"Boyz II Men" - Rio de la Plata #FM20 — CoffeehouseFM

Previously on Rio de la Plata, Ángel Bastardo swapped Zárate for Zárate.

Intro

“Bastardo, ooh na-na, Half of his heart is in La Plata, ooh-na-na”

Transitioning young players into a thriving First Team squad is not as straightforward as you’d think, there are demands and expectation on Bastardo’s Peñarol like never before. Could Bastardo win his 3rd straight league title? Would they cope without the flamboyance of Mauro Zárate? Could the team challenge for the Libertadores title, 34 years after the club’s last success? Given this pressure, it takes a brave manager to put faith in youth; it takes a club with cojones to turn boys to men. This is Bastardo’s Peñarol.

Today’s post summarises Season 3, then moves on to look at Youth Development…before concluding with a v.brief update from the National team. ¡Vamos!

Season 2021

Domestic

We finished our 3rd season with a domestic treble: League, Super Cup and the mid-season Intermedio Cup (as blogged last time out). Once again our ‘stage’ coincided with a match engine update, and once again it altered the form and trends of the league. On this occasion though, it suited us…losing only once (to Danubio away) since updating shortly before the Liverpool match. The Gallardo-inspired 4-1-3-2 producing some scintillating stuff to win the Closing Stage on the final day of the season…

We top the Overall Table once again, with a healthy lead over 2nd place River Plate Montevideo. In addition, our main rivals Nacional finished in a disappointing 4th position. We scored more goals (+25) and conceded less (2) when compared with last season, so there are reasons to be cheerful…but I am still wishing for an unbeaten domestic calendar year. Maybe next year.

Our 2021 top performers (all comps) are below:

Goals: Luis Acevedo (21 goals), Mauro Zárate (16 goals) & Francisco Ginella (9 goals)
Assists: Emmanuel Mas (9 assists), Matías de los Santos (8 assists) & Agustín Canobbio (7 assists)
Average Rating: Agustín Álvarez (7.54), Ezequiel Busquets (7.49) & Matías de los Santos (7.41)

Continental
Copa Libertadores humiliation came in the form of a Second Round 4-1 exit Vs Corinthians this season. The battles with Argentina and Brazil will continue if I’m ever to win this trophy…with both nations having a duopoly over the competition in FM20:

Copa Libertadores Past Winners in FM20.png

Financially I cannot compete with either nation, and this financial gap will likely grow as Peñarol receive no domestic prize money whatsoever. The money we make instead comes from gate receipts and Libertadores prize money, so we’d need to use this carefully. I always knew this was the case when choosing my save, which has led me to keep and adhere to the Club Vision of developing players via the club’s youth system (something I noted down in my FM20 intro).

This is a nice segue into my post’s next section, but even if you don’t want to read that far…please note: 7 homegrown youngsters from the Peñarol youth system have played over twenty 1st team games this season. It might not look much at first glance, but it’s a large portion of the team’s make-up. It’s been three years in the making, but I feel I am slowly starting to realise a Peñarol Golden Generation (think América de Cali 2020, but possibly better), something that might just upset the above Libertadores duopoly in future years…

Boyz II Men

CurrentGen

I am not going to detail every young player coming through, but I’ll revisit the previous four I wrote about in my 1st season at Peñarol. These guys have been a success in the first team and although they are still here with me, I consider them to be ‘graduating’ (as Boys to Men) and who no longer require further updates after today’s post.

Agustín Canobbio - born 1998

With their movement and technical qualities Wingers make good ‘Central Wingers’. Hardly surprising is it? Agustín Canobbio hasn’t quite hit the heights from his 1st season with me, when played as a Winger (and scoring 18 goals in the process!). But I am willing to overlook Season 3 as Agustín’s year of transition: moving as a wide player and slotting into our midfield as a Mezzala on Attack. It’s also been 12 months of niggling injuries for Canobbio and this has obviously impacted on how quickly he has adapted.

The most worrying injury was 2 months out with a knee injury and then two bouts of a virus which completely ruined his fitness. The record is quite worrying:

Agustín is my top earner now and needs a good 2022 if he’s going to stay in Montevideo with Peñarol. His record to date under Bastardo: 117 appearances and 33 goals. We need more from him.

Bastardo's graduation report:

+ Slight room for growth, which will hopefully be used at becoming Natural at MC.
+ A Match Winner on his day.
- A worrying injury record and requires careful management to get the best out of him.

