FM23: PURPLE TALENTS - IN YOUTH WE TRUST

SteinkelssonFM · April 10, 2023

The footballing landscape in Belgium, which used to be dominated by RSC Anderlecht has changed, with the side from one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capita Region not winning a title since 2016/17. Rivals Club Brugge have a firm grip on the Jupiler Pro League, being crowned champions on four of the last five occasions.

There have been a few factors which have led to the demise of the team, both on and off the field, which I will briefly touch on. First and foremost the club is in significant financial difficulty, they have a net debt of over £100 million at the start of the game and the balance sheet forecast for the next few years continues on a downward trajectory.

Anderlecht is not a club which is bankrolled by foreign investors. The club relies on the income which is provided by the Academy, an area which it has not effectively utilised over this period. Anderlecht is a club which has historically built its reputation with young blood flowing through its veins.

Other contributing factors as to why they find themselves in this position are; securing poor returns from high cost transfer targets (to follow), failure to implement a wage structure, and failure to maximise sale on values (knowing when to sell) for key players. Whilst on the field the team have lacked a cutting edge, which was apparent in both the 2021/22 season (10 draws), and the current Pro League campaign (7 draws).

Looking at the clubs record arrivals on Transfermarkt.co.uk and the individual player stats, really highlights how poor some of these signings have been for the club. Only one of the top 10 record signings is still on the books (Anders Dreyer), and he signed this season.

Nicolae Stanciu, the clubs record signing, played 53 times for the club before being sold to Sparta Prague for a loss of nearly €6m.
Bubacarr Sanneh, played less than 1,400 minutes for the club before being sent out on multiple loans, eventually leaving the club on a free.
Michel Vlap, made 36 appearances for he club, again before being loaned out and then eventually sold for €2m.

THE ACADEMY

The club has a clear vision for its academy: to produce players that will be capable of top-flight and Champions League football by the ages of 18-21. The below image shows just how Anderlecht could have lined up if the were able to keep hold of players which have played for the RSCA Futures team.

A key component of Anderlecht’s philosophy is to create technically proficient footballers, fluid attackers with a natural instinct to press in the half of the opponent, all of which we will look to implement within our game model. Below is an example of the clubs training philosophy which is covered in greater detail in the Inside The Academy video on YouTube, within it there is a clear focus on technique (body and ball mastery), along with footballing intelligence (brain stimulation, development, and accelerator).

The Anderlecht way is formed on speed of thought and quality of execution, with players expected to have the confidence and craft to build attacks with triangular passing, from the defence if necessary.

At Anderlecht, it is not merely about talent; it is about ambition and application. That is underlined in the club’s stance on winning and losing: the manner of playing exceeds the importance of the result. For the Belgians, effort is imperative, winning is a bonus.

GAME MODEL

Taking key points from the above and with the knowledge that Academy students are expected to slot comfortably into a 4-3-3 at the age of 15-years-ol and above, I have looked to continue playing in this shape and will explain the reasoning behind the choice of a few of the team instructions below, with help from the ‘Comparison’ tab in the squad planner.

IN POSSESSION

Shorter Passing and Slightly Higher Tempo: The team have the highest rating in the league with regards to first touch, passing, and technique. Therefore ball retention has to be integrated into the game model, I have selected a slightly higher tempo as our squad have the technical ability to play a possession based game, at pace.

Play Out of Defence: The defenders will be encouraged to pass their way out from the back rather than clear the ball long, this is the Anderlecht way.

Be More Expressive: this will enable our more creative players the freedom to play the game with additional vision and flair. A good intelligence (Anticipation, Decisions, Flair, Teamwork, and Vision) is essential for this team instruction to have maximum effect, which links very nicely to our DNA.

The above comparison is our midfield and strikers mental attributes, you will see we are above average for all these attributes, we my also look to select the ‘Pass into Space’ instruction, enabling us to also play more balls in behind the opposition, again making the most of the ability to read the game.

OUT OF POSSESSION

Trap Outside: the above comparison shows how skilled our defenders are at defending, they have the best tackling and heading attributes in the league and are significantly high in relation to their positioning. The ‘Trap Outside’ team instruction should fit like a glove, pushing opponents wide and inviting the cross, enabling the defenders to do their job and defend.

DNA

What is a save without a DNA profile to build from, the above image shows how the current playing squad rank in terms of the DNA which I have selected, this will be used as a benchmark when looking at bringing players from the Futures team through into the first-team and of course acquisitions.

Primary DNA: Intelligence (Anticipation, Decisions, Flair, Teamwork, and Vision) a fundamental for an Anderlecht player, the training philosophy from earlier really hammered this home with the focus on brain training from under 8 and beyond.

Secondary DNA: Passing, Technique, Work rate, and Stamina – if we are looking to play a possession based game, then passing and technique are also non-negotiables. Work rate and stamina will enable us to press hard without the ball and also ensure that we can execute technical skills throughout the 90 minutes, which could well be a huge asset, especially in close games.

OBJECTIVES

As with any save, it is always helpful to set out a few objectives on for the save to keep you focused and ensure that you have some form of long-term plan.

To reclaim the title of Belgiums finest – let’s face it, we play FM to win and therefore there will be a desire to lift the Pro League title and move Anderlecht up the club coefficients and reputation rankings. Currently Anderlecht are 124th in the co-efficient rankings 80 places behind Club Brugge, and have three and a half stars in terms of their reputation.
Clear the clubs debt – As previously discussed, the club not only need to improve their position on the pitch, there is a need to ensure thy club stay out of the red. Adrien Trébel is the highest earner on £33,000 per week, whilst squad players like Lior Refaelov find themselves as the third highest earner on £21,500 per week.
Personal Development – of course I will want to continue to develop players within the club, seeing the healthy pipeline of talent within the Futures Team continue their pathways, transitioning into the Senior Squad. The ultimate aim will be to target 50% of the first team squad to be Academy graduates.
Yari Verschaeren – as with my Villarreal save, there will be a focus on attempting to maximise the potential of Yari Verschaeren, a player in real life who’s development has been hampered by injuries (Torn Ankle Ligaments 2109/20, Ankle Injury 2020/21, and Cruciate Ligament Rupture 2022/23). The 20-year-old holds the second highest DNA score in the squad and has a high potential. I will be looking to focus on his role as the Advanced Playmaker on Attack Duty.

Edited April 10, 2023 by MattyLewis11

rich ruzzian · April 10, 2023

Nice to see you back again! INterestong project with this club with such a great history

gggfunk · April 10, 2023

Nice opening, I will definitely follow this. I especially like the DNA part, maybe I'll use this idea in my long term save soon...

GIMN · April 11, 2023

To say I am excited for this is an understatement! Looking forward to it.

FM_Ghost · April 11, 2023

Great intro. Looking forward to the save!

SteinkelssonFM · April 11, 2023

Thanks @GIMN @gggfunk @FM_Ghost and @rich ruzzian for taking the time to comment, there is something special about the SI Forum, I am looking forward to documenting my second FM23 save here and interacting with you all.

BENEFITS OF THE 4-3-3

First and foremost, the 4-3-3 formation provides a solid defensive structure. With four defenders at the back, the team can maintain a compact defensive line, which makes it difficult for the opposition to break through.

The three midfielders in front of the defenders can also contribute defensively, helping to shield the backline and intercepting passes. This defensive solidity ensures that the team is not exposed on the counter-attack, which is a common problem with more attacking formations.

Another benefit of the 4-3-3 formation is the flexibility it offers. The three midfielders can be used in a variety of ways, depending on the opposition and the team's strengths. For example, one midfielder could be tasked with breaking up play and providing cover for the defence, while another could be given more freedom to attack and create chances. The third midfielder could be a box-to-box player, who contributes both offensively and defensively. This flexibility allows the team to adapt to different situations and opponents, making it a versatile formation.

The attacking potential of the 4-3-3 formation is also a huge advantage. With three forwards, the team has a more potent attacking threat. The wingers can provide width and stretch the opposition's defence, while the central forward can act as a target man, holding up the ball and bringing others into play. The midfielders can also contribute to the attack, making late runs into the box and providing support for the forwards. The attacking trio can create a lot of problems for the opposition's defence, which can lead to goals and victories.

In conclusion, the 4-3-3 formation offers many benefits for football teams. It provides a solid defensive structure, flexibility, attacking potential, and can create a strong team spirit and identity due to the clear structure and defined roles for each player within the system.

PRE SEASON

As with any pre-season the results are not important, the purpose is to ensure the squad improve their match sharpness and avoid picking up any long-term injuries.

Positive results were secured across the schedule of non-competitive fixtures and we managed to escape with only one player (Kristian Arnstad) picking up a moderate injury, the midfielder picked up a twisted knee in the game against SK BMD Vorwärts Steyr which kept him out for two weeks.

Tactical familiarity is starting to take shape, I expect the team to be fluid across the board after a few more fixtures and the integration of match preparation training sessions.

