1:3. Tactics, Transfers & Pre-Season

No messing, I’m going to dive straight in.

First thing to say, excitingly, is that Hartlepool now have a senior affiliate. And it’s only bloody Manchester City! The deal is that I can loan their players without paying their wages,  that there will be a pre-season friendly each year, and they’re giving me £70,000 per year.

I’m happy with this deal.

Also, I’m taking this as an early sign of encouragement. Does this means that they like what I’m doing?! They’re willing to trust me with their players…are Pep and I about to embark on a beautiful friendship? Or is it all going to go a bit Brian Clough, Don Howe and The Damned United…?

Tactics

I’m very conscious that there are some people with a really wonderful understanding of FM tactics out there. I’m also very conscious that there are some really, really wonderful writers of FM tactics out there.

I profess to be neither of those things. I find explaining tactics is really bloody hard. It’s easy to say “I have Look for Overlap” switched on – but explaining what this does, why this tactic benefits from it, and why I want that to happen – is tricky.

Below, I’ve outlined my tactic in a very simple way, but I’m going to be going into far greater detail on my tactic across on my blog, The Triumph of the Pass.

Bayern Munich’s Three Phase Plan started with Louis Van Gaal, and Fixed Position Possession Football. That’s the model we’re looking to emulate, and so Fixed Position Posession Football is what we’re going for.

Tactical Overview

Team Instructions

Essentially, I’m asking my players to keep hold of the ball, and to keep their shape. If they roam from their positions, they will leave holes. Holes that I’m not certain my other players will have the anticipation to fill, before we’re hurt by the opposition. I’m asking them to stick to their own jobs, and not to get in the way of each other.

Remember Louis Van Gaal’s turgid, incredibly boring Man Utd team? That’s what I’m aiming for. Deliberately.

Transfers – MoneyBallin’, sorta.

I’ve made some signings. I feel bad about it, but they’re all free / loans, have barely cost me anything, and I feel have genuinely added a degree of depth, and technical quality, that we really needed.

Dale Jennings

Yes, that Dale Jennings. That Dale Jennings from Bayern Munich (and then Barnsley & MK Dons). Picked up on a free,the 23 year old  plays as an Inside Forward on the left side, and has good stats in, what I think, are key areas (for our overall philosophy, if not for the role specifically). Not as explosive as a winger, I do hope he can at least be another creative influence in the team. He’s being trained on his finishing, and is only being paid £250 a week. For that price, and that age, I think he’s a really good addition.

Steve Pina

Another free signing, he’s someone I was less enthusiastic about picking up, and maybe the only one who directly contradicts the MoneyBall philosophy. He’s 28. Which, in FM terms – means that’s he’s nearly dead.

A very quick right sided winger, I brought him in because

• a) He’s very quick, and adds some much needed pace into my attack
• b) We only had one natural AMR, and needed the back up
• c) He’s very quick, and adds some much needed pace into my attack

I wish his Passing / Crossing stats were a touch higher, but he will do for now.

Sergio Molina

Brought in on a loan (before the Man City affiliation was agreed, must be said), Molina is bringing some much needed composure and passing ability to the DM position. He’s being called the Busquets of League 2 by precisely no one – but that’s roughly the idea.

I didn’t sell anyone, and with these three additions, I feel our squad has enough quality & depth do be okay this season. If we all play to our ability.

Pre-Season.As you can see, unbeaten in pre-season!

This, really, means very little. The teams we played against (with the exception of QPR) were all teams we really should have been beating – Broxburn are a semi-professional Scottish outfit. However, we’ve had more than 50% possession in each game (getting as high at 62% against Chorley!) and I’ve managed to get everyone some game time. My tactical familiarity is rising quite quickly, and having seen it in action – particularly against QPR, I don’t feel the need to make any major tweaks just yet.

It’s also allowed me to settle on a rough starting 11.

From this point forward, I’ll be publishing save updates every in-game few months. So the next one will probably be January.

Thanks for taking the time,

FM_Dan

Rogue Tactical One

Previous Posts on The Triumph of the Pass

• 1:1. An Introduction: Hartlepool United & The Triumph of the Pass…?
• 1:2. Part 1: Chapter One – The Squad, and Tentative First Steps

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Yes, that’s a Star Wars reference.

This post is what Rogue One is to A New Hope. The idea of this, and future posts under the “Rogue” heading, is that they don’t necessarily add to the main “Saga”, other than to deepen an understanding of it.

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I’m very conscious that there are some people with a really wonderful understanding of FM tactics out there. I’m also very conscious that there are some really, really wonderful writers of FM tactics out there.

