Matty Aqua

Some incredible names in this save - Sydney van Hooijdonk and Jizz Hornkamp! Petar Cirkovic has some good stats he must be playing way above his 'attributes' if the game only recognises him as a 2nd division player. How long did you scout him?, and are your scouts decent quality?

Good finish @MattyLewis11 you must have done some homework and have some players lined up for the transfer window? So no take over in the end?

Why Union Berlin were so successful in 2022/23? Tactic: The Accordion I’m far from an expert on tactics, I've enjoyed watching matches of Union Berlin in the past and still keep an eye of them this season in the Bundesliga, I want to achieve the same success in Football Manager with the principles of previous manager Urs Fischer, so for what it’s worth maybe take this thread as me openly discussing my thoughts about the 5-3-2 system and how it made Union Berlin so successful in the 22/23 season. (tweaks or tactical suggestions are welcome within the thread) In a league primarily known for its open attacking play, Union Berlin had risen up the ranks with a defensive approach thanks to the tactical approach of Urs Fischer. Operating primarily out of a 3-5-2 formation, Union Berlin would expand in attack and contract in defence much like an accordion that opens and closes. Instead of pressing heavily, Union focuses on preventing progressive passes, leveraging the ball out of dangerous central areas, and keeping numbers behind the ball and in attack they did not mess around! In the 2022/23 season Union Berlin created the most counter-attacking shot opportunities in the league and heavily focused on hitting teams on the break this season. They didn't create a ton of scoring opportunities from open play (they were 12th in shots per possession last season) but the shots they do create are typically high-scoring opportunities as 60% of their shot attempts came from inside the defence's box, the most in the league at that time. Union Berlin's 2022/23 team SYSTEM OF PLAY Union Berlin had managed to develop a style of play that drastically differed from the other German teams in the Bundesliga. At the top end of the pitch, the team lost their top scorer in Taiwo Awoniyi to Nottingham Forest for a record sale Awoniyi's goals were been replaced by Sheraldo Becker – a man who has already bettered his goal tally from 2021-22 and since been sold to Real Sociedad. American striker Jordan Siebatcheu had also joined from Young Boys for a smaller fee to be that athletic bullying figure from the front, and provided a wonderful partner to bring the best out of Becker’s pace and mobility in behind. The rigidness of the system and ferocity in attack means that Union Berlin has achieved a clear sense of what they strive to accomplish on the pitch and an over-arching identity of defence first football. ATTACKING PRINCIPLES Union Berlin were clearly emphasising the defensive side of the game where they can absorb and attack and then explode on the counterattack utilising attacking options with pace such as Jordan Siebatcheu and Sheraldo Becker. Jordan Siebatcheu is a threat in multiple areas of attack, aerially, with his back to goal, and has the pace to get in behind and become an instant threat. Kevin Behrens provided also provided an option off the bench as a strong Target-Forward that wasn't afraid to put his head in dangerous and constantly proved his brave style of play. . Beyond their counter-attacking play, Union Berlin achieved much of their potency by the way of their mix of width and verticality. Their attack quickly became a 3-1-6 in the blink of an eye, with the central midfielders pushing forward in tandem, and the wing-backs stretching the field. Captain Christopher Trimmel was also one of the best right-wing-backs in the league a few seasons running, which is quite some accolade for a 35-year-old, and continues to add experience to this Union Berlin side. In 2022/23 Niko Gießelmann occupied the left wing-back role and works up and down the pitch using a combination of deep crosses and crosses from the byline, he will often even use that to his advantage in faking one, cutting inside and then gaining space closer to the goal. Julian Ryerson provided a nice contrast as someone who constantly wanted to cut inside on his right foot from that left-wing-back slot, pushing his defenders against the run of play. At times Sheraldo Becker would drift into the wide areas creating space and also offering a quick out pass from the keeper or defender creating a one-on-one against his opponent, utilising his devastating pace. Once Sheraldo Becker moved into the wider areas it also offered a chance for the midfield to charge forward and create a scoring opportunity by dragging defenders out of their natural defensive shape. Becker and Siebatcheu would also swap roles and striker positions with the each other at times to confuse the opposition. While they were effective in driving the team forward, the central midfielders Rani Khedira typically remained uninvolved as passes are more likely to be played directly into the strikers or wide to the wing-backs. Union Berlin built out from the back, Goalkeeper Frederik Rønnow remained involved throughout the initial stages of play creating a diamond shape that allowed Rani Khedira at the top of the diamond. As soon Frederik Rønnow came under pressure, he was not afraid to go long and clear the ball for a striker to run onto, or look for hard-hitting Centre Forward options Jordan Siebatcheu or Target Forward Kevin Behrens to win the header. (You can select this option in your tactic in the 'In Transition' section and clicking Distribute To Position instead of Distribute to Area, see images below) Keeping hold of the ball was not been the greatest strength of Union Berlin, they thrived in the direct approach rather than keeping the ball for long periods of time. The direct and defence-first approach resulted in many unwanted statistics, including the lowest pass completion and the lowest amount of possession, which is very different from the modern-day football philosophies of creativity and keeping control in possession. DEFENSIVE PRINCIPLES One word that sums up the 'Eisern Union' rigorous defensive system is 'organization' they thrived on not conceding, and clean sheets were just as important as scoring goals. Union Berlin were quick to regroup and get several men behind the ball. From the front, Jordan Siebatcheu and Sheraldo Becker would be tasked in taking turns to pressure the opposition’s Center Backs as they work the ball around in defence, desperately trying to find a route forward against Union’s rigid system. The other striker then fell back slightly to either cover the passing lane or screen the opposition’s Defensive midfielder while patiently waiting for a misguided pass, making it incredibly difficult for a dangerous player to receive the ball. They didn't follow their man around everywhere they go, instead getting tight whenever an opposition player enters their space. The recognition of when to press the opponent and when to stay put allowed Union Berlin successfully clear the ball