Regista: Directing the Flow #FM16 #WeAreTheCommunity

July 22, 2016

The brilliant Deep Lying Podcast last week covered a topic which is not always easy to talk about: FM Slumps and Fails. Today I'll share my current predicament, and the solution I plan to remedy the current slump...

My 'FM Slump'

29 September 2021 saw Grasshopper Club Zürich (GCZ) crumble to their biggest ever Champions League defeat to Man City (5-1). I was reeling from the result. Despite having the ball for large amounts of the game in a 4-2-3-1, we simply didn't create enough meaningful chances. Unfortunately this performance and result was waiting to happen. I had been carelessly re-adjusting tactics and formations to suit the Homegrown talents coming through (which I will cover in a separate blog post soon). There's a plethora of knock on effects of doing this, but in simple terms...I and GCZ had lost our way. Form was erratic and performances had lost their zip:

If the 5-1 hammering wasn't enough indication that something was broke, then a drab performance and loss at home to St Gallen really slapped me in the face. I needed to get back to basics and fix this quickly.

A lot of the ball but nothing to talk about

I immediately went back to a tried and trusted 4-3-3, but I knew the problems in the team are more deep rooted than this. In a lot of the games (excluding Man City) we had a lot of the ball. We were controlling the flow, but not directing it. The defence wasn't the problem and probably not the Attackers either, as we were simply not creating enough Clear Cut Chances in matches. As highlighted by the infamous Swiss Cup 2nd Round exit against Lausanne, where only 3 Clear Cut Chances were created in 120 minutes/40 shots.

Therefore, I needed to revisit the Playmaking role in the team, normally occupied by £24.5m signing Julian Weigl. Now I admit, I have become a bit obsessed with viewing the performance stats of my players. In doing so I've unintentionally become misguided/lazy in what I want from the stats FM offers. An example of this is when I accepted the fact that Julian Weigl completed 54 of his 64 passes in a 0-0 home draw with Dynamo Kiev, without looking into what kind of passes these were and where they went. FM is a game that keeps us on our toes, when we get lazy (like I did) it can come back to bite you.

Julian Weigl against Dymano Kiev (0-0), a good night's job from my playmaker?

Directing the Flow

Looking into Julian Weigl's passes in detail showed that the Deep Lying Playmaker (DLP) role on Support was resulting in many short insignificant passes generally to the left hand side of the pitch. I was effectively restraining this guy's playmaking abilities and restricting his influence on the team. I probably never really noticed last season because of the amount of match winners like Iuri Medeiros (now sold to Man Utd) and Moussa Konaté (out of form) I had in the team. Note - this is not a critque of the DLP role. On the contrary, the DLP has been a great role for me especially in my first few years at GC with Kim Källström. When the tactics suit it can be effective, but things change...

I have therefore taken the decision to deploy Operation Reigsta and use Weigl as a DM Regista. So what's the difference between a DLP and a Regista? Well after lots of comparing/contrasting in the FM16 match engine, I conclude that the Regista presses higher, is given a license to roam more freely and passes longer. The technical and physical attributes required for both roles are the same, but the Mental requirements for Regista are greater. Our Regista benefits from being more aggressive, a good anticipator and intelligent off the ball.

On the whole, Julian Weigl is a great Regista — On the whole, Julian Weigl is a great Regista

And what of the change in Weigl's performance since the role/position change? Well fast forward 3 weeks from that awful night away at Man City and we find ourselves beating FC Porto 5-0 at home. GCZ's biggest ever Champions League win. If we look deeper into what has changed, we see a Playmaker with the freedom to be where he wants AND with the creative freedom to 'direct the flow'.

In the 5-0 thrashing, Weigl was MOTM. With a Player Rating of 9.0, and a Goal to boast about, he was simply a pleasure to watch. Instead of the 54 completed passes 'for passes sake' (like in the Kiev game), Weigl only completed 39 passes. But let's look at what kind of passes they were:

LEFT: Julian Weigl as the DLP (Support) against Kiev. RIGHT: Julian Weigl as THE Regista against Porto — LEFT: Julian Weigl as the DLP (Support) against Kiev. RIGHT: Julian Weigl as THE Regista against Porto

It's obvious that the Regista passes are longer and more penetrative (RIGHT) compared to Weigl in his DLP role (LEFT). Combined with a Box To Box midfielder and two Wingers on Attack duty, Weigl was able to direct the flow of the Porto game. He also had help with a CM on defend to protect him when needed.