Matías de los Santos - born 1998

Everybody likes a Homegrown Fringe Player to Star Player fairy tale. Matías de los Santos has peaked and I’m loving it. In the Roaming Playmaker role he’s like my homemade version of Steven Gerrard, picking it up and…well roaming. He has a large influence in our game and at the epicentre for a lot of our great team moves. He recently signed a new deal removing a transfer release clause, which was a concern…seeing as he is one of Peñarol’s Favoured Personnel nowadays.

However, the major downside is that he has now probably peaked and Youth Development was not perfect for him. I never got the Player Traits from Mentoring and in return I got a decline in Determination. [Sh]It happens, we live with it and move on.

Bastardo's graduation report:

+ Matías de los Santos has a real affinity with the fans. He’s in serious contention when the Vice-Captain role becomes available.
+ Our No.8 now has 123 appearances and 21 goals for Bastardo’s Peñarol.
- The gains have dried up a bit.

Ezequiel Mechoso - born 2000

Training Ezequiel Mechoso as a Central Midfielder on Attack for the best part of two years meant that the switch to playing him as a Mezzala on Attack wasn’t so much of a jump for him in the new 4-1-3-2. Profiting from Canobbio’s injuries over 2021, Mechoso has staked a claim at this role but additionally he has also been tried out as a replacement playmaker for de los Santos. It means Mechoso gets the one thing that a player his age needs to develop: game time.

Three years ago I added an extra session to his training (Attacking Movement), and I’ve seen growth in his Anticipation (+4), Decisions (+4) and Off The Ball (+3). Instead of keeping this going, I am now going to switch his extra session in order to improve ‘Shooting’: Finishing, Long Shots and Technique. It’s really the former two I want to see improved, seeing that Mechoso will get into shooting positions in the Attacking Mezzala role.

I am confident we will see a rise here, due to Mechoso not quite at his ceiling:

Bastardo's graduation report:

+ Mechoso now has 87 games in a Peñarol shirt.
+ Peñarol’s most valued player in December 2021.
- Never naturally found a Player Trait via Mentoring.

Ezequiel Busquets - born 2000

It’s funny that the guy who impressed the least last time round is the only one to gain an International cap. Obviously that’s down to a few factors, not only am I the Uruguayan National team manager…gaining a cap internationally at Right Back is much easier than in the Uruguayan Engine Room. Nevertheless, Ezequiel Busquets impresses whenever he plays.

This is despite not making many gains. Technically there has been hardly any improvement in 3 years, instead growth appears in both the Mental and Physical areas of his game. In particular, I am happy with the +4 growth in Determination (something I sought to correct in the previous Youth Dev post)…having been in a Mentoring Group with some Elder statesmen.

3 years ago Busquets was Bastardo’s 1st choice in the Uruguayan U20 setup. In 2022, Busquets might just do enough to be in a World Cup squad [spoiler].

Bastardo's graduation report:

+ A solid Primera División Right Back.
+ Peñarol’s third highest valued player in December 2021.
- Technically may never be impressive enough to be elite level.

NextGen

So, we’ve seen four players integrated from Day 1 of this save and each of them have risen to stardom. The next four players you’ll see are a mixture of success and frustrations, which was my deliberate decision to highlight that Youth Development isn’t always straightforward. We will start with the good…

Facundo Torres - born 2000

Starting with the oldest of the new Boyz II Men project, Facu Torres has done fairly well as a make-shift Deep Lying Forward on Support duty. Especially in the final three games of the 2021 season with 4 goals and 1 assist to help us win the title. I’ve played him as a Striker in his first 12 months with us in the 1st team and he’s moved from Accomplished to Natural. There has been glimpses of a top player and I definitely plan to keep him and use him as a DLF understudy, but he’s no Mauro Zárate.

My immediate plans with Facu is to add a few Player Traits. I’m thinking either ‘Runs With Ball Often’, to make use of his Dribbling or ‘Plays One Twos’ in order to increase the likelihood of some pass and move combinations with onrushing Mezzalas.

Bastardo's reflection:

+ Potential still to fill.
+ Successfully adapted as a Natural Striker.
- Need to add some Player Traits.

