13th Man Posted February 15, 2022 Author Share Posted February 15, 2022 9 hours ago, SixPointer said: Some real rough form, think it points to you strengthing the back up striker or was there more than just that at work? It’s not just the forward, but that spell did show how important the DLF is in the system (both 3-4-3 and 3-5-2). The backup has a decent workrate and can be physical, but he’s mentally weak and when the dreaded “goal drought” came along he totally fell apart. Marquis has goal droughts regularly, but it never seems to affect his build up play in the way it did backup Harrison. Marquis is already 31, so Benjani was always going to be looking for a long term replacement (one deal fell due to work-permit issues over the previous summer) but seeing what happened to the side in his absence means that has to be a priority in the summer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted February 16, 2022 Author Share Posted February 16, 2022 (edited) Scene 5 - Neck and Neck You wouldn’t know it from the scoreline, but this was a very tight game - the scores were level for all but two minutes until the 82nd minute and deservedly so. But this game all but cemented that Benjani has been right not to sell Fiabema. Fiabema opened the scoring after a wonderful passage of play and a nice pass from Marquis, but he still had everything to do. His turn and powerful shot were top drawer. But Blackburn didn’t take long to equalize. All but from the kickoff, Blackburn get a free kick after a reckless challenge by WB Williams, and they score. The game was even until late, with both sides having moments and the game on a knife’s edge. Finally, Raggett scores from a corner with a towering header in the 82nd minute. Blackburn make a tactical blunder - 5-2-1-2 after the goal and push for an equalizer, playing right into Portsmouth’s 3-5-2. Only a minute later Fiabema beats their high line with an assist from WB Johnson just inside the Blackburn half. Recent Portsmouth target Mark Gillespie tries to come out but Fiabema lobs him with a delightful chip from a good way out. That goal surely settled what had been a hard fought game, but the young Norwegian wasn’t done yet. His second had been simple enough, but his third was full on route one. Stolarczyk lumps the ball forward with a clearance under pressure. Marquis flicks the ball in behind, and into the path of Fiabema. This time Fiabema rounds the keeper to slot home and complete his hat trick. After Watford’s loss to Wolves the day before, Portsmouth were now within three points of Watford - though Watford also had a goal difference advantage. With Middlesbrough favoring a 4-4-2 that had threatened to overload Portsmouth’s flanks when they’d met earlier in the season , Benjani opted for the 3-4-3 from the start. It worked a charm, with Middlesbrough’s attack severely limited and Portsmouth controlling the game. It still took a penalty - converted by DLF Marquis - to break the deadlock and a goal from mezzala Mallamo on the counter following a Middlesbrough corner to secure the three points. For the second game in a row, Portsmouth comfortably won a game against a promotion rival, though both times the match was closer than the scoreline suggests. Watford however, paid for a midweek win over Chelsea in the FA Cup as they fell to Preston to continue a poor run of form in the league which saw them lose three of their last four. Watford Form Suddenly, after falling nine points behind Watford after losing to them in January, Portsmouth pull level on points and with only a goal worse goal differential. More importantly, they increase the distance between themselves and the chasing pack to nine. Portsmouth played ahead of Watford the following week, taking on 21st placed Sunderland. It only takes four minutes for Portsmouth to take the lead through Fiabema…only for it to be ruled offsides. Replays clearly show the forward level with the defender but there’s no VAR to come to the rescue. This setback doesn’t faze Fiabema, who goes on to score a first half hat trick - his second hat trick in three games. Portsmouth, obviously, give up a goal, but comfortably ride out the second half. Watford? They draw 3-3 with Luton Town. Suddenly, Portsmouth find themselves on top of the table. The following week it’s 1-1 in the 93rd minute at Molineux. Portsmouth went ahead in the first half through Fiabema (who else?) but were pegged back. They have a throw in deep in the Wolves half. Williams throws it into Morrell, who lays it right back to the wingback. Williams puts the ball in first time, WCB Gibson is in the box and flicks it on. Marquis is at the back post, goes stoops down bravely even as the Wolves CB tries to kick it away…GOAL!!! Marquis has just won it in the 93rd minute… But wait, the flag is up. Benjani sighs - there must have been a foul in the build up! No? It’s offsides? Replays show Marquis a yard onside when Gibson flicks it on… Was a draw the just result? Maybe, but Portsmouth again have a goal incorrectly disallowed for offsides, only this one was not even close and costs them two points. Will it come back to haunt them? Next up, Stoke. Pretty much a guaranteed draw or loss. For whatever reason, Benjani cannot beat Stoke. But then they’re 2-0 up through Fiabema and Bayliss by the 20th minute. Surely this time? But this is Stoke. Stoke get one back from an absolutely impossible shot from distance (under pressure, yet somehow beats the keeper from 30 yards). Then sub forward Harrison misses a golden opportunity - continuing his woeful form that would surely see him released in the summer. Stoke’s second? It was written, it was unavoidable. In the 88th minute, a long ball from the Stoke keeper finds Pompey Killer, aka Stoke striker Sturridge. He’s scored in all three of their previous meetings, but this time he provides the assist with a knockdown. WCB Hamilton inexplicably lets his man inside and he’s through on goal to slot home and equalize. But Watford fail to take advantage and can only draw with just-about-safe-from-relegation Huddersfield. It seems Watford have trouble with lower table sides as well… Unsurprisingly, Fiabema wins the Championship player of the month. 8 goals in five appearances??? That’s just incredible form from the 21 year old. April began a hard fought 0-0 draw with Reading that could have gone either way [but which apparently frustrated me enough to make me forget to take a screen shot]. Watford lose to a just relegated Bournemouth team who were fighting for their playoff lives. An understandable loss, but Portsmouth’s got their nose in front and are level on goal difference. A Brighton team that easily dismantled Portsmouth early in the season has a drive along the south coast to visit Fratton Park. They are just outside the playoff spots and will surely give Portsmouth a tough match. It was all rather simple really, [both both goals were beautiful so I've linked gifs below]. Brighton’s 4-4-2 narrow diamond couldn’t do much against Portsmouth’s 3-5-2. They kept possession to some extent, but Portsmouth were clinical and Brighton’s shape just didn’t match up well. The two goals both came from Brighton’s back line being unable to cope with mezzala Mallamo’s runs from deep. The first was a quick shift from left to right that left Mallamo open outside the box. With Brighton pulled to the left side of the field, and their full back wide on the Portsmouth wingback and both CBs occupied by Portsmouth’s strikers, Mallamo is wide open to turn and pick his spot before unleashing a powerful shot at goal. The second saw Brighton again pulled out of position. Levitt (DLP) distributes it wide to WB Lawrence. With WCB Latibaudiere (January signing) in the right channel, the Brighton CM on his side is caught in two minds and doesn’t follow Mallamo’s run from deep until it’s too late. Lawrence spots it, though, and plays Mallamo through as the full back comes out to close him down. Mallamo drives to byline before hitting a low, hard, cutback that Fiabema turns in. Watford can only draw to Coventry and Portsmouth are a full three points ahead. They also guarantee themselves a spot in the playoffs. Withe the position they’d gotten themselves in, however the playoffs would be a disappointment! This is it. The title will be decided over these last four weeks. Portsmouth have the edge with a three point lead at the top of the table. They also, on paper, have the easiest run in. However, they’ve struggled to break down teams that sit back, and they could expect exactly that with relegation threatened Hull City and Nottingham Forest. QPR, though, had only been relegated from the Premier League the year prior. Benjani had bested Luton Town in all four of their previous meetings, but they were one of the most potent attacking outfits in the Championship despite their league position, and with Portsmouth’s inconsistent form, it wasn’t hard to imagine this game going the wrong way. Watford had suffered for their FA Cup run, and lost in the semi-final. Could they bounce back and reclaim top spot? Tough battles against Swansea and Middlesbrough would give way to easier matches against Nottingham Forest and Hull City. Blackburn Rovers, despite their crushing loss to Portsmouth in early April, we’re coming on strong since and mounting a real challenge to the top two. UP NEXT - The run in! Edited February 16, 2022 by 13th Man 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted February 18, 2022 Author Share Posted February 18, 2022 (edited) Scene 6 - The run in! This scene actually has a real life video I made that goes along with the script, see the link in the text or, if you can't wait, go here. Were there a lot of better things I could have done with my time, including actually playing the game? Yes. But did I have a great time doing it? Also yes.] Setting the Scene - Portsmouth are ahead of Watford in the table by 3 points with two games to go... “There’s a reason they call this the toughest league in the world, isn’t there? Both of the top sides lost two weekends ago and then they both won convincingly the next... Spoiler "..All eyes now turn to Kenilworth Road and Nottingham City Ground. You would think that Portsmouth and Watford have enough about them to dispatch two sides closer to the bottom in Luton Town and Nottingham Forest, but with the inconsistent form both of these sides are showing you can’t be sure. 27 April 2024 Kenilworth Road Luton Town v Portsmouth “Portsmouth with a good spell of possession here just past the five minute mark. [Left mez] Morrell holds the ball up, squares it to [WCB] Bryan making an overlapping run. Bryan with a one touch pass wide to [WB] Williams. He takes a touch and it’s centered to [mez] Bayliss lurking at the top of the box. He heads it down into the box and…GOAL!!! [This one's just a gif, the video comes later But it was lovely, the movement of the WCB, the quick passing…]. Fiabema beats his man to the ball and tucks it just inside the far post first time. The young man scores again for Portsmouth here in the sixth minute! That’s his 21st of the season…” Cut to Benjani and Dunne hugging on the sideline as the bench celebrates. Cut to the away stand, where just under one-thousand Portsmouth supporters are in full voice. [To the tune of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song] Dun duh-duh DE-da Dun duh-duh DE-da Fiabeeeeeeeema! Fiabeeeeeeeema! He comes from the land of the ice and snow He’s quick as you like, now he’s scored a goal! Even before the song reaches its first repeat we see fans here and there looking at their phones and nudging their neighbors. Over the shoulder shots show a score on a phone screen. Nottingham Forest 1- Watford 0 New celebrations begin to start up even before the Fiabema song fades away, the cheers spreading in waves out from those first people. Rhythmic clapping starts and a new song interrupts the first, and for a second or two they blend into a chaotic sound before the second takes over. We’re on our way. We’re on our way To the Premier League How we get there, I don’t know. How we get there, I don’t care. All I know is Pompeys on their way… As the away stand sings in full voice, cut back to the game as Luton kick off. Luton pushes up the flank before WB Lawrence gets a foot in and the ball goes out for a throw-in. Scattered cheers come from the away stand, a sound which builds into a roar louder even than when Fiabema scored. Cut to Bejani turning to Dunne with a puzzled look. “You’d think Lawrence just scored a goal with that poke,” Benjani says. “I love our fans but am I missing something?” “O…boss…” Dunne says, looking at his phone, “Watford just conceded again.” “Again?” Benjani gasps, “It’s only the eighth minute and…wait are you saying…when did they concede a first?” “Forest scored just after Bryan [Fiabema],” Dunne says, excitement building in his voice, “and they’ve just scored again.” “Watford are 2-0 down already?” Benjani’s eyes go wide. Dunne just nods. “If Watford lose…” “We win the Championship,” Dunne finishes. The song is even louder from the away stand. We’re on our way. We’re on our way To the Premier League How we get there, I don’t know. How we get there, I don’t care. All I know is Pompeys on their way… “They can come back from 2-0 down, though,” Benjani says, visibly trying to contain his excitement, “and Luton have the ability to score on us as well…” Cut. We see Luton breaking through but forced wide…" [Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song fades in] [Here's a real link to a real video that I made with the song playing - putting my semi-pro level video editing (8-10/20) and lower league level music editing (10-13/20) to good use.] Aaaaaaaa-a! Aaaaaaaa-a! “...great interception from [mez] Bayliss there on the edge of his own box. He quickly plays the ball up to [DLF] Marquis…he turns and sends the ball deep into the Luton half. Fiabema is behind the Luton defense but is forced wide by the ball and Luton can recover….” We come from the land of the ice and snow Of the midnight sun where the hots springs flow “…But reinforcements are on their way….Fiabema centers it to [DLF] Marquis just outside the D…” Hammer of the gods “...[mez] Bayliss continues his run into the box and is spotted by Marquis…Bayliss with the low shot…he scores!!! The best part of that move was that Bayliss started the move with that interception…” We drive our ships to new lands To fight the horde, sing and cry Cut. 3 minutes later. “[CB] Raggett gives it to Levitt who turns to play the ball wide to [WB] Lawrence… Lawrence releases Bayliss in behind Luton. He sees Fiabema in the middle…oh that’s as simple as you’ll see. Square it, and Fiabema makes no mistake…” Valhalla I am coming… (guitar) Dun duh-duh DE-da Dun duh-duh DE-da Cut. Over the shoulder shot of a supporter on his phone. The supporters dance as the riff thunders on. Nottingham Forest 3 - Watford 0 Kongolo (38) The supporters dance as the guitar riff thunders along. [Song] Oh we sweep With threshing oar! Cut. Scoreboard shows 78 minutes gone. “Levitt with the ball and plenty of time to pick his pass…Bayliss is making a run…” Our only goal will be the western shore! “GOAL! Levitt chips it through again and the midfielder scored his second…Portsmouth’s away support are in full voice in the away stand, sounding like ten times their number…” Spoiler “…And why shouldn’t they? What a game by Bayliss and what a way to win the title. And with Watford conceding a fourth here in the later stages I think it’s safe to crown this side at this point. What a triumphant way for this club to return to the top flight!” Spoiler Aaaaaa-ah! Ahaaaaa-ah! We come from the land of the ice and snow From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow How soft your fields so green Can whisper tales of gore Of how we calmed the tides of war We are your overlords I think you'd better stop....[the last word echoes after a quick cut to black] Spoiler Edited February 18, 2022 by 13th Man 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hootieleece Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 Great Work! The Premier League awaits.... You have really upped the game of Career Update Writing. You with your videos and many others with their stats and spreadsheets make it so a part-timer like me can't get noticed on these forums. Are you going to keep the same ethos and continue to build the club? or are you waiting for the Newcastle job? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted February 19, 2022 Author Share Posted February 19, 2022 1 hour ago, Hootieleece said: Great Work! The Premier League awaits.... You have really upped the game of Career Update Writing. You with your videos and many others with their stats and spreadsheets make it so a part-timer like me can't get noticed on these forums. Are you going to keep the same ethos and continue to build the club? or are you waiting for the Newcastle job? Ha! Benjani is no mercenary! He actually wasn’t in his playing days - he tried to avoid moving to Man City. Plus, Newcastle ended the year in the wrong half of the table. On the videos and such - total waste of time, but they’re fun for me and maybe they’re fun for a few others… Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted February 20, 2022 Author Share Posted February 20, 2022 (edited) A transfer question for the internet It’s my first time doing this but I have a question for my millions of followers (ok 4 - parents, brother, grandma). The Background Portsmouth need depth at striker With Portsmouth headed for the premier league, forward Harrison will be released as his contract expires. While he was the League One leading scorer, and a good super sub in the Championship, his mental weakness wouldn’t let him recover from a goal draught when starter Marquis was out for the better part of a month. Harrison, however, brought the ability to play as an IF in the 3-4-3, an AF in the 3-5-2, and a DLF in either shape so he could rotate with both starting forwards. Someone with decent physicals, workrate, and off the ball movement will need to be brought in. A signing that was easy to make - Benjani signed Marco Da Graca on a free from Juventus. He’s a limited player and at 22, not truly young anymore, but the scouts seem to think he’s got potential to be a decent Premier League player. He’s physical, got some pace, works hard, and is determined. He’s definitely not ready to be a Premier League starter, but he might have it in him if given some playing time. Should he buy…? Benjani has had a bid accepted for Swedish forward Viktor Gyokeres, a more polished product, for £3.5m up front with a later total to reach £4.9m. Pros - He’s natural at both forward and left wide forward, better technically, and works extremely hard for the team. More polished than Da Graca Cons - Cost (though Portsmouth has plenty of transfer money thanks to promotion) with £30k/w in wages and Da Graca will rarely, if ever, see the pitch. He won’t be bothered - he signed as an emergency backup - but his progress would likely be stilted further. The future - The other issue is that DLF John Marquis is 32. With his workrate, off the ball, and willingness to put it all on the line for the team, he’s been critical to Portsmouth’s progression through the leagues. Surely though, he’s only got a season or two before he cannot compete, especially at the highest level. Side note - the other starting forward, Fiabema, is 20, still with lots of potential, and scored 22 finishing as the Championship leading scorer… So, internet, should Benjani sign Gyokeres, or stick with Da Graca and the current options hope for the best? Edited February 20, 2022 by 13th Man Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 2 hours ago, 13th Man said: A transfer question for the internet It’s my first time doing this but I have a question for my millions of followers (ok 4 - parents, brother, grandma). The Background Portsmouth need depth at striker With Portsmouth headed for the premier league, forward Harrison will be released as his contract expires. While he was the League One leading scorer, and a good super sub in the Championship, his mental weakness wouldn’t let him recover from a goal draught when starter Marquis was out for the better part of a month. Harrison, however, brought the ability to play as an IF in the 3-4-3, an AF in the 3-5-2, and a DLF in either shape so he could rotate with both starting forwards. Someone with decent physicals, workrate, and off the ball movement will need to be brought in. A signing that was easy to make - Benjani signed Marco Da Graca on a free from Juventus. He’s a limited player and at 22, not truly young anymore, but the scouts seem to think he’s got potential to be a decent Premier League player. He’s physical, got some pace, works hard, and is determined. He’s definitely not ready to be a Premier League starter, but he might have it in him if given some playing time. Should he buy…? Benjani has had a bid accepted for Swedish forward Viktor Gyokeres, a more polished product, for £3.5m up front with a later total to reach £4.9m. Pros - He’s natural at both forward and left wide forward, better technically, and works extremely hard for the team. More polished than Da Graca Cons - Cost (though Portsmouth has plenty of transfer money thanks to promotion) with £30k/w in wages and Da Graca will rarely, if ever, see the pitch. He won’t be bothered - he signed as an emergency backup - but his progress would likely be stilted further. The future - The other issue is that DLF John Marquis is 32. With his workrate, off the ball, and willingness to put it all on the line for the team, he’s been critical to Portsmouth’s progression through the leagues. Surely though, he’s only got a season or two before he cannot compete, especially at the highest level. Side note - the other starting forward, Fiabema, is 20, still with lots of potential, and scored 22 finishing as the Championship leading scorer… So, internet, should Benjani sign Gyokeres, or stick with Da Graca and the current options hope for the best? I don’t feel he’s great value for money, compared to what you have in Graca, plus like you said you will only be blocking his pathway and stopping any potential growth. With an ageing Marquis who has been pivotal I would be more inclined to keep the funding for now and really search for your man to replace him full time rather than someone who is most likely a backup. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted February 20, 2022 Author Share Posted February 20, 2022 7 hours ago, SixPointer said: I don’t feel he’s great value for money, compared to what you have in Graca, plus like you said you will only be blocking his pathway and stopping any potential growth. With an ageing Marquis who has been pivotal I would be more inclined to keep the funding for now and really search for your man to replace him full time rather than someone who is most likely a backup. Yeah that was my thinking. Had kind of already made up my mind in the middle of the write up but figured I’d follow through just to see… 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hootieleece Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 Yes! replace the ageing lower leaguers with youth with great upsides that are like for like replacements if possible! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted February 21, 2022 Author Share Posted February 21, 2022 (edited) 2033/2024 Season Review Part 1 - Save Principals Progress Overview After finishing 10th the year before, 2023/2024 could only be seen as a fantastic success - Champions of the Championship and promoted back to the Premier League after a fourteen year absence. They did it by playing a distinctive brand of football focused on quick passing and movement which they used to simply outscore the opposition…a style which Benjani still only privately admitted was inspired by Total Football. Though not defensively great, they almost always managed to stay in games. In a testament to Benjani’s emphasis on determination and mental strength in general they gained 12 points from losing positions over the course of the season, though they also threw away plenty of wins too. Let’s take a look at two yearly goals set before the season. 2023-2024 Season Goals and how they went 1) Solidify Portsmouth’s status in the Championship -The goal was to avoid a relegation battle and hopefully spend most of the season mid-table Result - Benjani very much overshot the mark here. 2)Pull back on the spending Result - Success! After spending £2.6m on transfers in 22/23, Portsmouth gained a net transfer profit of £4.75m in 23/24. This while significantly improving the side. Player contracts were still a significant drain on the club coffers, but the Premier League’s £s will quickly erase all that…so long as Benjani is careful. Save Principles Total Football - Great Progress Benjani was pleased with his side’s progress towards Total Football, if at a very much Championship level. The positional rotations down both flanks and the channels was a wonder at times. The 3-5-2 (which shifted into a 3-4-3 in possession) allowed players the freedom of movement and great passing options. Standout Dylan Levitt played superbly in the cental DLP position, linking the flanks and always available to recycle possession from deep - a petty decent second division Guardiola? By the way - I’m actually finally going to dabble in what is now very much in vogue on the boards (thanks @Shrewnaldo@_Ben_@MattyLewis11 @lotofotherpeople and even now @SixPointer and @everyone) and start working on statistical analysis. Staring with my previous season and see how much it matches or goes against my ‘eye’ test that I see in actually watching the matches (extended highlights, for the record). Sneak peak? Levitt isn’t especially impressive in certain passing categories - -He finished joint 17th in the Championship for key passes with 90 and he’s not in the top 20 for clear cut chances created (where can I find this in the player stats screen, btw?). -Even his 14 assists (2nd best) are skewed by the fact that he’s the primary set-piece taker. HOWEVER, he was the definition of a metronome in the Portsmouth midfield, attempting an incredible 3,339 passes and succeeding with 3,105 of them for a 93% completion rate. Considering the range and variety of those passes (all over the pitch), this was really excellent. For reference, The next two players in the passes attempted category had 3328 and 3299 only had 87% and 86% respectively, for 2895 and 2837 passes completed. Levitt, then, completed many hundreds more passes than anyone else in the league. In a style that’s all about quick movement of the ball, I think my ‘eye test’ was proven correct by the stats here - so far so good, stats! [So, actual stat people, how was that for a start? Is the arrow going up on the attributes screen? Do I have any potential? STATS - 0->1? @shrewnaldo, though, with your skin my star is still s___] The glaring hole in the quest for Total Football was the towering, block footed center back and club Captain Sean Raggett. Though his pass completion rate was the highest in the side at 97%, he did little to nothing to contribute to the build up, with only sideways and backwards passing - with a lot of those going to the aforementioned Levitt. His jumping and heading made him a monster in the lower leagues, but to achieve total football Benjani knew he’d need more from his center back. He’d be on the lookout for an actual footballer to eventually replace the human battering ram that was Raggett at the heart of Portsmouth's defense. Toughness - Solid Progress on key attribute but needs work Benjani wanted his players to be mentally and physically tough, with an emphasis on the former. As I wrote before last season - This is an area that, as we shall see, Benjani fell off on a bit. This continued in 23/24. Determination [club DNA 13+] was a near universal strength in the first team and led to a lot of rescued draws throughout the season (more on that later). The average determination across the first team squad at the end of 2024 was 15.75! Up from 12.86 in the summer of 2022. On the other hand, aggression (11 average), bravery (11.3) and strength (11.3) were lacking, and Benjani would look to improve in those categories as he looked for reinforcements. Loyalty - Reasonable Success Benjani didn’t want to treat his players like Harry Redknapp treated him - selling him off against his will to Manchester City when he’d finally found a place to call home at Portsmouth. Player Centered Transfer Policy At first glance, it may have seemed like Benjani took some inspiration from his old boss with his transfer dealings, with 5 first team players moving and Benjani making a profit of £4.75m for the club. However, of those five, three were adamant about being transferred and Benjani simply drove a hard bargain for them. It’s true he did offer Curtis out, it was in response to reported interest (which he was thrilled to find backed up with offers), with only severely underperforming Harness truly pushed out. He’d given Harness every chance to prove himself but he was consistently poor across a full season. He was sent out on loan to League 2 to enjoy the vegan burgers with @RogerC at Forest Green where he did fairly well. Benjani as Mentor It could be argued that Benjani wasn’t looking out for his players when he blocked keeper Stolarczyk’s move to Tottenham even when the London team got closer to his release clause (after their insulting opening bid!). In his defense, Benjani knew that the Polish keeper’s progress would be stilted as he sat on the bench and he tried to get Tottenham to agree to loan-back for the rest of the season to no avail. Benjani then spoke to the clubs ambitions when he promised Stolarczyk that he would be allowed a move if Portsmouth failed to get promoted. Was this realistic? You be the judge! The Contracts They Deserve Going forward Benjani would continue to be loyal, but he would have to be a bit more careful with contracts. His players were all looking for Premier League wages, whether or not they were up to that level. He’d been too generous upon promotion to the Championship and it had put a strain on the club’s finances. Even with the seemingly endless riches of the Premier League, he needed to make sure contracts were earned. Otherwise the club would be burdened with a bunch of overpaid players - which would be especially problematic if the club was relegated. Youth Development - Decent Progress From previous posts- In order to create a culture from top to bottom at Portsmouth, Benjani hoped to use the youth set up to bring players imbued with a certain ethos. So far, while no academy players were first team regulars, 17 year old CM Tom Mills made three starts and another youngster in Salem was progressing well in the U23s. With only three years and a dearth of talent at the club when he arrived, Benjani was satisfied with progress. Apart from the academy, young players in Hamilton and Fiabema both made great progress in 23/24, with the latter especially enjoying a breakout season. There was still work to be done, but this save goal seems on target so far. Overall Performance Obviously when you win the league you’re doing something right. While I’ve never liked to have hard and fast rules, these save principals have helped shift my decision making. The way I see it, I think Benjani has done well in accomplishing both season goals (joking aside) and making decent to good progress while adhering to the four save principals. Edited February 21, 2022 by 13th Man 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteinkelssonFM Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 28 minutes ago, 13th Man said: (where can I find this in the player stats screen, btw?). Often if stats can't be found under the player detailed screen they can be accessed by running a filter in the player search area selecting individuals from the 'Championship' for example and making sure you untick the filter to exclude your own players. Of course a custom view can be built to capture all the relevant data fields you desire. As for this update really enjoyed your dabble into the data, I must say that Levitt looks to be an absolute baller, that high completion rate isn't something which often comes with individuals who have a more direct PI and take more risks (not sure if those apply btw). 