out of danger. The core of the defense lied behind the strikers, where the trio of Central midfielders shuffle down the pitch with the attacking play. They would usually swing their shape from side to side with the nearest midfielder pressuring and closing down opposition full-backs, allowing the back five to hold that narrow shape and block off quick passes or runs into the the penalty area which allowed Union Berlin to stay compact and keep their 3-5-2 shape. Despite the lowest amount of possession Union Berlin had the highest number of fouls (89) as they would often swarm dribblers in numbers, and this sometimes causes niggly fouls in non-dangerous areas of the field, I will most likely be switching between Cautious and Defensive mentality as I don't want players being over aggressive, instead, I've selected 'Trigger the Press' more often to both midfielders and 'Tackle Harder' to harass the ball carrier as much as possible. This is something that will most likely be adjusted after playing a few matches. * Playing on a lower mentality will naturally invite pressure on the midfield and defence it may be better to use it situationally as it could result in too many cards. Center Backs Diogo Leite, Robin Knoche, and Timo Baumgartl were strong in the air they were also mentally intelligent and uncompromising in defence. The three Center backs stood respectively at 6'2, 6'3, and 6'4 and all shared strong marking and heading attributes, The job was very simple - clear the ball by head or by foot! Tho the defensive duties did not solely rely on the Centre-Backs the team acted as one defensive unit, with a strong emphasis on concentration and teamwork, Rani Khedira was the wall shielding the defence in the defensive midfielder role and although slow off the mark and not gifted with pace and athleticism, he rejuvenated his career at Union Berlin with his ability to read and react to situations. The defensive line was often very low as Union Berlin maintained their defensive 3-5-2 shape the only way through is via a nicely played-through ball or a welcome cross into the box towards the taller Centre-Backs allowing Khedira to utilise his strength. What went wrong for Union Berlin in 2023/24? Union Berlin's fourth-place finish in 2022/23 was also largely thanks to excellent home form. Union were undefeated at Stadion An der Alten Försterei in the Bundesliga, the only team to achieve that feat in 2022-23! I suppose you want an example of how quickly things can change in football? In that case, within the same calendar year which Urs Fischer was given the Football Manager of the Year award in Germany and Union Berlin qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history, they managed to sign higher profile players such as Leonardo Bonucci and Robin Gosens and by mid-November, Fischer and the club agreed to part ways Just six months after improbably qualifying for the UEFA Champions, Union Berlin were at the bottom of the Bundesliga and had dismissed beloved manager Urs Fischer. The question has to be asked -where did it all go wrong? The answer is - everywhere really! but in my personal opinion perhaps recruitment of a few high profile players shifted the expectations of lowly underdog club Union Berlin to much? Perhaps a combination of not bedding in recruits on the pitch despite the high-profile signing of Bonucci from Juventus in the summer. The Italian’s wealth of experience did not have the desired effect initially imagined, though it is far from just his fault Bonucci struggled to adapt to different style of football in Germany and had constant disagreements on the pitch with team mates, Chelsea loanee David Fofana was suspended after an on-field disagreement with manager Urs Fischer after being subbed off and had his loan cancelled by January returning to Chelsea, Leeds loanee Brenden Aaronson never got off the mark and Kevin Volland didn't quite have the initial impact expected while loaning out key player Morten Thorsby and Siebatcheu was possibly another squad management mistake. There was definitely some bad luck elements to consider and injuries to key players – namely to Rani Khedira contributed to the poor start to the season. Having reached the promised land with a squad of lesser-known players, it seemed like Union were trying to make that next step in the summer by adding players of higher profile and experience to guide them in the Champions League, and although I can understand the logic, sadly it just didn't work and on the 15th of November 2023, after a winless run of 14 games and relegation threatened Union Berlin officially parted ways with Urs Fischer after a long and successful period with the club. It may have simply been too much change, too fast, or perhaps Urs Fischer’s influence on the team had just run its course, which can happen after so many years at one club. It famously happened twice with arguably Germany’s most famous manager Jürgen Klopp both at Mainz and Borussia Dortmund. Urs Fischer's final press conference: “The last few weeks have taken a lot of energy. We tried a lot, and the team put in a lot, but it didn’t pay off in results. I am very grateful for the trust that I have always felt here. Nevertheless, it feels right when a change happens now: sometimes a different face, a different way of addressing a team helps to trigger development” Nenad Bjelica Looking to salvage the season reverse the seasons current relegation battle, Union Berlin hired Croatian manager Nenad Bjelica Union's new tactician began his coaching career with various lower ranked clubs in Austria, once taking Wolfsberger AC from the third tier to the country's top division. He later led Austria Wien to the Champions League group stages. He would go on to enjoy stints in charge of Spezia in Italy and Polish side Lech Poznań. Bjelica made the change from the 3-5-2 shape to a more traditional 4-2-3-1 hoping to play both Gosens and Roussillon together on the left. Union Berlin fans were initially optimistic about Bjelica ushering in a post Fischer-era but despite moving out of the relegation zone Bjelica was unable to live up to the tough task of replacing Fischer in the middle of the season and his time in charge of Union will probably be best remembered for a 3 game ban and a £21,000 fine after he pushed Bayern Munich's Leroy Sane in the face sparking a touchline brawl. On May 6, Union Berlin had sacked Croatian manager Nenad Bjelica after just 16 matches, with perhaps the unflaterring 3 game suspension being the only highlight of this period, Marco Grote was named the interim coach for the rest of the season. Both Fischer and Bjelica arguably paid the price for over-ambition after Union surprisingly clinched Champions League qualification last season. But, in hindsight, the spectacle of the Champions League distracted Union Berlin from it's core values that Fischer forged on the training field and the team’s stability was destabilised by a whirlwind of transfers with players such as Leonardo Bonucci and David Datro Fofana arriving and departing in the same season, while other new arrivals failed to improve the squad. Eisern Berlin!

