Played a couple more of matches and results were simply awful, but expected since I had a sequence against the Big Six. I got kicked from Carabao Cup and didn't win any of the five last matches for the league. To make things better, next match is against Manchester City. At least I'm only two points behind my goal (Euro Cup zone), so it might be possible since those were the worst matches.
If you check my team, morale is still pretty high, despite the bad form. The "secret" for that is praising training and being kind to players after matches. I can't afford to put pressure on them, so I show sympathy even in losses to preserve morale and allow me to recover easier against weaker teams.
By the way, training facilities are now good after upgrade.
ZaZ said: Played a couple more of matches and results were simply awful, but expected since I had a sequence against the Big Six. I got kicked from Carabao Cup and didn't win any of the five last matches for the league. To make things better, next match is against Manchester City. At least I'm only two points behind my goal (Euro Cup zone), so it might be possible since those were the worst matches.
If you check my team, morale is still pretty high, despite the bad form. The "secret" for that is praising training and being kind to players after matches. I can't afford to put pressure on them, so I show sympathy even in losses to preserve morale and allow me to recover easier against weaker teams.
By the way, training facilities are now good after upgrade. Expand
I always praise players even after a loss because the worse thing you can do is criticise players then there morale drops and its not as easy to get that morale back to good.
Joe said: I always praise players even after a loss because the worse thing you can do is criticise players then there morale drops and its not as easy to get that morale back to good. Expand
It depends. If morale is fine and your next matches are not very hard, it's often a good idea to yell at them and tell you are not satisfied, so you exchange a bit of stress for more commitment.
Hi @ZaZ Great work with Concord. I'm just kicking off my journey to the top with Grimsby and i have some questions please.
1 - Big Games - Is there a key "technique/method' you employ to get results over the big teams you've faced through your climb? E.g the starting on cautious and then changing back to positive method from FM21.
2 - Facilities. I see you're investing a lot in facilities. Is there a priority order for this? E.g Focus on youth facilities and recruitment, so that you can hopefully start producing good regens OR, is the focus on improving training facilities to improve reach PAs faster.
3 - Recruitment Strategy - I understand getting free players on trial and then recruiting through that means. Is this your method? i.e waiting till the end of the season and jus trialing available players who are willing to come to Concord? ALSO, are you focusing on youth recruits (i.e younger players with better resale value) or are you simply recruiting the best available players you have on offer regardless of age?
Grimsby FC said: Hi @ZaZ Great work with Concord. I'm just kicking off my journey to the top with Grimsby and i have some questions please.
1 - Big Games - Is there a key "technique/method' you employ to get results over the big teams you've faced through your climb? E.g the starting on cautious and then changing back to positive method from FM21.
2 - Facilities. I see you're investing a lot in facilities. Is there a priority order for this? E.g Focus on youth facilities and recruitment, so that you can hopefully start producing good regens OR, is the focus on improving training facilities to improve reach PAs faster.
3 - Recruitment Strategy - I understand getting free players on trial and then recruiting through that means. Is this your method? i.e waiting till the end of the season and jus trialing available players who are willing to come to Concord? ALSO, are you focusing on youth recruits (i.e younger players with better resale value) or are you simply recruiting the best available players you have on offer regardless of age?
Thanks in advance. Expand
1. If you use a good tactic, like Blue 4.0, then you should be able to climb without much trouble until at least Sky Bet Championship. All you need is to have average players with good speed. Against strong teams, you can do the strategy to start with Solid Blue, then change to Blue at second half, but you can definitely climb to the top using just a single good tactic.
2. I invest in facilities because I like to leave the team in better condition than I got it, but to be honest, youth setup is only useful if you plan to play for several seasons after reaching state of the art (even then, it might be just better to steal wonderkids from other teams). Training facilities, on the other hand, are always useful and should be your primary focus.
