Who To Manage?
By: Tom B |
13 Comments
Hi, sorry for the delay.
There has been a lot going on in my life (away from Santa Eulalia), including 2 deaths in the family, an epic semester of law, my football team (the one I play for) won a league & cup double including a penalty shootout in the quarter final (of which I saved 3). However, I was MIA for my team in from the cup semis onwards as, unfortunately I’ve ruptured my anterior cruciate ligament. I’m having a knee reconstruction on the 16th.
Also, my final exam for the time being is on Monday. As such, I’ll be immobile, on holiday and rehabilitating for the next few months. Thus (& that no-one volunteered to take over) I feel this blog needs a renaissance.
I have a couple ideas as to where I’d like to manage this season, and would love your feedback as to which destiny you desire me to fulfil.
1) Chengdu Blades – Chinese team famous for
a) being owned by Sheffield United (according to Wiki),
b) having two Australians playing for them (the Griffiths Brothers)
c) Having a reserve team in the professional Hong Kong League.
Thus, I hope to take control of my reserves and win 2 leagues in one season at the one club.
2) I’d like to try a team from a lowest playable league in France. I’ve developed quite a taste for French football and its low tempo technical style and knock Lyon/Bordeaux/l’OM off their collective perch (or one day take over the chaos which reigns at l’OM).
3) Take control of the Uruguay national team, try and take them to the World Cup, whilst trying to get a job in a Uruguayan division 2 club and win the Libetadores with them.
4) Do the same in Colombia, Peru or take over from Mr Maradonna in Argentina.
5) Head eastwards into Europe and take over a small team from Russia (I’m thinking Vladivostok at GMT+8), Hungary, Poland, the Ukraine or Romania
4) Any other LLM club you suggest.
Also – Santa Eulalia recap will appear before I start the new blog proper.
Category: FM09
Resignation
By: Tom B | 1 Comment
I resign. Or at least I will. Uni/work/life commitments have meant that I no longer have the time/energy to put give this blog the attention it deserves.
I have played out the season, and will give you an epic season summary over a few posts over the coming couple of weeks. After that, please email me or Daryl and I’ll hand over the keys.
I’m not going to purchase FM10 for the above reasons, so perhaps this blog can lay dormant until then when someone new picks up the keys (in both a car and keyboard metaphor) and drive a new and unknown team from obscurity to some level of obscure internet notoriety.
Thankyou all for your attention, and soon class will be dismissed.
Category: FM09Valencia Mestalla
By: Tom B | 1 Comment
First of all thanks for the kind words, and if detail is what you’d like, then details is what you’ll get.
My next match was against Valencia Mastalla (Valencia’s 2nd team), who are top of the league, have players earning 14 grand a week (my highest paid players get 150 euros), and their parent team are currently 3rd in La Liga. I was outgunned. I knew I was outgunned. I dropped my mentalities and hoped for the best.
I set up again with a defensive 5-3-1-1, Valdes playmaker, the perenially disappointing Alfonso up front. With Garcia Martinez out injured, David Gonzalez slotted into left wing back, switching Borja Vila out of position at right wing back. As Gonzalez is more naturally attacking than Vila, I switched their instructions so that Gonzalez would attack with some consideration, and Vila would be more of a stopper.
It ended up a 4-1 loss, but I was not disgraced.
I learnt from this game that I am vulnerable to crosses (I kind of knew that from my last couple of games, but this is where, away from the tight confines of Municipal, I thought I should make a change). Their first goal came from a corner where Vasquez Garcia (little champ that he is) lost his man, who powered home from 5 yards, their second from general play, another cross swung in from the left, with Merino, their left back overlapping in about 100 hectares on his own, whose cross evaded Manuel (I) and Juan Pablo headed home again. So I was 2-0 down after 40 minutes. To make things worse, rather than put his hand up, Manuel (I) whinged to the ref that the goal was offside (see screenshot below), which it wasn’t. This screenshot also gives you an idea how much time Merino “The Ram” had to pick his cross.
I was controlling posession, so at 1/2 time I revved my charges up, and switched to a more attacking, wider 3-4-1-2. I also brought on Lozano again, trying to build up some match fitness, playing him in the defensive, Nieto role. This never really worked, and he never had an impact. I also brought on the bean pole Adolfo to allow me to play 2 up top.
This was silly as in the 50th minute, sheer numbers overwhelmed my defensive back 3, and so I was 3-0 down and staring down the barrel of an absolute towelling, with my away fans who “must be wishing they stayed home”. Then in the 54th minute I suffered the indignation of going 4-0 down as Daniel nipped in front of Antonio, controlled the ball and smashed it home from 5 yards. Things were looking bleak, and I was facing the longest 37 minutes of my managerial career.
