[FM22] Matryoshka

[_Ben_]

(Early) June 2028

Nothing changing on the pitch, yet, but I'm putting in to place some nice backroom moves thanks to the adverts that I've placed.

With the contract expiry date coming, I decided to have a good look at the staff I have. One annoyance of mine is that I can't advertise when I have someone in position and, due to the fact that I am not using the Staff Search at all, I have to take the dive and remove my staff before seeing if I can attract any better. Fortunately, I was able to:

Bit of a shock at this appointment! The ex-Kuwait u19 manager, Andres Carrasco, wanted the job and is a step up in all areas. The fact he's Spanish might have a bigger impact on any recruitment going forward as it will unlock some knowledge there, too.

I continued in this vein, similarly attracting some other Spaniards, as I have overhauled and improved the setup. I'd like that Lobo, Oyarzabal and Carrasco will all enjoy the harsh Russian winters together, mumbling expletives in their native tongue! I also managed to attract Yemeni Saoud Al-Sawedi to the club, who'll broaden my view on the world, if nothing else!

Coaching

Recruitment

Medical

----

A long way to go, but there has been an attempt to align the playing styles and formations of the coaching staff as well as appointing knowledgeable and positive-personality staff elsewhere.

[gmanthos96]

How are you dealing with transfers and scouting?

You sign only scout's recommendations? And how do you use player search (attrs or stats)?

[_Ben_]

7 minutes ago, gmanthos96 said:

How are you dealing with transfers and scouting?

You sign only scout's recommendations? And how do you use player search (attrs or stats)?

Just writing a post on that as I prepare for the transfer window to open!

At this point - I am completely using Agent Offers, the Recruitment Team and then DoF recommendations to find the players. The only time I use the player search feature is to collate statistics to export to Excel. It's actually quite a challenge for me but I'm really enjoying it!

[_Ben_]

(Late) June 2028

Three fixtures so far. The first and last against stronger sides, in which I played my first choice players, where possible, with the middle game showcasing the promising talent, strength in depth and a platform for returning injuries.

---

I'm ramping up my recruitment for the new season but, surprisingly, was offered two jobs: PFC Kuban, just relegated to this tier and, more surprisingly, Rubin Kazan of the Premier League. For scale, their top earner takes home 4x what my entire team does right now. Whilst this is my ultimate goal, there is no rush for it and, in a really honest way, the jump would be ok if there'd be that real life struggle and, probable, sacking before picking up again which doesn't seem to happen as much in FM.

The issue that I'm faced with right now is our finances. We cannot afford any great scouting packages and, therefore, I've made a concerted effort to bring the Agent offers back to the forefront. I'm able to attract players from the leagues below us, which will require some careful scouting but we aren't going to be able to compete with any other sides at this level for a little while.

This is the level I'm at, right now...

---

There has been one agent offer that has piqued my interest:

For the sake of reality, TRIALIST 2, comes in for four weeks. Attribute wise, he's strong - certainly lacking in defensive skill, for a full back, but strong. His agent reckons he'd want a wage that'd put him at the bottom end of my wage structure - around £250 per week and he won't cost anything as he's currently on a non-contract with Beauvais, in the French National 2. In comparison with my other left back, you can see the weaknesses but I'm thinking further forward - utilising the Pace, Dribbling and Crossing ability as a left winger. For this level, compared to other midfielders:

• Pace - 13 vs 11.67 league average
• Dribbling - 11 vs 10.82 league average
• Crossing - 10 vs 7.19 league average
• Technique - 9 vs 10.85 league average

Could this kid be slowly developed into a dangerous winger?

[karanhsingh]

5 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

(Early) June 2028

Nothing changing on the pitch, yet, but I'm putting in to place some nice backroom moves thanks to the adverts that I've placed.

With the contract expiry date coming, I decided to have a good look at the staff I have. One annoyance of mine is that I can't advertise when I have someone in position and, due to the fact that I am not using the Staff Search at all, I have to take the dive and remove my staff before seeing if I can attract any better. Fortunately, I was able to:

Bit of a shock at this appointment! The ex-Kuwait u19 manager, Andres Carrasco, wanted the job and is a step up in all areas. The fact he's Spanish might have a bigger impact on any recruitment going forward as it will unlock some knowledge there, too.

I continued in this vein, similarly attracting some other Spaniards, as I have overhauled and improved the setup. I'd like that Lobo, Oyarzabal and Carrasco will all enjoy the harsh Russian winters together, mumbling expletives in their native tongue! I also managed to attract Yemeni Saoud Al-Sawedi to the club, who'll broaden my view on the world, if nothing else!

Coaching

Recruitment

Medical

----

A long way to go, but there has been an attempt to align the playing styles and formations of the coaching staff as well as appointing knowledgeable and positive-personality staff elsewhere.

That's interesting. I've long since believed there should be a better and more realistic way to scout staff. Especially after they introduced the technical director. Ideally they should have blacked out attributed for staff as well. It makes no sense that as manager of a second division team in Turkey I am able to search and know exact details about every staff member across the globe. I had suggested this as a feature as well. 

[Sonic Youth]

1 hour ago, karanhsingh said:

That's interesting. I've long since believed there should be a better and more realistic way to scout staff. Especially after they introduced the technical director. Ideally they should have blacked out attributed for staff as well. It makes no sense that as manager of a second division team in Turkey I am able to search and know exact details about every staff member across the globe. I had suggested this as a feature as well. 

But but the internet knows everything!  

[Sonic Youth]

5 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

(Late) June 2028

Three fixtures so far. The first and last against stronger sides, in which I played my first choice players, where possible, with the middle game showcasing the promising talent, strength in depth and a platform for returning injuries.

---

I'm ramping up my recruitment for the new season but, surprisingly, was offered two jobs: PFC Kuban, just relegated to this tier and, more surprisingly, Rubin Kazan of the Premier League. For scale, their top earner takes home 4x what my entire team does right now. Whilst this is my ultimate goal, there is no rush for it and, in a really honest way, the jump would be ok if there'd be that real life struggle and, probable, sacking before picking up again which doesn't seem to happen as much in FM.

The issue that I'm faced with right now is our finances. We cannot afford any great scouting packages and, therefore, I've made a concerted effort to bring the Agent offers back to the forefront. I'm able to attract players from the leagues below us, which will require some careful scouting but we aren't going to be able to compete with any other sides at this level for a little while.