Conclusions

It's early days, but I look back at that Porto game and the decision to change Weigl's role in the team as a defining moment in Season 7 (2021/22). You will have to wait and see in a future blog post about whether we conclusively corrected this dip in form. But early signs are good.

As always thank you for reading.

FMG

Hugging & Inverting: The Juxtaposition of Width #FM16 #WeAreTheCommunity

July 8, 2016

During the last 6 [in game] years at Grasshopper Club Zürich (GCZ) I have tweaked a variety of tactical aspects of my formation and player/team attributes. None more so than the use of width in my teams and it's something I have been meaning to blog about for a while. Today I will try to discuss my transition from using an Inverted Inside Forward in 2015 to a more traditional Winger in 2021.

Now I am probably going against the latest cycle in football. Managers are now playing Wingers on the 'wrong' side judging by the foot preference: referenced in today's blog as Inverted Inside Forwards (IIFs). This implication of this is an expectancy on the modern day Fullback to get forward and provide the width that a more traditional Winger once gave. The clear benefit of this is that Fullbacks generally play on their stronger side, so the space created by an IIF roaming inside onto their stronger foot means that you can effectively add your Fullback to your attacking arsenal. Think of the way Messi and Alves linked up in Barcelona. However, football is cyclical in nature and I like to think I am ahead of the curve in FM16 by bringing back the line hugging Wingers of old*.

*To clarify, 'Wingers of old' is in reference to the Wingers of 20 years ago e.g. the 1990s Ryan Giggs. Wingers who generally played in a 4-4-2, who offered width and invention out wide. Real 100% attacking Wingers died in the 1930s during the death of the 3-2-5 formations. Another story to be told by more learned men. Unfortunately not by me, I simply wouldn't do it justice.

Meet 'the inverted'

I started my GCZ save on November 13th 2015, the day Football Manager 2016 came out, thus using the Day 1 Database. Due to a slight oversight in the data, Yoric Ravet had been given a 20/20 left foot and weak right foot...when in fact it should be the reverse. (This has since been corrected by the Swiss Researcher: @aulit_z, who does a great job keeping on top of things). Nevertheless, I was faced with a challenge...help Yoric Ravet with his inverted affliction and simply make it work. In addition to this, the finances at the time were tight at GCZ and I had other areas to 'fix'.

So here are Yoric's attributes, positional data and his performance in the 2015/16 year as an IIF:

Straight away we can see that Yoric actually fits the IIF mould quite well, he has good ratings in the primary IF attributes:

Dribbling - 13, Finishing - 12, Passing - 14, Technique - 14
Decisions - 13, Off The Ball - 13
Acceleration - 15

He also complements the secondary aspects of an IIF well: First Touch, Long Shots, Composure, Flair, Vision and Pace. It's for this reason back in November that I believed I could make it work, so I tailored the team around Ravet in an asymmetrical formation...

...and asked him to do this (with tweaking throughout the season here and there):

We can see an example of how it pans out in two scenarios below:

Example 1: GCZ vs Thun '6 mins

Red/Pass, Pink/The IIF movement, Yellow/ expected Winger movement

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The chance shown above against Thun wasn't a goal, but it highlighted the build up play Ravet provided. His directness was a key feature throughout the season, but this game (a 2-0 win) in particular highlighted his threat: no crosses and no real width in the team, but good movement and a goal to brag about:

Example 2: Thun Vs GCZ '93 mins

Another example of what the IIFs can bring to your team was briefly mentioned in my intro: adding Fullbacks to your attacking arsenal. Below is movement in the Thun reverse fixture, where GCZ won 2-1. You can see that Benjamin Lüthi (at the time playing as a Wing Back) took advantage of Yoric Ravet causing a nuisance of himself by dropping inside and getting a feel for the ball. Lüthi has the chance for a crossing opportunity, but pulls this back to Ravet...

