"Bastardo At War: Epilogue - Hugo” #FM20

Hugo (Chapter 1)

Venezula.JPG

My name is Hugo Ojeda.  I am fifteen years old.

I did not know what hyperinflation was before my mother and I were kicked out of our home.  To me it is the same as everything else in Venezuela: chaos.  We spent weeks on food supplies after seeing whatever money we had turn worthless overnight, the price of a banana exceeding that of the cars outsides.  Even the supermarkets refuse to put the price on things anymore.  My country, the one with all the oil, has given up.  Worthless.

So my mother and I walked to Colombia.  Like so many others did, over 1 million in fact, desperate for another chance in life.  It took weeks, perhaps even months to get to the frontier near the Colombian city of Cúcuta.  A small jungle outpost where we would be told to make our homes.  It was here where I first met Ángel Bastardo.

He never spoke about what he was before coming here.  But many people tried to guess: convict, drug dealer, government official, humanitarian…some even suggested he was an ex-Football Manager turned military dictator.  But I never cared to find out, Ángel Bastardo looked after us.  All of us.  For me, he was our guardian angel; a gift from God.

Bastardo had the outpost secured so that raiders couldn’t get to any of us or our supplies, even if they had dared to try.  It was said that the Colombian jungle now belonged to Bastardo, that he could see through the eyes of the trees and was always a step ahead of whatever came for us in the dark.  He saw everything.  In three months of turmoil, it was the happiest I had ever been.  I slept well.

Until 06 June.  The day when they came…a helicopter descending on the village at 0200 in the morning. The winds from the helicopter's blades rippled through the gymnasium's large bay windows where I, and around 50 others slept each night, my naked body exposed as the bed covers danced in the ballet of the night.  I was terrified.

There was panic, as villagers raced from the hall and into the village square.  A wall of people stood in front of Bastardo's offices to face the visitors from the sky.  Once scantily dressed, I headed for the same square whilst loading the pistol that Bastardo had previously given to me.  I remembered his words to me on receipt of this gift: "a gun in hand is better than a cop on the phone".  I needed to summon what he called 'fibra', as I saw soldiers exiting from either side of the helicopter doors.  They were shouting in a tongue I had never heard, neither Portuguese or Spanish.  These were aliens.

One word could be made out though: "Bastardo".  They wanted Bastardo, and they continued to shout it loud.  With their rifles pointed towards the crowd they abruptly stopped the shouting as a smaller man, with a thick head of black hair, exited the helicopter.  I remember the noise around the square quieting as the shadowy figure walked up to the crowd.  This is where I brandished the pistol, facing him with him in the sights of my gun.  But he was unfazed by the threat, "Bastardo comrade" he whispered to me, his accent clear enough to distinguish the two words.  This man was Russian, who I now know to be Ruslan Chepiga: Superior Agent of the Russian Federal Security Service and liberator of the African world.

I was scared, like everybody else, expecting to be fired at.  That's when I did something that I still can't quite fathom: "I am Bastardo" I replied proudly.  The words resonated with all of us, individually we were nothing but a government statistic: 1 million unwanted Venezuelan immigrants…with Bastardo we had become something better: a community.  "I am Bastardo" people started to cry out; men, women and children joined the chorus of cries.  This time I cried out louder in defiance:

"I am Bastardo"

And again:

"I am Bastardo"

Bastardo At War - Colombia 2.png

Notes from the Editor - So, we’re back with some creative writing to move the Bastardo storyline forward. This is the first entry of a trilogy of short posts around the same scene, but from three different viewpoints.

‘Hugo’ took a few different iterations before I finally settled on the Point Of View of a 15-year-old Venezuelan migrant. What that country is going through right now is shameful. But perhaps what is more shameful is the International Community who are not ‘doing enough’ to help in my opinion.

Save The Children

Football Manager 2019 (#FM19) - in retrospect feat. @KeysiRensie

Today’s post is a collaboration with good friend Keysi Rensie, a fellow FM Blogger and long-term Football Manager player.  You can go read his FM writing over at mrkeysirensie.wordpress.com…I put anything he does in the same class as Czech Beer & Tomáš Rosický, so please check it out.

Intro

Football Manager titles often get reviewed after only a few hours of meaningful game-time. You’ll no doubt see the same thing happen over the next couple of months in the mainstream games media. The headline inclusions in Football Manager 2020 will be written about briefly, but little is discussed in the way of longevity and value for money…simply because those guys/girls reviewing are not sure how a title such as Football Manager holds up after 500+ hours.

But our retrospective look at Football Manager 2019 can do that. We’ve both played the game since launch, and although it’s nowhere the levels of some ardent FMers, it should be enough to give an honest and accountable review of 2019’s edition. It’s worth noting too that I am still learning, it was only yesterday (at the time of writing) that Keysi discovered that shirt numbers could be withdrawn with the retirement of a club legend. So we’ll therefore be documenting a FM19 few discoveries.

Lastly, I (Grasshopper) wanted to pay homage to a few creators who have gone out of their way this year to produce stand-out Football Manager content. We are quite blessed with the sheer amount of varied content available, whether it be literature, live streams or video. Although I can’t recommend every bit of content I’ve enjoyed this year, I feel the creators I mention merit recognition in this blog post.

Football Manager 2019 Review

Let’s get straight into it. How does Football Manager 2019 stack up to the previous 14 titles in the Football Manager series? Well, we’ve decided to answer this over three sections: Match Engine, New Features & Overall Gameplay.

Match Engine

Grass - “It’s my view that the match engine is the most important part of any Football Manager game. Get it wrong, and the rest of the game all feels a bit meaningless. For the best part of 2-3 months I think the match engine was poor. The attacking movement in Strikers all seemed a bit ‘samey’, and attacking support roles didn’t function as intended.

Blatant exploits existed in the match engine too, and although I normally I try to stay well clear of them, they were unfortunately easy to encounter this year through set pieces such as corners, free kicks and throw ins.

It caused a little hiatus for me as a creator, only briefly until it was all patched…but enough to cause a break from the game. I think it’s here, at this point in time, where others also found it hard to be attached to Football Manager 2019 too.

But things did improve, the glaring obvious stuff was patched and Football Manager 2019 returned to my life. Earlier than the official patch too, as I opted to use the FM19 Open Beta (an opportunity available to all, but not well publicised).

Now in August 2019, the match engine is solid and although I continue to see a lot of people moaning, I think maybe the perils of the first few months tinted people’s prejudices of FM19 for good. It’s for this reason that my Match Engine review scores: 6/10”.

Click here to take you to the FM19 Public Beta thread…

Keysi - “I'm not sure which video it was, but I remember one of the best-suited sentences about FM19 (in my eyes/ears) when watching a JimG video from his Piacenza save.

He played some league match and he just said: "Oh no, that's a long highlight, we will probably concede."

He was right, he conceded about 5 seconds after it and he was defeated.

