First Eleven | #1 - A Fine if Unspectacular Job

Welcome to Austria and the beautiful city of Vienna where Frank M. Athlete has recently taken charge of Austria’s oldest club, First Vienna. In case you missed the introductory post, the plan here is to restore Vienna to the top division and win the title within eleven years. Let’s begin…

Season Summary

Season: 2022/23
Division: Austrian 2. Liga
Expectations: Mid-table

Squad Changes

Transfers in: Itamar Noy, AML/MC, Bnei Lod (€0); Dalibor Velimirovic, DC/DM, Rapid Wien II (€0); Felix Seiwald, DM/MC, Ried (Loan); Daniel Owusu, AMR, RB Salzburg (Loan)
Youth promotions: Kerim Abazovic, DC; Antonio Paric, MC; Edvin Ramic, ST
Added to loan list: None
Transfers out: None

Preseason

With the first transfer window switched off, Frank was left to work with what he already had in the squad. At its core, it’s quite a strong side, albeit with very little depth. Lukse (GK), Auer (DR), Kreuzhuber (DC), D. Luxbacher (MC), Grozurek (AML) and Alar (ST) are all over 30, but form a spine of experience and resilience for the youngsters to rally behind.

The previous manager’s newest recruits in Velimirovic (DM) and Noy (AML) bring some much needed quality to those two key positions, while First’s academy graduates add some raw talent to the mix in the shape of Steiner (DC), Paric (MC) and Ramic (ST). The loan additions of Seiwald (MC) and Owusu (AMR) add real strength as well, and as such the media are predicting a mid table finish of 8th.

Since the team are newly promoted this season, Frank set up with a structured yet cautious tactic in a 4-1-4-1 formation. This seemed to perform well during preseason with back-to-back 7-0 wins. The DM was very effective at tidying up any attempted through balls, while the wide midfielders were able to join the attack when we could hit teams on the counter.

What Frank hadn’t anticipated when taking the role, was the playing squad’s total rejection of his managerial credentials. To say they weren’t in favour of his appointment is an understatement, they hated him. In fact, their discontent with Frank seemed to be the only thing that actually united the squad in those early weeks and months. Results on the pitch, team selection for match day, even praising training performances seemed to have little to no effect on their feelings, and in some cases only made things worse.

League Performance

On the pitch, the season didn’t start quite as planned. Seven draws and one defeat from the opening ten games left the side in 7th place which was not bad at all, but with four of those draws ending 0-0, it was clear that our desire to defend was hampering our ability to score at the other end. Frank opted to stick with the process and didn’t make any tactical changes at this point, with his decision vindicated in the next match, a 3-0 resounding win at Sturm Graz II.

Unfortunately, two consecutive defeats followed and so a slight tweak in roles was made to the central midfield pairing for the remaining three games of this calendar year before the winter break. The DLP switched to an AP, while the CM-S became more advanced as a CM-A. The intent here was to get more bodies forward when on the counter attack, and hopefully bag a few more goals in the process. It didn’t fail, nor did it really succeed. Two more 0-0 draws and a win in the last few games left the team in 8th place by the end of 2022.

Since their current position was exactly where they wanted to be, it’s hard to say it was a disappointment at this stage of the season, but with so many draws amongst the results, it definitely felt like the team were under achieveing.

As the squad went off for a mid season break, their hatred for Frank was still rife as well, casting a shadow across the club. Several of the players had expressed discontent at not getting the playing time they wanted, and this was now adding to the adverse effects of the dressing room as well. Frank distracted himself by thumbing through the scout reports his recruitment team had sent him. A new DL was top of the shopping list as we currently only have one player able to play there, and he’s one of the more vocal ones when sharing his displeasure at Frank’s presence, not to mention being on loan and so hardly a long-term solution.

Lercher (DL) was signed, and not wanting to add to the dressing room problem, Frank opted to stick with just the one transfer for now. When the squad returned for training in January, three first team players announced that they would be consdiering their options at the end of their contracts in June. One of these was Andreas Lukse, the goalkeeper, and so Frank attempted to talk him round and get him to stay for another year. Big mistake. This only seemed to anger him more and so the conversation was cut short, and Lukse would indeed be considering a move away at the end of the season. The other two players were less of a concern, Frank had already decided they would be surplus to requirements next year, and their departure might actually help to improve the atmosphere around the club.

The other thing that Frank and his coaching staff had been working on over the winter was a new tactic. Having now played each team once, it was clear that defensively, First were more than a match for thier opponents. Where the team seemed to be lacking was with bagging some goals, and so Frank felt a need to take more risks in the middle by losing the DM, in favour of adding an extra striker to add more varierty in attack.

