Slipky Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 The changes you've made are quite exciting. I like the Argentine. He could be a great defender for two, three years at the very least. Great captures! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 10 hours ago, El Payaso said: It's more related to the players in my case as Ricardo Rodríguez is actually a former full/wing-back and also the most capable of our centre-backs in possession. I am also at times changing the left wing-back into an inverted wing-back, especially when I see the segundo volante finding space higher up the pitch. This leaves more space down the flank for Rodriguez to cover. The CWB that I use is on support duty and unlike last season, Raoul Bellanova has been quite solid in defense. His attacking contribution on the other hand is covered more by the defensive midfield on defend duty. But you do raise a good point here and I've been actually thinking about this lately. No, no, no - not a criticism or a justification request! Genuinely interested to see how you came about that role combination. I hope that, one day, I'll be able to utilise converted full backs as the wide centre backs as, largely, their ball playing ability is decent. Interesting in how the IWB plays out too as it says this: Conscious of there being nobody ahead of him in my shape and, therefore, it'd be a wasted exercise! 5 hours ago, Slipky said: The changes you've made are quite exciting. I like the Argentine. He could be a great defender for two, three years at the very least. Great captures! Thanks. The target was to increase the roundedness of the squad and I think he does that. Very little he truly excels at, but no glaring weaknesses - including a single foot dependency - either. I hope that the coming years are all about evolution and not revolution in this sense! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 32 minutes ago, _Ben_ said: No, no, no - not a criticism or a justification request! Genuinely interested to see how you came about that role combination. I hope that, one day, I'll be able to utilise converted full backs as the wide centre backs as, largely, their ball playing ability is decent. Interesting in how the IWB plays out too as it says this: I'm taking it just as a positive thing when people ask me these kind of questions. Makes me think way more about the reasoning behind my decisions and also rethink things. So: thank you for asking. I still have lot of work to do to master the Catenaccio style which I have switched to after failing with the counter-attacking approach. And mastering something usually comes when you learn how to question yourself and are thereby ready to make changes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post _Ben_ Posted July 13 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 13 Season 2: Strong start Eight games in feels like a nice point to stop, step back and take note of where we are currently. Things are moving nicely, but there is always scope to develop! I'm watching the games on comprehensive highlights with the first ten minutes on 'full match' in order to get the best idea of the game plan of my opponents, plus spending time working through key players and matchups before the game starts - meaning that these eight games have, probably, lasted the same kind of time as - at least - a half season in normal time! That being said, it's been worth the hassle as our league position sees us significantly above the media prediction of fourteenth and my own prediction of mid-table. We'll unlikely threaten much higher as the season pans out but this already feels like a huge step forward. Against Monopoli, my plan was to strangle their offensive build up down their right hand side, using forward Owusu as a press against their right centre back. A fluke goal - a deflected shot that looped over Pinsoglio's head - was their own attempt of the whole game and contributed all of their 0.25xG, compared to our free flowing attacking and total of 1.68xG. A game against a side who finished below us last season and, therefore, a game I'd like to have won, but a strong start, nevertheless. Pinsoglio finally had a shot to save as Potenza mustered just one shot on target and only 0.45xG from their nine attempts in total. We were slightly off with our shooting - 0.78xG from eleven attempts but Firenze scored for the second game running. My pressing structure here was really interesting: using the two AM(s) to tight mark their two full backs, leaving Owusu as the man to press their DM and completely stepping off their back two, who lack the passing range to search anyone else out. They amassed over 60% of the ball but so much of it was just back and forth between the centre backs, unable to penetrate centrally with our four man central overload and unable to pick out long runners or wide men. Turris game to town next and we battered them! 2.50xG - including a penalty - scored this time by Caso was way ahead of their 0.32xG from five attempts. I've made a point of rotating my penalty takers between anyone who needs a goal but also has a good mental state to be confident enough to take one. Here, Caso was pretty instrumental in chance creation for the first half so was rewarded with it and, belying his age, stepped up with confidence. MacAnthony nodded in a corner before Leone finished with a lovely low drive to seal an emphatic win. Our unbeaten streak was ended by a strong Crotone side who took their chances as the game ended 0.57xG - 0.57xG. They domination possession, with us, again, standing off and trying to limit their progressive passing options, forcing their defenders into keeping the ball but we were slightly less successful that previously, allowing a season-high 108 passes into the final third. We raced into a three nil lead against Juve Stabia, after two goals from my two academy projects, Lucenti and Owusu but were pegged back by a rejuvenated side in the second half. Their goal in the 81st minute left us going into the last ten with a bit of jeopardy, but we held firm, showing the fight and drive that I want us to have in order to succeed. We went to bottom club Sorrento and had over three hundred percent more xG across the ninety - 1.29 to their 0.4 - but, ultimately, didn't find the net. Their narrow, compact, defensive style was hard to break down and made even harder by my two wing backs - Giovagnoli and Lia - struggling to impact the game. A return to winning ways was made in Sardinia against Torres, thanks to - this time - a Lucenti penalty. He'd played his heart out for the first thirty and had hit the bar with a rasping long shot. His focused and determined mindset left me with little concern about selecting him as the taker. Another possession hungry side, Foggia, came to town next and we, honestly, deserved a lot of credit for our showing. Pushing all their play to the left to take into account a huge amount of right footed players, who'd then be shown inside to avoid crossing opportunities for their big forwards meant that we had a strong gameplan that I didn't deviate from even after going in one down and being on the back foot for most of the first half. Moving the AM(s) to the SS(a) meant that Firenze had loads more freedom to drive at the defence and our rewards came, following some extended pressure, when he scored with ten to go. This time, though, I didn't sit back and invite pressure, as I did against Juve Stabia, instead, we pushed on and could've had a winner. - - - I've delved into some team stats to see how we've fared: Despite the strong bond formed between my back three, I have significant concerns over the heading outputs of Berto and Ceresoli and I think teams are looking to target us, given our poor headers won ratio. At the other end, my wingback pairing are not completing crosses because we're now not a team set up to win them. It's not, necessarily, an area I class as a non-negotiable being as I can try my hardest to funnel players inside and stop crosses where possible, but it's certainly an area we're currently living dangerously in, particularly as we've only conceded once from a set piece this season so far. Elsewhere defensively, though, we're superb. The best defence in terms of xGA and facing the least amount of shots and those on target. Our OPPDA and possession won stats, despite us playing quite an intensive pressing game, are hugely skewed by my creation of triggers rather than just all out pressing of their defenders. I've got some concerns around the performances of my strikers: Owusu and Bonfiglio. In a shape that requires quick, chaotic transitions and space creation, they do stretch games and pull defences out of shape but they're both getting pretty high quality chances - 0.14xG/shot is above the league average of 0.11xG/shot - but are just not putting them away, nor are they instead choosing to play someone else in. I think a tactical shift to a 2-1 shape with an AM(s)/SS(a) combo behind some kind of forward might work best here. Neither of my strikers are good enough for true supporting duties - not aerial enough for a TF(s), not creative enough for a F9(s) or DLF(s) so, realistically, I'm left with either a PF(s) or continuing to use them as an AF(a) but trying to get more men into the box and around them. I think a SS(a), along with a slight tweak to the freedom of the left sided WB(s) might help here. We're taking shots and hitting the target, but just not quite putting them away like we should be - yet! My expectation is that we begin to fade towards the middle of the tabel, given the position of a lot of these stats, as the season continues. Despite a lot of our playings sitting in the lower percentiles in terms of age when compared to those in Serie C with at least one minute this season, there are a high number who have appeared in a high percentile of minutes, suggesting that I am really reliant on a core of key players. Our depth below the starting XI is pretty weak and I pretty much already do utilise any promising youngsters for first team minutes, suggesting that, should an injury crisis occur, I fully expect my results to drop off. In order to really strategise my training intensity, morale management and squad rotation, I've created a chart to show the league position from last season at this level in order to try and ascertain where the difficulty lies and where there is potential to pick up points. October, whilst I am only just past the Foggia game, is busy as it also includes a cup tie but, post Benevento and recently relegated, high-flying Pescara, I'm playing teams who finished mid table last year - Guigliano are now ninth, Picerno are now tenth and Latina and now 13th as well as an Olbia side who've just been promoted here and lie 12th. Therefore, my work on praising training and conduct will happen at the start of the month, in order to maintain morale and build relationships, whilst my first team squad will have to get through the four games - up to Pescara, including a cup tie against Ternana - in twelve days, before I consider more squad rotation. I'll, therefore, try to utilise individual player rest across this point, maybe giving each player two of the twelve off around match build up and recovery days. Not an exact science here but something that may be of use. December, on the other hand, might be a great month to try and put some players in the shop window. Three easier fixtures against three of the current bottom seven means that I could include some players who I want to move on, hoping that decent showing and minutes under their belts help attract interest. It's also the most likely time to look at experimentation with my attacking shapes but, with only three games and a tough January to come, it'll also be used to play some friendlies to ensure match fitness and game confidence is high. I've never considered making this until now but feels like a tool I always needed in terms of setting out the plans across the season! - - - Forza biancoscudati! 