I remember this also because of one simple thing. Despite I tried several formations during FM19 with different player roles, I spent the most time with the 4-3-3 formation with a flat central midfield. The most attacking players usually were Inside Forward/Attack on the left side, Winger/Support on the right side and Complete Forward/Support upfront. And it led to the fact the match engine offered me the same things all the time. It's not (probably) the game’s fault, it's my fault because I tend to play very similar football and it doesn't matter if it was with CD Magallanes in the first part of the save or with Arsenal de Sarandí later.

I cannot recall the name of the game from the late '90s of the 20th century, but there was a game with only 5 different playing situations during viewing match so you exactly know what will happen. And FM19 was the same for me.

Every time my right defender got the ball, I knew he will pass it to one CM(S), he will pass it to the winger and inside forward or complete forward will score. If defenders will put the ball out of the box, there will be two central midfielders and one of them will shoot.

I always know when there is a long ball from the opponent and one of my defenders trying to catch the ball at the sideline, he will make two more steps when the ball was stopped, opponents' striker will take the ball and will go alone and scores.

Football Manager became predictable "thanks" to FM19 and there were times when I was pissed off by it despite, I spent more than 1,300 hours with the game. Match Engine review scores: 5/10”

New Features (Tactical Styles & Training)

Grass - "I think FM19 did a good job of providing greater clarity and control for players, and this can be demonstrated with the introduction of Tactical Styles and Training.

Tactical Styles - I always felt the tactical interface was a bit clunky, you only have to go back to FM18 and see all the Team Instructions in the same screen to appreciate that this may have been a turn off for newer players. What we have now are instructions separated for each phase of the game, meaning that both new & veteran players alike can benefit from a cleaner interface, which can benefit the thought process behind tactic building.

FM19 Tactical Styles - did they help you?

However, it's not all top marks for this new feature. Personally, I feel that the style templates used in FM19 contain too many team instructions. I rarely used them in my Orange Is The New Black series as I felt they diluted any particular style that I wanted to play. One workaround is taking a style and then stripping it back a bit, my FM19 article with Guido around hybrid styles could help with this.

Training - Top on the list for a lot of FMers was seeing an improvement to the training modules and FM19 delivered this. FM19 allowed players to customise their programme with 3 sessions a day based on the demands of the season. We can see the impact of what each session will bring to player's attributes, injury risk, overall condition & sharpness.

What I like about this new feature is that a lot of thought and work went in to it, which is surprising because FM features generally only get fleshed out in their 2nd or 3rd years in the game. There is also a lot of real-world thought behind it too, and I noticed this organically after playing season-after-season in FM19. For example, me discovering the importance of getting your pre-season right, ensuring that it's heavy enough for players to last the distance of the whole campaign…especially if you juggle both domestic and continental games.

Despite all of the above, I am unsure if it 'gripped' a lot of players. From looking in on a few discussions, either on FM Slack or on Twitter, it seemed like others found it too complicated. This really highlights the tightrope that Sports Interactive has to tread, finding a new feature that hooks in the majority of players: new and old.

On reflection, I feel FM19 delivered enough sizeable new features to merit the release price of around £30. I score it 7/10".

Keysi - “The new tactical styles and already prepared tactics are nice ideas to find new FM players. I saw some FIFA YouTuber as he uploaded video as he decided to play FM properly after many years, he always received the new edition from SI but didn't play it as it was complicated in comparison with FIFA career mode.

He learned quickly thanks to tactical styles and it was interesting for some time to follow him. But as it was mentioned above by FMG, these styles include too many team instructions in my eyes too. And some of the role combinations are too weird to me as well. But it could be also because I live on my own (tactical) world.

I tried some of these styles during beta version but I didn't like instructions/roles combinations in most of them and rather created my style from the clean slate. But for the new players, it can be helpful. I am not the one who would like to have perfect formations prepared in the game by developers but there is still to work on these styles. Mainly to not confuse players in my eyes.

Training in FM19 allowed you to play in 3 ways: (1) Full-on control, (2) Simplified ‘tweaker’ and (3) Hands-off. Which one were you?

The new training system is a good starting point. It's probably one of the top 3 things I enjoyed the most in FM19. It's not 100% perfect and some of the sessions have a very small effect but it's 100% better than the old system without any system.

The same applies to mentoring despite it also needs big improvements and tweaks but there were not 17 years old driven/professional newgens after a half-year of tutoring.

I didn't let my assistant create schedules or set the training sessions. I made it all by myself and it was a good change in a combination with individual training focus. I liked to spend some time reading what the exact session means and affects and combine it with others. In the last season of my save, I for example created completely new weekly schedules and they contained mainly technical and physical sessions without prematch sessions. I didn't have enough time to test it but I felt it had a positive effect on our performances in terms of attacking fluidity.

I hope it will be improved in the future.

Score: 7/10.”

Overall Gameplay

Grass - "Starting with the positives…I like purple. The colour scheme and default skin were enough to prevent me from downloading a custom one during FM19. Although the interface remains unchanged in FM19 from previous FMs, I appreciate the little tweaks you could now do. Particularly in custom views in the squad screen, the separators make such a difference!

On a critical note, firstly there are things in FM19 that were still sloppy. We know that set pieces could do with a complete overhaul, and I am sure my Czech friend will say the same below with more tactical nuance & insight. Secondly, there are real problems with network saves having divergence…which is unacceptable given that most gamers now expect a robust online experience from game titles.

These two areas could be looked at for future titles, as for some players there are critical experiences. Therefore FM19 isn't a perfect title, but overall gameplay is rather a solid continuation of the previous iterations: 6/10”.

Keysi - “The overall feel from FM19 is affected by many small things and some of the many FM players don't even recognise or they don't even know they are in the game or they don't use them.

Many small things I like to use had some issues. The screen with player stats of the league your teams participate in was constantly resetting in terms of 10 customisable widgets. And when you use the Screen Flow to check specific competitions/stats and you always have to rearrange the widgets, it's annoying and you give up.

I was happy when the sidebar got a customisation option and I was able to make it by my own. Until I realised the sidebar resets every time you have a youth intake so you have to make it again. And things like these were many in the FM19. Every time I set something and I was happy with it, it was reset.

The set pieces are a separate chapter. They were exploited and overpowered when the game was released. It was raised by a lot of people and something was changed BUT. During the course, the game was able to create exploited routines by itself. It was enough to rotate the squad and most routines were changed as the game put two players as takers and AI defence was unable to do the most important thing - defend. In the end, I really don't know why set pieces were in the FM19 as you were able to dominate set pieces stats even with default routines and without any effort to create something.

The most annoying thing to me, to finish this part, was, that despite many these small bugs were raised in the SI Forum many months ago, they are still not fixed. One example of many - SI released the winter transfer window update and some things were fixed. There was also a note that "Fixed issue where player marking edge of area at set piece doesn't always engage ball player who receives it outside area". But my player with the best-required attributes for this role is a statue on the edge of the area.