This is the level I'm at, right now...

---

There has been one agent offer that has piqued my interest:

For the sake of reality, TRIALIST 2, comes in for four weeks. Attribute wise, he's strong - certainly lacking in defensive skill, for a full back, but strong. His agent reckons he'd want a wage that'd put him at the bottom end of my wage structure - around £250 per week and he won't cost anything as he's currently on a non-contract with Beauvais, in the French National 2. In comparison with my other left back, you can see the weaknesses but I'm thinking further forward - utilising the Pace, Dribbling and Crossing ability as a left winger. For this level, compared to other midfielders:

• Pace - 13 vs 11.67 league average
• Dribbling - 11 vs 10.82 league average
• Crossing - 10 vs 7.19 league average
• Technique - 9 vs 10.85 league average

Could this kid be slowly developed into a dangerous winger?

Trialist 2 looks interesting and a bit surprising he is only a fullback.

[SixPointer]

Just catching up. Incredible work as always! The depth is brilliant while it’s delivered in such a way that it keeps you engaged. 
 

And congratulations on promotion with a clear style of play and philosophy which yes I agree you should take with you everywhere you go. Much like many managers these days! 

[_Ben_]

7 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

That's interesting. I've long since believed there should be a better and more realistic way to scout staff. Especially after they introduced the technical director. Ideally they should have blacked out attributed for staff as well. It makes no sense that as manager of a second division team in Turkey I am able to search and know exact details about every staff member across the globe. I had suggested this as a feature as well. 

Absolutely! There certainly needs to be some kind of attribute masking and I'd love to be able to send my recruitment analyst out to go and find me those staff. Maybe that will come. They already do recommend staff in those meetings but it still feels a bit easy to gather a good backroom team!

6 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Trialist 2 looks interesting and a bit surprising he is only a fullback.

He's your stereotypical modern-day wing back. So much so that he's listed as a Complete Wing Back. I think I'm going to pursue the Inverted Wing Back idea with though, just working hard on him defensively.

2 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Just catching up. Incredible work as always! The depth is brilliant while it’s delivered in such a way that it keeps you engaged. 
 

And congratulations on promotion with a clear style of play and philosophy which yes I agree you should take with you everywhere you go. Much like many managers these days! 

Absolutely agree with the philosophy being realistic. Thanks for commenting and enjoying! I'm going to spend some time catching up on the other saves over the weekend.

[_Ben_]

(Early) July 2028

A bit of a financial back story before getting into the nitty gritty of player recruitment. We're a club that has struggled to stay in the black recently, with us falling as much as half a million pound in debt. Here is our current situation, but this will be offset by the near £1.8m we receive for TV rights this year.

To kick off my recruitment process, I think it's really important to look at how we've spent our money last season. This gives me a great opportunity to dig into Excel to work a few things out. I want to look at, in particular, the wage costs but also those hidden costs, which certainly add up -  appearance fees, non-used fees etc. They are something that I am making a concerted effort to remove and/or manage when I am negotiating with players. As I progress, this process will be left to my DoF but we're not financially stable enough to allow that right now. That's a little unrealistic, if I'm honest, but I do feel like, in real life, there'd at least be a conversation or some understanding about the process that the club wants to take, financially, moving forward.

Here is the chart:

There is some really interesting stuff here, that I'd have otherwise missed. Guseinov, despite being a low earner, is getting a fortune for every time he plays and took home an extra £3k last year on top of his base salary of around £17k. This is not what I want to be doing as I don't want to be having to make team selections based on financial concern, as I'm really looking to move to the head coach approach of training progress and hitting those KPIs each match. I have ranked the players based on their cost per minute (total costs for the season divided by minutes played last year) as well as their average DNA, a big part of my recruitment process, and their Average Rating last year.

It is concerning that Staver, my backup keeper is head and shoulders above everyone else, despite having a relatively low wage and small appearance costs. He's also not the greatest of fits in terms of my DNA so he could be someone that would be replaced, if I was able to do this. However, I am aware that, with just two appearances, these numbers will be hugely skewed so may opt to wait and compare this again at a later date. Whilst Kiselev and Budonov cost me a fair bit - just about £15 per minute they played, they are in the top three for DNA suitability and performances so I have no issues with them. Looking further down, the likes of Marjanov, Kaplenko and Semenov are real value for money and it's important that I continue to look for players like this. Those listed in red have expiring contracts and there is, probably, a compelling argument that, given their costs, none of them necessarily are guaranteed to remain - certainly not with their current wage and add-on structure and their game time as it was last year.

---

So, that kind of leaves me shopping list as:

Vital

• A new centre back to replace the outgoing Idrisov and Kudryatsev and the returning loan of Bykovskiy.
• A new left winger to replace the returning loan of Bugaev.

Important

• A new right back to replace the outgoing Tikhonov as cover for Marjanov or Karailliev.
• A new left back to provide cover for Gaidarov.

Potential

• A DM who can offer better value for money than Gusangadjiev and proper competition for Kaplenko.
• A more cost effective right winger than Guisenov to rotate with Martuzaliev.

---

Here are my dealings, so far:

Mikhail Belous.  Denis Kabanov. Hervé Buisson.

Mikhail is a really strong winger from the Rubin Kazan academy who will immediately fill the gap that I had there, allowing Begun to move into a rotational role up top, taking some of the onus off Budunov. Whilst he's not far from my top earner, his basic wage is all I am paying him and he'll play a lot. He's quick off the mark and good technically for this level. I've got really high hopes for him. Denis Kabanov is a name you may remember as he was a signing I made at Mashuk. It shows how much of a coup that was as he's good enough for the tier above. He's come into a defence that was barely challenged last year but will add some extra quality. He's not as fast as I would have wanted but, mentally, is really strong for us. Buisson was the trialist that I mentioned earlier and he'll be coming in to learn from Gaidarov and, hopefully, develop as a Left Back. I am concerned he's the only French speaker and also at the huge difference between my Scout report and Coach report but he's certainly one for the future.

This is our current depth chart:

Italics show those with expiring deals.

It's still a little light, if I'm being honest but there is definitely more strength within the team, particularly when you look at the core of my first XI. There is plenty of time until the transfer window closes and I will ensure that I am continuing to look out for players who can improve this squad. Here is what is left now:

Vital  - ✔

Important - ½

• A new right back to replace the outgoing Tikhonov as cover for Marjanov or Karailliev.