3. I first filter players by age and some key attributes like pace and acceleration. Then I ask their agents for availability, and if they are interested in joining and not overly expensive, I invite them to a trial to reveal their attributes. In lower leagues, I start doing that on the scouting window for free players, then I look on the youth category of teams above me. Once their attributes are revealed, I either terminate their trials to invite other players over, or offer contract. At higher leagues, you can use scouts instead of doing trials.
To be completely honest, age doesn't matter much in lower leagues since you can completely renew the team after you are promoted, because you increase your stature and attract better players. The money you can get for selling players is also very limited, so it's not worth to worry about resale value. I often sell my players for zero or loan for 100% salaries just to get rid of deadwood and be able to bring new players.
By the way, Concord run is on hold because I'm testing some tactics, but I will come back soon!
Grimsby FC said: Hi @ZaZ Great work with Concord. I'm just kicking off my journey to the top with Grimsby and i have some questions please.
1 - Big Games - Is there a key "technique/method' you employ to get results over the big teams you've faced through your climb? E.g the starting on cautious and then changing back to positive method from FM21.
2 - Facilities. I see you're investing a lot in facilities. Is there a priority order for this? E.g Focus on youth facilities and recruitment, so that you can hopefully start producing good regens OR, is the focus on improving training facilities to improve reach PAs faster.
3 - Recruitment Strategy - I understand getting free players on trial and then recruiting through that means. Is this your method? i.e waiting till the end of the season and jus trialing available players who are willing to come to Concord? ALSO, are you focusing on youth recruits (i.e younger players with better resale value) or are you simply recruiting the best available players you have on offer regardless of age?
ZaZ said: Now at 26 matches into the league. I got kicked out of Carabao Cup, but still going on FA Cup and Papa's John Trophy. The league is also going well, maybe way easier than I thought it would be.
Because of the good results in the cups, my finances are finally in the blue, with 516k in balance and a projected balance of 268k for next year. I tried to ask for improvements for training grounds and youth set up a couple of times, but got denied twice already. Because of that, club structure is still the same as when we started, except stadium, since we loaned a bigger one because of league requirements.
During these past matches, I gave two weeks of holidays to my players, in two different occasions (when I got 8 days between matches). Two of my players are now regulars on their national teams, Liberia and Saint Kitts and Nevis (sorry if anyone lives there, but I didn't even know that country existed). I really dislike to have players in national teams, because you get no benefit from it, but I try to think like real life and just let them be happy there.
Some players are starting to complain about play time, so I changed all agreed playing time from main team to regular starter and all second team players to squad players. Half the squad complained, but since they were happy they just let the issue go when I talked to them (without the need of convincing them). Two players required me to promise to increase their play time, but I will just keep my plan and hope they get happy enough. Even when they get unhappy with playing time or unkept promises by the end of season, they usually let it go after a while if team is winning and they are happy.
Other important things that happened include the injury of my main goalkeeper for nine months, with a broken leg. My reserve goalkeeper is not that great so I might need to hire a new player just in case. Transfer window is now open and I have around 60k free annual wage budget, so I might try to find some good free player to improve the team.
Expand
@ZaZ How did you manage to snap this kid up? Youth regen or youth regen scout/trials from elsewhere? Fantastic catch.
Grimsby FC said: @ZaZ How did you manage to snap this kid up? Youth regen or youth regen scout/trials from elsewhere? Fantastic catch. Expand
I'm pretty sure he was a free agent that some team dismissed. I always start my searches at scouting window, where you can see players in the club knowledge with some interest to join. Then you can apply filters like age, acceleration, pace or anything else until you have a reasonable number of players to invite to trial. Only after that I move to inviting players from youth teams for trial, because most of them refuse it because of my club's reputation.
ZaZ said: I'm pretty sure he was a free agent that some team dismissed. I always start my searches at scouting window, where you can see players in the club knowledge with some interest to join. Then you can apply filters like age, acceleration, pace or anything else until you have a reasonable number of players to invite to trial. Only after that I move to inviting players from youth teams for trial, because most of them refuse it because of my club's reputation. Expand
Ok fair enough. That's a good tip. Incredible find tbh.