I thus switched to a shut up shop 4-3-1-2 formation, which paid dividends straight away. Their goal kick was won by Manuel (I), who nodded it down to Valdez, who found target man Adolfo with his back to goal in some space. Adolfo squared for Alfonso, who released Valdez with a through ball who hammered home from 15 yards.
This is how it stayed, and I liked this 4-3-1-2 shut up shop formation. However key lessons from this game:
1) Wide pitches do not suit my narrow formation, this has to change.
2) My defense is vulnerable to crosses, I have to cut off the supply.
3) Lozano (My New Star Signing) should really be released in an attacking role, with hard tackling, to win the ball further up the pitch.
4) I need a new formation away from home.
5) Low tempo = possession, this is a good, good thing.
Player Profile: Daniel Vazquez Garcia (CM)
I think it’s time to revisit my squad a little, and we’ll start with unsung midfield hero Vazquez Garcia. He’s one who hits a lot of passes (column 1 below) which find their man (column 2), wins and makes most of his challenges (column 4 and 5), and makes lots of runs and a few interceptions to boot (column 14 and 13). He’s a solid, conservative, reliable player, and at only 26, enjoying his time at the club, he’ll be here for a while.
And here’s how he’s gone.
Category: FM09I need some advice
By: Tom B | 6 Comments
Hi All…
Now I need your feedback as to how you want this blog to run.
2 things, I’ve started uni again and don’t have much free time for the next little bit. I have played 6 or 7 games ahead of time in the game world. Now I won’t have time to post all that often, so I can either drip feed you information from these games every couple of days, or give you a mega couple of posts documenting my progress and then post into the future far more infrequently.
You Be The Judge (and let me know in the comments section).
Category: FM09Alcoyano
By: Tom B | Add Comments
Well, I think the pre-match says it all:
However, we did manage to give a good account of ourselves, without ever really threatening their control of proceedings. They approached the game with two deep lying DMCs, which freaked me out a bit as I didn’t really know what to do. These guys sat deep, but would burst forward (eg for the second goal I conceded) and didn’t have a defensive mindset at all. If anyone knows (or has a theory) how to deal with this let me know). I decided not to start my new recruit, as he was severely lacking in match fitness, so I cottoned wooled him, so I lined up like this:
It didn’t start well, they’d had 3 shots in the first 2 mintues, and it only took them X minutes to break the deadlock. They doubled their lead all to easily in nearly the same manner with a cross and a header from 7 yards. We never threatened their lead, which was a shame, but I had no idea how to kill the 2 deep midfielders (if anyone knows how please let me know)
All things being equal they were pretty soft goals, but they could have had 3 or 4 more. The stats tell the story, and I was just outplayed. The new recruit Lozano didn’t have much impact, but he wasn’t alone in that regard, with a solid 6.8 after playing the entire second half. Once I get him match fit he’ll be a star, I hope.
I imagine results like this will happen from time to time when you’re predicted to finish 20th and are playing against better teams, but if anyone out there in cyber FM land would like to give tips as to how to neutralise these two attack minded DMCs of the opposition please let me know.
Category: FM09A Transfer? Why not?
By: Tom B | 2 Comments
December 1: I can register and unregister players on my roster in order to
December 2: I deregister the following players; Garcia Ruiz (my least favourite media sycophante striker) and Jordi Gonzalez (my right sided attacking midfielder who fits into my lopsided formation).
December 3: I look at what my scout has found over the past few months, that is, a lot of chaff and some wheat.
December 4: Offer contracts to 3 uncontracted players, Jaume, Lozano and Hernandez
December 5: All 3 accept my offer, I change my mind after further scouting of Jaume and Hernandez
December 6: Sign Lozano. Huzzah.
Even better, the fans love him already, so I’ve clearly made a popular choice.
Here is a little comparison with who he will be replacing in my team as the DMC, which should give you an idea as to the extent to which I’m trading up.
And the 32 year old, who could play in Liga Adelante according to my scout, now even has a face. Isn’t everything peachy. The only drawback is that he’s nowhere near match fit, which is a drama, as I want him to play straight away but he is just not ready. Mr Severely Lacking in Match Fitness is at my service.
Category: FM092 for the price of 1
By: Tom B | 1 Comment
Terrassa
I pissed off my squad before this game, this was a big error.
Going into the game, and without an AMC to mark, I reverted to my 3-2-3-1-1. With Garcia Martinez injured again at RWB, I shifted Borja Vila back to the right and (with hindsight) inexplicably returned young Antonio to LWB (not going forward) rather than David Gonzalez. With Alfonso suspended I drafted in Garcia Ruiz (to keep the media happy) to lead the line, which I’m sure is not a very imposing sight.