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 43 minutes ago, MattyLewis11 said: Often if stats can't be found under the player detailed screen they can be accessed by running a filter in the player search area selecting individuals from the 'Championship' for example and making sure you untick the filter to exclude your own players. Of course a custom view can be built to capture all the relevant data fields you desire. As for this update really enjoyed your dabble into the data, I must say that Levitt looks to be an absolute baller, that high completion rate isn't something which often comes with individuals who have a more direct PI and take more risks (not sure if those apply btw). Useful tip that! Especially for the more detailed look at players, good for comparing specific position comparisons as well 👍🏻 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 1 hour ago, 13th Man said: 2033/2024 Season Review Part 1 - Save Principals Progress Overview After finishing 10th the year before, 2023/2024 could only be seen as a fantastic success - Champions of the Championship and promoted back to the Premier League after a fourteen year absence. They did it by playing a distinctive brand of football focused on quick passing and movement which they used to simply outscore the opposition…a style which Benjani still only privately admitted was inspired by Total Football. Though not defensively great, they almost always managed to stay in games. In a testament to Benjani’s emphasis on determination and mental strength in general they gained 12 points from losing positions over the course of the season, though they also threw away plenty of wins too. Let’s take a look at two yearly goals set before the season. 2023-2024 Season Goals and how they went 1) Solidify Portsmouth’s status in the Championship -The goal was to avoid a relegation battle and hopefully spend most of the season mid-table Result - Benjani very much overshot the mark here. 2)Pull back on the spending Result - Success! After spending £2.6m on transfers in 22/23, Portsmouth gained a net transfer profit of £4.75m in 23/24. This while significantly improving the side. Player contracts were still a significant drain on the club coffers, but the Premier League’s £s will quickly erase all that…so long as Benjani is careful. Save Principles Total Football - Great Progress Benjani was pleased with his side’s progress towards Total Football, if at a very much Championship level. The positional rotations down both flanks and the channels was a wonder at times. The 3-5-2 (which shifted into a 3-4-3 in possession) allowed players the freedom of movement and great passing options. Standout Dylan Levitt played superbly in the cental DLP position, linking the flanks and always available to recycle possession from deep - a petty decent second division Guardiola? By the way - I’m actually finally going to dabble in what is now very much in vogue on the boards (thanks @Shrewnaldo@_Ben_@MattyLewis11 @lotofotherpeople and even now @SixPointer and @everyone) and start working on statistical analysis. Staring with my previous season and see how much it matches or goes against my ‘eye’ test that I see in actually watching the matches (extended highlights, for the record). Sneak peak? Levitt isn’t especially impressive in certain passing categories - -He finished joint 17th in the Championship for key passes with 90 and he’s not in the top 20 for clear cut chances created (where can I find this in the player stats screen, btw?). -Even his 14 assists (2nd best) are skewed by the fact that he’s the primary set-piece taker. HOWEVER, he was the definition of a metronome in the Portsmouth midfield, attempting an incredible 3,339 passes and succeeding with 3,105 of them for a 93% completion rate. Considering the range and variety of those passes (all over the pitch), this was really excellent. For reference, The next two players in the passes attempted category had 3328 and 3299 only had 87% and 86% respectively, for 2895 and 2837 passes completed. Levitt, then, completed many hundreds more passes than anyone else in the league. In a style that’s all about quick movement of the ball, I think my ‘eye test’ was proven correct by the stats here - so far so good, stats! [So, actual stat people, how was that for a start? Is the arrow going up on the attributes screen? Do I have any potential? STATS - 0->1? @shrewnaldo, though, with your skin my star is still s___] The glaring hole in the quest for Total Football was the towering, block footed center back and club Captain Sean Raggett. Though his pass completion rate was the highest in the side at 97%, he did little to nothing to contribute to the build up, with only sideways and backwards passing - with a lot of those going to the aforementioned Levitt. His jumping and heading made him a monster in the lower leagues, but to achieve total football Benjani knew he’d need more from his center back. He’d be on the lookout for an actual footballer to eventually replace the human battering ram that was Raggett at the heart of Portsmouth's defense. Toughness - Solid Progress on key attribute but needs work Benjani wanted his players to be mentally and physically tough, with an emphasis on the former. As I wrote before last season - This is an area that, as we shall see, Benjani fell off on a bit. This continued in 23/24. Determination [club DNA 13+] was a near universal strength in the first team and led to a lot of rescued draws throughout the season (more on that later). The average determination across the first team squad at the end of 2024 was 15.75! Up from 12.86 in the summer of 2022. On the other hand, aggression (11 average), bravery (11.3) and strength (11.3) were lacking, and Benjani would look to improve in those categories as he looked for reinforcements. Loyalty - Reasonable Success Benjani didn’t want to treat his players like Harry Redknapp treated him - selling him off against his will to Manchester City when he’d finally found a place to call home at Portsmouth. Player Centered Transfer Policy At first glance, it may have seemed like Benjani took some inspiration from his old boss with his transfer dealings, with 5 first team players moving and Benjani making a profit of £4.75m for the club. However, of those five, three were adamant about being transferred and Benjani simply drove a hard bargain for them. It’s true he did offer Curtis out, it was in response to reported interest (which he was thrilled to find backed up with offers), with only severely underperforming Harness truly pushed out. He’d given Harness every chance to prove himself but he was consistently poor across a full season. He was sent out on loan to League 2 to enjoy the vegan burgers with @RogerC at Forest Green where he did fairly well. Benjani as Mentor It could be argued that Benjani wasn’t looking out for his players when he blocked keeper Stolarczyk’s move to Tottenham even when the London team got closer to his release clause (after their insulting opening bid!). In his defense, Benjani knew that the Polish keeper’s progress would be stilted as he sat on the bench and he tried to get Tottenham to agree to loan-back for the rest of the season to no avail. Benjani then spoke to the clubs ambitions when he promised Stolarczyk that he would be allowed a move if Portsmouth failed to get promoted. Was this realistic? You be the judge! The Contracts They Deserve Going forward Benjani would continue to be loyal, but he would have to be a bit more careful with contracts. His players were all looking for Premier League wages, whether or not they were up to that level. He’d been too generous upon promotion to the Championship and it had put a strain on the club’s finances. Even with the seemingly endless riches of the Premier League, he needed to make sure contracts were earned. Otherwise the club would be burdened with a bunch of overpaid players - which would be especially problematic if the club was relegated. Youth Development - Decent Progress From previous posts- In order to create a culture from top to bottom at Portsmouth, Benjani hoped to use the youth set up to bring players imbued with a certain ethos. So far, while no academy players were first team regulars, 17 year old CM Tom Mills made three starts and another youngster in Salem was progressing well in the U23s. With only three years and a dearth of talent at the club when he arrived, Benjani was satisfied with progress. Apart from the academy, young players in Hamilton and Fiabema both made great progress in 23/24, with the latter especially enjoying a breakout season. There was still work to be done, but this save goal seems on target so far. Overall Performance Obviously when you win the league you’re doing something right. While I’ve never liked to have hard and fast rules, these save principals have helped shift my decision making. The way I see it, I think Benjani has done well in accomplishing both season goals (joking aside) and making decent to good progress while adhering to the four save principals. Love it!! Have you identified what you see is as being absolutely key for replacing the club captain? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted February 21, 2022 Author Share Posted February 21, 2022 6 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said: Often if stats can't be found under the player detailed screen they can be accessed by running a filter Thanks for the rundown! I was afraid of that! Ive found the filters pretty clunky and time consuming, but I know proper stat people can do well. Also, I’m only beginning my journey and lots of things seem clunky and time consuming when you’re not good at them! And yes, Levitt performed extremely well. He’s severely lacking in aggression bravery, and strength which could limit him in the Premier League, but time will tell. 5 hours ago, SixPointer said: Love it!! Have you identified what you see is as being absolutely key for replacing the club captain? Along with the standard CB requirements (tackling, marking, positioning etc) Benjani is looking for greater intelligence and someone comfortable on the ball (13+ passing and decent first touch). Annoyingly, he has someone like that at the club, but his decisions attribute (7) is too low for the last line of defense and he doesn’t have great composure either. The dream is a libero - Benjani has visions of the DLP and a Libero, side by side, spraying passes around - but may be too much considering the two WCB(s)! It’s certainly folly at this stage - imagine a relegation contender playing 2 WCBs and a Libero! For now, he’s looking for a good BPD. BTW- yes I know it’s against conventional wisdom to have a Libero right behind a DLP, but it wouldn’t be on attack and the idea is always flexibility and position switching so in theory it works! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerC Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 On 21/02/2022 at 09:33, 13th Man said: Player Centered Transfer Policy At first glance, it may have seemed like Benjani took some inspiration from his old boss with his transfer dealings, with 5 first team players moving and Benjani making a profit of £4.75m for the club. However, of those five, three were adamant about being transferred and Benjani simply drove a hard bargain for them. It’s true he did offer Curtis out, it was in response to reported interest (which he was thrilled to find backed up with offers), with only severely underperforming Harness truly pushed out. He’d given Harness every chance to prove himself but he was consistently poor across a full season. He was sent out on loan to League 2 to enjoy the vegan burgers with @RogerC at Forest Green where he did fairly well. I'm sure he came back healthier than ever. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted February 23, 2022 Author Share Posted February 23, 2022 6 hours ago, RogerC said: I'm sure he came back healthier than ever. He was released…but looking and feeling great! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 2, 2022 Author Share Posted March 2, 2022 Life's punched me in the mouth this last week. Have a bunch of stuff sort of written up, but haven't had much ability to play the game, much less work on writing. Looking forward to catching up on everyone's progress in the (hopefully) not too distant future. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hootieleece Posted March 3, 2022 Share Posted March 3, 2022 20 hours ago, 13th Man said: Life's punched me in the mouth this last week. Have a bunch of stuff sort of written up, but haven't had much ability to play the game, much less work on writing. Looking forward to catching up on everyone's progress in the (hopefully) not too distant future. Take your time if needed..... self-care and the real world are more important than FM! Even if FM is the self -care..... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 10, 2022 Author Share Posted March 10, 2022 (edited) I’m back after a few weeks in the real life wilderness and distracted by major historical moments (Haven’t we had enough of those lately? Can we slow down on those please?). During the last week I’ve actually played a fair amount but didn’t have the mental energy to write much. So…I’m going to have a few updates as I polish up the stuff I had mostly written before doing a quick update on the season which is coming to a close. First, some more Cruyff in a end credit scene with some foreshadowing. End Credits - Another Vision Confetti fills the air as Captain Raggett carries the Championship trophy aloft and Benjani points to the away stand - the only stand still full in an otherwise empty ground. Players walk triumphantly to the away end to celebrate with the fans - fans who are in full voice. We’re on our way! We’re on our way! Suddenly, all is quiet and dark. Then… “Been a while,” Benjani says after blinking a few times to get his bearings. “Are you…” Cruyff emerges from the swirling fog, “…complaining?” “That’s a good question,” Benjani muses, “do I miss getting criticized after wins or being told I was sh¥+ as a player? And yet, yes, I have missed our little chats.” Cruyff gives his little half smile for a moment. “I come when I’m needed. You have had no need for me lately. You’ve led your club back to the top flight playing some good football. Enjoy it. Not to say that it’s all been great. Those draws in October and November? That loss to relegated Hull two weeks ago?…horrible.” “You just had to find a way to get that in there didn’t you?” Benjani says good naturedly. “Don’t worry,” Cruyff chuckles, “the sting will fade quickly. You just won the Championship with…well you’ve actually got some decent footballers in the side now, but the system has made them more than the sum of their parts. Your 3-5-2 that’s actually a 3-4-3 has been brilliant.” “Are you…” Benjani says, shocked, “complimenting me?” “I am,” Cruyff shrugs, “and you deserve it. Enjoy it. Because the real work starts now.” Benjani nods, “It’s going to take some doing to keep us up. I didn’t think we’d be making a push for another year or two at least. I’m not sure we’re ready…Ipswich came right back down. Only won three games all season. Can’t let that happen to us.” “On the plus side,” Cruyff began, “you’ll have tens of millions of pounds to play with. The Premier League is just flush with money. Buy wisely and you might just do okay…” There was a pause, with Benjani waiting for the but… “Only,” Cruyff continued, “you can’t be so kind to all your players. I understand why, and I respect what you’re trying to do. I believe in the same. Respect must go both ways. But it is also earned. You have many players who are not top division players, not even close. You’ve assembled a decent midfield, but the attack and defense will be eaten alive…There are those that have surprised me, Marquis, for one, has been surprisingly effective, but he won’t score much against top defenders and keepers. Fiabema? He’ll score…but not as much as he should. Don’t get me started on the backline…” “They were good enough to get us promoted though,” Benjani pushes back. “I feel as if I have to give them the chance to keep us up.” Cruyff looks at Benjani skeptically. “Also,” Benjani continues, “The style of football needs understanding between players that instinctual understanding of where other players are. That’s how we managed this win - team cohesion and a group of players that care about each other and the club.” “You’re not wrong,” Cruyff nods, “but team cohesion alone won’t cut it at the next level. Please don’t tell me you’re not going to bring in some top players!” Benjani looked at Cruyff with steely eyes. “After living through the fall of this club, I’m not going to mortgage the future of this club to try to stay up.” “Mpe,” Cruyff said using Benjani’s actual name, “Total football is not about scrapping for survival. I understand your loyalty to your players, as a less than elite talent you sympathize with them, I get that. I mean, obviously I don’t get it…anyway, with the money floating in the Premier League, you’ll be able to truly make your vision a reality if you spend smart. If you keep with this ridiculous loyalty thing though…” “I’m not going to completely change what’s been successful so far.” Benjani says. Cruyff shrugs and begins to walk away. “Mpe,” he turns after a few steps, “determination is a virtue, but stubbornness...” The lights were suddenly blinding and Benjani was back on the pitch at Luton. Fade to black as the Benjani Theme plays. BENJANI WILL RETURN IN - Ballad of Benjani Part 3 - Return of the (Premier)ship to Port(smouth) Edited March 10, 2022 by 13th Man 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted March 11, 2022 Share Posted March 11, 2022 16 hours ago, 13th Man said: I’m back after a few weeks in the real life wilderness and distracted by major historical moments (Haven’t we had enough of those lately? Can we slow down on those please?). During the last week I’ve actually played a fair amount but didn’t have the mental energy to write much. So…I’m going to have a few updates as I polish up the stuff I had mostly written before doing a quick update on the season which is coming to a close. First, some more Cruyff in a end credit scene with some foreshadowing. End Credits - Another Vision Confetti fills the air as Captain Raggett carries the Championship trophy aloft and Benjani points to the away stand - the only stand still full in an otherwise empty ground. Players walk triumphantly to the away end to celebrate with the fans - fans who are in full voice. We’re on our way! We’re on our way! Suddenly, all is quiet and dark. Then… “Been a while,” Benjani says after blinking a few times to get his bearings. “Are you…” Cruyff emerges from the swirling fog, “…complaining?” “That’s a good question,” Benjani muses, “do I miss getting criticized after wins or being told I was sh¥+ as a player? And yet, yes, I have missed our little chats.” Cruyff gives his little half smile for a moment. “I come when I’m needed. You have had no need for me lately. You’ve led your club back to the top flight playing some good football. Enjoy it. Not to say that it’s all been great. Those draws in October and November? That loss to relegated Hull two weeks ago?