Potential - x

• A DM who can offer better value for money than Gusangadjiev and proper competition for Kaplenko.
• A more cost effective right winger than Guisenov to rotate with Martuzaliev.

---

I'm posting now as we've just finished our pre-season with a nice rout of Dinamo Makhachkala's B side:

On to Zenit-2 to open up the season! More at the end of the month...

[RogerC]

All those small details are amazing!! Loving the financial analysis, I have a similar table myself but the cost per minutes and  % of wage for add-ons are REALLY interesting to see and will certainly be adding this to mine!

You are building promising squad and such an entertaining story! In regards to the staff, I completely agree with you and @karanhsingh that staff attribute masking would give another dimension to the game and even more to career stories such as this.

[_Ben_]

1 hour ago, RogerC said:

All those small details are amazing!! Loving the financial analysis, I have a similar table myself but the cost per minutes and  % of wage for add-ons are REALLY interesting to see and will certainly be adding this to mine!

You are building promising squad and such an entertaining story! In regards to the staff, I completely agree with you and @karanhsingh that staff attribute masking would give another dimension to the game and even more to career stories such as this.

Thanks! I quite enjoyed that cost per minute thing, actually. I'd seen it somewhere on Twitter and thought it'd be good. It's either telling me that I'm not playing my rotational players enough or paying them too much - either way, they've not quite got the suitability I want nor did they perform well enough. Interestingly, all of them are left over from the previous regime.

I cannot believe the depth I'm in with these players yet still only in the second tier of Russian football. There is potentially another five or ten years before I get to a club that will be churning out quality prospects for me to develop and spend my time there. However, the day-to-day running, training and tactics, is really something I'm enjoying diving deeper and deeper into.

[Hootieleece]

I wish I understood tactics better and knew how to tweak them. My biggest problem is I didn't grow up playing football/soccer. I sometimes wish I had your insights that would help me navigate the tactics side of the game.

If I could do that I might get as invested as you in my players and the detail... I enjoy micromanaging.

Great Work on your Russian Campaign.

Mine pales by comparison.

This is great work one of the many places I go for inspiration and Ideas.

 

[_Ben_]

23 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

I wish I understood tactics better and knew how to tweak them. My biggest problem is I didn't grow up playing football/soccer. I sometimes wish I had your insights that would help me navigate the tactics side of the game.

If I could do that I might get as invested as you in my players and the detail... I enjoy micromanaging.

Great Work on your Russian Campaign.

Mine pales by comparison.

This is great work one of the many places I go for inspiration and Ideas.

 

Thank you! Whilst I really appreciate the kind words, I will say that there is a huge difference between playing the game and then knowing how to change the game in FM! Although I do have that tactical knowledge and have spent so much of my life watching football!

Don't put yourself and your thread style down - I enjoy your reading your threads and it's always interesting to see how leagues play out in different saves.

[_Ben_]

July 2028

Just the two games this month as we lost one to a waterlogged pitch at the Anji stadium. Whilst this is nothing too much right now, I do know that the fixture list piles up, with at least eight games to come in October. Not really ideal if we are then having to re-arrange previously cancelled fixtures, too.

We've got six points despite not scoring from open play yet and really not doing a huge amount of attacking play. However, I guess, at this point, that's needed. We went ahead quite early against Zenit's second team, also promoted to this division this season, thanks to a header from a corner by Kairalliev. I tend to watch the games in a decent amount of depth and found myself wanting to dig into some more reactive approaches, based on their tactics. With natural width going forward, I switched from IWB(s) to FB(s) on both sides and pulled Martuzaliev from a W(s) to a DW(s) in order to counter the overload that the roles suggested would come. It worked pretty well and, although they are a team that is, apparently, worse than ours, it's nice to start with a win - even if it wasn't entirely convincing.

Next up was a completely different type of game. Shinnik have just been relegated to this level and their squad isn't much different to the one that they fielded last year. I, again, went into a bit more depth with my approach, being proactive this time and reducing our risk (mentality) as well as our pressing triggers. They deployed two IF and two DMs in a double pivot - which meant that I was able to keep my IWBs as well as trigger a press on the two DMs as to not give them free time to pick a pass over the top. As I alluded to earlier, we didn't do that well. Our goal came from a penalty and it made up 1/3 of our shots on target and all but 0.13xG of our total. Our pass map shows our tight, compact shape which, in fairness, made it hard for Shinnik to get close - their average shot xG being worth just 0.08xG and that is great - certainly better than the match momentum graph, anyway!

---

It's far too early to make any predictions and far too early to really comment on any tactical ideologies but we are picking up points. I certainly want to be a style over substance manager as we evolve, but, at this stage, points on the board are far more important.

[RogerC]

2 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

Thanks! I quite enjoyed that cost per minute thing, actually. I'd seen it somewhere on Twitter and thought it'd be good. It's either telling me that I'm not playing my rotational players enough or paying them too much - either way, they've not quite got the suitability I want nor did they perform well enough. Interestingly, all of them are left over from the previous regime.

I cannot believe the depth I'm in with these players yet still only in the second tier of Russian football. There is potentially another five or ten years before I get to a club that will be churning out quality prospects for me to develop and spend my time there. However, the day-to-day running, training and tactics, is really something I'm enjoying diving deeper and deeper into.

And this reflects in the great story-telling 

1 hour ago, Hootieleece said:

I wish I understood tactics better and knew how to tweak them. My biggest problem is I didn't grow up playing football/soccer. I sometimes wish I had your insights that would help me navigate the tactics side of the game.

If I could do that I might get as invested as you in my players and the detail... I enjoy micromanaging.

Great Work on your Russian Campaign.

Mine pales by comparison.

This is great work one of the many places I go for inspiration and Ideas.

 

I'm  absolutely on the same boat as you.

I am slowly trying to go into finer details, I've realized I've been playing FM for so many years and barely scratching the surface of what can be done, both on and off the game analytics wise. What I like most about Ben's stories is how with a low amount of images per post and mostly short updates he transmits A LOT of information and detail which immerses you into the save.

[Sonic Youth]

1 hour ago, _Ben_ said:

July 2028

Just the two games this month as we lost one to a waterlogged pitch at the Anji stadium. Whilst this is nothing too much right now, I do know that the fixture list piles up, with at least eight games to come in October. Not really ideal if we are then having to re-arrange previously cancelled fixtures, too.

