BethFM Posted January 7, 2023 Share Posted January 7, 2023 That's a decent run of results from a tough schedule with the UEL fixtures in there, unlucky with the defeat to Gala. Seydou looks to have hit the ground running! Sarr looks like he could solve your problems in the DM department - big fan of him irl. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeper#1 Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 Can I see Seydou Traore? I remember having a player with a similar name in either FM22 or FM23. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 8, 2023 Author Share Posted January 8, 2023 13 hours ago, BethFM said: That's a decent run of results from a tough schedule with the UEL fixtures in there, unlucky with the defeat to Gala. Seydou looks to have hit the ground running! Sarr looks like he could solve your problems in the DM department - big fan of him irl. Sarr's situation is really disappointing - surely there should be some mechanic that allows a player bought for €16m to not be happy spending four years without playing a first team game and surely Spurs would want a loan for him. 11 hours ago, keeper#1 said: Can I see Seydou Traore? I remember having a player with a similar name in either FM22 or FM23. Of course! Here he is (every thumbnail I post is clickable and will take you to their full profile). You may well remember him as he's not a newgen, I just added a random face to him so that I could feel a bit more connected to the player! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyler16 Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 Four years without really playing is a stretch, but Turkey is a common destination for players who have fallen out of favor in the big five leagues so it’s nice to see that replicated here. Are you finding yourself becoming more attached to the club or still wondering what if you stayed? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 8, 2023 Author Share Posted January 8, 2023 1 hour ago, tyler16 said: Four years without really playing is a stretch, but Turkey is a common destination for players who have fallen out of favor in the big five leagues so it’s nice to see that replicated here. Just hope he doesn't become another Dele Alli! He's played plenty of PL2 football, as you can see here: 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | And I've looked back at the end of season saves to confirm that some of these stats are solid - rating inside the top 10 for Tackles in the first two seasons. However, it does raise that real life question of how do you scout someone who isn't playing? Not every transfer made in real life comes from signing a player who is doing well week in, week out and I'd love to dig into some blogs/videos etc of how they do it in real life to see if I can replicate it here. 1 hour ago, tyler16 said: Are you finding yourself becoming more attached to the club or still wondering what if you stayed? I am really attached to this club at the moment. I'm not seeing eye to eye with the board but I've brought in, and more importantly, brought through, some really interesting talent. I knew I'd get that have I/haven't I in terms of making the right decision but I'm happy to see Gencler doing really well - particularly the likes of Emre Mor, who has 21 goal contributions this season after I picked him up from Fener, where he didn't get much of a look in for a few years. Coulibaly is a full international as is Soumare, too. There's a lot of players I'll look back on (and never sign as I don't think that's really realistic - certainly not immediately) and hope that they do well in their careers. I've just got to keep my job at Trabzon now though! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 8, 2023 Author Share Posted January 8, 2023 March 2027 Ankara 0-1 Trabzonspor Our youth made really hard work on a cup tie against second tier opposition but we made it, eventually. A very young squad was selected as it was a lose/lose really for us - a win would see at least another two games in this hectic schedule and a defeat would surely upset a board who are not being too forthcoming with anything - rejecting advances for more coaches and improved youth facilities. Seydou Traore scored early in the second period of extra time in a game that was, essentially, one way traffic. I thought it'd be a good time to quickly revisit the five January signings and think about my plans for what needs to be done in the summer: It's telling that the top three on that list, sorted by Average Rating, are also the top three when sorting the whole squad by Average Rating, such is the instant success they have had. I don't want to be a one man team but it certainly feels that this shape really gives opportunities for my striker to flourish: Demir, Sodje, Karamoko, Demir again and now Seydou have all been the most consistent scorers and it's great to see. Seydou doesn't really contribute a lot else but that is fine - he's the goalscorer in this shape and has started fantastically. @GIMN's pick, Mevlut Han, has shown I was right to put my faith into him in a more advanced position, creating over a chance a game and contributing to a total of four goals since his arrival. Kagan and Emir have been great on the wing too - their stats for dribbles and progressive passes would put them at the top of the league if they'd played enough minutes to be included. There is evidence that @Sonic Youth was spot on about their Decision making, but if I can develop that in them and get them fully used to the tactical approach, then I think that making a good decision 60/70% of the time will suffice, given the number of opportunities they're being presented. Ouattara has made little impact but that's fine as it was never going to be a short term deal - I think he'll find some loan football next year and I will re-assess. That leaves a relatively short list for what I want, with the luxury of already completing two of them. Gomes and Nmecha will provide some good depth to this team and I look forward to seeing how they adapt after moving up from the second tier of their countries. I would like to add two defensive midfielders and I think Sarr and Ozan, both previously detailed, could be good there although their wage demands (have since asked Sarr as he's on trial and it's around €14k p/w) will be towards the top end of my squad. I desperately need a new keeper and I also need a Turkish keeper so moving for someone like Mustafa would hit both of those - it's just negotiating a sensible price for a young and quite raw keeper. Lastly, I want to go big with someone like Bright Arrey-Mbi, who's currently topping the 2.Bundesliga with Hannover. He's a top ball playing defender and, should we qualify for the Champions League next year, could provide that extra quality we'll need. My intention is to make this as realistic as I can by proposing a list, sorted in order of preference, to my DoF, who will the conduct the transfer and contract negotiations. I may not get my man, but I'll get one of a few that I've identified and I can easily see that, if we're down to negotiating with fourth of fifth choice, then the parameters need to change. --- Samsunspor 1-1 Trabzonspor Could the last kick of the game, Samsunspor's first shot on target, be the one that costs us the title? We were in control and doing everything right - bar score more goals - but a lapse of concentration and, just like that, they're back in it. A combination of tired legs from a tough season and, given our absolute control of the game, an unwillingness to slow the game down and go defensive has caught us out here. Seydou Traore moves to eleven in eleven with another goal but could, and probably should have had a hatful. Mehmet Gencerler has fired our U19 team to a fantastic spot in the Turkish Elite youth league as I look to build a club culture and, for however long I'm in Trabzon, develop and give pathways to young players. But there is more than that and I'm taken a really keen, forensic eye on the youth players this season in order to develop my understanding of how attributes grow in the youth team through training. Currently, the schedule I am running can be seen below. I encourage all of the youngsters to train together but also spend a little bit of time getting them tactically familiar with my style so that they can come into the first team when possible. I won't bore you with the numbers, but I've compared attributes at the point of my takeover and the in-game date and looked at where the biggest areas of growth have been. Here are the top five: Agility Strength Off the Ball Decisions Stamina What is clear is that physical attributes are growing very quickly and, to be fair, that's to be expected. But, maybe more concerningly is the lack of any technical attributes on the list. Whilst I really only favour First Touch and Technique as part of my 'DNA' - I need to address this and will look to make changes to how this schedule runs next season, probably removing some of the Match Prep and the Physical session. I also tracked the players too to see who had progressed and was amazed to see the progressions of both Ali Inal and Batuhan Kaya. The former, whilst not being at the same level as some of the other players, has grown massively across all areas and the latter is of real interest to me. I am contemplating move Batuhan to a left back role: too weak to be a destroyer in the DM role but not quite speedy and agile enough to play as an attacking minded centre mid. I think that rounding out his Positioning skills will be easier than increasing his Physicality and who doesn't love an overly technical, two-footed false full back?! Lastly, Alpaslan Kaya has come on so much that the staff actually think he's good enough to be in the squad now, not even just getting the odd minute here and there. An absolute credit to the work he's put in this season. Why the focus on youth players? Because this just happened... Wow! Click the image to see the full intake and then take a peak at three truly elite talents: Umit Demir, probably the first man I've