HanziZoloman

A hard rain's a-gonna fall. 2071/72 It was just horrible. We were sitting 10th in the league in January and had a positive goal balance. Then a loss in FA Cup against Bournemouth led into an 18 matches winless run. We took the nose dive and were in free fall until the 2nd last match of the season. The Earl experimented with a back 3 to stop those many goals conceded but nothing worked. We were happy to stay in the league. Ross Beadle has enough he stated after the finish and is now looking for other options, preferring a sell in summer transfer window. The Earl is confused all that build up over years seems gone. The team could not play a ball anymore. Youngster to watch is Tyler Wright who already developed really well before and was promoted into 1st quad this December. He will be a substitute to Ross Beadle. The Fans even hold him higher with his professional personality he can outgrow Ross. With his 18 y/o he is already close to him. Despite that there is few positive to tell. The finances are positive well that's something. The Earl hopes for big chunk of money for beloved Ross. We will miss him dearly. Tyler Wright: Already did 12 matches this year and it was a joy to watch him play.

The Serbian Jumper, now he‘s looking great. I didn‘t much success with the 3ATB and had my longest winless run ever. It made all sense on paper but didn’t work out. I am happy to see your appointment and I am sure you‘ll a lot better. Just turned things around with a win, albeit had to switch back into a 4231.

I am on a horrendous run of form, twenty matches without a win. Two games to go before finishing this awful year. I am two points above the line. Any suggestions how to stay in the league? Morale is in the bottom, I’ve already changed into a 3ATB but to no success we just concede loads. If we have a good match we lose by a stupid penalty. I really need help. what would you do in my situation? my best player is a BWM and some AMC but I don’t have fast players.

@crusadertsar I am eager to learn more. I am struggling heavily again with Billericay, we concede three goals per game and I have the same approach as you mentioned above: Try the same with better players but they get only better very slowly in a YAC.

Here comes an insight into my DNA squad building. Maybe the Earl wants to show off a bit or make the whole effort a bit visible for more people than himself. The Earl has put together a Team DNA for developing into a mean/machine Team. Note that our team personalty is highly ambitious. This is why players on low determination or unambitious players have no room and should set their sails elsewhere. First Picture is our first team. All key attributes are summed up into a DNA score. The Earl will also notice all personality changes. All measures are taken in August when the squad is full together (all loans back, all transfers out) and January. The Earl can then decide on which part of the DNA to put more effort in training. At the moment the main part is distributed into technical skills like TEC, PAS, VIS & FIR. Especially in U18s training. Training facilities are excellent since Nov 71. As you can see in the 1st squad the effort in Technical skills is paying off. Overall the squad gained 29 attribute points since August. Tyler Wright gained 7 points after gaining 13 points before and is clearly a player to watch closely. On the other hand Kenny Keen who is highly talented and promising and has a resolute personality is scratching his attributes together. He is clearly one to worry, often injured and having a hard time to find some good match form. Loric Kalala has maintained his skills over a long period of time and is still one of the best, despite his age. One can also find underrated players who don't seem to match on first sight but score high on the club essentials, players like Gregory Meyers ore Ade Izzet. Ross Beadle is the best, he is the beast we all want to see on the pitch for our side. You can also see that players gain crucial attribute points in later stages of their careers, like Ross or like Tom Moore, Meyers or Izzet. Our most promising youngster Solomon Olaniyi who measures 201cm is developing exceptional and will be our future captain. Leadership is 18 and his realist personality will be grounding for everyone. Together with 200cm Mo Yarjah they will form the 401cm twintower defence. At the moment I play both of them with a more experience squad player (Meyers/ Izzet) to further support their development. Here we can see the youth squad. A noticed before I only take over players with good personalities and there where few in the last years. As TEC skills are hard to gain my focus lies heavily on this part of player development in the U18s. It did pay off, especially after some adjustments at the beginning of the season. Last years didn't brought the expected results. I changed training schedules and coaches. Rob Grimshaw did develop really promising and gained 12 attribute points in the Ricay DNA. Ashley Church and Danny Douglas are loaned out as they are above 18 and does not have a true chance in our 1st team. Ashley Church seems to use his time well and will be worth a second look. Danny will have to move on. Ashley is now in the green range with above 160 "points". Warren Barker (he is yellow range, need to change that) is the one I watch, his 5 points gains are what we are looking for.

Would not have made it in my U18 to tell it frankly @Padders. I don't want to work with those guys anymore. I'd made that promise back in VNS and it paid off clearly. Meaning that in some years there are only 1-2 players which got places at my U18. I want them to be my future core for my man/machine set up. They need decent personalties, they need determination, work rate and bravery. I know it's hard for this guy to pass him on but there will be better players in the future I am sure. Unambitious or low determination players don't get a place.

Too bad @Padders keep my fingers crossed for a golden Generation, a true one!