Despite spending a lot of time with FM19, it was not as enjoyable as previous versions because many things worked even worse than in the past. 5/10.

So, taking the Grass-Keysi scores and averaging it out: Football Manager 2019 scores 6/10. Well done?

Things I learnt in Football Manager 2019

(1) At-a-glance analysis (credit: Grass…by complete accident)

This has probably been in the last few editions of FM, but I shamefully only discovered it this year. Since then, I’ve found it useful at Half-Time when checking the shape of my side and whether the opposition are also putting players in pockets of space that I leave open. Similarly, if I see an opening then it’s something I will consider attacking in the second half.

(2) Distribute To Position (credit: @FMPressure)

I (Grass) did not know this! The FM interface defaults to Area/Position for the Goalkeeper…but you can also select the specific position. Do you have that Ball Playing Defender at CB that you want to launch counter attacks from? Or go long for the Target Man up-front…then this feature is for you.

(3) Sort your contracts out quicker… (credit: Grass…in shame)

Another one from me (Grass), how did I only just encounter this? It will not massively change the way you play, but it’s handy nevertheless…

(4) Secondary sort in FM columns… (credit: @VincentGuzman_)

Say you want to order a list of attributes by a particular attribute, it’s easy…just click on it. But what if you wanted to place important to another attribute in addition? Easy: just hold shift and click on another attribute (once for ascending and twice for descending). Mind blown.

(5) Retiring shirt numbers (credit: Keysi…or Chocobar?)

We found the one very nice addition to the game almost at the end of the FM19 cycle. I had a captain Agustin Chocobar in Arsenal de Sarandí squad and he decided to retire after 14 years with the club. And that was the moment when we found out the "Retire number" option.

It's straight in the mailbox and when you go to Squad/Numbers the retired number is greyed out same as the name of the player.

Recommended content (from Grass)

With Football Manager 2019 came good content. There are too many good pieces to list, but I thought I would give a few shoutouts to the guys that have lasted much of the course with FM19. Producing content for the majority of the FM life cycle is actually harder than it looks, it’s also fairly difficult as a consumer of FM content to trust in creators. But I am reasonably confident that the guys below will be around into 2020 producing words, videos or streams.

Blogs

@FMEadster - fmeadster.wordpress.com

fmeadster.wordpress.com - the home of socialist blogging since 2018.

It’s hard to promote bloggers without me sounding like I am promoting my mates. Especially ones I have wined and dined with like @FMEadster, who I flew over to Essex back in March 2019 to celebrate the release of Bastardo At War: Russia. Chris is a top, top guy and a wonderful writer too. He has kept his save going all year round and touches on geo-political and historical themes that send me giddy. Are you surprised that a woman vacated her table next to us during our meal? Tales of skirmishes along the Crimean Peninsula & Bastardo’s cocaine trafficking routes were a bit too much for her.

@FM_Samo - fmsamo.com

One of the most consistent writers about, perhaps even the most consistent, is FM Samo.  The blogs here often delve into Samo’s thought process & decision making and FM19 was another solid year for him in Portugal.  What I like is that everything feels realistic in Samo’s saves, if there is club growth it’s not accelerated by exploitive measures.  The clubs he manages grow naturally under his stewardship, and I like that.

@KeysiRensie - mrkeysirensie.wordpress.com

Imagine being that talented that you can write in another language and hold your own in a debate when a blogger, like me, gives you grief on FM Slack. Keysi Rensie is the man. Like Samo, Keysi’s posts often act as a way of showcasing decisions and approaches to playing Football Manager. I am yet to find a blog posts he publishes that doesn’t engage me and I know he has ‘inspired’ a lot of people to start blogging. His site often hosts and promotes the work from others like Rickie (@blackcaesar_a5) & Mike (@Brazier25), which is great to see.

YouTube

@JimG - youtube.com/JimGFM

JimG is an FM YouTuber. You should have heard of him by now. Why? Read on.

Visual content isn’t really my thing, but Jim’s series with Piacenza is phenomenal. You can tell he enjoyed it too, an early adopter of the YouTube Premier…he’s immersed a lot of people into his save by just playing the game and sharing his story. The editing is first class, and as a Blogger I can’t really understand how he does some of the things he does: pure magic. Like a blog though, you can go back and consume it all again and again on his channel. I encourage you to do the same…

@ProudieYT - youtube.com/c/proudie

Credit: my GP Benjy for supplying the photography of a young Proudie.

Like Jim, Chris is really good on the editing front. What he does differently to most FMYTers is that he makes his videos short and snappy. He often makes his videos to my visual attention span (around 10 mins), probably unintended but massively appreciated by me…because they are brilliant. He has a comedic style but at the same time gives you enough context to keep you engrossed about his save. He’ll be back at University soon and that, quite rightly, will be his focus for a bit. But if he does produce content, go out of your way to watch it…

@DatGuyJayCee - youtube.com/DatGuyJayCee

“I should not like this guy”. “I should not like this guy”. That same phrase goes round my head whenever I watch a JayCee video. Why? Because they are clearly mental. His humour is like my elder brothers’ style, something I have spent 30 odd years ignoring and dismissing, but whatever JayCee has brings me back. Quite rightly he is getting some attention now, and he’s had a really good run over FM19 with producing videos. He is also the cover star of Football Manager 2020, check him out…

The Soap King?

Streaming

@MozzaPlays - twitch.tv/mozzaplays

I think FM18 (2017/18) was a breakthrough year for FM Streaming, Twitch seemed to be the go-to platform to head to. Perhaps it’s me being detached from streaming over FM19 but it feels like the streaming hype plateaued somewhat. However, if I were to shoutout two FM Streamers…it would be two guys I’ve watched over FM19. First up: Derek/Mozza Plays. Maybe it’s because he plays like a blogger: chilled and relaxing or that he’s just alright. Check the wee lad out.

WARNING: things do take a turn for the worse though when he gets together with JayCee, which is probably the best bit of Non-FM content two FM visual creators have made over 2018/19 …

@Darrylips - twitch.tv/darrylips

My Director of Podcast, Dan Gear, managed to coax Darryl Saunders into appearing on ep28 of the GrassNGear podcast back in March. Personally, he came across really well and was a joy to have on. Since then, I’ve dipped in to a few more of his streams and you can see the passion he has for the highs and lows of Football Manager! I’ve labelled him as a streamer here, but like the talented man he is…he also FM Youtubes. I’ve enjoyed his ‘Caen I Kick It?’ series (despite the mispronunciation to form the titular pun):

FM Slack

A lot of the discussions I have been involved in over FM19 has been found on FM Slack. You can join FMSlack via THIS link. Keysi’s channel is #fmrensie but there are many other interesting channels to talk about FM…there is also #fmgrasshopper. Personally, I gain great insights in how others play Football Manager or view Football itself and would encourage anybody willing to give FM Slack a go.