I profess to be neither of those things. I find explaining tactics really bloody hard. It’s easy to say I have “Look for Overlap” switched on – but explaining what this does, why this tactic benefits from it, and why I want that to happen – is tricky. I’m going to do my best. Stick with me.

I must say, too, that I find football tactics hidden by something of a rhetoric. I can talk about False 9, and’s Regista’s as a shorthand way of explaining a concept – but I do find that people have different interpretations, and different understandings of how these things work. So I’m going to write, fairly simply.

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Bayern Munich’s Three Phase Plan is a club/philosophy building template that I’m adopting. There’s a blog post about The The Phase Plan, and what we’re looking to achieve, and when, here.

Tactically speaking – Phase One is about taking the first steps into developing a style of football.

The ultimate aim is to  be able to play a high tempo, fluid, possession based attacking game.

As I understand it – playing fluid football means that when attacking, players are allowed to move out of their positions and into spaces they anticipate can hurt the opposition. Defensively, the team is required to adapt to when the attacking players move, and fill the spaces left unoccupied..

Alexis Sanchez is allowed a huge amount of movement when playing up-front for Arsenal. He pops up everywhere, drifting into all sorts of space, horizontal & vertical. He can be very unpredictable in his movement, which is a nightmare for opposing defenders, but also means that his own team-mates have to have the vision and anticipation to spot his runs, and the vision and ability to get the ball to him.

When you have the players, who able to find him and anticipate his movement, Ozil for example, this can work very, very effectively.

However, if you don’t have the players who are able to find him – you will give the ball away a lot, and struggle make the most of his movement. It’s that whole thing – an attacker is only as good as his service.

Furthermore, if players are allowed to move out of position, the spaces they used to occupy will be, well, unoccupied. It becomes a space, which can be exploited by the opposition. these spaces need to be covered by team-mates. It puts a greater emphasis on Team Cohesion and  mental attributes like Positioning and Anticipation, and asks the team to adapt to changes.

So, in order for our team to play in a fluid style, the players will need very good mental attributes in area’s like, Concentration, Positioning, Anticipation and Teamwork (so that they’re able to fill in and adapt to their team-mates movements) along with good technical attacking attributes like Vision and Composure

These are all attributes which are not easy to come by in League 2, and  which are in short supply in my Hartlepool Team.

We can’t play Fluid football yet. It’ wouldn’t work, my players would look, well, like Manchester City look at the moment.

Bayern Munich’s Phase One consisted of Louis Van Gaal’s Fixed Position system. The Fixed Position system will hopefully help hide the limitations of my players, whilst still enabling us to play a possession based game.

With Fixed Position play,  players aren’t allowed to roam in the same way. They won’t drift into space, as much, whilst attacking, and they won’t leave (as much) space for the opposition to exploit.

The team will not be asked to adapt to in game changes in the same way, meaning their Mental & Technical limitations won’t be exposed in the same way. The lack of movement means there may be less creative freedom from my attackers, however, they should be able to be found more easily by their team mates.

Essentially – in a fixed position style, I’m asking each player to concentrate on their own job. When the players I have at my disposal are of limited ability – this seems entirely sensible.

And so – onto the Tactic proper.

Formation & Player Roles

Defense 

GK:  I’m not doing anything overly complicated here – a GK, with  Defensive mentality. A running theme through this  tactic will be to do with not asking individual players to do too much outside of their defined role, and keeping it relatively simple in defense. He is one of the few player in the team with individual player instructions, to Play It Out to the Full Backs. Part of dominating possession. Yeah.

FB/L & FB/R: Both on Support. No full backs in my team have good attacking stats. So that’s out. However, I do want them to get forward, and would like the to overlap – to create space for the attacking players, if not to directly get involved in the attack themselves. To my understanding, the support mentality means that they FB’s push up to join the midfield. As we want to dominate the ball – having extra men in midfield is, handy.

CD/R & DC/L:  Again, I’m keeping this as simple as possible. And quite honestly – haven’t experimented with Stopper / Cover roles much. I think it’s better all round if we just keep this simple.

Midfield

DM: I actually love the Defensive Midfielder role. I find that he holds his position really well, but steps into the midfield if required. More than an Anchor Man, less than a Regista. And that’s what I want. A balance. The players I have in this position are decent in terms of positional play, but not brilliant athletes or passers. Having a role which doesn’t require him to really get around, or dictate play, is important. Interceptions, is what we’re going to be looking for from him.

MCR – DLP(S): This is the Xavi role. I want him to sit, and hold discipline, but dictate the play around him. He provides a degree of stability, but is the metronome of the team. He’s my passer, and one of the teams prime creators.