Agustín Álvarez - born 2001

If there is one youngster that benefited from the move to playing a 4-1-3-2 with a Half-Back, it’s Agustín Álvarez. Before that, the deeper DM role in the side was occupied by playmakers: Walter Gargano and the two youngster previously mentioned: de los Santos & Mechoso. But ditching the wingers in favour of central runners, and advancing the playmaker role into the midfield strata, opened up a clear pathway for Álvarez…and boy did he take it!

Despite a hideous score of 1 for Aggression, Álvarez’s performances have outshone Club Captain Guzmán Pereira and he is now my 1st choice Half-Back. With 33 starts in 2021, Agustín Álvarez tops the Average Rating score with 7.54 (all comps). This has attracted the interest of China, including Shanghai Shenhua, who could trigger the €1.2m release clause at any minute.

Both learned Player Traits came from Walter Gargano via Mentoring and I feel they’ve really added to his game as a Half-Back. Especially the switching of play, where he often has full sight of the pitch given his withdrawn position in our 4-1-3-2.

Bastardo's reflection:

+ Nearing his peak.
+ Our top performer and an integral part of our new tactic.
- Perilous transfer release clause that we’ll have to review via DoF contract negotiations.

Andrés Acuña - born 2002

Now on to two guys who I feel I have let down a bit in FM20, incidentally both called Andrés. First up is Andrés Acuña, a fast striker who joined us in the 1st Youth Intake. I was immediately happy with how he looked, as I love the Advanced Forward role and there was no question that this was the role I would train him in.

After winning the Uruguayan U19 and Reserve competitions with 12 goals in 20 appearances and turning 18 years old, he looked ready for 1st team football. So I sent him off to Cerro Largo where he played 7 times and did not score, before experiencing relegation to the Segunda División. A masterclass of Youth Development right there from Bastardo! He’ll return to Peñarol for 2022 and I’m of the belief that he needs a few months with me after Cerro Largo…hopefully he’ll find his shooting boots in the Reserves and possibly with the 1st team as our 3rd choice Advanced Forward.

Bastardo's reflection:

+ At least 2 Stars of ability to fill.
+ Suits our new 4-1-3-2, where having a supporting player alongside Andrés could free him to do the one thing I demand from my most advanced forward: to score goals.
- Awful loan spell. I’m sorry Andrés.

Andrés Cabrera - born 2003

Despite not featuring in the first team, Andrés Cabrera has been included in this little update because things have not gone so well. It wasn’t that long ago that Andrés was the youngster that was the most highly rated at the club - a Newgen from the 1st Youth Intake. But I’ve included him to show that youth development in FM isn’t an exact science and there are many pitfalls in the way from preventing a guy from reaching his potential. He’s still only 18, so I’m not completely ruling out his Peñarol future…but his critical make-or-break year is now upon us.

A 4 month hip injury, days into his loan away from the club (with Club Atlético Cerro), set the tone for his 2021. I know from experience that hip injuries are nasty, a friend in youth football had one and never recovered. His brain continued to move fast post-injury but his body could never keep up. The lack of mobility is frustrating to see and I hope the same doesn’t happen to Cabrera. I recalled him right away as I wanted him to recover with our facilities and not the loanee club’s. Nursing him back to injury, FM tells me to place him on an individual rehab-training regime; in order to help him recover strength. I’ve chosen an individual focus of ‘General Rehab’ that works on all the Physical attributes (excluding Natural Fitness).

Shoulda, woulda, coulda means I’m outta of time. But in hindsight I should have kept Andrés Cabrera with me at Peñarol and tried to correct his unambitious mentality - as this will influence how he applies himself to training. I feel like I have wasted a year with him, but at 18 years of age…time is, just about, on our side.

Bastardo's reflection:

+ “Brave, committed and considered a Leader” accordingtofm.
+ Still room for growth.
- A year wasted was perhaps the kick up the arse we both needed. Trainer and Trainee, we need to be better.

Meanwhile as the Heir to Tabárez…

I have rambled on long enough, but here’s just a quick note to tell you that Uruguay qualified for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar! A ‘final day comeback draw’ (is this a thing?) against Brazil was enough to secure our place as the 4th best qualifier. But don’t judge those rankings, Bastardo’s Uruguay are still the reigning Copa América champions and we’ll look to win the World Cup in a year’s time.

The tournaments are what make International Management bearable in Football Manager, so I’ll aim to blog this event before resigning (whatever the outcome) in order to concentrate on club duties with Peñarol. A club where boys become men…

As always, thanks for reading/sharing/caring,

FM Grasshopper