I have now seen most of the players in action and have made the above assessment in relation to club depth, Verbruggen has been placed between the sticks IRL ahead of Van Crombrugge, which is something which I may well consider. Camara has been introduced from the RSCA Futures team due to not having sufficient depth at right-back position. The 19-year-old is naturally a right winger. However, given the fact we want our right wingback to be the attacking outlet down the right flank, Camara should be adept at playing this role going forward at least and will be given the chance to shine when facing weaker opponents, at home.

Sandwiched between the Seraing FC match is the UEFA Europa Conference League Third Qualifying Round in which we will face either Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho (Finland) or U Craiova 1948 CS (Romania), neither of which should cause us any significant threats.

Edited April 12, 2023 by MattyLewis11

SteinkelssonFM · April 12, 2023

I have manged to play the first handful of competitive fixtures, and am thinking that I will continue to provide updates in blocks of five. This will ensure that you guys get to keep up to date with the Purple Talents save and I continuously get to write, which massively helps me to submerge myself into my world of FM.

I am hopeful that it will also continue to provide you with an insight as to how I play the game.

The tactic seems to be working well, we have won the xG battle in all fixtures which highlights our ability to carve out chances, whilst not conceding many.

The highest xG created came against U Craiova 1948 CS, we manged to accumulate 2.46 from 20 shots, 0.12 xg per shot - again showing the quality of chances created. Islam Slimani was the first player to pick up a perfect 10 rating in this fixture, the forward scoring a hattrick from his three shots.

We are averaging 65% possession in the league two percent off AA Gent and Charleroi. However, it is still way too early to judge our ability to play the possession game as we need to have a much improved sample size.

We have had a good spread of goal scorers (Six) and assists (Nine) which have come from all over the park, the main assist type has come from a cross, I am hoping that we can get a few more from through-balls, especially after the slight change in tactic. (later my friends)

Islam Slimani has scored the most goals whilst four players have provided two assists, a list including our Advanced Playmaker on attacking duty...

YARI VERSCHAEREN

Verschaeren is a two-footed technically gifted player, standing at 5'8 with a low centre of gravity giving him impressive agility (14). He likes to get on the ball and has a good passing range , which is reflected in his excellent pivot (Passing 14, Technique 14, and Vision 15). Whilst his Off the Ball movement (14) ad Flair (14) make him an unpredictable threat in the attacking third.

Starting the save Yari is a blank canvas with regards to his player traits. Therefore, he will initially look to adopt the 'Dictates Tempo' trait, one which will enable him to put his stamp on games as our playmaker.

Below are the chalkboards of his performances in the opening three league games to provide an initial flavour of his in-game actions (passes completed and key passes).

KV Oostende: An impressive performance in the opening fixture one in which he managed to create nine key passes (only seven showing in the analytics tab), three from open play, all coming from zone 14, the area which we want Yari to dominate.

Rating 7.1

KSV Cercle Brugge: Our opponents played with a double defensive pivot which reflected in Yari's performance, the player managed only one pass in the attacking third as he picked up a poor individual rating.

Rating 6.5

RFC Seraing: Yari picked up his first assist in the game against Seraing, our opponents lined up in a 4-4-2, which enabled Yari the freedom to play between the lines and have an impact in the attacking third.

Rating 7.3

Early signs are promising for the 21-year-old as he currently is creating 2.83 shot creating actions per 90 (Key Passes) from open play, making him top the charts in the Jupiler Pro League or this metric.

I have already made a slight tweak to our tactic, opting to play an inside forward as opposed to an inverted winger on the left-flank. My thoughts behind this stem from my time attempting to maximise the impact of the Trequartista in my previous save.

The Crown of Aragon: Fantasista

As you will know the main difference between both roles is that the IF will cut in without the ball whilst the IW will cut in only when in possession. Therefore by playing an IF on Yari's side of the pitch I am providing him with an improved supply line to secure those much needed assists. (well that is the plan)

The next run of fixtures include our fourth round qualifying match in the conference league, a two-legged affair which we really need to navigate to hep pull in some much needed additional revenue.

Off the field, I was blessed with the below email... £3.8 million per month! The debt is going to cripple us as a club and we will absolutely need to sell some of our key players as time goes on in order to make us operational for the future.

I will be looking to take some of the key points from @ThrowingCopperFM excellent article from the Byline Eight Ways to Manage Debt in FM23 Without Selling Your Best Players

SixPointer · April 12, 2023

Yasss here we go! Just as I’ve moved into Belgium as well! Can’t wait to catch up when I have time to read!

JoOSTAR · April 12, 2023

Great thread and story man! I'll be following this one!

Although there are a few mistakes in the storyline: Proto, Gillet, Praet, Biglia and Mitrovic are players which they brought in from other clubs, they never played for the academy/futures squad.

Apart from that: Keep up the good work!

GIMN · April 12, 2023

9 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said:

Off the field, I was blessed with the below email... £3.8 million per month! The debt is going to cripple us as a club and we will absolutely need to sell some of our key players as time goes on in order to make us operational for the future.

Oof! That's a pretty hefty amount to be losing each month. Does that service all your debt, or is it only some of the loans? If the former, at least that should mean no more loans to worry about after season 1. You might not have a squad left by that point, but hey, at least no more debt :lol:

SteinkelssonFM · April 13, 2023

@SixPointer I have been playing catchup with your save and I have been inspired, clearly looks as if you are in the groove and enjoying every minute of both playing and documenting your save.

@GIMN You are indeed correct, the rest of the loan £65 million is a gift loan which is only repayable on the departure of the chairperson.

@JoOSTAR blame Squawka as the visual is theirs, I think I can easily amend the storytelling by stating this is what the team could have looked like if the Mauve's kept hold of players which donned the purple shirt.

Much like Six Pointer, I must admit that covering the finer details of the save really does help to boost the enjoyment factor. So here we are with another update, taking us deeper into the start of season one.

Sint-Truidense vs Anderlecht

With the double header against Basel just around the corner, I opted to play a significantly rotated team to rest the legs of the majority of our starting-eleven.

In fact Jan Vertonghen was the only player to start the game as I made 10 changes to the squad. We opened the scoring in the second minute through Benito Raman, after a nice through pass was played down the channel for the striker to run onto. (His natural role is as an advanced forward).

The tables then turned as Camara played a square pass into the midfield which was intercepted and progressed in a blink of an eye for Bruno to score. Leinster turned the game on its head in the 33rd minute scoring a front post header from a corner.

Eight minutes into the second half Raman scored his second after a great interchange between Verschaeren and Stroeykens.

The Belgian forward completed his hattrick from the penalty spot, we didn't give our opponents a sniff in the second half.

We also managed to complete the game with 68% possession, our highest figure to date, a pretty delightful stat which is reassuring to know that the second string players can still deliver.

Although, I am also sitting here wondering how much more convincing the result could potentially have been if there was no need to rotate.

Anderlecht vs Basel

10 changes were made to flip to our strongest team for the qualifier, we were at home and wanted to put our stamp on the tie.

Things didn't initially go as we planned as Uli Forte's side took an early lead, Bart Verbruggen parried a shot from Zeki Amdouni into the path of Andi Zeqiri to tap home.

Verschaeren equalised close to half-time from the penalty spot, minutes later Majeed Ashimeru played a pinpoint through ball in-between four opponents for Anders Dreyer to run onto and slide the ball home.

Our opponents couldn't sustain any period of attacking momentum in the second half and we were quite unfortunate to not convert our dominance into a two goal lead.

Basel vs Anderlecht

Amir Murillo played the starring role in the away victory, his 108 passes received in the game was 35% more than any other player on the field.

The 26-year-old from Panama played four key passes, three of which were clear cut chances, and 0.8 xA.

Goals were scored in the first half by Yari Verschaeren and Amadou Diawara.

Union Saint-Gilloise vs Anderlecht

Up next were Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, who unlike IRL opened the season with only one victory in their first four matches.

Dreyer's goal was all that separated the two sides, this match was fairly low key with both teams only managing four shots on target.

Anderlecht vs KAA Gent

The final game of this block of fixtures against KAA Gent was our first fixture my first against a side which was predicted to finish inside the top six, the domestic fixture list has been kind to us until this point, which has enabled me to acquaint myself with the playing staff at my disposal.

KAA are on a four game unbeaten streak, a run which has been spearheaded by Jens Petter Hauge.

We are in good form in the league and looking at the stats, I am pleased to see that we are yet still to concede first in any of our domestic matches...

We managed to score either side of the break. However, our opponents were never really in the game, they struggled to make any impact in the attacking third, which is clearly apparent in the xG story.

Yari Verschaeren and Islam Slimani were the goal scorers, our attacking playmaker has now scored three goals his last four matches, which whilst it is impressive, he has now scored more than assisted.

UEFA CONFERENCE LEAGUE DRAW

The draw has been made and boy, oh boy, we are in for a tough run!

The computer has put us up against Villarreal, a side I know well from my FM23 save The Crown of Aragon, and Glimt, another side which I have managed during FM21 We will make the northerners proud.

The final team are AIK from Sweden, a country which I have just returned from, I ran out to the Friends Arena from Stockholm centre during my stay.

