lfds89

January Transfer Window – Update and End Wasn’t expecting much from the last few days but 2 deals were available and I opted to advance with both, one in and one out. In comes a starting RB, Tiago Melo. He’s 27, so a bit older than what the club wants, but he’s way better than our options and he was released on the last day of the transfer market, so he was quite cheap. Out is Pedro Simões. He had been our second keeper, but with the arrival of Daniel Azevedo he had been relegated to third option and I let him go to Estrela da Amadora U23. I also thought of trying to sell Lavrador, but I’ll keep him until the end of this season. Here’s the final squad: And a quick look at transfers around the world: Comparing this season to the last one – Update The last time I wrote this part I only mentioned the backbone from last season. This time, I'll go over every position aside GK. The first line is the player who occupied the position last season; under is the player with the most minutes this season. Name DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- G+A /90 Alexandre Lavrador 8,88 2,04 10,92 2,94 0,12 Alexandre Lavrador 6,66 1,77 8,43 4,35 0,07 RWB -2,22 -0,27 -2,49 1,41 -0,05 Lavrador is a bit way out of this league. Let's hope my new recruits can do better. Good thing about the possession +/- increasing from one season th the other. Name DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- G+A /90 Luís Ferreira 6,15 0,54 6,69 21,83 0,08 Luís Ferreira 4,54 0,39 4,93 16,00 0,11 RCB -1,61 -0,15 -1,76 -5,83 0,03 Luís Ferreira is also suffering a bit from the jump. But he's still our best CB. On my first update, Luís Ferreira had: 4,31 / 0,30 / 4,61 / 21,87 / 0,15. So he's increased his defensive and offensive actions, decreased possession +/- and G+A. Name DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- G+A /90 Deyvison 4,60 0,34 4,94 8,61 0,08 Deyvison 3,54 1,14 4,68 4,79 0,34 LCB -1,06 0,80 -0,26 -3,82 0,26 I thought about selecting Bastian for this comparison, but Deyvison has more minutes so it should be him. His possession +/- is clearly way off, especially when compared to Luís Ferreira. He's also near retirement and has given his spot to another player, so I'm not worried. Name DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- G+A /90 Rúben Moura 6,98 6,88 13,86 -5,15 0,20 Daniel Andrade 6,34 2,45 8,79 2,00 0,00 LWB -0,64 -4,43 -5,07 7,15 -0,20 This has been a season where there's been no "owner" of the spot. Stats have also been affected by a change in role. LWB is now on support so it's not so attacking as it used to be. Nice to see the improvement in Possession +/-, but I need some assists from my LWB. Name DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- G+A /90 Pedro Mendes 3,83 3,44 7,27 -7,89 0,27 Pedro Mendes 3,44 2,89 6,33 -7,03 0,63 DLP -0,39 -0,55 -0,94 0,86 0,36 Pedro Mendes is our set-piece taker and has benefited from our CB scoring more goals. On the first update, Pedro Mendes had: 2,78 / 3,37 / 6,15 / -9,54 / 0,20. Decreased offensive actions, increased everything else. Name DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- G+A /90 Bernardo Fortunato 3,48 3,14 6,62 -5,94 0,52 Luís Madeira 4,43 3,43 7,86 -2,43 0,37 RCM 0,95 0,29 1,24 3,51 -0,15 Happy to see so many greens! Madeira has been a clear upgrade to the team. I enjoyed Fortunato, but Madeira has been a step above. Name DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- G+A /90 Figueiredo 3,29 3,07 6,36 -5,93 0,46 João Castro 4,55 3,07 7,62 -4,24 0,24 LMEZ 1,26 0,00 1,26 1,69 -0,22 João Castro was another good signing. He creates a lot but is a bit shy on assists. Name DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- G+A /90 Kisley 3,65 5,70 9,35 -6,39 1,07 Gonçalo Cabral 4,07 5,82 9,89 -7,34 0,48 RIF 0,42 0,12 0,54 -0,95 -0,59 Kisley has fallen out of the pecking order, but Cabral has done a nice job replacing him. Name DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- G+A /90 Gonçalo Gomes 3,41 3,96 7,37 -6,55 0,82 Denilson 5,22 4,82 10,04 -4,29 0,53 LIW 1,81 0,86 2,67 2,26 -0,29 Denilson had a leap from last season's performances. He couldn't even be better than Gonçalo Gomes and now he has better stats even in a more difficult league. Name DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- G+A /90 Mohamed Karamoko 1,53 5,05 6,58 -4,79 1,35 Mohamed Karamoko 2,32 4,33 6,65 -5,22 0,77 AF 0,79 -0,72 0,07 -0,43 -0,58 Karamoko has had an inconsistent season but he has been getting better. On the first update, Karamoko had: 2,09 / 3,70 / 5,79 / -6,59 / 0,64. Just as I said before, he increased every stat and it shows he's getting better. Matchday 15 (A) vs Oliveira do Hospital Clearly, my team doesn’t want the monotony of clean sheets. We live in chaos. We created more chances than them and scored one more from a corner, Cabral was excellent with 2 goals, and Mendes played 8 key passes. Cabral is in excellent form, on the last 5 league matches he scored 3 and assisted 2. The best news about this game: we are now 4th and 5 points apart from the relegation play-off with 3 matches to go. The first team with a guaranteed spot in the promotion playoff is found: União de Leiria. The relegation playoff already has two teams: Caldas and Torreense.

