Celtic - A Squad Building Exercise

[Sean1967]

Celtic | A Squad Building Exercise | Prelude

I have decided to re-write this. With the focus shifting back to squad development and tactical pragmatism. I will start with a summary of my first season and build up to where we are not with bi-annual season posts to follow. 

2016/17 Season
As you will have seen from the previous thread we had a very successful season. I started by navigating the UCL qualifiers and putting out Hapoel Be'er Sheeva, Partizani and Rosenborg. A good run of domestic form followed including the 9-0 thumping of Rangers and lift the League Cup with a convincing 4-1 win over St. Johnstone in the final.

The UCL group stage got off to a terrible start for us. Back-to-back-to-back defeats left us bottom of the table with only 1 goal scored and 9 against. Incredibly in the games that followed we drew 2-2 with Juventus, hammered Spurs 7-1 and beat Leverkusen in Germany 3-1 to finish above them in 3rd place on the basis of goals scored. This was in the process of racking up a run of 17 games undefeated domestically. This was undone by a lack of planning and back luck as we faced Partick Thistle. A high defencive line, slow CB's and a good perforce from their keeper ended the run.

We then went another 15 games without a loss domestically until priorities took over. We had went on a great UEL run knocking out the likes of Club Brugge [3-1], Schalke [a4-4]. So when it came up to fixtures around the UEL quarter-final I rested the whole squad resulting in a loss before the first leg and a draw before the second. However it was worth it when we beat Fiorentina on aggregate 2-0 to reach the semi-final.

The remainder of the season we dropped just 2 points and lifted the Scottish Cup with a win over Hearts. In the UEL semi-final we came up against high-flying Athletic Bilbao. A ruling 180 minutes saw us take the tie 3-2 on aggregate thanks to a James Forrest equaliser in the home leg. In the final we lined up against Man Utd. I did my homework, got the tactics and line-up right (or so I thought). We were more that a match for the as we came back from 2-0 down at half time to take the match all the way to penalties.

Our luck ran out in the final. We came up against the side that would finish 3 points off the EPL title and we took them all the way to penalties. When you take everything into consideration we had a great season. We showed that we can make an impact in Europe and not just there to make up the numbers. Domestically we wrapped up the treble with ease. We won the Scottish Premiership by 18 points, with us scoring 92 goals along the way. It will be a tough season to top but a challenge I look forward to.

Transfers
I only made one signing during my first transfer window. Diego Poyet arrived on a free transfer but was quickly loaned out along wit a few other players to reduce the wage bill. Then came the January window and in come two new faces. 

Julian Green joined from Bayern Munich meeting all signing criteria that I had set, and all at the bargain price of £950k. We needed an extra forward as I only had Leigh Griffiths and Moussa Dembele, the were both playing very well but the amount of fixtures coming up one injury could have caused problems. He could also offer cover on the left wing. As I lucked out getting in a quick CB - Rob Holding opted for Swansea and Jerry St. Juste was not for sale. I went down another route and brought in a FB who could cover CB for a fee of £3.8million - Linus Wahlqvist. This meant he or Mikel Lustig could cover CB when more pace is needed. Several players left the first team ranks notably Cristian Gamboa [£1.5 mil to Marseille], Nir Bitton [£3 mil to Marseille], Efe Ambrose and Kris Commons [free].

[thompsbc01]

what tactic do you use? im struggling to get a working one 

[HalfGreenHalfBlue]

Yeah I dont know how you achieved all that mate because no matter how conservative i play in Europe or how attacking/cautious I play in the league we lose more than 4 games a season, only win it by about 6-10 points and get murdered in Europe.

The whole SPL In game needs a serious balance and AI change because watching Aberdeen play like Real Madrid and Nial McGinn be the SPLs Messi does not wash.