We've got six points despite not scoring from open play yet and really not doing a huge amount of attacking play. However, I guess, at this point, that's needed. We went ahead quite early against Zenit's second team, also promoted to this division this season, thanks to a header from a corner by Kairalliev. I tend to watch the games in a decent amount of depth and found myself wanting to dig into some more reactive approaches, based on their tactics. With natural width going forward, I switched from IWB(s) to FB(s) on both sides and pulled Martuzaliev from a W(s) to a DW(s) in order to counter the overload that the roles suggested would come. It worked pretty well and, although they are a team that is, apparently, worse than ours, it's nice to start with a win - even if it wasn't entirely convincing.

Next up was a completely different type of game. Shinnik have just been relegated to this level and their squad isn't much different to the one that they fielded last year. I, again, went into a bit more depth with my approach, being proactive this time and reducing our risk (mentality) as well as our pressing triggers. They deployed two IF and two DMs in a double pivot - which meant that I was able to keep my IWBs as well as trigger a press on the two DMs as to not give them free time to pick a pass over the top. As I alluded to earlier, we didn't do that well. Our goal came from a penalty and it made up 1/3 of our shots on target and all but 0.13xG of our total. Our pass map shows our tight, compact shape which, in fairness, made it hard for Shinnik to get close - their average shot xG being worth just 0.08xG and that is great - certainly better than the match momentum graph, anyway!

---

It's far too early to make any predictions and far too early to really comment on any tactical ideologies but we are picking up points. I certainly want to be a style over substance manager as we evolve, but, at this stage, points on the board are far more important.

Good to start the new campaign with wins 

Rescheduling games in Russia must be a nightmare considering the distances between each team (Moscow based teams excepted).

[DefinitelyTaylor]

As you say, early days. A good start nevertheless which can never be sniffed at. I also want to take this opportunity to share that I also appreciate the level of detail and the focus on some of the finer aspects.

[john1]

Decent start after 2 games  

[_Ben_]

14 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Rescheduling games in Russia must be a nightmare considering the distances between each team (Moscow based teams excepted).

Fortunately, and in an unrealistic way, FM does not seem to quite do the travelling part right. Just look at the distance we, from our stadium in Kaspiyk, have to travel to away games:

Yet, we still lose just one session for both the away trip to Astrakhan and to Khabarovsk!

On this note - SKA are certainly a team I'd love to manage on this journey as they are from the far East and it'd, potentially, be a nice time to look at the Chinese and Korean market for players - which is very much undervalued by me.

[_Ben_]

1 hour ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

As you say, early days. A good start nevertheless which can never be sniffed at. I also want to take this opportunity to share that I also appreciate the level of detail and the focus on some of the finer aspects.

29 minutes ago, john1 said:

Decent start after 2 games  

Definitely! I'm just finishing August now, which has certainly put a slight change to that narrative! Thanks for commenting and enjoying the read.

[_Ben_]

August 2028

I wanted to share the media predictions to add some context to the below results as we really should have been doing what we've been doing to some of these sides! The 2-teams we've faced this month finished second and third last season so that also shows their pedigree. We've had a really successful month and I'm feeling very confident that, whatever happens from now, the word relegation shouldn't be in our vocabulary.

We started with our most local derby (at 500km away!) against Volgar where we controlled from start to finish. Budonov got on the end of a cross for our first non-set play goal of the season before Kaplenko scored from the spot, again. We seem to be getting pushed an awful lot from attacking set plays and, in most pressers, I'm asked about the standard of officiating here in Russia. Of course, I say nothing as it's going for us, but I'm not sure this is as intended. Next up, we blew Sochi away. There is absolutely no way we should have scored five against a team that has played most of its time in the top tier-  however, we were utterly ruthless, adding three in about the last half hour as they tired. Puchkov squandered a great chance against Akron to keep up our 100% start but we'd already missed a penalty at that point - and that is on me for allowing 16-year-old Djabrailov to have a go in order to kick off his scoring career. A penalty win in the cup sandwiched that and our first loss, against a strong Spartak-2 side, playing a really unusual 4-1-2-2-1 narrow shape (an AM, AP and F9 formed the front three). That is the kind of thing we need to overcome as we look to progress through this level. My second string overcame Stavropol in the cup before we secured a good draw against Dinamo-2 in my 100th game.

Overall, a month in which we have recorded a greater value xG than each of our opponents, is, in itself, a great start. Now that I can get back into the Data Hub, I will continue my development with the finer details, such as these below:

We're losing more possession in the midfield zone (28% to 22% last year) and are winning the ball back closer to our own area (36% to 32%) and this is also noticeable with our defensive actions, with now nearly a third happening in our box compared to just under a quarter last year. We've also been a little less attacking - completing 9% of our passes just outside of their area compared to 14% last year. This is obviously not entirely comparable as we are facing different, and stronger, opposition right now but we've got some nice things to work towards.

----

I've not been able to find any suitable reinforcements within my wage structure and of the quality required so I have a threadbare squad.  Looking at my calendar, I need to make some changes to ensure that we have a fully fit and refreshed squad, as the fixtures pile up. Looking at the calendar, you'll also see that our youth team play on different days to us, altering the training for those youngsters I allow to participate using the below method.

In an ideal world, only the lowest level of fitness would equate to no pitch or gym work and the second would be on half intensity, with two groups training at normal intensity. That, currently, just won't work as we are battling two or three day turn-arounds, so I need to adapt. It may have an impact on player development but that is secondary to on-pitch performances at present.

----

We also had a youth player poached, which is the first I've noticed. I must have missed that of Guseinov, who started here at Anji, and is now looking like a really good player. I have a clause to get some money from him, but that'd only equate to about £200k at the moment, which I think may pale into comparison with the amount he may move on for.

Edited December 12, 2021 by _Ben_

[_Ben_]

September 2028

A slightly more difficult month, on the pitch for us as well as off it, as we reached the deadline day without a single further reinforcement to the squad. Time will tell whether my threadbare squad of largely-inexperienced professionals will be able to handle life at this level, but we'll give it a go!

However, we have faced four of the teams above us this season and Leningradets were also above us before we played them - so this has been a hard month and we can certainly come out of it with our heads held high.