Grimsby FC said: Ok fair enough. That's a good tip. Incredible find tbh. Expand
Just checked on transfer history, he came on a free transfer from Gala FR, most likely from a non-professional contract. It showed on Scouting > Players screen together with other free players.
Hey Zaz, I'm kinda in a similar journey having just been promoted to the VNL with Chesham. Just wondered how close to the new season you usually leave it to confirm your new squad and signings. Most of my players from last seasons contracts are up in a week and dont want to run the risk of losing anybody decent enough to stay in the league above? 😬
Wardie37 said: Hey Zaz, I'm kinda in a similar journey having just been promoted to the VNL with Chesham. Just wondered how close to the new season you usually leave it to confirm your new squad and signings. Most of my players from last seasons contracts are up in a week and dont want to run the risk of losing anybody decent enough to stay in the league above? 😬 Expand
To be honest, you can start hiring as soon as league is over, which increases your reputation and allows you to hire new players. I usually try to choose who stays and who goes before pre-season, but sometimes some transfer goes wrong and I keep trying to hire someone deeper in pre-season.
About renewing contracts, I never leave players with less than six months unless I'm planning to replace that player. However, if some player has only one week of contract and no one tried to hire him yet, then it's very unlikely that you will lose him to some other team.
@ZaZ I am undertaking a similar journey, I have got Oxford City in to the prem. One thing I am really struggling with is holding on to leads, any advice?
Pip said: @ZaZ I am undertaking a similar journey, I have got Oxford City in to the prem. One thing I am really struggling with is holding on to leads, any advice? Expand
If you are using Blue, then try changing to Cautious when you have a good lead. Keep shouting to your players all time (praise or no pressure) and make sure to use all subs every match. Other than that, rotation also helps the players stay fresher for longer, and better players will obviously also help.
Pip said: Thanks @ZaZ will try the cautious mentality and a few more shouts. Squad rotation and subs is essential, especially with the amount of bookings! Expand
You can also change players to "Ease Off Tackle" if they get a yellow card, or change the tactic to Light Blue if you have the match under control (if you are using Blue).
3 strikers playing all the time in my defensive area is very dangerous dont you think??? when he crosses they have 3 strikers and the miedfield centers!!
The ZAZ BLUE 4.0 with a line of 4 (2 central defenders) you think can handle against 3 strikers???
3 strikers playing all the time in my defensive area is very dangerous dont you think??? when he crosses they have 3 strikers and the miedfield centers!!
The ZAZ BLUE 4.0 with a line of 4 (2 central defenders) you think can handle against 3 strikers???
Thanks Expand
That might be true, but when their wingback goes to the byline to cross, you have a whole flank to exploit in counter attacks. That's the biggest disadvantage of having only one player in each flank, and gegenpressing is a good way to take advantage from that, since you can intercept the ball closer to the opponent's goal and face his defense exposed.
Got a bit of free time and decided to get back to my career at Concord Rangers. I'm now at 25 matches in my first year at Premier League and lost three of the past four matches. Somehow, I'm still at 7th and inside the Euro League, which is my goal for this season.
During the last transfer window, I brought a couple of new faces. I had to replace a defender and a defensive midfielder, because they wanted to leave the club and their morale wouldn't get green again. I also replaced a goalkeeper, a striker and another defender for cheaper players with similar ability, since they were in the last year of contract.
Other than that, I'm just playing and praising players to keep morale high. My team quality is steadily improving with both training and transfers, and I expect to have a better second half of season, to stay around 6th or 7th place. Unfortunately, UCL is not a reasonable goal for this season.
A couple matches forward and I got some very good results against the top teams. Unfortunately, that didn't bring me up on the table, so I'm still in 7th and now out of the Euro League zone.
In case anyone wants to know to keep morale always high, my biggest tip is to compliment training every single week, when you get the training report. You can see the difference in the pictures below (before and after), where I praised all players circled in red (8.05+) and team morale went from good to almost perfect.