I cant see us taking anything from Villarreal, who will absolutely be the favourites to top the group. We will need to make sure we win both home fixtures against AIK and Glimt, prior to what will be a tough fixture in X up to Bodo.

BELGIAN PRO LEAGUE

Six from six, the only side to take maximum points to date in the league! Kudos must be given to Standard who have only conceded the single goal in their opening fixtures which included AA Gent and KRC Genk.

Our next run of games include the home fixture against Villarreal, whilst I am expecting to lose this match, it will be nice to see how Quique Setién deploys the team, with me secretly knowing I would have done better! haha!

_Ben_ · April 13, 2023

Glad to see you back! You've certainly made quite the statement in the league to start.

GIMN · April 13, 2023

A cracking start; and what a second leg performance against Basel. That kind of dominance away from home really is quite something. Love how you have a connection to all the teams you faced in the Conference League.

13th Man · April 14, 2023

Fantastic start here and you’ve got a nice combination of a “right the ship” save and one with a club that has a clear philosophy to build with.

Think the switch to an IF is a nice one with the WB keeping the width. I love the IFs with the 4-3-3. I’m currently just using IWs but that’s due to the an IWB on one side and a CM(a) on the other, so the IWs need to keep the width more. With WB though, I like the movement of the IFs more.

rich ruzzian · April 14, 2023

Verscharen scroing goals isn't really a bad thing ofcourse. I dont know how he scores them? Is he on the end of crosses or does he create time and space for himself to shoot on target.

SteinkelssonFM · April 16, 2023

@_Ben_ it is a pleasure to be back here with the familiar faces, I hope you have enjoyed the early updates on what I am hoping will be a save to remember.

On 13/04/2023 at 23:56, GIMN said:

what a second leg performance against Basel

I really wasn't expecting us to put in such a dominant performance, you expect away fixtures to be a little tougher, or maybe I simply am underestimating the strength of Anderlecht given how they performed in the first half of this season IRL.

@13th Man this is 100% a 'right the ship' save, I don't think I have started a save with a club before which is in such a terrible financial position. As for the philosophy, it helps to know that the club has a brand which it relies on hence not attempting to deviate away from it in regards to my style of play.

@rich ruzzian his three goals across those four games are all quite different, one from the penalty spot, the other is him getting on the end of a through ball. Finally, the last is the most intelligent as he drops off into space towards the edge of the box after a counter down the right-flank to slam the ball home.

RSC Anderlecht vs Oud-Heverlee Leuven

Seven players were still unavailable for selection due to their involvement with the Belgium U21 squad. This provided the opportunity for Luca Ferrara to be called up from the Futures squad to sit on the bench due to a spot becoming available after Francis Amuzu stubbed his toe, resulting in him being absent for six to nine days! Théo Leoni started in the role as the inside forward due to him being the only player available, the 22-year-old expects to provide competition for places and sees himself as a squad player, despite his actual playing time reflecting that of an emergency backup.

It was Leoni who played in Benito Raman for the opening goal in the 11th minute, unfortunately we couldn't build on the opener, we struggled to bypass the midfield, again finding the 5-2-2-1 a tough nut to crack, this is reflected in both the pass map and progressive passes.

Sofian Kiyine picked up the MOTM award, it was his goal which not only secured a point on the road for his team, the Moroccan has put a halt on our 100% record.

AIK vs RSC Anderlecht

The opening UEFA Europa Conference League fixture, away in Sweden went as expected as we ran out comfortable winners at the Friends Arena, despite losing the xG battle!

Despite Anders Dreyer scoring a brace in the first-half, I wasn't happy with how the game was playing out, spectators could have been fooled it was a game of basketball as counter was countered with a counter for the majority of the first period. The home side then attempted to excerpt their dominance as they tried to get back into the match before the break.

This made me take the executive decision to bring on Marco Kana for Amadou Diawara who in my opinion is a better ball player, the decision paid off as we had more ball after the break and added additional goals from Yari Verschaeren (our box crashing midfielder) and Islam Slimani.

I would like to highlight the performance of Killian Sardella as the 20 year old put in a progressive ball masterclass down the left flank, completing 18 progressive passes on the night.

Elsewhere in the group, our old friend Yeremy Pino scored a late brace as Villarreal pumped FK Bodø/Glimt in a game in which the All Yellows lost both Fredrik Bjørkan (3-4 weeks) and Amahl Pellegrino (2-3 months) due to injury.

KVC Westerlo vs RSC Anderlecht

The KVC Westerlo match is sandwiched between two Europa Conference League fixtures, with Villarreal visiting Lotto Park four days after this game. Our hosts find themselves in 17th place in the Pro League after securing the single victory (KV Mechelen) in their opening seven games. We will be looking to continue to pile the pressure on Manager Jonas De Roeck, although I have taken the decision to field a heavily rotated squad for the fixture, which I could live to regret after the final whistle is blown at the 't Kuipje.

On another day we would have picked up three points, we had 61% possession and tested 'Man of the Match' Sinan Bolat no fewer than 11 times. The Westerlo goalkeeper had a game to remember, whilst Bart Verbruggen experienced the polar opposite, saving only one of the three attempts on goal, picking up the lowest match day rating.

Our seven game undefeated run comes to an end. However, all is not doom and gloom as both Standard (lost 2-1 to Sint-Truiden) and Club Brugge failed to pick up maximum points (0-0 Seraing FC) in 2nd and 3rd.

RSC Anderlecht vs Villarreal

Let's not beat around the bush, the game against Villarreal is going to be extremely tough, anything other than a defeat can be seen as a massive result. Looking at the 'Team News' Villarreal will be without Yeremy Pino and for some strange reason have not decided to register Gerard Moreno!

Quique Setién will look to play a fluid system with a vertical tiki-taka style, this will see us remove the counter press instruction in transition, in favour of regrouping, improving our chances of getting as many men behind the ball and making it harder for the opponents to score.

The result unfortunately finished as expected, we succumbed to a 3-1 defeat. Despite the score-line, again there were positives to take away from the match. First and foremost we won the XG battle and also closed off the game with more shots and possession. Both Villarreal goals scored by José Luis Morales, came from passes by Samuel Chukwueze which were played behind our higher defensive line, in hindsight should I have also dropped this deeper given the fact we were no longer counter-pressing in transition? Or if we kept the counter press option on would Chukwueze had enough time on the ball to play such a pass. I think simply the result goes to show that the difference between playing abilities as good teams more often than not take their chances when presented with them.

Elsewhere in the group, AIK managed to do what we failed to achieve, somehow securing a point away in Norway, in a game which looked extremely one-sided.

RSC Anderlecht vs KV Kortrijk

The second string side did it again, securing a 2-1 victory over our mid-table opponents. Goals were scored by David Hubert and Anders Dreyer.

We now have a 14 day break from competitive fixtures, a period which will be used to arrange a few friendlies to raise monies for the club along with getting the opportunity to see some of the RSCA Futures players and U18's perform.

I will cover these friendlies along with my approach to tracking players from within the club under the first team level.

The next block of five fixtures for the First Team squad are against 5th, 10th, and 3rd in the league. We also have the double-header against FK Bodø/Glimt to navigate, which could well have a heavy weighting on our ability to progress deeper into the continental competition.

rich ruzzian · April 17, 2023

The double againt Bodo is crucial to hopefully get to the next round. Leaguewise you are still first. For Belgium it is getting to the play-offs the most important, not being number one after the regular competition.

Jogo Bonito · April 17, 2023

Good luck with Anderlecht. A tough balancing act of improvement based on emerging young talent whilst addressing a woeful financial status. Those loans 😫

SteinkelssonFM · April 17, 2023

@rich ruzzian I am looking forward to the split, I think it is a nice touch to really show who is the best when the big guns get the chance to go head to head both home and away. The atmosphere in those games must be electric!

@Jogo Bonito Thanks mate, I hope you follow along! Will be good to see how I can bring some of the players in this update through the ranks and into the first-team squad.

TRACKING TALENT

Many of you may well remember my method in relation to tracking talent within the club, this hasn't changed since my short save with PSV in FM22, as I still find myself reverting back to to the tracker which I developed during that save.

The above tracker highlights the top three performers and trainers across each team, every calendar month.

I use this tool to aid progression opportunities within the club, if any player performs in the top of either categories for three consecutive months they will be given exposure to the team above.

For players which are performing well in the RSCA Futures squad, they will be added into the first-team training group. Let's face it, if you are delivering as a player, you would want to be rewarded, I find this simple method of benefit. One which only takes 15 minutes at the end of every month to apply.

CLUB FRIENDLIES

Looking at the players at my disposal, I will likely look to play the following team, which is a mix and blend of players from the peripherals of the first-team and talent from beyond.

RSC Anderlecht vs Legia Warszawa

Kosta Runjaić team find themselves top of the PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa after the first ten games. They started the fixture with a rotated side, fielding five first-team players in their starting eleven.

By the end of the fixture, Kosta had emptied his bench, bringing on all of his first-team regulars to no avail.