We escaped somewhat against Khimki, holding them to just a few really good chances but we, at least, looked strong and compact at the back. We took that, and then added some offensive prowess into the Leningradets game, comfortably winning with youngster Djabrailov netting his first goal, following his penalty miss last month. We returned to the resolve shown against Khimki as Baltika came to town, again, stopping them having any really clear cut, high xG, chances. 1-1 probably looks like a good result but, if you consider that we'd been reduced to nine men within 22 minutes: a rash challenge by Kiselev followed, just ten minutes later, by an even more rash challenge from his replacement Djabrailov, shows how good it was. They did have a man sent off, too, but we were in no position to really attack. SKA taught us a lesson in clinical finishing in an even game in the Far East before Orenburg also did the same - somehow coming away with the points. We gifted them a two goal headstart within nine minutes, but, after that, were great. Budunov squandered a great chance to level the game just after the hour, adding to his first but, somehow, missed. We were really getting back into the game but their third, a fortuitous strike, was too much for us to come back from.

October is busy.  There is some rest bite though, potentially, as, on paper, the quality of teams is not as strong. Volga sit 17th, Tyumen: 14th, Neftekhimik: 2nd, Kuban: 3rd, Fakel: 19th, Torpedo: 5th and Metallurg: 20th. I'd love to be taking full points from the home games against those below us as well as away draws at the teams below us. Against the three above us, considering two are at home, I'd certainly take a point or two extra.

Our season wasn't defined by last month and my career won't be defined, really, by this season, but it's always nice to win!

---

There is, however, some growing concern from board level:

Whilst my job is still untouchable - there has been a concern around the lack of attacking football being played. Firstly, I think that the board need to re-assess following our promotion and, secondly, I don't really see the two styles that they favour interacting. We certainly do try and play on the counter and that comes from a solid defence and a compact shape, not free flowing attacking play. Granted, if you look at our shooting stats, you'll see we are a shy in front of goal, and, even when we do shoot, they aren't great quality. But surely, that's to be expected of a team with the smallest payroll and new to this league! Furthermore, our passing stats suggest that we could be doing more to create more chances. It's in our design that we don't have tonnes of the ball but we are built with players who move into spaces and play progressive, high risk balls. When this works, it looks great; when it doesn't, we naturally struggle. Looking at the actual midfielders would suggest that there is some underperformance as a lot of these, Kiselev in particular, were much further right on the scatter last year.

However, we're having to be a very different type of team this year and, in my opinion, that's necessary. I'll live and die by this ethos and, if Anji don't like it, they'll have to find someone else! (I don't think it's going to be a problem given the low level of importance but it's certainly something that does create friction between the board and a manager).

[SixPointer]

Strange that the board wants counter attacking football as well as attacking, to me they are a contrast of styles but i think FM just measures attacking football by how many goals you score. So my reading off it in game is they want you to score loads of goals from playing counter attack 

[Sonic Youth]

Looking good so far this season. If the board wanted attacking football, they should back you more in the transfer market as incoming players of better quality are only going to help a thread bare squad attack.

A good run in October could see a reward in position on the table, namely into a playoff position 

[Matt_1979]

On 13/11/2021 at 18:13, _Ben_ said:

October 2025

Now, time to have a look at how I can translate what I've learnt to the pitch. I'm setting up, initially, with this shape and these roles:

Without a pre-season to hone a tactic and get to know the players, I have to create something that can be adjusted on the fly and still be strong enough to work out in the short term. Despite having some decent wide players, I have opted to use them in the midfield strata because we are a struggling team and need to ensure that we maintain our defensive stability and shape. I have also attempted to add no team instructions that can't be done through player instructions or roles because I want to analyse how we play in the short term, building the tactic as I learn about the players.

I have tried to keep the player roles fairly vanilla, too. My use of IWBs is largely because we lack proper, offensive wing backs at this point and, with Morozov a great fit for a Half Back, I'm happy to allow them to drift inside. It also will allow Sakharov and Rodin, two creative players, to combine down the left and side and let my winger (even though he's right footed) to provide width and a shooting opportunity going forward. Shershnev's role will be flexible - just fifteen interceptions in fifteen games but I want more from him and his great stamina.

Additionally, I have pre-added some opposition instructions for areas of the pitch that I want us to pay close attention too. The higher defensive line and this targeted press is designed to keep us on the front foot at all times, even though we may be a) lacking in confidence and b) lacking in quality in some areas.

---

The response from the team is this:

Passing, Creative Freedom, Tempo and Width are standard - meaning that the players have received no instruction on how to operate in these areas and, as such, may lead to some confusion early on as the role mentalities and individual instructions will lead this - but I will analyse and adapt as we go on. The players I have picked - probably my preferred XI - are only competent in their PRD so my first task in the three days before my first fixture is to get as much work done into this as we can.

I have combined these Match Prep blocks with a just one extra session, Attacking Corners before I face FC Tuapse.

Here are some notes and initial tweaks that I plan to make, taken from the analyst report:

• 9 of their 21 goals came from deep areas (7 being long balls) so I shall ensure that the pressing is hot from the first minute. I don't want to give them time to launch something. It also indicates that they might have a fast offence, but I'll address that in game. Their shape backs this up and I may choose here to man mark their AP in order to fully stop this.
• 41% of their goals come between the 15th and 30th minute, yet they concede more than they score before that. I want to get at them and use that buzz of a new manager to get ahead before, probably, retreating as they grow into the game. This might suggest their manager is good at motivating them with shouts.
• They have a CCC F/A of -23 when facing a 4-2-3-1, which my shape can basically translate into but do tend to do well (+6 CCC F/A) against a 4-1-4-1, so I need to get those midfielders further forward. It might be that I move to a more Positive style early on.

 

 

Great post. (Sorry, catching up)

[Matt_1979]

On 13/11/2021 at 22:23, _Ben_ said:

October 2025

Two games. Four points. Seeing things after 180 minutes that I did not after 5.