Lastly, I would like to thank Keysi for his opinion and thoughts around FM19. This is my last #FM19 post, and I am glad he agreed to spend it with me looking back at the latest FM title. Děkuji vám :-)

Thanks for reading/sharing & caring.

FM Grasshopper

"Life After Goss" - Orange Is The New Black #FM19 #AllezLesMerlus

Intro

Achilles Goss is not dead. I thought I would clarify that and dispel certain rumours that were floating around the FM scene. Instead of being dead, Goss is seeing out the final years of his life with an active subscription to Canal+, whilst watching as many FC Lorient matches as possible with the accompaniment of red wine and carer Renée at his side.

This post is a simulation of 5 seasons without Goss at the helm of FC Lorient. Would the club continue to punch above its weight in European competitions? Or would it fall back into mediocrity? Read on to find out…

Season 8 (2025/26)

Manager: Ernesto Valverde

Life After Goss started with the appointment of ex-Barca manager Ernesto Valverde, a surprising coup for the Breton club. Valverde signed a one-year deal and was tasked with managing the club through their 1st appearance in the Champions League Group Stage. Valverde's first move was to appoint 21-year-old Brazilian 'Nivaldo' as the club's 1st choice captain, a surprising move considering he was only signed 12 months ago by Achilles Goss.

Valverde's trust in youth was apparent with the Newgen signings of Apolônio & José Henrique from Brazil and an emphasis on playing a young back-line of Julien-Richard-Gaudin-Rolland (average age of 22). Old boys Josuha Guilavogui & Mamadou Sakho were sold to Major League Soccer for under €1m. The club returned to a 4-3-3 under Valverde, with captain Nivaldo pushed further forward as a Winger.

It was a great season for the club. Finishing second in their Champions League Group, FC Lorient went out at the 1st Knockout Round to eventual Semi Finalists Liverpool. A 4th place league finish saw Valverde’s team qualify for the 2026/27 Europa League and there was also a Coupe de la Ligue Final to shout about too! PSG winning 2-0 though, meaning three successive final defeats for Les Merlus in FM19.

League finish: 4th

Continental: Champions League 1st Knockout Round

Stats [Goals/Assists/Av.Rating]: Slavko Vucetic (22 goals), Yannis Hanany (11 assists), Mohamed Diallo 7.29

Other Comments: Chairman Loïc Fery finally sold the club in 2025 on the 5th attempt. French-Tunisian Businessman Anis Lacroix led the consortium and became the new Chairman.

Ernesto Valverde became the first foreign coach at FC Lorient in 24 years (since Ángel Marcos in 2001).

Season 9 (2026/27)

Manager: Jocelyn Gourvennec

New season, new manager. For the third successive campaign, FC Lorient opened the season with a different manager. Ernesto Valverde moved back to La Liga to manage Athletic Bilbao. In his place, ex-Lorient youth player Jocelyn Gourvennec took charge…who immediately made changes. High-profile young French stars Mateo Julien & Phillipe Gaudin left for a combined fee of €77m to RB Leipzig. Gourvennec kept with the 4-3-3 and recruited some experience in the backline: Ivan Ordets & Aymeric Laporte joining from Shakhtar Donetsk & Manchester United respectively.

But it was January when the big sale would happen: Mohamed Diallo sold to Tottenham in a deal that could rise to €86m…vomits

Mo Diallo at Spurs - a truly sickening sight.

Wow - an incredible season for FC Lorient. The return of Champions League football was something I did not see coming under AI management. Not only that, a solid run in the Europa League (reaching the Quarter Finals before bowing out to AC Milan) and two domestic cup finals (French Cup & Coupe de la Ligue) to gloat about too. Sadly both cup finals were losses against Carlo Ancelotti’s PSG, which means it’s now five cup final defeats in nine seasons in FM19…truly heart-breaking!

League finish: 3rd

Continental: Europa League Quarter Final

Stats [Goals/Assists/Av.Rating]: Slavko Vucetic (20 goals), Alessandro Murgia (9 assists), Aymeric Laporte 7.19

Other Comments: Concerns grow regarding the wage structure, with five Lorient players now earning over €300k per month. Something unheard of during the Goss-era.

Season 10 (2027/28)

Manager: Jocelyn Gourvennec

Beating Beşiktaş home and away in the Champions League was enough for Gourvennec’s Lorient to drop into the Europa League. This meant another Quarter Final appearance under Gourvennec, before the journey ended against the World’s richest team: RB Leipzig. The German outfit selling €150m of talent to PSG the previous summer, including long-term Goss target Luc Tournier. It also meant a happy reunion for ex-Lorient boys Mateo Julien & Phillipe Gaudin.

Two-time French Cup winner in FM19, (with Brest and Olympique Lyonnais), Jocelyn Gourvennec would leave FC Lorient at the end of Season 10.

FC Lorient finished in 6th place, resulting in European football for the 7th season in a row next year. Yet it wasn’t enough to persuade Jocelyn Gourvennec to stay on as manager, who resigned in July 2028. In his place came Romain Brégerie, a French Centreback who played most of his career in the German Bundesliga 2. Since retiring in FM19, he has managed both Ligue 2 Auxerre and Spanish lower league Alavés for 8 month stints each. I can’t help but feel I am looking at the start of a downward ebb for FC Lorient…

League finish: 6th

Continental: Europa League Quarter Final

Stats [Goals/Assists/Av.Rating]: Slavko Vucetic (13 goals), Nikita Ozdoev (15 assists), Nikita Ozdoev 7.06

Other Comments: Academy Wonderkid from the Goss-era, Alex Rolland was sold to Olympique de Marseille for a measly €6.5m. Awful business.

Season 11 (2028/29)

Manager: Romain Brégerie

Throw all your doubts about Romain Brégerie out of the window, this was FC Lorient’s best ever season. The second half of the league campaign saw his FC Lorient side win 14 league games, with only 2 league losses in 2029. FC Lorient romped to 3rd position again with their highest ever points total; 83 points! FC Lorient will once again return to the Champions League. Brégerie signed no players either, Slavko Vucetic continued to shine (his 5th season as Les Merlus’ top scorer) as the focal point of a new 4-2-3-1 system. In this team, Yannis Hanany & Alessandro Murgia played as the deeper double pivot…contributing to 15 goals and 25 assists between them.

Not only that, Romain Brégerie had done what Achilles Goss, Ernesto Valverde & Jocelyn Gourvennec could not do: win a trophy! The Coupe de la Ligue was won with 3 first-half goals in a 3-2 Vs Bordeaux.

In Europe, the club continued to be a Europa League Quarter Final team: losing to AC Milan, as they did two years previously in Season 9.

League finish: 3rd

Continental: Europa League Quarter Final

Stats [Goals/Assists/Av.Rating]: Slavko Vucetic (23 goals), Yannis Hanany (18 assists), Slavko Vucetic 7.24

Other Comments: In other news, Mo Diallo won African Football of the Year for the first time. His Ivorian countryman, and ex-Lorient forward, Fonsinho made the switch from Köln to Bochum, who currently play in the Bundlesiga 2.