I have another question here: when would you use an IF and when would you go with an IW. I have a clue of course but I am not sure. This question seems always on my mind. IF: is more of a goal thread. Attacks the box and tries to finish (A) or play an assist (S). Needs dribbling, Acceleration, finishing/ passing and off the ball. IW: cuts inside in front of the box, to play a cross or pass into a goal attacking player. Needs Dribbling, Passing, Acceleration and a bit of vision could be helpful. If I play with an attacking spearhead like AF/ P the IW is handy to create chances. If I play with a more creative striker like F9/ DLF the IF adds a direct goal thread. Right? Anything I’ve missed?

The intake previews rarely foretell the true intake I believe. @skills

handsome guy @XaW

The year 2071 ... It's been a while. They fly cars now and use black holes for away games. I don't know why they still play football like it used to be. They even remember Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola is still alive. I saw him on TV yesterday, he's still that handsome looking man. Smart dressed, clever words but sadly Thierry Henry passed away recently. He's been fast in a wheelchair, like he used to be. Rhys Platt as keeping the greens fresh in his Arena. His our idol, our hero but he does not seem to remember the imminent past quite well. Yeah. When I look in the mirror, I see an old guy. I can still feel the fire in my belly. Guardiola is coaching juniors now, he wants to give something back. I know that. But .. we need to get into Premier League before I die. Really. We need to. Earl of Grey We are stuck in the Championship deep in the 5th year. @Padders the other old looking guy coaching around here, oh man, he is old. I'm told, back from the future. Well we're stuck here too a hundred years behind. We've changed the HoYD again. We really need some good players. We've been 10th, 19th, 17th and 14th. Safe and sound, far from being dragged into true relegation battle. That's how success is looking here in Ricay. Recently we got the confirmation for expanding our beloved Rhys Platt24A Arena, that's great news. The training facilities are excellent now. Thanks to our new record selling of 10M Lorne McPhee (Rangers). He was our left FB. The right FB Finnish international, Kristian Laine, left on a free transfer for Almeira (Spain). Big losses that hurt us. We try to compensate with brave, aggressive youngsters who still need some coaching. That is what the Earl loves most. The Team is still captained by our famous Loric Kalala, best of class from 56. He is still not a fan favorite despite being here for so long. At the back our cowardish Turkish goalie (bravery 6) Taner Subasi pretends to keep the sheets clean. He is from the class of 53. We are on our way for another mediocre Championship season, years from Premier League. The Earl is sipping his tea, watching the flames flickering in his chimney. Is there a tactical solution? Will there be a kiss from the God of Football? Before he knows, he is sleeping and dreaming. Images form into a final picture. Will there ever be a final game? What would mom say to all this? Could there be a different live? The moon shines into his English cottage. It's all looking like the pictures from postcards, like wuthering highs. In the window you notice the blue pennant of Billericay FC .. Sail as one, the old one .. it said. Sail as one.

How goes your interpretation of the tactic? Especially the defensive structure is giving me headaches. Had a bad start too. We‘re conceding loads again. Most teams press high and then we‘ve got trouble in the build up. I am thinking about dropping one midfielder as a HB to help build from the back. but then there is only a DM(S) or BMW(S) left in the centre. I believe one has to adapt more. If we get the ball up into the final third it’s tough for the opponents, with high press and wingplay they counter the weakest parts of the tactic and then it’s trouble for our 4231 I am thinking about how to counter that. Maybe one can try and just pass over the press with a HB and a TF(S) / DLF(S) to receive the long ball (more direct play) and let the wingmen attack space together with a pushing AMC(A). Once the opponent gets that they drop the pressing (?) the strongest area of the 4231 are the two midfielders and the AMC which gives plenty of room to get creative.

But the regista is also roaming around and requires only few defensive attributes. I have difficulties in holding the nil and keep a clean sheet. We concede every match. I have a similar tactic but a with standard Defense Line and higher press (my players are slow and attacking from a mid block seems to demanding, they‘d lose all pace challenges.

The best @crusadertsar I am a long way from it. 4th attempt in avoiding relegation in Championship. The best trophy now is just that for us.

I follow everything here @crusadertsar with a lot of interest and put the essence into my Billericay YAC save. I hope it’s fine to talk about that as well. First I want to mention that I like your the reaction on the „critics“ which was mentioned above and the „critics“ as well. Yes you had a bad start and I hope you can turn it around for better. I have a lot of years on my back, to say so, in 2071 we suffered a lot of bad starts even if the team is strong. We overperformed every single year but of course sometimes there are crucial injuries, transfers out or red cards and penalties. You cannot control the whole game. But you have a clear philosophy and should stick to it because Real Sociedad is not meant to compete where they actually are. Congratulations on your good work. As negative feedback is always the more important and more helpful. What can we do better? I have nearly the same tactic with some tweaks, regarding my philosophy of eleven machines on the pitch. Brave, aggressive players, we are the complete underdogs every year and we want to see the white in the eyes of our opponents. We want to tackle them hard and take risks regaining the ball. I have developed an excel sheet to check out our DNA every half year and track the progress of the first Team and U18s. It’s quite rewarding to see the development in the key attributes. The most Ricay DNA player is Ross Beadle, he is more machine than man. Like 20 aggression and 18 bravery. He is placed in the centre to fight off anything. I love him. yet what can we do better, I also feel that sometimes in some games there is lacking a punch but I think we do a lot positive and it’s maybe more like tweaking in game according to what presents on the pitch. Maybe a WB(A) in some situations where it presents. A W(A) instead of the IF(S) works wonders sometimes just watch how he goes unmarked.