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You can also see above that Ravet is comfortable on the ball, his first touch and vision allows him to pick out 18 year old Harun Alpsoy before making his run into the penalty area. Sadly for him Alpsoy had a poor first touch, which led to the move breaking down. This all occurring in the 93rd minute, which is a trademark of my GCZ teams...controlling games for as much of the 90 mins as possible.

Again, Yoric Ravet gets a goal. However, this time he does get a solitary cross in, but you can see his activity is generally narrow meaning his crosses are in fact passes (4 of which are Key). So if you've read this far, you're probably wondering why on earth I changed the IIF formula and adopted a wider approach with Wingers. There's many reasons to tell the truth, but to name a few:

Yoric Ravet was my only IIF. So when he wasn't playing I needed to change the whole team dynamic.
The asymmetrical 4-3-2-1 system was unbalanced. I was exposed by other wide teams who could attack my fullbacks.
Munas Dabbur (my Central Striker who Ravet often relied on for support) was sold in the Summer of 2016. So I needed to rejig the attacking output in the team, with Shani Tarashaj going in as striker. Shani was more of a drifter and not static enough for Ravet to be effective in the IIF role.
I do like Wing Play. I used to be a Winger, albeit in Sunday League. I love understanding the play and stretching the opposition by staying wide and choosing when to gamble. I probably had the ball at my feet for about 1% of the actual game...but it never stopped me thinking about the positional aspect during those 90 mins and the duel I had with the opposing Full Back.

So what happened to Yoric Ravet? Well after excelling as my IIF in Season 1, he was brutally used as a Winger for seasons to come (and rarely an IIF again). You can see his output decline massively, and by 2020 he was in Serie C. His 'database affliction' came back to haunt him as a left footed right Winger simply doesn't work.

Meet 'the huggers'

There's been a number of Wingers since Yoric Ravet at GCZ, both left sided and right. But to keep this blog post concise, let's focus on two of the most recent: 25 year old right Winger Adama Traoré & 21 year old Regen left Winger Víctor Silva (both below):

Víctor Silva_ History Career Stats-2.png

Both Traoré & Silva have amazing Winger stats. Their essential attributes in Crossing, & Technique attributes are complemented with raw power in Acceleration & Pace. They also both 'Hug the Line', which is important to how they suit my Player/Team Instructions. In addition to this, they also are not inverted...I can essentially stretch the play and ask them to stick wide either in a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1.

Let's now take a look at the destruction they get up to, Traoré & Silva get one example each...

Example 1: Traoré Vs St. Gallen '79 mins

We can see below Traoré holding his position and thus stretching the play, before using his Dribbling and Acceleration to beat his opponent. The chance created is a successful cross and forced a good save from the keeper (saving Zivkovic's shot). There's no need for a Full Back overlap here...Traoré can beat his man alone time and time again.

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Traoré's positional & movement against St Gallen is in stark contrast to Ravet's discussed previously. Not only is Traoré out wide, he is ridiculously advanced (mainly because he has a defensively minded Full Back behind him). He is crossing (20 attempts) and dribbling (6 made). We also have 8 Key Passes and a goal...

Example 2: Silva Vs St. Gallen '5 seconds!

Now we turn to Silva on the other wing. This is Víctor Silva's 1st start in a GCZ shirt, and after 5 seconds I knew I had acquired a special talent. Firstly he picks up the ball from Central Defender Noah Loosli. His PPM of 'Hugs Line' means he isn't adverse to staying out wide and beating his man 1:1. You can see from screenshots 2, 3 & 4 he has twisted the blood of fullback Martin Angha, a defender 6 years wiser. Once again, given the decision to cut inside like an IIF or go wide, Silva has gone wide and delivers a well weighted cross to Zivkovic. The chance leads to a good save from the St Gallen keeper but it offers hope that the GCZ Wingplay of 2020/21 will be something to remember...