Fonsinho in 2029, powers on the wane.

Season 12 (2029/30)

Manager: Romain Brégerie

After 326 appearances for the club, Goalkepper Raúl Rivera moved on to AS Monaco for €14m. Here was me thinking that this would finally mean Romain Brégerie’s game was up…but no. Another great domestic campaign, with the club retaining Champions League football into the 2030/31 season. It was another case of Brégerie’s Lorient hitting form in the second half of the season too, with 13 wins, 1 draw and 4 losses.

In the Champions League, Les Merlus finished 2nd in a group containing FC Bayern, FC Porto & Lokomotiv Moscow. In the next stage they went out, as they did 4 seasons ago, to Liverpool.

But there was another cup final! The seventh FM19 cup final would not be as successful as the sixth, FC Lorient losing out to AS Monaco 3-2 after extra time in the French Cup.

Romain Brégerie has overseen two 3rd place Ligue 1 finishes and a Coupe de la Ligue win in his two seasons at Lorient.

League finish: 3rd

Continental: Champions League 1st Knockout Round

Stats [Goals/Assists/Av.Rating]: Slavko Vucetic (17 goals), Nikita Ozdoev (19 assists), Slavko Vucetic 7.08

Other Comments: 25-year-old ex-Lorient Academy Left Back Matteo Julien is capped for France, now at VfB Stuttgart. PSG also win their 7th straight Ligue 1, equalling the record set by Lyon (2002-2008):

It will come as no surprises but the Manager of the Year award has remained in Paris for the last 7 years.

Who managed Lorient better?

It’s been 10 years with FC Lorient back in Ligue 1…the question nobody is asking, but me, is: who managed Lorient better during this golden decade? I’ll leave you, the reader, to make your own mind up with a series of graphics:

League Finishes 2020-2030

Cup Finals 2020-2030

Manager Statistics

So are you #TeamGoss, #TeamValverde, #TeamGourvennec or #TeamBregerie? To be in with a chance of winning a copy of FM20 that I won’t be giving away, simply let me know which manager you preferred at the helm of Brittany’s most amazing club. I would love to hear people’s thoughts.

Oh, and even if we disagree…I think we can agree that they’re all better than Ligue 1’s all-time most average manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Now managing the arch-enemy in Brittany:

OGS in FM19, nemesis to Goss.

Fin

I did a similar projection back in FM16, where I simulated 10 seasons after my time with Grasshopper Club Zürich.  I remember feeling a bit downbeat about how the AI had butchered things at the club I spent a whole decade at.  Although this look forward in FM19 is a lot shorter in seasons than FM16, I am really positive about how well the AI has done.  There’s a temptation to sim even more, in order to see if Lorient’s young manager can keep up his bright start.  But I like ending Orange is the new Black on such a vibrant high.

I think these two concluding posts (today's look forward and last week's look back) have shown that PSG & Monaco aren’t going away anytime soon.  There is a, dare I say it, “concrete ceiling” above FC Lorient in terms of further progression.  The two super clubs continue to outspend most of Europe, let alone those clubs in France! 

Despite this, Achilles Goss can die a happy man…whenever that may be.  He's seen FC Lorient reach the Champions League on a number of occasions and he saw his beloved Les Merlus lift a trophy!

Orange is the new Black and this is the end of the story.

FM Grasshopper / Achilles Goss

"Choose Goss" - Orange Is The New Black #FM19 #AllezLesMerlus

Lorient Black.jpg

“Choose Goss.

Choose a lower league job, choose a one-club career, choose Africa, choose a fucking big Striker, choose double Segundo Volantes, ASEC youth graduates and Academy Newgens, choose red wine, high cholesterol and a pacemaker, choose fixed-interest stadium repayments, choose a Ligue 2 play-off win, choose a tracksuit and matching baseball cap, choose no MOTY awards, choose Guerreiro’s Gift, choose a three piece suit on hire-purchase for the 2 cup finals you'll go on to lose, choose Alphonso Davies as your highest earner and seeing him break his leg on his pre-season debut, choose sitting on the bench watching mind-numbing spirit-crushing draws, watching FC Bayern recall Alphonso Davies on his second loan after his first fucking goal for the club, choose rotting away at the end if it all, pissing your last in a miserable retirement home in the arsehole of France, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up managerial replacement you have spawned to replace yourself.

Choose a glass ceiling. Choose Goss”

Season 2024/25

Ligue 1

The league results in 2025 were enough to convincingly see us finish 3rd in the league, a ridiculous 17 points ahead of Olympique de Marseille. I previously spoke last time out on how the new 4-3-1-2 DM Narrow was earning us narrow clean sheet wins, and the second half of the season was no different. We ended up with 21 clean sheets in the league (55% of domestic games), which has resulted in FC Lorient’s highest ever league finish and a record points haul. It also sees us qualify for the Champions League, with the 3rd place going into the Group Stage for 2025/26.

I was recently asked by @FMEadster over on FM Slack as to whether I would have changed anything in this save. I’m not really one to dwell on mistakes, but I certainly feel that this formation could be refined and perfected with another couple of transfer windows; suggesting I maybe should have switched from 4-3-3 to 4-3-1-2 sooner than I did (my last season). Perhaps a long-term Anchorman to replace Joshua Guilavogui and a more creative Deep Lying Forward would see us reach new heights.

But we can’t change the past, and I won’t be doing another season. In essence, it’s a bit of a bittersweet ending in FM19. I end trophyless and reluctant to enjoy the fruits of my labour…the Champions League.

2025 Europa League

We had another glorious European run this season, but sadly the away goals run came into effect Vs eventual champions Schalke 04. The German side beating Dortmund 3-0 in their home stadium in an all-German Final. Wunderbar.

Drawhopper

I believe ‘FM Drawhopper’ was a term first coined by @FM_Samo during the early part of my FM19 save. Draws became my speciality and they continued to be a thorn in my side throughout the seven in-game years of my save.

The Europa League Semi Finals were no different. Both legs were defined by our inability to contain a peak Dejan Joveljic, who tormented 35-year old Mamadou Sakho in both games. The 2nd leg 104th minute decisive equaliser came from a towering Victor Lindelöf header…who wonderfully converted a corner. It was a deflating moment as any in FM19 for me…

The Goss Years

Now it’s time to take a look back on this save as a whole, to say “Merci Goss” for the shared laughs we’ve had over Football Manager 2019. I feel it’s given closure to the lost FM14 save I discussed in my intro blog post back in November. I finally got Les Merlus their new stadium, and although I won’t see them hit the heights of the Champions League like I did back then, this FM Save was different to the one 6 years ago. We had the joys of a promotion challenge, the dreaded Ligue 1 Promotion Play-Offs, the 7th placed finishes, a Coupe de la Ligue Final drubbing and some magical Europa League runs.