…horrible.” “You just had to find a way to get that in there didn’t you?” Benjani says good naturedly. “Don’t worry,” Cruyff chuckles, “the sting will fade quickly. You just won the Championship with…well you’ve actually got some decent footballers in the side now, but the system has made them more than the sum of their parts. Your 3-5-2 that’s actually a 3-4-3 has been brilliant.” “Are you…” Benjani says, shocked, “complimenting me?” “I am,” Cruyff shrugs, “and you deserve it. Enjoy it. Because the real work starts now.” Benjani nods, “It’s going to take some doing to keep us up. I didn’t think we’d be making a push for another year or two at least. I’m not sure we’re ready…Ipswich came right back down. Only won three games all season. Can’t let that happen to us.” “On the plus side,” Cruyff began, “you’ll have tens of millions of pounds to play with. The Premier League is just flush with money. Buy wisely and you might just do okay…” There was a pause, with Benjani waiting for the but… “Only,” Cruyff continued, “you can’t be so kind to all your players. I understand why, and I respect what you’re trying to do. I believe in the same. Respect must go both ways. But it is also earned. You have many players who are not top division players, not even close. You’ve assembled a decent midfield, but the attack and defense will be eaten alive…There are those that have surprised me, Marquis, for one, has been surprisingly effective, but he won’t score much against top defenders and keepers. Fiabema? He’ll score…but not as much as he should. Don’t get me started on the backline…” “They were good enough to get us promoted though,” Benjani pushes back. “I feel as if I have to give them the chance to keep us up.” Cruyff looks at Benjani skeptically. “Also,” Benjani continues, “The style of football needs understanding between players that instinctual understanding of where other players are. That’s how we managed this win - team cohesion and a group of players that care about each other and the club.” “You’re not wrong,” Cruyff nods, “but team cohesion alone won’t cut it at the next level. Please don’t tell me you’re not going to bring in some top players!” Benjani looked at Cruyff with steely eyes. “After living through the fall of this club, I’m not going to mortgage the future of this club to try to stay up.” “Mpe,” Cruyff said using Benjani’s actual name, “Total football is not about scrapping for survival. I understand your loyalty to your players, as a less than elite talent you sympathize with them, I get that. I mean, obviously I don’t get it…anyway, with the money floating in the Premier League, you’ll be able to truly make your vision a reality if you spend smart. If you keep with this ridiculous loyalty thing though…” “I’m not going to completely change what’s been successful so far.” Benjani says. Cruyff shrugs and begins to walk away. “Mpe,” he turns after a few steps, “determination is a virtue, but stubbornness...” The lights were suddenly blinding and Benjani was back on the pitch at Luton. Fade to black as the Benjani Theme plays. BENJANI WILL RETURN IN - Ballad of Benjani Part 3 - Return of the (Premier)ship to Port(smouth) Real life is a son of a ***** when it gets in the way of the dream world Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
haier_fm Posted March 11, 2022 Share Posted March 11, 2022 (edited) On 10/03/2022 at 20:33, 13th Man said: I’m back after a few weeks in the real life wilderness and distracted by major historical moments (Haven’t we had enough of those lately? Can we slow down on those please?). During the last week I’ve actually played a fair amount but didn’t have the mental energy to write much. So…I’m going to have a few updates as I polish up the stuff I had mostly written before doing a quick update on the season which is coming to a close. First, some more Cruyff in a end credit scene with some foreshadowing. End Credits - Another Vision Confetti fills the air as Captain Raggett carries the Championship trophy aloft and Benjani points to the away stand - the only stand still full in an otherwise empty ground. Players walk triumphantly to the away end to celebrate with the fans - fans who are in full voice. We’re on our way! We’re on our way! Suddenly, all is quiet and dark. Then… “Been a while,” Benjani says after blinking a few times to get his bearings. “Are you…” Cruyff emerges from the swirling fog, “…complaining?” “That’s a good question,” Benjani muses, “do I miss getting criticized after wins or being told I was sh¥+ as a player? And yet, yes, I have missed our little chats.” Cruyff gives his little half smile for a moment. “I come when I’m needed. You have had no need for me lately. You’ve led your club back to the top flight playing some good football. Enjoy it. Not to say that it’s all been great. Those draws in October and November? That loss to relegated Hull two weeks ago?…horrible.” “You just had to find a way to get that in there didn’t you?” Benjani says good naturedly. “Don’t worry,” Cruyff chuckles, “the sting will fade quickly. You just won the Championship with…well you’ve actually got some decent footballers in the side now, but the system has made them more than the sum of their parts. Your 3-5-2 that’s actually a 3-4-3 has been brilliant.” “Are you…” Benjani says, shocked, “complimenting me?” “I am,” Cruyff shrugs, “and you deserve it. Enjoy it. Because the real work starts now.” Benjani nods, “It’s going to take some doing to keep us up. I didn’t think we’d be making a push for another year or two at least. I’m not sure we’re ready…Ipswich came right back down. Only won three games all season. Can’t let that happen to us.” “On the plus side,” Cruyff began, “you’ll have tens of millions of pounds to play with. The Premier League is just flush with money. Buy wisely and you might just do okay…” There was a pause, with Benjani waiting for the but… “Only,” Cruyff continued, “you can’t be so kind to all your players. I understand why, and I respect what you’re trying to do. I believe in the same. Respect must go both ways. But it is also earned. You have many players who are not top division players, not even close. You’ve assembled a decent midfield, but the attack and defense will be eaten alive…There are those that have surprised me, Marquis, for one, has been surprisingly effective, but he won’t score much against top defenders and keepers. Fiabema? He’ll score…but not as much as he should. Don’t get me started on the backline…” “They were good enough to get us promoted though,” Benjani pushes back. “I feel as if I have to give them the chance to keep us up.” Cruyff looks at Benjani skeptically. “Also,” Benjani continues, “The style of football needs understanding between players that instinctual understanding of where other players are. That’s how we managed this win - team cohesion and a group of players that care about each other and the club.” “You’re not wrong,” Cruyff nods, “but team cohesion alone won’t cut it at the next level. Please don’t tell me you’re not going to bring in some top players!” Benjani looked at Cruyff with steely eyes. “After living through the fall of this club, I’m not going to mortgage the future of this club to try to stay up.” “Mpe,” Cruyff said using Benjani’s actual name, “Total football is not about scrapping for survival. I understand your loyalty to your players, as a less than elite talent you sympathize with them, I get that. I mean, obviously I don’t get it…anyway, with the money floating in the Premier League, you’ll be able to truly make your vision a reality if you spend smart. If you keep with this ridiculous loyalty thing though…” “I’m not going to completely change what’s been successful so far.” Benjani says. Cruyff shrugs and begins to walk away. “Mpe,” he turns after a few steps, “determination is a virtue, but stubbornness...” The lights were suddenly blinding and Benjani was back on the pitch at Luton. Fade to black as the Benjani Theme plays. BENJANI WILL RETURN IN - Ballad of Benjani Part 3 - Return of the (Premier)ship to Port(smouth) I agree, the current world events are very overwhelming, partly the reason why I started writing again (acts as a bit of a release for me). Sometimes life gets in the way of stuff, and that is completely fine. Take the time you need. About the post itself, what a story! Lovely write-up! Edited March 11, 2022 by haier_fm 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 12, 2022 Author Share Posted March 12, 2022 11 hours ago, haier_fm said: I agree, the current world events are very overwhelming, partly the reason why I started writing again (acts as a bit of a release for me). Sometimes life gets in the way of stuff, and that is completely fine. Take the time you need. About the post itself, what a story! Lovely write-up! Thanks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 12, 2022 Author Share Posted March 12, 2022 Tying up the Loose Ends 23/24 Here’s a run down of some stats, tactics and final events of the 23/24 season before I get into transfers and a very quick run through the actual season. I’d hoped to go even deeper into the stats, but it’s still a lot more than I have in the past and I’m seeing how much it can inform decision making. I’ll get into it a bit later in the tactics section of this post, but one key decision that stats informed was playing WCB Hamilton as a regular starter despite some glaring weaknesses on the attribute screen. I’ve also created some custom stat layouts as well, which will likely have to wait until a later post. Pass and move - The Core of Total Football While the football played by Benjani’s was not exactly total football yet, it was certainly a pass and move style of play with very little room for dribbling. While their passing statistics back up their claim to a possession style, one statistic stands out - dribbles per game. Portsmouth are so far off the mean they look like a plotting error. Compared to the league average of 9.88 dribbles per game, Portsmouth only attempted 4.67 or less than half! The next lowest teams both attempted closer to 8 dribbles. While Benjani gives certain specific players license to dribble as they like (WBs, AF,and the attacking MEZ), the lack of dribbles overal is by design. Portsmouth unlock defenses with passing and movement rather than dribbling. It was, of course, highly successful, as they scored 82 in the league (second only to Watford with 85). Portsmouth certainly tended to dominate possession, but it was progressive possession rather than defensive possession. The positive mentality and aggressive player roles and defensive line tended to push players up the pitch and gave the players license to take reasonable risks. Against possession heavy sides, these risks meant Portsmouth would sometimes lose the possession battle, sometimes significantly. But more often than not they controlled the ball pretty well, often getting in the range of 50-55% possession. This did lead to the side losing possession more than may be ideal, but total football is not about risk aversion in the way tiki-taka has become. In the end, Portsmouth’s possession stats were good, but not especially impressive. They averaged 51% of possession (9th in the league) a pass completion rate of 89% (6th), and came in 7th in the league in clear cut chances created with 141 (Watford, by comparison created 186 clear cut chances). The only area in which they were close to the top was passes attempted, but they still only ranked 3rd in the Championship. Considering the volume and variety of passing, it could also be argued that their rank of 13th in the league for possession lost is pretty reasonable, but overall the stats weren’t especially impressive. How then did they score so many and play so well - Especially when you add in their xG total of 65.27 compared to their 82 goals scored? How did Portsmouth manage a league best 13% conversion rate? Their forwards are decent but not great finishers by any means (finishing 12 and 13), so it wasn’t pure skill. Here’s where stats can be limiting, or must be taken in context. For one, xG seems to undervalue headed chances. Portsmouth scored a lot of goals from back post headers with a runner from deep - often with a mismatched full back or with a CB trying to defend while running towards his own goal. Often these chances - free headers with keeper scrambling - were valued in the 0.1-0.2 range at best when, to my eyes, they are very good chances. Maybe not easy but convertible at least one out of every three times (xG 0.33) or at least a quarter of the time (xG 0.25). Beyond this, their quick tempo and varied, fluid movement allowed them to get in behind defenses and/or find players just outside the box with time and space to pick their spot, meaning their good chances were sometimes further from goal and thus lower xG. It also helped that Portsmouth had several players that were good at shooting from distance. Spoiler As hinted at with xG, Portsmouth’s 15 headed goals and 12 from outside the box meant they scored nearly a third of their goals from low xG shots (27/82). A game or two (or even 10) won with a low xG can be taken as a fluke, but across 46 games? The chances are better than xG anticipates, and this is why Portsmouth dramatically outperformed xG. Spoiler One thing that Benjani very much appreciated was the way that goals were spread through the team. Though the wingbacks didn’t score much (only 2 goals from Dylan Williams) and the forwards certainly scored the bulk of the goals (44/82), the midfield chipped in a lot with 24 goals - mostly between Bayliss (12) and Mallamo (6) in the attacking mezzala role , but with Morrell chipping in with a more than reasonable 4 as well from the supporting mezzala role. The goals from the center backs were mostly from set-pieces, as would be expected with the towering Raggett scoring eight, but WCB Bryan also got two from open play as well. The conclusion - Benjani’s system was more about creating space through overloads, quick passing, movement, and mismatches rather than creating perfect chances. This means the xG is surprisingly low considering their scoring record. The question then, was could Portsmouth continue to play this way in the Premier League? Tactics - 3-5-2 v 3-4-3 From the end of 22/23 through the 23/24 season, the 3-5-2 took over as the primary tactic, with Benjani starting with it for 88% of the games played. Despite this overwhelming statistic, Pompey actually used their 3-4-3 almost a third of the time in the latter half of the 23/24 season (958 minutes to 1831 in the 3-5-2). The change from one to the other was entirely about the defensive shape. When in the 3-5-2, the