ever had through an intake in the top flight who could walk into the first team squad and Rasit Kopuz and Efekan Leblebici, two young forwards who fit my style down to a tee! I'm going to use the WP(a) schedule for Umit in order to try and increase his on-the-ball stuff, knowing that he already has a huge amount of pace and, judging by the numbers from this season, they will increase naturally without too much extra effort. I'll also work on his Crossing through an additional focus and I expect he'll get some minutes very soon, maybe even this season. Efekan is a little weaker than Rasit in terms of technical ability so will use the DLF(s) schedule whilst Rasit will use the PF(a) in order to hit some key mental attributes. The only negative is the lack of a goalkeeper with any type of quality as we currently don't have one at the club. I will ensure that I spend a little bit of time trying to recruit a youngster over the summer, if for nothing else but to secure better performances and, as such, better development for the youngsters. The optimist in me could see a first team consisting of the following academy graduates in a matter of years: I haven't looked around yet but I would put money on saying that I have the best Turkish players born in both 2010 and 2011 right here in that screenshot in Umit Demir and Batuhan Kaya. This is not bad for a club that hasn't - to my knowledge - put much into developing their youth team players. The intention is to work around the model that Altinordu have (not with just Turks) and reduce the average age of the squads. Below you can see the comparative ages of the squads and I hope to be able to reduce our average age considerably over the coming years, creating a brand of football that fits with the ideology of younger, well recruited and developed players. --- Konyaspor 1-3 Trabzonspor A beautifully placed free kick to open the scoring and a wonderful show of his full range of vision set Mevlut Han Ekelik up to earn his second PoTM in Trabzon colours. Our second goal came through a penalty and, just a matter of minutes after coming on, I decided to let Batuahan Kaya take it, thus becoming our youngest ever goalscorer. I envisage that another record will be broken in the next game as Umit Demir only missed out on this squad due to a really low condition following a youth game. We were beaten by a ball over the top as Konya looked to try and mount a comeback but, in the end they didn't have enough and Oguz Kilic prodded home with the outside of his boot from a really tight angle late on to cement the victory. --- Trabzonspor 3-1 Altınordu This time, Umit Demir was able to become the youngest debutant and, if my figures are correct, the thirty-ninth player to play for us this season as we recovered from a shock half time scoreline to take the points against Altinordu. We went behind as we failed to clear and they poked in a really soft goal - one of those where I found it really hard to see anything I actually liked in that phase of play. From there, they literally shut up shop and made it hard for us - which they did pretty well. You can see the xG story going up in small steps, such was the quality of our shots. However, three second half goals: Tamrak nodding in as Seydou Traore turned creator before both centre backs, Gonzalez and Henrique, got in the act from corners to make the scoreline go somewhere near a reflection of our dominance. --- It's all hotting up but we travel to the northern side, the Asian side, of the Bosphorus in just ten days to take on our massive rivals, Fenerbahce, in what will likely determine the team that finishes second. If we win, we are at an advantage as we can then afford to lose later in the season as our head to head record will be equal and our GD will be superior. A cup tie against Gencler comes just before a tough tie against Besiktas who surely cannot continue as badly as they have been in future years. Looking at the player stats makes me happy to see that a) Melih was so good that he still remains there after just half a season and b) that there are two prominent Gencler players, Emre and Karamoko, present. --- In some further reading for those interested - I have been looking into a few things related to Trabzonspor. I came across this image which seems to be quantify what I'd previously read about my own team, Aston Villa, and their relationship with Trabzonspor as this is Steve Stride, a once Managing Director, holding a Trabzonspor shirt, with the number 61 on. I looked further at the number 61, and, when registering the shirt number of Umit Demir, saw that it was actually retired in honour of Gökdeniz Karadeniz, who played over 200 games for the club and it also appears that this number is pretty synonymous with players who have moved on from the club and hold it in high regards. I will also spend a bit of time watching this documentary on their title winning season that I found on YouTube! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 Title charge is on! Nice to see plans afoot for next year but I still think you can win it this years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyler16 Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 Demir is amazing, where do you see him fitting into your team tactically? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonic Youth Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 That’s a stellar youth intake! The squad building is looking extremely healthy now, especially with the intakes complementing the scouting and transfer plans. Fingers crossed you win the rest of your fixtures to take advantage of any slip ups from the other teams vying for the title. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 9, 2023 Author Share Posted January 9, 2023 10 hours ago, SixPointer said: Title charge is on! Nice to see plans afoot for next year but I still think you can win it this years. I’ll always stay the pessimist in this! Tough couple of games coming up and we’re stretched injury and fatigue wise, too. Wouldn’t be the end of the world to take it steady and continue building a nice platform. 5 hours ago, tyler16 said: Demir is amazing, where do you see him fitting into your team tactically? I know he’s just 15 and that this is slightly hyperbolic given that he’s probably the best 15 year old in Turkey but he’s just not good enough at Finishing or Passing to play centrally so would work ideally as a wide man. If I continue to train Batuhan Kaya at left back, then, at least, he’s got someone creative behind him allowing him more freedom to use his pace. 59 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said: That’s a stellar youth intake! The squad building is looking extremely healthy now, especially with the intakes complementing the scouting and transfer plans. Fingers crossed you win the rest of your fixtures to take advantage of any slip ups from the other teams vying for the title. Yes, absolutely! I now have three wingers per side for things like training camps as well as around 5 potentially useable forwards meaning that, if needed, I can venture away from the one up top. I was really hoping for a decent keeper and some centre backs but I can’t expect every (potential) gap to be filled internally. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 10, 2023 Author Share Posted January 10, 2023 April 2027 Fenerbahce 0-0 Trabzonspor A really strange game for us and we end our season with a draw and defeat against, arguably, our biggest rivals. I watched the documentary that I linked above and now I feel that rivalry, losing the 2010/11 title on GD but then having Fener found guilty by UEFA of match fixing but not the Turkish FA, leaving them still being able to celebrate a league win and continue the Istanbul dominance. The performance can only be described as stuttering as the first half ended with a few good chances and then a period of time where we let them just keep the ball in their defensive midfield areas, knocking it around. Unlike teams that actively press, this doesn't actually tire us out and I have no issues with my players allowing this. The second half came to life a little when Fener started strongly but that was followed by some really low xG chances for us. In the end, it's probably the fairest result but doesn't do much for either of us in the chase of Galatasaray. --- Genclerbirligi 1-1 Trabzonspor An even first leg of the cup tie where Emre Mor netted an early penalty and Tim Iroegbuman was sent off early into the second half for the hosts. We played well, perhaps a little leggy from the league game a few days prior but, again, allowing them to have the ball maintained a bit more freshness within the legs. Gencler visit the Black Sea at the end of the month and we have to be considered favourites... --- Trabzonspor 3-0 Besiktas On the day that our U19 team won the league, our first team also tasted success with one of the most resounding victories - against a supposed Istanbul giant - that we've ever had. Kagan Yalcin's first goal was a positional thing of beauty as he holds his run until the last minute before glancing in. Gonzalo Gonzalez also scored another 25-yard screamer, taking his tally of these to two for this season as we stifled any creativity and was barely threatened by their shooting ability. --- Hatayspor 0-3 Trabzonspor A clinical show of counter attacking football is enough to beat Hatayspor as we are buoyed by the news that Gencler have done us a favour by beating Fener, meaning we now sit third in the league, level on points with the Ankara side above us. With the busy schedule, I was able to play a few more youngsters, using all five in one go off the bench; Mehmet Gencerler being the pick of them as his two goals, his first senior strikes for the club, added to Seydou Traore's thunderbolt in the first half. --- Trabzonspor 8-0 Kasımpaşa This was coming. There are times when we dominate and don't quite take all of our chances but today, everything we touched turned to gold. A hatrick for a centre back - a headed goal from a corner, a tap in following a corner being