I followed that quite a long time in my YAC save with another marker in the name, I gave a symbol for the grade of inconsistency or consistency. I did praise and punish players for match ratings over years. I also checked and corrected the grade of consistency/ inconsistency at the end of each season. I don‘t know if the punishing and rewarding strategy did work. But some players really did change in consistency over a year. Some made huge steps forward or backwards some only took small steps and some didn’t change at all over some years time. I did the same with „big matches“ and it changed as well.

It's ringing a bell in my head but can you please further describe your approach in youth development? Like what are priorities in signing staff and how did you set up training, individual training and schedules? Thanks!

Hey @Mutumba I can see your concerns and I experienced them as well. First off: Young players tend to be inconsistent, usually, with few exceptions. Of course it can be due to tactical limitations, your tactic looks a bit one-dimensional and awkward (but I am no tactical master for sure). I am not sure, if it fits the plans you have. Regarding training complains: They complain plenty and I don't take it too seriously. You can opt (from staff) who gives the training feedback and advice, I always chose one with good player knowledge and tactical knowledge. You can chose for yourself which field (Te/ Ment/ Phy) to address with training and individual training. Some players are more professional than other and won't complain much. Each player is represented by an individual personality which gives different challenges to the manager. With a PL side you should have a good backroom staff maybe it's worth taking their opinion into account.

Thank you @Cloud9 that in turn means for my youth only save, that I will prioritise technicals early on, which I had not before (it’s been football intelligence). Well I track all the progress in excel and should see some gains if made properly

Nice piece of work. I am reading it all, a strong big Serbian defender is kind of a dream here though! love it

Hey there, thanks man! I am fighting relegation in the Championship for four seasons now. It#s really hard as the last few intakes gave little. This thread here helps much, my offense players are not that fast. I only have two fast wingers, the quick AF is way off first team level and the other heros are more good in movement and passing. I adopted a tactic very close to yours as I don't need that much fast players for the offense four (DLF/ AMC combo) any suggestions how you would tweak it, if you'd had less fast players (but a fast Winger) ? If you rely more on movement. Basically it works well, we stay clear of the relegation battle and sit mainly save in the lower midfield.

Wow @crusadertsar really again one of your best. Explained with tactical insight and depth, combined with your passion and hunger for FM it’s a true readers delight. Thank you again and many times. Also the pictures are on point tactical explanations or beautiful moments from the golden area to linger around. That Shewa is what we remember all. FM let us bring the legends alive again. With my Billericay side I am in the year 2071 but still following in your footsteps. Latest impact has been the generic role of the AM(A) which I now design to match the player and the opponent. Here we have another piece to puzzle with. Especially in introducing the deadly AF role into the tactic. Superb!

Thanks for the advice. Can you tell more about these changes?

Hi all I have question in training: I find it hard to improve technical attributes like First Touch and Passing or mental attributes like Anticipation, Concentration, Composure or Team Work. I have great training facilities and 4-5 Star coaches (I have 25 coaches for senior team). Same goes for youth development, I focus on the above attributes but the players seem not to develop much if all. Here my coaches are 3-5 star, the possession and attacking coaches are 4-5 star in this case. I track the development of my players in excel sheets: It shows that most players develop 1-2 points in attributes over a season. Any suggestions how to improve the above mentioned attributes? Thanks

Ok, we had a turn around without changing much. But I didn't just sit it out. 1) I listend to the good advice here from @Cloud9 and @crusadertsar: I decided to open up the FB more and changed the left from (D) into (A) which gave us one more runner upfront and really unleashed the deadly offense with a lot of movement. 2) I checked individual player stats: The main information was, that my two main CB were not performing. Especially Headers won ratio, Interceptions and blocks/ 90 were not good enough and I decided to give the other two CB more playing time which definitely paid off. They have much better stats. It's just a bit confusing that my 2m / 17 jumping reach defender only wins 61% of his head duels. Here the problem is clearly the head. 3) Based on individual stats like dribbles/ 90, Shots/ 90 and conversion rate I switched my DLF (A) with the IF(S) which also paid off. James Graham had exactly the stats which were needed in central attack and Tom Moore had better stats for the attacking winger. I made the changes against Bagshot which was a friendly for morale and then the match against former PL side Southampton was the next official match. The Saints had so much better personal that I didn't truly believe in a success and almost played the match on "only commentary" but to my surprise they had much difficulties against us in a very even game with the statistics a bit in our favor. Southend was punished and we saw out the game on the counter. Against Derby our offense really clicked and we again needed only one half time to finish them and see out the match.