[FM22] Matryoshka

[_Ben_]

Just had a nice playing session this today and thought I'd go back to a post, originally made by @tyler16 asking about my three best academy prospects when I moved to Groningen, which I detailed below:

On 27/06/2022 at 19:30, _Ben_ said:

Can of worms: opened....

You see, I'm dealing with three attacking players at the moment, all of whom are really promising (click their face for a full screenshot):

  

Obviously, the three of these lads have spent their formative years under AI tutelage and, without wanting to blow my own trumpet, won't have developed the way that I think they could have done had I managed them from 15/16. However - at 18, they're all quite well developed, performing well in the Jong side and training well, too.

Firstly, their Technical attributes. They're all actually decent ball carriers for this level (bare in mind that the comparison is with all ages of players, so does include any younger players within the first team but is largely experienced professionals) and have above average First Touch. I think Escalona really stands out with his Finishing ability here, which is also better than the average striker in this league, alone. I've got some reservations about Asante's passing as well as Swager's but they are both Technically pretty solid. Mentally, both Swager and Asante have good flair but Escalona is furthering the argument for the False Nine role with great Off the Ball (and, probably the key point here, complimentary traits). They're all pretty clever but the Anticipations of Asante and Swager are poor, meaning I'd rather not rely on them to prevent a counter against us. Physically, I could argue that all three are quite under developed - none of them are particularly fast nor strong or able to run for long periods of time. I do like the Balance of Escalona, even more perfect to compliment his good Off the Ball.

---

Sans Vision, I think that the False Nine role is perfect for Escalona although I could see that morphing more into a DLF(s) given the fact he's actually a good finisher. I had spoken about wanting wide men that could cut in and score but lack of Crossing, Teamwork and Pace put me off using him out wide. I think that I see Asante as a centre mid in future, although will train him with a Shadow Striker P/R/D in order to push on gains on Finishing and overall physicality. His traits, relatively rounded mental game and tall stature gave me the idea of a rangy box-to-box but he really needs some work on a lot of areas. Then I must say that I'm a bit of a loss with Swager - he really looks like a Number 10 to me; good Flair, Technique, Vision and Off the Ball but sadly doesn't really have an end product in either a good pass or a shot. I'm going to go with the AP(s) schedule in the MC strata but he does just feel a little lightweight...

Here they are now:

  

Their profiles are clickable...

Two out of three products certainly isn't bad and way above the level that you'd normally expect - that'd be like twelve players from each intake making the first team! However, I'm kind of pleased that Swager hasn't made it. He's actually in Serie A now but his playing history shows that I was right to listen to my staff who told me he just didn't have the ability to handle the pressure of first team football. A loan at a third tier Portuguese club hardly did anything to ease that and, with the uproar that followed, I'm happy to see him move on. However, Escalona and Asante are proof that there is not one type of optimal development. 

Emile slowly integrated himself into the first team, making substitute appearances here and there against weaker sides - somewhat stat padding but also a great way to build confidence and get good match ratings. He's gone on to cement himself into the first team and plays plenty of football, rotating with Jonsson to pose a specific threat to defences. Alfred's history is somewhat different - some poor performances whilst easing himself into the team but then a successful loan spell at second tier Cambuur. Yet, at 21, many would think he'd be old to forge a way into the team and to continue developing but he has done that as well as coming back with nearly one hundred games under his belt and the ability to perform really well.

Just another lesson for me to take into future FM saves...

I now have the following academy graduates in my first team:

Edited October 8, 2022 by _Ben_

[_Ben_]

Sometimes I just get the bug to post something and I've had that today - with this being the second thing I wanted to share...

For context, we're on course to win the league this year based on this result as we move four points clear of Ajax with nine games to go. But it's one of those games that I'd never have won until I become far more tactically aware and was able to exploit things as a real manager may do. My first admission is that I think the AI are rubbish at dealing with red cards and I have used that to my advantage, utilising two different tweaked versions of my normal shape and style.

Time and time again, I faced situations like this - their 4-2-3-1 was pretty normal except their lack of a right winger - opting to play just a left sided player and a slightly more aggressive presser in the AM slot, with a DLF ahead of him. That meant that I could switch from my IWB(s) to a CWB(s) in the WB strata and focus all of the play down that side. With a defender like De Wit who can Switch the Ball and Bring the ball out of Defence, we were able to progress vertically but also create a really simple numerical overload on the left hand side. Some clever pressing on their right back - Gjonikaj - had also seen him lose the ball, scramble to get it back, commit a foul and get booked, meaning he couldn't even touch our attackers for the entirety of the second half. Then, by moving Bouma to the left, I was able to utilise his Plays One Twos trait to create a triple overload and allow the runs of Escalona in behind. This move, to me, is all about tactical superiority over the Ajax manager:

They wised up and moved the winger to the AMR slot, but I just did the same down the left hand side - which was made even easier after their left back, Montero, was booked. Link up between Couto and Ter Berg with a playmaker - Asante this time - able to slot the ball through. Absolutely deadly and so fun to watch.

 

[john1]

@_Ben_ What an incredible journey you have taken with this save! Can't wait to see you writing again for FM23.

[_Ben_]

Still ticking along with this, enjoying the game and making sure I'm refreshed and ready for FM23. I've also been preparing my skin for the new release and, therefore, I can use my current save to showcase it. The main info part that will be in most player profile screenshots looks like this:

The thoughts are that I want to have as much information present for my own understanding of the game world but also to be able to share as much as possible in one screenshot. Here you can see various things that I'm looking for - like recent games, so I can check on opposition players quickly and see what kind of form they're in too as well as all of the new stats areas, created on the assumption/hope that they turn everything into a per/90 stat! I've added xA, Progressive Passes, Pressures, Clearances and Blocks too - as I've read that their job is to make this data more easily accessible. Hopefully I'll be able to to access the skinning files relatively quickly to grab the codes needed to pull the data through.

I'm toying with some kind of attribute-less approach to the game next year (although that makes tracking player development really tough and something that I love doing) but here is the whole profile screen, including attributes too.

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Still plenty I want to do on this, and other panels, but hoping to have something ready that I can hopefully port straight over to the beta (it worked like this last year!). Would love to know thoughts, ideas for improvements!

[GIMN]

34 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Still ticking along with this, enjoying the game and making sure I'm refreshed and ready for FM23. I've also been preparing my skin for the new release and, therefore, I can use my current save to showcase it. The main info part that will be in most player profile screenshots looks like this:

The thoughts are that I want to have as much information present for my own understanding of the game world but also to be able to share as much as possible in one screenshot. Here you can see various things that I'm looking for - like recent games, so I can check on opposition players quickly and see what kind of form they're in too as well as all of the new stats areas, created on the assumption/hope that they turn everything into a per/90 stat! I've added xA, Progressive Passes, Pressures, Clearances and Blocks too - as I've read that their job is to make this data more easily accessible. Hopefully I'll be able to to access the skinning files relatively quickly to grab the codes needed to pull the data through.

I'm toying with some kind of attribute-less approach to the game next year (although that makes tracking player development really tough and something that I love doing) but here is the whole profile screen, including attributes too.

---

Still plenty I want to do on this, and other panels, but hoping to have something ready that I can hopefully port straight over to the beta (it worked like this last year!). Would love to know thoughts, ideas for improvements!

Looking fantastic, and it's given me some ideas for my own skin next year - not just the per90 stats, but also how much real estate to use for attributes.  No work has been started in earnest, merely playing around with prototypes at the moment.

Regarding attribute-less, I actually export an attributes view into a spreadsheet for displaying players in Data Studio.  Whilst the export has the numbers, I have the columns hidden for the attributes, so I don't see them.  Could possibly do something like that to compare two separate exports - and maintain the challenge of attribute-less by having the feedback be non-numerical, or as relative change in attribute groupings (training focus areas might make some sense here).  Obviously the biggest issue is it's more work outside of the actual game itself, although you're clearly no stranger to a spreadsheet!!  In fact, I have a Google Apps Script somewhere which assesses players role suitability based on my own weird weightings which could possibly be repurposed.  Damn you!  Now you've got me thinking about how to track player development!

[Matt_1979]

Imagine being clever enough to make your own skin. 

[_Ben_]

22 hours ago, Matt_1979 said:

Imagine being clever enough to make your own skin. 

Ha, thanks! I wouldn't use the word clever, per se, more persistent and willing to reload my skin many times.

I may have taken my idea a little too far?

Attributes now split directly into additional training categories so I can really focus on how I want to develop a player. It will take some getting used to and I'm toying with adding some colour to those boxes to help me see the defensive/offensive parts of the game as it completely removes that 'attribute eye test!' Just had my youth intake, for example, and there's this lad - Bosko Tejin. He can't cross but the Ball Control and Movement tell me that he'd certainly be a very good playmaker out wide where his lack of Speed and Strength wouldn't inhibit him too much. What is more - I can hit the 'Ball Control' additional focus as well as a routine that plays to those strengths, until he reaches a 'target' of average/good/elite etc before moving elsewhere. Combine that, once they are in the first team, with stats - e.g. using Speed to go with the introduction of Sprints/90 - x player has elite speed overall but is only averaging 1.4 sprints/90, maybe his Work Rate could be developed or a replacement needs to be sourced as his natural fitness inhibits him to do this twice a week all season etc etc etc.

Listening to the likes of @Shrewnaldo talk so passionately about removing attributes and @GIMN using his own skin to such good effect in a current and amazing save has really inspired me to do something different again for next year. My Guadaljara save, which used coloured attribute boxes, was good, but there was a real disconnect between me and the game as all of my progress tracking was done on Excel. I still love creating a stat viz but I'd rather that than a chart showing attribute growth and here I can really focus that growth as I can share a screenshot that splits each one into three attributes.

Would love to know what you and your burgeoning Twitter following think!

[danielgear]

I really enjoyed playing FM without attributes and I feel it adds more to the game. I will be doing it again on FM23. Currently having a skin made as I don’t have the skill like you too do it. 

It will remove all attributes and stars from the game. 

 

In regards to tracking player development I think it enhances it as you’re not tracking an attribute going from 13 > 14 it’s what you’re seeing on the pitch and statistical improvements. Which also adds that realism factor. 
 

The only issue is I don’t know how you would show that visually for screenshot purposes. 

[Shrewnaldo]

100% going to stick with the 'restricted attributes' views that I've used in 20 and 22 - not quite as hardcore as Dan with his completely attributeless and no stars. But it just works for me and hits a really good combination of realism and forcing me to use the statistics that we've all been introducing to our recruitment processes recently. Similar to Dan, I have no skinning ability to going to have to wait for someone else to produce a skin with stars or similar.

Re stat tracking - it's definitely something we've complained about a few times. I'm guessing the decision to wipe stats at the end of the season is a processing / file size thing but it's very frustrating. If it could be done, then it'd be fine for me if they just had a season to season option on the Reports > Stats page within their profile. And perhaps also on the comparison screen, you could have the option to customise the stats you want compared, and be able to compare Player A's stats from the 22/23 season with Player A's stats from 21/22, or even Player B's stats from 21/22. There are so many ways in which the available screens could just have customisable options added to them which would make them exponentially more useful

[cmason84]

On 17/10/2022 at 21:13, _Ben_ said:

Ha, thanks! I wouldn't use the word clever, per se, more persistent and willing to reload my skin many times.

I may have taken my idea a little too far?

Attributes now split directly into additional training categories so I can really focus on how I want to develop a player. It will take some getting used to and I'm toying with adding some colour to those boxes to help me see the defensive/offensive parts of the game as it completely removes that 'attribute eye test!' Just had my youth intake, for example, and there's this lad - Bosko Tejin. He can't cross but the Ball Control and Movement tell me that he'd certainly be a very good playmaker out wide where his lack of Speed and Strength wouldn't inhibit him too much. What is more - I can hit the 'Ball Control' additional focus as well as a routine that plays to those strengths, until he reaches a 'target' of average/good/elite etc before moving elsewhere. Combine that, once they are in the first team, with stats - e.g. using Speed to go with the introduction of Sprints/90 - x player has elite speed overall but is only averaging 1.4 sprints/90, maybe his Work Rate could be developed or a replacement needs to be sourced as his natural fitness inhibits him to do this twice a week all season etc etc etc.

Listening to the likes of @Shrewnaldo talk so passionately about removing attributes and @GIMN using his own skin to such good effect in a current and amazing save has really inspired me to do something different again for next year. My Guadaljara save, which used coloured attribute boxes, was good, but there was a real disconnect between me and the game as all of my progress tracking was done on Excel. I still love creating a stat viz but I'd rather that than a chart showing attribute growth and here I can really focus that growth as I can share a screenshot that splits each one into three attributes.

Would love to know what you and your burgeoning Twitter following think!

I'd be really keen to use this skin for FM23 if you were able to make it available? It looks incredible for the statistical way of playing FM.

[omnivore]

Astounding thread, only just caught up with all of this. Bravo.