Iron & Blood - Developing a Football City Why Union Berlin? Why re-ignite an old thread? Well, due to time constraints of the past 12 months I never really got this save off the ground in FM23, and with the ability to carry saves over to future editions of Football Manager it made sense to re-start the save on FM24. I decided to re-publish all the writing I did for the old thread here as a fresh start where I can detail my journey and my hope to develop football within the city of Berlin. I've finished reading the book: Scheisse! We're Going Up!: The Unexpected Rise of Berlin's Rebel Football Club by Kit Holden which covers the history and origins of Union Berlin and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys football literature. The book re-sparked my motivation to manage Union Berlin in FM and attempt to take them to the top and carry on the work of manager Urs Fischer, his tactical approach inspired me and gave me a lot of inspiration for this save. I have enjoyed watching the rise of Union Berlin and their recent success in real life and I genuinely have an appreciation for Union Berlin and what they stand for as a club. I hope they continue to grow and maintain their beliefs and values, as a club as they stand for something very different in modern football. This save aims to create a successful club structure by developing players and integrating them into first-team football, creating a scouting network to identify talent that fits into the club's philosophies. I also want to create relationships with other clubs within the city of Berlin to send our players on loan and develop clubs locally within the city to strengthen the development of youth prospects from Berlin, which I will cover more in-depth in this thread. Develop club structure for youth prospects Initiate relationships with other Berlin clubs Send players on loan to develop as footballers and improve football clubs within the city AFFILIATED CLUBS CLUB HISTORY Pronounced "oon~yawn" never "yoo~nyun", 1.FC Union Berlin is known for its working-class tradition and underdog status, but also its sense of solidarity and spirit of political resistance. Berlin is one of my favourite cities in the world. It's a culturally diverse city, it has a crazy nightlife, rich in history...with a touch of football on the side!. I can't mention Berlin without touching upon the city's history and how it plays into how German Football operates to this day. On the 9th of November 1989, the citizens of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) were allowed to cross the wall that divided one side of the city from the other, more than 2 million people from the East of Berlin flooded to the West of Berlin and were finally reunited with the people of the opposite side. The Berlin Wall remains one of the most powerful and enduring symbols of the Cold War to this day. Only one team from the East of Berlin has established itself in the Bundesliga, Union Berlin, while rival Hertha Berlin is from the western region of Berlin and has been a mainstay in the Bundesliga for the last 20 years, they consider themselves as the "biggest" club in Berlin, although they haven't won a Bundesliga title since the pre World War II era claiming back to back titles in 1930 and 1931 and currently play in the second division of German football. Clubs in Berlin East/West Divide Union Berlin has been competing in the Bundesliga for four consecutive seasons now and in recent years, Bayern Munich has been completely dominating the Bundesliga and has now amassed 32 league titles, and 6 Champions League trophies, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig have been growing in threat over the years also. Germany has one of the world's most successful national teams, and the Bundesliga is one of the best leagues in the world. The nation's capital city Berlin is a bit of an anomaly when it comes to football, despite Berlin's population being over 3 million people it surprisingly isn't known for producing many stars in the game today. Jérôme Boateng, Karim Bellarabi, Nico Schulz were born in the city of Berlin and have been capped for Germany, and Berliner John Brooks has had a solid career in the Bundesliga earning 43 caps for the United States and Kevin-Prince Boateng has been capped for Ghana. KIDS OF BERLIN Some consider Berlin to be a black hole when it comes to football development and there are questions as to whether Berlin is a football city at all!, but the fans of Union Berlin remain some of the most passionate, committed, and dedicated fans in the world. Berlin is a city that has experienced an awful lot from wars, plagues, fascists, communists, and revolutions and is one of the most significant cities in Europe symbolically, politically, and geographically. I have no explanation as to why Berlin isn't producing more world-class footballers, other than possibly they get lost in the nightlife in Berlin. I plan to change that! STADION AN DER ALTON FÖRSTEREI They say "Fans are the lifeblood of a football club" We've heard this numerous times, but perhaps the best example of this is the fans of Union Berlin. The fans of this East German team gave their sweat, tears, and blood to keep their team alive. 