With little to no preparation time for the Tuapse tie, I went into it trying to scramble as much tactical familiarity and togetherness as I could - praising the training of the players and lifting their spirits with a couple of media interviews. The game was a cagey affair; as you'd expect from a side who have just appointed a new boss and two sides who are in poor form. They edged the xG, 1.14xG to 1.04xG but our shot quality was higher (as we took less shots) and this is the kind of silver lining I need to look for as I rebuild the image of this club. We conceded early as they found space outside my right sided IWB, Khripkov, and finished well. We reacted well but it was a screamer from Sergeev that brought us level, netting from 25 yards with an xG of just 0.04xG. The game petered out after half time as I was more concerned about plugging gaps than creating my own chances. Over the course of this early period, without the depth from my threadbare analysis team, I'll be conducting some data collection myself. In fitting with my tactical and managerial ideology, I want to see whether these lads can play progressive football and recover the ball for the full ninety minutes. My plan is to compare these stats as we go forward, but the initial data for this game is:

• Mashuk PPDA (passes per defensive action - how many passes did we complete before we were fouled or dispossessed): 11.82
• Tuapse PPDA: 23.36
• Mashuk Progressive Passes: 134
• Mashuk Gained Possession: 84

Big alarm bells. Our press just didn't work. We were lazy and allowed Tuapse 55% of the ball. Now, I'm certainly not about possession for possession sake but they had twice the amount of touches before we won the ball back or fouled them in our half.

I wanted to change things against Kuban and go a bit more offensive. We moved to Positive, Underlapped on the left (combining the AP(s) in the MCL role with the IWB(s) in the DL role) and added a Counter-Press to our game. I also worked on our attacking areas in the week:

This is how I like to structure my week. I always recover and do some lighter work on Monday before working on a key aspect of the game, in units on the second day. We come together in the most demanding day on Day 3 before returning to our key foci and adding in some match preparation work on the Thursday before solely preparing on the Friday. I think the Attacking blocks looking at wing play, direct football and overlapping players works really well as the latter does actually put a main focus on defensive players and their ability to attack, too - as seen below:

We came away from Kuban with an important three points and, in my opinion, a much better understanding of how we can play. Our metrics were much improved: 18 of our own passes before a defensive action was taken against us and only 11.06 for the opposition, 164 progressive passes and sixteen more ball recoveries. I think that we can play in this, more aggressive, manner, it's not just about balancing out the risk with the reward. We created 1.02xG, which is a worry - even more so when you consider we have only scored more than once in a game two times this whole season but pass completion was up, to 84% and, armed with data, I can now start to build on the below graphs to win the ball higher up the pitch, attempt more passes in their opposition half and, hopefully, continue our rise up the table.

Tuapse PPDA: 23.36
 

Aaarrrggghhhhhhhh. Brilliant article. We also share similar philosophies about training, which is good. 

[_Ben_]

On 12/12/2021 at 21:09, SixPointer said:

Strange that the board wants counter attacking football as well as attacking, to me they are a contrast of styles but i think FM just measures attacking football by how many goals you score. So my reading off it in game is they want you to score loads of goals from playing counter attack 

13 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

If the board wanted attacking football, they should back you more in the transfer market as incoming players of better quality are only going to help a thread bare squad attack.

All part of the challenge, I guess! I can't always get on with the board.

I think you're right in that attacking just means goals rather than fluid attacking football, as we do create that in abundance when we can attack. A lot of our matches have this kind of pattern:

This is, maybe, extreme, as we lost, away from home, but this is what they're probably not happy with. A quick break and a chance (we recorded 1.12xG here from 11 shots) isn't recognised in the overall ebb and flow of the game because it's so quick and clinical. I want to build a team that is so strong and rigid defensively that these kind of danger-charts don't fluster me - even if they clearly are flustering the board!

[_Ben_]

October 2028

A really up and down month, if I'm honest. When you look at the base training template I'm using for these two game weeks, you'll see how much I, as a massive proponent of player development, struggle. We just have to recover, prepare and play before repeating the process. 

We're still considerably higher up the league than I expected at the half-way point and I'm hopeful of a successful second half whereby we solidify this top half role. We're certainly short of a promotion challenge and I don't necessarily want that, anyway.

We opened up with two decent victories against teams below us in the table - even without necessarily creating a lot. Again, harking back to this attacking football - I'd say we're not there yet, even if we are showing it in glimpses by the scoreline, yet are securing some really potent counter-attacking football. We lost to Neftekhimink, in a game that showcases exactly that - what happens if our counter doesn't work. Our chances were low quality and, despite having more than the opposition, struggle to break down a lower block when we ourselves play a low-ish block. A draw with Kuban, above us at the time, was quite disappointing as I felt we were getting back to our best again. A narrow away win over Fakel followed a narrow away loss to Torpedo - both games separated by very tight margins. The month ended with a stellar defensive performance against bottom of the table Metallurg.

Still a long way to go with the tactical direction but I've really got to consider a few things here:

• As a perceived weak team - we're more able to counter higher and more offensive blocks, which will change.
• As a lower reputation team - our players are, largely, of less quality than the opposition and that's another cause for this impotence in front of goal.
• As a team new to this league - we're not entirely sure of where we stand and, potentially, can revert to a more cautious approach - and that is on me.

My job as I go in to November, below, is to iron those out:

Quite a tough month, game wise, but, more than anything, just schedule wise. Four home games gives us a chance to work on our counter attacking style as teams are slightly more likely to still come at us, even away from home.

---

This popped up at the end of the month. Interesting? Yes. Slightly concerning? Also, yes. I don't feel that it'd make a good move for the length of this career and my the realism if I was to make a step up to the top league. In just over 100 career games, I can't really have navigated my way through the pyramid. Whilst I'm enjoying this game, I am feeling a little that success has been quite easy to come by. At this point - I'd really take a few scrappy jobs, maybe sideways moves, keeping teams up and then moving on. I don't want to engineer jobs for the sake of it - in my early attempts at journeyman saves, five or so years back, I just used to move on each season and never really get involved. That's not how I want to play now but I want to feel that my move to the top flight is realistic and I've earned it.

[Sonic Youth]

It was times like these where going up was all about chucking everything at staying up, finances be damned for a season or two to get into Europe as fast as possible as well. The last few versions though need a more measured approach.

Though a season of consolidation could help as well 

[13th Man]

Not surprised you've kept up the form and demolished the league at the end of last season and carried that form into the next.  When you do that well, it bodes well for next season at the next level.  You might just head right on up again?  Just need a bit more consistency!  Staying up would be plenty of an accomplishment and it looks like, overall, you've kept up the same type of play as well and been successful.

Edited December 14, 2021 by 13th Man

[karanhsingh]

I feel like a move to a middling too division club would be quite realistic at this point but fair enough if you still want to bide your time. 

