Shrewnaldo

Identity Leoni del Garda - FeralpiSalò Even committed monoglots should be able to get the gist of 'Leoni del Garda' - the Lions of Garda. FeralpiSalò's nickname and embedded within the club's badge, I want to extend the metaphor to the team's identity on the pitch - part of the different approach I mentioned in the opening post. Not unusually, I typically like my FM teams, regardless of the defensive shape, to move into a 3-2-5 or 2-3-5 with the ball - dominating possession as a defensive tactic and then try to get at least one creative player into the '10' position / slot 14. Whilst this has always been easy to do in FM, FM24 offers a few more options - particularly at the 3-2 / 2-3 side of the attacking shape - and some more reactivity to the positioning of team-mates... but I want to ignore all that, at least for now. Coming into possibly the weakest side in Serie B and sitting bottom after just one win in nine, it feels like we want to focus on basics first. Our predecessor Stefano Vecchi had favoured a 4-4-2 diamond, playing out from the back and trying to keep the ball on the deck, then defending with a high-line and an aggressive press in what looked like a mid-block. So a relatively fashionable approach, shall we say? But it clearly wasn't working - his only victory coming in the local derby with Brescia ("form out of the window" etc) and his team scoring only 5 in 9. Remember that, in this scenario, the FeralpiSalò board has dispensed with the services of Signor Vecchi because they considered him "out of his depth", that his principles just wouldn't cut it in Serie B. So I like the idea that they're looking for a change of style - an acknowledgement that the squad just doesn't have the ability to play the open, dominant game that the old coach favoured. Instead, we need to be realistic. To be pragmatic and dogged, hard to beat, aggressive in the challenge and direct in attack. And that short-term pragmatism is going to align nicely with what I want our long-term identity to be - the Lions of Garda. Tough, aggressive, physically dominant and ruthless on the break. Having taken a short hiatus from FM in the lead-up to 24, I did a spot of football reading in search of inspiration. Mostly I was interested in the analytics and recruitment side of the game, so I read the usual suspects - Moneyball, Money Hackers, The Numbers Game, etc. And whilst there was plenty of recruitment info in there, a few tactical pieces also stood out. I'm sure this one will be familiar to most people - the value of the clean sheet. Not conceding will bring you, on average, 2.4 points per game. Old news, but worth re-iterating. The next come as a pair really, the first is talking about the quality of finishing chances: and what sort of attacks tend to lead to shots with high-xG value... And lastly, another quote from Football Hackers (which I cannot recommend highly enough, fantastic book): All of which brings me nicely back to that identity. We're going to be a low-block side, looking to protect our goal first-and-foremost to maximise those clean sheets and limit the number of goals overall; whilst our primary means of attacking is going to be the counter-attack, with some set-piece prowess thrown in for good measure. I know that "counter-attacking sides" can mean a lot of things, but we'll be aiming for the more old-fashioned sense of the term than counter-pressing, more Moyes than Klopp. And whilst I would usually focus on Mental attributes, the Lions of Garda are going to be all about the physicals. Height and power through the middle, pace out wide, stamina throughout. The mentals might not be entirely overlooked - but it's going to be Aggression and Work Rate, more than Composure and Decisions. You'll probably notice that none of this has mentioned specific shapes or formations. That is deliberate. The principles are simple and do not change - low block, counter with direct attacks. The defensive shape will definitely change, potentially game-to-game. We will need to be pragmatic to both counter-act the strengths of the opposition and counter-attack into their weakest zones. TL;DR? A summary in bullets: Feeding into an identity of 'The Lions of Garda' We'll be prioritising clean sheets, not through possession but in a compact, low-block We'll be aiming for low-scoring games because these are more likely to see the weaker side produce a win We'll be prioritising high-xG chances by playing for counter-attacks We'll be prioritising Physical attributes to make ourselves that big, tough, aggressive team that is hard to beat Formations may change, the principles do not If you don't like that, try Leo del Garda instead How long this approach lasts is uncertain - we might hit a point at which the opposition see us as the stronger side and counter-attacking low blocks become unviable. I suspect (hope) that won't happen for quite some though. Next up - some thoughts on recruitment strategy. Forza Feralpi!

Personally, I play on 2560*1440 at 110% (not that I'm suggesting this should be important in any way, just in case you're looking for an indication of the customers' typical usage) I've always preferred more panels on a single profile page, too. I know that most people think it gets messy and prefer a 'clean' page, but - probably because I have so much real estate on the screen - I just want it all in one place without needing to click through. I suspect that I will be in the minority here. My other thought is that you really need to get some face and logo packs.