flanks could be exposed, so Benjani would sometimes switch to a 3-4-3 if the opposition was threatening regularly, especially once Portsmouth got the lead. The 3-5-2 was, by far, the more potent, creating a clear cut chance every 73 minutes on average against the 3-4-3’s once every 127 minutes. On the other side, the 3-4-3 was far more defensively solid, allowing only one clear cut chance every 223 minutes (2.5 games!) against the 3-5-2’s one per 85 minutes. With how prolific the 3-5-2 was, Benjani simply had to stick with it despite its defensive frailty. At the next level, though, Benjani expected to need to use the 3-4-3 more in the Premier League however, especially against sides using a wide 4-3-3 or 4-4-2. During the offseason, Benjani began creating some variants that were a bit more conservative, knowing that if he lined up in his positive 3-5-2 against the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City/United - or even probably Everton or West Ham - they would be overwhelmed. Yet he didn’t want to completely change the way his side played either as that would likely be equally disastrous. Some of it would be small tweaks - making the supporting mez a calliero instead, or dialing back a centerback’s roll to BPD(d) or CB(d) to keep them closer to the cover centerback, but there would certainly be times when Portsmouth would need more than that. There were many examples, but below is one that Benjani would try to use against big sides. NOTE - I actually meant to screenshot a version with the support MEZ (CMR) as a CAR instead. Taking the normally positive mentality down a notch will hopefully help Portsmouth maintain better possession by limiting the risks. The WBs on defend duty will keep them deeper during build up to provide more options to play out from the back and keep them from behind caught too far upfield. The other change is pulling the left WCB further back as a BPD or CB. In certain cases, the right WCB would be pulled back too, but Hamilton, as it turned out, was critical for Portsmouth’s build up and attacking play and he was the reason that Benjani flipped the whole shape to accommodate his attacking threat. The Enigma of Hamilton WCB Jamie Hamilton was an enigma. Though still young, his progression was slowing down and while he’d likely make incremental improvements, he would not change much as a player. His decision making ability was suspect (7) and his positioning was not great (11) but he was fantastic going forward (dribbling 14 and passing 13/vision 14) and he was especially dangerous as he attacked the channel. He would have made a good central midfielder except that his finishing was terrible (5) and his off the ball wasn’t great either (11) so he didn’t fit into the mezzala roles and he wasn’t quite a good enough passer for the DLP position. He also could have been a good WB but his crossing was also terrible (5). Still, he stayed in the side because he was second only to DLP Levitt in terms of his importance in build up play and was, for the second year running, the player with the highest average rating with 7.27. He was second only to Levitt in passes completed with 2,243 (Levitt with 3,091) and also key passes with 21 (0.68/game). To put this into perspective, he also only became the established starter after the experienced CB Wisdom left for Ipswich midseason, and he registered only 31 appearances on the year compared to Levitt’s 42. He was consistently dangerous with the ball at his feet, as he could beat players on the dribble (second only to forward Fiabema in the team with 1.01 dribbles per game), attracting extra opposition midfielders to him before releasing teammates with his good passing ability. He also managed a decent amount of assists, several from deep. Playing Hamilton, though, did come with its risks. While he was decent at marking (13) his positioning (11) and decision making (7) meant that if he didn’t have a player near him to mark, he often chose the wrong player to mark and/or didn’t put himself in a good position to defend threats. This meant that he was often at fault for opposition goals due to making the wrong choice. In the end, Benjani planned to stick with him for his attacking ability, and hoped to cover for his lapses in judgement with the players around him. Woe in Watford It was woe in Watford! Despite leading the league for the majority of the season and opening up a nine point lead after defeating Portsmouth in January, a late season collapse saw them fail to even keep an automatic promotion spot, winning only two of their final eleven games and falling to relegated Hull and lower table Nottingham Forest in the crucial final two games. Watford’s End of Season Run (Not Portsmouth) Any hope of a return to the Premier League was dashed as they lost in the opening round of the playoffs to eventual winners Brighton. Spoiler It was a poor year for the relegated sides, with only Brighton returning to the top flight, defeating Bournemouth in the final. QPR fell all the way to 14th in the table. In a return to the 2000s, Portsmouth were joined by former Benjani side Blackburn. Final Table UP NEXT - Transfers and all that 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hootieleece Posted March 12, 2022 Share Posted March 12, 2022 I agree with taking the mentality down a notch I am finding that "Balanced" is often more attacking than most players give it credit for and most of the time players don't stupid passes to lose possesion.... Glad to see you back! Can't wait to see you strut your stuff in the Premier League! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 12, 2022 Author Share Posted March 12, 2022 (edited) 7 hours ago, Hootieleece said: I agree with taking the mentality down a notch I am finding that "Balanced" is often more attacking than most players give it credit for and most of the time players don't stupid passes to lose possesion.... Glad to see you back! Can't wait to see you strut your stuff in the Premier League! Thanks, nice to be back. I played on balanced for the majority of my Livorno save and got some fantastic attacking football, but switched it up with Portsmouth as I wanted fast, ”impose your will” kind of football for this save. Will the tweak be enough to give Portsmouth a chance in the Premier League? Find out next time (or actually a few posts away). Edited March 12, 2022 by 13th Man 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 (edited) Summer Transfers OOH look at the new picture! Such a pretty seaside look! It’s like you’re on the (Premier)ship yourself coming into Port(smouth)! Wow. Stunning. Alright, let’s get down to business. This post will be a rundown of the ins and outs as Portsmouth prepared for the 24/25 season, their first in the top flight in fourteen years! Transfer Budget £36m in the war chest, £520k/w in the wage budget Well over double the £210k/w they had been spending. With promotion, though, came a long line of players knocking on Benjani’s door looking for new contracts, usually expecting £20k/w or more - twice Portsmouth’s previous highest wages. Some of them got the raises they asked for, many didn’t. Despite the board offering such a massive budget, Benjani’s goal was to spend around £10m net max. He’d witnessed the collapse of Portsmouth first hand as a player, and he wasn’t going to let the same thing happen again. If that meant they went back down, then so be it. If something truly perfect came up, he would go for it, but until Portsmouth were established in the Premier League, he wanted to invest the money in infrastructure and the future of the club rather than burn it all on new signings - new signings that would be on high wages as well. First In Left footed center back Lewis Gibson stayed on at Portsmouth after his loan finished, signing a contract on the south coast as his Everton contract expired. Not only had Gibson played well in the left WCB position, he also performed better in the cover CB role than Sean Raggett - who only seemed to do okay when the ball was in the air. Set for release - CM Tunnicliffe and forward Harrison. Harrison had largely over performed, scoring way more than Benjani would have expected off the bench…until he was tasked with starting while Marquis was out injured. He suffered a goal drought and let it get to him. Harrison was a good rotation option, when he was in form, because he could play in three roles in Benjani’s system - left IF in the 3-4-3, AF in the 3-5-2, and DLF in both shapes. With the step up, his dramatic drop in form as well as his inability to recover from it, meant Benjani didn’t see a future for him at the club. In Tunnicliffe, the side would be losing a hard working, hard tackling presence in midfield. He was great to bring in off the bench either to close out a game or to chase it as he was relentless. Even with his technical limitations, Benjani might have kept him on if he hadn’t demanded a new contract with assurances that he’d be an important player when he really was only a squad player. With those two players gone, but WCB/CB(c) Gibson signing on… Positional Needs 1) Rotational CM - Mezz(s)/DLP 2) DLF 3) Cover Centerback In addition to missing Harrison (Forward) and Tunnicliffe’s presence in the squad, Benjani felt like he needed an improvement at left wingback. 20 year old Dylan Williams had a solid but not great season in the Championship, but Benjani felt like a bit of improvement was required in this department. Central Midfield With Tunnicliffe set to be released at the end of his contract, Benjani needed reinforcements in midfield. Brentford, relegated from the Premier League, provided an excellent fit, selling versatile, experienced, and mentally strong Christian Norgaard to Portsmouth for a reasonable £700k. A solid all around player, he has the aggression, bravery, and teamwork/workrate to fill the hole left by Tunnicliffe’s departure, with far more skill and intelligence. He has the added by bonus of being good in the air and capable of filling in at CB. Forward With Harrison gone, Benjani needed forward reinforcements and while he wasn’t initially sure it would be the final answer, Italian Da Graca became available on a free after being released by Juventus. Having failed to live up to his promise in Turin, Da Graca will hope to follow the path laid out by fellow Italian Mallamo in resurrecting a stuttering career on England’s south coast. He’s unpolished, but full of unrealized potential and he has a few crucial building blocks with which to, possibly, create a decent forward. As the third forward in a two forward system, he’ll see the pitch enough to hopefully develop. Another on a Free Benjani continues his strategy of picking up young players released by the big clubs in signing 22 year old Clarkson on a free. With central midfield being an area of strength for Portsmouth, his path to the first team is a bit harder than Da Graca, but his excellent passing ability and decent overall game mean he could play a role in the fringes. Work Permit Strikes Again Left WB Dylan Williams was a hard working, mentally tough player, but his quality was exposed in the Championship and Benjani knew he needed a more mature player in that position. In need of a more reliable left WB, Benjani was thrilled to find a quality player available - Daam Foulon. He has good physicals, a determined, aggressive personality, is good both defensively and going forward, and was available for only £3.6m. Having been languishing in the Chelsea reserves, however,, his work permit application was rejected. Benjani tried to get Chelsea to loan him to Portsmouth with a mandatory future fee, figuring he’d play enough for Portsmouth to gain a work permit the next summer, but then Chelsea wanted £5m plus about a £1m in loan fees and suddenly it wasn’t such a good deal anymore. In a sense, though it worked out for the best. In comes Jordan Zemora from HSV Hamburg thanks to a very reasonable £2.3m foreign release clause, allowing Benjani to manage his first ever fellow Zimbabwean. The 24 year old is a definite step down from Foulon, especially in the bravery and aggression categories, but he’s determined, hardworking, fast and fit. The fitness (stamina and natural) is a big deal in Benjani’s system as the WBs are the team’s runners. Right Wingback Backup right wingback Callum Johnson came to Benjani demanding a new contract with Premier Division wages, despite being merely reliable in the Championship, so Benjani felt like he needed a right wingback rotational option. Out went Johnson for £1.1m. Benjani went in for a rotational option in Ukrainian Bodgan Milovanov from Fiorentina. He was certainly nothing special, but he checked all the club DNA boxes and would be a solid option. Housekeeping Two key young players got new contracts in keeper Stolarzcyk and forward Fiabema. Fiabema was maybe a bit overpaid, but his goals put Portsmouth into the premier league. Cover Centerback Finally, Benjani needed a center back. Though his backline had been okay in the Championship, he felt overall quality was lacking and feared that the Premier League would severely expose them. Wide center back Hamilton had continued to impress with his attacking prowess, but his poor positioning and decision making made Benjani worried. He’d still play plenty, but he needed a solid all around defender, and hopefully one who could play both centrally and wide. The final signing of the summer was perhaps the one that excited Benjani the most - center back Wout Faes was a player of considerable quality. Good at anticipating situations, solid in the air and in the tackle, and with a midfielders comfort on the ball. He was no world beater, and his strength left something to be desired, but at £2.7m was an absolute steal. Benjani felt like he’d found a cover center back that could actually play football! The only issue with Faes was that he was off at the Olympics and would not return until just before the season started, and Benjani would have to hope he hit the ground running. Total Net Spend £5.9m Even increased as it was, Portsmouth’s wage bill was less than half of anyone else in the league other than Blackburn. This graphic shows the level of the task ahead of Benjani as he looks to keep Portsmouth afloat… UP NEXT - Welcome to the Premier League A lightning fast trip through the 24/25 season Edited March 13, 2022 by 13th Man 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