[_Ben_]

On 14/12/2021 at 20:51, Sonic Youth said:

It was times like these where going up was all about chucking everything at staying up, finances be damned for a season or two to get into Europe as fast as possible as well. The last few versions though need a more measured approach.

Though a season of consolidation could help as well 

On 14/12/2021 at 20:55, 13th Man said:

Not surprised you've kept up the form and demolished the league at the end of last season and carried that form into the next.  When you do that well, it bodes well for next season at the next level.  You might just head right on up again?  Just need a bit more consistency!  Staying up would be plenty of an accomplishment and it looks like, overall, you've kept up the same type of play as well and been successful.

On 15/12/2021 at 04:01, karanhsingh said:

I feel like a move to a middling too division club would be quite realistic at this point but fair enough if you still want to bide your time. 

Thanks guys. It's a really strange one - stay and build at Anji is one end of the spectrum and then jump ship is the other. I can't, right now, suggest that one is better than the other! I guess, though, that there has literally never been a manager who has just made good decisions!

[john1]

Maybe stick with Anji for a season or 2, then move if bigger club comes calling?

[_Ben_]

(Early) November 2028

After taking some time away to work on the skinning of the game (see: new club panel, manager home panel, processing screen, home screen and player profile - complete with lots of new data to share), I'm back and playing again and have got through some more November games.

An overall decent, with three wins and two defeats, leaving us in a really strong position in the table. Whilst not quite ever really being at our fluid best, we have ground out some results and shown some consistency, even if we were consigned to defeat against Dinamo-2 when Gomes scored without actually getting a touch the ball - although that's graphical and not match fixing! The final two games showed the ruthlessness that we are really starting to create, which is fantastic.

---

This is short. 

Something is amiss, if you can't tell. I was alerted to the fact that Sochi are managerless, following his move on to Krylia, the top tier side I was linked with. Looking at their advert, I can't help but be tempted. Considerably more reputation, a wage budget three times as big as what I have, a 45k seater stadium that was built in the last twenty years and an array of top tier level players.

However, it appears to be a suicide mission. Out of all of the ex managers of Sochi, only one is still in football (aside from Manoyan, who just left) and he, Goce Sedlosk, is the manager of North Macedonia. Also - just one third of the managers have lasted over a year!

As you just said @john1 - maybe I should stick it out at Anji for a couple of years. But what a challenge this would be!

[john1]

Loving the new player profile 

[_Ben_]

December 2028

I did it. 

To ease the process, I resigned as Anji manager on the 18th November, two years and fifty two days after taking the job. I leave with a win record of 75% - winning the league in my first full season, and losing just ten games in my entire tenure there. Turning this back around, and now looking at the Anji advert, you can see the difference and the jump I'm making, even if my new club sit eight places below my old club in the league. I was delighted though to still be able to select which staff I wanted to bring in with me.

This club, despite being very new in Russian football, belongs a lot higher up. There is some reason as to why they're not there, and I'm about to find out.

Of course, my first game is against my old club.

PFC Sochi, as I said, are a really new club. Formed in 2018 after Dynamo St Petersburg relocated to Russia's largest resort city of Sochi, the club, in game, have been in the top flight up until last season, where they finished a disappointing fifteenth in their first foray into this league since 2019 - when they first entered. I've moved from the banks of the Caspian Sea some nine-hundred kilometres to the banks of the Black Sea, just slightly north of Georgia to a bustling metropolis of nearly 600,000 people. It's the sixth largest city that sits near the Black Sea and, rather interestingly, is the longest city in Europe - stretching out of some145km. Situated on the Caucasian Riviera, there is a very different, cosmopolitan feel about this city to what I'd assume others might be like as we're in tourist country - Winter Olympiads, World Cup Stadia and F1 races all come here. Never the less, it feels really realistic for a manager from Ryzdzvany (marked in blue, below) to have managed three teams all located pretty close to each other:

My next aim will be to head north, towards Moscow and the bigger clubs. I'd love a stint out East - in Khabarovsk at some point, but that's more for geographical reasons than football ones.

We play in the 45,000 seater Fisht Olympic Arena and, right now, it seems a long way away from the real life Sochi, who entered European football for the first time this year, losing to Partizan in the Europa Conference League.

---

My first port of call is the backroom team and you can see that there undeniable quality, with some of that due to the transfers of Parfenov and Lobo, who came across with me. Whilst the formations and styles aren't exactly what I want, they can be worked with for now. It's good to see that also the medical and scouting staff are good for this level. A strong backroom team is going to be vital for me as I look to stop the rot and work with the players I have, at least initially.

---

Here is the playing staff, with focus on the attributes that I have desired across my career to date:

Stanislav Agkatsev. Sergey Mischenko. Alexey Zheleznyakov. 

There is a few standout players here, but, being brutally honest, this is clearly why the team has struggled. There is little in the way of a cohesive DNA, except for a naturally fit team and the positions, contracts and playing time agreements of some players is immediately standing out as a concern for me. I'll break down each area:

Goalkeepers

As you'd expect, Agkatsev is the top player here and will continue as my number one. As with both of my previous clubs, I expect to see an increase in his passing outputs as I'll expect him to play it relatively short. He'll need to be a better shot stopper though, particularly as we begin as a team under the cosh.

Central Defenders and Defensive Mids

I've got two strong players here, Mischenko and Ivankov, although I worry about the latter in the air. It is clear that we've been bombarded with long balls and crosses but the two of them have rated well even if Ivankov's Heading and Strength are concerns for me. Going forward, I want defenders who can play progressive, accurate passes and, sadly, we're not that capable - although that shift to the bottom right quadrant might be possible with a different tactical approach.

Full Backs

A little bit more quality attribute wise here - well, except for Markov - who, in every sense of the word, is an attacking wing back. There's a decent spread but I do want some better passers here, particularly as we've not scored that freely this season.

Central Midfield

A real weak area behind loanee Khalilov. They're not creative nor scorers and I might need to rethink my tactical ideas, in the short term.

Wingers

A little better but no real goal threats or standout stats or attributes here. Lots of speed, which is great on the wing but we don't actually dribble much and don't put the ball in the net.

Forward

One recognised (by Assistant Report anyway) striker. He's really poor. I don't know what I can really say about him!

