenders rating highly in the duels won - although, as of now, I have no comparative data. --- Two years in and we are making good progress. The summer is going to be key as I look to add the final touches to the squad as I look to mount a serious title challenge.
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Post by Ben on Nov 23, 2019 20:33:31 GMT
2022/23 Summer TransfersIt's been, once again, a busier summer in the transfer market than I wanted - but that is out of necessity with several fringe players nearing the ends of their deals and a step up in quality required in some areas of backup as our poor second half of the season did coincide with some injuries to key players. Six players have joined in total: --- Willian Santos is a wrong-footed full back who joins on a free from Braga's B side in Portugal. He matches the two foci I have had to date - personality and versatility and I expect him to slot in as firts choice. I have reservations about his height, particularly at the back post, so I need to ensure that we don't allow crosses from the left when we are facing a tall winger. Arnau Puigmal was signed after a spell in the Man Utd academy - but sadly he hasn't made a single senior appearance, a slight worry for a player who is now 21 years old. Once again, he's versatile and accepted a very low wage - as I am starting to grown concerns about the heightening wage bill. Another import from England is Guillermo Lopez - who is a Chilean/Spaniard from the West Ham academy. He too hasn't featured at senior level before but is three years younger than Arnau and is good enough to be one of the first names on the team sheet. He provides an option that I am worried about in my own backline - a tall winger who is more physical than a full back. I think he'll be a short-term option as I envisage heads will be turned if he performs anywhere near the standard that he looks able to do on paper. Igor Gomez - once of the Barcelona academy, comes to add more options and depth as a decent-footballing centre half, Javi Cobo adds depth to the midfield and becomes an emergency backup for Brian Pena, my Trequartista and Pol Tristan is my new second choice keeper. --- If I had to pick an absolute best XI - this would probably be it: Young, versatile (minus Julio - who, weirdly, plays the most 'dynamic role within the team, covering from the back to the front) and hungry for success. However - the bonus that I have this year is that I still have five or six other players who I am now confident about giving minutes to. The board want playoffs and I'd take that too - considering Bilboa Athletic came down, Andorra failed in the playoffs and Lleida are still looking strong.
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ianf
New Member
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Post by ianf on Nov 27, 2019 16:25:34 GMT
Good stuff as always. What mentality are you on? I have found sometimes that if your shot conversion is good but shots are low a simple mentality bump can work wonders
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Post by Ben on Nov 27, 2019 21:56:46 GMT
Good stuff as always. What mentality are you on? I have found sometimes that if your shot conversion is good but shots are low a simple mentality bump can work wonders Balanced right now. I've tried moving it up but we become a little bit more wasteful, I've found.
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Post by Ben on Nov 27, 2019 21:58:12 GMT
2022/23 End of SeasonA strange recap here - considering that we have nearly matched our record from last season yet finished three places lower, missing out on the playoffs and, as such, putting my job somewhat at risk. With Andorra and Lleida staying in the division, it was always going to be a tough task, and, adding a strong second side in Bilbao Athletic, meant that fourth was my ideal goal - but it was not to be. This season has seen us really struggle with something I wanted to focus on - our home record, with us ending just ninth with a record of 8-5-6 and only 21 goals scored. On the road, we went 11-3-5 with the same amount of goals scored and just one less conceded. Unlike last year though, we really didn't have a stronger portion of the season - ending sixth in both the first and second round of fixtures. From a player point of view - Pena once again led the side and it was pleasing to see that Lopez and Albert joined in too, nearly reaching double figures. Willian Santos really impressed in his debut season and weighed in with five assists. Sadly, I have been unable to offer minutes to youngsters Iosu Fernandez and Felix Rangel but I am loathed to loan them out next season due to their reasonable ability combined with our total lack of money! --- One thing I was really interested in looking at this year was what we have done with our possession. We are, by far, the team that keeps the ball the best in this league - averaging 64% possession and this figure is regularly in the 70's, too. However, when looking at my midfield - I was a little concerned about how these players actually use the ball, so wanted to compare their passes per 90 with their chances created per 90. I would expect Tiago Rodriguez to dominate the passes as he has the trait of 'Dictates Tempo' and plays as a CM(s) rather than a more roaming BBM(s) that Julio or Puigmal have played. However - when comparing those two directly, it is clear that Puigmal has created way more than Julio. --- With our relatively poor showing this season, the board have set some new goals going forward: Three years to get sorted and then a year to finally get out of this league. I am confident that I can make this happen but I am conscious of a) the mire that the Segunda B playoffs are and b) our really worrying financial situation, of which I want to address over the summer. ----
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Post by Ben on Nov 30, 2019 21:39:16 GMT
October/November 2023It has certainly been a strong start for us this season - with a 12 match unbeaten run and a fantastic return of eleven clean sheets in that time. We've faced some formidable foe in the early season encounters and brought a point home from Andorra as well as a win at Sabadell. We've shared out our goalscoring duties but, unfortunately, Brian Pena is yet to really hit it off - although I remember questioning him last season and then being overjoyed at his reaction to it. We've put up some fantastic stats when it comes to possession since properly integrating my style into the team - I want to take a little look at whether it is working as I want to. Firstly, here is the completed passes, per 90 minute average for my strongest XI, playing in my preferred 4-1-2-3-0 formation. Next to it, I have split them into goalkeeper, defence, midfield and offence (midfield means the DM and two CMs and forwards are the AML, AMC and AMR): My DLP, Sarsanedas is leading this, by far, which is both expected, given the nature of his role, and good - as it is intended. Next are both of my IWB(s) - which, presumably given their positioning on the pitch and my ask for shorter passing, means that they are linking up well. My initial concerns though, are that my forwards are not being involved as much as they should be. All three average between thirty and fifty passes per game, some 20% of what the DLP is hitting. Consdering that Pena, my Treqartista, is the focal point of the attack - these numbers worry me. My next focus of analysis goes to whereabouts this passes are coming from. With the defence and midfield accounting for the lion's share of the ball - I want to prove (and I know I'm watching the games but this is the kind of thing that I need to see over many games) that the passes are in good positions and not just us playing keep ball in our defensive third. Here are the last eight games: An utterly ridiculous amount of passes in all but one of the games. Sociedad B are managed by Gorka Rueda, who, himself, likes to control possession. They are fifth in the league for possession stats (55% compared to our 73%) but this game was very even. What I am delighted to see is that we are not just keeping the ball in our own half and, Espanyol game aside, we are taking the game to the opposition and allowing our defenders to move the ball in the attacking half. My concerns remain though that we are not creating that much from the amount of passes that we are having. The chart on the right shows clear cut chances per pass completed in each of those games. We scored twice against Cornella but only created one clear cut chance - yet completed nearly one thousand passes. Whilst this football is good on the eye, is it more style over substance? Results would say that we are doing well but whether this has longevity, I don't know...