Cheers Ben. When are you starting yours? Waiting until after 'early access'? I'm looking to steal some ideas... Thanks! I'm always surprised when people remember the old stuff - even more so when they have positive things to say. All seems like so very long ago...

Leoni del Garda - FeralpiSalò Those of you who are, shall we say, of a certain vintage may remember that I once blogged about Football Manager and a tiny team from the bank of Lake Garda. Back in FM13, I had one of my favourite ever saves with little FeralpiSalò - taking them from the depth of Serie C to a Champions League victory (Lukas Holub you hero), collecting 5 Serie A titles and 3 Coppas Italia along the way. In real life, the club has been progressing nicely and are playing in their first ever Serie B campaign and, because I no longer have the time or patience to start any lower than the second tier, this felt like the perfect opportunity to re-visit Italy and a team I've always kept one eye out for. So first, why FeralpiSalò? Well perhaps I can just quote the original blog from 2012: The stadium is so small that it fails Serie B's minimum attendance standard and we will need to play out home games at Piacenza's Leonardo Garilli stadium - 75 miles down the road. Perhaps more on that later. For now, the story is clear - a tiny club making steady progress but taking its first steps towards the big time... perhaps too soon? Well probably not, but I'm hoping that it should provide a decent challenge. Knowing that the club would/should struggle at this level, I decided to holiday the game-world up to the date I started the save in real life - 20 October 2023. I wanted to introduce some sort of narrative or realism perhaps. It's just not realistic that, having got the club its first-ever promotion to Serie B, Stefano Vecchi would be sacked in pre-season. But 9 games in, rock-bottom of the league and looking like he's out of his depth? That's a different story. And so this is where I found myself on day one - with no pre-season, no first window transfers and less-than-no money (again, more on that later perhaps). And that is just fine with me. I'm hoping this save provides a bit of a challenge and to help that along, I'm going to try some other aspects of the game a little differently - specifically tactically? So what can you expect from this thread? I tend to use these threads to problem solve - so expect rambling streams of consciousness about tactical issues, finances and recruitment. Definitely recruitment. Whilst my interest in other areas of FM has dwindled over the years, I've found myself more and more interested in setting up interesting recruitment strategies - focusing as much as I can on statistics and finding value in non-traditional markets or clubs. Ideally I'd like to do this without numerical attributes and am hoping that some skinning genius can release a graphical attribute skin soon. For now, I've started with the vanilla skin and just focusing on my own players and opponents - avoiding any sort of recruitment analysis whatsoever. Which is probably just as well given we have zero transfer budget, are over-spending on wages and are currently £2.1m in the red... some more of that challenge I was mentioning. Anyway, I think that's enough for a brief introduction to the save - I'll be back later on some tactical principles and a bit on recruitment strategies. Forza Feralpi!

Really simple but can Progressive Passes be added to the Analytical Data pitch maps for both Teams and Players? They're now a recorded statistic but it's not possible to separate them them out in the Analytical Data for.... well... analysis. You could replace the "passes hit woodwork" (PHW) column with "progressive passes" to keep it Column Net Neutral too... really don't think that stat / column is needed.

To add to this, I've now added each option separately. It is freezing here:

Sorry, 517pm today

I am offended. I demand satisfaction. Pistols at dawn, sir

I often wonder if folk spend this much time IRL telling everyone about the stuff they don't like? Like, if they don't like pineapple on pizza, do they hang around Domino's or the frozen food aisle in Tesco waiting for someone to choose a Hawaiian, then wander over to let the other person know just how much they don't like pineapple on pizza. And if they disagree, follow them home explaining why they're so stupid and juvenile for doing so. And then the makers of Hawaiians hang around the freezer taking massive offence anytime someone happens to choose a different flavour and mention they don't happen to care for the pineapple. I really, really hope people do that In summary, folk should just unclench (and enjoy the beta when it's out on Monday 🎣)

A reminder that you can just, you know, not watch the videos if you don't want to Mad, I know

Thanks for letting us know

OK, there you go Sorry to have applied, you know, logic and stuff to this scenario

Thanks for this prompt. Never heard of the channel before but just watching the Mentoring video and it's great stuff. Any idea if he's on twitter?

Ah ok, I don't watch much visual FM content so missed that. Maybe SI figured they didn't gain anything from it anyway - think they were going to FIFA 'content creators' for a while, to bring in new audiences I guess? Maybe some more of that

Without wanting to be all "buzzkill" about it, but aren't we expecting the "content creators" to release the "early look" videos at least a day before the beta release? That's what happened last year, right? Unless they've already done that and I've missed it?