---

As a team, things don't look much better:

Lots of shots, suggesting we're wayward and backing up the fact we don't have good forwards and lots of tackles, suggesting that we're struggling to intercept and we give the ball back lots. Looking at the pitch areas:

We don't get forward much, we sit deep but can win the ball back (again though, through tackles and not interceptions) and we lose the ball everywhere - careless and not creative!

However...

We're really unlucky. The xG table has us in sixth but we're flailing down in 15th. If we can get morale up, sort out a few of the playing squad issues, utilising the bigger scouting department, more financial power and attraction, I think we can do ok! I just want to go one better than the previous crew and still be able to get a job once I'm done here!

[john1]

Didn't see this coming! 

Edited December 18, 2021 by john1

[_Ben_]

32 minutes ago, john1 said:

Didn't see this coming! 

I’m really coming round to this being a great move.

Mashuk to Anji saw a similar playing style with better players but this is a rebuild job with a much higher ceiling. It’s going to really test my ability to get the most of each player, as I’ve been working on, but then really recruit well - an area I’ve not touched in much depth at this point.  

[Shrewnaldo]

a - I'm loving the processing screen and home panel

b - I'm loving the consideration of realism in the geographical proximity for a new manager making their way up in the game. Just adds something really nice to the game

 

Loving the thread as always

[karanhsingh]

Interesting move! Sochi was the first club I managed during my russian journeyman save last year. 

Btw don't be fooled by the big stadium, they have no fans. 

[SixPointer]

Very interesting move!!! I thought you would ride the season out. 
 

still taking the philosophy on to Sochi, I seen you said they lack any DNA cohesion. So assuming it will take time to get the right blend again. 

[Sonic Youth]

Didn’t see Sochi move 

Stats paint a club in termoil. What’s their pass map for the season look like?

Hopefully you can hit the ground running with a couple of wins off the bat.

[_Ben_]

11 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

a - I'm loving the processing screen and home panel

I'm really proud of what I've done here. It may be miniscule in the grand scheme of things but I've learnt from scratch. Furthermore, the Save Game bar uses the club colours too and there's a nice animation that brings that pop-up in, blurring the background a little.

11 hours ago, Shrewnaldo said:

b - I'm loving the consideration of realism in the geographical proximity for a new manager making their way up in the game. Just adds something really nice to the game

Thanks. My reputation is only Regional anyway so I consider this a really realistic move but then also building on what @SixPointer said - it's a chance to prove that I can build a team in my way at a club that, right now, is doing things a very different way. As I alluded to, the Mashuk -> Anji move was a progression in player quality with a team who were just underperforming. This is the next level of challenge - do this and I think I'm in the frame for any top level job here in Russia.

8 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

don't be fooled by the big stadium, they have no fans. 

Ahh, yes. Nothing like a stadium with 40,000 empty seats!

4 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Stats paint a club in termoil. What’s their pass map for the season look like?

Hopefully you can hit the ground running with a couple of wins off the bat.

Nothing to write home about! Very deep and narrow is what I can see from the last match one. With the winter break coming it does, at least, give me a chance to assess the squad, play some friendlies and maybe recruit some new players. Therefore, I do back myself to start well - at least better than I would if I was mid-league schedule!

[john1]

Tough figures to look at with your stadium attendances  

[Sonic Youth]

9 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Nothing to write home about! Very deep and narrow is what I can see from the last match one. With the winter break coming it does, at least, give me a chance to assess the squad, play some friendlies and maybe recruit some new players. Therefore, I do back myself to start well - at least better than I would if I was mid-league schedule!

Combine this with:

10 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Ahh, yes. Nothing like a stadium with 40,000 empty seats!

…and that should improve (unless capped in the background ), and especially if you make Europe 

[karanhsingh]

1 hour ago, Sonic Youth said:

Combine this with:

…and that should improve (unless capped in the background ), and especially if you make Europe 

I think I had hit early 5 figures on FM20 with them. Like 10-12k. From what I know (my dad has been there) Sochi is a bit of a resort town. 

[_Ben_]

December 2028

With no fixtures in December, there is very little to do. I did watch as Anji made a sensible decision, appointing my old assistant as their new Interim Manager. I've spent the rest of the time looking at training areas and giving the players a chance to develop towards what I want from them. Despite this apparently being "holiday", I think I've missed Mukhametshin moving from (I presume) competent to Accomplished at MC, a role that he'll now play in.

I've put the individual focus as unit specific, hoping to see some quick developments towards my required DNA. This will develop as I go on.

It does allow me to create some kind of shopping list, too:

Critical

• Forward
• Central Midfielder who can carry the ball

Required

• Back up for the left back role

Desired

• Left footed centre back.
• Aggressive right winger who can cross the ball.

----

Whilst perusing Twitter the other day, I was reading about Danny Cowley, Portsmouth manager, who is someone that I've admired for a long time. He's got some great webinars and I really like the way he approaches coaching and management and that led me further down a rabbit hole to Eric Laurie, Molde FK coach. He posted some great infographics about his philosophy, so I wanted to do the same. However, I'd sat and wrote, for about half an hour, all the finer details about this and then the forum crashed, so this time, you're just getting the images with some basic info!

In possession philosophy

The core concepts are in red and you can clearly see my emphasis on getting the ball wide, quickly and occupying spaces making us tough to mark. If I wasn't writing this during the mid-season break, I'd add some match footage but I can always return and reference this as my ideologies develop and grow across the career. 

I've made some key tweaks to my PI for things here, and I've probably forgot to reference them. For example, the Mez(a) have 'Cross More Often' added on, in order for them to be effective creators in that half space. I'm looking to develop that double Mez area - in the past I've used a #10 and SS-style, with altered instructions but I feel that now I need a deeper player, more of a true Free 8, in order to link the play between the areas. This is why that MC is on my shopping list...

Out of possession philosophy

Again, the concepts are in red.

I've worked hard with OI to set the specific instructions - such as not pressing centre backs and just pushing full backs inside (right back onto left foot), for example.

---

Sorry for the brevity of, what was, a really long write up, but we have the instability of the forum for that! I'm looking forward to seeing this play out with a different group of players.

 

[john1]

Wow, what a brilliant write up Ben! especially with Eric Laurie's analyst  Will be interesting to see how this pans onto FM!

[SixPointer]

Love the tactical write up! Right up my street my favourite aspect of the game.