'Bleed for Union' wasn't just a catchy tagline to show the passion of the fans for the club, it was a campaign to save Union Berlin from bankruptcy in 2004. After their relegation from the second tier of German football, the club was struggling to pay its registration fee. To keep the club running and register with the football association in Germany, the team needed about £1.5 million, or else it would’ve folded. What do Union fans do? They donate their blood. In Germany, you get paid for blood donation and thus the fans of this East Berlin club lined up to donate blood, and the money received was directed to the coffers of their struggling side and helped them stay afloat. During their first-ever game in the Bundesliga against RB Leipzig, supporters held up images of deceased fans paying tribute to those who never got to see their club play in the top division. A big part of Union Berlin's history is the club's stadium Alte Försterei which holds a total capacity of 22,012 featuring only 3,617 available seats, whilst the rest of the ground remains terracing. In the middle of 2008, the club decided to finally modernize the stadium which is located at the edge of a wooded forest area called the 'Wuhlheide' which means that the path to each home game is part of a ritual that includes a walk through the forest. Money was still tight, so the fans built the ground themselves with more than 2,000 Union supporters investing 140,000 working hours. As the Union joke goes: “When god created the world, he spoke to the stones and said: ‘Do you want to become Unioners?’ And the stones said, "Yes, but we’re not hard enough ”. The plans to modernize Stadion An der Alten Försterei were unveiled in 2017. Since then, the club has not been able to push through the project that aims to raise the number of seats from 22,012 to 37,000. The cost of the works is estimated at €39 million (this may be different financially on Football Manager) the problem is not the scale of the stadium expansion but the lack of adequate infrastructure around the stadium. The additional 15,000 seats would create traffic problems for the neighbourhood and have been rejected by the council until the nearby Köpenick station is upgraded in 2026, so I might have to hold off on stadium expansions in the short term! The club would certainly be able to finance the redevelopment of the stadium with continual qualification in European tournaments, president of Union Berlin Dirk Zingler announced that the club plans to focus its investments on the expansion of the club's academy before the increasing the stadium capacity, which fits in nicely with my objective for the save which is to develop players from the city of Berlin. Union Berlin’s President Dirk Zingler has been in charge since 2004, overseeing the club’s rise from the lower reaches of German football to the Bundesliga, and now faces the terrifying prospect of success! something the fans of Union Berlin may not be entirely comfortable with due to its core values of not becoming a commercial club with major global sponsors. The fans of Union Berlin will regularly arrive 75 minutes before a match and stay well and truly after the final whistle singing chants as a means of encouragement rather than intimidation. I've come to learn supporting Union Berlin is a way of life not just something to attach some sporting novelty to, year by year football changes and so does Union Berlin, as they achieve greater and greater success do they risk losing their soul the more successful they become?, hopefully slowly enough that is can still recognise itself!. History suggests that teams generally drift back toward their original weight class as their stars get plucked away and are replaced by inferior imitations and successful managers end up at larger clubs with larger chequebooks and the team drifts back down the table as another underdog story emerges to take its place. Augsburg for instance finished 5th in 2014 but has spent most recent seasons battling relegation, while others like Schalke fell victim to relegation soon after strong finishes, so it's imperative to recruit well and develop players to fit the club's vision. Just as every cult hero dreams of mainstream success, every mainstream success dreams of being a cult hero. EISERN UNION Before the game you will often hear the crowd chanting "Eisern Union", it means "Iron Union" but it means so much more. The chant is a remembrance of its working-class origins and sheet-metal workers from the Köpenick region of old East Germany. The yellow bricks on the facade of the Alte Försterei are a homage to the factories along the riverbank. When Union Berlin got promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time fans lifted banners of deceased supporters so they could experience the historic moment of Union's arrival in the Bundesliga, they were also counted as part of the attendance for that match. It's rebellion and togetherness that explain why Union Berlin is one of Europe's great cult clubs! PLAYER DEVELOPMENT I've touched on the fact that Berlin has not been producing a lot of youth prospects for top-tier football in the opening post. Part of this save is to change that and start to develop players from the academy to fit the 5-3-2 system that manager Urs Fischer had so much success with. Union Berlin doesn't necessarily rely on youth prospects in the modern world as they are very proficient at signing quality players on the free agent market and signing players that can develop into first-team players for cheaper transfers, and let's be honest - who doesn't love good value free agent signing on Football Manager?. Union Berlin has some young players in the squad already as two players looking to break into the first team András Schäfer and Paul Jaeckel and an emerging talent in the academy American prospect Malick Sanogo. The 17-year-old striker looks very promising as a future first-team player and could be a future replacement as a striker. Who is Malick Sanogo? Malick Sanogo was born in New York in 2004 and is the son of Boubacar Sanogo, a forward who played for Kaiserslautern, Hamburg, Werder Bremen and Energie Cottbus between 2005 and 2014. As youth football took a break in Germany during the 2020/21 season due to world events, Sanogo still managed six goals and one assist in four U17 matches that season as well as making his first appearance for the U19 team. RECRUITMENT There is a large number of Bundesliga teams currently amid an identity crisis surrounding football philosophy and player recruitment, it is no surprise Union Berlin is performing