MCL – CM(S) or BBM(S): I want this guy to get up and down. To bring energy and movement to the midfield, and to be the simple pass for his team-mates.

Attack

AMR – W(A): This, I envisage to be the teams main outlet. He should be pacy, and able to get past players, and deliver a cross. In a philosophy which can be slow in it’s play, a player on the wing who can beat a man, and provide some dynamism in the attack could be quite important…

AML – W(S):  A counterpoint to the winger on the right – I see this position as giving the team a balance. I envisage him being slightly better technically, and slightly less physical that his teammate on the right.

ST – DF(S): My striker is set to a DF role, on a Support duty. The idea is that he’ll chase down and put pressure on the opposition back line – either harrying them into a mistake, or forcing them to play the ball into a position we can quickly reclaim it. I’ve only ever messed around with this role before, and I really hope it works as I hope…

I like the 4-1-2-3 formation. I like the comfort and adaptability of a three man midfield.   and it should mean that my midfielders always have someone in space to pass the ball to.

However, I’d like to say, really clearly – that I do pride myself on being quite adaptive. I’ve a relative large squad – and roles / formations will change relatively often depending on the match situation. Furthermore, some games (perhaps when i come up against “Bigger teams” – maybe i’ll drop the wingers deeper, and play with a TM.) Very much a Match-Match type guy.

Team Instructions

In order to maintain possession, I’ve selected Shorter Passing, Retain Possession, and Work Ball Into Box. This puts the emphasis on ball retention, and slows the game down int he final third. Right? I’ve also selected Dribble Less. As the players we have aren’t all that technically brilliant, their attempts to dribble will, inevitably, lead to them losing possession. Which is not what we want. Hopefully, this will encourage them to, instead of taking on their man, seek a pass.

You’ll see that I haven’t selected Play Out of Defense. Yet. As my defenders have poor vision / passing / anticipation stats – i’m certain that this would lead to a deluge of John Stones esque passes to the oppositon on the outskirts of my box. And we don’t want that.

I’ve left Tempo as normal. Whilst i was tempted to take it down to Slow – I find this takes too much of the attacking intent out of the game, and I’ve really struggled to score goals. (During Phase 2, the speed of play will be increased)

In terms of Fixed Position – I’m got the team on Highly Structured, and I have Stick to Position on. I’m hoping this means they stick to their framework. Hopefully…

Finally, my overall mentality is on Standard, for now.

That’s where this post ends.

Thanks for reading…!

FM_Dan

Rogue Two: The Three Phase Plan

They (Barcelona) were aiming for high possession and liked to keep changing the rhythm of their game. It always felt like they had produced five hours of possession, when they had in fact only played for 90 minutes.That’s what modern football is all about. It’s what we need to be doing now, and perhaps even for another decade…But how were we going to bring our antiquated system up to date?” – Paul Breitner, as quoted in Marti Perarnau’s Pep Confidential (2014) p.22

Bayern Munich had been paying attention, as Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona won, well, everything with a fluid, possession based game.

As the rest of us watched with incredulity as the Catalans passed and moved Manchester United to death in the Champions League Final of 2009 (&2011…), Bayern were a bit more proactive. They identified a style of football they wanted to achieve, and then set about obtaining it.

In Marti Perarnau’s Pep Confidential, Paul Breitner outlines the Three Phases of evolution that Bayern went through in their pursuit of PepBall. Yes, that’s what I’m calling it.

What I think really important, is that it very much is an evolution. One Phase couldn’t happen without the previous.

I’m going to study, and adopt these phases for use in my Hartlepool save on FM17.

Actually, I’m going to do more than that! My job at Hartlepool is about more than developing a style of play. I want Pools to be a Premier League club, I want to win things, I want to build a dynasty.

For me, the Three Phase Plan is going to be about both developing a style of play, and developing a club.

Here’s the plan.

Phase 1: Louis Van Gaal

“He (Louis Van Gaal) changed a few positions and introduced possession-based football. We swapped Bayern’s traditional style for this high-possession game. But there was no flexibility in terms of players positions, and everyone had to stick rigidly to their own area. No one was allowed to wander out of his specified sphere of influence, and we began to plat one-touch football. We had to focus on passing the ball to each other.– Paul Breitner, as quoted in Marti Perarnau’s Pep Confidential (2014) p.23

What Bayern Did in Phase One:

Phase One consisted of identifying a formation, and playing a fixed position, possession based style.

I see this, very much, as the groundwork being laid for the PepBall style which Bayern wanted to achieve. Getting players used to playing a possession based game, before adding the complexity of fluid, high speed movement, is really important. You can’t run before you can walk.