I also decided to pick one match to talk about every 5 or 10 matches. This time, I pick the victory against Manchester City. Before the match, I thought it was impossible to win. On first half, I won 3-0 because they were having one of those days that they miss all shots and keep giving possession away all time. Second half, on the other hand, they came flying and almost won the game. I suppose I have to blame myself for telling my team to not get complacent, instead of telling them to play without pressure.
P.S.: I like to use that progress bar, which you can see in the last squad view, to identify when a player is reaching his top potential. If he stops growing for a couple of months, I then evaluate if he is good enough to stay in the team or if it's better to replace with a young player of similar level that still has chance to grow. For example, Rosannah, Olayinka, Hunt and Cirkin seem to have peaked, so they are positions that I might check for replacement in the future, if they don't improve until next transfer window.
By the way, I played a couple more of matches today. Now at 35 matches and the season is going well. I wasn't expecting anything from FA Cup, but now I'm on the finals. That's especially impressive considering I played all matches with second team (stronger teams probably got complacent since I came from lower division). Anyway, one good match against Newcastle and I might win the cup in my first season coming from below.
About the league, I got a bad form with three matches without winning against weaker teams, but I'm still in 7th in the league. Lucky for me, Liverpool won Carabao Cup and increased the Euro League zone. I had a couple of injuries and suspensions in the past matches, but the team is now back to top shape.
Anyway, one more tip that I already gave before and would like to say again is to always rest players individually after matches. Just sort them by condition, select all tired players and give one or two days of rest, and leave other players to train normally. That's not only useful to improve condition for next match and avoid fatigue, but it also avoids lots of injuries (tired players are more susceptible to get injured in training).
This time, I picked a match against Newcastle to talk about. I started the match conceding one goal and my DL got a red card, which is always a bad sign. I then removed one striker to balance the team and shouted encouragement like crazy. We got a goal and the match ended in a very even tie. The other option I was considering was to remove my AMR (which was having a bad match) to keep two strikers, but I opted for going the other way.
Now, there are four more matches in the season, three in the league against weaker teams and the cup finals against Newcastle. With a bit of luck I can get more than just a spot on Euro League, but things could also go bad and I end the season without anything. I'll finish the season tonight and see how it goes.
Hy @ZaZ . If you remember my dulwich hamlet career . I started another with Blyth spartans after the 22.3 patch. Results were pretty much the same as with dulwich hamlet . Promoted every year . 1st season in the Pl ,survived relegation and 2nd season finishing second in the PL. Problems always came after the second season, because although investement in the team was huge the team somehow reverted to relegation candidates. Missing a lot of chances , playing well below their expectations. My theory is that happend both times because of squad building based on youth. As your reputation increases you start to find great youth players that want to play for you, but they also don't have top flight experience who seems to make them play bang avarege. I remember that i replaced stephy mavidid then age 30 with a 20 year old striker , better in all aspects . It was a disaster , granted that it played next to a 21 year old striker(scored 21 goals 1st season, next to Elanga(age 26 and mavididi age 29 at the time), better than the 20 year old striker . Really looking forward to how you do. Unfortunetly something came up and i didn't want the game to interfere with my personal life so i deleted the saves and the game because it tends to make an addict out of me. Good luck.
G1102 said: Hy @ZaZ . If you remember my dulwich hamlet career . I started another with Blyth spartans after the 22.3 patch. Results were pretty much the same as with dulwich hamlet . Promoted every year . 1st season in the Pl ,survived relegation and 2nd season finishing second in the PL. Problems always came after the second season, because although investement in the team was huge the team somehow reverted to relegation candidates. Missing a lot of chances , playing well below their expectations. My theory is that happend both times because of squad building based on youth. As your reputation increases you start to find great youth players that want to play for you, but they also don't have top flight experience who seems to make them play bang avarege. I remember that i replaced stephy mavidid then age 30 with a 20 year old striker , better in all aspects . It was a disaster , granted that it played next to a 21 year old striker(scored 21 goals 1st season, next to Elanga(age 26 and mavididi age 29 at the time), better than the 20 year old striker . Really looking forward to how you do. Unfortunetly something came up and i didn't want the game to interfere with my personal life so i deleted the saves and the game because it tends to make an addict out of me. Good luck. Expand
I believe it's more because as you grow in reputation, opponents stop being complacent against you, which makes things naturally harder. First season they look at you like "no way we can lose to those guys, we can play at ease", but after two or three seasons they look at you like "those guys are strong, we need focus to win".