Filling the void after my FM18 ‘Return to La Plata’ series was always going to be ridiculously hard. But I’m happy that this save maintained my interest for the best part of 10 months. I want to thank everybody who read and shared these pieces, and to those that got in contact. I’ve been fortunate to receive some nice messages over the last year from real-life Lorient fans, which has made ‘Orange is the New Black’ even more enjoyable to capture and bring to life in blog form.

Let’s take a look back…

Season 1 - 2018/19

3 play-off goals saw Fonsinho become a cult favourite at the Stade du Moustoir.

Blog Posts: "The Future's Bright", “Interlude” & “Iacta alea est"

It's funny looking back and remembering the early days of a save. I completely forgot I had such an awful pre-season in terms of results…only finding my first win against lower league Belgian side RC Mechelen (two days before the Ligue 2 season started)! We started Ligue 2 well though: 10 wins, 8 draws and just the opening day loss Vs Le Havre. We also 'found Fonsinho' who I signed from ASEC in January 2019, a club I would go back to for players a number of times in my save. His impact, certainly later on in the season, repaid the €230k outlay.

With 9 games of the league season to go, I took a short break (see Interlude)…until the attacking movement in FM19 forwards improved via a patch. Before returning with Iacta alea est, which featured those glorious Full Match Play Off Finals. The away leg Vs Lens in the Stade Félix Bollaert-Delelis played host to one of Football Manager's magical moments.

We were up by the skin of our teeth, Achilles Goss style!

League Finish: 4th [Promoted via the Play Offs]

Stats [Goals/Assists/Av.Rating]: Gaëtan Courtet (22 goals), Jimmy Cabot (13 assists), Vincent Le Goff (7.17)

MVP: Gaëtan Courtet - for all the problems I had with Striker movement, Gaëtan still ended up with a tally of 22 goals. Hardly missing a game, he led the line and scored some crucial goals. His most important being the 90+5 equaliser Vs Lens in the Play Offs.

Season 2 - 2019/20

Blog Posts: “Trust” & “Guerreiro’s Gift”

It was maybe a risky move not to change much for my inaugural season in Ligue 1, but I kept faith with the team that got us promoted. The move paid off…we were top half all season and finished in 7th place. It also kick-started my FM19 Holy Grail: the Ligue 1 Manager of The Year award. I thought we did enough to win it, but the AI gave it to Ole Gunnar Solskjær who achieved 6th place with Lille 🙃

FC Lorient cashed out the 20% in Raphaël Guerreiro for €6.7m in June 2020. In July 2022 he was signed by Atlético Madrid for €67m (20% equating to €13.4m).

Financially we were struggling though. In order to stop us getting in debt, and build on the 7th place, I cashed out on the 20% next transfer of ex-Lorient defender Raphaël Guerreiro. It kept us afloat and I was able to recruit a decent full back (Darko Todorovic) and recruit a more comprehensive scouting team.

League Finish: 7th

Stats [Goals/Assists/Av.Rating]: Gaëtan Courtet (18 goals), Fonsinho (11 assists), Gaëtan Courtet (7.09)

MVP: Fonsinho - Courtet & Fonsinho continued their blossoming relationship from Ligue 2 into Ligue 1. Fonsinho was undoubtedly a raw talent who was brilliant as a Winger on Attack duty. His 18-month spell in Brittany was soon to end, but I can’t imagine where we’d have ended up in our first Ligue 1 season without his goals and assists.

Season 3 - 2020/21

A sizeable chuck of the Fonsinho money was used to bring in Assane Dioussé (€5.5m).

Blog Posts: “The Fibra Battleground” & "The Glass Ceiling - Part I: Finances"

Fonsinho’s 8 goals and 10 assists in his debut Ligue 1 season caught the attention of the Bundesliga, notably newly promoted FC Nürnberg who were happy to part €13.25m for his services. Finally Goss had the money to sign some ‘fibra’ and in came Enzo Crivelli & Assane Dioussé who both went on to have solid careers with Les Merlus.

We once again finished 7th in the league, and in an attempt to not become stagnant, I dubbed top 6 and European qualification my ‘glass ceiling’ (noun: an unacknowledged barrier to advancement in a profession). So, I delved deep into the finances at FC Lorient in order to re-assess our approach moving into Season 4…

League Finish: 7th

Stats [Goals/Assists/Av.Rating]: Enzo Crivelli (14 goals), Julien Ponceau (8 assists), Julien Ponceau 7.19

MVP: Julien Ponceau - Ponceau was the first Academy player to break through under Goss. Blessed with a great first touch, decision making and speed, Ponceau was re-trained from a central player to a wide player, and he replaced Fonsinho as our 1st choice right-sided Winger from July 2020

Season 4 - 2021/22

Blog posts: "Tactical Tweaks & African Adventures" & "The Glass Ceiling - Part II: Broken Glass"

A few bits of shrewd recruitment saw us climb the table and threaten to break the glass ceiling. Alessandro Murgia joined initially on loan and hit the ground running, a fabulous midfield general with an eye for a goal as our Central Midfielder on Attack. A few tweaks upfront saw our attack sparkle: Diallo-Zirkzee-Ponceau (with an average age of 20-years old) firing FC Lorient into Europe for the first time since 2002/03.

The ceiling was smashed and with it Chairman Loïc Fery announced a new 25k capacity stadium to arrive in 2024! 🏟 But there was still room for some disappointment, FC Lorient went on to lose a Coupe de la Ligue final to Marseille in the Vélodrome, 3-0 the scoreline.

Marseille’s Vieux Port celebrating the comprehensive Coupe de la Ligue triumph against Goss’ Lorient.

League Finish: 5th

Stats [Goals/Assists/Av.Rating]: Mohamed Diallo (16 goals), Joshua Zirkzee (12 assists), Julien Ponceau 7.36

MVP: Joshua Zirkzee - it was a shrewd move to bring in a 20-year-old Joshua Zirkzee from FC Bayern on a two-year loan deal. At 193cm high, Joshua had both the physical and technical presence to lead the line as our Deep Lying Forward. Creating and scoring to see us qualify for Europe.

Season 5 - 2022/23

Blog Posts: “Les Merlus Européens” & “The Lorient Express”

Our 5th season was exciting, not only were we finally in Europe; we were also generating off field profits with lucrative TV revenue and prize money.

For the first time in my save, I was able to sign an established name, Mamadou Sakho who joined on a Free Transfer from Manchester United (a team we beat that season at home in the Europa League). The Lorient Express had arrived!

League Finish: 6th

Stats [Goals/Assists/Av.Rating]: Mohamed Diallo (24 goals), Vincent Le Goff (20 assists), Mohamed Diallo 7.31

MVP: Vincent Le Goff - Vincent Le Goff is the one player that was ever-present in the Goss era. In the twilight of his advancing years he put in his best season, 20 assists as a Wing Back on Attack. He built a good relationship with the season’s top scorer, Mo Diallo, on the left-side of the Lorient attack.