Season Expectations Mr. Luís Silva, the boss-man, offered me the opportunity to change the expectations for this season. I’m intrigued with this subject. I was expecting something about the poor state of our finances and instead, I get to increase my budget. Since the most realistic expectation is a mid-table finish, I opted for that one, but I won’t use the budget. By the way, I had already adjusted my budget, transferring some value from the wage budget to the transfer budget and to the scouting budget. Matchday 13 (H) vs União de Leiria Started way too easily, we scored 2 goals on the first 20 minutes, and then we went home… Second straight game conceding 3 goals. Also very cheap goals. Don’t know why the team seems to lose so much focus after a great start. Mário Borges started as BWM in RCM position, João Castro was benched and Madeira played on the left. Pereira also started. Taça de Portugal – Sixth Round (A) vs Benfica What do you need after 2 games where you conceded 3 goals in each? Playing a top tier team, clearly… They did play substitutes/reserves, but they are miles better anyway. Bah had 3 assists and Henrique Araújo scored 3. But we scored first. We must be proud of that. Karamoko scored, 16-year-old Cassamá got some minutes. We received 9k as prize money but more importantly, we got a cut from the gate receipts. To put it into context: for the whole season until now we have 384k of income from gate receipts, and 335k from this month alone. We are not in the green, but it looks way better. Matchday 14 (H) vs Torreense The stats lie a bit. We were shooting but weren’t very dangerous. Then we got the penalty, and as it has been usual then we fell asleep and they scored, but fortunately, Bastian scored 2 goals after set-pieces and then Gonçalo (who came in as an ST) scored the final 4-1. They were never a real threat, but once again we had everything on our hands and made it difficult.

Around the World Portugal: Braga leads after being Champions the year before. Porto and Benfica are close, Sporting is 7th. Spain: Real Madrid and Barcelona are 1st and 2nd with only 1 point between them, Atlético Madrid follows them closely. France: PSG leads, Rennes are not far and have the leaders in goals, assists and average rating. Lyon are 12th. England: Liverpool, City and Arsenal are the top-3 with only 1 point separating each position. United are 7th. Germany: Bayern is 1st, Leverkusen, Stuttgart and Leipzig follow. Dortmund are 11th. Netherlands: Ajax is tied with Feyenoord although they are one game down. January Transfer Window Following the unsuccessful trials, I was determined to spend some time and trying to find some deals for both this season and possibly some players for the next season while they were on their last 6 months of contract. Targets were: Starting GK, Starting RB (although I want to see how Filipe Pereira does), Backup CB, Backup DM, Backup CM, Starting and Backup RW (Kisley is declining, Cabral is on loan), Backup ST. Mário Borges comes in as a backup DM. He’s on loan from a team on the tier below us on a free (not even paying wages). He’s not great, but he’s good enough for a backup and he’s a more aggressive option (something I used last season). Daniel Azevedo is our new starting GK. He had a good scouting report and we got him on trial. I let him play 2 friendlies were he never missed a pass. He’s quite taller than Daniel Júnior and his mental stats are better. Also, he returns to a club he has already played at. He was the starting GK in the 21/22 season, then moved to Belenenses and now returns. The third player in is David Santos. He’s also on loan. Quite versatile as he can play both CM and LW. My first attempt was to bring him on the end of his contract, but they had the option to extend it automatically and they did. We aren’t paying his wages, so it’s totally free. He’ll act mainly as cover for João Castro as a left-sided Mezzala. For the backup CB role, we got Dénis Martins. He’s right-footed and I would’ve preferred a left-footed CB, but at this time, I don’t have much of a choice, so he’ll do. I expect him to battle Bastian and Deyvison for the starting spot. Updating the registration gives me the information that we can only sign 2 players above 19-years old. From my list, we added already: Starting GK, Backup CB, Backup DM, Backup CM. And we’re still missing: Starting RB, Starting and Backup RW, Backup ST. I’ll leave the starting RB for next season and play this one out with Lavrador and Pereira. I don’t need both RW right now, which leaves me thinking about the ST. In the meanwhile, Gonçalo Gomes (who was with us on loan last year) terminated his contract with Estoril and was interested in joining us. He plays both wings, he is right-footed and decent in the air. I fancy he can also play ST. Together with this info, I have Ruster, Cabral and Kisley who can play ST. I’m going for him. On the way out: Miguel Silva had an offer and I let him go. Nicolatti also had an offer but this one was more difficult to accept. He’s a decent and cheap backup. He’s 188cm so he offers things Karamoko simply just can’t. But midway through the season he had 5 sub appearances and accumulated xG of 0,00… So yeah, he can go. The third one to have a bid accepted was Lucas Sousa, our third GK. Included a 10% profit from sale clause. I’m 99% sure this will lead to nothing, but it's there just in case it does. I wanted to loan out André Luiz since we got 2 new midfielders on the team. Between having him and having someone from the U19 there’s no big difference. This is the team I’m going with for the rest of the season:

Youth Intake Preview More wingers and strikers… yey! Don’t trust the 5 stars, but let’s wait and see. Taça de Portugal – Fifth Round (A) vs Länk We started on the wrong foot but managed to turn it around. It was nice to see the reaction. 7,5k in the bank and we are through. Only 8 teams left. And we draw… Benfica! Away. Matchday 12 (A) vs Académica de Coimbra We started the game playing very well and eventually scored through Karamoko, but then we lost all focus. Bad positioning by Lavrador and bad anticipation by Luís Ferreira and they scored; then Bastian takes an easy ball away from our GK and straight into their striker who only had to pass it into the open goal. On the upside, we had more shots, more xG, more chances and more key passes. The season so far – Part 3 We couldn’t pull the upset against Mafra, but we still managed to get 1 point. Then 2 wins and a loss which is better than what happened on the first round against the same teams and in line with my preview. Adding the two rounds of the Cup, we can be happy with this. We moved up one spot since the last update and weren’t it for the game against Académica, we would have gotten a way better Goal Difference. In points per game, we improved from 1,375 to 1,50. Next, we have 3 home games: União de Leiria, Torreense and Sporting B and an away game vs Oliveira do Hospital. In the first round we got 2 wins and 2 losses. This time, we must beat Torreense, Sporting, at least draw against Oliveira do Hospital and let’s see what happens against União de Leiria, but getting anything out of this match is a win. In the middle of these games, we have the tie against Benfica.

Trialists update Some context before I show you what happened with the trialists. My top-5 earners: 2,9k; 2,9k; 2,6k; 2,4k; 1,9k. Currently spending 30k/month, budget is 56k – so remaining is 26k. Although I have a lot still to spend on the budget, I don’t want to spend too much as finances are quite scary. Ygor Vinhas: 3,4k to 4,7k. Also wanted by Operário dos Açores. Won’t make a bid. He rejected Operário. João Queirós: 1,6k to 2,1k. Asked the DOF to talk to him. Länk, the team I’m playing against in the Cup, also bid for him (by the way, I messed up when talking about them after the draw – they are not on a tier below us, they are on the same tier, just different groups). He chose them. 3k/month, 2,5 years. Tiago Lopes: 1,6k. Managed to agree on a 1,4k contract for 2 years. Decisions and heading are the main concern but he’s better at everything compared to Rúben Moura and slightly better than Novais and Andrade. Paredes also bid for him. And he signed for them. 2,1k/month until the end of the season. João Lameira: 2k to 2,6k, wants to play as BWM on CM. The wage is a bit high as I wasn’t planning on playing him on the first team and I don’t use BWM on my tactic. So, right now I think I will pass on this one. Alan Francisco: Although I’m happy with him, I don’t really need another winger. Quite frustrating… Matchday 11 (H) vs Oriental Dragon We are playing much better. 10 shots on target out of 21, almost 3 xG, 4 clear-cut chances and 4 half-chances, 61% possession and 554 passes completed on 86%. I’m making little tweaks to the tactic: now both CM are MEZ-S, and Castro has “Take More Risks”. Sometimes I drop the DLP-S to DLP-D and gave Karamoko the instruction of dribbling more. He doesn’t need it that much (he also has the “Knock Ball Past Opponent” trait), but sometimes we recover the ball, get it to him and instead of taking on the last defender he waits for the rest of the team – this increases compactness, but he can make the difference on his own and I want him to try that. Wonderful performance from João Castro: 6 key passes, 4 clear-cut chances created, 11 progressive passes and 1 assist. New coaching qualification I’ve completed the studies for the Continental B Licence Looking at the attributes and comparing to when I first started taking the course: Attacking +2; Defending +2; Fitness +1; Tactical +2; Technical +1; Mental +2. Determination +1; Player Knowledge +1; Youngster Knowledge +2; Level of Discipline +4; People Management +2; Motivating +3. Reputation has also increased to 2,5 stars (Minimal).

Had to check my team numbers to have a comparison and it's wonderful how some numbers are so similar despite our different philosophies: Team Poss Won Poss Lost Poss +/- Passes Final Third % Pass in Final Third Dribbles Chances Shots xG Shot xG Goals Goals-xG Sertanense 131 135 -4,7 461 55 12% 10,64 4,18 15,73 1,70 0,108 1,73 0,03

Something I've also noticed regarding this: I'm in the same league as União de Leiria (and same group in this case) and Länk (different group) and there's different abbreviations: PTD (Portuguese Third Division) and 3DS/N (Third Division South/North). I'm the only promoted team from this lot, but I noticed the same thing happens with Oriental Dragon who has also been promoted.