Ilay Camara picked up the MOTM performance, the player with 502 minutes of first-team football under his belt completed 93% of his passes on the day, along with three dribbles, two key passes and one assist. He also sowed his ability without the ball, making five interceptions and three clearances. Rating 8.0

Ethan Butera - the 16 year old didn't look at all phased during the game, dominating his aerial battles winning 7 aerial duels along with looking composed on the ball with 93% pass rate. Rating 7.7

Naïm El Afaki Fellah - the 16-year old was brought on at the break and took all of six minutes to get the ball into the back of the net. Rating 7.7

RSC Anderlecht vs FC Viktoria Plzeň

Michal Bílek's side find themselves in third place of the FORTUNA:LIGA, our opponents started with only three players who had secured over 500 minutes of first-team action, this was well and truly a weakened squad.

The result will be a day to remember for some of the younger players at the club, Aboubacar Conté (16) , Luca Monticelli (17), Timon Vanhoutte (18), Loïc Masscho (20) and Ilias Takidine (21) all picking up good ratings.

Conté stole the show off the bench, the midfielder scored a goal and added an assist from his four key passes, impressive output in his 45 minute appearance.

Edited April 17, 2023 by MattyLewis11

warlock · April 17, 2023

4 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said:

I find this simple method of benefit. One which only takes 15 minutes at the end of every month to apply

Good tip, and one that even I might be able to manage

Dogfacedgremlin · April 18, 2023

Nice to see you are doing realy great with my favorite team!

SixPointer · April 19, 2023

I fondly remember the PSV save and I loved your approach then to the talent factory. Really ken to see how you go about producing some Belgian wonderkids.

Excellent start!

SteinkelssonFM · April 19, 2023

RSC Anderlecht vs Royal Charleroi Sporting Club

FM trying its best to replicate Garth Crooks by handing the 'Player of the Match' award to Bart Verbruggen, the Goalkeeper faced the single shot faced in the game and completed 83% of his passes.

The game in its entirety was a little lacklustre, with both sides lacking any cutting edge in the final third.

There was two moments of magic from us, which separated the two sides. First, the pass which Mario Stroeykens played to set up Dreyer for the opening goal. The Dane was presented with an xG chance of 0.6. The final goal scored by Francis Amuzu was one of those which could be accredited to luck over skill as the inverted winger scored from this chance with an xG of 0.01.

The bad news from the fixture, is the injury which will leave us without Islam Slimani for the fixtures against FK Bodø/Glimt. We will look to call Lucas Stassin up from the Futures squad to provide an alternative to Benito Raman who will lead our line in the Algerians absence.

RSC Anderlecht vs FK Bodø/Glimt

Next up was the home game against Ole Gunnar Solskjær's Glimt, the side find themselves in 9th place in the Eliteserien, a whopping 15 points behind leaders Viking.

Our opponents are expected to play a 4-2-3-1, a formation which could be a concern for our playmaker, given their use of the double pivot which could see space in zone 14 become a luxury. If we are struggling to create chances, I will look to play Yari Verschaeren on the left-flank, where he will hopefully have more freedom.

The above opposition analysis shows that Glimt are fairly poor in the air, winning around 48% of aerial duels in their domestic league. Taking this into consideration I will apply 'Play for Set-Pieces', this will hopefully provide opportunities to bring more bodies forward for the dead-ball situations and gain control of the game in this way.

This game had it all, apart from a clear-cut chance from ourselves! A goal at the death by Nilson Angulo secured us the draw, which in my humble opinion was deserved.

We were the better side...

1.88 xG vs 1.37 xG
12 shots on target vs 6
75 final third passes vs 35
12 corners to 4

These stats go a long way to show you our dominance. However, Glimts 3.89 PPDA compared to our 4.66 shows how resilient/hard-working they are as a team.

Julian Faye Lund picked up the POTM award, Glimt's goalkeeper made 10 saves (5 held, 4 parried , and 1 tipped), FYI our first goal scored by Zeno Debast was scored from a corner.

Elsewhere in the group Villarreal dismantled AIK, this result pretty much guarantees their progress from the group, making our away fixture in Norway, one of extreme importance.

KV Mechelen vs RSC Anderlecht

Given the importance of our pending trip to Norway, three players were called up from the Futures side, Luca Ferrara, Nils De Wilde, and Ilias Takidine.

Geoffry Hairemans gave KV Mechelen the lead with a header in the 55th minute, I thought his goal was going to be enough to see the home side secure all three points. However, Hannes Delcroix equalised in the 81st minute, before Lucas Stassin clinched a late winner on the 86th minuite with a powerful close range effort, delighting the fans with his late goal, his first for the club.

The star of the show was David Hulbert, the player described as a B Team Regular played out of his skin completing 71 passes, along with five key passes, and two assists.

FK Bodø/Glimt vs RSC Anderlecht

How to throw away a two goal margin, we were left heartbroken in Norway as our host fought themselves back into the game and scored the equaliser in the 93rd minute. David Hubert picked up the player of the match, again grabbing an assist and making me have second thoughts about his squad status.

Benito Rahman picked up a twisted knee in the match, this injury will see him out for 2-3 weeks. Islam Slimani still has one week out from his injury (pulled knee ligaments). This means that Lucas Stassin will have to lead the line against Club Brugge, he will remain with the first-team until Rahman recovers.

RSC Anderlecht vs Club Brugge - The Classic Derby

The derby between Anderlecht and Club Brugge is one which stemmed back from the 1970's as Club Brugge emerged as a major title contender to the dominant Anderlecht. This game is called 'De Klassieker'

Looking at some of the underlying data, we know we will be in for a tough match as our opponents have only lost two games all season (Standard and OH Leuven). The 'when scoring first' data is the stat which stands out for me, both teams have yet to lose when scoring first.

With both sides playing the same system and similar roles across the park, we could well be in for a game of chess, this game could be decided by a mistake or a moment of brilliance.

Our game plan went out the window in the very first minute, Amadou Diawara fouled Andreas Skov Olsen in the box, conceding a penalty which the

They say lightning doesn't strike twice, I promise you it does! After 25 minutes Amir Murillo dived in on Casper Nielsen, who dragged the ball back in our box...another penalty dispatched by the leagues top scorer Ferran Jutglà

I made the executive decision to pull five players from the park at the break (Moussa N'Diaye 6.6, Mario Streoykens 6.5, Yari Verschaeren 6.4, Amadou Diawara 6.4, and Jan Vertonghen 6.2) the others received the hair-dryer treatment, pride was to play for in the second half.

Nilson Angulo has only played 524 minutes of football in the first-team, many of which have seen him play on the right-flank, from this area he has contributed with three goals and two assists. For some reason, today I played him from the left, he is right footed after all and boy didn't he repay my faith! The 19 year old with 15 acceleration, used every part of this attribute to devastating effect, scoring not once but twice.

His first goal you can see how he fits the role of the IF on attack, playing off the shoulder of the opponents right back, bursting into the open space to get us back in the game on the 57th minute. His second in the 83rd minute was even better, he was involved early on in the build up phase, his switch of play to the right flank meant all the opponents pushed across the pitch to attempt to defend the break. Whilst this was happening the 'TRIDENT' of our DLF, AP (a) and IF (a) who had just circulated the ball between them bust their gust to get into the oppositions box, each player beautifully attacking a different vacant space.

The victory, one to remember, was secured when David Hubert dispatched a free-kick in the 87th minute into the top bin, not only had we won, we could have secured a morale crushing victory over our rivals.

We now have a nice buffer at the top of the league, a victory over AIK in the last game of this block should see us qualify from the group in Europe, the first three games from this block are all away, which will no doubt throw up some challenges for the squad. I also am not happy to see us have to play Villarreal straight after the game with fierce rivals Standard...watch out @SixPointer

Edited April 19, 2023 by MattyLewis11

Dogfacedgremlin · April 19, 2023

Those are some great results, despite having to worries with injuries in attack.

Hootieleece · April 19, 2023

Liking the save. Might have to transfer some of the Ideas about Youth and Progression to my current save as QPR (Loftus Road) since the board want to develop youth.

I play a gegenpress 4-3-3 with a BBM +Carrilio

DLP-D in the middle. Does the AP-A work well for you or is it the player?

GIMN · April 19, 2023

A sensational comeback - what a rollercoaster of emotions to go from surrundering a 2 goal lead against Glimt, and then to claw back from 2-0 down in the following game.

With the injury crisis up front, what's the plan if Stassin goes down?

SteinkelssonFM · April 20, 2023

@Hootieleece the role is working well for me, if you look below with regards to attacking outputs it is leading quite a few of the metrics.

@GIMN Mate I literally was thinking at half-time, this is the last throw of the dice...had nothing to lose! It was like putting all your money on a number in roulette on your last spin and it coming in...adrenaline rush! As for the injury crisis, Slimani is now back so it will be easing him into the fixtures. If we lost him again, I think rather than try pulling up a Futures player who isn't ready, I would look to change the role from a DLF to a F9 and drop Yari Verschaeren in there for a few matches.