Season 6 - 2023/24

Mourinho the victor against Goss in the Europa League Final.

Blog Posts: "La génération d’aujourd’hui" & "Au Revoir, Moustoir"

Season 6 saw a TWENTY game unbeaten record in the Europa League, as we waved off the Stade du Moustoir in style.

But there was heartbreak once more. We led the Europa League final against Manchester United…only to see it slip away. A Mounrinho masterclass: FC Lorient 1-2 Manchester United.

League Finish: 4th

Stats [Goals/Assists/Av.Rating]: Mohamed Diallo (26 goals), Gustavo Ramírez (13 assists), Gustavo Ramírez 7.28

MVP: Mohamed Diallo - how do you replace a gem like Fonsinho? Well, you go back to ASEC and recruit their next Ivorian prodigy. Mo Diallo joined as an 18-year-old in 2020, and three years later he was one of the most prolific forwards in Europe. Played as an Inside Forward, Mo would have his best season…26 goals in all competitions as we finished 4th and made the Europa League Final.

Season 7 - 2024/25

Blog Posts: “Boring, Boring Lorient”

I believe that the decision to switch from a 4-3-3 wide to a 4-3-1-2 narrow was the reason why Season 7 was our strongest domestically. 21 clean sheets in 38 league games was vindication for upsetting the previous balance of the team. For example, Mo Diallo was no longer an Inside Forward on the left…our top scorer in the last two seasons would have to learn a new central role (Shadow Striker). Our two Italian midfielders (Murgia & Valzania) would have to play a deeper Segundo Volante role too, and this all took a while to gel. But in those transitional moments, we were still able to grind out wins and it’s by far the strongest FC Lorient side of the Goss era.

Despite the newfound ruthlessness, we were able to have some romance as Vincent Aboubakar re-joined FC Lorient on loan after a decade away in Portugal and Turkey. The Cameroonian became the 14 African player recruited by Achilles Goss under the ‘Achilles Africa’ recruitment model. Aboubakar would have a modest loan spell with 8 goals and 6 assists in 31 games.

14 African players signed in FM19: cradle of civilisation.

14 African players signed in FM19: cradle of civilisation.

League Finish: 3rd

Stats [Goals/Assists/Av.Rating]: Slavko Vucetic (15 goals), Nivaldo (17 assists), Nivaldo 7.45

MVP: Nivaldo - There’s a reason why 20-year-old Nivaldo achieved our highest season-long Average Rating in this save. He dominated the left-hand side of the pitch in our new narrow 4-3-1-2 formation. He racked up 17 assists in his debut season as I re-trained him from a Winger to a Left Back.

Club Growth (2018-2025)

Did not fancy reading all of that above? Then click on the image below to see how I did over 7 years in FM19, includes some high-level financials:

Note - ‘Europe’ being the Europa League throughout this save.

Some thoughts about the club growth:

  • The closing balance of the last three seasons has been extremely healthy, FC Lorient are able to invest in the playing squad with considerable flexibility (demonstrated by a net spend of €18m in 2024/25).

  • Prize money has contributed to record revenue in the previous two years, the Champions League would be a further boost in 2025/26.

  • The playing staff’s average age is currently 25, so there is hope that FC Lorient will remain competitive in Ligue 1 for a number of years.

  • The new 25k all-seater stadium, with good corporate facilities, boosts FC Lorient’s financial sustainability a little more than the previous stadium would.

Personally, I think it is too easy to make money in FM, as you can sign a ridiculous amount of unwanted AI players and then sell on for big profits a year or two later. So for FM19, I’ve tried to be more realistic with my approach and overall I am happy with the off-field developments we’ve seen over the seven year period.

On the field you can see that we have been really progressive in terms of the league finishes, and we have been surprisingly strong in Europe. The only blemish is my poor record in the domestic cups, with only one French Cup Quarter Final to my name and a solitary Coupe de la Ligue Final appearance. C’est la vie!

Favourite 3 players

There are too many great players to name from this save, but the three guys below are in my top 3 for different reasons. Honourable mentions must go to Academy players such as Alex Rolland and Julien Ponceau, who are probably unlucky not to feature.

Fonsinho (2019-2020) - 15 goals and 13 assists in 57 games.

The Fons as he looked shortly before leaving FC Lorient.

I only managed Fonsinho for 18 months in FM19…but he was the first African success story at FC Lorient. Without his form in the Play Offs, I doubt we would have been promoted. His sale to the Bundesliga also enabled me to establish FC Lorient as a Ligue 1 team. The Fons!

Alessandro Murgia (2020-present) - 52 goals and 13 assists in 179 games.

Calcio.

I got laughed at when I signed Murgia for €1m on loan in my FM Slack channel, due to our precarious financial position in 2020. But after his loan spell, Murgia decided to join us permanently and he has been a mainstay in our team for the last 4 seasons. Both his output and his performances have been great in the orange & black.


Mohamed Diallo (2020-present) - 79 goals and 31 assists in 177 games.

Mo Diallo.

Mo Diallo is quite good at football isn’t he? It’s romantic that I found a better Ivorian to replace Fonsinho, and to make it even more surreal: Mo Diallo joined FC Lorient on a Free Transfer! He became homegrown with us too, made in African and polished in France. Mo Diallo is the epitome of one of my FM19 ambitions (as laid out in my opening post):

Well, another reason for choosing FC Lorient is that they have experience of recruiting and developing African players. For those that do not know, due to the post-colonial links to the continent…France does not restrict the number of African players playing in its league. So, this is a continent I want to scout and use for player recruitment & development.

Le Futur…

So, FM19 for me ends trophyless, with a record of two major finals played and two major finals lost. No Manager Of The Year Awards either, much to the laughter of my close FM ‘friends’. But I have vehemently enjoyed this save, and when you take a look back…you realise that ‘the journey’ is what it’s all about.

Achilles Goss has no dramatic ending. He will not be invading Africa, or committing bank heists. He will simply drift off into retirement and it’s our memories of him as a Football Manager that will prevail. I would like to thank you again for reading and experiencing this save with me.

There is one last post planned in the Orange is the New Black series: a 5 year projection of FC Lorient without Goss, as I sim to take a look at how good/bad the AI does without Goss. How will FC Lorient do in the Champions League? Will their stadium grow? Where will Mo Diallo end up? These are questions I hope to answer next time out on the blog…

As always thanks for reading, sharing & caring,

Achilles Goss / FM Grasshopper

“Boring, Boring Lorient” - Orange Is The New Black #FM19

AG_SUIT_XL.jpg

My 7th and final season at FC Lorient offered the chance for me to change things up tactically. Heading into a new stadium, we moved away from the 4-3-3 that brought about three consecutive years of European football. In its place came the 4-3-1-2 DM Narrow: making use of our industrious midfield and allowing us some romantic Summer signings. Read on to see how the twilight of Orange Is The New Black progresses…

Season 2024/25

Ligue 1

Improving on last season’s 4th placed finish means qualifying for the Champions League in 3rd is this year’s target. I fully expected the riches of Monaco and PSG to battle it for the title, which meant I’d likely battle for 3rd with Olympique Lyonnais & Olympique de Marseille…

I got the PSG bit right, but the historically big teams in France are all having poor seasons so far. Our consistency has seen us sit 3rd at the mid-point of Season 7, and it’s partly due to some newfound resilience that I’ll come to discuss a bit later in this post. Just look at our clean sheet wins:

“1-0 to the Lorient”

Europa League

We’ve topped a Europa League group for the third consecutive season! I’m really happy how we recovered from that opening San Siro loss to AC Milan, by winning the head-to-head in a 3-1 victory at the FC Lorient Stadium.