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Despite Silva's performance dropping as the game went on, he showed his class with 6 Key Passes and a goal. Like Traoré, he has stretched the game by being out wide:

Conclusions

It would be hard to decide on a winner between the IIF and Winger. They both have served me well at different points in my GCZ career. Only you guys know what's best for YOUR team, but before you leave, here are five things I evaluate when deciding on what wing play to use (again feel free to share your opinions):

Firstly evaluate your squad, do you have an abundance of a certain type, a nice balance OR an unbalanced shape?
Evaluate the minuscule details of your Wingers. As much as you can: their attributes, the strength of their feet, their PPMs etc.
Evaluate the players around your wingers: the Fullbacks/Wingbacks, the Strikers etc. I'm a great believer in combinations, so by having an attacking Wing Back might sway you into wanting to try an IIF
Does your Team Instructions suit a particular type of Winger? Think about how you want to play and how width might help with that.
Make it fun. Try something different and experiment in the match engine, you might like it!

I hope you have enjoyed today's blog, as always, thanks for taking the time to read.

FMG

Player Search: finding talent & value in FM #FM16 #WeAreTheCommunity

July 2, 2016

A few followers on Twitter have asked me what I search when signing a player in FM16. In truthfulness the criteria for signing a player differs in each transfer deal I've made. This is primarily due to reputation and resources being different year on year. I've been on an upward curve within my FM16 save at Grasshopper Club Zürich (GCZ) and each year has bought about an increased financial capital. I am also [rather unintentionally] becoming increasingly nitpicky on transfer deals. Today's blog outlines my current criteria, as I approach the start of Season 7 (2021/22).

The search

Match Engine:

The hardest part of any transfer deal is finding the right target(s). Real life clubs have a variety of methods, notably 'old school' techniques like scouts watching targets in games but also online viewing via scouting tools like Scout7. In FM, it is not too dissimilar, we can watch games at various speeds with various viewing options within the match engine. It's effectively our tickets into the stadia and any seat in that stadium. I try to watch signings in the match engine to see how they perform based on AI instructions. Sometimes I do not learn a lot but on other occasions I can get something out of it. For example:

How useful a player is in a particular role/position
How they compete in the 1:1 battle with players. i.e. how do they compete with quickness/strength of the opposition etc
How do they move outside of possession. Important imo, as most of the game is played when said player does not have the ball

For those unaware, it's simply a case of clicking on the 'V' during the fixture list screen. Note - you can (quite rightly) only be at one place at any one time...so only one match can be viewed per day.

Player Search:

Another method is the Player Search Function. If I was to quantify my time in FM, I'd say that I probably spend about 75% of my playing time in the Player Search Function. A 4 hour stint in the weekday evenings, could be spent solely ploughing through the thousand of search results on this screen. It's probably one of the reasons why I am on Season 7 whereas other FMers like Guido Merry are 20 years plus into the future. There's no right/wrong way to play FM, and that's the beauty of it.

So, the search screen can yield thousands of possible player searches. I can't even begin to quantify actually how many, but here are my frequent 5 for finding talent and value:

(1) Finding value I: contract expiry + squad status

This is a much cherished search. Especially in the early days of my GCZ save, where transfer and wage budgets were ridiculously tight. I find that contract expiry is the single most important influence on dictating the ease of an AI club selling a player. So the search is something like:

The above search shows those players that are not considered first teamers at their clubs and who expire within a year. I guarantee you that those AI clubs will sell those players listed at either market value or below. This is how I've found value.

(2) Finding value II: value Vs minimum fee release clauses

Anther way to maintain value when holding a bigger budget is to search by Minimum Fee Release Clauses and sort by value. Below I have left Value unfiltered and can see some BIG buys, which I would consider full of value. Check out 25 year old Matheus Pereira, who is valued extremely close to his minimum fee release clause...bargain!