@Dogfacedgremlin we have certainly kicked on after the back to back defeats earlier in the season.

Another update, these seem to be coming out at a steady flow which speaks volumes about how much I am enjoying this save. For those of you that know me, you know how easy it is for me to get distracted. However, I feel that this save could well and truly be a special one.

Continuing on from where I left off, David Hubert has signalled his ambition to see out his career with RSC Anderlecht by signing a one year contract extension, which includes an additional year if the midfielder plays 15 games. The deal was offered after the midfielders exceptional run of form, proving he can certainly add value to the squad.

This is really apparent in the above table which shows how he is performing in relation to all central midfielders at the club, who have played over 500 minutes of football this season.

SV Zulte Waregem vs RSC Anderlecht

Alieu Fadera opened the scoring from a back post header, we have now failed to keep a clean sheet for the last five games. This shouldn't be too much of a surprise considering we have played a different back four in all of the games apart from the away match in Norway and the Club Brugge fixture.

Islam Slimani equalised after being hauled from the bench, the striker taking less than two minutes to score on his return from injury. One thing which the numbers are showing is that Lucas Stassin isn't quite ready for first-team football, the striker has the lowest NP XG/90 out of the three with 0.21, whilst Raman has 0.49 and Slimani 0.59. He is also taking significant less shots per 90 at 1.33 compared to 3.44 (Raman) and 3.1 (Slimani).

The winning goal was scored by Noah Sadiki and Ilay Camara secured the MOTM the wing-back producing the only clear cut chance of the game after one of his four successful dribbles down the right.

The result didn't come without a downside, we lose arguably our best player due to a twisted knee. Anders has 13 goal contributions to his name (9 goals, and 4 assists) a big void to fill for the upcoming weeks.

Standard de Liège vs RSC Anderlecht

Another game week and another match against fierce rivals, this time our opponents Standard de Liège. Looking at their recent form, they come into the game two games without victory. They have a good record against sides in the top half, which indicates that they must have a fair few players that enjoy big games. Again, they are yet to lose when scoring first, adding heightened importance of scoring the all important first goal.

Mario Stroeykens secured all three points late on (88th minute), our hosts must have thought they had done enough to weather our storm, to secure them a point.

The goal itself was scored in transition, Standard had attempted a late counter, committing six players forward. We won the ball back and played a quick pass to Murillo down the flank, who immediately released Angulo. The above still shows the moment he played a pass forward into space for the 'Trident' (AP, IF, and DLF) to attack. Again, it was the IF using his pace to skin his man and convert the all important shot.

Villarreal vs RSC Anderlecht

Given that the side from Spain had already secured not only their qualification, but have topped the group, the Spaniards decided to field a heavily rotated side. Only four first-team regulars featured (Foyth, Torres, Baena, and Chukwueze) which provided us with confidence going into the match.

Villarreal dominated the game, having the most shots, clear cut chances, and possession. However, it was us that came away from the fixture with the three points. Filip Jörgensen will be unhappy to have only saved one of the four shots faced throughout the game.

The winner was scored in the 88th minute by Lucas Stassin, the striker will most likely return to the Futures squad for now as Rahman is back from injury.

The strikers pizza chart, for those of you interested looks like this after 360 minutes of first-team football. This is a comparison to players performing in a similar role across the Top 20 leagues, which I have loaded in my whopping database (Medium - FM_Daveincid)

The result secured us progression to the knock out playoff round and pocketed us a much needed £413k.

RSC Anderlecht vs KAS Eupen

Another league game and another three points picked up, we have now won the past five games in all competitions and are starting to look and feel like a real well oiled machine.

I hope you like the tweak to the game week visual, I think it makes sense to plot individual chalkboards for the stand out player each match to give you a better grasp on how they or impacting the match.

Killian Sardella put his stamp on this fixture, making an excellent impact down the left and contributed with five key passes, all from open play. He was unfortunate to not get an assist to his name as his xA was 1.5.

Both goals were scored by Mario Stroeykens who now has hit double figures for goal contributions (5 goals, 5 assists). He is the fourth player in the squad to achieve such a feat.

Islam Slimani 14 (9G, 5A)
Anders Dreyer 13 (9G, 4A)
Yari Verschaeren 10 (5G, 5A)

RSC Anderlecht vs AIK

The team-sheet for the final group stage game, you will note there are plenty of players from the Futures team called into action as we prioritise our domestic schedule.

AIK are a worthy opponent, one which will put our youngsters skill-set to the test. The game being played at home will also present our fans with the opportunity to cheer on the young-blood. This opportunity should be one to savour as the integration of youth prospects is what every loyal supporter looks forward to.

Luca Ferrara was the player who stood out, he completed 84% of his passes, progressing the ball well and carving out four shot creating actions, picking up the assist for Mario Stroeykens, who continues his excellent run of form in front of goal.

We have manged to pull away in the league and are the competitions top scoring side, when looking at the expected points table we find ourselves the rightful league leaders. Antwerp our next opponents are playing better than their 6th place would lead us to believe, whilst Cercle Brugge have conceded seven more goals than they should have.

The final block of fixtures before the World Cup, the game against KRC Genk will take us to the midway point in the league, at this point I will look to provide a bit of an update looking out team stats and also a bit of a focus on some stand out individuals.

GIMN · April 20, 2023

3 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said:

I hope you like the tweak to the game week visual, I think it makes sense to plot individual chalkboards for the stand out player each match to give you a better grasp on how they or impacting the match.

Really like this - helps really give an understanding to how players are impacting the game. Especially with Sardella, you can really see how involved he was both in progressing play and getting forward to support the attacks. It was almost interesting enough to take attention away from the sensational result at El Madrigal. Congratulations on progression; and nice to pick up £400k towards servicing that £65m debt. Only £64.5m to go!!

Dogfacedgremlin · April 21, 2023

A great run of results.

And the players who stand out are not the expected ones.. Hubert, Stassin, Camara and Ferrara are not supposed to be ready to shine already.

SteinkelssonFM · April 21, 2023

Thanks @Dogfacedgremlin the story of David Hubert is quite exceptional, he wasn't in the first-team squad for the first six league games and was looking surplus to requirements. The injury to Majeed Ashimeru forced my hand and it was his Work Rate (15) and Stamina (14), along with his exceptional leadership qualities (Determination 16, Leadership 18, and Teamwork 15) which made me provide him with a run in the team.

The above is his league form, you will note he put in a great shift over a block of five games, bagging two goals and two assists.

The above left shows his general performance, whilst the right pizza chart is comparing his outputs to all players across the top 20 leagues. His pass ability to ensure that play ticks over (91% pass completion) is an essential output in his role and our possession based system. The BBM will need to support play across all three phases of the game in possession to aid progression. His impact by playing short-sharp passes is why his progressive passes per 90 is low, we don't want him to be playing ball with a high risk of non-completion, his role is about progress through volumes.

The other player you have mentioned who has made a tremendous impact is Ilay Camara, the 19-year old was cherry picked at the start of the save to provide an alternative option as our right-sided wing back. I made the decision to play him in this unfamiliar role (originally a winger) due to his Decisions (14), Dribbling (13) and Aggression (15). Whilst not a natural at defending the aggression paired with his strong decision making and tackling (12) led me to believe he could do the job when out of possession.

928 minutes of football later, he is excelling when comparing his creative outputs to other defenders in the league, he is above average in terms of key passes and open play expected assists whilst he is in the top percentile for dribbles per 90, as expected given his natural role.

Luca Ferrara (<350 minutes) and Lucas Stassin (<500 minutes) need to have a larger sample size of minutes behind them before I make a full judgement.

@GIMN thanks mate, I agree that it give you guys reading the content a better grasp on how the player is impacting games, especially as you don't have the gift of enjoying these lads do their work in the match engine.

Dogfacedgremlin · April 21, 2023

In real life David Hubert was brought into the futures team (one older player is allowed to play with the B-team) as a kind of mentor for the youngsters; so it's remarkable that he has got such an impact on your game.

For the right wing back I would think of Noah Sadiki first; but it's really amazing what Camara has contributed.

SteinkelssonFM · April 22, 2023

A little forward planning has taken place as I look to utilise the vacant space in the calendar to again boost our financial situation.

These three friendlies will generate the club a hefty £450k profit and will also provide a range of challenge in terms of difficulty to ensure that I get to field a team across both squads. Of course friendlies will also ensure that our players stay in tip top shape and are ready to hit the ground running when the Pro League returns.

Royal Antwerp vs RSC Anderlecht

This game against Mark van Bommel side drew comparisons to the away game against Glimt in Norway. In both fixtures we had secured a two-goal lead within the first 30 minutes and then taken our foot off the gas, conceding two second-half goals and ending the game in a draw.

This led me to conduct a little review of the analyst report, which doesn't go a long way to highlighting any trends when looking at the last 30 games.

However, when looking at our continental form in isolation we are 100% a different beast in the second-half when compared the the first.

Even more of an eye opener is where our opponents are assisting from, the left-flank. This I find extremely strange due to the this flank having a wing-back on support instead of attack on the opposite side. The above trend most certainly goes against the grain, in terms of what you would expect.