[Sean1967]

18 hours ago, thompsbc01 said:

what tactic do you use? im struggling to get a working one 

 

14 minutes ago, HalfGreenHalfBlue said:

Yeah I dont know how you achieved all that mate because no matter how conservative i play in Europe or how attacking/cautious I play in the league we lose more than 4 games a season, only win it by about 6-10 points and get murdered in Europe.

The whole SPL In game needs a serious balance and AI change because watching Aberdeen play like Real Madrid and Nial McGinn be the SPLs Messi does not wash.

I actually saved over this by mistake. But I used primarily a control/fluid gameplay with the following TI; high tempo, close down more, play out of defence and retain possession. Only PI I tended to use was regards to GK distribution unless I notice something. 

As for player roles and formation that changes on a game-by-game basis. Usually a variation of the 451, 442 or a 3 at the back. When it comes to Aberdeen, you need to play a DM possibly two. The 3AM will control the horizontal movement around the box if you don't. Getting some quicker CB will help. Quite a few SPFL clubs will play 442, use a 4411. 

Basically look at each game individually. Playing against Rangers and the play Tavernier who's better suited Forrest who can break into the space he leaves bombing up the pitch or Roberts who will look to cut in and beat the DM?

[HalfGreenHalfBlue]

23 minutes ago, Sean1967 said:

 

I actually saved over this by mistake. But I used primarily a control/fluid gameplay with the following TI; high tempo, close down more, play out of defence and retain possession. Only PI I tended to use was regards to GK distribution unless I notice something. 

As for player roles and formation that changes on a game-by-game basis. Usually a variation of the 451, 442 or a 3 at the back. When it comes to Aberdeen, you need to play a DM possibly two. The 3AM will control the horizontal movement around the box if you don't. Getting some quicker CB will help. Quite a few SPFL clubs will play 442, use a 4411. 

Basically look at each game individually. Playing against Rangers and the play Tavernier who's better suited Forrest who can break into the space he leaves bombing up the pitch or Roberts who will look to cut in and beat the DM?

 

Interesting, we have an FM17 thread on TalkCeltic.Net (Celtic Fans Forum) and most of us are sceptical of how 'balanced' (or unrealistic) the SPL is and some in fact of what you saying/claiming because most playing Celtic are struggling.

 

I like yourself vary it on a game by game basis but in 3 straight years of playing FM I've got nowhere in Europe with Celtic, especially in the first season. Unless you where saving and replaying? Near on impossible.

 

Otherwise, some decent tips for me mate and all the lads back at TalkCeltic.Net there, cheers. 

[HalfGreenHalfBlue]

How the hell did you set up to beat Rangers 9-0?

Did you have another user playing as Rangers with a youth outfield player in goal?

Shocked. I beat them 4-3 with Garner getting a hat trick for them (YET HE HARDLY SCORES IN REAL LIFE - again,more unrealism in FM's SPL engine)

[Sean1967]

22 minutes ago, HalfGreenHalfBlue said:

Interesting, we have an FM17 thread on TalkCeltic.Net (Celtic Fans Forum) and most of us are sceptical of how 'balanced' (or unrealistic) the SPL is and some in fact of what you saying/claiming because most playing Celtic are struggling.

 

I like yourself vary it on a game by game basis but in 3 straight years of playing FM I've got nowhere in Europe with Celtic, especially in the first season. Unless you where saving and replaying? Near on impossible.

 

Otherwise, some decent tips for me mate and all the lads back at TalkCeltic.Net there, cheers. 

 

18 minutes ago, HalfGreenHalfBlue said:

How the hell did you set up to beat Rangers 9-0?

Did you have another user playing as Rangers with a youth outfield player in goal?

Shocked. I beat them 4-3 with Garner getting a hat trick for them (YET HE HARDLY SCORES IN REAL LIFE - again,more unrealism in FM's SPL engine)

Nah never save and replay, one of the rounds the game crashed though after I had went through and I had to play again. I think the Brugge games. Nah I played them once in the beta too an won 10-0 just always cognate them, their line up is how the finished the game. But as you can see full XI think I have a screenshot of the 9-0 game somewhere.