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Post by spitfire on Nov 30, 2019 23:23:35 GMT
Really enjoying your updates Ben! I'm a big fan of stats and graphs so loving the extra detail of your own analysis you're putting in.
Looking forward to reading more!
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Post by Ben on Dec 1, 2019 14:30:51 GMT
Really enjoying your updates Ben! I'm a big fan of stats and graphs so loving the extra detail of your own analysis you're putting in. Looking forward to reading more! Thanks! I'm really enjoying the tactical analysis at this lower level. I don't normally get too involved in any of the areas until I've got ourselves into a good position so I hope it'll continue to develop. If there's anything I'm missing or you want to see - just give me a shout!
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Post by Ben on Dec 1, 2019 14:31:33 GMT
November/December 2023A good couple of months usually precedes a bad couple but we seem to have bucked the trend with two more strong sets of fixtures. Our cup run was great and, despite neither myself or the board being too bothered about it, I am a bit annoyed to have fallen to Cornella, who are mid-table fodder. We maintain a slender lead at the top but, despite our domination of Logrones - do have to visit both them and L'Hospitalet at a later date in the season. --- I seem to have fallen to the apparently 'graphical UI' bug where the facilities listed change throughout the game. Taking over a team, at this level, with excellent recruitment was a great draw but then to see three poor intakes has disappointed me. However - given what I now see, I can say that this level of intake is completely expected. I'll make the most of what I've got to work with!
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Post by Ben on Dec 1, 2019 21:46:20 GMT
Transfer dealingsSpain is always a difficult country to manage in, mainly due to the fact each player must have a minimum release fee that can be triggered. Now, with more onus on player contracts and their voices being heard - it makes negotiating those values even more tough. Sadly, I have paid for this, not once, but twice, both on transfer deadline day: Lopez was a first choice winger for me and was performing reasonably well this season so will be a massive loss. All of his fee is profit as we signed him for free but, moving to a club like Velez, I have really missed out not being able to add in the 50% of next sale - should he ever be good enough to move back to Europe. Iosu has been at the club for three and a half years now after being my first signing - he's done well but never really cemented a solid spot in the team down. His versatility will be missed though. --- I insist on a versatile squad for a reason but with little money (these sales have merely cleared our overdraft) and now only 15 senior players, I have some work to do!
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Post by spitfire on Dec 3, 2019 11:56:30 GMT
Really enjoying your updates Ben! I'm a big fan of stats and graphs so loving the extra detail of your own analysis you're putting in. Looking forward to reading more! Thanks! I'm really enjoying the tactical analysis at this lower level. I don't normally get too involved in any of the areas until I've got ourselves into a good position so I hope it'll continue to develop. If there's anything I'm missing or you want to see - just give me a shout! Same, squad building is the part of FM I love most and focus the most on but I definitely want to start doing more analysis of my team/squad/players, you're giving me lots of inspiration!
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Post by Ben on Dec 3, 2019 21:33:52 GMT
January/February 2024Ah. We have hit a blip. We really lack a 'plan B' and when Brian Pena isn't on form or is injured - we lack a real goalscoring threat. We have lost a little ground and certainly a lot of the lead that we had and do have a tough run of fixtures to come, too but I am confident that we have enough gap over the chasing pack and enough quality to maintain this position until the end of the season. --- I also received my first job offer - a team at the same level (and midtable in their group, too boot) but with significantly better facilities and finances. It is, obviously, a no.
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Post by shrewnaldo on Dec 4, 2019 12:32:13 GMT
Still making my way through your thread and I'm only up to the top of this page but wanted to speak about a couple of things before I forget-
1- I notice your board have this issue with entertaining football. Do you know how they quantify that? I think it's purely from the number of shots you have but that seems an arbitrary and rather poor way of calculating entertaining play.
Is this going to be an issue for you going forward?
2- I like the spider graphs / radars, a lot. Do you know what the definition of 'key pass' is in FM20? It used to be a pass collected goalside of the defence but it no longer is and I'm trying to work out whether or not it's a useful metric. I'm really disappointed in the lack of progression in terms of stats the game records, this is a key example
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