(3) Hardworking Youth: Professional + age

As I argue time and again, hard work beats talent. Professionalism therefore is the holy grail Personality trait that you should install at your club. Now this search can swing both ways, you might want an older statesman to come in and tutor your youth. But another solution is to work with upcoming youth who are already willing to work hard in training. I like this search, particularly when viewing players' mental attributes. We can see some real gems below, who I know I can develop with relative ease:

(4) Two footedness: right foot + left foot

Readers may also know that I am a a huge fan of two footed players (as argued here), both in game AND in real life. It's makes such a difference and it does translate into FM's match engine (even though some dispute this). If I am going to include a niche search in today's blog, well here it is:

I've sorted by 'First Touch' here in the Technical attributes. These players will generally be proficient with the ball and you should make use of this in the Player/Team instructions.

(5) Attributes

Searching by attributes is very important in my searches, however there is no one search I frequently do. It all depends on what I am looking for based on: age, position, role etc. However, there are some universal attributes that I rate:

I wouldn't necessarily search all 4 together, and I wouldn't normally have 15 or above as criteria. However these are important 'universal' attributes. (Positional focused searches give priority to other attributes such as Finishing for a Striker and Marking for a defender). So why these 4:

Natural Fitness - FM's most important and underrated attribute? I think so, it could be the reason why your £30m signing makes only 15 appearances a season at 95% fitness or above.

First Touch - How often do we see moves fall apart in the match engine because a player has a poor first touch? There's a reason why First Touch improves in real life as you move up the football pyramid. It's the first sign of a good player and a demonstration of his or hers hard work and learning.

Determination - I want my players to dig deep when needed in a game. I want them to be like their manager, driven in pursuit for silverware. In terms of younger players at tutoring age, I am not fussed with this attribute...as I know I can increase it overtime with tutoring.

Work Rate - I want my players to work for the whole 90 minutes. The intensity in theory should be the same in minute 1 as it is in minute 90. There are player roles where this attribute isn't vital (Enganche for example). But my fluid controlling style at GCZ requires higher than normal work rate.

The Disclaimer

The usefulness of all of the above is dictated by how good your Scouting Network is. It's why sometimes the AI finds that gem Regen from Tibet, whereas your search did not show him. The player search yields those players within your 'sphere of knowledge'. Below is my world knowledge in 2021:

Make no mistake, 21% knowledge of the world is poor...especially after 6 full seasons. My GCZ save isn't about finding those regens, it's about developing homegrowns. In addition there are ways to find those players outside of the Player Search, which is probably another blog in itself.

It would be interesting to hear about your searches and also how far into the World Knowledge you've 'completed'. It's certainly something I want to consider 100%ing in a future FM save. As always, thank you for reading.

FMG

The Marco & Remo Diaries - "Heartbreak" Part IV #FM16 #WeAreTheCommunity

April 29, 2016

When we last met Marco and Remo they were on course for a second consecutive Domestic Double in 2018/19. This was achieved, with Marco and Remo playing a key role in the success. They also carried this form into the 2019/2020 season, meaning that they both won three league titles in a row at Grasshoppers. As mentioned in a previous Homegrown blogpost, Marco & Remo are the players I am turning to in order to lead a Homegrown European success story. What could possibly go wrong here?

Heartbreak

Well, heartbreak happened. Marco Simon, Homegrown captain at 19 and potentially World Class central midfielder, has left Grasshopper Club Zürich (GCZ) to seek European glory with Olympique Lyonnais (OL). The fee is a generous one, £20m upfront in cash and 30% of any transfer profit made.

Marco Simon_ Interaction Private Chat.png

So why did I sanction the deal and potentially sabotage my 5 year plan? There's a number of reasons:

Talks between Marco and his agents started in Summer 2019, in order to extend his deal beyond 2022. For 12 months, Marco refused to talk with the club and angled for a move to a bigger club (for much of the 2019/20 campaign). Not ideal behaviour for Club Captain and somebody I want to build my team around.
Marco's had a noticeable decline in performances within the Match Engine. Although, his stats were marginally better (as you'd expect for a young player year on year). He simply did not have a presence in the BIG games, like in previous years.
Marco was 6 months away from reaching the 18 month milestone of contract expiry. A date I try to set when negotiating new deals. At this point, players are at a reasonable sale value should they wish to leave. Anything after runs the risk of reduced transfer sales.
Marco tore his hamstring (out for at least 3 months) in the last Swiss warm up game before Euro 2020. He could potentially be out for around 25% of the new season. (Trust me, I've torn a hamstring before and I took the best part of a year to be able to sprint freely and at my best again). Marco is crooked for the foreseeable future.
I also have a Homegrown Youngster waiting and (I think) ready to jump into the First Team after being gradually introduced in 2019/20. Enter: Nuno Gouveia (see below).
Lastly (and perhaps most importantly) his behaviour was spreading across the wider group. He wanted an explicit guarantee of Champions League success in 2021. I like to think of myself as a capable FMer but without the use of an Editor and a zero tolerance for cheating...I simply cannot offer this guarantee. In addition to this, what kind of Manager would I be if I let a player walk all over me? Even the Club Captain isn't bigger than the Club itself. After all, we're all servants to GCZ.

Nuno Gouveia - Marco Smon's heir apparent

So after 4 seasons of nurturing this young boy, turning him into a Swiss International and seeing him win 3 league titles and 2 Swiss Cups. The relationship is over. Here is a summary of Marco's time with GCZ:

103 total competitive appearances for GCZ & 14 International caps for Switzlerand
- 68 Swiss Super League appearances (28 as Club Captain in 2019/2020). 3 league goals
- 20 Champions League appearances
- 15 Swiss Cup appearances
- 2 goals for Switzlerand

Marco Simon is 359 league appearances away from equalling Mats Gren's Club record of 427. Now that's a real Club Icon!

Loyalty

Enough talk about Marco, let's not forget that this blog post is 50% about Remo Mahrer too. Remo is a player who has shown loyalty in 2019/20 by signing a new £12.5k per week 4 year deal. This will keep him at GCZ until 2024 at least, although there is the added complication of a £25m release clause...should a BIG club come in for him.

Remo is on an upward curve and is surprising me with his development. For the first time, he has scored 10 goals in all competitions in 2019/20, despite being used as an Attacking Midfielder on Support Duty. I think 2020/21 is the season where I finally slot him into the team as a Support Striker...so expect goals.

There's also hope that Remo could set Euro 2020 alight within a very capable attacking quartet for Switzerland. As predicted in the last Diary post, Remo could: "could creep into the Euro 2020 squad unnoticed and shock International football..."

2 Homegrown Youngsters: Gjorgjev and Mahrer in Switzerland's last warm up game before Euro 2020

Keep an eye on my Twitter over the next few days to see how Remo does in Euro 2020. Also, for those wondering, I will of course continue to blog on the progress of Marco & Remo. Despite Marco's departure, he is still Grasshopper Alumni and, who knows, he may someday comeback...

Thanks for reading and for those that are only just encountering the 'Diary Posts', here are links to previous instalments:

FMG

The Homegrown XI: the 5 year plan #FM16 #WeAreTheCommunity

April 8, 2016

Last week saw the 1st part of my 'Homegrown XI' feature blogs. It's aim is to document my journey towards developing a successful Homegrown XI. Firstly, let's clarify the two types of homegrown status that I will be talking about further on:

Homegrown (HG): A homegrown player will be defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with Grasshopper Club Zürich (GCZ), continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the Season during which he turns 21)

Homegrown in Nation (HGN): also known as an 'association-trained’ player. This player fulfils the same criteria as above but with another club in the same association/nation.

Developing and integrating homegrown talents is a challenge in Modern Day football, especially at the upper echelons of club competitions like the Champions League. However there are two examples in the last 20 years (technically 21 now) where a club has been bold enough to use homegrown talents and deliver success in the Champions League. You should all know them very well: Ajax of 1995 & Barcelona of 2011.

Note - there are other success stories like Porto of 2004, who had a starting XI of 9 HGNs when they won the Champions League. But for the purposes of today's blog, and my GCZ save in general, I am more concerned about 'true homegrown': HGs.