better than most in the league at the moment in this area with recruitment led by long-term Director of Football Oliver Ruhnert. The success of Union Berlin is closely linked to the name of Oliver Ruhnert. The Director of Football is a squad planner with a keen eye for good footballers and has been with the club since 2017, it's no coincidence that Oliver Ruhnert's arrival coincides with the rise of Union Berlin. In nearly every case where Union Berlin has lost a player who played a valuable role in their team, they had a very effective approach in finding a like-for-like replacement, when they lost Taiwo Awoniyi for a reported €20.5 million to Nottingham Forest they replaced him with Jordan Siebatcheu for reportedly €6 million when Max Kruse was lost mid-season they recruited a player with a similar profile in second-division forward Sven Michel. Marvin Friedrich's departure to Borussia Monchengladbach was handled by the arrival of loanee Diogo Leite from Porto. Most of these replacements are perfect matches for the physical requirements of Fischer's tactical approach and given their age range they tend to have fewer problems fitting in and settling into life in Berlin. It's pretty common for FM players to have a DNA model of attributes to recruit by and considering Urs Ficher's style of play is based around absorbing shots, holding shape and then counter-attacking when the opportunity arises, attributes like Concentration, Positioning, Bravery, Jumping Reach and Acceleration will be prioritised as Urs Fischer was happy to give up possession and focus more on strong defensive output, quick transitions, and scoring from set pieces. At the end of the season, I will take a look at team stats across the league and see if I am effective in achieving this style of play. Union Berlin has been incredibly adept in finding value in the transfer market over the years which has kept them from dropping back down into the second division. I plan on focusing the recruitment on the Bundesliga and football leagues within proximity to Germany such as The Netherlands, Austria, Poland, and Switzerland and some specific scouting assignments in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United States and England. --- How will I recruit for Long term and Short term goals? Key Attributes Physical Acceleration - Breaking away from the opposition and moving into space as quickly as possible, could lead to more scoring opportunities and unlock passing opportunities. Pace - The most obvious attribute and exactly what it says on the tin, I want players who are fast and can hit top speeds on the break that can create separation between their opponents. Stamina - Counter-attacking is hard work and players will cover a lot of ground, Being able to run all day is important, I'm looking for players who never give up and can give me everything for 90 minutes. Technical Dribbling - If we're going to play counter-attacking football then we need players who can take on the opposition and confidently dribble up the pitch. First Touch - Once we've won possession of the ball, we can't afford to have the transition breakdown and lose the ball, picking a pass is vital. Crossing - I believe crossing is vitally important to a counter-attack, the ability to play a cross behind the defence can easily catch defenders out of position and create goal-scoring opportunities for strikers with pace. Mental Bravery - I want players who are willing to win the ball in the air and on the ground, to go and win the ball back and be tough in the tackle not backing down from any opponent and showing fans the have the Eisern Union spirit. Concentration - Giving up possession means focusing more on being a cohesive defensive unit, I need my defenders to be rock solid and not allow players to switch off or give up cheap goals. Off the Ball - When we win the ball back, I need players moving in the right places creating space and moving into positions to make attacking runs. Work Rate - Players will be working hard in the defensive and attacking phases of play. moving up and down the pitch as quickly as possible, players must be committed to running and working hard. Teamwork - Possibly one of the most important attributes, teamwork is the key to our success and working cohesively and not having any weak links mentally. Determination - It's important we put out a team that is always fighting until the end, I will be looking for players who never give up, and always a threat to attack and are relentless in battle for 90 minutes non-stop. OBJECTIVES There's a lot I want to accomplish in this save with the main aspect focusing on the city of Berlin and developing Union Berlin as a top-tier club and the city as a whole becoming a more prominent place for footballers to develop. Below I've listed some objectives I'll be hoping to tick off the list as I continue with the save, but there are some other personal objectives that I might be able to tick off also. 🔍 Develop a stronger Youth Academy and improve Youth Recruitment at Union Berlin. ⚽ Establish a club structure including better coaches to help players develop and progress to the first team. 🤝 Create local Affiliates within the city of Berlin and send players on load to raise the standard of football in Berlin helping them rise up the divisions. 🤴 Have an academy player from Union Berlin capped for the German national team. 🏆 Win the DFB Pokal, Bundesliga and Champions League trophies. If you've managed to read down this far I appreciate the feedback and support as a lot of time and research went into putting this all together, so feel free to leave a comment and I'll try to respond as quickly as possible, If you are interested in keeping up to date with this save feel free to leave a like and follow along, alternatively, you can find me on Twitter where I’m happy to chat all things, Football Manager. Thank you for reading! MA