worked out wide and put into the box again and then, for good measure, a penalty - really capped off the great performance. Uribe netted our first penalty of the day (see how it then makes our overall xG to goals tally even more impressive!) before Traore (x2), Mevlut and Ahmet netted to record our biggest ever margin of victory in the league. --- Trabzonspor 3-1 Gençlerbirliği We grew into the game and just about did enough, although another thirty minutes in the legs wasn't advantageous to either side. Traore put us ahead before Destan's penalty, only his third of the season, gave us the league in Extra Time and substitute Oguz Kilic sent us through to the final. We won this competition back in 2025 but will face holders Gala in the final in what will be an extremely heated affair! --- This is insane! Three teams on seventy points with just three games to go. With the sorting criteria being 1) Results between teams 2) Goal Difference and 3) Goals scored, my own victory - as Gencler manager - over Trabzonspor, could be the thing that costs us second or first place: However, I cannot fathom why we are behind Gala when we have one won and lost one, but have a positive goal difference (3 scored, 2 conceded). If then this is evened out, then we are ahead on both GD and GS so I cannot explain why we are behind, unless there is some alphabetical rule or FM cleverly interprets the old Istanbul-rule rule into the game as I witnessed on the documentary (have I said - in tat 40 minutes, I've essentially become a fan! Even the ex-director was wearing a Trabzon shirt with an Aston Villa jacket on top!) All that is left to do is the absolute best we can. Arguably though, we have the hardest run in: Gala are in the worst form with two losses in a row but Altinordu, in 12th and Hatayspor in 11th have nothing to play for. Kasimpasa, fresh from their drubbing to us will want to stay up but that all may have changed if Gencler can beat them in the game week before. Gencler themselves end away at bottom side Caykur, who will surely be relegated by then - leaving our last game, against fifth placed Istanbul Baseksehir, as the pivotal game and, by far, the hardest. We don't have the best head-to-head against them and, in fact, lost away to them earlier in the season. Then, if that wasn't enough fun, we have this... 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 8-0 love it when it all comes together. well the league doesn’t get much tighter than that. Your still in with a real shout for a league and cup double. The next few games are make or break my man. Best of luck! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 11, 2023 Author Share Posted January 11, 2023 9 hours ago, SixPointer said: 8-0 love it when it all comes together. well the league doesn’t get much tighter than that. Your still in with a real shout for a league and cup double. The next few games are make or break my man. Best of luck! Thank you. I'm going to update May one game at a time as I'm just invested in what is definitely the most intense title race I have ever been in! To quote something that was repeatedly said in the documentary I shared the other day: "We refuse to know our place!" and beating these Istanbul giants is of utmost importance to a club that I have, literally, just become a fan of! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 11, 2023 Author Share Posted January 11, 2023 Sunday 2nd May 2027 (Gameweek 32) Çaykur Rizespor 0-3 Trabzonspor Hatayspor 1-3 Gençlerbirliği Altınordu 2-0 Galatasaray May starts with an absolute shocker for reigning champions Gala, as they give the advantage to ourselves and Gencler. After 46 minutes, we were one up - thanks to the first of two goals by Mevlut Han Ekelik, who is excelling in the Mez role - but Gala had just fallen behind and Gencler had clawed themselves back level thanks to a Cem Bilgin strike. We went on to add another two with Seydou Traore netting late on, but so did my old side as they cruised to victory but there was no comeback from Galatasaray and there wasn't much attempt to, even though they kept Altinordu quiet for a good period of the match, until Oleg Reabciuk, a Moldovan left back, was sent off on the hour mark. A shock result to start the month off, leaving the table like this: I still cannot believe that the 23rd August 2026 could be the absolute pivotal moment of this season. We need to better Gencler's two results to stop this fairytale and undo the work done by myself. Two more cup finals for us all to play (before an actual cup final...) 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonic Youth Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 Some ending to the season I also note that Fener drew too Let the May-tensity continue! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 What a spectacle!! Your hard work at Gencler might just be your undoing at this stage! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielgear Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 (edited) On 04/01/2023 at 18:28, _Ben_ said: But I do need to sort out the longer term future of the club and, using another wonderful tip from @FMStag (seriously, just follow his Twitter and blog), have set up some ongoing scouting focuses, which you can see here: The biggest issue is that I currently am allowed three scouts at the club, so these will fill slowly but they should fill with the players that I want to be LOVE this for recruitment focuses (best new feature this year) On 05/01/2023 at 21:23, _Ben_ said: I must say that I'm not knowledgeable enough to know whether this was a Ravel Morrison kind of thing or he just wanted first team football Was just a wanted first team football thing, was fed up of being promised a chance and not getting one. Save's going well Ben and some nice recruitment in January. Will be interesting to see what you do with the DM slot over the summer. I should have refreshed, I'm a whole page behind Edited January 11, 2023 by danielgear Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielgear Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 On 08/01/2023 at 20:43, _Ben_ said: My intention is to make this as realistic as I can by proposing a list, sorted in order of preference, to my DoF, who will the conduct the transfer and contract negotiations. I may not get my man, but I'll get one of a few that I've identified and I can easily see that, if we're down to negotiating with fourth of fifth choice, then the parameters need to change. This is how I play and have for a few years and adds to the realism. And wow what an ending to the season, you couldn't write it. Two (well 3) cup finals in a row. I have faith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyler16 Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 Your old club winning the league isn’t the worst thing to ever happen, if that’s how it ends up finishing. Best of luck! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 11, 2023 Author Share Posted January 11, 2023 9 hours ago, Sonic Youth said: Some ending to the season I also note that Fener drew too Let the May-tensity continue! 7 hours ago, SixPointer said: What a spectacle!! Your hard work at Gencler might just be your undoing at this stage! 4 minutes ago, tyler16 said: Your old club winning the league isn’t the worst thing to ever happen, if that’s how it ends up finishing. Best of luck! 6 hours ago, danielgear said: And wow what an ending to the season, you couldn't write it. Two (well 3) cup finals in a row. I have faith Thanks for the comments, all! I had ruled Fener out but, had they won, it'd then be four teams within three points of each other! You're right @tyler16 - if Gencler win I'd genuinely be delighted for them - their first ever title in a team built by me, two years after promotion to the top flight. It's an absolute dream that I'm sure we've all been begging for at some point in our FM existence. I genuinely feel that they'll win both of their games. 6 hours ago, danielgear said: LOVE this for recruitment focuses (best new feature this year) I agree with this! 6 hours ago, danielgear said: Was just a wanted first team football thing, was fed up of being promised a chance and not getting one. Save's going well Ben and some nice recruitment in January. Will be interesting to see what you do with the DM slot over the summer That's good to know. It really gives me a settled attacking area of the pitch now and yes, the DM slot will be key as I essentially play with a triple pivot now - given the increasing playmaking ability of my IWBs and the reduction in actual defending we do! The other areas that are desperate for upgrades/bodies are in goal and at centre back. 6 hours ago, danielgear said: This is how I play and have for a few years and adds to the realism. There are two weeks between fixtures now so I'm going to include some more recruitment stuff in the next update based around how I would like to approach this. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 11, 2023 Author Share Posted January 11, 2023 Sunday 16th May 2027 (Gameweek 33) Before I get to the fixtures, I've used the two week break to really refine my plans for recruiting in one area: the centre of defence. Pedro Henrique, now 34, has played well and improved over time, but I'd already made the decision to allow him to return to his native Brazil in the summer so am left with Gonzalo Gonzalez as my only top centre back. The scouting team have been working really hard across many areas but haven't had much luck in Africa, a great hunting ground for me so far, and any of the really cheap markets. But that is ok - I need quality here and I still have the money from Melih Demir in the bank with, hopefully, extra income from Champions League fixtures to come next season. Here is the list that I've whittled it down to: All thumbnails are clickable links to full player profiles. Arrey-Mbi is playing for 2.Bundesliga side Hannover, who are about to get promoted to the top tier of German football. He's played well across the season but his high Clearances/90 stat, to me, suggests that he does spend more time removing the ball from dangerous areas, as opposed to trying to build up play. That, in combination with his Weak right foot and a trait that could see us end in trouble - Runs with ball down the left - means that he's probably more suited to being in a back three. I also think that his price tag and contract demands will increase as following the promotion but do feel that his physical nature will be of huge benefit to us as would his ability to settle in Turkey and Consistency of performance. Ravil is a regular at Istanbul Basaksehir, who are a strong side. He's not particularly versatile or consistent but but his stronger right foot and trait of Tries to play way out of trouble would probably put him as more suited than Bright, before him. Like a few players on this list, this signing would also weaken a rival in this division but would, inevitably, mean I'd have to pay more than I'd want for him - however, that could be offset by any future sales should he improve to reach his full potential. Senesi is a player who I was shocked move to Bournemouth in real life and then even more shocked at he has barely played for them as they have yo-yoed between divisions, which is a massive red flag as it is. At €8.4m, he'd likely be the most expensive and his wage demands, even after taking a pay cut, would make him our top earner and, at 29, with 14 appearances (and no notable injuries) in the past two years, I must be cautious. Yet he's obviously insanely gifted and would be a huge improvement in quality. Emrecan is another who'd weaken a rival and is a consistent and composed player with a very well rounded set of attributes. I particularly like that he's classed as Intelligent but this isn't a mask for a deficiency elsewhere. He's performed well this season but would likely take a fair chunk to move on from Besiktas. Lastly, Mert is an experienced, consistent player with a great personality who'd add some experience on a free transfer. Once of Roma and Verona, who paid €8m for him, he's played just 11 times in three years, which - like Senesi - is a red flag for me. With that in mind, I've made a top priority list for my DoF to work with: I've sorted these based on my overall rating, as well as set some parameters for Mehment Aurelio to work with. Hopefully we can end up with the top target, Besiktas' Emrecan but, if not, that's just part and parcel of football! The same method will be applied to all other positions that need strengthening. --- Trabzonspor 3-0 Kayserispor Genclerbirligi 3-0 Kasımpaşa Galatasaray 1-1 Hatayspor And then there was two! Goals from Mevlut, Ahmet and Seydou Traore propelled us to a comprehensive victory but it was all in vein as Gencler, thanks to a double from Cem Bilgin - the man who I developed and game a debut to - and Mamadou Karamoko - the man I signed after bumbling his way around Scandinavia - kept them ahead of us. There are so many little side stories to this title race and possibly none more important than the fact that Tim Iroegbunam, their best player, is suspended for their last game. But again, as I player I sourced, there feels a real personal connection to this game and this team and how this title race has unfolded. Hatayspor ruined Gala's chances with a stubborn display but Fener failed to capitalise, drawing at relegated Eyupspor, which would have put immense pressure on the title holders to even finish in the top three! We're absolutely not favourites for this. Istanbul are a much tougher opponent than Caykur, although they have not been relegated and would need to win to stand any chance of staying up. One more (unofficial) cup final to go! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Ben_ Posted January 11, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 11, 2023 (edited) Sunday 23rd May 2027 (Gameweek 34) Trabzonspor 3-0 Istanbul Basaksehir Caykur Rizespor 1-3 Genclerbirligi For 26 minutes, we were in dreamland! Caykur toop the league in the nineteenth minute and, by the thirty-eighth, we were three up thanks to a brace from Seydou Traore and a lovely strike from Ahmet Tamrak. Heartbreak for us came when Ibrahima Soumare and two for Emre Mor put Gencler ahead in a position that they kept, keeping the ball really well for long periods of time at the end of the game. What will absolutely be forgotten though is the quality of our performance, our six game winning run, the fact that we haven't conceded in the league for 67 days and lost a game in the league for 110 days. I am not sour in any way shape or form. The news below suggests that it should all be doom and gloom, just fallen at the final hurdle, typical Trabzon - bottling it as has happened across their history - but no. I am proud of what I've achieved but absolutely delighted for Gencler and Erol Bulut, who, despite inheriting my strong squad, has still had to win over 70% of his games in charge to get them to here. More than that, as a self-confessed new fan, I've grown to realise that if we can't win ourselves, having a non-Istanbul team win is the next best thing! Gala will be back next year! A torrid end of year period ruined their chances but they're simply too strong to stay down forever, even if their cards fell badly in terms of xG and xPts. The next job, for me, is to put a further dent in them by battering them in the cup to end my first season on the Black Sea with some silverware! Edited January 12, 2023 by _Ben_ 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyler16 Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 Have to admit I prefer this outcome for the narrative of the save even if it's bittersweet for you. It's nice to see the AI was able to inherit Gencler and at least in the short term, sustain the form you had with them. Plus, you haven't even had a summer to recruit and a preseason with Trabzonspor, so if you are able to eventually win the title at some point, it'll feel well earned. Does second place qualify straight for the CL group stage? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielgear Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 1 hour ago, tyler16 said: Have to admit I prefer this outcome for the narrative of the save even if it's bittersweet for you. Totally agree with Tyler, It's still a great season for you Ben and it would be great to see the same top 2 next year but in reverse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonic Youth Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 (edited) Did you get an achievement unlocked: take two teams to top two in a league season. No? There should be one! That’s some end to a season. Got my fingers crossed you beat Gala and finish the season with a trophy Edited January 12, 2023 by Sonic Youth Season 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
john1 Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 Damn, shame they didn't lose! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 13, 2023 Author Share Posted January 13, 2023 @tyler16, @danielgear, @Sonic Youth and @john1... Thanks for the comments, all! It was, indeed, a very exciting time and I think it does bode well for the longevity of the save that Gencler did, in fact, win the league and that, unless there is some kind of miracle, a strong Gala side will be back chasing again next year. On 11/01/2023 at 19:46, tyler16 said: Does second place qualify straight for the CL group stage? No, I think I've got at least one round to navigate through; no idea if I drop into the Europa League if I lose though... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 What’s finale!!! crazy to think something that you gave birth to beat you in the title race. But as you say anyone winning outside Istanbul is a good thing! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 14, 2023 Author Share Posted January 14, 2023 May 2027 Galatasaray 1-1 Trabzonspor (Galatasaray win 4-3 on penalties) Penalty heartbreak. We ran Gala really, really close and another Traore goal put us ahead before we were pegged back pretty quickly. We had our moments but, to be frank, they had more and this was probably the fairest result as we miss our chance to lift the cup. What it does say, for me, is that Gala are still there: still a huge threat. Obviously, having a week to prepare a game plan helped them get out of the little rut they fell into in the league, which allowed us and Gencler to overtake them but it's one of those where we would be stupid to write them off. It really excites for me to the coming years in Turkey. --- The season is over and, given that it wasn't a full season, I often find that the team metrics are somewhat skewed given the fact that I play a very different style to my predecessor. However, just looking at three metrics tells you that we are very much one of three teams who have done really, really well this season: Whilst each team will have their own specific style - the end goal of football is to defend well, concede few and attack well, score many. The middle scatter graph shows that ourselves, Gala and Gencler have consistently managed to do that this season with us scoring really well, too. The thing that catches my eye is that Gala have created a relatively similar amount of xG/90 but have scored less. I will have to keep my eyes out on their summer work as well as, generally, how they might change setup or keep players fitter. Defensively, Fener have been strong and it'll be telling to see how they improve going forward but again, that Gala stat - their opponents are converting around 11% of their chances, compared to just over 6% for us. If they get that sorted, they surely won't concede thirty goals next term. --- Goalkeepers I've rotated quite heavily between my two goalkeepers this year, with Sarkic playing the cup ties and Ronnow in the league. There will be a change, and that is because each squad must contain a Turkish keeper and I've been forced to name a grey player on each team sheet in the league, wasting a sub spot. Whilst Ronnow is entering the twilight of his career, I can't ignore a man who has recorded twenty-one clean sheets