Ajax 1995 - Blind faith in youth

The Ajax team lined up against Fabio Capello's AC Milan with 9 HGNs (incl. 7 HGs) with a 4213, but during the game it was more like a 3331, with F. de Boer & Reiziger pushing in centrally to make a back 3 with Rijkaard occupying a more advanced defensive midfield position. The 3 defensive players could handle Milan's Gullit & Savićević who were the front 2 of a rigid 442. (You can see why the English FA were so excited to get Capello!)

Anyway, Ajax won 1 nil. It showed the rest of Europe that Ajax was once again at the forefront of youth development. However whilst Ajax celebrated their win, there was another 'Ajaxman' (Johan Cruyff) over in Catalonia that was putting the seeds in place to trump Van Gaal in two ways: as much HGs as Ajax 1995 but with more beauty....

Barcelona 2011 - Dream Team v2

"Great teams do go in cycles and they're at the peak of the cycle they're in at the moment" Sir Alex Ferguson (2011)

Barcelona won the Champions League in 2011 with 7 HGs and 9 HGNs (which included Dani Alves who moved to Spain at 18). Barcelona beat Manchester Utd 3-1 but in a way which led Alex Ferguson to proclaim the 2011 Barca as the best team he had ever faced. The man in charge was Pep Guardiola who would credit Johan Cruyff as one of the main inspirations and catalysts for success.

Both Ajax of 1995 and Barcelona of 2011 prove that nurturing homegrown talent, whilst winning the greatest club prize IS possible. It also set out the aim: equalling of improving on the 7 HGs and 9 HGNs that both teams achieved. For GCZ, the challenge is accepted...

Squad Building at GCZ - the 5 year plan

The date of my current save is 01 January 2020, we're top of the league in Season 5 and on course for a 5th consecutive league title. The current best X1 (when everyone is fit) contains 4 HGs:

However, serious work is needed to get anywhere near to Ajax and Barcelona's HG achievements. Fabio Daprelà is already 28 years old and Levent Gülen (25 years old), despite not being exceptional quality, is attracting interest form Serie A. It could be assumed that both these HGs will leave GCZ within 1-2 years. Therefore I need to think ahead and squad build, I've ambitiously planned 5 years into the future based on my current assessment of the U18s and U21s.

Now that I know the formation and tactics I want to play (as discussed in last week's blog), the team in 5 years time is shaping up as two variants of 4123 (possible 433s based on how you view fluid tactics):

Here are the 9 HGs identified as First Team compliant from 2020 (in some cases well before):

Nikola Gjorgjev_ Overview Attributes.png

Questions remain as to whether I can keep the Regen International due of Marco Simon & Remo Mahrer (which will be discussed in a future instalment of the Marco & Remo Diaries). Marco is the Captain of the team but has an inflated ego at present preventing him from extending his contract with GCZ. Remo Mahrer is good in the AMC role but, at present, not a prolific ST. His development will largely dictate whether I need to develop an exceptional Striker...hopefully a Kluivert or Messi (easier said than done right?). The striking options that currently lie within the U18s are Hotz (16), Tarone (18), Todoric (18) and Thurnheer (18), see below:

There's also a decision to be made at the GK position, mainly whether 19 year old Ivan Pajic can step up and be First team ready within 5 years...

Ivan Pajic tutored by the great Gigi Buffon in 2019/20

By mapping out a Homegrown XI for 5 years time, I can see where I need to turn my attentions to, namely RB, LW and ST (and probably GK - sorry Ivan). This drives my recruitment policy and really helps avoid those panic buys or overloading the squad in a certain position.

I now either have a choice of developing the current HGs I have in the U18s or recruiting externally...either bringing in Swiss HGNs or overseas youngsters from 18 years old (and training them for 36 months before 21 years old...thus becoming HGs). Doing all of this whilst continuing to be successful is going to be really interesting. Stay tuned on updates and see if I can better the 7 HGs of Ajax '95 and Barcelona '11 in the next few months (which will most likely take me into the Summer).

Thanks for reading and please feel free to share any opinions you may have on the youngsters I've shared with you today.

FMG