Elche just 1 win!, big match against Fiorentina coming up! be nice to get a big write up on it!

I'm pretty sure they had a massive debt but were purchased by the Australians!

is the debt still remaining at the club?

Question time!... Is bouncebackability a word? (sounds like it should be!) Could you not set up manually as a view with these stats and percentages this within the game? Great start to the save and enjoyable read - you seem to be enjoying the write ups and data digging side of it all too!, how many seasons do you think this save has in it? Has there been any interest in Fer Nino or Pino from other clubs?, what is there current market value? and what would you be looking to sell them for?....also Rulli must be on the radar of some clubs?. Who else is left in the Europa Conference League?, do you think you can win it?

Thanks @Shrewnaldo yeh i found it interesting that the XG didn't really align with the momentum. I might go back and review the game and look at events at certain moments

Vít Beneš has been red carded twice already this season and back up CB Florent Poulolo is away on International duty with Martinique. Being a bit below on minutes for homegrown players as mentioned above I had to promote Mikeš Cahel from the Under 19's, not quite ready for first team football but it's sink or swim!

I had one last job application to tend too right before the start of the season, and since everyone has World Cup fever, it was hard to look beyond a stand out applicant from the Qatar ASPIRE academy Mariano Giménez. Having worked as a scout for Estudiantes and ASPIRE academy in Qatar he was the best candidate for the Chief of Scouting rounding off my backroom staff applications for this year as I slowly build a Coaching and Recruitment team. Start of 2022/23 Season! --- JULY 2022 A few tweaks to the tactic over preseason and things started really well picking a nice opening day home win against Hradec Králové and an away draw to 1. FC Slovácko with Radim Breite opening his scoring account early!. Still lacking match familiarity and team cohesion I focused most of my upcoming training session around trying to get the team to gel on and off the pitch!. --- AUGUST 2022 Bouncing into the season, form didn't drop away thankfully and Radim Breite continued to play above his attributes throughout the month helping us pick up 4 wins out of 5. We came out out of the blocks real slow against Slovan Liberec and Juraj Chvátal gave me no reason to doubt his ability banging in two goals to get us the win at home - not bad for a Right Back!. I thought we would really struggle against Viktoria Plzeň and we did rely on a bit of luck as they completely missed an opportunity to score a penalty before Pavel Zifčák scored the winner netting his first of three goals of the month. Jan Kopic misses a penalty! The momentum was largely in favour of Viktoria Plzeň, but the XG tells a different tale as we took our chance to score late on. Slava Prahia delivered our only loss for the month but the match was much closer than the 3-1 scoreline suggests as we progress in the MOL Cup and comfortably win against Bohemians Praha. Injuries have hit early losing two homegrown players from rotation for a few weeks, including starting attacker Jan Navrátil who will be out for 7 weeks with a broken arm!. At the end of August there has been a total of 6,915 minutes played among the team Homegrown players have logged a total of 2.926 minutes falling behind the 52% range I'm aiming for, only achieving 42.3% so far (someone please notify me if my math is wrong) The remaining players have logged a total of 57.7% - 3,989 minutes, not having a homegrown goalkeeper and injuries have effected things early on, but a good start to the season.

The tactic was a bit aggressive!, but I until I get some youth intakes through I'm limited as to how many players I can play that are not homegrown!, I have made some adjustments to balance it But I am looking to hit teams through the middle!. Pre Season is now done!, Looking forward to getting on with the season finally!. Put up a good fight against Young Boys and Sporting CP rotating players and testing a few things tactically.

Nice start, well written too!. What squad views are you using for looking at stats etc like the striker image above? I really liked the analysis on Gattuso and the Rayo Vallecano! - definitely feel I learn a thing or two reading through this!

As mentioned in the opening post I stick to placing adverts to hire coaches as I find it a more realistic way of employing staff and makes things that little bit more challenging. ...and so I do also look through favoured personal to see if there is anyone available. Speaking of favored personal!, Ales Skerle returns to Sigma Olomouc and joins the Under 19's backroom staff!. David Villa applied for a B-Team coaching role, the former LaLiga and Melbourne City star will be a welcome addition!. We also lock down our new Head of Youth Development coach George Ogăraru who will oversee the Youth Development for the next 4 years!. Welcome to Sigma Olomouc!. I've placed some adverts to fill some other various roles which I won't go into to much detail about, I will also play through the pre-season and probably return with an update after the first 10 games or so!. Enjoying this save so far! - I will be treading water trying not to get sacked!.

Nice idea! - Good to have another managing in Czech Republic!