this year and concedes, on average, around a goal every other game. He's better with his hands than Sarkic and isn't too bad at distributing the ball, although far weaker than Martin Turk, for example, who I signed last summer for Gencler. I have the option to extend Ronnow's deal, which expires next month, for another year and, based on this analysis, I may chose to do so whilst bringing in a younger, Turkish, second choice who could take over next summer. Defenders In terms of defenders - I am already losing Henrique, Ganchas and Kravets so will focus less on those and more on who will remain... Gonzalez has been an inspired signing so credit must go to the previous manager - with great all round stats, in particular for his interceptions, showing that he's clever enough to make good decisions to come out and win the ball before being drawn into a situation where he needs to tackle. At full backs, Eren has done really well, with little in terms of backup to rest him, and Dorukhan has been pretty decent but knows that both Soria and Kerem are hot on his tail to replace him if he's not doing well enough. Whilst Soria is arguably weaker that the other two right backs, his progressive passes and crosses show that he's actually a really viable option if I need to use full backs that don't sit centrally. His xA/90 is the joint highest of my defenders and I think that, given that he can play on both sides (and Kerem is learning to, also) it justifies keeping three right footed full backs in the squad for the time being. Midfielders Mevlut has been an inspired signing, with thirteen goal contributions in just half a season, justifying his move to a more advanced position and the risk of bringing in a second tier player. Overall, there are good contributions from all of the midfielders here, bar, probably Koba - who is off to France in the summer for a loss on what was paid for him just twelve months ago. I'm really happy with how Alpaslan (more on him later though) and Oguz have settled into the first team, too. Kagan and Emir will go on to be good players the club, I'm sure of it, and the additions of Nmecha (who can play on the wing) and Angel Gomes will only make this area stronger. Forwards Traore has been insane - so much so that Pjaca has actually agreed a move away given the lack of football he's had. Seydou has 23 goal contributions (20G+3A) in half a season here and has developed really well in that time, too. Pretty much the perfect kind of player for this style and, given the competition now in Nmecha's signing, I think he'll only get better. Youth With such a tight schedule, I've been somewhat forced to play plenty of youngsters in the first team, but, when I have, they have done really well as both Alpaslan Kaya and Oguz Kilic have moved themselves to the first team. However, the former will now drop back into the youth side whilst I train him to play in a new role. I have a pretty specific idea of what I want from my wide men and Omay Carkaci sums that up - pace, agility and dribbling but Alpaslan has none of those things. My thoughts are then to turn him into a full back, with a lot less development needed to make him average (there'll be a ceiling here, for sure) in his defensive attributes whilst maintaining good ball playing ability. My idea is that, whilst essentially playing a triple pivot (two IWB and a DM), that the central man (now Pape Mate Sarr) will be the ball winner, whilst the other two will be the ball players and he can definitely do that. It's a risky call but one that could end up really positives for us, given that Batuhan Kaya is also training to be the left sided full back. --- June lends itself to squad planning and a little bit of respite! Thanks for reading! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyler16 Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 Do you think you’ve been blessed with prolific strikers or is there something specific about your system that helps them score so many goals? Speaking of, how would you rank Demir/Sodje/Traore? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 14, 2023 Author Share Posted January 14, 2023 4 hours ago, tyler16 said: Do you think you’ve been blessed with prolific strikers or is there something specific about your system that helps them score so many goals? Speaking of, how would you rank Demir/Sodje/Traore? I don't know, really. I think I've recruited well and then utilised those players well as Melih and Sodje have both been able to move to better teams but neither have really done a lot - which suggests I have got more out of them than I should - if you know what I mean. I don't think I can actually rate them as they are quite different: Melih is all about pace and that means he's superb getting in behind, where Sodje and Traore are more agile players and Traore is just really strong moving into spaces and intelligently finishing. Obviously Melih has the highest ceiling, hence the big move to RB Leipzig but, as bargains go, Seydou really looks like a rough diamond that I've polished pretty well! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 14, 2023 Author Share Posted January 14, 2023 June 2027 Not much to do in June other than organise a few transfers, with the following already taking place: Some good money brought in for players who last year proved that they were not good enough and this is backed up by the destinations that they have chosen to go to. Pjaca was inconsistent, at best, in front of goal and Koba and Ganchas found game time hard to come by and did not impress when it was offered. Just the two deals to come in on the opening day of the transfer window, with both images below clickable to view their full profile. Emrecan, in my opinion, is an absolute steal and I think that setting the priority for my DoF with him being top was a great move. I could have ended with any of the centre backs that I profiled in one of the May updates but the transfer committee (as I don't actually have a DoF in place) were able to negotiate a €3.2m deal with €15.5k p/w wages, further weakening a beleaguered Besiktas squad. Emrecan's statistical output last year - when compared with central defenders - was outstanding, with him inside the ninetieth percentile for chances created, assists, possession won and interceptions. I think that he will fit in really well with what I have at the club and go on to be a really strong signing in the peak of his career. Pape has had a really successful trial at the club and joins four months after leaving Tottenham, where he barely played in a four year spell. I'm really excited to see what the Senegalese lad can bring to our first team as his industrious nature as well as ball playing ability could be key within the squad. The bonus of him being a free agent means that he has already spent the time on trial on the club, where he was able to appear in non-competitive fixtures, of which I watched several of. Despite the opposition not being up to the highest of standards, I saw a really good player in there and I'm happy to have him on board. ----- With Sarr's arrival, I at least have one player who can play there but I also have my eye on two further players, of which one will almost certainly be signed. Both screenshots are linked to a full profile, also: Mehdi will be available on a free in a matter of weeks when his Hatayspor contract expires. In five years in this league, the Algerian international has performed well and is fluent in Turkish. Statistically speaking he's done really well last year, although his football came whilst playing as a 6 in a more advanced, central midfield, role. The other player that my scouts recommended is Ivorian Paul Akouokou, who will be leaving Ligue 1 Montpellier at the end of the month. Whilst playing in a stronger league than Mehdi, he has managed to achieve pretty similar stats from his DM role in what looks to be a very counter-attacking Montpellier side. As you'd expect, with no time spent in Turkey, the man has no grasp of the language. When I look at their reports, I am able to get the following information. Boudjema: Good player at this level Resolute character Consistent performer Good marker Natural in a couple of positions Enjoys big matches Committed player Inconsistent finisher Akouokou: Leading player at this level Consistent performer Anticipates well Natural in a couple of positions Balanced and normal personality Strength and stamina make him a decent athlete Fairly susceptible to injuries Wayward with passing Competitive streak I must say that Boudjema is probably ahead here. I like that he knows the league and can speak the language and that he also looks to play in more of a 6/8 combo rather than a full on defensive minded role, which will be useful for us - particularly with his passing ability not being a listed weakness. Paul though is clearly a top player and has many minutes in a league with more quality than ours does. My concern though is that this will lead to higher wage demands, too. With Pape Matar Sarr already in the door, the player I want will have to accept a rotational contract and not be be earning +/- €5k p/w of Sarr's €10k salary. They'll both go onto the DoF list with these stipulations and I'll see who he can get. --- Work then has to be done on finding a Turkish goalkeeper and a right footed centre back who is backup for Gonzalez. Obviously, if anything else good comes up, I'll look to strengthen elsewhere, too... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIMN Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 I can't imagine it's great consolation when losing out so narrowly on the league title, but there has to be something a little satisfying about seeing you built a team so well that the AI couldn't mess it up! The squad is looking really balanced, or at least will when you've added another defensive-midfielder. Must confess, I think I like Akouokou better based on attributes. He might not have many areas where he stands out, but Boudjema's decision making scares me! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 15, 2023 Author Share Posted January 15, 2023 4 hours ago, GIMN said: I can't imagine it's great consolation when losing out so narrowly on the league title, but there has to be something a little satisfying about seeing you built a team so well that the AI couldn't mess it up! Absolutely. They've also strengthened really well this summer and I think they're going to be more than just a flash in the pan. I'm nearly done writing about the squad and the July update, so you can make your final judgement on the balance of it then, please! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIMN Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 2 minutes ago, _Ben_ said: Absolutely. They've also strengthened really well this summer and I think they're going to be more than just a flash in the pan. I'm nearly done writing about the squad and the July update, so you can make your final judgement on the balance of it then, please! The way that's written, I'm half expecting to discover that you've decided to sell all your wingers or something equally dramatic! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 15, 2023 Author Share Posted January 15, 2023 July 2027 Pre-arranged deals: I feel that I need to mention it each time but every image in this post is a hyperlink to the profile of the player in question. Two players who I detailed in previous posts through the door - both making step ups from second tier sides but both of the style that I want for this side to progress. Not players who'll, realistically, help us compete in the Champions League but the right starting point to build from. I'm happy to have them both here. --- New Signings: I feel really happy with the signing of Boudjemaa and that is because it feels super realistic in how the process was complete. Once he and Paul Akouokou were highlighted as potential signings, I handed over to the recruitment team to get one of them sorted. I had initially put Paul as the higher of the two simply based on his ability and that kind of offset his poorer passing, given that he was - from some scouting and statistical analysis - playing in a different role and different style to what I'd have. However, Paul's demands were over €30k and my stipulation for a maximum of €5k over what I was paying Pape Matar Sarr - simply due to the parity in game time that I intend to maintain - meant that we were unable to agree terms with him- not allowing a 29-year old rotational player to become, comfortably, my top earner. Because of this, the team then turned their attentions to Mehdi and sealed his deal. Second choice but how often does a team not get their first choice target? Earning just €3k more than Sarr and happy to rotate with him, I'm really happy with this in principal. What I'm less happy with though is - as @GIMN correctly points out - his Decision making ability. When you look at my squad, with a view on key attributes, you'll see he stands out as being one of only two players with what I'd consider below average attributes for Decisions and, furthermore, he sits about three and a half point below the league average for midfielders. Yet, I feel that my placement of him may mitigate this slightly. The DM role I use is fairly static and, given that it's between two pretty rigid lines of four means that he's quite central and static and that there won't be too many opportunities for him to make those bad decisions, particularly in my quest to bring through more creative inverted wingbacks into a triple pivot when transitioning. On the other hand, a brave man who makes bad decisions doesn't sound too great and, when you add in the fact that he's rather aggressive, he could be a card magnet: although only three yellows last year, with seven the year before and four before that does tell a different, more pleasing story. I can't ignore the outputs that he's produced on the pitch though and, despite my own ideology that is underpinned by a decisive squad, I think he could be really solid player if he performs as well as he has over the previous few seasons. --- Next through the door was a €450k deal for Bursaspor centre back Ahmet Suphi Canturk. Bursaspor, like Gencler, are a team who pride themselves in developing youth players and, despite hitting hard time and being stranded in the third tier, have produced some gems - including Melih Demir. Whilst there is clearly a gamble with bringing a player up two divisions and, as such, his statistical outputs must be considered somewhat less valuable, I think that there is definitely a chance to shape Ahmet into the player I want without putting too much stress on him in the first team. I compared him to all defensive players: full backs, centre backs and defensive midfielders and still his ability to dribble the ball from defence shone through with his trait clearly being utilised by the Bursa manager. Whilst there are no truly stand-out attributes, he's very well balanced across the board and I hope to be able to dig into his potential to work on a few areas of his game. I'm really happy with the work that my recruitment team did finding him and the deal that they did to bring him in - as, in this case, there was only one player that I'd identified for this role. --- I've also tasted a little disappointment (although more actually the sense of realism) in the recruitment of a goalkeeper. I earmarked this as an essential deal simply because it meant that I would then be able to actually fill my bench, rather than leaving a slot for a grey player, hoping that I never have to rely on them. I earmarked six Turkish keepers from different places - including a Hertha BSC player, Galatasaray player and both of the Besiktas keepers. I had deals accepted for the first four but none of them would agree to the enforced Backup role with a maximum wage of €15k p/w. Bilal was choice number five and a €2.2m deal was agreed with Austin FC, from the MLS. I'm terrible at assessing keeper stats and, with the MLS only a few months though, there isn't much to dig into but I can see that, for 9th placed Austin, he's kept more Clean Sheets than average and has a decent Save % of just under 74%, making 3.14 saves per/90 and has a pass completion of just over 50%. Compared to Ronnow, my number one, he's 14% down on Save %, making around 0.5 saves more per game and completing 27% less passes than the Dane, it's clear that he's not here to be number one. But, what he does do, is solve the issue I have and is, in passing terms at least, a step up on Matija Sarkic, who will be allowed to complete a move to Preston now I've found a replacement. Not the long term option I want but, if he's happy, he could quite easily sit on the bench for four or five years and my first team keeper could then get away with not being Turkish, which would open the doors to much stronger players. --- Lastly, an unexpected move of which I am quite excited about, where I only moved on one of my wingers... 1 hour ago, GIMN said: The way that's written, I'm half expecting to discover that you've decided to sell all your wingers or something equally dramatic! When I noticed that Gencler were interested in my winger, Adam Ounas, I lodged a very cheeky bid, as seen below. I don't really like signing players from my old clubs - but that's more of a realism thing whereby a manager wouldn't walk into his new club and sign four or five of the players there but I've agreed to myself that this is a different scenario. Emre has spent a year at Gencler and they'd be getting a player of similar quality (but not of performance, as you'll see shortly) in return. I actually think that this is a bit of AI magic here as Emre has a release clause of just €1.6m (which is why I offered that and a player to start with) and I think they feel that, given the fact he'd obviously not wanted to renew, they could get the money and a player in exchange, too. For me - it also frees up another foreign player spot, which I think will be important as time goes on... I don't know where to start when discussing the outputs that Emre recorded last year! Fifteen goals (6 penalties) and thirteen assists was a huge part of the reason why Gencler won the league and, yes, I do feel bad about taking their star performer off them but I feel that the deal isn't too bad for them either, with Ounas a starter for the second placed team. To be in the top five percent for all of the above metrics is absolutely outstanding and I really think that it shows (albeit not directly through me) the importance that I need to place in my own recruitment as I signed him without him playing much for Fener the season before, and, yet, he was able to do this. My obvious concern is that this is a one season wonder but I have confidence that he'll fit into my system well. Even though I initiated this transfer, I left the negotiating to the recruitment team and, as I kind of expected, Emre wanted much money than he was previously on - as you'd expect from a now 'established' player, which wasn't the case before. Nevertheless, he's not the top earner but will be rewarded with a handsome number of minutes across the course of this season. --- I think I'm just about done with summer moves here - eight new players in, pretty much following a one-in, one-out policy with a net spend just €950k (€6.5m spent and €5.55m recouped). However, for me, the squad is in a much better place: younger, more well rounded and more suited to the roles that I require. This, in addition to the promising youth I have developing in the youth team, means that I think we're going to do pretty well again this year. The full squad list can be seen by clicking on the above image. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIMN Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 Mor's output is actually insane. Even if he drops off in every area next season, he'll still be a monster. I don't think it's particularly unrealistic, either. Sure a manager isn't likely to sign 4 or 5 players from their former club often, but part of that is because the team he's left is going to feel reluctant to sell. Obviously that makes it difficult to work out how many Ajax players Ten Haag would have wanted to sign for United, for example, but he's certainly been linked with half of the squad since he took over. I think I asked this in previous seasons, but is the squad depth an accurate reflection of your opinion on starters/backups, or just organised by star rating? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 15, 2023 Author Share Posted January 15, 2023 35 minutes ago, GIMN said: Mor's output is actually insane. Even if he drops off in every area next season, he'll still be a monster. I don't think it's particularly unrealistic, either. Sure a manager isn't likely to sign 4 or 5 players from their former club often, but part of that is because the team he's left is going to feel reluctant to sell. Obviously that makes it difficult to work out how many Ajax players Ten Haag would have wanted to sign for United, for example, but he's certainly been linked with half of the squad since he took over. I think I asked this in previous seasons, but is the squad depth an accurate reflection of your opinion on starters/backups, or just organised by star rating? I know! Even more so when you consider that he had scored just once in the time that I was in charge of him last season. I was reading into him and trying to find out a bit more about his real life career, which saw him move to Germany and then Spain pretty early but he was kind of lost and ended up back in Turkey. Whilst I did that, I noticed that the real player faces weren't accurate (as I just filled them with NewGan generated faces, so I went in and added the real faces for a few of my lads. Didn't picture them looking like that, to be fair... --- Those depth ratings are kind of what I want but I know that I need a squad and to rotate. Being able to make five changes in a match is great because it allows for so much game time - meaning at least one winger and centre mid normally gets replaced, even if it's just for a few minutes to see a game out - so I need the depth but I don't want/have a set starting XI if I can help it. Also, the stars are a bit silly because they won't give anyone that is a left footer, for example, a good rating as an Inverted Wing Back even if they have the right attributes for it. I largely ignore it and just use it to ensure I'm covered enough for the next period between transfer windows. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 All looks very good business Ben. I like the fact you’ve went back to a former club, I feel that’s a realistic route. One of the managers of my club hearts in Scotland was well know for taking the same 4/5 players everywhere he went. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIMN Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 Mor definitely isn't what I would've imaged, whilst Andrey Mostovoy looks like the single point of reference for all those Midjourney renders . Agreed on the 5-substitute rule. Much easier to manage game time. I feel it also gives me freedom to make changes at half time without it having to be a response to someone being injured or having an absolute stinker of a game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyler16 Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 I'm glad you have the correct face for Emre Mor now, I actually watched a lot of him early on in his career. He was arguably the most talented player on the Dortmund team with Ousmane Dembele and Christian Pulisic and supposed to be the star of the next Turkish generation. When he was at Celta de Vigo he had a throne made outside by his pool that he'd post on Instagram with constantly, lol. Unrelated, but why not just promote a Turkish keeper from a youth team to occupy the backup role? I assume you want cover in case the #1 gets injured? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 16, 2023 Author Share Posted January 16, 2023 21 hours ago, SixPointer said: All looks very good business Ben. I like the fact you’ve went back to a former club, I feel that’s a realistic route. One of the managers of my club hearts in Scotland was well know for taking the same 4/5 players everywhere he went. Thanks! I'm quite happy with it actually. It's a 7/10 in terms of quality - with Emrecan and Emre Mor being the two real quality additions but a 9/10 in terms of realism - not getting my first target and not settling for players who I don't feel will improve us enough. 21 hours ago, GIMN said: Mor definitely isn't what I would've imaged, whilst Andrey Mostovoy looks like the single point of reference for all those Midjourney renders . Agreed on the 5-substitute rule. Much easier to manage game time. I feel it also gives me freedom to make changes at half time without it having to be a response to someone being injured or having an absolute stinker of a game. I can't warm to those midjourney faces - they just don't look real enough! I'd rather just use a random player who actually exists if I want to change their appearances from the norm. 2 hours ago, tyler16 said: Unrelated, but why not just promote a Turkish keeper from a youth team to occupy the backup role? I assume you want cover in case the #1 gets injured? We don't have any other keepers at the club! Well, until I bought this man. He's far far away from the first team bu you're right that I can use him now but only on days when the U19 team don't play, which is hard as their schedule aligns with ours. I do like a cup and a league keeper too, to be fair, so this will satisfy that need. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonic Youth Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 On 16/01/2023 at 08:24, _Ben_ said: Whilst I did that, I noticed that the real player faces weren't accurate (as I just filled them with NewGan generated faces, so I went in and added the real faces for a few of my lads. Didn't picture them looking like that, to be fair... Are you recruiting for a boy band or a football team? Though Mor is always welcome, plus Andrey Mostovoy looks like that new Chelsea signing 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 20, 2023 Author Share Posted January 20, 2023 (edited) Been a very busy week for me and one that I haven't spent actually playing FM whenever I've had a chance. Instead, I've worked on some stuff for my skin and wanted to share it as a post rather than explaining each time I post a screenshot. The rationale behind this is that I have longed for a different way to display attributes and, in FM18, I loved having the visual bars and FM19 made the attributes transparent on a coloured square. However, it meant that each colour or bar represented a possible four or five attributes and that tracking attribute development was really quite tough, which was a shame as, as you've seen, it's one of my favourite things to do. Earlier this week, a skinner was able to bring back the bars and I have been able to modify them to create ratings that match, aesthetically, my scout reports. Each player and member of staff has a possible five circles that they can fill and they are coloured based on their value: 1-7 are the background colour (therefore appearing to be transparent, 8-10 are average and light blue, 11 to 15 are good and dark blue and anything over 16 is gold to show that they are, essentially, elite at this part of their game. To then be able to visually track the development, each amount of circle stands for one of two possible attributes, which is ideal to add some ambiguity to the situation but still allow me to, pretty easily, see attribute growth. 0.5 circles - 1 or 2 1 circle - 3 or 4 1.5 circles - 5 or 6 2 circless - 7 or 8 2.5 circles - 9 or 10 3 circles - 11 or 12 3.5 circles - 13 or 14 4 circles - 15 or 16 4.5 circles - 17 or 18 5 circles - 19 or 20 Above is Emre Mor's profile and I can show you a few examples of how this process works. - Determination. Three full circles means twelve and another half means that has either 13 or 14 for this attribute. - Jumping. I can see no circles so I can assume that this is below 7, or, in my opinion - poor. - Technique and Dribbling. They both have the same amount of circles - 4 (so either 15 or 16) but, as Technique is gold, I can ascertain that this value is 16 and Dribbling is 15. As I've said, it feels, to me, like an aesthetic improvement that doesn't take too much away from the core concept of attributes - meaning that myself, and you, as my readers, don't need to re-learn everything you once knew about the players I post about! --- Next is how that is visualised on the squad screen, player search screen and, basically anywhere where there isn't enough room to fit five circles in: Obviously the same colouring concept is taken here in terms of background/light blue/blue and gold but the difference here is that there are incremental stages where the circle increases in size to show the increased quality of the attribute. The largest gold circle, as you can see with Boudjemaa - indicates to me that this is an elite level attribute but doesn't give too much away until I actually look at his profile: Four circles is 15 or 16 but this is gold so must be 16. I can use this to get a really easy oversight (as I'm a visual learner, hence all of the icons on my panels) just by looking at the relative size of these circles. --- Any questions about this, please ask!! I'm now going to actually play the game for a little bit... Edited January 20, 2023 by _Ben_ 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonic Youth Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 4 hours ago, _Ben_ said: I'm now going to actually play the game for a little bit... Looks good. Feels a bit easier to decipher than the numbers, and visually looks better. See you in a couple of seasons? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyler16 Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 Absolutely love that visual update, great stuff. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 20, 2023 Author Share Posted January 20, 2023 (edited) August 2027 Trabzonspor 4-0 Rapid Wien My football content consumption over the past couple of days has been around Roberto de Zerbi, with this video being really interesting to me. I obviously favour counter attacking football and that thought of the 'De Zerbi-ism' of baiting the press seems really interesting to me and one that I don't think I've ever really considered. Of course, if we can commit players towards the ball and have players comfortable enough to evade that press, we'll have wide open space to attack. The formative ideas centred around defenders with two particular traits: Stops Play and Tries Long Range Passes. However, there are a select few players that my scouts had knowledge of that fit that criteria and, as you can see, none of them are in my price bracket. The matchup against Rapid was a tough one as, given it's the first game of the season, little analytical data exists for them (as I don't have their league loaded) and I could only predict their line up and style based around their playing squad and manager, Ferdinand Feldhofer. I couldn't really tell if they are the kind of team that will take the bait but I want to watch what happened in these transitions before I jumped into any changes of style or player. Firstly, for context, I don't use a traditional double pivot - instead I like to use this Pep inspired false fullbacks with the width coming from wide men, which, given the positioning of my central player, makes kind of an offset triple pivot. You can see what that looks like here. All of these players have defensive duties but are quite creative and their job is to progress the ball wide or through the middle, but, this can be made more effective if my centre backs can bait a press and give them more space to work with. It turned out that Rapid did not press much, and that left situations like this. Gonzalez has the ball but is quite quick to move it on; granted, his pass into Sarr does open up some good passing lanes and what turns into a really numerical overload on our right hand side, but he could have brought two, or maybe even three or four players onto him if he'd have held it for a little longer. Here, it worked. Sarr's movement towards the ball prompted their striker to attempt to close Gonzalez, who was then able to find Ahmet Tamrak in acres of space to pick a pass. This is what then happens if I can get it to any of that pivot in space. The 2-3-5 shape is there and Dorukhan has the eye to pick the pass through the channel, which is finished well. Late in the second half, I went one further and saw this - a literal 3-3-4-1 shape but, sadly, Ronnow retreated as soon as he passed the ball on. I saw a Twitter thread a year or so back about a second tier German keeper who was literally used in the transition but can't find it now to explain how amazing it would be to replicate. Goals from Traore, Emre Mor, Ahmet and Nmecha make my Champions League debut a dream. --- Rapid Wien 0-3 Trabzonspor The art of the counter attack is that we are likely to create less chances than the opposition, but that must come on the provisor that the quality of chances are better than that of the opposition. We did just that. Wien's 0.06xG/shot pales into comparison of our 0.097xG/shot as we created good opportunities each time we broke. This counter-attack was slick and Seydou Traore put us ahead on nine minutes. Goals for Mostovoy and Enis Destan sealed an emphatic two-legged win. Following on the the previous post, I've had my scouts out looking for players who also have the Stops Play trait to see whether this is a sensible route to try and take. So far, we've found twoplayers: Christian Marques Ravil Tagir Ravil was on my list in the summer and I've just made a cheeky bid to see if they'll accept a move at the end of this season, as to not disrupt the already assembled squad. Nothing is set in stone and I haven't heard back from Istanbul yet.. --- Fenerbahce 0-0 Trabzonspor I desperately did not want to lose the opening fixture of the season and, using a slightly more cautious setup, achieved that. A game that, in my experience here and through my extra immersion with this club, I know is hugely important to the fans and to the player turned into a game of chess: we let them have the ball, largely in their half, but didn't allow them to make the move that unlocked our defence. They slipped through once and Daniel Podence really should have scored early in the second half, but we held our nerve. Seydou was unusually poor up top, missing our best chance of the game from a sweeping counter but we start the season with a point, which is better than Fener's rivals, Besiktas: What worries me most is Gala looked amazing, yet Gencler rolled them over in the Super Cup to win another piece of silverware. It's going to be a really good battle again! --- Trabzonspor 3-1 Charleroi Back to Champions League action and goals from Mevlut, Seydou Traore and a wonder striker from 16-year old Umit Demir, starting for the first time, saw us roar into a half time lead. I was slightly disappointed with our showing in the second half but the need for early changes given the manic start to the season, which has eaten in to pre-season, has brought about a number of unfit players that couldn't last the ninety. --- Trabzonspor 5-0 İstanbul Başakşehir A resounding victory where we absolutely battered them from start to finish. We were able to find pockets of space for my creative men and created havoc going forward. As the tie went on, I altered some opposition instructions, attempting to make the most of their tired and booked players. I took a little bit of time, given the scoreline, to see how a slightly different shape would work. I moved to this shape to create a slightly different pattern of numbers. With a double IWB, our shape, when attacking, morphs into a 2-3-4-1, which is great in terms of providing tha triple pivot to transition through. However, the two defenders that are left can be overran when facing two attackers, something which I envisage may happen more when playing continental football. The new shape, whilst still lining up in a 4-1-4-1 defensively, there is a very different shape - a 3-2-4-1 that is created offensively: with width coming from the left wing back and a False Centre Back in Boudjemaa. In this instance, Nmecha's ball was poor - a lofted pass to Erin - but there is definitely scope for him to utilise the wider players here, who have much more space and are largely unmarked. Our style of play remains but I need to, and want to, find variants that will give me the upper hand against certain opposition. Emre Mor has been a revelation but I knew that. Since signing, I have watched him on the right wing create chances and score goals like he's been here forever. I decided to quickly see how he stacked up - knowing that so early in the season the data I collected would be somewhat skewed due to lack of minutes: however, it's still stupidly good! Only Alejandro Pozo comes close to his ability to progress the ball. Long may this output continue... --- Charleroi 0-4 Trabzonspor (Trabzonspor win 7-1 on aggregate) Really, really good football in Belgium as we qualify for the group stages in some style. Progress made to the group/league/whatever it now is phase, where we face some really difficult ties... We are joined by Genclerbirligi, who have a tough set of fixtures, too. Obviously, the biggest thing for us is eight full houses and whatever competition money I can get my hands on. With my team pretty well set at the moment, it's just a case of collecting it and, with that money, I intend to invest in the youth side, particularly for very young prospects. Unfortunately, it's not an area I've had real success in - here are the stats: 782 Turkish players aged 16 or under 69% of those are 'interested' in joining Just four have been scouted Lots to do! --- Ankara Keçiörengücü 0-6 Trabzonspor Let the newly promoted team know we mean business... ...proceeds to be three nil up inside four minutes! This was really good and really professional. A Traore hattrick, Mevlut, Emir and a hugely deflected first club goal from Pape Matar Sarr gave us the victory as, once again, tactically I was spot on - really dominating their more one-footed players and stopping their creativity, which came from their defensive midfielder - who Seydou often drops in and marks. --- Nothing to show here, really, except a strong start! Some winnable games in September but we start with a tough tie! Edited February 9, 2023 by _Ben_ 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GIMN Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 Only 25 goals? Pathetic! Joking aside, what an absolutely sensational start. Love the idea of baiting the press, and keen to see how it works with a defender with the Stops Play trait. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robot_skeleton Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 I watched the exact same video from TIFO the other day, very interesting. What I thought that maybe the PPM "dwells on ball" could also be useful. Really looking forward to your defender recruitment! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted January 22, 2023 Author Share Posted January 22, 2023 (edited) On 20/01/2023 at 22:11, GIMN said: Joking aside, what an absolutely sensational start. Love the idea of baiting the press, and keen to see how it works with a defender with the Stops Play trait. On 21/01/2023 at 07:53, robot_skeleton said: I watched the exact same video from TIFO the other day, very interesting. What I thought that maybe the PPM "dwells on ball" could also be useful. Really looking forward to your defender recruitment! Thanks both. Sadly, neither are traits I can teach, so I'll have to get recruiting for this type of player. I've just been looking at players using the Player Search tool and it seems that Dwells on Ball is a trait for more advanced players although both are really quite rare in the game - certainly in terms of those I have knowledge of anyway. Edited January 22, 2023 by _Ben_ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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