About you deleting your game, I completely understand that. It's exactly the same reason why I limit myself to playing only 5 or 10 matches a day, so I know I won't use more time than I should in the game.
Season is over. Concord finished the league in 6th, which gives me a spot on Euro League. However, we lost the FA Cup finals 3-2 to Newcastle, and a red card at first half didn't help much. As a bonus, I discovered one of my players is a wonderkid (not sure if media description changed or if I just didn't pay attention before).
For next season, my goal is to win Premier League and qualify to Champions League. Meanwhile, I will keep building my squad in the hope of winning Champions League in the season after that. I'll also show my process of scouting players and how I decide which players to hire.
Now hiring players for next season. I'll try to describe the method I use, which might not be the best but at least it works for me.
First step is to identify what position(s) you want to improve. Jacob Shepherd (AML) is one of the weakest players in the group, and Dennis Cirkin (AML) has stopped improving, which means he is very close to the top of his potential. Therefore, I'll start searching a player to that position.
I'll start with the most conventional approach, going to player search in scouting. There, I'll search for all AML with good attributes, looking at the table of important attributes in the first post of Blue. My approach is simple: 14+ for attributes marked 100, 13+ for 75 and 12+ for 50 and so on. I also search for players up to 27 years old, but I usually start with 23 years old, then increase if I don't find too many good players.
That gives me a list of potential candidates with interest to join. Next step is to check if they are economically worth, so I ask their agents for their availability estimate the price. Those that are within my budget I will scout for one week to reveal their attributes. If they are sub-23 or listed to transfer, I might even ask for a trial instead.
After knowing the attributes, it's just a matter of choosing the one you like the most.
The second method requires a bit of extra work. First, I will visit the squad of teams and filter for AML, in both main team and youth teams. I'll start with Burnley since they were relegated this season. Then I will look at attributes with a view that shows the most important attributes, then do the same as previous step, asking agent for availability and scouting the ones I like the most. I usually do that for teams one division below and the same division as me (but only youth teams, since they are usually stronger than me and players in main team don't want to join).
I'll have to hire some new scouts first since I have only three at the moment, but I guess you got an idea of how I hire players. I accept suggestions if anyone knows of a better method (consider that I don't use FM Scout or similar).
Great first season.6th is unthinkable in first season. With Dulwich I managed 13th and with Blyth even worse 14th. Seeing you playing I kinda want to start all over again and I might since I never used zaz 4.0. Your scouting method is great. I used the opz elite skin , which show current ability number and that helped a lot since you keep increasing that number over the leagues as if in Vanarama National N/S a 65 current ability is considered great , then in the Vanarama National is not so much ,so you look for 75/80 current ability, obviously players with pace and accelaration, in regards to outfield players and reflexes and agility in regards to GK. The way you do it is harder but way more fair . Looking forward to updates in regard to the new season. Good luck.
Played a couple more of matches and results were simply awful, but expected since I had a sequence against the Big Six. I got kicked from Carabao Cup and didn't win any of the five last matches for the league. To make things better, next match is against Manchester City. At least I'm only two points behind my goal (Euro Cup zone), so it might be possible since those were the worst matches.
If you check my team, morale is still pretty high, despite the bad form. The "secret" for that is praising training and being kind to players after matches. I can't afford to put pressure on them, so I show sympathy even in losses to preserve morale and allow me to recover easier against weaker teams.