Furthermore, LVG brought in and developed players so they were able to play the system. He brought in Toni Kroos, David Alaba & Arjen Robben. All key. Robben might not strike you as someone mastered in the art of possession football, but as with Lionel Messi (sort of), he is a right sided left footer, able to cut in, and beat players at will. He’s an outlet, and a dynamic player able to change the tempo of a game, and add a degree of unpredictability – a greatly needed quality in a possession system.

Players like Schweinsteiger & Lahm had their roles developed and change under LVG, making them more appropriate for the system.

What Hartlepool are going to do in Phase One:

• We’re going to adopt the fixed position possession based game.
• We’re going to train players to make them more able to play a possession based game
• We’re going to bring in players who are more able to play a possession based game.
• We’re going to get Promoted to The Championship (Two Promotions)

Phase One will take no more than Five Seasons (or else I’m giving up…!)

Phase 2: Jupp Heynckes:

“He maintained Van Gaal’s system, but tinkered with this idea of constant possession…What we lacked was speed, and regular changes in rhythm. It took two years for him to fully implement his ideas, and he was rewarded in the second half of the 2012-13 season, when we topped the leaue with a record number of points…by the beginning of the second half half of the season, in January & February, the team was already displaying the desired rhythm and was producing a completely different game…Heynckes continued to opt for fixed positions. He wanted a high-speed game that would produce a lot of goals. That was key. It wasn’t jsut about possession; we wanted lots and lots of goals”– Paul Breitner, as quoted in Marti Perarnau’s Pep Confidential (2014) p.23

What Bayern did in Phase Two

As the quote above attests – Heynckes maintained the general footballing philosophy laid out by LVG, but sped it up, added greater attacking intent, and didn’t demand as much possession.

So now what they had was a high intensity, attacking, fixed position possession style football.

All of the players currently in the squad were very capable of keeping hold of the ball, having had the ball retention skills & mindset drilled into them by LVG. The squad had the right profile to be able to play the way that Heynckes wanted.

He also brought in, amongst others: Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, Xerdan Shaquiri, Mandzukic and Javi Martinez. All of these players fits the profile required to play in his style of play, and fit into the roles his tactic demanded. Had things worked out differently, Shaquiri could have been a long-term replacement for Robben.

The arrival of Manuel Neuer also meant that they now played with a Sweeper Keeper.

In case anyone isn’t aware – Bayern also won, everything, during this phase.

What Hartlepool are going to do in Phase Two:

• We’re going to adapt our tactic into a higher tempo, fixed position, possession game
• We’re going to continue training players to make them able to play a high tempo possession based game
• We’re going to  bring in players who are more able to play a high tempo possession based game.
• We’re going to implement the use of a Sweeper Keeper
• We’re going to further invest, and focus on our Youth Set-Up
• We’re going to get Promoted to The Premier League, and stay there.

At the end of Phase Two, we will be an “Established” Premier League Club.

Phase Three: Pep Guardiola

“Now, under Pep, we’re changing to more flexible positioning, We’ll be circulating the ball more and aiming to produce non-stop fluid movement”- Paul Breitner, as quoted in Marti Perarnau’s Pep Confidential (2014) p.23

What Bayern did in Phase Three

PepBall. That’s what they did. A high tempo, fluid positioning, possession based attacking football.

Now players no-longer had fixed positions on the field. Roaming from their position was encouraged, in order to pull the opposition team out of their position, creating space for other attackers to exploit. The entire teams movement was fluid. Full backs now came into midfield. Pep demands control of the midfield, control of the game.

There’s an anecdote, somewhere, about Pep not liking his players to shoot from outside the area, as there’s more chance of it going out of play, than into the net. Pep would ratehr his team not shoot from that range, as more often than not, all it achieves is handing possession back to the opposition.

What Hartlepool are going to do in Phase Three

• We’re going to adapt out tactic to be a higher tempo, fluid position, control, possession game
• We’re going to continue training players to make them able to play a high tempo, fluid possession based game
• We’re going to  bring in players who are more able to play a high tempo, fluid possession based game.
• We’re going to further invest, and focus on our Youth Set-Up
• We’re going to win  The Premier League, and make an impact in Europe.

After Phase Three – I’m probably going to stop playing. Or, not.

1:2. Part 1: Chapter One – The Squad, and Tentative First Steps

Chapter One.

The first Chapter.

It implies something, doesn’t it?

The first part. The beginning. The start of something. Something good, you hope – but until you reach Chapter 3, or 4, you really can’t be sure.