A nice welcome from chairman Petr Konečný now it's time to deliver!, as I set up the save and have spent a few hours getting familiar with the inner workings of the club looking at various things from staff, finances, training and of course tactics I realized to maintain the goal of keeping homegrown players on the pitch for 52% of the minutes over the course of the season some adjustments were going to have to be made to re-training some players. There were two players I wanted to integrate into the first team squad that needed some focus on developing a different role to play Ondřej Zmrzlý who is more proficient as a left back but will be re-trained as a Defensive Midfielder (Defend) with a focus on developing his positioning, still only 23 years old there is a bit of room for growth as Ondřej Zmrzlý could become a central midfielder in the future of his defensive game continues to develop. Another exciting player is Mojmír Chytil who is more comfortable playing as a Advanced Playmaker or even as a striker, will be retrained to be a creator in the middle of the park. Mojmír Chytil has all the tools to be a threat from range if he can improve his mental attributes, 23 years old now is the time to really focus on improving his decision making to compliment his 16 Off the Ball attribute. INDIVIDUAL TRAINING ADJUSTMENTS Financially we don't have any debt which is great because it's one less thing I have to worry about!, there's a bit of money in the wage budget that might come in handy in January if we need to bring in some reinforcements. The board is expecting a top half finish so with the first transfer window closed I'll re-asses in January (If I haven't been sacked!). So, one of the more challenging aspects of this save will be defining a play style as to maintain a certain amount of homegrown players we were quickly limited as to what tactic we can play. Settling on a 4-3-3 we will have to retrain a few players in different positions and hope that youth can fill the voids for the first few seasons. I’ve attached a Sigma Olomouc logo beside players that are from our academy who will need to be logging minutes throughout the season, this will by far be the most challenging save I have ever attempted!. It's not the most inspiring tactic you've ever seen no doubt, but I'm working within the confinements of our club values!. I mentioned earlier about retraining Ondřej Zmrzlý and Mojmír Chytil but I've also shifted 37 year old veteran Michal Vepřek into the midfield as he is unfamiliar with the role but attributes wise looks capable - consider it a stroke of genius...or a stroke of madness. Michal Vepřek is in the final year of his contract and while still having great technical ability for a Left Back I felt his acceleration might be lacking and it gives another homegrown prospect Jiří Sláma a chance to gain some minutes at Left Back. Vepřek is a favoured person among the supports having made 298 appearances for Sigma Olomouc, I'll be looking to get him started on his coaching aspirations and add him to the backroom staff once his playing career is done, but for now his final season will be spent in the middle of the park at Andrův Stadion. Jiří Sláma will spend the season shadowing his mentor Michal Vepřek, I've set up a few groups to try and maximize the remaining development out of some of the younger players withing the squad. As you can see from the image below some of the players should significantly benefit from the mentoring of our senior players. I'll continue to slowly move through the start of this save and get the pre-season sorted, appreciate all the interest so far the kits are all sorted!, and hopefully another update isn't to far away!.

who is your save with?. BTW - *few updates to the first post!*

Nice write up!, Your kicking off the save in the Beta?

Big write up @MattyLewis11 seems you have found a save to get stuck into this year!, will be following along!.

Thanks! - I just spent the last few hours compiling a shortlist of players from other clubs who are homegrown players of Sigma Olomouc. which I might add to the second post, so people can see who came through this academy and potentially on my 'Czech list' Ideally a goalkeeper would be handy as they log a lot of minutes on the pitch!.

Thank you, I'm not sure I will be able to win anything but maybe the focus isn't solely on collecting trophies! Thanks, I wanted to try something different as I didn't get into FM22 as much as I would have liked too! Hope you do Czech in! 🙏 enjoyed your long save last year - can only hope to get that far into the save and really see some structure develop in the club. As we say in Australia "cheers mate", looks like a nice little place!. 👊 Good to be back!, looking forward to FM23!. At the end of every season I'll check and see if we are in line with the clubs policy of playing homegrown players for 52% of the total minutes!. Keep in mind that can also be older players that have returned to the club who are from the Sigma Olomouc acamdemy, they qualify too!. Going to be a fun nightmare I think!.

OK so finally FM23 is here and I can begin this save!, with the squad a bit light on homegrown players I promoted some players to the senior squad to help integrate some potential prospects to help us maintain our minutes for homegrown players status, here is two players I'll be promoting and keeping tabs on as well as monitoring their development as the season progresses. Jáchym Šíp - Great acceleration, pace, agility and decisions make Jáchym Šíp a problem on the wings, not quite the finished product mentally but the little 'wanted' tab in the top left hand corner means he is being monitored by Slavia Praha and Sparta Praha, which means we need to maximize the time he has with us at Sigma Olomouc as the vultures are already circling the talented 19 year old winger. Matěj Hadaš - Just 18 years old and quite a balanced set of attributes for a young striker, lot's of potential ability - now to make sure he full fills it!. Although more natural as a striker with the bigger clubs monitoring Jáchym Šíp, Matěj Hadaš could find some minutes on the pitch at the end of the season - a very exciting prospect!.