haier_fm Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 Sensible recruitment supported by a slight shift in tactic. Nice work! On 12/03/2022 at 12:24, Hootieleece said: I agree with taking the mentality down a notch I am finding that "Balanced" is often more attacking than most players give it credit for and most of the time players don't stupid passes to lose possesion.... Glad to see you back! Can't wait to see you strut your stuff in the Premier League! THIS! Balanced has been by far my favourite mentality to play on this year. I find Positive is slightly too agressive for my liking in some instances. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 2 hours ago, haier_fm said: Sensible recruitment supported by a slight shift in tactic. Nice work! Maybe not so sensible actually…spending only spend a net of £5.9m entering into the Premier League with mostly good to decent Championship players. One of the save goals is to be a bit more loyal to the players, so he was going to give them the chance to prove themselves. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefinitelyTaylor Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 I can see Benjani’s reluctance to spend the cash that has been set aside for him. It’s a bold decision that could result in an immediate return to the Championship but one that he has admitted he can live with. I’m looking forward to seeing how Pompey fair upon their rather unexpected return. Congratulations on that, by the way! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 2 hours ago, DefinitelyTaylor said: I can see Benjani’s reluctance to spend the cash that has been set aside for him. It’s a bold decision that could result in an immediate return to the Championship but one that he has admitted he can live with. I’m looking forward to seeing how Pompey fair upon their rather unexpected return. Congratulations on that, by the way! Bold decision indeed! Will it succeed? The first half of the season is coming up...NOW! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 And we’re off on a quick (for me) run through the first half of the season. Granted, a lot of people only do half season updates, but normally I’m much slower and wordier. Welcome to the Premier League The first game of the season had a lot of promising signs as Portsmouth drew at Elland Road. Portsmouth played some fantastic football and were, on the whole, the better side. The game started well, with Portsmouth making several good chances before Fiabema earned a penalty which Marquis converted for Portsmouth’s first Premier League goal since Usher’s song OMG (feat. Will-I-Am) topped the UK charts in May 2010 (yes, I had to look that up). Leeds got one back only six minutes later, though, with an excellent shot from distance and went ahead ten minutes after the half as winger Perez wove through a hapless Pompey defense to score far too easily. Portsmouth refused to give up, and kept pushing for the equalizer. FInally, in the 83rd minute, two debutants combined to set up established Pompey hero Fiabema to earn a draw. New Cover CB Faes, making his debut only a week after arriving at the club, had been given much more license to take risks with his excellent technical ability. With the ball at the halfway line, he spotted fellow debutant left wingback Zemura’s run on the left into space. It was a pass that CB Raggett would never have attempted, much less completed, and it seemed to solidify that Benjani had made the right choice. The Zimbabwean wingback took a touch and put a low, square cross in for Fiabema to tap in. Benjani didn’t know it at the time, but the first game of the season would be as good as it got for a while. What came after was ugly. After the draw at Leeds, Portsmouth hosted Crystal Palace. Once again, Pompey scored first, and once again their defense was shredded. Up 2-1 at the sixty minute mark, they collapsed in the final half hour. West Ham simply outplayed Portsmouth and Benjani could have no complaints. The game against Newcastle should have been a win for Portsmouth after an 87th minute penalty, but Marquis drilled the ball into the post from the spot. Against Tottenham, Pompey again scored first but again crumbled in the final twenty minutes. The League Cup, which had previously provided Portsmouth with a slight reprieve as they beat Wycombe in the second round, provided no such joy in the third round as Everton beat them comprehensively. A brutal, 6-1 loss to Chelsea after once again scoring first, rounded off a tough start to life in the top flight. Finally, they managed a win over fellow new arrivals Blackburn to give them some hope. With the exception of the Chelsea game, though, Benjani felt like his side just needed a bit of luck at times. While there were certainly moments of folly and some moments where opposition quality showed through, Portsmouth played a lot of good football and hit the post nine times in those first seven games. Maybe with some tactical tweaks and a bit more luck Pompey would do okay. The Blackburn game felt like maybe a moment to turn things around but instead they took a turn for the worse…much worse. New cover CB Faes had been sent off against Blackburn for two yellows, and then starting left WCB Lewis Gibson got a bad injury (broken ribs) that would leave him out for two months. The injury bug spread, and it was concentrated entirely in the defense. A defense that was shaky at best, and in which the backups were a significant step down, especially defensively. Spoiler And who was up next but Manchester United… While Portsmouth gave a good account of themselves against Manchester United - allowing only a set piece goal until the dying minutes as Portsmouth tried for an equalizer - and managed a draw against arch rivals Southampton, things didn’t get better in what should have been an easier run of games. With WCB Gibson out, the defense turned to shambles and the attack could do little to help. In a torrid seven game stretch, Pompey went scoreless in five straight matches and conceded fifteen in seven matches from which they gained only two points. Benjani tried all sorts of tactical tweaks and personnel combinations to shore up his defense and help his attack, but the results were all the same. You can see that Portsmouth weren’t completely outplayed, but silly mistakes and inability to finish kept hurting them again and again. Unsurprisingly, Portsmouth found themselves in the relegation zone after this run. The 2-1 loss to also promoted Brighton made Benjani truly question his side’s ability to stay in the top flight. Brighton were the much better side, and for once, Portsmouth were clinical with the one decent chance they had. On the horizon were fellow strugglers Fulham and Burnley before a very tough string of games against the leagues’ best sides. Fail to win the next two games and Portsmouth were surely destined for the drop. Knowing that his side was at its best being positive, Benjani went with the 3-5-2 as he’d used it the year before. Happily, Portsmouth won both games, looking finally like the side that won the Championship the year before. A great run from deep and finish by Morrell put Portsmouth on top against Fulham before being pegged back by a silly penalty (so many mistakes). Summer signing Da Graca came through big time with a great end of game finish in the 91st minute to win it. Two goals by Fiabema and another by Da Graca (growing in stature) gave Pompey a comfortable win over Burnley to keep survival hopes alive. A solid defensive performance then frustrated Arsenal but, again, an individual error led to the loss as they gave up a silly penalty. Then, for the first time in this save, Portsmouth FM’ed a side, managing a draw they had no business earning. A late game injury reduced Manchester City to ten men in the final fifteen minutes, and losing 1-0 anyway, Benjani switched to his more positive 3-5-2 system. It paid dividends as Hamilton crashed in at the far post to turn in a Levitt free kick in the 91st minute. So, at the halfway point, Portsmouth were just barely holding onto 17th place, teetering dangerously on the edge of relegation. Their late 2024 form, however, gave Benjani reasons to be hopeful. During their dreadful form through October and November, Benjani had been planning on spending on a striker. With only £6m spent, Benjani still had nearly £30m in the bank for transfers. After beating two relegation candidates and good performances against top sides, Benjani wasn’t so sure anymore. It wasn’t to say his front line was good, but he wasn’t seeing any reasonably priced players that would truly improve the side or that wanted to come. One target was Shane Lavery, a prolific striker in the Championship for Luton Town. Benjani even went so far as to put in a bid for him. However, the scouts uncovered reports that he tended to shrink away from big occasions, which was concerning, and at £10m Benjani felt he wasn’t great value for money. A Changing of the Guard? The other thing that changed Benjani’s mind was the emergence of free signing Marco Da Graca. Though goals were still hard to come by overall, the 22 year old was coming along in leaps and bounds, and, as 2024 came to a close, had pushed long standing starter Marquis out of the lineup. Marquis was still the better footballer in a lot of ways, but the 32 year old was declining and the Premier League required Da Graca’s intense physicality. There was also the simple fact that Da Graca performed, and seemed unphased by pressure or challenges. Despite being a more limited player, Da Graca was outperforming veteran Marquis in every category - even without penalties to pad his goal stats. Benjani also thought about bringing in a another centerback to shore up his backline. Again, however, after solid defensive performances against sides like Arsenal and Manchester City, he wasn’t sure he wanted to disrupt the side by bringing in new faces. He was concerned by the lack of strength and poor heading in the backline, but he wasn’t able to find a player to bring in that both wanted to come to the south coast and was a clear improvement on the players at the club. Time would tell if either choice was wise… UP NEXT - Sunny Skies in the Dead of Winter 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 15, 2022 Author Share Posted March 15, 2022 Sunny Skies in the Dead of Winter I’m realizing that this isn’t that much quicker than I normally go, but I’m maybe less wordy? Anyway, here’s the one monthly(ish) update of the season. 2024 ended in disappointment with a 2-1 loss to Leeds, but January was a very encouraging month. A defensively solid 1-0 win away to Crystal Palace, a draw that really should have been a win against West Ham, and two points stolen from money can’t buy you love Newcastle gave Portsmouth their best run of form in the Premier League. Things were going so well, in fact, that Benjani got a call from Lazio inviting him to interview. Benjani had far too much left undone in Portsmouth (not to mention my dislike of Lazio carried over from my Livorno save), but the interest was flattering. An absolutely brutal week finished out the month. Though Chelsea had been poor of late, the pain of the 6-1 thrashing at Stamford Bridge was still fresh, and Tottenham were second only to a rampaging Pep managed Liverpool [who Portsmouth had avoided thus far due to constantly rescheduled games]. Benjani hoped only for his side to give a good account of themselves. What a game. As was customary, Portsmouth scored first, with former Chelsea youngster Fiabema bursting through to drive home a low cross. Mount leveled the score, but otherwise Portsmouth showed much more fight than at Stamford Bridge and kept Chelsea at bay. Then, in the 90th minute, Upamecano turned in a free kick, it seemed as if Portsmouth’s efforts were for nothing. Portsmouth had one last attack - a foray down the right flank that seemed to come to nothing with also former Chelsea wingback Lawrence forced to turn and play a ball back to DLP Levitt. As Chelsea’s defense reset, attacking mezzala Mallamo - on for starter Bayliss - made a forward run and Levitt picked him out with a pinpoint pass…an equalizer in the 94th minute. Fratton Park went mental for Mallamo. This one was frustrating, but promising on the whole. Pep Guardiola’s Liverpool [is this hard coded to happen?] were controlling possession but Benjani’s Portsmouth were largely limiting them to long shots and the visitors rarely looked like scoring. Then a cross came in and left sided CB Gibson inexplicably, under no pressure, dove to ground to (apparently) keep a ghost from tapping the ball in, and ended up directing the ball into his own net. He could have just as easily stood his ground and put his foot through the ball, but that was that. A give and go between forward pairing Marquis and Da Graca earned Portsmouth a point in a game that looked more lopsided on paper than it actually was. Tottenham were the better side overall, but Portsmouth kept them at arm's length until Gibson again cost Portsmouth points by giving away a terrible penalty in the 70th minute. Tactical Interlude While Benjani had tried at first to keep true to his style of play, it was proving impractical against top quality players that filled out even the mid table sides of the Premier League. His more defensive tactic had been featured more as the season went on, and had been much more solid than the more positive 3-5-2 that had won Pompey the Championship. Roles would change slightly [WCB to BPD(d) or MEZ(s) to CAR] but the biggest change was the WBs on defend duty. Previously, the WBs had been pushing too far up, and could be easily marked out of the game by quality full backs. This led to scant options for bringing it out of defense, and lots of squandered possession. On defend the WBs sat a bit deeper, in line with DLP Levitt, and gave options for the centerbacks and Levitt as they brought the ball out of defense. Transfer out While Portsmouth’s promising performances and form meant that Benjani decided not to spend on any new players, he did sell a backup CB for a tidy £5.4m. With form looking up, strong performances from his side, Benjani was feeling good about the second half of the season. They wouldn’t need to beat everyone, but if they could continue their good defensive form and score a few goals, they seemed likely to stay up. UP NEXT - Too good to be true 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted March 15, 2022 Share Posted March 15, 2022 Battling well my friend, Benjani can put together a decent final push safety will be achieved!! And all on a shoestring budget! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefinitelyTaylor Posted March 15, 2022 Share Posted March 15, 2022 A bold decision not to bring in any fresh faces given the initial struggle to life in the Premiership however results have taken a slight upturn alongside the overall performances so perhaps Benjani is justified in this stance. We shall see! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 15, 2022 Author Share Posted March 15, 2022 11 hours ago, SixPointer said: Battling well my friend, Benjani can put together a decent final push safety will be achieved!! And all on a shoestring budget! It was a battle indeed. I'm catching up on my writing after finishing up the season and am actually just starting the following season. Just where Portsmouth landed will be revealed shortly... 3 hours ago, DefinitelyTaylor said: A bold decision not to bring in any fresh faces given the initial struggle to life in the Premiership however results have taken a slight upturn alongside the overall performances so perhaps Benjani is justified in this stance. We shall see! Bold or reckless? Find out...now...(or rather, when I get the post up in a few minutes). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 15, 2022 Author Share Posted March 15, 2022 Too good to be true It was as if the football gods had conspired to trick Benjani. Just as things were looking up, and as soon as the transfer window closed, Portsmouth’s form nose dived - though it was a few games before it became clear. A loss away to a decent Sheffield United side in the FA Cup was disappointing but not overly discouraging. The 1-1 draw against Blackburn, however, was infuriating. With points hard to come by, Portsmouth spurned chance after chance. They scored one, but allowed a goal from a set piece in which Portsmouth inexplicably left a player completely open at the near post [I could find no reason for this in the set piece set up]. After that, things truly went off the rails. A 4-0 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford was tough to watch, but those kind of results are to be expected for a newly promoted side. The next four games, however, were a horror show of terrible football. Portsmouth looked ready to concede at any time, couldn’t create chances, and certainly couldn’t finish. Even more disheartening was the fact that there was no injury crisis, no excuse - Pompey were just poor. The worst of the run had to be a 3-0 horror show against rival Southampton. James Ward-Prowse ran the show with two assists (one from open play) and a direct free kick from just outside the box, but as good as the Saints’ skipper was, Portsmouth were poor. The 4-0 loss to mid table Norwich at home was even worse from a footballing point of view. The more defensive tactics that had improved the side near the new year seemed to fall apart, and with so much less attacking impetus, Portsmouth were flailing through games. Players began to play anxious and scared. Portsmouth were sinking without a trace, and there was no transfer window to look ahead to for salvation. Benjani very much regretted not dipping into the transfer market either for a forward who could actually score or a center back who could win aerial battles - a lack of strength across the backline was proving costly. With seven games left in the season and Benjani grasping at straws, things were looking bleak. Portsmouth were only a point from safety (forgot to take a screenshot), but it seemed as if nothing was going right. The road ahead The one possible saving grace was that Portsmouth would face fellow relegation candidates Fulham, Liechester and Burnley. On the flip side, they’d also be facing Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool in games which had every chance of being demoralizing losses. Find a way to beat their relegation rivals, and Portsmouth had every chance to survive, but failure to do so would almost certainly mean a return to the Championship. First up, though, were lesser rivals Brighton, a club that had actually invested in their squad and were high above Portsmouth, flirting with European places. A Brighton side that had soundly beaten them in the reverse fixture. Will Portsmouth find a way to beat their relegation rivals? Or will Benjanj’s reluctance to spend end up costing the club dearly? UP NEXT - If we’re going down, we’re going down fighting Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hootieleece Posted March 15, 2022 Share Posted March 15, 2022 3-5-2 Wide Sitting Deep! 3-5-2 Wide Siting Deep! also plan on out Burleying Burnley! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefinitelyTaylor Posted March 15, 2022 Share Posted March 15, 2022 It appears that it was a reckless error. Not the type of run you want to have going into a set of very important games either. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 16, 2022 Author Share Posted March 16, 2022 8 hours ago, Hootieleece said: 3-5-2 Wide Sitting Deep! 3-5-2 Wide Siting Deep! also plan on out Burleying Burnley! Funny story - Benjani took the opposite route. One, he needed wins. Two, the backline is weak, literally and figuratively. They were decent enough at jumping and heading, but even a reasonably strong forward could out muscle them. Cross goes into the box? Goal. Simple, easily anticipated through ball? Also Goal. Excellently timed tackle? Surprisingly, also goal. Portsmouth's only chance was to try and score themselves. 7 hours ago, DefinitelyTaylor said: It appears that it was a reckless error. Not the type of run you want to have going into a set of very important games either. There were regrets around the camp, recriminations in the blogs and the pundits had a field day. £30m in the budget and you spend a net £0??? That's right, after selling the backup CB, Portsmouth had spent £6.25m in the market and received £6.25 in player sales. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 16, 2022 Author Share Posted March 16, 2022 (edited) I considered splitting this into two posts, but then decided there was no use keeping all my followers in suspense (hi mom, grandma, etc). If we’re going down, we’re going down fighting Seven games left. Portsmouth are in terrible form, unable to score, unable to defend. Defensive tactics seem to be only inviting more pressure and completely neutering their already blunt attack. Being cautious wasn’t working anymore. Being adventurous hadn’t exactly worked great either, but at least they were being true to themselves. In the run up to the Brighton game, Benjani made a decision. If Portsmouth were going down, they were going to go down their way, playing their brand of football, come what may. He wouldn’t be so naive to play that way against Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool, but he decided to roll the dice against Brighton. Only twelve minutes in, this looked like folly. Brighton’s striker dropped a pass back into midfield and simply turned and ran unopposed into the space behind Portsmouth’s backline. It was beyond simple, it was, as had happened all season long, far too easy. Benjani was all but sure that his side were doomed to relegation and he made his peace with it - but he didn’t stop fighting. Brighton 1 - Portsmouth 0 Brighton were in a 4-1-2-1-2 formation that was narrow, but which was overloading even Portsmouth’s packed center. One issue was that the DM was too open to recycle possession, and would pull one of his midfield three out of position to close him down - opening space for Brighton’s other midfielders. Benjani instructed DLF Da Graca to mark the DM specifically, pulled the whole side narrower in defense, and told his players to mark and press Brighton’s wingbacks out of the game. After that, the game was all Portsmouth. Unable to make inroads down the flanks, or to play through a congested middle, Brighton couldn’t find a way through. Portsmouth, however, pulled their midfield apart and their movement didn’t let them settle into a solid defensive shape. A crossfield ball from WCB Gibson to attacking mez Bayliss - in acres of space in the opposite channel - changed the angle for the midfielder to find Fiabema making a diagonal run. For once all season, the 22/23 Championship top scorer buried the chance. Brighton 1 - Portsmouth 1 A quick tidy recycling of the ball to DLP Levitt after an unsuccessful foray down the right flank, allowed Bayliss to ghost between the FB and the CB. Levitt quickly pushed the ball out to left MEZ Morrell, who spotted Bayliss and played him through on goal with a one-touch pass. Brighton 1 - Portsmouth 2 LWB Zamora spotted Bayliss dropping into space on the far side and played a long ball from the left flank into the right channel. Bayliss knocked the ball down for DLF Marquis to run onto. Rather than take on the CB that was coming to close him down, Marquis one-touched the ball into the path of the onrushing Da Graca who just about beat his man to the ball and slammed it home from eight yards. Spoiler Up next was a Leicester City side that still had a lot of Premier League quality even if they were having a poor year. Benjani continued with his progressive tactics but did switch to a 3-4-3 to combat Leicester’s wide 4-3-3. It was the inverse of the beginning of the season, with Portsmouth conceding first before taking the game to their opponents. DM Ndidi scored a scorcher from distance at the half hour mark. Benjani didn’t want to give up the flanks, but when the last 15 of the half saw Portsmouth continue to be toothless, he switched to the 3-5-2 in the second half. Bayliss one upped Ndidi in the 58th minute, taking advantage of a disorganized Leicester defense following a free kick. He found a pocket of space, looked up, had a snack, picked his spot and powered the ball in from 25 yards. Ten minutes later, Fiabema is felled in the box. The mostly reliable penalty taker Marquis was quickly brought on to take the PK. Benjani worried he may have done exactly what West Ham did earlier this season (I think) and ruined his side's chances by bringing on sub (Mark Noble) to take a penalty. But Marquis hit it home and Portsmouth hung on to win it. This was it, the run in. With Burnley all but mathematically relegated, it was realistically a four way relegation battle between Portsmouth, Fulham, Blackburn and Leicester. Portsmouth had the advantage with a five point cushion, but by far the toughest remaining schedule - including a trip to Anfield on the final day. With Portsmouth playing well and two excellent come from behind victories in a row, Benjani felt he could once again take care of Fulham and all but ensure safety. Fulham v Portsmouth - Craven Cottage But then, straight from the kickoff, Fulham attack Portsmouth’s right flank and cross into the box. Left WCB Gibson was muscled off the ball. A weak header from 10 yards would have been easy for GK Stolarczyk to save, but the Fulham striker attacked the ball in flight, and CB Faes failed to follow, allowing the easiest of headed goals. Just before the 20 minute mark, Stolarczyk makes a decent save but the ball dribbles away for a tap in. 2-0. Portsmouth manage little of note for the rest of the game and sink to a defeat that they really couldn’t afford. With Arsenal, Manchester City, and Liverpool on the horizon, their last realistic chance for points was against Burnley. Fulham 2 - Portsmouth 0 [I was in such a rush to finish out the season I forgot to take screen shots…] After a 4-2 loss to Arsenal the following week - only highlight was that Fiabema looked like Fiabema again, and scored and played well - it was time for the crucial showdown against Burnley. They were on a two game winning streak, beating Southampton, and surprisingly, Everton and were suddenly looking like they might just go and win all their remaining games. As Portsmouth lost to Arsenal, Leicester beat Brighton 3-1 and pulled to within two points of Portsmouth. With Fulham, Arsenal, and a final day visit to Burnley on Leicester’s horizon, Portsmouth had no room for error against Burnley. Burnley v Portsmouth - Turf Moor Yet error was the Portsmouth season, and so it came to be. Fifteen minutes in, the backline allowed Burnley to look like Barcelona in their box, unable to contain them, and after some neatly worked passing that Portsmouth sat back, enjoyed and applauded, Burnley struck. 1-0, Pompey’s season was circling the drain. They huffed and puffed for the rest of the half, but Burnley did a bit of Burnleying and kept them at arm's length. Then, in first half stoppage time, Bayliss and right WB Bogdan combined down the right flank and Bayliss was into the box. A reckless challenge comes in…PENALTY! Levitt stepped up confidently after a VAR check, and gives Portsmouth a lifeline. The game remained gridlocked, with Burnley having one good chance and Pompey a handful of tough chances. Late on, DLP Levitt is forced to withdraw, having given all he could, and forward Marquis comes on in as a SS in a surprising return to the 5-2-1-2. In the 92nd minute, with time running down on Portsmouth’s season, Marquis makes a run directly between Burnley’s CBs - both marking the forwards - and is found by left WB Zemora. The 33 year old nearly gets caught from behind, but he lets loose a shot across the face of goal from just outside the six yard box. The crowd goes silent for a long moment as the ball seems to hang in the air…before nestling in the far corner just inside the post. The veteran, pushed out of the line up by young Da Graca, came through when it mattered most and scored the winning goal in stoppage time to give Portsmouth a 2-1 win and a crucial three points. Burnley 1 - Portsmouth 2 Fulham beat Leicester in another relegation six-pointer, and Portsmouth had a five point cushion going into the final two games of the season, meaning Leicester would have to beat both Arsenal (tough) and Burnley (not as tough) to gain promotion. While Benjani fully expected to lose to both Manchester City and Liverpool, Benjani just had to hope that Arsenal wouldn’t Arsenal too bad and somehow let Leicester win. As expected, Portsmouth couldn’t cope with a Biesla led City, and it was a nervous Benjani that watched the Leicester game that came after…. And that was it…Portsmouth had managed a narrow escape, winning a few games in heroic fashion (remember that Determination club DNA emphasis?) to just barely keep themselves in the Premier League. Here’s the, very ugly looking, back end of the season. Three wins, one draw, and nine league losses, many of them heavy. Portsmouth would go on to lose heavily to Liverpool on the final day, but it didn’t matter [I vacationed it, just wanting to be done]. Finally, Benjani had the chance to take a breath and consider the lessons that his first, very tough year as a top flight manager…. UP NEXT - Lessons Learned Edited March 16, 2022 by 13th Man 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hootieleece Posted March 16, 2022 Share Posted March 16, 2022 You beat Burnley! You definitely need a rebuild as the Championship players are obviously not good enough! I say find a decent Striker, but otherwise build from the back. Since you were awful at defending and couldn't score. That is almost always my answer when taking over a team or getting promoted. (It works but it is Mourinho-Like) If you can't find a Striker, you MIGHT try building the other way spending on 3-4 really good midfielders and a GK and continue playing your "Entertaining Football". 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 Survival is the main aim and that’s done. Especially with those rough last fixtures I thought after the Fulham loss you were doomed. some deep analysis of the players performance over the seasons and identify your weak points and strengthen and am sure next year will be more positive for Benjani. Good character building being in a dog fight! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
haier_fm Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 22 hours ago, 13th Man said: Here’s the, very ugly looking, back end of the season. Three wins, one draw, and nine league losses, many of them heavy. That is a really rough run-in indeed. Would hate to be in Benjani's shoes at that point in time. Important thing is though, Portsmouth will finally get the TV cash at the start of next season. Hopefully, there would be bigger, but smart, spending in the summer. The potential of another relegation scrap looks slightly ominous, so reinforcements are definitely needed! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefinitelyTaylor Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 A very close-call but the job is done and Pompey live to fight another day! That puts me and anybody else who doubted Benjani back into our boxes. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 19, 2022 Author Share Posted March 19, 2022 On 16/03/2022 at 12:43, Hootieleece said: You definitely need a rebuild as the Championship players are obviously not good enough! No doubt. Some of the players are really only League One players too that have played above their ability due to their skill sets fitting well with the system. The premier league is a big step too much. A save goal was to be more loyal to players and not constantly look to be a wheeler dealer, but these players had their chance… On 17/03/2022 at 04:39, SixPointer said: Survival is the main aim and that’s done. Especially with those rough last fixtures I thought after the Fulham loss you were doomed. some deep analysis of the players performance over the seasons and identify your weak points Exactly. I’d given up hope after Fulham, but happily Benjani and the players didn’t! Won’t take analysis that’s all that deep…weak and unintelligent CBs and strikers who can’t finish. On 17/03/2022 at 11:00, haier_fm said: That is a really rough run-in indeed. Would hate to be in Benjani's shoes at that point in time. Yeah, really frustrating run. Made the escape that much more exciting as I’d given up hope. Smart spending is definitely key. Even with all the money they have, it’s still nothing compared to the top clubs…or even those like Wolves who are returning to the top flight in 25/26. On 17/03/2022 at 13:01, DefinitelyTaylor said: That puts me and anybody else who doubted Benjani back into our boxes. You’ll have to include me in that as well, I spent most of the season thinking “they don’t belong here” as I watched horror show after horror show. They did just enough though… 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 20, 2022 Author Share Posted March 20, 2022 Lessons Learned [Now in annoyingly bold! I'm on my 2011 laptop at the moment, and it seems confused. It is what it is, so, without further ado, enjoy another imaginary movie scene. The "serious" analysis is to come in the next post probably tomorrow, though this all heads in that direction...] We see Benjani, alone in his office, lights off watching the Leicester/Arsenal game on his laptop. “That’s the final whistle here at King Power!” the announcer cries. Benjani slumps back in his chair, head back, eyes closed, blowing out a breath that was pure relief. Muffled cheering can be heard as those still at Fratton Park celebrate safety. “It was always going to be a tough ask to beat Arsenal,” the announcer continues, “but Leicester’s inability to find a goal from somewhere has officially doomed them to Championship football next season. It’s anguish here in the East Midlands and surely relief on the South Coast…” Benjani reaches out and shuts the laptop a little hard. The sound echoes like thunder and Benjani is blinded by bright lights. “It’s about time,” Benjani muttered before raising his voice with a little chuckle, “I could have used your help more than once this past year.” “What am I?” Cruyff scoffs. “Your personal servant?” “No,” Benjani sighed, “but I could have used some advice…” Cruyff smirks as he stands next to Benjani “You didn’t take it last time.” “True,” Benjani sighs heavily, “I have…regrets about that.” Cruyff laughs mirthlessly, “I’m sure you do. Like I said before, I respect your loyalty to your players, and they do love you for it, but I think now you’ve seen that, however decent your system, you can’t expect lower league players to perform in the top flight.” As he speaks we see ghost like Portsmouth players get beaten easily on the dribble, out misplace passes, shoot right into the keeper. “But I’m not here to hear you admit that I was right,” Cruyff says, pausing to look at Benjani, “though I was. I’m here because it seems like you’re ready to listen now…” Benjani nods with a heavy sigh, “I can’t shake the feeling that we didn’t deserve to stay up. Some of those games…” “Were all but unwatchable,” Cruyff picks up Benjani’s dangling sentence, “but you did just enough, and got some luck. You cannot count on that luck next season. I’m not telling you to abandon your principles, but you must remember that respect must be earned, rewards must be earned. “Let me tell you a story - One day, Romario asked me if he could miss training to go to Brazil for Carnival. I said: ‘If you score 2 goals tomorrow you can go.’ He scored twice in 20 minutes against Real Madrid and asked to be replaced. ‘Coach, my plane leaves in 1 hour.’” Benjani laughed, “he scored a third that day too didn’t he?” “Yes, I didn’t sub him like he asked, but I did give him the days off. But again, he earned it by scoring. We had an agreement and he held up his side of the bargain, so did I. The other players didn’t like it, accused me of was playing favorites. I invited them to score three against Real Madrid and I would give them extra days off too. I think they got the message.” Benjani chuckles, and in the short pause, Cruyff turns to him. “Mpe. You need to take a long, hard look at your squad. Some of them can play a role, or will have to do for now, but many of them…Many of them should have stayed behind the second division…or third. And don’t forget, a player that is young and can compete at a lower level can’t always grow into the next level up.” “Are you talking about Bryan [Fiabema]?” Cruyff nods, “He’s one of them, yes. Pace and a bit of flair will only get you so far. But he’s not the only one. Mpe, sort out the players, then you can focus on the system. You are in the Premier League. The money is unbelievable. You have the potential to make a great side if you spend well and build wisely. You were a fool not to spend some of it last time, don’t make the same mistake again.” Before Benjani could speak the lights go out and Benjani is back in his office with someone pounding on the door. “Boss! You still in there!!! Did you see the result???” Benjani sighs, “It had to be Bryan [Fiabema]…” He closes for a moment and takes a deep breath. Then he stands up. Cut to black. UP NEXT - Taking a good hard look 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteinkelssonFM Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 Congratulations on escaping the drop, I echo your points on cautious often leads to inviting too much pressure. I like how you trusted your instinct/stubbornness and decided to switch to your brand off football towards the end of the season, which IMO paid dividends. With safety secured and another season in the Premiership, the rebuild begins. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 20, 2022 Author Share Posted March 20, 2022 12 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said: Congratulations on escaping the drop, I echo your points on cautious often leads to inviting too much pressure. I like how you trusted your instinct/stubbornness and decided to switch to your brand off football towards the end of the season, which IMO paid dividends. With safety secured and another season in the Premiership, the rebuild begins. Thanks! There are sides that can absorb pressure really well, but they have to be built for it - aggression, tackling, heading, etc. This side are not. They're built to pass and move and defend with interceptions and, to a lesser extent, pressing. The move back to a progressive look definitely helped. Lost often, but gave the players a fighting chance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 20, 2022 Author Share Posted March 20, 2022 Taking a good hard look Portsmouth survived, but only just. They got a little luck a few times when they needed it, but the margins between survival and relegation had been too thin. Benjani understood that, overall, his squad wasn’t Premier League level, and that it would need summer investment if he wanted Portsmouth to stay in the top flight. It was not hard to see where Portsmouth struggled. While they were decent in midfield, in their own third and their opponents they were not good, ranking in the bottom five for xG for and against, goals conceded and scored, and clear chances created - among other categories. Only in such categories as passes completed and pass percentage did Portsmouth rank in the top ten. They couldn’t defend, they couldn’t attack, they could only pass the ball a lot around in the middle third. [As a side note, I wondered why my Livorno side had returned to Serie A with so much more ease and I think there are a few reasons. First, there were several young loan players that grew into Serie A players before Verdi bought them outright. Second, they’d only been relegated to Serie C the year before the save start. Third, the Premier League has so much money floating around that even the lowest teams can afford a few top class players, but Portsmouth had none. Fourth, Verdi’s 5-2-1-2 was actually pretty defensively solid and the CBs were good defenders first, and passers/BPDs second. As important as anything, maybe, was the loyalty save principle - where Benjani refused to make proactive transfers to better the team. Now back to squad analysis!] Going through player by player was painful, and I won’t go that deep in this post, but I will highlight a handful of players. Defense WCB Lewis Gibson is the first victim to be highlighted, especially as he was a player Benjani had high hopes for. He was also the defender with the second highest average rating (there are issues with these ratings) which shows just how poor they were as a unit. It is probably harsh on Gibson, but he was very indicative of the way Portsmouth “defended”. On paper, when Gibson had signed over the previous summer, he looked like a decent enough player and he showed potential to grow into a good Premier League defender. He’d been excellent in the Championship, able to play both in the left WCB role and the Cover CB role. Getting him on a free had seemed like a huge bargain. The Premier League, however, was not kind. He was not alone in his poor tackling and the amount of blocks and clearances he was forced into was indicative of the state of the whole defense, but two areas were especially disappointing. He didn’t win enough headers - 79% isn’t terrible for a headers won ratio, but his low headers per 90 shows that he wasn’t competing enough when Portsmouth spent a lot of time under pressure. The worst, however, was a team leading 4 mistakes leading to goals, and these were only the clear ones. He had two very soft penalties given away and the completely daft own goal against Liverpool. These mistakes seemingly cost Portsmouth at least four to six points. Why didn’t Benjani play someone else? Gibson's absence with injury coincided with Portsmouth’s first truly abysmal run of form, with backup Kean Bryan looking even less stable on the left. He, like Hamilton on the right, didn’t look so bad from an average rating point of view, but that’s because there’s no stats for “running halfway up the pitch to close down a CM who was already being closed down while leaving a forward open” or “seeing a player run past you and not considering they may just be anticipating an obvious pass from a teammate.” On the other hand, the ratings go up with each pass completed and the WCBs completed a lot of passes. Right sided WCB Hamilton could be excused for some of this due to his offensive output - registering 2 assists, 0.5 key passes per game, and generally being a danger on the dribble - but Gibson didn’t have that side to his game. Hamilton Gibson, however decent he was in pass completions etc, could not be seen as a true attacking threat. It also became clearer throughout the season that he was liable to crack under pressure. This was shown through both his mistakes leading to goals, and through simple observations…and Benjani’s staff agreed. [The dreaded not comfortable in big matches, which, as much as anything, is a sign of mental weakness] Adding to his disappointment was the fact that he really didn’t make any progress over the course of the year, failing to grow into the Premier League level player Benjani hoped he’d become…or even make progress towards becoming that player. Wout Faes Flanked by two well below average CBs, new signing Wout Faes performed below Benjani’s admittedly high expectations as a football playing cover CB. While Faes’ ratings and stats weren’t great, the other defenders did him no favors and on occasion he seemed to feel the need to compensate. [I've been an emergency cover CB on a team that couldn’t defend and it made me look terrible. Choice often was to be aggressive but let the opponent play around you, or try to hedge your bets and wait for an opportunity and risk looking like you’re not even trying.] Some games he’d risen to the task and performed at a very high level, and others he struggled mightily and looked unable to put a foot right. It was a note for the future that he’d done quite well when played as a Libero with the two other CBs in more conservative roles. However, that wasn’t a shape that suited Hamilton at all. Either way, Benjani felt that Faes was a good enough footballer to do a job, and had some great games, but was not suited for the cover role - not in a team that could expect to be under pressure. His only decent strength meant he could be outmuscled by many of the leagues’ forwards. Crosses were a particular weakness of the side for this reason. Even if Faes and Gibson were good in the air, they were often brushed aside by physical forwards, while Hamilton was just not great in the air period. Benjani would be looking to add proven, experienced defenders to his backline as a priority. He hoped for at least decent technical skill, but the focus would be on solid defensive capabilities. Forwards On the other end of the pitch, Bryan Fiabema had similarly disappointed. After scoring a league high 22 goals in the Championship, he fell to 12 in the Premier League. While this wasn’t so bad on the face of it - he just about matched his xG (12.66) - and the step up in quality was always going to make things harder. But that didn’t count the times he failed to make the obvious run or simply disappeared from games. While Benjani still had hope for the 22 year old Norwegian, he had shown that he wasn’t up to the task of leading Portsmouth’s attack - at least not yet. His off the ball movement, composure, and anticipation were all lacking. In the Championship, his pace and flair had been enough, but against top level defenders those alone weren’t. Also, like Gibson, he often was found wanting just when he was needed most. He’d scored two in the 4-2 loss to Arsenal late in the season after the game was already lost - (scoring at 3-0 and 4-1), for instance, but in the relegation six-pointers he was nowhere to be found. On the other side, previously highlighted Marco Da Graca had impressed with his attitude, workrate, and especially his progression. Before the season End of season It wasn't a massive improvement in every category, but small improvements throughout - dribbling, long shots, passing, technique, anticipation, composure, concentration, off the ball, vision (+2), and even stamina and strength. These little improvements, though, showed a player taking advantage of his earned role as a starter and turning into the player he had the potential to become. He was consistently among the top players in training and, as an added bonus, was one of the best defensive forwards in the league. Of course, his goal output could use improvement, but there was a lot to like, and crucially to Benjani, constant, consistent growth. Overall Squad I won’t go through the whole squad this way, but there were only three areas in which Portsmouth were okay - goalkeeper, center midfield, and left wingback - but they also very much needed improvement at right wingback with both options averaging the teams worst average ratings. Tactics Last but not least, a look at the tactics. While this doesn’t account for different variations on the two shapes, a clear picture was formed about their collective effectiveness. NOTE - both shapes were generally set at balanced and the roles in the defense often set to defend. These were the screenshots I had available and they give the idea… It should be said that the 3-4-3 was more often used in games in which Portsmouth were up against it, but either way, the idea of the greater defensive solidity of the shape had been put to bed. Whether it was about balance, the quality of central midfielders in the Premier League in general, or some other factor, it was significantly worse defensively and far worse going forward. Benjani hoped to one day bring it back (or something like it, he’d heard whispers (dreams?) of a three up front system working well in some sexual scandal plagued club in Italy @GIMN) but for now he’d be focusing on the 3-5-2. UP NEXT - Changes 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th Man Posted March 21, 2022 Author Share Posted March 21, 2022 (edited) Changes [Here's a bit more waffling about to throw in the off the pitch changes coming to Portsmouth. Next onto transfers, and catching up to where I am in game in the next few posts] Fade in to Benjani sitting in those giant, more comfortable looking than they are in reality chairs that one might see in an oversized executive office. “What a season,” comes Eric Eisner’s voice, “I’ll admit, there were times when I thought we wouldn’t make it, but you pulled them through and here we are!” “It was too close,” Benjani says. “We only just expected you to fight bravely, and that you did,” Eisner nods sagely. “You stayed within the wage budget too. You maybe, didn’t quite play defensively solid soccer…football,” he chuckles, “but we did enough, didn’t we? Now, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I want you to actually spend the transfer budget this year. We’ve added, what is it?” “£18 million,” says an assistant. “With the leftovers from last season it’s a transfer budget of 45 million pounds.” [After a net transfer spend of only £3m after a late season purchase - more on that later - the board was actively encouraging Benjani to spend, something I’ve never seen!] “We fear,” Eisner says, “that without significant investment, we won’t be so lucky this year. Our bank balance is…more than healthy, but the best way to keep it that way is to stay in this league…” Start 24/25 End 24/25 [The scale had been £10m, with £4.6m in the bank. In one season, the graph’s scale ballooned to £60m with the club’s bank balance only just short of that number.] “I agree,” Benjani says, “we’ve been identifying targets for both the defense and attack.” “Good to hear, Benji!” Eric says heartily. “Now, what’s this I hear about updating training facilities?” “I very much appreciate how we’re upgrading the youth facilities…” Benjani leans forward. “…but with all the money we have now, I think we should also update our training grounds.” “With the plans for the Fratton Park expansion...” the assistant began before getting cut off by a glare from Eisner. Benjani looked to Eisner slightly wide eyed. “I was hoping to tell you myself,” Eisner sent a look to his assistant, “but we’re finally going forward with plans to update and expand Fratton Park to almost 27,500.” [From 21,100] [Portsmouth will play their games in the fictional, newly built (2024) 53,000 seater Tom Finney Stadium in Southampton during construction. I’m very confused by this, figuring at first Southampton had built a new stadium. But no, they still play at St Mary’s. Why the Tom Finney Stadium was built in Southampton is a mystery. So Portsmouth will be playing their home games in the newer, bigger stadium than their rivals in their city, before returning to their relatively small and old-but-updated ground in the 26/27 season. Good times.] “That’s great news!” Benjani says with a smile. “It’s long overdue, but there is a certain character to Fratton Park that would be lost if we built another stadium.” “My father impressed upon me the importance of the community here,” Eisner says with pride, “besides, there's really no suitable place to build a new stadium and much more cost effective to update and expand…” “As you said,” Benjani says after Eisner pauses, “the club is not short in cash. We should take this moment to invest in the club. Bring it up to date. Let’s have top youth facilities, an updated ground, and top training facilities.” “You know what?” Eisner says thoughtfully, “you’re right. We’ll do it. You just promise to actually improve the team this year, okay?” Fade to black. Edited March 21, 2022 by 13th Man 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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