Category: Journeys & Stories

US Triestina: Squad evaluation #2

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Introduction

Following my initial post which outlined the rebuilding work at US Triestina in Serie C, this follow-up article will describe the systems I used in my first season. Suffice to say, performances were excellent and after an inauspicious start, I was delighted with the results.

My target for the season as determined by the Board was to achieve a play-off spot in Serie C, which required a top ten finish. I was very confident that I could deliver this, and more.

In this post I will evaluate the existing squad members and explain how I put it all together into three different systems.

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Dynamo Project FM19 – Part 5 – Tactics, Glory & Wonderkids

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For some reason I always associate the month of December with playing Football Manager. Maybe it was because I started my first ever save on FM14 in December 2013, the glorious campaign of promoting Manisaspor out of the gloomy depth of Turkish 2nd division. Maybe by pure luck or some fluke of the plug and play tactics, which back then I was almost exclusively using because I did not know better, I was actually able to win the league and promote my first ever club. I got it then, that feeling of dopamine rushing to my head, firing up the neurons in the glorious exploding chain reaction of joy that all managers, both real and virtual, experience at one point or another. It was the first shot of that most addictive of drugs that gets you hooked, the feeling that we all strive to experience with our virtual hobby again and again. The rest as they say is history, but the memory remains. In my mind, December will always be associated with the fuzzy feeling of winning in football manager, or if not winning then at least the next best thing, discovering that future homegrown superstar on intake day, and visualizing all the future records and trophies he will achieve. Continue reading →

US Triestina – Welcome to Serie C

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Around every October, FM fanatics turn their thoughts to their next FM save, with the new game just around the corner. I had always fancied the idea of turning a minnow into a European superpower; on previous versions I had a very enjoyable save in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen and in the UK, with Oxford United. I gave some thought to managing overseas and settled for a career in lowly Serie C in Italy. I prefer to begin as an unknown manager in the lower leagues, working my way up and building a reputation.

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Dynamo Project FM19: Part 4 – Injury Crisis

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Despite the positive start to the season, we had to contend with a bit of a crisis. Within a space of a month I’ve had 4 of my first team players receive long-term multi-months injuries. I could be bitter, blaming it on the fact that I was playing with an earlier patch at time that made injuries a tad too common. But realistically, I am using a high intensity high pressing system that demands a lot from my players’ stamina and natural fitness. Injuries were bound to happen sooner or later. So instead of reloading or restarting my save I decided to use it as a theoretical experiment and a proper challenge to test the depth of this squad. As I intend this article to showcase, there are some positives to losing your important squad players for a few months. It does not necessarily spell the end of a successful season, since sometimes a few long-term injuries is just the catalyst that a team needs to bring it to the next level. Continue reading →

Dynamo Project: Part 3 – Highlighting the Pressing Forward in FM19

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I was torn between two formations for my gegenpressing tactic: 4-2-3-1 DM wide or 4-5-1. In the end I ended up choosing 4-2-3-1, with 4-5-1 moving to my backup tactic when faced with superior sides in Champions League. Why did I not use Lobanovsky’s classic 4-4-2, you may ask? For one reason, I’ve used 4-4-2 extensively in both FM 2017 and FM 2018 and while I always had some success with it, I nevertheless noticed that Number 10 strikers never played as I wanted. No matter his role, he would not drop as much as I needed to link up the midfield and attack as well as attacking midfield would. When I decided upon using defensive midfielders (although sometimes I experiment with having one of each) instead of midfielders then I became convinced even further that I will need an attacking midfielder in order to link up play better. I’m planning to play more of a natural striker than playmaker in that position, one who will not just pass the ball around but will also work hard to make late runs into penalty area.

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Dynamo Project: Part 2

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Club DNA

The first question you might ask is what sort of player you will need to recreate Lobanovsky’s system, or indeed any kind of “gegenpressing” tactic, work. Primarily you want players with as much Stamina, Workrate and Determination as possible. I’m looking for something in 14-16 range ideally. As long as they are gifted in that trio, they will run their hearts out in whatever system you employ. Although, it helps if you use fitting team instructions and roles to get the best out them (more on that later).

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Dynamo Project: Part 1

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Introduction

Hi my name is CrusaderTsar and I’ve been playing Football Manager since 2014 and been a long-time follower of this forum. I finally decided to dip my feet in and write a series following my first long-term save in FM 2019. I plan to start a somewhat open discussion of Dynamo Kiev club and my tactics. I intend to post regular updates on my squad and results as well as welcome feedback on how to improve my tactics and training. Continue reading →

Globalising Gorleston FC – Episode 1

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If you missed Globalising Gorleston FC – Introduction, Click Here

Welcome back to Globalising Gorleston, my attempt to take Gorleston FC to the top of world football! In the last episode, I took over the reigns of my boyhood club Gorleston FC, signed our team to actual contracts and we advanced through our pre-season schedule in which we managed to pick up just 1 win from 5 matches, the win coming against local side Lowestoft Town. Although we lost 3 of our friendlies and drew one, it was a good chance to get a good idea of how our starting side would line-up once the season started.

And the start of the season starts now…

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The Weird Cup: Strange and wonderful facts about the World Cup

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With the World Cup now underway, the world is watching as we move towards crowning the next World Champions of football. The World Cup is a fantastic spectacle, and there have been some incredible things to happen during the tournament over the years.

But there have also been some very strange instances over the years, and today we will be taking a look at some of the weird and wonderful things that have happened in the last 88 years of the World Cup:

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