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danyates8 Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 I've spent the first months of my current season watching on comprehensive as well, feels completely game rather than the usual being able to basically read the highlight and know what's coming. I feel im making more impactful on the fly changes, could be a placebo. The quality of the read on this blog is seriously top notch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted July 14 Share Posted July 14 A very detailed analysis of where you stand so far, always well written and laid out. Your attention to detail (like many others) is way deeper than mine (my focus is usually a little on tactical stuff but mainly on balanced squad-building and youth recruitment/development) but with this level of thought, I'm sure you will continue to do very well from it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 15 Author Share Posted July 15 Thanks @danyates8 and @Jogo Bonito - appreciate the kind words! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 15 Author Share Posted July 15 Season 2: Halfway mark We've reached the turn in this campaign and, as I near fifty games in charge of Messina, feel that things are going pretty well! We kicked off this period of time with a pretty tame defeat away at high flying Benevento - hitting the target just twice and creating a total of just 0.39xG. With them having more than two thirds of the ball, I felt that, late on, if we could catch them in possession by upping our press, we'd have a shot at playing through them. Suffice to say, this didn't work and both goals, within the last ten minutes, consigned us to defeat. Somewhat pragmatic but, ultimately, not effective. We did, however, steal a draw at the end of the Pescara tie and, overall, matched the runaway leaders blow for blow, however, the loss of keeper Pinsoglio - out for five weeks with sprained wrist muscles - was a blow. Owusu scored as we won a very low quality attacking tie away at Guigliano before his striker partner Bonfiglio netted once, and should've had a bagful, against Picerno as we we held by them. A bit of a defensive shocker against Olbia - with their two goals coming from 0.6xG, whilst our non-Pen xG sat at over 1.2xG, with nothing to show for it. Paolo Caso continued his good form this season by converting another penalty. The month ended with a display of dominance against Latina, but, fortunately, we just about turned that dominance into a win thanks to Signorini's first goal since coming through the youth system here, finished a nicely worked move with a low drive into the bottom corner, beating the keeper at the near post. We went two-in-two with a win at Virtus in another equally poor quality game before a strong draw at home to rivals Catania, where we limited the league's top scorers to just 0.17xG. How we lost at home to Brindisi is beyond me - their only shot on target went in and we failed to convert any of our 15 shots that brought about 1.71xG. But...sometimes the rough comes with the smooth - 2:0 vs Cerignola despite creating 0.63xG ourselves and conceding 1.43xG. Three points from the two games, but, realistically, statistics suggest that the results should've been the other way around. We lacked, again, a bit of offensive quality against Taranto as they took their chances well and, well, we just didn't. That does, overall, really make me question the outputs from my forwards. I've alluded to the fact that defences win championships several times before but, whilst having the second best defence in the league, we only have the fifteenth best offence. We are underperforming our 22.81xG by around three goals and our xG total is actually tenth in the league (whilst our xGA is first) but I do want to really get my head around what the cause is... Bonfiglio and Owusu are now of a pretty similar profile in terms of quality with the young Ghanian very much cementing himself in my first team, thanks to some great development. Unfortunately, neither striker has really hit the heights that are required for a top half side. Neither forward has sacrificed their goalscoring form for creative outputs but both, interestingly, are getting into areas where their shot xG is pretty high - both at 0.15xG/shot, well above the average for Serie C strikers and considerably above it for players within our team. Both of them are below average for strikers in terms of getting them to hit the target - a real issue for me! However, one pathway to explore might be my use of them, rotating them heavily across matches. Below, the gantt chart, split into thirty minute segments per game, shows how many minutes they have played: An injury and international duty for Owusu allowed Bonfiglio to play two un-interrupted games in a row but, Brindisi aside, no striker has made over ninety consecutive minutes since. I wonder whether this is stopping them getting into a grove and building some confidence. - - - The ideology behind the role types (yellow for runners and green for ball players) within my tactical thoughts is continuing to take shape and drive the recruitment plans for January, which, after some reflection, will continue to take a mixed approach: using the identification tools of my scouts and DoF but also working off human-made shortlists for areas of development. I'm excited about what the future will bring! Forza biancoscudati! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick87 Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 Just caught up with your story @_Ben_. Good solid first half of the season. Hopefully, you can go on and finish as high as possible to get some prize money to strengthen for a promotion push over the next couple of seasons. Beautiful layout and custom graphics as usual mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 The case Bonfiglio is still a mystery to me. I seriously thought that he would be an excellent addition to the team and would score goals for fun at that level. Then on the other hand, this could still happen, if he can get maybe two in a row and get the ball rolling. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 15 Author Share Posted July 15 3 hours ago, Rick87 said: Just caught up with your story @_Ben_. Good solid first half of the season. Hopefully, you can go on and finish as high as possible to get some prize money to strengthen for a promotion push over the next couple of seasons. Beautiful layout and custom graphics as usual mate. Prize money?! At this level! With our projections, it's all about shopping as cheaply as I can, building a squad and getting out of this level! I do fear that it's a few years away though. 2 hours ago, El Payaso said: The case Bonfiglio is still a mystery to me. I seriously thought that he would be an excellent addition to the team and would score goals for fun at that level. Then on the other hand, this could still happen, if he can get maybe two in a row and get the ball rolling. No, nor me. On paper - he's good enough to do so but his attitude has maybe let him down a little. That being said, my promise to give some extended runs in the team has paid off: Owusu now has eleven for the season and is the number one! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipky Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 Looks like a great improvement on Owusu's behalf. Exciting to see! Looking forward for more updates. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 17 Author Share Posted July 17 Season 2: The good times keep rolling on! As we approach the business end of the season, we're still flying high, performing better than I'd expect us to and virtually guaranteed a slot in the playoffs. I would, however, still consider us a huge long shot for promotion, which, honestly, wouldn't be a bad thing to miss out on anyway! Our strong run started with a big performance over bottom sid Potenza, with a hattrick from Owusu, repaying - immediately - the faith I had put in him to be my number one striker for the coming five or six games, at least. A perfect hattrick, starting with a penalty, then a left footed finish and a header where the only blot in the copy book was a late drop in concentration that spoiled our clean sheet. Owusu added his second hattrick of the week - this time all on his right foot - as we overcame Monopoli, winning the xG battle 1.13 - 1.89, reserving enough energy for a late onslaught that bore fruit in the shape of two lovely finishes for the young Ghanaian. It was that man again who rescued a draw against Turris, who'd been subjected a bit of a battering by us but had held on. The month was, obviously, all about Ali: 270 minutes. 