Do I look to play our left-sided wing-back on defend to make us more robust, or should I look to instruct the left-sided CB to 'stay wider'...at present I will do neither as we are not exactly on a bad run of form and need to make changes to improve our defensive efficiency, just thought I would point out what I am seeing and explain my thoughts to you all.

Oh by the way Yari Verschaeren scored both goals in the last game, he will be one of the players which I write up in more detail after this final block of games before the World Cup.

The draw for the UEFA Europa Conference League knock out play off round was made, we were drawn against Cypriot club AE Kition Larnakas. The club managed to secure third place in their Europa League group, picking up victories over SK Sturm twice, and defeating PSV 1-0 at home. My initial thoughts were, what an easy tie this will be...after doing a little homework, I may well have underestimated our opponents.

FCV Dender vs RSC Anderlecht

The team sheet for the cup game includes not one, not two, but five players from the Futures side in the starting eleven, plus an additional three players on the bench.

Lucas Lissens picked up the MOTM with seven interceptions, two clearances and winning 88% of his 18 aerial duels. Yes the opponents played a brand of hoof-ball.

You can see by the match momentum that we dominated the ball in the attacking third and finished the game with 68% possession.

RSC Anderlecht vs KRC Genk

The final game before the mid-point of the season is against Wouter Vrancken's KRC Genk, who find themselves in fourth place in the league.

We were fortunate not to go behind twice as Toluwalase Arokodare missed two early chances (0.21xg and 0.19 xg).

Fortunately, the day was dominated by an attacking display of football from Mario Stroeykens, the 18 year-old continued to impress, scoring his first hattrick for the club. Mario has really stood out at times the season for the club, recording 9 goals and five assists, along with 28 dribbles and 18 key passes in his 18 appearances.

Mario has the highest conversion rate at the club for any player who has taken over 30 shots (27%), his conversion rate isolated purely to the league is 40%, this is 7% higher than any player, including those who have taken less than 10 shots.

There is still all to play for prior to the league splitting into the 'Championship' and European playoff groups, Our solitary defeat to Westerlo looks even worse looking at their performance in the league, whilst the draws against Antwerp and OH Leuven are what they are. Standard at present have the best defence in the league, conceding only 10 goals, whilst Cercle Brugge have the worst (29). We have the best attack, with 33 goals and Eupen are still yet to hit double figures in terms of goals scored (6), 50% of these scored by Stef Peeters.

I will be off to play these friendlies and will look to provide a larger update on team performance and key individuals before returning to competitive action against Charleroi on 27/12/2022.

Jogo Bonito · April 22, 2023

Really impressive form there in Belgium, great work. I really like seeing the youngsters getting their chances, and it seems like you have some gems that with a bit of extra polish can shine brightly until the big clubs snatch them away.

As for domestic success, this could be the start of a long and prosperous Purple Reign 💜

Edited April 22, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

rich ruzzian · April 22, 2023

You are building a nice buffer going in to the play-off

Lestri · April 23, 2023

Always a highlight when I see there's an update on this save. Good signs overall, where are you thinking is the place you need a bit of improvement?

Dogfacedgremlin · April 23, 2023

Amazing results in the first half of the season.

_Ben_ · April 23, 2023

Putting yourself into a dominant spot before the split!

Given the reputation of Anderlecht, I'm most interested to see the youth that you will be developing and how you plan to do that.

SixPointer · April 23, 2023

Running away with it, looks like the Power is shifting back!

SteinkelssonFM · April 24, 2023

As promised, I have spent a little time in the data hub to pull together some of the key underlying data, which should help to paint a picture of how our tactical philosophy is playing out within the FM match engine.

If like me, these data deep dives can resemble something along the lines of Alice in Wonderland and the rabbit hole. One moment you are dipping in to check out some some team/individual performances, the next you have spent a few hours scraping the data and manipulating in in Tableau.

I have tried to keep things light-hearted in this update (I promise), I have first and foremost split out our team attacking and defending pie charts. As you can see we are performing well above average in attacking statistics, whilst this is great to see, I would be slightly concerned if we weren't, given our league form across the first half of the season.

It is nice to see that whilst we are volume shooters, we are also hitting the target more than the average, meaning there is still no need to hit the 'work ball into box' button within the team instructions.

Defensively we are performing below average across most defensive statistics, this is due to our dominance in fixtures. The below visualisation goes a long way in explaining the low defensive output, we are facing the least passes against in the final third in the league.

I am impressed with our performance in relation to xG conceded, this goes to show that we are a tough team to carve out clear cut chances, this will pay dividends across the span of a season, especially if you calculate in the luck factor. Most of our opponents are scoring from chances with a low xG.

@Lestri you asked if there is an area which stands out for improvement, I have picked aerial dominance to be this area in which I feel we can improve. The tactic has the 'force outside' team instruction selected, we aim to force opposition out wide, inviting the cross. You can see from the above league comparison that whilst we aren't attempting many headers per game (due to the above), we are winning less than 50%. Now whilst this aerial performance visual isn't targeting the defenders specifically, it is a team aerial chart, looking at the player data you can see that there are many individuals with a better headers won percentage than our unit. Jan Vertonghen is our best aerial defender with71% success rate, I would like for our defensive players to aim for a 75% success rate, I think losing one in every four aerial duels would really see us become even more effective. This data has lead me to want to change the cross type in game from mixed to low, this will eradicate the need for an aerial duel and also play to the strengths of our attacking unit which possess good speed/acceleration.

The stand out statistic with regards to our attacking play is the efficiency of our forwards, as you can see we are an outlier with regards to our attacking efficiency. The underlying data that is pushing this data is the phenomenal conversion rate which Mario Stroeykens currently holds (40%) along with Anders Dreyer and Benito Raman also converting above average.

I have also stated my desire to focus my efforts on developing Yari Verschaeren to become the key player for RSC Anderlecht from the role of the Advanced Playmaker on attacking duty.

The 21 year-old has played 1,687 minutes of competitive football this season and has 12 goal contributions to his name (7 goals, 5 assists).

Comparing his outputs to players in a similar role across the top 20 leagues, you will see that he is more than holding his own in terms of pass completion (83%), whilst he is also putting in work when out of possession with his 16.8 pressures attempted.

It is his goal scoring which stands out with 0.25 non-penalty expected goals per 90, this performance has labelled him as a box crasher using @GIMN amazing skin, a player renowned for getting into the area and forcing shooting opportunities.

The additional 'Get Further Forward' player instruction is having a positive impact.

Taking Yari's performances in isolation, he is saving his best for the UEFA Europa Conf. League, where he is averaging 7.14 from five appearances (2 goals, 2 assists), this is compared to his average rating of 6.99 in domestic competitions.

Whilst Yari doesn't have any reference to 'big games' in his pro's and cons list on the coach report tab, he is delighted with the amount of game time he has been receiving and is currently sporting a 'Perfect' morale.

Above is an example of Yari playing some text book Toco y me voy (I play and I go) it is the immediate movement of the player following the release of the pass. Yari plays the pass to Diawara and then opts to explode forward, attacking the vacant space with penetrative movement which is noted by Ashimeru, who plays the killer pass.

Yari is the highest ranked player within my squad with regards to open play key passes per 90 wit 2.51 and is performing well above average in key statistics for this creative role.

Yari has successfully mastered his first trait 'Dictates tempo' this was my go to option for his first trait to learn as he is playing in central midfield over the AM strata. This trait will enable Yari to be responsible or speeding up or slowing down the tempo of the game as he sees fit. We all know that any playmaker role comes hard-coded with the hidden player instruction of 'collect the ball more' and 'focus play' , this will now ensure that RSC Anderlecht play football to the beat of our playmakers drum.

Looking at the above it is clear to see that Yari's open play expected assists of 0.10, whilst over average, is not an output which screams the player is deadly when on the ball. Therefore, I have selected his next trait to master 'Tries killer balls often', the advanced playmaker is the creative outlet in the three-ma midfield and this trait will encourage him to play low percentage passes, putting the advanced players through on goal.

The midfielder has signed a new long-term deal with the club (5-years), you will note that his agent placed a minimum fee release clause for foreign clubs into the deal, whilst this is a initial risk, I will look to offer him an improved deal six months down the line, hopefully removing the clause.

@Jogo Bonito @rich ruzzian @Dogfacedgremlin @SixPointer thanks for taking the time to read and comment, I am hoping that I can continue the initial run of form across the second-half of the season. Currently I do not have any wanted players, although we are still a month away from January, which could spell trouble.

Above is how the Futures squad are scoring when looking at those key DNA attributes, @_Ben_ I noticed you asked about my approach to youth development, I have decided to write up a bespoke blog on this subject and will hopefully be in a position to share with you all very soon.

Edited April 25, 2023 by MattyLewis11

Dogfacedgremlin · April 25, 2023

The data is looking realy nice.

Looking forward to your post on the youth development.

Lestri · April 25, 2023

15 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said:

As promised, I have spent a little time in the data hub to pull together some of the key underlying data, which should help to paint a picture of how our tactical philosophy is playing out within the FM match engine.

