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[FM19] Moneyball: FC United


Moneyball

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Welcome! In this save I'll try and lead FC United into greatness with a simplistic strategy and my personal scoring system. The team and its current squad are of little interest as I will be following a moneyball strategy:

  • Always use 4-5-1 Wide with "Be more disciplined". Never change mentalities/player roles/formation.
  • Never leave FC United unless sacked.
  • Assign different "weights" to each player attribute for each specified role and calculate player scores accordingly.
  • Limit main squad to 1 main and 1 sub for each role.
  • Sell and buy often according to player "scores".
  • Avoid large transfers as much as possible. Focus on cheap, improving transfers.

Now, to quickly explain attribute weights and scoring system here is an example for Goalkeeper: (weights are out of 100)

Reflexes: 100, Positioning: 100, Agility: 100...
Aerial Reach: 80, Command of Area: 80...
Passing: 60, Decisions: 60...
First Touch: 40, Bravery: 40...
Vision: 20...

Each attribute will be multiplied by the respective weight and then added together to get GK score. So for example with this setup 1 point in Reflexes(100 weight) would be worth 5 points in Vision(20 weight).

The weights are subject to change and I'd love to hear your opinions on them as we move along. For this first post I'll just show you the game setting and formation. Weights of each role will be discussed in my 2nd post.

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Northen Ireland, Scotland and Ireland were included fully since they are nearby. Only the top leagues of other nations of interest were included. Attribute masking is disabled so that scores of potential transfers/loans can be calculated.

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Lowest manager experience and credentials were selected for increased difficulty with a focus on Discipline once again.

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And here is the formation. I kept it as simple as possible with just 6 roles (GK(d),FB(s),CD(d),CM(s),W(s),AF(a)) for which weights are to be decided. I'm very curious to see if this kind of approach can be successful, see you in the 2nd post!

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I will use a simple tierlist to assign weights initially. The values are subject to change according to player stats and feedback.

Goalkeeper (Defend):

Attributes will be picked based on a traditional goalkeeper, nothing special here.

Vital (100 weight) - Reflexes, Positioning, Agility, One on Ones, Handling

Very Important (80 weight) - Aerial Reach, Command of Area, Communication, Anticipation, Balance, Concentration

Important (60 weight) - Passing, Decisions, Determination, Work Rate, Composure

Okay (40 weight) - First Touch, Bravery, Teamwork, Kicking, Throwing

Meh (20 weight) - Vision

Please no (-5 weight) - Eccentricity (This means keepers with less eccentricity are preferred.)

Who cares? (1 weight) - All others.

Weights will remain same for each tier, I won't put them in parantheses from now on.

Full Back (Support):

Since we have wingers up front, the focus will be less on crossing/pace and more on defensive attributes.

Vital - Marking, Tackling, Positioning, Work Rate

Very Important - Anticipation, Composure, Concentration, Decisions, Teamwork, Stamina

Important - Crossing, Dribbling, Passing, Determination, Pace

Okay - Technique, Bravery, Off The Ball, Vision, Acceleration

Meh - First Touch, Aggression, Agility, Balance, Strength

Who cares? - All others.

Central Defender (Defend):

Going for traditional central defender, nothing special.

Vital - Marking, Tackling, Positioning

Very Important - Heading, Anticipation, Jumping Reach, Strength

Important - Aggression, Bravery, Composure, Concentration, Decisions, Determination, Work Rate

Okay - Passing, Teamwork, Balance

Meh - Technique, Vision, Acceleration, Agility, Pace, Stamina

Who cares? - All others.

Central Midfielder (Support):

The three with this role will have a lot to accomplish in the midfield. There will be a slight bias for defense over offense here.

Vital - Passing, Decisions, Teamwork

Very Important - First Touch, Technique, Composure, Concentration, Vision, Work Rate

Important - Dribbling, Determination, Off The Ball, Positioning, Stamina

Okay - Marking, Tackling, Anticipation, Bravery, Flair, Balance

Meh - Finishing, Long Shots, Acceleration, Agility, Pace, Strength

Who cares? - All others.

Winger (Support):

Next up we have the wingers. Focus will be on physical, dribbling and crossing.

Vital - Crossing, Dribbling, Pace, Acceleration

Very Important - First Touch, Passing, Technique, Decisions, Off The Ball, Work Rate, Agility

Important - Composure, Determination, Flair, Teamwork, Vision, Balance, Stamina

Okay - Finishing, Long Shots, Positioning, Strength

Meh - Bravery, Concentration

Who cares? - All others.

Advanced Forward (Attack):

And finally the advanced forward will be our main goalscorer. Height is also a factor when it comes to AF since we expect a lot of crosses from wingers.

Vital - Finishing, Off The Ball

Very Important - Dribbling, First Touch, Heading, Technique, Balance

Important - Passing, Anticipation, Composure, Decisions, Determination, Work Rate, Acceleration, Agility, Jumping Reach, Pace, Stamina

Okay - Long Shots, Bravery, Concentration, Flair, Strength

Meh - Positioning, Teamwork, Vision, 

Who cares? - All others.

 

Phew, that took a while but we're finally done. Next post will take a look at the current squad and compare their role score to the transfer market. I want to improve the squad asap, before the season begins.

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Before I start analyzing my squad I wanted to see what the best choices would look like according to this system... just to make sure it wouldn't spout nonsense. It preferred:

GK: Neuer, Buffon, Becker, De Gea

DR: Dani Alves, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Dani Carvajal, Joshua Kimmich

DC: Chiellini, Ramos, Hummels, Koulibaly, Pique, Godin, van Dijk, Kompany

DL: Chiellini, Dani Carvajal, Marcelo, Nacho, Azpilicueta

CM: Modric, David Silva, Coutinho, De Bruyne, Busquets, Eriksen, Messi, Milinkovic-Savic

AML: Messi, David Silva, Coutinho, Neymar, Hazard, Griezmann, Suarez

AMR: Messi, David Silva, Coutinho, Neymar, Salah, Hazard, Suarez

AF: Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi, Griezmann, Suarez, Mandzukic, Neymar, Bale

Many of these wouldn't be my picks for the top (so many David Silva!) but I can't claim to know much about top players these days. I'd appreciate any feedback on missing best players or weird picks. Moving on to the FC United squad next post!

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25 Jun 2018 Squad Review:

Little disclaimer: If I mention that someone is "xth in x role", I'm talking in terms of the scoring system aforementioned.

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Goalkeeper:

FC United is doing quite well in this department with two solid keepers. 24 year old Lloyd Allinson is the 6th best goalkeeper in the division and the veteran David Carnell is 29th. Allinson is a Sweeper Keeper by nature but he'll just have to get used to his new role. I have no complaints regarding these two whatsoever. 

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Right back:

The squad offers 3 young players for this role but unfortunately they are all subpar. None of them has Full Back (Support) as their natural role either so we will need to make some changes here. Luckily Sam Tattum and Joel Senior are on Non-Contracts so kicking them out will be no problem. We will have to work a bit harder to get rid of Steven Affleck so we might end up keeping him as a sub.

Center backs:

We only have 2 CBs available at the moment with Sam Baird out on a loan. Chris Lynch barely makes it into top 50 CBs in the division and Billy Priestley is even further below. I'll most likely be looking to get 2 new CBs for the first team and push these two into subs.

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Left back:

Things get much better as we move on to Left Backs. Stephen O'Halloran is the 6th best LB in the division and comfortable enough in the required role. Also impressive is the 19 year old Cole Lonsdale, who could be considered overqualified as a rotation player. Very good duo. I don't think we'll need a change here.

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Midfielders:

Initially I was very happy to see 5 central midfielders available and no AM/DMs. I didn't really check the squad before I decided on the formation so it's a pleasant surprise to see they sort of fit. Unfortunately quality-wise it's a struggle. Harry Winter is the only one worth considering for the first team but he really isn't comfortable playing CM(s). I'll likely let Tyrell Palmer and Danny Racchi go immediately thanks to Non-Contracts and try to replace the other 3 asap. I will need 6 CMs in total so it seems like this will be the biggest challenge of this transfer season.

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Right winger:

Since Joel Logan is a right Inside Forward but a left winger, currently the only option for this spot is Jamal Crawford who is ~100th best right winger in the division. He certainly fits the role and is good enough for rotation but we will need someone else for first team asap.

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Left winger:

On the left wing we have Joel Logan, who's around 60th in division's top left wingers. He is only 23 years old and fairly ambitious with 11 determination so he might be okay to keep in the first 11. His young substitute Jack Banister is also not great but is decent enough. In short these two will do alright and they should only be improved if we're done with midfielders, right back and right wing.

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Striker:

The squad offers an abundance of strikers suggesting that FC United used to run a 2 striker formation. The 194 cm tall Liam Dickinson does not particularly enjoy the AF role but his stats are quite good. His sub will be the 21 year old Kurt Willoughby who could easily take his spot in the starting lineup. Elliot Simoes and Brodie Litchfield will be leaving asap.

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