3 goals. Strikers breed off confidence. He's also a seventeen year old striker, who needed that confidence, too. Lots of positive praise and lots of rewards! A late double from Owusu and Leone secured a somewhat surprising win over second placed Crotone, who came into the game in good form. It was a fairly even match, but I'd learnt from last time that I needed to keep them central and stop play spreading wide, which we did really nicely with some opposition instructions. Paolo Caso netted as we were outclassed and outgunned by Juve Stabia, having just 25% of the ball before to really solid 3-0 victories both boosted our morale but also our goal difference. Foggia got the better of us before we began a run of two unexpected victories: an Owusu double saw us get the better of Benevento, who'd fallen off the pace and had lost the previous two before a backs-to-the-wall win over Pescara, ending their unbeaten season and, potentially, giving Crotone just a tiny bit of excitement that they could catch them. We allowed them to get their shots away, but our resolute backline restricted the quality to just an average of 0.09 per shot, restricting them to just 67 passes in the final third, way down on their average of ninety this season so far. Owusu's form continued as he scored against Gugliano but it was Firenze who scored late on to secure the three points for us and, almost certainly a playoff spot with Latina seventeen points behind with eight games to go. Upon the last post, I decided to make just a few tactical tweaks - moving the DM(s) to a DLP(s), a move to a Positive mentality and removing the 'Pass into Space' instruction. Below are the stats from the initial analysis, eight games in, to now, showing the changes. The pragmatic Italian manager in my despairs when the thought of being more open defensively comes into the question. However, I simply do not think that has been the case. With three centre backs, none of whom - at this point - are asked to do anything aggressive when in possession - are controlling the rest defence and making us hard enough to break down, regardless of our mentality. An increase in mentality has, as I'd hoped, increased the number of offensive actions, plus, by adding a playmaker, we've been able to create a bit more of a focal point in our build up. We now lead the league on dribbles per game, a highly rated statistical output in my shape and, despite losing possession nearly ten more times a game, we're progressing - and playing - in the final third much more. Pleasingly, we're not just giving up a load more defensively as we've started to push on. We're facing more shots and are conceding more in terms of expected goals, but we're winning possession more often, making the use of the 'Counter Press' instruction that has been there all year and we're restricting more teams from playing against us. Clearly, our form has been on an upward curve and these slight downward trends aren't enough to suggest that this has been a bad idea. Granted, our fixtures fluctuate in terms of difficulty that could be skewing these offensive outputs as much as the defensive ones but, currently, we now sit above the league average in six of the eight metrics measured on the right. A sure fire sign that I am coaching this team to get better. - - - We had a transfer window to negotiate, and, as I try to sure up my plans going forward for negotiation and recruitment, I missed out on remembering about the present: an enforced sale of Paolo Caso as I'd allowed him to stay on a youth contract to save wages. There'll be a full financial run down at the end of the season but, given the plight we are currently in, I went to the DoF suggestions in order to ascertain a list of youngsters, ideally on cheap loans, who'd be able to come in. Veratti has settled very nicely into the right wing back slot and is among my key players in this half of the season so far. It's unlikely I'll be able to keep him long term as he's from SPAL - a Serie B side - rather than one of the big clubs, but he's improved us. Cocconi and Spinacce are still finding their feet and their match fitness whilst Carboni has slotted nicely into the playmaker role of the team, coming up with four goal contributions, too. Longer term, I am going to be using recruitment meetings to identify players, who are then added to a shortlist - there for a centre back - and here for a new 'keeper. I will then create a 1-5 ranking of my preference and hand over to the DoF to get a deal done. This will, hopefully, sit alongside their recommendations, which come in the form of offers - to which I can make the choice to reject or continue with. We'll see how this runs! Forza biancoscudati! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danyates8 Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 Owusu is a goal machine!! Excellent writing as usual. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 Making very good progress and agree, another lovely update. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 20 Author Share Posted July 20 Season 2: Much progress has been made! Well - this was somewhat unexpected! Seven wins in the last eight not only saw us entering the playoffs as, absolutely, the form side across the divisions, but also finishing in a ridiculous second place, way, way above where I'd ever considered being realistically possible. A record breaking run that features one man heavily - Ali Owusu. The youngster has continued his fine form and seven goals in the last eight games have been central to the strong performances. We finished the season as a completely unified team - performing well, largely un-rotated but, unfortunately, extremely exhausted. And that is on me. At the thirty game mark, when qualification was all but secured, I could've rotated and kept my best players fit enough for the upcoming playoffs but knowing that finishing lower down the league meant more playoffs to navigate. With that in mind, I went with the strongest selection I could in order to reduce the number of games but, it meant that, even entering at the quarter final stage, we had little to give. Mantova took full advantage of that. For a team that have conceded 0.84 goals a game across the season, to concede three a game for the playoffs is somewhat of a travesty. Mantova finished fifth in their Girone and, on paper, are far far better than we are - but, with our collective spirit, we've overperformed across the season. Yet, with no legs left and fatigue spread far and wide across the first eleven, which is already still considerably stronger than the backups, we had nothing left and couldn't contain their strike force. This was most evident when - at 2-1 up going into the last ten minutes, and at just 4-3 down on aggregate - our push to attacking just left us playing kick and rush, and playing it badly. Individually, the players have been great and I'm really starting to create a squad that can push on. We're very reliant one the goals of Owusu and I need to think about how I can bring more goals into the team and cope with a loss of him - either through a transfer or an injury. - - - March was also the youth intake month and I think we've got ourselves a really workable set of players here. Potential looks great, but, honestly, it always will at this level. The biggest bit, for me, is that the players I've kept have been kept because they have a good match (for their age and this level) with my core attributes. My six graduates are: Babacar Fall, Davide Tedesco, Riccardo Vinci, Manuel Gambardella, Mirko Fucilli and Leonardo Salerno are all very exciting prospects who join the plethora of young players within the squad who could have a strong future in professional football. Right now, like always, I'm far from optimistic that few, if any, will reach the first team but that doesn't mean to say that the summer months won't be spent looking at the most efficient ways to develop these youngsters. I can take key learning from the development of Owusu and Lucenti - the two youth players I've managed to fully integrate into the first team thus far and see that, actually, their technical development has been below that of their mental and physical. Both players started last season in the youth team, where the schedules focused as heavily as I could on technical development, but that, due to the structure of them, was almost equal in weighting with mental attribute development time. Since they have both broken into the first team, their mental attributes have grown at an increased speed, given their need for this footballing intelligence but, their technical development seems to have stalled. I'm hoping that, over the coming years, their physical frames continue to grow as the exit their teens and enter their early twenties, which would validate the removal of any excess physical training at a young age without making them soft, slow players. It is likely, given the above data, that I go back into the plans for youth training over the summer and see how I can maximise technical development across the team at a young age. - - - At this level, finances are so important. Teams aren't naturally money makers, so being tight with the pursestrings is key. In fact, Olbia, who I've played in this game, went out of business in real life the other day. It's a common occurrence in Italy and I need to take steps to avoid the in-game versions of this. Below are my costings, compared to last season. So...never let my scouting team set up their own missions again! Despite cutting twelve percent from the player wages, and setting up a further €4k p/w saving from the coming summer, we've seen an eighteen percent increase in staff wages - again, I'd imagine, down to the fact that I'm not actually in charge of recruitment outside my coaching team nor am I the person who renews their deals. I don't recall making any changes to the youth setup, so a 16% increase here is somewhat surprising as is the huge increase in costs related to the match day. Whilst a large increase, the 44% change in agent fees still remains a small part of the expenditure and is necessary to give us the most wiggle room with building a squad. We have still clocked up a €600k overall loss despite getting over €200k more in from ticket sales, selling €280k worth of players and bringing in more match day income. Our sponsorships are up for renewal this summer and, hot off the back of a strong season, we could and hopefully should, bring in some more here. In an ideal world, I'd love to have gate receipts and season tickets covering my wage structure, but we are still some €800k a year off achieving that and, at this level, attendances won't improve much, if any. With the prospects of very little to no money next year but a desire for a title challenge, giving the shock late-season form, I have decided to pull the plug and make a few moves now, hoping that the deals end in this year's financial records, giving me a cleaner slate next year, hoping to pull some kind of profit! My settled structure for recruitment has been to utilise recruitment reports - set out by the staff (although not next year, given the huge costs!) - to create shortlists of players. I'll dip into other things, such as reports that contain players who have been set for release and the NextGen list (not that this is in any way applicable at present) before creating a shortlist of, at least, five players for my DoF to work his way through. I'll set precedents in terms of - player A in the list might be