This didn’t prove a great game for me. The players motivation suffered, no one was particularly keen to be there and played as such it came as no surprise when Valenzuela (Who is making far too many errors) dropped a cross from very deep at the feet of an attacker who “had to score”. I despite trying to change it up, Garcia Ruiz was never a real threat with his princely contribution of one shot, off target. So I learnt my lesson, do not piss off my team, they will be inept if I do. To make matters worse, Alfonso is annoyed at me as I fined him a weeks wages, which was unfair. What’s unfair is leaving me with bloody Garcia Ruiz as my option up front.
Gava
This was an important game, as Gava are relegation rivals. I set about choosing my team with a degree of seriousness. With Alfonso back (and the fishmonger stuck in the depths of injury recovery) he was the automatic choice up front. At wing back, Antonio (16 year old penatly taker) was rested (read dropped) and Borja Vila was at right back (adventurous) and David Gonzalez at left back (not adventurous).
In this game, I controlled the first half without truly threatening their goal, however, in the 50th minute Vasquez Garcia scored a goal that was truly special: see video below. We then got progressively more defensive, and progressively shut down the game to win 1-0. And shift up to 12th in the table.
After this game comes December, and with December comes the ability to register and unregister players in my squad. Expect developments.
Category: FM094 for the price of 1
By: Tom B | Add Comments
Well I got a little excited and played four games in a row.
They panned out as so:
So two wins and two losses: which puts me into 12th, 3 points from safety and, interestingly, only 8 points from the promotion playoff spots.
Sant Andreu
With two fit again left backs, but without my right wing back Garcia Martinez, so I went in with Borja Villa as my RWB and David Gonzalez at LWB, however, Vila offered far less going forward than Gonzalez and as such I switched the instruction so Gonzalez would bomb on down the left and Vila holding the fort on the right. Also, with Nieto out injured for a long time, and Hector in good form, I drafted in Hector Blanco to play the holding role, while Hector advanced to the mixed position and Vasquez Garcia in the more advanced CM role.
We, however, did not play like lions, we played like mice. They battered us, both in shots, possession and field position. They scored one, they scored two (A Manuel (II) own goal) before half time. I then switched things up to an attacking 4-4-1-1 using high width and tempo. I pulled a goal back in the 80th minute, and then threw the kitchen sink at them, but to no avail, as they scored a sealer on the break in the 2nd minute of injury time.
Gramenet
Gramenet were a strong side, using a 4-2-3-1 formation. As such, I dropped my defensive minded central midfielder (Hector Blanco) to defensive midfield, and had him man mark their AMC. I then had my LWB mark their RAM and my RWB mark their LAM. I also had Garcia Martinez back at RWB, which allowed me to shift Borja Vila to LWB and switch the adventurous role back to Garcia Martinez.
This game went almost exactly according ot plan. I went into the lead through Aimar Valdez scoring a scorcher of a volley from 15 yards. I then controlled play throughout the first half. Garcia Martinez, however, went off injured in the 45th minute, replaced by David Gonzalez. I could have scored a couple more by half time, but given my underdog status I was happy with the one-nil lead. On 84 minutes I decided to shut up shop playing my narrow, slow 4-3-1-2 with Adolfo as target man holding up the ball. They only really created one good chance, which was scuffed, which meant I clung on to a 1 goal win. Unfortunately, Alfonso, who had been in cracking form, was sent off in the 93rd minute for yelling at the ref. I fined him one week’s and he got a little pissy with me, but the man has a big enough heart (determination 12) and I see him bouncing back.
Stay Tuned for the next two match reports.
Category: FM09Another One Bites the Dust
By: Tom B | Add Comments
Before we get to the game, from having zero left sided players, I’ve now got two, with these two having come back within two days of each other.
My next match was against Lleida, who were 5th and I was 5.50 outsiders. However, if you were amongst the 579 who showed up – you were in for a treat.
Unfortunately my two recovering left wing backs each only had condition of 89% and 90% so Borja Villa was only to come on and feature from the substitutes bench. Of which, the even worse than Fan Enemy Number 1 (Jose Ruiz) Diego Bleda was dropped as CB from the bench, which afforded me a little more flexibility in my formation. The starting 11 were as in the last 2 games in my now very effective 5-3-1-1.