I just did. The name: Jacinto Leal - Sertanense.fm

I just did. The name: Jacinto Leal - Sertanense.fm

Half-Season Player Stats Comparison with the League I filtered the most used players in set of positions (GK/FB/CB/CM/WF/FW), found the percentile 80 (p80) for each position, then compared my players with the p80. Name Best Pos Av Rat Cln/90 Saves/90 Sv % Con/90 xGP/90 Svh Svp Svt Daniel Júnior GK 6,77 0,11 8,00 5,00 1,33 0,14 18,00 10,00 1,00 dif to p80 -0,09 -0,28 1,00 0,80 -0,14 -0,22 -6,20 -1,00 -4,00 Percentil 80 GK 6,86 0,39 7,00 4,20 1,47 0,36 24,20 11,00 5,00 Name Best Pos Av Rat DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- Alexandre Lavrador D (R) 6,61 6,63 1,93 8,56 3,68 dif to p80 -0,31 -0,25 -1,54 -1,62 -1,04 Daniel Andrade D (L) 6,60 6,76 2,49 9,25 0,18 dif to p80 -0,32 -0,12 -0,98 -0,93 -4,54 Rúben Moura M (L) 6,80 6,28 4,76 11,04 -6,71 dif to p80 -0,12 -0,60 1,29 0,86 -11,43 Percentil 80 FB 6,92 6,88 3,47 10,18 4,72 Name Best Pos Av Rat DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- Deyvison D (L) 6,76 3,56 1,07 4,63 4,39 dif to p80 -0,18 -1,13 0,40 -0,38 -7,26 Luís Ferreira D (C) 6,89 4,68 0,27 4,95 19,01 dif to p80 -0,05 -0,01 -0,40 -0,06 7,36 Percentil 80 CB 6,94 4,69 0,67 5,01 11,65 Name Best Pos Av Rat DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- Pedro Mendes M (C) 6,88 2,77 2,76 5,53 -7,13 dif to p80 -0,27 -2,30 -0,75 -2,34 -7,74 Luís Madeira M (C) 7,29 4,21 3,50 7,71 -3,32 dif to p80 0,14 -0,86 -0,01 -0,16 -3,93 Denilson AM (L) 6,95 5,60 5,06 10,66 -4,52 dif to p80 -0,20 0,53 1,55 2,79 -5,13 João Castro AM (C) 7,08 4,47 2,41 6,88 -4,19 dif to p80 -0,07 -0,60 -1,10 -0,99 -4,80 Percentil 80 CM 7,15 5,07 3,51 7,87 0,61 Name Best Pos Av Rat DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- Kisley AM (R) 6,58 2,67 4,10 6,77 -7,17 dif to p80 -0,51 -3,11 -1,48 -3,79 -4,43 Ruster AM (L) 6,60 3,31 3,89 7,20 -4,66 dif to p80 -0,49 -2,47 -1,69 -3,36 -1,92 Denilson AM (L) 6,95 5,60 5,06 10,66 -4,52 dif to p80 -0,14 -0,18 -0,52 0,10 -1,78 Gonçalo Cabral AM (R) 6,71 3,38 6,16 9,54 -9,69 dif to p80 -0,38 -2,40 0,58 -1,02 -6,95 Percentil 80 WF 7,09 5,78 5,58 10,56 -2,74 Name Best Pos Av Rat DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- Gonçalo Cabral AM (R) 6,71 3,38 6,16 9,54 -9,69 dif to p80 -0,52 0,13 1,42 2,36 -6,00 Mohamed Karamoko ST (C) 6,93 2,28 4,17 6,45 -5,69 dif to p80 -0,30 -0,97 -0,57 -0,73 -2,00 Percentil 80 ST 7,23 3,25 4,74 7,18 -3,69 Matchday 10 (A) vs Caldas This was the first game of the second round. Not a very difficult win, although there were times when we seemed to lose control of the match. I spoke before about setting a goal of 500 completed passes on 85% - we made 507 completed passes on 86%. I kept the chance of roles from the Vizela game, and I feel it doesn’t hurt. It even helps my LCB situation. Friendly vs Fafe One more game for the trialists. Ygor Vinhas (GK) : Once again he was more offensive than defensive. 94% pass completion (Daniel averages 89%). João Queirós (LCB) : 79% pass completion on 83 attempted passes; 73% header won ratio on 19 headers. Tiago Lopes (LB) : 93% pass completion, 1 key pass, 5 interceptions, 3 of 4 headers won. João Lameira (CDM) : 79% pass completion, 1 key pass, 3 interceptions Alan Francisco (RIF) : 80% pass completion, 1 key pass, 1 clear-cut chance created, 5 tackles (all won), 42% headers won, 1 dribble, 2 shots, 1 on target, 1 goal, 1 assist. He’s earning himself a spot. Too bad I don’t have much space for him… Herculano Cassamá was also on the scoresheet. He already had one assist on the first-team, now he also has one goal. Let’s hope it’s the first of many.

Sure. But eventually one leads to the other. The efficiency in football is quite tricky and I would say it's even trickier in FM.