a key player and, as such, I'll allow wages to €1.5k p/w whereas I like Player C a little less, plus he's already a much lower earner, so I'll restrict your offer to €1k p/w - for example but, aside from that, the entire negotiation process then falls to my staff. The areas that I have been able to secure new players in, so far, have been in goal, at centre back and the playmaking attacking midfielder. Matteo Esposito was top of the list for a keeper and has been really strong this year for Juve Stabia, in our league. At just 23, he's got many a year ahead of him and I hope he'll go on to be my number one for some years. Stefano Marchetti was not my first pick as a replacement centre back for Pacciardi but does come with some undoubted quality, despite not being good enough to get into the Cesena team this year. Luca Clemenza was my top pick for a playmaker given his traits and well-rounded style and, for me, will be a nice coaching option as I ensure he is able to make the step up from Serie D. With no money available, I've also cast my eye to the released list and I used the trial option to bring through some players who my scouts liked from the last, such as Max Ibrahimovic. He'll stay with us into the new season but, if he's anything like his Dad, will surely go on to have a great career! - - - Quite a lot to digest over the summer and some more squad building to do. I'm conscious that the squad is young and, if I follow the same protocol - in order to save money - will not wholly belong to me, which isn't ideal for longer term planning. However, I currently have no interest in moving from here; we're building a strong set of foundations at the club and I'm excited for the future here! Forza biancoscudati! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillHoudini24 Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 You've been on a roll! Too bad Pescara is on another level compared to the rest of the league. I like that you keep your recruitment realistic, with bargains made in Italy. Finances are always an issue in those lower leagues, but I am sure you'll be up in no time. Max looks like a nice little project! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 Max Ibrahimovic is a great addition to the club and makes this story even more interesting. Are you putting a lot of effort on mentoring when doing player development? Even though it is a slow process I tend to make sure that the squad leaders and influential members hold a good personality and setting up mentoring groups is usually one of the first things I do in a new save. Somehow this is such an interesting feature in the game for me even when the process tends to be slow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 20 Author Share Posted July 20 1 hour ago, BillHoudini24 said: Max looks like a nice little project! 33 minutes ago, El Payaso said: Max Ibrahimovic is a great addition to the club and makes this story even more interesting. Gonna do a whole section on the project players that I've brought in this summer! He's not the only one I've had on trial with a famous father, either... 1 hour ago, BillHoudini24 said: I like that you keep your recruitment realistic, with bargains made in Italy. Finances are always an issue in those lower leagues, but I am sure you'll be up in no time. Hoping to both keep it realistic and, for next season, cheap! I've been a bit risky so far and utilised youth contracts. Despite these being what the players want, it does mean that they are free to leave for a compensation fee. The bonus, for me, is that they're capped at €150 per week - a fraction of what they'd ask for on a full contract. 35 minutes ago, El Payaso said: Are you putting a lot of effort on mentoring when doing player development? Even though it is a slow process I tend to make sure that the squad leaders and influential members hold a good personality and setting up mentoring groups is usually one of the first things I do in a new save. Somehow this is such an interesting feature in the game for me even when the process tends to be slow. Yeah - I do normally. Just, right now, I haven't actually got any decent mentors that are high up in the hierarchy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 20 Author Share Posted July 20 Season 3: New beginnings Nine first team signings is an awful lot for me, but, given the situation we were in, losing Mitu, D'Amore, Lia, Pacciardi and Firenze at the end of their contracts as well as the retirement of Pinsoglio, this level of rebuild was absolutely needed. Below are my new recruits: Esposito is the new number one and, at present, the only keeper I actually have anywhere at the club. As I mentioned in the previous update, he's a strong lad with plenty of years ahead of him. I'm excited for what he can do for us. Marchetti was also profiled in the last update and, despite sitting on the bench for Cesena, is probably good enough to start for us. This is a real opportunity to test the recruitment strategy - particularly as I've always been all-in on a player and never considered other options at that time. Here, Marchetti was third on the list and it's time to test whether I spent enough time creating it! Florian Mussolini - yes, the great grandson of the dictator but (I checked), a man with no interest in politics who has actually been somewhat tarred by this surname, comes in on a free from Lazio after not quite making the grade there. He's a right sided player (ha) but will either be used as a right wing back or a wide centre back. Tripaldelli made twelve appearances for Brescia in Serie B last year and is probably the best of the two left wing backs I now have at the club. He topped the list of candidates although I was not expecting him to want to make the move once his contract had expired there, so feel we've got somewhat of a coup here. Clemenza makes the step up from Serie D and I'm excited to see what he can offer me, particularly as he was the first choice in the AMC recruitment drive last year. Ibrahimovic, Merola, Bellino and Ruggeri all joined the club on Youth Contracts. A risky move as they can be poached by other clubs for just a small compensatory fee, but, for me, a cheap way to bring in potentially high quality players who are eager to play football and cost just €150 per week. They will all form part of a plan that, for now, I'll dub the Messina project - a focused attempt at developing specific attributes of those players who are within the borders of the first team. It differs from the youth project, as that is an attempt at creating a cohesive set of youth schedules to find the optimal development for players not featuring within the first team. - - - Enter the Messina Project. Six players, six different rotating schedules. Each player has two roles and three foci, which rotate throughout the calendar year. Feels mad that my top player is still part of these development plans but, given his mammoth growth over the course of last season, is still in fact only seventeen years old. Looking at Owusu's development over the past year, I feel that I need to really focus on his technical attributes so have chosen roles that allow that - Poacher being focused closely on three of them, whilst the False Nine also developing more of his playmaking attributes, too. He's an advanced forward every day of the week but I'm not against his ability to pass, and pick a pass being improved. His schedule looks like: Jan - F9(S), Shooting Feb - P(a), Ball Control Mar - F9(S), Strength Lucenti is almost a perfect playmaker, but lacks the vision to really unpick defences, despite being stereotypically Italian on the ball. At 6'3", he's also a threat in many other ways but not quite good enough to carry the ball. I want to keep him as a playmaker but develop his press resistance, making him hard to knock off the ball. A SS(A) role will rotate with an RPM(S) role in order to get the full breadth of technical coverage whilst his additional foci will all be physical ones. There's certainly a player in here! His schedule looks like: Jan - SS(a), Quickness Feb - RPM(s), Agility and Balance Mar - SS(a), Endurance Bellino stands at 6'5" and has a base of a line breaking midfielder in my eyes. By combining one attacking role - the Mez(a) - and one more defensive role - the BWM(s) - I hope to get some rounded development from him. Again, his additional foci are very specific - all looking at technical skills as his mental side should develop as he is exposed to more first team football as his physical stature can continue to grow. Improving his ball carrying ability should really help him become quite a dangerous player. His schedule looks like: Jan - Mez(a), Shooting Feb - BWM(s), Passing Mar - Mez(a), Ball Control The first of my two second strikers. Merola is very unbalanced and, despite having some good attributes for that role - agility, acceleration, dribbling and flair - he lacks some basic attributes like his ability to think off the ball, composure on the ball and the ability to bring others into the game with passes. Two aggressive player roles will be used, the SS(a) and the T(a) and I'll be rotating through two technical foci and one that focuses on bringing up his mental attributes. Like the majority of these players, not yet exposed to first team football, my job is to look - with a bit of a squint - at what the mental attributes could be, given the growth I hope they'll go through. His schedule looks like: Jan - SS(a), Passing Feb - T(a), Attacking Movement Mar - SS(a), Ball Control The other second striker. Ibra Jr is even more raw than Merola before him and needs to really hone in on his composure, teamwork, decisions and anticipation but is much better off the ball. At 19, I'm hoping he'll put on a little muscle so I'm focusing on both teaching him the AMC position, through both roles, but also trying to blend the attribute development across the running and passing models. Without a single senior appearance, I'm really hoping that I can bring on some quick changes with his attributes, allowing him to fulfil the potential to play above this level, as my scouts predict. His schedule looks like this: Jan - SS(a), Passing Feb - AP(s), Attacking Movement Mar - SS(a), Final Third Last on my list is a real project in Ruggeri. Not only is he older than the rest, by some way, he's also way out of position. At 5'8", he's not going to be a centre back but I do really see a clever player who, as long as he doesn't have to engage with an opponent, will be in the right place to recover the ball. I'm using the A(d) and BWM(s) schedules to try and turn him into that clever destroyer - a man who can sit in front of the defence, retrieve the ball, destroyer attacking momentum rather than players, and lay the ball off to a teammate. I'm excited about his potential but realise that this one may be a harder job to do! His schedule looks like this: Jan - A(d), Strength Feb - BWM(s), Ball Control Mar - A(d), Endurance - - - I've now got myself a squad and a bit of a plan for how to develop them. Let's go! Forza biancoscudati! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillHoudini24 Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 Great write-up, as usual! I am a bit concerned with Ibra's Mentals, especially Composure and Anticipation. He's lighting fast for the club's level though, so I hope he can compensate for those. Lucenti seems like a luxury player on first look, I hope you can find a way to "hide" his lack of pace. Ruggeri is brilliant on a youth contract, hopefully you can lock him up soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 (edited) Very unlucky with the Play-Off outcome, I don't think the decision to keep the main team going was a bad mistake, it gave a chance for continuity and the idea behind having less games to navigate was sound. Really nice insight in to the young players and their prospects, hopefully a number of them will come good for you. Edited July 20 by Jogo Bonito Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 Those training plans are very interesting. Something very similar that I am also doing with my best youngsters from the first youth intake. I think the team looks ready to make it's way up and as the frame is really young, you should be able to keep plenty of these players in for a long time. Well written stuff, like always. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 21 Author Share Posted July 21 15 hours ago, BillHoudini24 said: I am a bit concerned with Ibra's Mentals, especially Composure and Anticipation. He's lighting fast for the club's level though, so I hope he can compensate for those. Yeah! I'd be inclined to agree but, and what makes this an exciting project is that he has never played senior football. If he had this mental attributes and had played fifty competitive games, I'd probably be saying no to him. My experience tells me that these are the easier of the attributes to raise during exposure to open-age football. It's clear that it's an area of weakness but one that I want to be able to come back to in thirty/forty appearances and re-address: 15 hours ago, BillHoudini24 said: Lucenti seems like a luxury player on first look, I hope you can find a way to "hide" his lack of pace. At 18, I'm hoping I can get two or three more points out of those key areas, plus some - first team football driven - mental attribute increases. He'll feel more a classic #10 that way. Not much of a ball carrier but certainly an offensive pivot, which, honestly, might work in a shape that I create somewhere down the line. I love that the focus on youth brings these types of conundrums to the table and I relish finding ways of fitting square pegs into round holes! 15 hours ago, BillHoudini24 said: Ruggeri is brilliant on a youth contract, hopefully you can lock him up soon. I'm really excited because he's such an outlier! At 21, I'd probably give up on him but I just think, with the different mechanisms in FM24 and the fact that he's also never played adult football, there is scope to find a late bloomer here. Not even truly 'late' but just later than most of the developmental work I've done before. 15 hours ago, El Payaso said: I think the team looks ready to make it's way up and as the frame is really young, you should be able to keep plenty of these players in for a long time. My worry is that nine new faces will disrupt the cohesion and it'll take a big jump, like we saw this season, to get anywhere in the second half of next season. That being said, we're a better side - I think - and did just do this to a team at our level in our second pre-season tie: 15 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said: Very unlucky with the Play-Off outcome, I don't think the decision to keep the main team going was a bad mistake, it gave a chance for continuity and the idea behind having less games to navigate was sound. I think it was right, too. FM does lack some of the real life consequential stuff. Maybe the board would've seen that and been a bit more angry, rather than a mechanism seeing the number on the screen - 2nd place - and reacting to that! Hopefully, I can learn from this and not fall into the same trap again next time out. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lfds89 Posted July 21 Share Posted July 21 I haven't been much around, but it's always nice to see you have a new story to tell us. Good luck in Italy! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 21 Author Share Posted July 21 Season 3: Much to be excited about! Just a quick one as I'm packing my laptop away for a spell out of the country and off FM. Unfortunately, the real world calls and a nice family holiday will help me reset. That being said, I'm really enjoying the process here at Messina and think we're building something that could be very special! Firstly, I was happy with Triestina because I knew of the €104k participation fee but I did not know the level that we would absolutely destroy our Serie B opposition. 4.55xG, including a penalty that sealed debutant Merola's hattrick was an utterly outstanding start to the season. But it got even better! Travelling to Serie A side Frosinone to face players I've actually heard of (!!!) - Loris Karius, Ryan Yates and Tiago Gouveia included - we prepared for the worst, taking the appearance fee and scarpering. But no! 2.30xG was just 0.07xG better than the opponents but, at the end of the day, we emerged with three goals, thanks to back-to-back hat tricks, surely a record for a player on debut, for Merola in the shadow striker role. Over €250k in gate receipts from these games, nearly a quarter of what we brought in across the entire 2025/26 season, sets us up brilliantly for the next few months. In December, we, as one of the two Serie C sides left in the competition, go to Monza - of Serie B - in a tie that we could actually win! Our league form, judging by the difficulty of fixtures, has been really strong. Not only have we played three teams who finished inside the playoffs in September, we also faced, and beat, both relegated sides - Avellino and Bari. Ali Owusu's six goals have been great but I'm happy that there's been a shared element to this, as Lucenti - who now has longer term plans to maybe fill more of a deep lying role - has three to his name as well. Just the one blip as Taranto blew us away as they set the early pace this season. I must say that I'm feeling very confident about what is to come... This is largely down to me feeling really secure with our tactical shape. As someone who has pretty much always favoured a four-at-the-back shape, moving to this has been an interesting change but has produced some moments of pure magic for me. We can defend in a five but, with the right adjustments - WB(s) to CWB(a) and BPD(d) to WCB(s) - overlap aggressively and our control of the central areas has been key. In Merola's two hattrick performances, his movement, laterally and vertically, across the entirety of the final third, working in unison with Owusu, who pinned defences back and played on the last shoulder, was an absolute delight. We're currently leading the dribbling rankings by over 2.5 a game, greater than any jump between other sides, and this is a key area for me as we look to take advantage of spaces and create overloads with the ball. I'm really excited to see where this goes! Forza biancoscudati! 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrewnaldo Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 Enjoy your break! I hope the save interest stays for your return. Sometimes I find that a break in the momentum of playing can make it difficult to pick up where you left off Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danyates8 Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 Enjoy your break Ben, that last tactical graphic is the stuff of dreams! Seriously top top notch. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefinitelyTaylor Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 Pleased to have caught up with this over the past day or so. The detail with which you construct your posts is fantastic. From the save’s perspective, an excellent start to the season as you have rightly identified. Hopefully you may be able to do what Pescara did last season, albeit a tad optimistic! Enjoy your break! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 Lovely tactical analysis, visually displayed it makes good sense. Great league form too, excellent stuff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 26 Author Share Posted July 26 Thanks all! I'm back and have even had time to input some excellent work from @jkadms into my skin; his work shows percentiles to each % rather than the 10% jumps I had. It's also added a 'compare with all outfield players' area, which FBREF - my own inspiration - uses: I've also spent my holiday thinking about the next steps here and what I'm going to do tactically as well as looking at some nice new ideas to represent my data findings, too! I'm excited to be back. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danyates8 Posted July 27 Share Posted July 27 Skin looks really good! Is there anyway to change the background color? Looking forward to the next update! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hootieleece Posted July 27 Share Posted July 27 Great Stuff as always......so much to think on as I play FM24 in Japan. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 Season 3: Building a strong push for the title Fifteen games in and things have very much clicked for us so far! Building on the impressive form from the tail end of last season, we have roared into quite a commanding lead at the top of the table and look good value for money. The majority of these games were played before my holiday and, for some reason, I didn't write about them. However, we're unbeaten since the game week of September and are building some strong foundations for the remainder of the season. Statistically, our xG/difference per 90 shows that we're actually performing a little worse, in terms of expected goals for an expected goals against, compared to last season. That being said, we're on course, in terms of goals per game, to score 89 times this season and concede twenty-eight and increase of twenty-one and a decrease of four compared to the metrics last season, respectively. It'd suggest that we're scoring more low xG chances and, overall, that is true: Owusu; 0.91 goals per game from 0.55 expected goals per game Merola; 1.08 goals per game from 0.46 expected goals per game Bellino; 0.47 goals per game from 0.27 expected goals per game These things, of course, will even themselves out across the entirety of the season but, right now, we have points on the board, two players (Merola and Owusu) already in double figures and really high morale. My real life team, Villa, have completed the signing of Amadou Onana whilst I was away and, with that, comes a whole lot of statistical stuff on X, which I follow - obviously - quite intently. It has really made me think about how I want to build my three central midfielder players (DM, DM and AM) as, in this case, I class my second AM - the SS(a) - as a Joao Felix (hopefully!!!) kind of second striker. I've recently made the move to put Lucenti back to a DM role, as a DLP, using the fact that he's a ball player to keep him behind the ball allowing us to recycle and unpick. It's worked really nicely and his overall performances from the DM to the AM role have seen a rise of 0.51 in his average rating in that time. One of the posts that resounded most with me was what creates a true box-to-box midfielder - what Onana is and what I hope Bellino can become. Whilst the current comparison has my lad as somewhat less of a destroyer and more of a playmaker (largely down to his poor bravery, I'd imagine), the post identified two metrics that really shine in what a box-to-box player has: blocks, in the defensive third, and xG, in the offensive third. With that, I compared all Serie C midfielders with 500 minutes or more in this area and found that, as I'd hope, Bellino ranks pretty highly for both of those metrics. His link up, as highlighted by the triangle created between he, Lucenti and Clemenza is key to how I progress the ball forward and I want to create movement that keeps this triangle across all parts of transition and attack, where each can play a ball to each or, where we can attract players into the triangle of doom, so we can play outside of it, or, alternatively, create our own overloads here. The other unexpected bonus of having 6'3" Lucenti and 6'5" Bellino is that we now have two of the best aerial central midfielders in the league, forcing teams to not play long from the back towards their attackers. With a 5-4-1 shape in defence, we are incredibly hard to play through but, with these two, we are becoming harder to play over now. There is more to do in terms of solidifying us both defensively and building our style offensively - some of that comes through traits (Lucenti is learning to play one-twos as I feel that complements the give and go nature of what I want to achieve in the middle, whilst Bellino - poor dribbling aside - is learning to dribble the ball through the middle; I've made that decision because I want him to carry the ball and I do often see dribbling as an attribute that more closely relates to keeping the ball in tighter areas rather than ball carrying, which is what I want), and some of that comes through further role design and tweaks. There are, of course, elements that play out in the transfer market, as, given our financial state and his eagerness to go, I've agreed to let Owusu leave for an offer of around €1m, joining the really disappointing Bonfiglio, who has recently agreed a €30k move away. Forza Biancoscudati! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Don Carlo Posted July 27 Share Posted July 27 I don't know how you write so fast! It will be interesting to see how Onana goes at Villa I think he has some things to work his game but he has been a decent player for us! Nice to see you take on a club save and build something! Have you always rotated training focus every month? I've often thought to rotate PRD and Focus maybe every 3 months or so. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Don Carlo Posted July 27 Share Posted July 27 Also, the faces on your newgens are excellent! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 3 hours ago, The Don Carlo said: I don't know how you write so fast! It will be interesting to see how Onana goes at Villa I think he has some things to work his game but he has been a decent player for us! Nice to see you take on a club save and build something! Have you always rotated training focus every month? I've often thought to rotate PRD and Focus maybe every 3 months or so. I only played about two of those games today - I was a little further ahead than I wanted to be when I finished my last update. That being said, the holiday took it out of me and I've literally sat and played through an entire transfer window and about fifteen games this afternoon/evening: normally a week or so of gaming! The training is a pretty new thing, to be honest. I don't know if it works better this way or for a three month period. I don't think it works well long term because I get the notices saying 'xxx won't improve further' or the player moans at it. However, backing my hypothesis is the coaches meeting where, quite happily, they'll suggest moving to another focus every few weeks, suggesting that - behind the scenes - maybe their know that mechanism? The rotation of the role is different because I never really feel comfortable doing that until the players have a grasp of their role within my system, hence a desire to develop players through a general phase (U18), a bespoke tactical phase (U20) and then into the gap filling role of the senior squad, using match practice to speed up their growth. That being said, I've loved these project players and feel that it's a really realistic way to evolve a club at this level. It's been a while since I've planned to stick at a club so I'm looking forward to seeing how far I can get them before I inevitably bow down to the FM25 pre-order! 3 hours ago, The Don Carlo said: Also, the faces on your newgens are excellent! Thanks! I have really taken to Playground AI but most of them are just from various facepacks. I tend to choose my own youth intake faces for more immersion with them but, for the rest, I use NewGan to allocate. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Don Carlo Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 Oh, nice I am not o familiar with playground AI or NewGan but wow it improves things and looks great! I see your method and train players fairly similarly U18's - general role with more focus on physical U20's - specific role with more focus on tactical and a more monitored look at match ratings 1st team - a direct position I want the player to play and a focus on either specialist attributes or attributes they are still weak in - Crossing, Speed, strength etc But I'm no expert on what the best training method is. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 Fifteen is a huge number of games in one day. For me three is already a big number and also something where repetitive things within the ME don't start to bother me. As expected, you are doing a great job in terms of results in season 2 and as we can see, also already finding some long-term project players within the team, which is obviously to be expected when you have such a young squad in your hands. One tiniest thing related to the content would be making the results/league table graphic a bit higher so they would be easier to see without zooming when using a mobile device. I for example only read the community with my phone and use computer just to write my own content. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 28 Author Share Posted July 28 8 hours ago, The Don Carlo said: Oh, nice I am not o familiar with playground AI or NewGan but wow it improves things and looks great! I see your method and train players fairly similarly U18's - general role with more focus on physical U20's - specific role with more focus on tactical and a more monitored look at match ratings 1st team - a direct position I want the player to play and a focus on either specialist attributes or attributes they are still weak in - Crossing, Speed, strength etc But I'm no expert on what the best training method is. I'm no expert myself - just something that really fascinates me about this game! I would say that I'm somewhat similar to you but, at this level, where I've had an opportunity or a necessity to promote quickly - my midfield duo are 18 and 19, for example - I've skipped that second step. Therefore, more focus on marginal gains within senior players is necessary. Once I feel that they've reached their potential, they move to just training the role I intend for them to play in, sometimes with no extra focus. I also set all players to just their preferred role within the pre-season part as to ensure I have the most familiarity going into the season. The only significant difference is my heavy focus on technical training at youth level given that, from experience, those seem the hardest to grow - but, again, my experimentation here is still in its infancy. 57 minutes ago, El Payaso said: Fifteen is a huge number of games in one day. For me three is already a big number and also something where repetitive things within the ME don't start to bother me. As expected, you are doing a great job in terms of results in season 2 and as we can see, also already finding some long-term project players within the team, which is obviously to be expected when you have such a young squad in your hands. One tiniest thing related to the content would be making the results/league table graphic a bit higher so they would be easier to see without zooming when using a mobile device. I for example only read the community with my phone and use computer just to write my own content. Yeah - I actually haven't really committed any tactical thoughts or reflections from the games during those fifteen matches either, so I've no idea what is going to form my update now! Noted on the size of the images - will see how I can best get things to fit in from now on. Yeah - the project players have been great and it's really been good to embed the younger players now before I really need the quality, experience and consistency when facing tougher challenges if/when we are promoted. I will absolutely look to continue this trend as I progress with Messina. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 28 Author Share Posted July 28 Season 3: Ready for promotion As I said, it has been a busy week and I was absolutely shattered yesterday and, as we all know, there's no better cure for that than a day in front of FM. I played far, far too much and, at times, did go into autopilot, clicking through rather than fully focussing on writing and reflecting about my journey. With that in mind, this will - again - be slightly less concise than I want it to be, but, rest assured, my commitment to Messina and this project is absolutely through the roof! What a spell of football! No league defeats between November and February, progress to the Coppa Italia Legia Pro final, where we'll face Padova and a famous Coppa Italia run, where we'd already knocked out two sides above us before taking about then-table topping Serie B side Monza and almost pulling off the biggest shock of our entire history against Lazio, going 1-0 and 2-1 up but fading a little towards the end. The league has been an absolutely fantastic spectacle as we have, time and time again, dismantled teams around us, playing a distinct but very effective brand of football. The biggest win, for me, has been how I've been able to overcome our shortcoming last season: Owusu's 26 goals last season put him top by twenty and, honestly, we looked absolutely reliant on him doing things in order for us to push on this year. Granted, some of the development must be attributed to recruitment but - regardless of that - my job has been to make this team better, both tactically and who we put out onto the pitch. There are just two players, this year, who have more goal involvements per game that Owusu as he shows that last season was not a flash in the pan and why I'm absolutely spot on to hold out for €1m for him. This biggest difference though is that Clemenza, the lad I brought up from Serie D, has shown that he can absolutely do it on this stage and has been joined by Bellino, Ibrahimovic and Lucenti at registering more than a goal or an assist every two games. Special recognition must also go out to Merola, who has registered fifteen goals but not a single assist, as well as contributions from wingbacks Tripaldelli (11A, 4G), Veratti (5A, 0G) and Ceresoli (5A, 0G) as we've become a team that can create for anyone. - - - With sights set on Serie B, my recruitment drive was somewhat different - not wanting to commit contracts and transfer fees to players who aren't good enough for the long term but also not having a larger pool to work with - both due to current finances and also a lack of interest. Therefore, I allowed the recruitment team to do their business and the only signing they made was the loan deal for Jacobo from third tier Cordoba. I actually think he's an absolute steal and will not only provide some cover for Owusu but will also be a real asset in the second striker role, given his pace and ball carrying ability. I'm unsure whether I'll be able to hold on to him into next year but, honestly, I'm not sure what next year will look like anyway! Forza biancoscudati! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danyates8 Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 Some run of form that, really exciting for the future. I'm trying my best to reign the the autopilot mode I've always stuck to in the past. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 A really good run of form which bodes well for the rest of the season. Hopefully you won't need him as an understudy to Owusu, but it's good to have another option in Jacobo. Best of luck for the remaining months. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 28 Author Share Posted July 28 7 hours ago, danyates8 said: Some run of form that, really exciting for the future. I'm trying my best to reign the the autopilot mode I've always stuck to in the past. Thanks! I don't think autopilot is necessary a bad thing! it just means that I've achieved what I set out to do - in this case, create an effective style of football to get promoted. I think, in the past, where I've done this and got bored is because there isn't a next stage, whereas here there absolutely is - staying in Serie B. It's what has really drawn me back into a one-club save here. 1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said: A really good run of form which bodes well for the rest of the season. Hopefully you won't need him as an understudy to Owusu, but it's good to have another option in Jacobo. Best of luck for the remaining months. Thanks! I really think that Jacobo is a top player for this level. Spain is a market I certainly want to expand into - specifically the youth levels where they have full clubs who play there that often produce some great talent. But, as I said, I don't know what the summer will bring in terms of finances and opportunities to bring in new players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 29 Author Share Posted July 29 Season 3: Broken records and the excitement of promotion I'm finding that I can write less and less postseason because my mid-season writing tells enough of those tales. My work on player development projects (see Owusu, Lucenti, Bellino, Merola, Ibrahimovic and Ruggeri) has been, in my eyes, a huge success. I've got a core of young players who won their division of the U18 league and, whilst the breadth of the intake wasn't as strong, I've had another star in come through in Mario Moraga. The young Spaniard has a great technical base to work from and I hope to see him in the first team in the coming years. The ending to the season very much mirrored the rest of it: unstoppable. With just one game where we dropped points, against second placed Crotone, we have taken the game to our opponents and ended with more than my prediction of goals for and less conceded, beating the records set last year by over twenty goals. Furthermore, it's the first time we have ever reached triple figures and our gap of twenty points back to second placed Crotone is also a record at this level. Our overall stats just show the level of control that we've had. Furthermore, a win over Padova and a win in the Serie C Super Cup (against Girone A and B winners Mantova and Cesena) show that we are ready for the step up, finishing some forty-seven points ahead of playoff winners Juve Stabia, who will - almost certainly - head into next season as the whipping boys! As a squad, we have been simply super, with high quality performances all over the pitch. Starting at the back, where the central defenders scored twelve goals and had a had in twenty, showing that the original worries about having three non-attackers was not really an issue after all. I do need to bring in some more quality here, in all honesty, as the team overall are quite poor aerially (although I have made a conscious effort to counter than with my midfield height). I also need to make decisions about whether Mussolini is actually a centre back or a wing back, particularly as that is an area I will head into the new season with no cover in. At wing back - particularly on the left - I have been very lucky to have twelve goal involvements from my first choice and then Giovagnoli, my backup, also able to provide six from under 1,000 minutes of game time. On the right, Veratti has been great but SPAL will not sanction another loan so I will be left to look elsewhere. The centre of the park is where I've had my most success with Bellini (sixteen goal contributions) and Lucenti (sixteen goal contributions) but, overall, is where most of my wasted players are. We have six players who can fill the two roles and that includes Ruggeri, who is a specialist in that he can be utilised far better as a DM(s) rather than a DLP(s) and is useful for sitting on leads, hence his high use off the bench following a really successful conversion from a centre back this season - so much so that the game now rates his best position as where I've moved him to. You can see the benefit of having two tall 6s in there and my next job is to ensure I can use that threat offensively, too. The 8s, 10s and strikers have also been fantastic with a total of twenty-six contributions for the old-school number 10, Clemenza, who will be going up another level next year following a nice climb from Serie D, where I found him. Despite Merola and Ibrahimovic being very one-dimensional, both have been strong performers for me, with Merola netting over twenty times; though a significant amount of stat-padding has happened here, given that he likes to score in bunches, including his back-to-back hattricks before going off the boil for a while. That being said, at just twenty, the foundations are there to build upon. Owusu has twenty-plus for the second season in a row and it'll be interesting to see how he handles the step up to a higher level. His game, overall, is strong but, at just over ten passes per game, he's very often isolated and, if we're doing significantly more defending next year, will need to adapt for fear of being completely lost. Even with promotion, finances are tight. This season, we've made significantly more money but also paid out a lot more - both thanks to our great cup runs. I've ran threadbare coaching teams, probably at the detriment of some extra player development, and barely saved in that area. With that, I need to be extremely careful of how I build my squad for next season; therefore, I like to look at player costs per minute. Below, the chart shows the most accurate (I cannot get data for clean sheets for defenders, nor unused substitute fees and have worked out the total cost of wages as just fifty-two lots of their base wage, obviously not taking into account those who have renewed deals across the season) calculation of that and the graph excludes the outliers: those with over €100 cost per minute and those with less than 1,000 first team minutes this season: Groovj McAnthony, one of the few remaining players from when I took over, sits as the most expensive of my players per minute - largely because he was tied down to an expensive deal and just has been usurped by better players. The same can be said for Frisenna, who, despite being integral in my first season, has fallen behind three or four other midfielders. It has been pleasing to see that two project players - Ruggeri and Ibrahimovic have come into the club and, despite agreeing new deals fairly early on, moving away from their €150 per week youth contracts - haven't cost an extortionate amount whilst learning their trade with us. Looking at the more expensive players - would I class Mussolini, Tripaldelli and Clemenza as my 'key players?' - yes, I probably would. All three of these are what I'd consider peak players and, as such, will naturally command a higher wage than the youngsters within the squad. That goes to show the quality of the deals that I was able to draw on for Marchetti and Esposito - which is great work from my recruitment team. As I move into next year, I will end up taking control of the contract negotiations, leaving my recruitment team to only make offers for the shortlists I create. This means I can pull pretty much every handle - top division wage rises for those who will likely only see a couple of seasons, relegation release clauses for those who will surely not be happy if we are struggle next year and manager release clauses for the experienced heads that I'm sure I'll need to recruit to sit alongside my young, hungry team. A season after promotion is always one that fills me with fear - what if we can't recruit better players? What if the demands of my current crop push us even further into this financial black hole? What if tactically we just fall apart against better teams? Well, I guess we're going to find these things out! Forza Biancoscudati! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