We controlled the first 30 minutes, with our best chance falling to Valdez who headed against the outside of the upright. Most players were doing well, except for playmaker Valdez (missed chance aside, he only had a 5.9 rating and had given the ball away plenty). I switched Valdez’s role from holding up the ball to (amazingly) not holding up the ball, which seemed to be the ticket as he strolled through the 2nd half nearly never giving the ball away, and setting up Garcia Martinez (at RWB) who’s pass led to the clearance which Alfonso blocked into the back of the net.
Editor’s Note: This made me feel a little better as in my comeback from a knee injury game on Sunday (In real life) I conceeded a goal when a striker blocked my clearance into the net with his face, but we won 3-1 and I made a string of good saves as well which are quickly forgotten amongst a howler like that.
I then doubled my lead as Nieto curled in a set piece from the left side of the penalty box which met the head of Hector (who again, I quite like) at the back stick largely unmarked, and he slotted the header between the keeper and the man on the post.
With the injury to Nieto on 77 mintues I shut up shop, bringing on Adolfo as a 2nd striker, replacing Antonio, pulling the wing backs to full backs and shifting Manuel (II) to right back. I employed a 4-3-1-2 very narrow, very slow and with a high degree of time wasting.
The match was closed out and we chalked up another satisfying but surprising win,
maintain our unbeaten record,
and move up to 12th in the table.
On an injury note – Garcia Martinez (at RWB) and Nieto both were forced off with injuries
Whilst Garcia Martinez is only out for a couple of weeks, Nieto has joined long forgotted Swedish fishmonger Tomas Jonanssen on the long term injury list, out for 2-3 months. Maybe I won’t be able to sell him after all.
Category: FM09Well we got there in the end
By: Tom B | 1 Comment
But it took a 15 year old penalty taker’s cool, calm assured head to slot home in the 89th minute. This kid is a real revelation, and it will be interesting to see how he goes when my two left back/wingback/midfield players come back to full fitness this week. It also meant he signed his new 5 year 30 Euro per week deal, and I might just be able to give the fans their wish and drop Ruiz at centre half.
I was playing against the B team of Villareal, who are stone cold last with a solitary point from their first 8 games. Their squad is paper thin, and missing 5 players. This is excellent news for a Santa Eulalia side with 4 points from its last 2 games, 3 points from exiting the relegation zone, and looking to cement itself in the division after a terribly shaky start. I went in with an unchanged lineup, however I did think twice about including Alfonso as he was in the middle of a goal drought. He was picked, as there was no-one better. Simple.
The match itself started horribly. I couldn’t exert control, Aimar Valdez, my playmaker, couldn’t get a grip, and then to add insult to injury they scored from a powerful long shot in the 27th minute. Then they had a penalty claim disallowed. However, I slowly started to control the game, and set up a few good chances. In the 36th minute I drew level after Alfonso broke his duck and drought by poking in after my right back Garcia Martinez found himself unmarked on the left side of the penalty box and forced the keeper to parry.
My influence grew and grew, and my suspicion about my teams ticker grew and grew, as we were not able to break them down and score. With 10 minutes left, and the game locked at 1-1, and them providing little if any threat to my goal, I substituted Ruiz (to what I imagine were heckles and howls from the away support), brought my wing backs (including Antonio) back to play as full backs, and brought on wispy thin header man Adolfo in a 4-3-1-2 narrow formation. This paid dividends as I was awarded a contentious penalty by the outrageously named Pedro Zamora Romero de Castellon (who I assume got it right because he got a 9/10 rating). Vasquez Garcia hit the post and Luiz Fernandez was adjudged to have felled Adolfo in the box from the ensuing scramble. Antonio, the 15 year old (whos birthday is next week), then stepped up to slot his first league goal. Tempo was then slowed, time wasting increased, and we almost got a 3rd through Garcia Martinez in injury time, but the points were secured, and Pena Deportiva Santa Eulalia were out of the relegation zone for the first time in a month.
Garcia Martinez was again a star performer (gee he’s doing well) and Nieto, Vasquez Garcia and Hector/Fernandez/Hector Blanco bossed the midfield, which created the goals.
This was a great result and I think that 160 people in the crowd didn’t do us justice, but 3 points are in the bag and its on to 5th place Lleida next.
The passing of another month saw me drop a further 12k into the red, but the board are pleased with me and the control I exert over the dressing room. The fans hate Ruiz still. Unfortunately, we’re getting rather broke, and may have to sell one or two players just to break even for the first half of the season. I personally like solvency, and think it really is the best way to run a football club. However, it is an even worse way to run a football club by getting them relegated, and being out of the relegation zone can only be a huge positive.
In other news, Nieto is being stalked by other clubs, which means that I might just be cashing in 35 000 euros for my 32 year old talismanic leader.
Category: FM09
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