By the way, training facilities are now good after upgrade.
ZaZ said: Played a couple more of matches and results were simply awful, but expected since I had a sequence against the Big Six. I got kicked from Carabao Cup and didn't win any of the five last matches for the league. To make things better, next match is against Manchester City. At least I'm only two points behind my goal (Euro Cup zone), so it might be possible since those were the worst matches.
If you check my team, morale is still pretty high, despite the bad form. The "secret" for that is praising training and being kind to players after matches. I can't afford to put pressure on them, so I show sympathy even in losses to preserve morale and allow me to recover easier against weaker teams.
By the way, training facilities are now good after upgrade.
I always praise players even after a loss because the worse thing you can do is criticise players then there morale drops and its not as easy to get that morale back to good.
Joe said: I always praise players even after a loss because the worse thing you can do is criticise players then there morale drops and its not as easy to get that morale back to good.
It depends. If morale is fine and your next matches are not very hard, it's often a good idea to yell at them and tell you are not satisfied, so you exchange a bit of stress for more commitment.
Hi @ZaZ Great work with Concord. I'm just kicking off my journey to the top with Grimsby and i have some questions please.
1 - Big Games - Is there a key "technique/method' you employ to get results over the big teams you've faced through your climb? E.g the starting on cautious and then changing back to positive method from FM21.
2 - Facilities. I see you're investing a lot in facilities. Is there a priority order for this? E.g Focus on youth facilities and recruitment, so that you can hopefully start producing good regens OR, is the focus on improving training facilities to improve reach PAs faster.
3 - Recruitment Strategy - I understand getting free players on trial and then recruiting through that means. Is this your method? i.e waiting till the end of the season and jus trialing available players who are willing to come to Concord? ALSO, are you focusing on youth recruits (i.e younger players with better resale value) or are you simply recruiting the best available players you have on offer regardless of age?
Thanks in advance.
Grimsby FC said: Hi @ZaZ Great work with Concord. I'm just kicking off my journey to the top with Grimsby and i have some questions please.
1 - Big Games - Is there a key "technique/method' you employ to get results over the big teams you've faced through your climb? E.g the starting on cautious and then changing back to positive method from FM21.
2 - Facilities. I see you're investing a lot in facilities. Is there a priority order for this? E.g Focus on youth facilities and recruitment, so that you can hopefully start producing good regens OR, is the focus on improving training facilities to improve reach PAs faster.
3 - Recruitment Strategy - I understand getting free players on trial and then recruiting through that means. Is this your method? i.e waiting till the end of the season and jus trialing available players who are willing to come to Concord? ALSO, are you focusing on youth recruits (i.e younger players with better resale value) or are you simply recruiting the best available players you have on offer regardless of age?
Thanks in advance.
1. If you use a good tactic, like Blue 4.0, then you should be able to climb without much trouble until at least Sky Bet Championship. All you need is to have average players with good speed. Against strong teams, you can do the strategy to start with Solid Blue, then change to Blue at second half, but you can definitely climb to the top using just a single good tactic.
2. I invest in facilities because I like to leave the team in better condition than I got it, but to be honest, youth setup is only useful if you plan to play for several seasons after reaching state of the art (even then, it might be just better to steal wonderkids from other teams). Training facilities, on the other hand, are always useful and should be your primary focus.
3. I first filter players by age and some key attributes like pace and acceleration. Then I ask their agents for availability, and if they are interested in joining and not overly expensive, I invite them to a trial to reveal their attributes. In lower leagues, I start doing that on the scouting window for free players, then I look on the youth category of teams above me. Once their attributes are revealed, I either terminate their trials to invite other players over, or offer contract. At higher leagues, you can use scouts instead of doing trials.
To be completely honest, age doesn't matter much in lower leagues since you can completely renew the team after you are promoted, because you increase your stature and attract better players. The money you can get for selling players is also very limited, so it's not worth to worry about resale value. I often sell my players for zero or loan for 100% salaries just to get rid of deadwood and be able to bring new players.