I've really enjoyed reading this @_Ben_, albeit often lurking in the background. Always an entertaining read and so often informative and inspiring things I take to my own save. Looking forward to what you have planned for FM24

I was not expecting that. Although it is very Bielsa Also, that defensive record from your final season at Atalanta is just insane. Like, properly nuts. But I guess, when in Italy... Which makes me wonder if you'll amend your style to something more aggressive / sh!thousey?

I think it'd be a shame to miss out on Greece - unless you want to save it for a future FM? I get what you're saying about it being a redundant step but perhaps there's an alternative where you can get into a good Serie B club / lower Serie A club like Salernitana or Brescia etc and then move to a big Greek club as an interim step to a big Italian club? I think it'd be realistic for someone like Olympiacos to come and pick up an Udinese manager who has had a couple of strong seasons, for example. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if that option would ever arise. If you take over the likes of Parma etc, then it's probably quite likely that, assuming you do well, you'll get into European spots and then moving to one of the big Greek clubs might feel like a step down - even if it is guaranteed Champions League football. Anyway, still enjoying the thread even if I'm not reading as regularly as I was and congrats on the promotion!

Cheers Chris, one is most pleased I'm actually well on with the game. I had a bit of a meh spell where I wasn't playing for a couple of days but I'm back on it now and another season ahead of when I last updated. Just lost the writing bug a bit. Something about this time of year - totally off my reading too.

Boom indeed, great work on the trophy 👍 How has Chukwueze been? I've only noticed him in your updates off the bench or in the rotated game in Serbia. Is he playing second fiddle?

Enjoying the save, Ben, although I did wonder where you'd been for a week or so. Didn't see you turning into one of those people who don't play the game any more, you just make skins 😂 Very nice skin though My unhelpful input today is that Eyupspor sounds like a club formed by Yorkshire expats living in Turkey What are you thinking for the next move? Stay in Turkey or look to move to Greece?

Absolute disaster. 21 goals in 27 starts (no pens). Disaster

It's not just my scouts, but my coaches too. He started really poorly but his attacking output recently has been much better. Sadly, I think he's just not going to end up being a mistake. Comparing him to my other option at left wingback, the stats tell a story: Jonathan Mulder Headers won - 81% Tackles won - 79% Blocks per 90 - 0.64 Clearances per 90 - 0.92 Interceptions per 90 - 3.76 Pressures per 90 - 17.32 Progressive passes per 90 - 2.29 Team conceded per 90 - 1.28 Chances created per 90 - 0.37 xA per 90 - 0.12 Dribbles per 90 - 1.28 Crosses per 90 - 3.3 Cross success - 5% Petar Cirkovic Headers won - 48% Tackles won - 70% Blocks per 90 - 0.15 Clearances per 90 - 0.77 Interceptions per 90 - 3.01 Pressures per 90 - 17.95 Progressive passes per 90 - 2.77 Team conceded per 90 - 1.85 Chances created per 90 - 0.15 xA per 90 - 0.16 Dribbles per 90 - 2.39 Crosses per 90 - 5.47 Cross success - 21% Cirkovic is *much* the better attacking wingback. His cross success is *four times* that of Mulder and he creates much more from them... BUT he doesn't create as much overall because Mulder's other abilities are better and crucially that team conceded per 90 stat just highlights that Cirkovic is a clear liability at the back. Shame but I think it's clear he's not a long-term option Hey Matheus. Sorry but I can't share it. Rensie helped me out with the skin and I'm afraid he's not sharing it publicly. However, there are a couple of options with the stars etc that you could look at. Try this one or this one.

No worries, I've attached the ones I have to this post. General View, Offensive Stats View, Defensive Stats View and Training view are for the squad screen. Anything with "scouting" in it is for, you guessed it, the scouting screen (Players > Players in Range), and anything with "shortlist" is for the shortlist. Shrew's Defensive Stats View.fmf Shrew's General View.fmf Shrew's Offensive Stats View.fmf Shrew's Scouting - 9.fmf Shrew's Scouting - Attacking Stats.fmf Shrew's Scouting - Defensive Stats.fmf Shrew's Scouting - GK Stats.fmf Shrew's Scouting - Wingbacks.fmf Shrew's Shortlist - Defensive Stats.fmf Shrew's Shortlist View.fmf Shrew's Training View.fmf