I had noticed that on my team, and I was curious if you were having the same issue. I "reduced" the aggressiveness of the roles (two attacking roles became supporting). It worked on the 2 games I tried and feel my team is more balanced. I'm waiting on a few more matches to see the development. I should say my problem wasn't just team-wise, there was also a focus on a specific position I was dealing with: my LB was WB-A and LCM was a MEZ-S, so my LCB couldn't find anyone nearby and he just hoofed balls. I set a goal to reach 500 completed passes on 85%, which seems a bit low when compared to that top-4, but I'm on a third tier, so I don't think I have the quality (nor the need) to have that much possession.

Taça de Portugal – Fourth Round (A) vs Vizela On paper we had no chance, so what’s the point in changing the tactic to accommodate to them? In my opinion, we play the way we play. I only used the reports to keep track of the players who could deal with big matches (but it didn’t make a difference, since my most used team is also the most comfortable with big matches). And I switched LWB and RIF attacking roles to support. We ended the first half winning 1-0, with more shots, shots on target, xG, possession and pass completion %. Had me worried that both my RB and RCB had yellow cards. In the second half, they clearly tried to show why they are two tiers above us and they dominated us until they scored the equalizer. When they did, I felt like they relaxed once again and I decided to change both RB and RCB. In the 83rd minute, we got another goal through a corner. From then on we managed to keep them shut and WE ARE THROUGH! In the next round, we got Länk, which was one of the only two teams from a tier below us. By the way, we are the only remaining team from the third tier. Checking on my team The last write-up about planned transfers gave me an idea to summarize my team. Check the technical/mental/physical average of every player. Name Technical Mental Physical Total Pedro Simões 8 7 9 24 Daniel Júnior 10 8 9 27 Lucas Sousa 8 6 8 22 Alexandre Lavrador 8 9 9 26 Miguel Silva 6 7 9 22 Daniel Novais 8 8 10 26 Daniel Andrade 9 9 9 27 Rúben Moura 7 8 8 23 Deyvison 8 10 8 26 João Cesco 5 8 10 23 Bastian 8 10 12 30 Luís Ferreira 7 10 11 28 Name Technical Mental Physical Total João Castro 9 10 9 28 Luís Madeira 10 10 10 30 Pedro Mendes 10 10 9 29 Miccoli 8 11 10 29 André Luiz 6 8 7 21 Gonçalo Cabral 9 9 12 30 Kisley 8 9 9 26 Denilson 7 9 10 26 Ruster 8 10 10 28 Victor Nicolatti 7 9 10 26 Mohamed Karamoko 8 9 12 29 Shouldn't take too many conclusions over this as it is a very simplistic view, but it's easy to tell some players are far off and some areas need improvement (as previously observed: the GK and RB, also some doubts on LB). And the youngsters/loanees: Name Technical Mental Physical Total Isidro Correia 7 8 7 22 João Guerra 5 8 9 22 Edgar Moura 7 7 10 24 André Marques 6 7 8 21 Ricardo Dias 5 8 8 21 Vitor Carm Mendes 6 8 10 24 Herculano Cassamá 6 8 10 24 Hélder Barros 4 6 8 18 Luís Rascão 6 8 10 24 Friendly vs Abrantes e Benfica I used this friendly with mainly two purposes: 1. watch the trialists; 2. try some new roles and formations. On the first front, João Queirós had a really good game; so did João Lameira (4 key passes, 1 assist). Ygor Vinhas wasn’t tested as a GK, but he had a 95% pass completion ratio. I’m also interested in the RW, Alan Francisco: 3 key passes, 2 clear-cut chances, 1 assist, won his aerial duels, however, he didn’t make any dribble nor he had shots on target. On the second subject, I tried the IWB coupled with the WCB. The IWB is interesting as it allows for another body in midfield, but I’m still not sold on the WCB. Although, this might be an interesting approach to face 2-striker formations or CAM+ST formation: has numbers behind and doesn’t need the DM position which will push my team forward.

Something that stands out to me in these 5 games is you always had less pass completion than the other team. Nothing in your instructions suggests you are playing too risky (very high tempo/mentality/directedness). Does it worry you?