The wide players were also pushed into the attacking midfield strata which was offset by dropping the team mentailty from Balanced to Cautious, and the Work Ball into Box instuction was added alongside Shorter Passing so as to try and imrpove the team’s possesssion statistics which had been woeful so far. The overall idea was simple: with not much technical ability in the squad, the team could patiently probe the opposition to find the perfect opening, and then have 3 or 4 options in attack to apply the finish.

The season resumed in February and the tactic proved to be the perfect blend of risk and reward. Goals were no longer an issue and the side managed to take 13 points from the first four matches, netting ten times in the process.

Their form continued as they secured 4 more wins in their next 6 games, with the other two ending in defeat - both narrow 1-0 losses. Thanks to the winning formula, First Vienna climbed up the table and in to 4th place with just four games remaining. The media, desperate to give the end of the season more of a narrative, even included First in the “title race”, despite them being 9 points adrift of St.Polten in 1st place. All this positive press and results on the pitch had at least helped with the dressing room atmosphere and as the side headed into the their final few games they were able to remain unbeaten and secure a 3rd place finish. Not bad at all for Frank’s first season in charge, and for a newly promoted team back in the second tier.

Crucial to the team’s success were the performances of one or two key individuals. First and foremost, Itamar Noy started the season playing centrally, but once employed as an Inside Forward on the left hand side he really made his contribution felt in every match. It was also a great season for Edvin Ramic, the young striker who only graduated form the youth set up this year. He came in to the side in Febuary, netting 5 goals in 12 matches and showing that age is just a number. He’ll be one to watch next season I expect as well.

Cup Performance

The ÖFB Cup served as a good distraction during the early stages of the season. A solid win in the first round set up a good tie in the next one, with First able to overcome divisional rivals, Amstetten, 4-1.

The third round drew them against Admira, another side from the second division, but on this occasion they were just too strong and the game ended in a 1-0 defeat. Despite the loss, this was still ahead of the pre-season expectation so not too disappointed, especially as the cup was far from being a priority this season.

Conclusion

Lot’s to do in preparation for next season. It’s now clear that this side aren’t too far away from winning promotion and Frank’s aim is to have that done within the next two seasons. There are a lot of players leaving over the Summer and so recruitment will be tough in a very competitive market, but with the right recruits we should be capabale of matching our results from this season.

Competition Overview

Austrian 2. Liga

Expectation: 8th

Actual: 3rd

Summary: A season of two halves, with a fairly average start to the camapign, giving way to a superb finish as we rose up the table.

Best moment: A comfortable 2-0 victory over eventual title winner St. Polten in April was proof that we really could beat anyone on our day.

Low moment: The long process of winning over the players support made this a really tough season with a lot of careful man management required to keep everyone on side.

Austrian Cup

Expectation: Second Round

Actual: Third Round

Summary: Nothing to write home about, but a decent couple of wins, and an expected defeat in the third round.

Best moment: Seven goals scored and only two conceded from the three games. Not a bad return, but not enough to make it to the Quarter Finals.

Low moment: A narrow 1-0 loss in the Third Round came in between consecutive league defeats, which culminated a poor run.

Facts & Figures

First Vienna’s departure from the professional football leagues a few years ago was largely down to significant mismanagement of the club, and as such, from a financial standpoint, it’s been a long road back for them. Now, a year in to their first season back in the second division, and you can see that the improved access to sponsorship, match day income and TV rights has brought financial stability to the club. Over €300k in profit is a huge amount at this level of Austrian football, and although across the course of next season these funds will be depleted, they still give a good platform to build from.

Statistically, I mentioned already that possession was a big problem for First at the mid-way point of the season, but the tactical tweaks made during the winter break saw them keep the ball much better and that’s reflected in the league comparison, where they feature in the middle of the graph.

In an attacking sense, the team were above the league average in all categories except pass completion, while defensively there’s definitely some work to be done to make improvements for next season. In particular, tackles attempted and blocks made are both lower than the league average, which I wonder whether that could be an issue with bravery and aggression. Definitely something to explore further.

Around the Grounds

Here we share some of the other stories from elsewhere in the FM universe that have caught the eye this week…

 

End Credits

Thanks for reading this update, I really hope you enjoyed it. You’ll find more updates from me, as well as blogs from some other fantastic writers at CoffeehouseFM so make sure you check them out. Feel free to leave a comment below, or you can message me @fm_athlete if you feel like getting in touch. Special thanks to FM Rensie for the use of his Rensie skin in FM23.

Thanks for coming. I've been FM Athlete. You've been ‘drinking champagne from a dusty old cup’. See you next time.