danyates8 Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 That's what you call a dominant season! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 A very comfortable ride, but that shouldn't be taken for granted as all these team start from virtually the same position so what you are doing has made the difference. Well done and best of luck in preparations for next season! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 30 Author Share Posted July 30 23 hours ago, danyates8 said: That's what you call a dominant season! 19 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said: A very comfortable ride, but that shouldn't be taken for granted as all these team start from virtually the same position so what you are doing has made the difference. Well done and best of luck in preparations for next season! Thanks, both! Just about to kick off the new season and, as you'll see when I've finished the write up, it's been tough! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted July 30 Author Share Posted July 30 (edited) Season 4: Difficult preparations It's been a long time since we've overperformed to the level that we, despite our strong player development ethos, are considered - as a club - to be far below the standard for the level we're going into, but, alas, that has happened here. My plans for the transfer window were not well thought out, simply because I had hoped that our improved stature within the game, financial freedom (yeah, right) and expanded scouting system would surely open the door to many a player wanting to ply their trade in lovely Sicily. I'd even made a list of those dream released players - experienced heads with quality in their career along with the odd under developed player. For any of those with any interest, I was quickly reminded of our lack of financial security, which, seemingly, the board had no interest in helping us with. Therefore, with a quick change of heart - my summer became about adding the key elements of experience of consistency - ensuring that the team was just that, a team. None of our players, on paper, are good enough to set the league alight but, and a big but here, I think that, if we can get them to gel and play as a cohesive unit, we might just be ok. Four new faces found their way into our club, with one further loan deal being made permanent. I am not yet settled with this squad and, unusually for me, will be using every hour until the transfer window closes to seek out any players that can come in, add depth or that little spark of quality that I still feel we are missing in certain areas. Here is the Messina squad heading into the 2027/28 Serie B season: We have one senior keeper at the club and, ultimately, that may become a problem further down the line. However, Matteo Esposito is probably good enough for this level based on his strong performances last time out, where he kept twenty-one clean sheets. Ideally, I'd like him to become a team leader, in order to really emphasise his quality but, in all honesty, his personality is not really suited to what benefits that'd bring. The recruitment team are desperate to bring in another keeper and I'm fine with that. However, I'm not prepared to stretch our wage budget to over 300% more than my top earner for a player, with no experience at this level or, for that matter, any tier two league, to come in, earn that and sit on the bench! Two new arrivals in the centre of defence with Elia Capradossi arriving following his departure from SPAL. At 31, he's on the older end of the spectrum in terms of what I had at the club but signifies exactly what I think I need. He's both good enough for this level as well as being consistent and enjoying big matches - a key part of the spine of the team I want to create. Louis Masudi is an exciting youngster who comes in on loan from our parent club, Napoli. He'll bring some quality and ball progression as well as a sizeable frame. Definitely an area of the squad I am happier with, although I am still unsure whether Floriani Mussolini or Berto (listed as a wing back) will fill which role. A positive for their versatility, if nothing else. With little to go on in terms of what good looks like - I have taken a step in order to try and create some accountability for performances this season. I've taken quite a wide spread - 20% below and 20% above - of the average performances all of the centre backs (replicated for each other area of the pitch) achieved last season and, have, with this, created some benchmarks that I want to hold my squad too. Obviously, we are at a higher level than last season and, with that, I'd expect that the base number for interceptions, clearances and blocks increase - but they aren't necessarily good stats to have high or low - just an indication of the type of defending that we are doing. Looking specifically at these stats - the introduction of Capradossi and Masudi means I am expecting an improvement in our header successes this season and, with more intelligence there too, would like to see an increase in interceptions, especially as teams will see us as minnows and throw more at us from an attacking perspective. Pres A/90 - Between 3.46 and 5.19 Pres C - Between 1.08 and 1.62 Tck % - Between 62% and 93% Int/90 - Between 1.43 and 2.14 Clr/90 - Between 1.03 and 1.55 Blk/90 - Between 0.36 and 0.54 Hdr % - Between 47% and 70% Ps C/90 - Between 46 and 69.01 Pas % - Between 74% and 100% Pr ps/90 - Between 3.97 and 5.96 Poss Lost/90 - Between 4.55 and 6.83 An area of extreme weakness, given Giavognoli's departure to Newell's and Veratti's contract expiry. Across pre-season, I've heavily used trialists in order to get a sense of who can join with four different players auditioning for the right wing back slot. However, as I mentioned previously, we have been priced out of absolutely anyone who would bring more quality to this area and, as such, have been left with Berto and Floriani Mussolini with youngster Salerno currently stepping up as cover. At left back, we have retained Tripaldelli, a hero of last term, but have an even more raw prospect in Fucili at left wing back. Again - I've used metrics from last season to create some benchmarks for this and, given the performances of the team, they are quite lofty. Asts/90 - Between 0.26 and 0.39 xA/90 - Between 0.19 and 0.28 K Ps/90 - Between 1.22 and 1.84 OP-KP/90 - Between 1.52 and 2.28 Pres A/90 - Between 9.02 and 13.52 Pres C - Between 2.13 and 3.2 Tck % - Between 64% and 93% Ps C/90 - Between 33.89 and 50.84 Pas % - Between 71% and 100% Pr ps/90 - Between 3.21 and 4.82 Drb/90 - Between 2.46 and 3.69 Poss Lost/90 - Between 10.66 and 15.98 The five midfielders I have here are a great signal of me getting the recruitment and development right for what I want to do with this team. I always like my sixes to be ball players whereas my tens and eights to be runners and that is what I've created here. Valerio Verre, a man I remember from FMs past, who - like Capradossi - shares similar levels of consistency and a love for big matches joins to become another option in the deeper playmaking role, joining Carboni who marks the end of a very successful eighteen months on loan by signing a permanent deal. Lucenti and Bellino are the standouts and they will form the progressive DLP(s)/VOL(s) combo, allowing Ruggeri to swap in when we need more defensive (and less aerial) cover. I expect a lot from this part of the pitch, from box to box and everything that comes with it. It's unlikely that Lucenti or Bellino will repeat 15+ goal contributions but changes in outputs here would probably go a long way to finding out why we aren't performing well as they were the heartbeat of the team last time out. Gls/90 - Between 0.17 and 0.26 xG/90 - Between 0.17 and 0.25 NP-xG/90 - Between 0.14 and 0.2 Shot/90 - Between 1.67 and 2.51 ShT/90 - Between 0.63 and 0.95 Asts/90 - Between 0.15 and 0.23 xA/90 - Between 0.16 and 0.24 K Ps/90 - Between 1.51 and 2.27 OP-KP/90 - Between 1.84 and 2.75 Pres A/90 - Between 10.21 and 15.32 Pres C - Between 2.9 and 4.35 Int/90 - Between 1.43 and 2.15 Blk/90 - Between 0.33 and 0.5 Hdr % - Between 37% and 55% Ps C/90 - Between 47.02 and 70.52 Pas % - Between 71% and 100% Pr ps/90 - Between 4.98 and 7.47 Drb/90 - Between 1.39 and 2.09 I treat my eights, tens and nines and pretty similar entities - although do prefer one ten to be more creative: for me, Clemenza is that man. One new signing here and it was a strange one; Riccardo Braschi moved, for €5m to Udinese from Fiorentina, but, a week later, found himself without a club and without an explanation I could find. Their loss is our gain as, despite feeling somewhat of a project, I think he can contribute from the off - allowing some thought about both he and Owusu as a second striker, if a change in style is needed. With two 20+ goal scorers from last year, I envisage that the goals per 90 metric will see a reduction but I am determined to play our game and not just be that pragmatic Italian manager, pandering to the threats of the opposition. That being said, less focus will be placed here until we can ensure that the defence is watertight. Gls/90 - Between 0.43 and 0.65 xG/90 - Between 0.35 and 0.52 NP-xG/90 - Between 0.34 and 0.51 Shot/90 - Between 1.81 and 2.71 ShT/90 - Between 0.91 and 1.37 Asts/90 - Between 0.1 and 0.15 xA/90 - Between 0.1 and 0.14 K Ps/90 - Between 0.64 and 0.96 OP-KP/90 - Between 0.66 and 1 Hdr % - Between 7% and 10% Drb/90 - Between 1.54 and 2.31 - - - A decent first XI but not the depth or the star quality that I wanted; I had dreams of Paulo Dybala returning to Sicily being that enigmatic, slightly lethargic #10 that every Italian dreams of. What I have got, to make matters worse, is a tough August, with only Mantova - another promoted side - as a realistic game that I fancy winning. Edited July 30 by _Ben_ 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deisler26 Posted July 30 Share Posted July 30 Valerio Verre has been an amazing FM signing for years IMO. Love the high standards you're setting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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