Friendly vs Mação It wasn't one for the history books, but I wanted to give rhythm to some players and also try some roles. I was already impressed with the movement of CM-A and MEZ-A; DLF-A upfront is also very interesting; I’m still trying to find how to best use the SS-A; and I’ve now tried the VOL-S. A combination of VOL-S/A, CM-A/MEZ-A, DLF-A and eventually a DLP-S is inviting and something I’ll probably use when I have players capable of doing it. Creating a box midfield/attack Creating a diamond In the next friendlies, I will try IWB and eventually WCB. Planned Transfers I started to delve into the transfer market, focusing on a GK and a RB. Starting with the RB, I was thinking about getting a decent starter and leave Lavrador as backup, but when I started going through the lists, I spotted Filipe Pereira from Coruchense. He isn’t as good as a number 1 option must be, but he’s clearly better, taller and younger than Miguel Silva. He’ll come in as a squad player, and I’ll still try and find a good first-team player even if only on loan. I tried to offer Miguel Silva in exchange and they accepted it, but he snubbed them. He’ll have to leave anyway. I asked the DOF about the GK, and we brought Ygor Vinhas on trial. He seems better than what we have, but not by a mile. Let's see what his expectations are. Cesco will finish his loan in January and sincerely, I don’t want to keep him, so I went through the scout reports we had and found João Queirós who has no contract. He’s left-footed, decent on the ball, tall and good in the air. On trial. Regarding the DM/CM position, also without a contract is João Lameira. Identified as a BWM, but he’s good on the ball so can play as DLP. He's on trial with us. I have some more players on trial, but these are the ones I’ll be looking more detailed into. Matchday 09 (A) vs Mafra 2 minutes into the game they score; 19 minutes in, Andrade got sent off on a double yellow… We changed to a 4-2-3. Madeira and Castro holding the midfield, direct passes, higher tempo, attacking mentality; regroup after losing the ball because we can’t risk pressing. Denilson left the field injured in the 42nd minute. The first half ended 2-2. The second half wasn’t as dramatic and the game ended 2-2. More heart than reason on this one, but I’m happy for the boys. 2 goals for Karamoko out of 4 shots, all on target. Daniel did his best in goal despite the 2 goals conceded. Madeira and Castro have held the midfield pretty well.

Comparing my team with the league Leader in chances created, tied for 3rd in goals per game, 2nd in shots. Only 12th in shots on target ratio, 11th in conversion rate, 14th in passes completed and pass completion ratio. Defensive-wise: 4th in shots on target against, 7th in passes attempted against, 16th in tackles won, 15th in goals conceded and expected goals conceded (with a difference of 2,58 – 0,37 per 90). We are creating chances and not letting many shots, so my first thought is the process is good at least. Do we need a new and better GK? New forwards? Is there anything we can do without changing the players? Possibly playing a bit shorter will help increase the pass completion ratio and we won’t lose the ball so many times. We are at 82% and 454 passes completed per game, getting to 85% on 500 is the goal. Important as well: on salary, we are dead last. 301K, above us is Oriental Dragon on 388k. Torreense, Mafra and Varzim are reported as financially insecure, the rest of the league is ok. Matchday 08 (H) vs Amora Most frustrating game yet! We were better all the way. They had maybe 3 or 4 highlights. The first goal when they hadn’t even shot once, and a penalty… Pedro Mendes returned from injury. He was still not at 100%, but I didn’t have many options. Midway through the second half I had to sub him off and played Luís Ferreira as DM-D. On the bright side: Madeira and João Castro both had wonderful games. Between them, they had: 2 goals, 1 assist, 10 key passes, 6 interceptions and 6 shots. The season so far – Part 2 Rewinding to the last post, I wanted to get something out of Torreense, Oliveira do Hospital and Amora and were afraid of Sporting B. The preview was just about right: 2 wins, 1 draw where we wanted points; 1 loss against Sporting. 6 goals scored, 4 conceded. One more game until we played everybody once. We need to defend better. Although I’ve been saying we should be scoring more, it’s the other end that is not working. Only 2 teams have conceded more than us and they are the last two. From my 5 most defensive players, the score for average rating is GK – 6,66; RB – 6,59; RCB – 6,81; LCB – 6,72; LB – 6,80. I can’t be happy with 6,80, but it looks way better than 6,59 and 6,66. That must be my focus on the next transfer window. In the meanwhile, I’ll think about some tactical changes we can make. Next games: Mafra (A, 3rd, above); Vizela (A, Cup, 1st tier); Caldas (A, 9th, above); Oriental Dragon (H, 1st, below); Académica Coimbra (A, 4th, above). The year ends after the game against Académica and the January transfer market opens. Quite a tough end to the year. I’ve beaten Caldas, lost to Oriental and drawn to Académica; shouldn’t be much different this time, but if we could get 2 wins and 1 loss/draw from these 3 wouldn’t be too bad. Mafra will certainly be a difficult game, but their players want to leave the team and their morale is really low, so I’m confident we can pull an upset.

First of all, thanks for reading! It is a concern, but also it isn't... I like to keep finances controlled, but I'm the manager, not the Financial Director or President or whoever runs the business. I like to think that I'm doing my job right when I'm under the given budget - and in this case, I am. It was a struggle to think like this for a long time, but right now I follow this "train of thought". Let's see what happens.

Comparing this season to the last one Without going into too much detail, I decided to compare last season’s most important players (Luís Ferreira, Pedro Mendes, Kisley and Karamoko) to their stats this season. Name DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 Luís Ferreira 6,15 0,54 6,69 21,83 0,08 -0,03 Luís Ferreira 4,31 0,30 4,61 21,87 0,15 0,07 -1,84 -0,24 -2,08 0,04 0,07 0,10 Name DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 Pedro Mendes 3,83 3,44 7,27 -7,89 0,27 0,03 Pedro Mendes 2,78 3,37 6,15 -9,54 0,20 -0,06 -1,05 -0,07 -1,12 -1,65 -0,07 -0,09 Name DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 Kisley 3,65 5,70 9,35 -6,39 1,07 0,31 Kisley 2,48 3,54 6,02 -4,26 0,00 -0,12 -1,17 -2,16 -3,33 2,13 -1,07 -0,43 Name DEF ATT D+A Poss +/- G+A /90 Gls-npxg /90 Mohamed Karamoko 1,53 5,05 6,58 -4,79 1,35 0,53 Mohamed Karamoko 2,09 3,70 5,79 -6,59 0,64 -0,01 0,56 -1,35 -0,79 -1,80 -0,71 -0,54 Luís Ferreira DEF rating is lower; Pedro Mendes DEF and ATT rating are both lower; Kisley is nowhere near what he was last season; and Karamoko’s shooting is also too far off. Just from Kisley and Karamoko we are losing 1,78 Goals + Assists / 90! I know since we are competing on a higher level, it should be expected some drop in performance. But it’s quite massive and all across the board. We probably need more time to settle, but one or two new players would be a great help. Taça de Portugal – Third Round (A) vs Fabril do Barreiro Decided to give some guys a chance since we were playing a 9th-placed from the tier below us, but had to change to get the win. 3 clear-cut chances and 6 half chances. Our scoring was been a disappointment. Late in the game decided to give Herculano Cassamá his chance and he made the assist for the first goal. My first junior debutant. Also important, we get 5k for getting through this round. Next round we play a first-tier team: Vizela. Matchday 07 (A) vs Sporting B To make things worse Miccoli is also injured so we are left with only 3 midfielders. I’m changing to 4-2-3-1 with Denilson behind the ST. Quite a bad game, but wasn’t expecting much. We beat them on xG and created chances, but once again we fail to convert chances into goals. Finances As expected, the math doesn’t seem to be right. I’m working on the budget I was given, but the numbers are terrible. And the projection is even more frightening! Hope this is wrong and the future will be much brighter.

Take your time and ask anything you want.

That's a great start to the season!

Training Performances Daniel Andrade should be our starter LB and has been until now, but every week I get an email regarding training performances and he is always on the bad side of the list. I’m going to drop him as also his performances haven’t been anywhere near the expected level. I had some talks with him already. If this keeps happening, he’ll be warned and possibly transfer listed. His low determination is a concern. We have some mentoring groups set up, but since he is the 9th player with the most matches played in his career and he’s also the player with the highest reputation, he’s more an influencer than someone who can be influenced. Matchday 05 (A) vs Torreense Our best game so far. 3 clear-cut chances (vs none), 7 shots on target (vs 2). Very happy with my decision to give Moura a starting position as he won the MotM award. 2 chances created, 4 key passes, 37% cross-completion ratio, 3 dribbles and 1 assist. LCB Problem – Update Since Deyvison took over the spot, he played vs União Leiria, Cinfães and Torreense. Had 43 passes attempted / 90% pass completion; 57 / 87%; 65 / 89%. I’ve also asked my LW to stay wider so he doesn’t move into the same space as the MEZ. It’s getting better. Will continue to monitor this situation. Matchday 06 (H) vs Oliveira do Hospital Previous to my encounter with them I personally attended their game vs União Leiria. They play a 4-3-3 with a Holding DM; LCM is very attacking; and we must be prepared to deal with their striker movement as he is a DLF. They’ll have 2 men upfront (ST and LCM) and move up the field with 4 players (3 MF + 1 ST) + 2 wingers out wide. The passing stats from the first half show some interesting points: RB way more involved than LB; LCM isn’t too involved relative to his midfield partners; RW is also very involved; ST is a DLF and it shows very well. Very strong right side compared to the left. Adaptations? I’m thinking about setting my LCB to a stopper role, but I don’t know if Deyvison is the right man for the job. He doesn’t have the agility and acceleration to deal with all the movement. I don’t trust Bastian or Cesco to do this, so don’t think I’ll change this. Perhaps dropping the DLP to DM will do and he’ll also help deal with the opposition LCM movement. Regarding their superiority on the right side, I have my LW on support and this should be enough to help out. This makes me think about setting my base tactic differently. 4-3-3 DM Wide makes more sense to be the starting point now as I’ve played this way every league game: 3 times vs 4-2-3-1; 2 times vs 4-4-2. There’s a problem in my squad: I only have an accomplished DM from my 5 CM (Pedro Mendes); other options for the DM position are Luís Ferreira and Bastian. Luís Ferreira is needed on defence, Bastian isn’t comfortable enough on the ball to play CB let alone DM. I brought 2 Argentinians on trial, recommended by the DOF. The first half wasn’t very exciting, they got a penalty and scored. We had many shots but just 1 on target. Karamoko scored one but he was offside. In the second half, we weren’t getting better, but we really only changed the game after some substitutions. Regarding what I watched from their game against Leiria, they really were more dangerous down the right which made my LB, LCB and LW get yellow cards; they switched their attacking LCM to the right as well. Karamoko has 1 shot on target over the last 4 games. I’ll drop him on the next game, Nicolatti also didn’t get a single shot on goal when he came in so Gonçalo Cabral will play upfront and Kisley returns to the RW spot. Unfortunate news about Pedro Mendes. I said he was our only option as DM and we’ll have to find a way without him over the next 3 to 4 weeks as he finished the game with a knock.