By the way, Concord run is on hold because I'm testing some tactics, but I will come back soon!
Grimsby FC said: Hi @ZaZ Great work with Concord. I'm just kicking off my journey to the top with Grimsby and i have some questions please.
1 - Big Games - Is there a key "technique/method' you employ to get results over the big teams you've faced through your climb? E.g the starting on cautious and then changing back to positive method from FM21.
2 - Facilities. I see you're investing a lot in facilities. Is there a priority order for this? E.g Focus on youth facilities and recruitment, so that you can hopefully start producing good regens OR, is the focus on improving training facilities to improve reach PAs faster.
3 - Recruitment Strategy - I understand getting free players on trial and then recruiting through that means. Is this your method? i.e waiting till the end of the season and jus trialing available players who are willing to come to Concord? ALSO, are you focusing on youth recruits (i.e younger players with better resale value) or are you simply recruiting the best available players you have on offer regardless of age?
Thanks in advance.
Solid advice. Thank you.
ZaZ said: Now at 26 matches into the league. I got kicked out of Carabao Cup, but still going on FA Cup and Papa's John Trophy. The league is also going well, maybe way easier than I thought it would be.
Because of the good results in the cups, my finances are finally in the blue, with 516k in balance and a projected balance of 268k for next year. I tried to ask for improvements for training grounds and youth set up a couple of times, but got denied twice already. Because of that, club structure is still the same as when we started, except stadium, since we loaned a bigger one because of league requirements.
During these past matches, I gave two weeks of holidays to my players, in two different occasions (when I got 8 days between matches). Two of my players are now regulars on their national teams, Liberia and Saint Kitts and Nevis (sorry if anyone lives there, but I didn't even know that country existed). I really dislike to have players in national teams, because you get no benefit from it, but I try to think like real life and just let them be happy there.
Some players are starting to complain about play time, so I changed all agreed playing time from main team to regular starter and all second team players to squad players. Half the squad complained, but since they were happy they just let the issue go when I talked to them (without the need of convincing them). Two players required me to promise to increase their play time, but I will just keep my plan and hope they get happy enough. Even when they get unhappy with playing time or unkept promises by the end of season, they usually let it go after a while if team is winning and they are happy.
Other important things that happened include the injury of my main goalkeeper for nine months, with a broken leg. My reserve goalkeeper is not that great so I might need to hire a new player just in case. Transfer window is now open and I have around 60k free annual wage budget, so I might try to find some good free player to improve the team.
@ZaZ How did you manage to snap this kid up? Youth regen or youth regen scout/trials from elsewhere? Fantastic catch.
Grimsby FC said: @ZaZ How did you manage to snap this kid up? Youth regen or youth regen scout/trials from elsewhere? Fantastic catch.
I'm pretty sure he was a free agent that some team dismissed. I always start my searches at scouting window, where you can see players in the club knowledge with some interest to join. Then you can apply filters like age, acceleration, pace or anything else until you have a reasonable number of players to invite to trial. Only after that I move to inviting players from youth teams for trial, because most of them refuse it because of my club's reputation.
ZaZ said: I'm pretty sure he was a free agent that some team dismissed. I always start my searches at scouting window, where you can see players in the club knowledge with some interest to join. Then you can apply filters like age, acceleration, pace or anything else until you have a reasonable number of players to invite to trial. Only after that I move to inviting players from youth teams for trial, because most of them refuse it because of my club's reputation.
Ok fair enough. That's a good tip. Incredible find tbh.
Grimsby FC said: Ok fair enough. That's a good tip. Incredible find tbh.
Just checked on transfer history, he came on a free transfer from Gala FR, most likely from a non-professional contract. It showed on Scouting > Players screen together with other free players.
Hey Zaz, I'm kinda in a similar journey having just been promoted to the VNL with Chesham. Just wondered how close to the new season you usually leave it to confirm your new squad and signings. