[FM21] - Frankfurt FC

[s0ni42]

Our first long-term save will take us to Germany for the first time in our FM career. Intrigued by this team as there seems to be a long-running track record of unrealized potential. As a relatively new fan of the sport, I can appreciate that I may be wrong in that assumption. Would love to hear thoughts on the team, but also on the history of the club and/or city for improved immersion. 

 

We have some basic tactical principles that we will apply to the team, but will not delve into too much detail. Formationally, we will aim to be very flexible based on current personnel and opponent.

 

GK:

Kevin Trapp - Obvious first choice keeper and long-term building block. At 30, we are hopeful to get at least 3-4 more prime years out of him.

 

Markus Schubert - Good looking young prospect. Not sure yet whether this loan contains an option to buy. Should be serviceable backup with potential opportunity to progress into something more. 

 

Centerback:

Martin Hinteregger - Left-footed, technically sound defender at 28. Good solid piece to structure defense around. Not dominant in air at only 6 ft; probably more suited for back 3 (more on that below).

 

David Abraham - Team captain getting a little long in the tooth, but very solid athletically still for his age. Will need to consider our options for replacement very soon, but expect him to get a lot of games in our first season and be an integral part. Capable in back 4 or 3. 

 

Evan N'Dicka - Young, technical left-footed centerback along with really good height at 6'4'' is a really good looking prospect. I think he is capable in playing in back 4 or 3. We will try and be aggressive with his progression to form him into a staple of our back line. Retention could potentially be an issue. 

 

Tuta - Young option at center back. Only 14 professional appearances last year on loan in Belgium. I saw he played in the Bayern game last weekend in real life and looked like a decent prospect. More technical than physical.

 

Fullback & Wingbacks (maybe some wingers):

Filip Kostic (Left-sided) - Could certainly be characterized as more of a traditional, attacking winger. But we will slot him here for time being. He is one of, if not our most, influential players. Finding production for Kostic will be key to success. He's in his prime, a regular international and certainly offers unique ability to create problems for opposition in the final third. 

 

Jetro Willems (Left-sided) - is he actually on the team? I know he returned from Newcastle, but does not appear to have featured? Maybe an injury. If available a good option. As a Liverpool fan, he had a really nice game (and a very nice strike) against us last season. 

 

Danny da Costa (Right-sided) - not as adventurous or effective in the final third, but a serviceable fullback / wingback option on the right side. At 27, will likely slot in as our regular in that spot. 

 

Almamy Toure (Right-sided) - likely a bit more defensive than da Costa (from what I can see) which may serve us well depending on what we do with Kostic and his level of attacking foray. Toure will certainly challenge da Costa for time, especially when/if we feature a 4-man backline. 

 

Erik Durm (Right-sided) - Might be the odd man out on the right side, but looks to have the versatility to also play on the left. Decent looking player for a third option. Once in-game, maybe there will be more story to tell on his role. 

 

Timothy Chandler (Right-sided) - Copy and paste the Durm content. Why so much depth at right back? 

 

Midfield:

Hasebe - Another key, veteran piece. Has the ability to shift to the back line as needed. Age a big barrier, but should be a useful player when fit. 

 

Djibril Sow - Box-to-box midfielder heading into prime of his career. Expecting him to be a big part of our long-term plans. In the short-term the goal should be finding the right combination of his talents and tactical fit based on other midfield deficiencies and strengths in our squad. My understanding is that he has not been in the best form dating back to the end of last season. We are hopeful we can get the best out of one of better talents. 

 

Sebastien Rode - Combative midfielder that can be extremely disruptive in pressing and breaking up the play. Likely to be a staple within our first 11 to give us a combination of athleticism and grit. Very cultured player that very nearly reached the pinnacle of the game with Bayern before returning to Frankfurt. 

 

Stefan Ilsanker - Another good athletic midfielder whose strengths are shielding the defense and breaking up play. A guy that will certainly feature somewhat regularly depending on which tactical system we land on. Versatile enough to contribute in a variety of slots and roles. 

 

Dominik Kohr - Young midfielder heading into his prime. I don't know much about the player, but curiously excited to get in-game and see if we can find a path for him to succeed. His age profile certainly fills a need in midfield. 

 

Kamada - First attacking midfield player to be featured. Looks a traditional #10 which is not usually a staple of my systems. Young and promising talent though, so we will try to get creative on how to utilize him in some respect. Could play free 8, 10, or F9 depending on where we have needs for particular games.

 

Attackers (Strikers and Wingers):

Andre Silva - Really strong player heading into his prime. Finding an optimal spot in our system where he can both create and score is imperative to success.

 

Bas Dost - Veteran striker that will get his goals, no doubt (we hope). Big, physical presence that we will have to leverage to get less advanced players involved. Age means we won't structure around him, but hopefully utilize his strengths to enable and take advantage of our younger core players.

 

Steven Zuber - Right-footed inside forward that gives us some senior options at the position. Not a guy to build a system around or make sure he is accommodated, but a capable option when required. 

 

___

 

Squad thoughts:

 

Talented group with a lot of athleticism at all levels. Feel we have at least one player to build around at each level as well (N'Dicka, Kostic, Sow, Silva). Challenge will be operating within constraints of a few roster imbalances, particularly right wing, depth at striker, and depth at left back. Additionally, I feel we lack a dependable playmaker in the midfield, not without compromising the strength of current crop.

 

Tactic Lean:

 

Until we get in-game, this is all hypothetical, but we know two things to be true. 1) We will need to play 2 up front as we don't appear to have a right winger and we have a good complementary pair in Silva and Dost. 2) In order to get our best 11 out there, I think we will utilize a 3-back system to accommodate Hinterregger while also getting the captain and N'Dicka the minutes they seemingly deserve. Those two decisions mean we will likely line up in combination of 352 and 3412. We will have to wait in-game to see how to structurally design the midfield. 

 

Season Outlook:

 

Fitness and health will be key in a few areas. We always play with the first window locked shut, so getting to January will allow us to bolster the depth in a few areas. Our goal for the first season will be to qualify for Europe.

[s0ni42]

Would love to hear any insight on the Bundesliga or more specifically Frankfurt as we start gearing up

[tyro]

Definitely some well known names (for Bundesliga). They're currently 8th and that's what they have been around for the past couple of years. They should be able to challenge for the top spots. 

Kevin Trapp top GK used to play for PSG and now returned to Eintracht Frankfurt. Hasebe from Wolfsburg. Bad Dost from Wolfsburg as well. They collected some nice players from around the Bundesliga. 

Pretty intriguing. 

And they are founding members of the Bundesliga. 

I am not sure if they can win the Bundesliga with Bayern around (plus Dortmund if Bayern slip, plus RB Leipzig if they slip) but Wolfsburg did it in 2009, Stuttgart did it in 2007 and Werder did it in 2004 (the only ones besides Bayern and Dortmund in the past couple of years). So maybe there is a possibility?

 

I forgot to mention tactic they use is a 3412, so that's also something different although more used nowadays. 

Edited October 28, 2020 by tyro
Typos

[tyro]

After looking at the squad, there seems to be quite an imbalance, unless some players can play other positions well.

There are plenty of right sided defenders. There also seem to be more than enough strong midfield types. Sufficient defenders. Not that many attackers.

There are some additional players that just joined: Amin Younes, Ajdin Hrustic, Ragnar Ache and Aymen Barkok back from loan. These would bolster the attacking options a bit. 

As for the tactic, once in game comes the big question whether the left and right players are wingbacks or left and right midfielders. I am sure some can be both. 

 

[Mackem742]

Their fans are also amazing, look up on Youtube "Eintracht Frankfurt Pippi Langstrumpf"

I think I look into my FM saves too much. I always pick a team of somewhere Id like to visit, or where I have been already. I also watch videos of crowd chants etc. Always like to visualise my matches as best I can lol

[Mackem742]

Frankfurt is on my list of potential saves for FM21 so Ill keep an eye on this post

[s0ni42]

4 hours ago, Mackem742 said:

Their fans are also amazing, look up on Youtube "Eintracht Frankfurt Pippi Langstrumpf"

I think I look into my FM saves too much. I always pick a team of somewhere Id like to visit, or where I have been already. I also watch videos of crowd chants etc. Always like to visualise my matches as best I can lol

Thanks for input. I do the same, try and familiarize with league, club, city, fans. Helps to bridge the final few weeks every year with research 

[tyro]

Your thread definitely made me read up on Frankfurt

And I would not have considered a save with them, however now I'm very intrigued. Some very cool players there. And system. And history without much success. 

[tyro]

On 28/10/2020 at 17:44, s0ni42 said:

Challenge will be operating within constraints of a few roster imbalances, particularly right wing, depth at striker, and depth at left back. Additionally, I feel we lack a dependable playmaker in the midfield, not without compromising the strength of current crop.

After looking at the squad in FM20, it seems a bit of reshuffling will be necessary, although one needs to re-evaluate the new players and what position they can play in FM21. It may be a bit more balanced now. 

The lack of a proper left footed left wingbacks (Kostic could be retrained but is it really worth it to wait that long?) and a lack of strikers if you play two up front makes it very imbalanced. Too many right wingbacks and midfielders with all the same playstyle make it one-dimensional. 

I usually start without first transfer window budget and given the information we received, the start will in any case put more emphasis on loans as there will be less transfer budgets available. 

 

[Bunkerossian]

It's better to lack AM-s than destroyers, in my opinion. A vicious, hard-tackling 3-5-2 in some form might be possible here.

[tyro]

It may even work to use my favorite non-winger formation : 4-1-3-2. You have a DM instead of 3 defenders, fullbacks/wingbacks in their standard position, 3 midfielders that can be very flexible and the 2 strikers. 

 

[tyro]

All ready to go?

 

[Mackem742]

Really interested in doing a Frankfurt save this year. never managed in Germany before and wanted to do something different to the usual Bayern, Dortmund and Leverkeusen saves.

[tyro]

I started my save with Frankfurt.

There are several things to note with the squad:

1) There are only 2 real strikers. Kamada and Younes are options. There is also Ragnar from the youth team who can work as a backup to Dost. 

2) They have a bit more wingers now with Kostic, Zuber, Younes. Not enough to have enough cover for a tactic with wingers but an option. 

3) They have midfielders up to the wazoo. Sow, Kamada, Barkok, Hrustic, Rode, Kohr, Ilsanker, Hasebe (is there anyone in the squad not a midfielder? :)). Fortunately, most are very defensive which means you can use them as defenders. 

4) As mentioned in the OP, so many right footed wingbacks.

5) There is little cover for Goalkeeper. Trapp is fantastic. Schubert is an ok backup. That's it. 

My setup

The assistant recommended a 442 Wing Play. I thanked him and then terminated his contract. This might be an option for a second tactic.

I chose to stick with the 5-3-2. I am playing with no transfer budget in the first window, so I have to use the players at hand and have to juggle the abundance of players in certain positions to keep the overall team happy long enough until I can offload someone. Maybe a loan will work. I adjusted the agreed playing times as I can't have 15 players with expectations to start. Jetro is out injured for a couple of weeks, which is fine with me because I don't know what to do with him. 

GK: Trapp (Schubert)

CD: Hinteregger, Hasebe, Abraham (N'Dicka, Kohr, Tuta)

WBL: Kostic (Zuber, Jetro)

WBR: Da Costa (Toure, Chandler, Durm)

MC: Sow, Kamada, Rode (Hrustic, Barkok, Ilsanker)

ST: Dost, Silva (Ragnar, Younes)

The rest are surplus to requirements and I am trying to loan them out as they are younger. Hopefully, as mentioned above I can do the same with Durm/Chandler. When Jetro is back from injury I will have to think very hard and see if he goes as Kostic is set and a cornerstone. He looks very good though. Maybe a 442 would allow both to play but then I don't know what to do in midfield. You need a formation with at least 3 if not 4 midfielders.

First competitive game completed with a win over Duisburg. We played very nicely with a lot of chances but they parked the bus. We managed a 1:0 with Dost finally getting a header through into goal in the 93rd minute. 

Other than that I replaced most of the staff. They have too many fitness coaches. Also a lot of the staff can be easily replaced with better free transfer options.  

 

 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2020 by tyro

[tyro]

Well my Scout just told me to call back Dejan Joveljic from his loan at Wolfsberger FC. He is a good back up. Done. Thank you. Striker depth resolved

 

Edit:

In the next game, Silva is injured and I look at both Younes and Dejan and decide to bring in Dejan. 10 Minutes later he scores

Edit 2:

and again...

Edited November 12, 2020 by tyro

[Vladis]

5 часов назад, tyro сказал:

The assistant recommended a 442 Wing Play. I thanked him and then terminated his contract.

 

[s0ni42]

On 10/11/2020 at 06:05, tyro said:

All ready to go?

 

I started a mock save and will restart on full version. Just trying to do my homework and learn about match engine more so than building out roster and staff at this stage. Bringing back Dejan is a good shout. I will certainly be doing that to offer some level of depth. I am mainly utilizing a 352, but hvae a 3412 and 442 tactic that gets a few different names into the team. 

For my style of play, my top priority will be to identify a central midfield playmaker that is young and we can build around, but I also play with first window closed. 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2020 by s0ni42

[s0ni42]

On the 442, you do have some options on left to play inverted left backs with Kostic more advanced. Also when Jetro returns to fitness there’s some good overlap options there to be extremely aggressive on left. As noted, my 3rd setup at moment, but if you lose too many fit midfielders it could be nice change of pace. 
 

But I do commend the decisive nature around his sacking

[tyro]

Kamada is a pretty good playmaker as well as Barkok.

Are you using wingers instead of wingbacks in your 352? One line midfield?

 

[tyro]

2 minutes ago, s0ni42 said:

On the 442, you do have some options on left to play inverted left backs with Kostic more advanced. Also when Jetro returns to fitness there’s some good overlap options there to be extremely aggressive on left. As noted, my 3rd setup at moment, but if you lose too many fit midfielders it could be nice change of pace. 
 

But I do commend the decisive nature around his sacking

I did not really sack the assistant manager because of the recommendation though :) I found a better replacement and it coincided with giving me the recommendation :)

 

[s0ni42]

12 minutes ago, tyro said:

Kamada is a pretty good playmaker as well as Barkok.

Are you using wingers instead of wingbacks in your 352? One line midfield?

 

No I’m using Wingbacks. Left side on attack. Right side tucking in to allow Sow to be chief instrument for right-sided width

[s0ni42]

I don’t typically utilize a 10, but will do so with limited frequency to utilize Kamada. I’m more looking for deep lying playmaker

[s0ni42]

Here is my current tactic. Not a finished product at this stage. Struggling to get Sow as advanced as I would like. Defensively I have been really solid, struggled to score. 

 

[tyro]

Not so different to mine:

[s0ni42]

Yes, I don't love the partnership of Bost and Silva. In addition to a playmaker, I will be on lookout for a Left-footed striker that can also play inside forward on right wing to open up some options for tactics down the road. 

[tyro]

I might set up a second tactic but instead of a 442 a 4411 so I can use 1 striker and an AMC and some wingers. Just need to see how the options on the right wing look like. 

[s0ni42]

Yea, i moved Kostic to Complete Wing Back to get him involved like a winger while positioned in left wing back spot. Seems to be getting him more advanced as desired. Right side still a mess for me. Lacking any semblance of creativity. I don't love Kamada, but we played better last game once I moved him in after the hour and put him to AMC. 

[tyro]

My primary tactic is already familiar to the players, so I set up the 2nd tactic using the Wing Play Preset but I am using the 4411, so I don't have to use 2 strikers and can use an AMC plus the wingers. I also changed the instructions and roles a bit. It will give a different option to counter some teams. I will wait until they are more familiar with it before using it, maybe in the DFB Pokal games as a test.

 

[THEGLADIATOR]

18 hours ago, tyro said:

Not so different to mine:

I like this setup

[tyro]

Thank you. It seems to be working so far. I have had only 4 competitive games and against lower opposition I had some trouble (although it was the first game) but all in all it plays nicely.

 

[tyro]

My tactic clearly showed it's limitations with a game against Köln. 15th in the league and expected to be thereabout, they trashed us 4-0.

They used a Gegenpress 4231 and scored within 2 minutes. Another at 35 minutes. I changed to my wing play but that didn't work. Some more tweaking and they had 3-0 and 4-0 soon. I ended up with 4 shots on target 3 of those after the tactical tweaks.

Horrible day and throwing the bottle didn't help at half time. At least the motivational shouts during the game seemed to work a bit. I need a plan to counter this next time. Bayern up next. 

[s0ni42]

Yea, here is what I am rolling with at the moment. When I want to be aggressive I play Sow as a MEZA and Right wingback more conservative tucked in and crossing early. When more aggressive, I allow the default WBS role on right and Sow in BBMS role. Kostic as a Complete Wing Back has finally offered me some level of creativity. I have been extremely solid defensively with little ability to create consistently. 

 

 

[s0ni42]

I have been playing around with Striker roles

[s0ni42]

 

[s0ni42]

Standard game for me. Good defense, good discipline. Not enough creation. I am not playing to win to be fair, trying to limit subs and in-game tactical adjustments to ensure I am getting clean look at match after the fact. This was with BBM for Sow. 

Edited November 13, 2020 by s0ni42

[s0ni42]

This is turning into a tactic thread. Not sorry. I have been playing as more disciplined to get my shape right and a desire to keep my two strikers high up the pitch. However, we seem incapable of getting enough guys forward even when we progress ball quickly. We will try default discipline for a bit. Still toying with striker pairing roles without much success. They are both too isolated. Maybe some fluidity will help. 

[tyro]

You can try putting one on support, unless you did that already. Kostic as complete wing back might be a good idea to try. And the Mezzala on the right on attack might also be a good thing. 

I have to watch the game against Köln again and see how I can counter such a formation and Gegenpressing. They were extremely fast on the wings and basically outran my defenders at one point. That is why I tried dropping a bit deeper. But nothing seemed to work. 

[s0ni42]

I just had a really strong performance against RBL that ended in 0-0, but I had  heavy advantage in XG and shots. 
 

Yes. I’m moving Dost to DLFs. Let Silva be more advanced and Bost a threat on corners and set pieces. I’m not getting any dynamism up top as they are both too static even when I try to move Silva to Treq. 
 

I also couldn’t get Sow to be advanced enough to cover right sided width. I’m hopeful that Bost linking play better will re-enable me to test MezA on right of midfield. We are going to stick with BBM to ensure we have enough bodies in 10 slot before working on that right flank. 
 

Also worth noting I’m relying on idiotic, unfocused AssMan training. My team’s tactical nous is not where it could be. Frequent chopping and changing surely not helping matter. 

Edited November 13, 2020 by s0ni42

[s0ni42]

I’m third in expected goals against, 10th in expected goals for. My real goals for and against much worse.

[tyro]

I will tweak my tactic as well a bit once I have the chance.

It may be that this was just one of those games and now I am making it all worse by tweaking . Dost especially was infuriating as he didn't even try to get to a ball close to him. I may also have rotated too heavily.

I will add a 3rd tactic with the 352 base and tweak some roles and instructions. The 4411 has potential but it is just an option until I can bring in players in those positions. 

[tyro]

My 3rd Tactic:

 

I used it right away against Bayern.

Unfortunately, Rode got a red card after 6 minutes, making a difficult game impossible. It did not look like a red card to me but the referee thought otherwise. Well, we had according to the board giving us an A the best game yet. A nice draw with Bayern at home being FMed. 23 shots and 12 on target with an xG of 2.53 vs. our 2 shots and 2 on target with an xG of 0.12. I asked both wingbacks to man mark the AML/R and we shut them down. They tried and tried and tried but Trapp got Man of the Match with an 8.6 rating.

My wingbacks were dribbling too much, losing the ball, so this is something I have to consider. It is unfortunately hardcoded in the roles and I am not ready to abandon those yet. The forwards were useless in the game but I can't say if it was the roles or Bayern's defense.

I love the movement of the libero and the midfield roles fit the players better.

Let's see how it goes against a realistic opponent without a red card.

 

[tyro]

Ok. I changed some things but it is working well.

I really like how the libero moves up and the wingbacks run up and down. However, Kostic is another level compared to Da Costa. 

I changed the midfielders to support duty and switched the target man to attack and the attacking mid to support. Dost was just too far back and not a threat or help. 

 

[tyro]

Well another team with Gegenpress and we lost 4-0. Something is really not working there. If I can shut down Bayern, then I don't know why I can't do the same with weaker teams.

I started without 1st transfer window budget and am unable to send anyone out on loan. Frankfurt has no 2nd Team only an U19 and those that are older but still in development are out of luck. There are just too many in the 1st squad to use and rotate all, especially the younger ones. I was really hoping to send them out on loans, I even offer them for free without paying any wages but then they either refuse or the teams don't think they want to join them.

I have put this project on hold for now and have started a save with Stuttgart with the 1st transfer budget available.

I am actually looking forward to FMT to test out some tactics without waiting for familiarity.

[tyro]

Well, while I am enjoying the Stuttgart save, I did not want to abandon the Frankfurt save yet and came back to it after some ideas. I went back to the flat 3cd-2wb-3cm-2st and went up against RBL. We drew 1-1 but in all honesty we should have won. I am very happy with the tactic at the momen, specifically changing Andre Silva to AF and the media asking me why he has not scored at all this season. Well, he scored against RBL right away, he was just waiting for them to ask him

--------TMs------AF------

---CAR---DLPd----APa---

CWBa--------------CWBa

----CDd----Ls----CDd----

-------------SKd-------------

GK: Trapp (Schubert)

CDL: Hinteregger (N'Dicka)

Ls: Hasebe (Kohr)

CDR: Abraham (Tuta)

WBL: Kostic (Jetro, Zuber)

WBR: Da Costa (Toure, Chandler, Durm)

CML: Ilsanker (Sow)

CM: Rode (Hrustic)

CMR: Kamada (Barkok)

STL: Dost (Dejan, Ragnar)

STR: Silva (Younes)

Edited November 21, 2020 by tyro

[s0ni42]

FWIW, the board will approve a second team with Frankfurt

[s0ni42]

Here are my 4 tactics that we will use. Some of these we don't currently have the personnel for. Our primary targets are a left-footed Right Winger and a Deep lying central midfielder.

 

 

 

[tyro]

11 hours ago, s0ni42 said:

FWIW, the board will approve a second team with Frankfurt

Thank you for the tip. This would help out a lot. I have about 7 players that I just can't put in the games as I already have more than 22 players to accommodate.

It is the reason why I stopped using the "do not use first transfer window budgets" option. It is one thing not being able to purchase players. But not being able to do any kind of deal, even for free, sending out players is strange. It is not called "start with a closed transfer window."

 

 

[tyro]

Waiting for FMT to come out to start a fresh save with Frankfurt. Enjoying a save with Leverkusen atm and the fast wingers are really enjoyable. 

However, I want to try with Frankfurt again and want the flexibility to change around tactics without the familiarity restrictions. 

[s0ni42]

I am into January now. After this window closes I’ll post progress

[tyro]

Looking forward. 

Fired up my Frankfurt save again as I had some idea to set up my 532 and a 442. Went back to basics a bit and then thought heck let's play Dost at the role the Ass man suggests - Poacher. 

Played against Dortmund and we dominated with Dost hitting 2 and Abraham 1 for a 3-0 against a team i thought would demolish us. 

Seems the weaker teams are having a better time against us than the big boys. But the adjusted tactics are a bit more conservative, so let's see.