The LCB problem! The attributes of my CBs are the following: Name Best Pos First Touch Passing Technique Composure Decisions Vision Total Pass % Deyvison D (L) 11 10 9 10 9 8 57 81 João Cesco D (C) 6 7 6 7 13 4 43 73 Bastian D (C) 8 8 10 8 7 7 48 63 Luís Ferreira D (C) 9 10 7 12 11 9 58 93 (Pass % from my friendlies) I first noticed the problem with Deyvison last season and he’s far better than Cesco and Bastian. Deyvison will have his spot back for now. I’ve also asked the DOF to recommend some CBs and we brought 2 of them on trial. Name Best Pos First Touch Passing Technique Composure Decisions Vision Total Tomás González D (C) 10 10 10 7 13 6 56 Glen Matondo D (C) 10 10 10 10 10 10 60 Although, both are right-footed and I would prefer a left-footed one. Matchday 04 (A) vs União de Leiria They are first in the league, predict 4th in our group, 5th in the league (yes, out of the top-5, 4 teams are in our group; and we’ve played 3 teams predicted ahead of us already – Académica, União and Caldas). I adapted the team a bit: asked Pedro to play deeper; start the build-up through him; Kisley wider; Andrade more supportive than attacking; push them inside and try and recover the ball where we had the numbers; Madeira (RCM) was more offensive. It didn’t play out how I wanted. We had a very bad first half with an xG of only 0,05. They weren’t playing that well but were definitely better than us. Then they scored just before half-time. Asked the team to retain some possession, and they looked encouraged. Second-half we battled toe-to-toe, eventually scored from a corner but then gave away a penalty in the 85th minute. 2 shots in the first half, 8 in the second; 0,78 xG vs 0,05; they had 0,85 xG in the second half, 0,06 before the penalty. The season so far South Division standings As I’ve said before, we played 3 teams predicted to finish ahead of us in 4 games, so no reason to be that disappointed. Next games: Torreense (Away; 10th-placed; predicted below Sertanense); Oliveira do Hospital (H; 4th; below); Sporting B (A; 6th; above); Amora (H; 5th; above). We need to get some points against Torreense and Oliveira do Hospital; don’t know what we’ll get against Sporting B; and hope to get something out of the game against Amora. We also play Cinfães in the Second Round of the Cup. They are amateurs so we have no excuse. Taça de Portugal – Second Round (A) vs Cinfães We should have been better with 20 shots but only 4 on target. We created a lot, and I’m happy with that. At the end of the day, we got the win, we move on.

New Training Schedule I developed a new training schedule since my last one was designed for a semi-pro team. I’ll test this intensity and see if it fits the team. Don’t want to push too much, but we’ll start the week with physical training; then a day dedicated to specific training for every unit; one day to practice for the next match; after that 2 days on a lower intensity: one focused on technical aspects of our playing style; the other dedicated to technical-tactical aspects of the game; we usually play on Saturdays and recover on Sundays. We’ll train some set pieces along with the more intense training sessions. Team for the first part of the season GK – Unchanged from last season: Daniel and Pedro will compete for the number one spot. RB – Also unchanged, but it might change in January. Lavrador will start. LB – Andrade was the first player we spent anything on, he will start. Novais and Rúben will be backups and can help with rotation in the LW position. CB – Comfortable playing all 4 of them. CM – Madeira, Mendes and Castro will likely be the starters. Miccoli is the first choice from the bench, Luiz will fill in when we need it. RW – Kisley should be the starter, but he’s declining and Gonçalo is a good shout. LW – Both Ruster and Denilson have been playing well. I’m happily starting any of them. ST – Karamoko is the obvious answer. Nicolatti is my backup. TWEET Don’t usually pay attention to this, but found it funny: Let’s go crazy on the last day! Matchday 02 (A) vs Oriental Dragon Ridiculously bad game! We could create any chances. They weren’t that better, but they took they created 2 chances and scored both. My fault: I didn’t prepare the game, I should have adapted to their 4-2-3-1. The same thing happened with my LCB, although he increased his pass completion to 75%. Will try once again with a roaming inverted winger. Another thing I didn’t check: Cesco’s composure is 7, Deyvison's is 10. I will be approaching this in a future post. Matchday 03 (H) vs Académica de Coimbra Better but not great. Académica also played in a 4-2-3-1 and Pedro Mendes played as DM to cover for their AM. We created 4 half-chances, they create 1 clear-cut chance and 3 half-chances. LCB had 69% pass completion, which means I’m not getting anywhere near a solution. Although, this time he found the LWB (but this time couldn’t find the CMs). Will look into this in more detail.