We draw Standard in the next round, a team Les Merlus beat 7-1 last season in our biggest win of the save. I can only hope for a similar mauling!

Boring, Boring Lorient?

Last time out on the blog I spoke about a potential tactic change for my last season in FM19, it was also the subject of Episode 35 of the GrassNGear podcast. I initially toyed with an Enganche + Double Segundo Volantes in a 4-3-1-2 DM Narrow, but eventually dropped the Enganche in favour for a Shadow Striker (to make use of Mo Diallo & Lovro Majer’s explosiveness at AMC).

Goss’ 4-3-1-2 DM Narrow, highlighting the CWB and DLF roles which have been recruited to.

The Complete Wing Back

A headline addition to our new 4-3-1-2 (apart from the Volantes of course) is the Complete Wing Back role. Our new €11.5m Summer signing ‘Nivaldo’ plays the part well, a Brazilian Left Winger who is being re-positioned to play at Left Back via training and gametime.

Nivaldo has moved from ‘Awkward’ to ‘Accomplished’ at LB in 5 months.

Despite being positioned at LB on the tactic screen, Nivaldo plays like a Winger…often hugging the line within the opposition’s half. I’ve shown below two examples of where he is receiving the ball, against AC Milan in the Europa League and Toulouse in Ligue 1. It highlights how the position on the tactics screen doesn’t necessarily relate to the spaces in which a player will mostly operate during a match:

Deep Lying Forward

Vincent Aboubakar - back at Lorient 10 years after leaving the Orange & Black.

I don’t feel the need to talk too much about the Deep Lying Forward here, as it’s a role I have discussed a fair bit in FM19 already. But the Summer recruitment ended with a dream signing of ex-Lorient front man Vincent Aboubakar on loan from Porto. As a DLF on a Balanced Mentality, he will drop deeper and provide a vital link between the Volantes and his fellow forwards…who are all on a Very Attacking Mentality. His output has been encouraging too: 7 goals and 5 assists in 17 games (all comps) whilst building up a great partnership with Advanced Forward Gustavo Ramírez (who currently has a respectable 10 goals and 6 assists in all comps too).

Team Instructions

I’m pretty simplistic with the Team Instructions. Originally, I was asking the team to Play Through The Middle, but as FMPressure rightly mention in my Slack channel; the play would naturally gravitate towards the middle anyway due to this being a 4-3-1-2. Good point. So, we now only Pass Into Space when in possession, mainly to take advantage of the Acceleration and Off The Ball of my CWB, SS and AF.

In transition I build from the back, seeing as I have a naturally solid platform to construct team moves from. We also play on the Counter too, seeing I have 5 guys in the team willing to bomb forward. Lastly, Out of possession we are marking tighter because I want to be hard to break down and have quite a disciplined and tenacious set of CBs and Volantes in terms of Marking.

How it plays out

With this tactic, 50% of our domestic games have ended as a clean sheet. This is a massive improvement to last year…where at this stage of the season we only had a 35% clean sheet rate. Narrow wins have seen us adopt the ‘Boring, Boring Lorient’ label, a phrase made famous by George Graham’s Arsenal who made a habit out of 1-0 wins.

But, these 1-0s and clean sheets are anything but boring. We play some great stuff at times and I’ve enjoyed the mixture of highlights I am getting, particularly the link-up between DLF & AF and also the glorious CWB role:

DLF to AF combo.

Elite CWB crossing.

CWB-AF-DLF.

In possession we are very high up in the pitch and resemble a 2-4-2-2, with a lot of activity happening centrally:

Average positions when in possession + heat map.

Improvements needed

I believe that this tactic can be improved, especially as this is only 5 months into its lifespan. Looking at the goal locations (see below) against us, I decided to recruit a dedicated ‘water carrier’ in front of the two central defenders.

Goal locations in the last 25 games (all comps).

At first, I thought about re-training a Centre Back and playing them as an Anchor Man at DM, but ultimately, I don’t think I have enough time to see this one through to fruition. So that’s where Josuha Guilavogui comes in. At 34 years of age, he is by no means one for the future. But what Guilavogui does bring is maturity and leadership to the defensive crux right away. A bargain €375k signing from Leganés in Spain.

Josuha Guilavogui, FM12’s Wonderboy back in La France.

Shielding the Centre Backs better will help cover centrally, however the weakest point is my left-hand side which is a direct trade-off between having a marauding Complete Wing Back. The assist locations are perhaps even more insightful than the Goal Location image above…because cutting off the life supply to the opposition forwards will be even more effective:

Assist locations in the last 25 games (all comps).

Most of the goals we concede are crosses (10 goals coming from crossing in the last 25 games - which equates to 47% of all goals against). So, it’s something we need to keep an eye on and now that I’m aware of it I can look out for this weakness.

To counter it, I could defend wider and stop the crosses coming in…or reduce the attacking mentality of my CWB and hope he is in the positions to block the cross. It’s something to think about during the winter break, as we head into a couple of friendlies. One of them being the ‘Vincent Le Goff Testimonial’, who became the last surviving player of the 2018/19 Achilles Goss squad when Julien Ponceau moved to Al-Ittihad Club (KSA) in the Summer for €7m*.

*Au revoir mon fils.

The End Is Nigh

The 4-3-1-2 is by no means perfect, but it’s done enough in the first half of the season to see me continue with it into 2025; with qualification to the Champions League the overarching aim. A few people have asked me what happens if we realise the dream, would I stay beyond my contract and play out one more season in the Champions League? The answer is simple: ‘non’. These last few months in-game will be the last of Achilles Goss and FC Lorient, with one more blog post planned.

The reason is clear to me, I intend to have some downtime over September and October even if it’s just a few weeks, before we hit FM20 hard again with another save. As a writer it’s hard to do something consistently, and for so long, whilst still retaining the interest of the reader. So those few weeks are perfect for recharging the blogging batteries and getting the thirst back again for Football Manager.

But fear not, there are posts already scheduled over mid-late September and although I probably won’t be playing a ‘blogging save’…there should be some words appearing on the blog to tie us over until Football Manager 2020.

As always thanks for reading, sharing & caring,

Achilles Goss / FM Grasshopper