Homegrown players?, Loans?, or Transfer fees? Every football club is built using a blend of these strategies, but take one of those strategies to an extreme and it becomes your club's identity. Welcome to my FM Sigma Olomouc save. I wouldn’t be shocked if you hadn’t heard of Sigma Olomouc as they are an obscure choice indeed for Football Manager save, but perfect for the exciting project ahead. The information I’ve researched about them largely has come from Google searches and the Football Manager database itself. The foundation of the inspiration for this save stems from a short video I came across long ago, it focused on two clubs with vastly different approaches to club squad building: Sigma Olomouc and Bayer Leverkusen. Olomouc is a small city in the East of the Czech Republic populated by just over 100,000 people and the club is majority-owned by the local community, this keeps a family feel to the club which mostly employs previous players as staff and has a lot of players returning to the club to finish their careers. Sigma Olomouc were top of the list for playing the most homegrown players in Europe. Olomouc had an impressive 17 homegrown players from the youth academy who played first-team football for Sigma Olomouc, more than anyone across Europe! Of those 17 youth academy graduate players they accounted for 52% of the minutes played during the season for Sigma Olomouc. They have a clear philosophy of developing players, selling them on, and hopefully seeing them return to Olomouc to finish their careers and become a coach, scout, or part of the backroom staff in some way, which is the inspiration behind this project. Of course, Sigma Olomouc have to be versatile in their recruiting methods to stay competitive as no team can survive by fielding only youth players from a youth team. They recruit players from other countries and divisions too - after all young players need to be guided and mentored by older more experienced players right? So recruiting the right characters and personality to blend in with this philosophy of developing young players is important. A club doing it differently is Bayer Leverkusen who are down the other end of the scale when it comes to putting homegrown players on the pitch. Bayer Leverkusen have given significantly fewer minutes to their homegrown players with less than 1% of minutes dedicated to homegrown players from Bayer Leverkusen. They generally stick to a philosophy of buying low and selling high. Florian Wirtz is an exception to this, though he did initially come through the academy from 1.FC Koln before joining Bayer Leverkusen's youth set up. OBJECTIVES ⏱ Homegrown players must account for 52% of minutes per season Whether you agree that Sigma Olomouc’s youth strategy is a progressive strategy or not - it’s an interesting one, and a philosophy I’m going to try to implement as this FM Universe develops. Developing players is the heartbeat of what makes FM great and whether I can win with this strategy at a smaller-sized club from the Czech Republic is a challenge I’m up for!, also it forces me to change things up tactically to accommodate homegrown players into the squad during the season to make sure I achieve the threshold for minutes played!. I've set up a view to take a look at the minutes in total at the end of the season, I will have to promote some youth players at this stage but I will cover squad details in another post, as you can see below we have 6 players trained at the club that need to account for a total of 52% of minutes on the pitch throughout the season!. ✍ Sign ex-players as Backroom Staff One thing I love about Football Manager is signing former players to your backroom staff in some form. Sigma Olomouc are renowned for using this strategy and there are many past players and long-term serving employees already in the staff ranks within the club such as Tomáš Janotka the current under 19's coach who started his playing career way back in 2004/05, as mentioned by Jakub Beneš - They like to keep people involved with the club, developing our own brand of high-quality coaches and staff is something that blends in nicely with how I play Football Manager. 🤝 Player capped for the Czech Republic As the development of players is a big focus at the club naturally I hope some catch the eye of National Manager Jaroslav Šilhavý as it would be a huge tick for the academy to have a player from Sigma Olomouc academy representing the Czech Republic national team on the world stage, whether they hang around long enough and remain a player of Sigma Olomouc to eventually get capped for the Czech Republic will be an interesting challenge as players will have to be sold to regenerate finances. 🌍 Manage Czech Republic National Team While I hope Jaroslav Šilhavý has his eyes on my players, I have my eye on his job!, and I would love to manage it for a Euro/World Cup run! Jaroslav Šilhavý is 60 years old at the start of the save so should the national team job become available I could have the honours of managing both club and country or potentially accomplish all the challenges I have set and take the national team job towards the end of the save!. 💰 Sell a Homegrown player for €16.20M With a bit of strategy and luck in youth recruitment, I hope to sell a homegrown player for the highest fee received for a Czech player in history, you might recall West Ham doing a nice bit of business for a relatively unknown player from Slavia Prague by the name of Tomas Soucek for €16.20M, the aim is to break that transfer record, now let's hope for some good youth intakes!. 🏆 Win a European Trophy The trophy cabinet is pretty bare at Sigma Olomouc with only one trophy the MOL Cup which they won in the 2011/12 season against Sparta Praha. There’s a lot of luck that needs to happen to reach the goal of lifting a major European trophy. Winning the Europa Conference League, Europa League or Champions League would certainly make a good fairy tale story, with our homegrown policy it may be unlikely but hey…this is Football Manager after all!. STADIUM & STAFF Let’s just take a quick moment to appreciate the Andrův Stadion!. The stadium was built in 1939 and owned by SK Sigma Olomouc but it was sold to the council as a way of safeguarding the future of football in Olomouc in 2017, consider it a way to ensure that potential owners in the future wouldn’t demolish the club and build something else on the site. The stadium holds 12,464 people and I guess in terms of this FM save I can’t just go and ask the board to build a new stadium given the beauty of the Andrův Stadion and the attachment it has to the people of the city…so stadium upgrades only would preserve some authenticity about the club as the save progresses!. A big part of this save will be on youth development as we will need a constant stream of quality youngsters coming through the system to keep our homegrown players on the pitch and logging minutes. I’ve spent a few hours compiling a shortlist of players that have come through the Olomouc academy with some exciting names I’d love to try and bring back either as a player or staff member at some point. Remember that players who have come through the Olomouc academy still qualify for our philosophy of "players minutes on the pitch" at any age. So ideally a Goalkeeper would log a lot of minutes and is high on my list of prospects to find. Below I have compiled a shortlist of players in the game that I have found that would qualify for our "52% Czech" philosophy, these players have all come through the Sigma Olomouc academy. If you have enjoyed the write-up so far and are interested in keeping up to date with this save feel free to leave a like and follow along, you can find me on the View from the Touchline Discord channel or on Twitter where I’m happy to chat all things FM and Sigma Olomouc!.