Hi Everybody 👋

I planned to go all things Catenaccio with Spezia Calcio during the #FM23Beta, until I remained winless in the first 6 games of Serie A and “didn’t feel it anymore”.  Instead, I felt like I needed a bit of fun/magic, something away from Europe, and as I perused some of my favourite leagues around the globe I fell on 41-year-old José Sand:

Those that know me will cite my love for Argentine Oldies, and there’s not many older than José Sand in the game database.  ‘Pepe’, as he is affectionately known, continues to regularly feature in the Argentine Premier Division aged 41.  His team, Club Atlético Lanús, are a nice blend of experience and some exciting youth prospects: Julián Aude, Maximiliano González, Franco Orozco and Pedro de la Vega (injured for the first 7-8 months of 2022) to name just a few.

Firstly, let’s take a closer look at Sand, because he is the player that piqued my interest for this beta save…

You can see that Sand is a great finisher and intelligent off the ball. He is ultra-aggressive, brave and hard working for his team mates.  His weaknesses are twofold: his flair (ability to do ‘magic’ when on the ball) and his relatively slow quickness.  Just from a brief look at these attributes, I’ve already ruled out a number of Striker roles such as Advanced Forward, Complete Forward, Deep Lying Forward and Trequartista.  He isn’t one to make regular sprints throughout 90 minutes of football, and he will not be very effective in a creative striker role.

His traits of ‘Play Short Simples Passes’ and ‘Does Not Move Into Channels’ further refine what he probably can and cannot do effectively.  It looks like there are only a few roles I want to select him in: Poacher (Attack), Pressing Forward (Defend and Support) or Target Forward (Support and Attack) because neither require the player to move into channels and stretch the play.  But before I choose, I want to see what other roles I can place around him…

4-2-3-1 Control Possession

Has anybody tried to pass off a preset tactic from SI as one of their own? Because that’s exactly what I am doing today on the blog .  But in all seriousness, the game makes it easier for newer players these days.  But that being said, I’ve been recommended a trio of tactical styles: Route One, Fluid Counter-Attack or Park The Bus, neither of which really fit in how I would want to meet the Supporters’ vision of playing attacking football.  That’s not to say those styles can’t bring about high shots/goals-to-game ratios.  But I personally feel that we should be more proactive; whereby we take the game to the opponent and dictate the play.  Afterall, Lanús are supposedly a top 6 team based on the Media’s prediction.

I therefore decided to use the Control Possession preset.  The style is a lower tempo, counter-press…whereby the ball is worked into the box…a box that hopefully will be filled with Pepe Sand.  I’ve ignored a recommended 4-3-3 Wide and 5-2-3 Wide, because I would like to see how a No.10 does when working off Sand.  Instead, I’ve plucked for a 4-2-3-1 Wide…but there are a number of things I want to change from the roles initially offered in the preset:

1. Firstly, I’m not a fan of the Complete Forward-Attack role for Sand for reasons previously mentioned.  Changing this in turn means I’d also want to change the No.10 role behind him.  I’m leaning towards an attacking role in the AMC slot, somebody to roam around and have full creative freedom.  There’s one role that pushes this to the max: The Trequartista.

2. IF we go with a Treq…I’m keen to ditch the idea of a Target Forward (one of the three roles I had left in my head to choose from).  My thinking is that there will be an over reliance on pinging balls into the central striker area, because both roles are ‘ball magnets’.  A Poacher could certainly work, but I’ve instead chosen a supportive Pressing Forward mainly because I think Sand could do a great job of holding the ball up for us…allowing wider men in the 4-2-3-1 to be brought into play.

3. From the base 4-2-3-1, I ditched the Winger role and replaced it for an Inside Forward.  Why?  Because I felt the Winger would not have a great deal to cross for.  It could work, but I’m thinking Club Captain Lautaro Acosta is more of a threat cutting inside and playing off Sand as an IF.

4. Looking at the deeper roles.  The next domino that kick-starts a few extra changes is related to the penetration I want from the central area.  DM-S and BWM-D are a solid pivot, but for games I expect to win (certainly ones at home) I have opted for a Segundo Volante on Attack.  This is a deeper version of a box-to-box midfielder, and on attack should be regularly linking up with the Trequartista.  For away games, I will look to curb the advancements somewhat and will choose a Support mentality. 

5. IF we go with a Segundo Volante.  I first wanted to try an Inverted Wing-Back to fill the void in the DM space when in possession.  But sadly this does not seem to work in x2 DM systems for another year, so instead opt for a supportive Wing Back.  I’ve also adjusted the mentality of the right sided Wing Back to further exaggerate that natural overlap on the right hand side with the Inside Forward cutting in.

6. The last tweak is an extra Ball Playing Defender, but on Stopper duty in order for him to move forward if the Segundo Volante is caught up-field and unable to press oncoming opposition.  I’m confident that this could work well having a few CBs with high Aggression and relatively high Decision attributes.

So, this is how we set up for the first 6 months of Argieball (January-June 2022):

Season 2022

2022 Copa de la Liga Profesional

In the first 6 months of fútbol, there was not much in the way of game-to-game changes.  In terms of player roles, I mentioned previously that dropping the Segundo Volante mentality down was a common tweak when I’ve gone in front and looking to close out the match.  I would also consider only having a Support SV when I am in a big away game (e.g. Vs ‘The Big Five’ teams).  In terms of instructions, I turn off Counter-Press when there is no need to be so risky when we are out-of-possession.  I also turn off Work The Ball Into Box when I feel like my wide players are better off pumping the ball into the box from wider areas.

Sand hit form as soon as the season commenced as our Pressing Forward on Support duty, reaching 10 goals in his first nine league games.  But then went seven games on the bounce without netting, as we struggled with fixture congestion and fatigue due to the 2022 Copa Sudamericana.   He ended up at the midpoint of the season with 13 goals (all comps).  You can see how inconsistent we were throughout the first 6 months:

2022 Argentine Primera División

With a 40-day break before the second half of the Argentine season commences, I thought I would see if I can get a Director of Football into the club to make some deals.  83-year-old Roberto Saporiti, who played for the club in 1962, answered the call.  His first task was to see if he can bring in a flair based player via a short Recruitment Focus, until I realised that the transfer window was also disabled for the second window of the save.  Bug OR my ignorance on database creation?  I think the latter, I had started in February…so what I think is the second window is actually the first.  Never mind, I’ll go all Arsène Wenger and say that the returning Pedro de la Vega in 5-weeks would be “like a new signing”.  However, Sand also signed on for a further two years to take him into his 44th year, well done Saporiti!

I cannot go into the Data Hub to determine where things could do with a tactical adjustment ahead of the 2nd half of the season.  This is because the Hub only populates with league game data…and the opening league system is [possibly incorrectly] coded as a cup tournament.  So, it feels like I am playing a pre-Data Hub edition of FM, but luckily I have watched all of the matches played.  For the second half of the year, I propose the below tactical tweaks:

• I’ve not seen enough of the Segundo Volante (just 3 goals) to warrant its continued inclusion, despite it being one of my favourite roles from other saves.  He’s getting forward in the highlights I’m seeing, but I can tell it's far from perfect.  However, it’s the No.10 position that worries me more (3 goals and 1 assist from my 1st choice ffs).  I changed Treq to Advanced Playmaker on support duty…but more importantly brought him down into the central midfielder area, alongside an attacking Mezzala.  My reasoning is that the playmaker can now get on the ball more and see players ahead of him, which now also includes an attacking Inside Forward - who I hope can get beyond the supportive Pressing Forward who drops deep and holds up the ball.  Elsewhere, there are a few other little tweaks in the midfield and within the backline.  But largely the same roles throughout.

• I downsize in Team instructions though.  I’m no longer forcing so much through the middle, but we’re keeping the controlling style of play.  I have also permanently ditched the counter press, and in turn have decided to also do away with the high lines…instead settling on a Mid-Block.  One of the benefits I see here is that I can adjust the lines, and add out-of-possession bits as I see fit during the games themselves.

Here is SandBall v2, which is now a 4-3-3 DM…

Annoyingly I wished I had made the changes sooner, but I was determined to smash Continue and review at the season mid-point.  The v2 of the tactic has made a real difference, despite initially earning a few too many draws…I could see a real difference in the style of football, in the xG I was now accumulating and eventually the results!  We hit form, building up a sequence of wins to put us into the Copa Libertadores places after the first 10 matches after the re-start.

I’ve clipped some of the gorgeous interplay that has led to goals below.  When we were good, we were really good.  Although we have been prone to the odd narrow defeat, usually in the crunch games against super clubs like Boca and River or those in ridiculous form like Club Atlético Unión de Santa Fe and Vélez Sarsfield.

Seeing as I had no transfer window in the end, it forced me to give plenty of minutes to some of the brilliant youngsters that Lanús have in the squad.  This save started out all about a 41-year-old but I enjoyed seeing the young wonderkids come into the match day squad and surprise me too:

Julián Aude (1,578 minutes), Maximiliano González (1,240 minutes), Franco Orozco (3,436 minutes) and Pedro de la Vega (954 minutes) all receive glowing recommendations from me. They’re awesome!

We ended up finishing 5th in the Premier Division with 50 points, which secured qualification for the 2023 Copa Libertadores which is above the board expectation (top half) and a place above the media prediction of 6th. Furthermore, this feat was superseded by a Copa Argentina penalty shootout win against Barracas Central. Although it did come at a huge personal cost as 34-year-old Club Captain Lautaro Acosta broke his leg in the showpiece final, who is now considering retirement. He faces 8 months out of action.

However, José Sand brought me here; so it’s only fitting I should sign off with one last mention to our top scorer of 2022 with 20 goals (all comps).  His goal rate may have plateaued by the end of the year, but he had a solid season and justified the extra two-year deal to remain at Lanús until his 44th year.  It sounds incredible, but also typically Argentine Primera División!

Too boring/long/short; did not read? Hopefully this tactical journey has been an interesting read [to some]. The finished style which I ended up on is not overly complicated, it does not require a detailed commentary on the inner-workings. It’s simply a modified preset, tailored to the nice squad I inherited here at Lanús. I won a trophy, got 20 goals out of a 41-year-old and captured some nice #GIFGoals.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you continue to enjoy the FM23 Beta.

Tony / FM Grasshopper