If like me, these data deep dives can resemble something along the lines of Alice in Wonderland and the rabbit hole. One moment you are dipping in to check out some some team/individual performances, the next you have spent a few hours scraping the data and manipulating in in Tableau.

I have tried to keep things light-hearted in this update (I promise), I have first and foremost split out our team attacking and defending pie charts. As you can see we are performing well above average in attacking statistics, whilst this is great to see, I would be slightly concerned if we weren't, given our league form across the first half of the season.

It is nice to see that whilst we are volume shooters, we are also hitting the target more than the average, meaning there is still no need to hit the 'work ball into box' button within the team instructions.

Defensively we are performing below average across most defensive statistics, this is due to our dominance in fixtures. The below visualisation goes a long way in explaining the low defensive output, we are facing the least passes against in the final third in the league.

I am impressed with our performance in relation to xG conceded, this goes to show that we are a tough team to carve out clear cut chances, this will pay dividends across the span of a season, especially if you calculate in the luck factor. Most of our opponents are scoring from chances with a low xG.

@Lestri you asked if there is an area which stands out for improvement, I have picked aerial dominance to be this area in which I feel we can improve. The tactic has the 'force outside' team instruction selected, we aim to force opposition out wide, inviting the cross. You can see from the above league comparison that whilst we aren't attempting many headers per game (due to the above), we are winning less than 50%. Now whilst this aerial performance visual isn't targeting the defenders specifically, it is a team aerial chart, looking at the player data you can see that there are many individuals with a better headers won percentage than our unit. Jan Vertonghen is our best aerial defender with71% success rate, I would like for our defensive players to aim for a 75% success rate, I think losing one in every four aerial duels would really see us become even more effective. This data has lead me to want to change the cross type in game from mixed to low, this will eradicate the need for an aerial duel and also play to the strengths of our attacking unit which possess good speed/acceleration.

The stand out statistic with regards to our attacking play is the efficiency of our forwards, as you can see we are an outlier with regards to our attacking efficiency. The underlying data that is pushing this data is the phenomenal conversion rate which Mario Stroeykens currently holds (40%) along with Anders Dreyer and Benito Raman also converting above average.

I have also stated my desire to focus my efforts on developing Yari Verschaeren to become the key player for RSC Anderlecht from the role of the Advanced Playmaker on attacking duty.

The 21 year-old has played 1,687 minutes of competitive football this season and has 12 goal contributions to his name (7 goals, 5 assists).

Comparing his outputs to players in a similar role across the top 20 leagues, you will see that he is more than holding his own in terms of pass completion (83%), whilst he is also putting in work when out of possession with his 16.8 pressures attempted.

It is his goal scoring which stands out with 0.25 non-penalty expected goals per 90, this performance has labelled him as a box crasher using @GIMN amazing skin, a player renowned for getting into the area and forcing shooting opportunities.

The additional 'Get Further Forward' player instruction is having a positive impact.

Taking Yari's performances in isolation, he is saving his best for the UEFA Europa Conf. League, where he is averaging 7.14 from five appearances (2 goals, 2 assists), this is compared to his average rating of 6.99 in domestic competitions.

Whilst Yari doesn't have any reference to 'big games' in his pro's and cons list on the coach report tab, he is delighted with the amount of game time he has been receiving and is currently sporting a 'Perfect' morale.

Above ais an example of Yari playing some text book Toco y me voy (I play and I go) i is the immediate movement of the player following the release of the pass. Yari plays the pass to Diawara and then opts t explode forward, attacking the vacant space with penetrative movement which is noted by Ashimeru, who plays the killer pass.

Yari is the highest ranked player within my squad with regards to open play key passes per 90 wit 2.51 and is performing well above average in key statistics for this creative role.

Yari has successfully mastered his first trait 'Dictates tempo' this was my go to option for his first trait to learn as he is playing in central midfield over the AM strata. This trait will enable Yari to be responsible or speeding up or slowing down the tempo of the game as he sees fit. We all know that any playmaker role comes hard-coded with the hidden player instruction of 'collect the ball more' and 'focus play' , this will now ensure that RSC Anderlecht play football to the beat of our playmakers drum.

Looking at the above it is clear to see that Yari's open play expected assists of 0.10, whilst over average, is not an output which screams the player is deadly when on the ball. Therefore, I have selected his next trait to master 'Tries killer balls often', the advanced playmaker is the creative outlet in the three-ma midfield and this trait will encourage him to play low percentage passes, putting the advanced players through on goal.

The midfielder has signed a new long-term deal with the club (5-years), you will note that his agent placed a minimum fee release clause for foreign clubs into the deal, whilst this is a initial risk, I will look to offer him an improved deal six months down the line, hopefully removing the clause.

@Jogo Bonito @rich ruzzian @Dogfacedgremlin @SixPointer thanks for taking the time to read and comment, I am hoping that I can continue the initial run of form across the second-half of the season. Currently I do not have any wanted players, although we are still a month away from January, which could spell trouble.

Above is how the Futures squad are scoring when looking at those key DNA attributes, @_Ben_ I noticed you asked about my approach to youth development, I have decided to write up a bespoke blog on this subject and will hopefully be in a position to share with you all very soon.

Great deep dive, especially the response to my question. Look forward to see whether your tweeks help nullify that weakness.

Hootieleece · April 25, 2023

Is it too early in the save to say you are done? LOL!

What I would love to see is your Anderlecht vs. Six Pointer's Standard! That would be a match!

SteinkelssonFM · April 25, 2023

I am back with a mini update, this one bridges the gap between the break for the World Cup and 2023.

I would quickly like to take a second to thank everyone for engaging with the thread, especially before/after the last big post...it is your interaction which keeps me writing and helps me come up with ideas to churn into a bigger piece.

A clean sweep was secured cross all friendlies, whilst on paper these results may look impressive most games were played against opponents who were not anywhere near full strength due to the World Cup, the only result which will leave people talking was the 7-1 demolition of Lyon. A side which featured Moussa Dembélé, Alexandre Lacazette, Maxence Caqueret, Jérôme Boateng, Corentin Tolisso, and Malo Gusto all from the off.

The game against PSG was selected for live television, so once again, the world are getting exposure to the brand of football we have created here in Anderlecht, Steinkelsson is cooking something special here.

RFC Seraing vs RCS Anderlecht - Croky Cup

The fans will be asking us the question, did we underestimate our opponent or has @Hootieleece provided us with the kiss off death in his last comment?!

The game was a real struggle to watch, not because of the result, it was snowing and a yellow ball was used, which I found hard to spot. (Jurgen Klopp excuse :cool: )

A well rounded squad was selected for the cup fixture, with four Futures players being selected with a blend of our back-up/key players.

Anders Dreyer had a torrid match losing possession 10 times across the span of the match, whilst other players such as Francis Amuzu will struggle to sleep, knowing that our shooting was way off the usual standard.

We accumulated an xG of 2.92, only to score the single goal, assisted by Aboubacar Conté, a player from the U18's on his Anderlecht debut.

Benito Raman has reported in with the flu, this will again provide Lucas Stassin with yet another opportunity to draw down some more minutes with the first-team.

Charleroi vs RSC Anderlecht

Another game, and another defeat, once again conceding three goals! The current form equals our worst run of form (back to back defeats) since the start of the save!

The hosts were gifted both their first and second goals, the first was as a result of a stray pass from Zeno Debast , played directly into the path of Ryôta Morioka.

The second was more unfortunate as Debast again went to clear a long-ball, his effort deflected off his own player, to the feet of Morioka to score again.

Bart Verbruggen picked up the worst player rating, saving only one of the four shot on target, to make maters worse Charleroi had only accumulated a total xG of 0.87!

A tough run of fixtures await us, we need to break this run of form immediately and get back to our winning ways. The game against Antwerp is on the 29th January 2023, therefore after the completion of the next update we will find out if any tams come in with bids for our personnel. Fingers crossed, we can keep all players for at least the first season.

Dogfacedgremlin · April 25, 2023

Not quite the restart you would hope for.

Certainly not after such a great run in the friendlies.

rich ruzzian · April 25, 2023

Pfoe, the friendlies were giving hope and then tough defeats. The double is trown out of the window.
Lets hope this was a one time affaire.

SteinkelssonFM · April 27, 2023

RSC Anderlecht vs Royale Union Saint-Gilloise

As we look to return to winning ways, I went over the squad selection with a fine tooth comb, selecting individuals who have the highest team goals per 90 and lowest team goals conceded.

We started the match with great intensity and after 20 minutes had already had four shots saved along with hitting the woodwork, compared to USG's one.

We took the lead in the 32nd minute through Islam Slinmai, a lead we couldn't take through to the break, as Lazare Amani equalised in the 43rd minute.

Despite dominating the second half, we did not test Anthony Moris in the USG goal, as all of our three shots were off target.

Anders Dreyer failed to perform again, picking up an average rating of 6.3, whilst our 11 point lead at the top of the Pro League is cut to eight.