This is, in essence, my “Judge me after a year” bit. The speech given by all managers worried by expectation, worried that they’ve started something that’s going to go horribly wrong, worried that they’ve inherited a squad wholly unfit for purpose. My first post outlined my intentions for this save, and I cant help but feel I’ve been a tad ambitious…

Nervous gulps all round.

Hartlepool United F.C.

• Transfer Budget: £25,000
• Wage Budget: £1,100
• Board Objective: Don’t get involved in a relegation battle

(For those interested, Database is large, and playable from Vanarama National, and Scottish L2 and above. My manager profile is set as “Appropriate for this level of league”, and I’ve given myself a fairly even spread of attributes, with a slight emphasis on Technical and Attacking coaching)

The Squad

Rather than run through all of my squad, I’m going to focus in on a few of my players, giving you a snapshot of what we’re working with. I’ll give more detailed updates on players we bring in, or any people who emerge as the season goes on.

Jake Carroll (DL)Apparently, my “Key Player” Jake Carroll is a 24 year old Irish left back. Quick, athletic, and perfectly serviceable (at this level) as LFB / DFB.

I don’t know if you know Jake Carroll, but in the very short space I have, I’ve developed something of an irrational hatred of him. Sneak preview of the upcoming save update – He gets caught out at the back a lot, and has a seemingly unerring ability to get into a good position in the final third, then to cross the ball out of play for a opposition goal kick. I want him gone.

However, and this is important, and something I’ll get onto in a second – He’ll do for now.

Brad Walker (MC)  I’ll be honest here – I’ve developed a slightly unhealthy (and unhelpful) crush on Brad. Young, the best passer at the club, decent technique, mobility, team work, vision and composure stats. And he arrives late in the opponents area. He’s a dreamboat.

Carl Magnay (DR/DM)Apparently my best DR, I’m doing a Pep and playing him as DM. His mental attributes are better than others in that position, and as it’s a crucial position to my tactic, I need a composed player there. (Ironically, I’m willfully ignoring his composure statistic.)

Rather than show you any of my strikers profiles, I’ll let you know that I have Bradley Fewster, and Advanced Forward on loan from Middlesbrough, two target men, and a genuinely puzzling fellow named Lewis Alessandra. He might be serviceable as a F9, but with composure of 6 and finishing of 9 – I’m absolutely not convinced.

“He’ll Do For Now” – Won’t he?

“Don’t needlessly splash out on new players or sell old ones when you take over a club – the New Manager Syndrome” – Soccernomics, pp. 21-22

According to my own Three Phase Plan (something I outlined here, and something I’m going into in greater detail in a future post), Phase One revolves around implementing Fixed Position Possession Football, and getting promoted.

These two things might well be at odds with one another. The technical qualities of (most of) my team might mean that my possession game might fall apart. Goodness knows what my Pass Completion % is going to look like.

The MoneyBall philosophy states that I shouldn’t look to ring wholesale changes immediately, but the technical qualities of the team (and the relative lack of depth in some key positions) means that I already feel like dipping my toe into those murky waters of the transfer window.

Will I need to compromise my philosophies, at least in the short term, in order to properly build the club in the long…?

“Okay Dan, Get On With It…”

Having evaluated my squad, I then look at my staff. To say that Hartlepool have a skeletal staff would be, well, it would hit the nail on the head. I need to really want to bring in a Head of Youth Development, a Head Physio, a Coach, and a Chief Scout. The club doesn’t have anyone, in any of these roles as I take over.

Ideally, I’d find Staff that play the way I want to – my formation, my passing  & closing down styles. But, at this level, that’s a luxury I don’t think I can afford. Again, I think we might have to compromise in the short term.

However, I find a Head of Youth Development who I don’t hate fairly quickly, and on a free…

Bill Hendry

I set up adverts for the remaining posts to fill – we’ll see how that goes.

Before diving into the tactics & transfer screens (my next post), I ask the club to find me a senior affiliate – If I get a decent one, it’ll bring in some money, and get me access to their academy. I’m thinking loans. I’m thinking scouting network links.

And so, Chapter One draws to a close. It’s hard work, this. Which is what I wanted – but I’m a tad overawed by the sheer amount there is to do…

Next post will be on Tactics, Transfers, and Pre-Season. Then, the plan is to release an update every few in-game months, depending on the time I get to write / play. Hopefully these updates will be once a week.

I’m also roughly planning on following a Star Wars release schedule. We’ll have “Saga” releases, following the Journey’s story , but we’ll also have Anthology releases, adding a depth and context. I think that should work.

As ever, any thoughts and feedback is hugely appreciated.

Dan

If you like, follow my on Twitter, @DanielM1190 – It’d be lovely to chat there.