Club Brugge KV vs RSC Anderlecht

Club Brugge find themselves on a run of five games without defeat as they host us at the Jan Breydelstadion. A win for the home side will see them close the gap on us to just five points.

Both teams have failed to lose when scoring first, Ferran Jutglà is the leagues top scorer with 12 goals to his name. There is no hiding the fact that defeat could well lead to the squads mentality taking a significant blow, we know how winning is habitual and with our recent run of form, I fear the impact which defeat today may hold on our team.

Another game against Club Brugge and another 3-2 victory, this result played out very much the same as our first encounter with the side from Bruges.

We opened the scoring through Majeed Ashimeru, before Ferran Jutglà scored the first of his two goals in the game. We should have taken the lead after we were awarded a penalty, Yari Verschaeren's effort from the sot was well saved.

The decision to bring on Marco Kana in the 64th minute as a right wing-back was the differentiator as the 20 yea old racked up two assists over the next four minutes to provide us a much needed two goal lead. This substitution was not an act of genius, it was a necessity as Kana was he only right-footed player left on the bench that I thought could aid with ball retention.

The relief when the final whistle went was felt IRL, we have secured a massive W and our 11 point buffer returns.

RSC Anderlecht vs SV Zulte Waregem

We managed to not only keep our first clean sheet in five games against Zulte Waregem, we nearly made them draw a blank, in terms of shots.

The visitors were starved of the ball as we picked up 68% possession and 64% ball share, this dominance and Kristian Arnstad's ability to carve out clear cut chances (4 key passes, 4 clear cut chances), seen us run away with the xG score 3.11 vs 0.01.

RFC Seraing vs RSC Anderlecht

Our next opponents have seen their form turn on it's head, but in a good way. Jean-Sébastien Legros couldn't buy a win, until they defeated OH Leuven in the final game before the break, since returning they have defeated Eupen, Oostende, and KV Kortrijk. Along with defeating both us and Zulte in the cup! Simply mind-blowing!

I can't seem to remember a game in which I had two players pick up perfect ratings! The travelling fans were rewarded by a highly polished performance in which we hit our opposition with six of the best.

Lucas Stassin blitzed four goals, setting a new club record for most goals scored in a league match, whilst Yari Verschaeren picked up the player of the match award for his two gaol, two assist haul.

RSC Anderlecht vs Antwerp

Things turned sour for Antwerp when striker Kôji Miyoshi earned himself an early bath for a bad tackle on 18 minutes. Yari Verschaeren earned back to back MOTM awards with his excellent display of passing, the midfielder racked up eight key passes and scored the decisive goal in a second-half which was completely dominated by ourselves.

THE TRANSFER WINDOW

We made the executive decision to move on a few players from the club, Lior Refaelov the first to leave for the USA and DC United, the 36 year old was sold for a nominal fee £30k. Whilst this money is pretty insignificant, Lior was one of the clubs highest earners and moving him on reduced the wage budget.

Next to leave was Benito Raman after Olympiacos placed a bid for the forward of £1 million, we raised the fee by an additional £200k and also placed a 15% of the next fee into the deal. Whilst Raman was a first-team player Lucas Stassin has shown he can play deputy to Islam Slimani.

Finally, we offloaded the highest paid player, one yet to even feature for me this season, Adrien Trébel was sold to Brest for £300k.

You can see we are now significantly under our wage budget, adjusting the monies, provides us with a healthy transfer budget of over £6 million, one which I will most likely have to dip into to sign a striker as Islam Slimani's contract runs out this summer and is yet to sign a new deal.

The clubs highest paid player is now Jan Vertonghen £28k per week, below him is Hendrik Van Crombrugge (who I will look to move on) on £19.5k.

The next block of fixtures include our trip to Cyprus to play AE Kition Larnakas, the league fixtures shouldn't present too much of a challenge, especially now the players seem to have got over their initial slump.

warlock · April 27, 2023

37 minutes ago, MattyLewis11 said:

Yari Verschaeren earned back to back MOTM awards

Are the vultures circling yet? Surely only a matter of time if he keeps up that level of performance.

karanhsingh · April 28, 2023

Wonderful club to manage, and always appreciate the amount of detail you go into. Great results so far.

Guessing you are on the update, and Duranville is already at Dortmund?

Dogfacedgremlin · April 28, 2023

The results are againg getting better.

Also very good to get rid of some heavy contracts.

SteinkelssonFM · April 28, 2023

@warlock surprisingly I am yet to have any interest in any of my players, this is pretty strange given the database size and leagues which are running as 'playable'.

In terms of the first window, Club Brugge were the most active, bringing in Rob Schoofs (KV Mechelen), Natanael (Coritiba), Casper Tengstedt (SL Benfica), Habib Diarra (Strasbourg), and Toma Basic (Lazio).

For those of you who are interested, January has closed and the best trainers/performers on the pitch are as stated above.

KV Oostende vs RSC Anderlecht

David Hubert again proved his value to the team, the midfielder took the game by the scruff of the neck and decided that today was his day.

The 34 year-old provided two assists for the red hot Yari Verschaeren and then decided to score a curled effort from outside the box to complete his top drawer performance.

David now has the second highest goals per 90 in the squad (0.20) along with a 91% pass completion rate and most surprisingly, he leads the sprints per 90 metric with 17.59. (Our other box to box midfielder Majeed Ashimeru has 14.12)

RSC Anderlecht vs K Sint-Truidense VV

We played a well rested squad, with the fixture only a few days away from the UEFA Europa Conference League knock-out tie.

Ilay Camara picked up the POTM award, the right-sided wing-back amassed 11 dribbles and proved he is no Adama Traore, creating six shot-creating actions from his passing.

Théo Leoni is a player who also deserves a mention, the back-up player scored a goal, and also picked up an assist.

Yari Verschaeren also got in on the act scoring, he became the first player in the squad to hit 20 goal contributions across the season (13 goals, 7 assists).

AE Kition Larnakas vs RSC Anderlecht

I played the strongest eleven in the game away in Cyprus, for those of you who have experienced knockout fixtures IRL, you will know that management often rely on proven/established players, it is these type of fixtures which can at times, the occasion can get the better of you and experience is key.

with 01:48 on the clock, we had the ball in the back of our opponents net, a dream start, the goal from our most experienced player Islam Slimani.

28:11 Verschaeren attempted to play a pass back to Debast, the midfielder was under pressure from three opponents and opted toplay a longer, riskier pass which was picked up by Trickovski to equalise.

36:53 Trickovski again showed his ability, running off the shoulder of Vertonghen to volley the ball home from the penalty spot.

45:00 Verschaeren played one of those low percentage passes over the top of the defence for Slimani, the striker taking the ball down on his chest and volleying home.

We pulled back level and as I found out after the draw, these lads needed to be respected.

The hosts again took the lead on 46:38 Trickovski sealing his hattrick from the penalty spot, then things went from bad to worse on 59:51 when Oier's cross found itself in the back of the net after both Diawara and Verbruggen were pre-occupied with the dangerous run made by the three goal hero.

We were two goals down away from home, it was time to bring on the calvary.

Jan Vertonghen 6.5 had only won 64% of his 14 aerial duels, he was replaced by Hannes Delcroix who won 100% of his nine duels.

Majeed Asimeru 6.6 was replaced for the industry which David Hubert provides the team, he made multiple interceptions (4) to Asimeru's (0) and also contributed with an assist.

Anders Dreyer 6.6 was having a game in which he looked dis-interested, his replacement Théo Leoni scored a brace.

Saving the best until last...Mario Stroeykens 6.6 who lacked match fitness after picking up flu was replaced by Francis 'Four Goals' Amuzu, yes you read that right!

I can honestly say in all the years of FM, I have never played in a fixture which tiled so heavily in one direction, to then pull it back and obliterate the opponent.

We secured an EIGHT-4 victory on the night, whilst this isn't high-scoring enough to enter the record books (16-0 biggest win back in 1965) it is a game which will live long in my memory. @Dogfacedgremlin it doesn't get much better than this!

KV Kortrijk vs RSC Anderlecht

It took Théo Leoni just six minutes of football to grab two assists and continue his excellent run of form.

The 22 year-old now has10 goal contributions in 1,270 minutes of football, that's one every 127 minutes. Kudos to our opponents for coming out after the break and taking the game all the way to the final whistle.

RSC Anderlecht vs AE Kition Larnakas

No shocks in the second leg, we secured a single goal victory thanks to a penalty from Yari Verschaeren. It was Amadou Diawara who picked up the MOTM award, the midfielder winning back possession on 11 occasions.

The next round of the competition was drawn, we face Austrian opposition next in the form of Wolfsberger AC. This will provide us 180 minutes of free scouting of Tai Baribo, a 25 year-old forward who has scored 15 goals in all competitions.

We have two tough games before hosting the Austrians, playing two of the top six. We can afford to drop points, knowing that we have an excellent buffer (14 points) going into the Championship Group.

@karanhsingh you are indeed correct, I did look to see if I could get him back on loan but the wage demands were ridiculous.

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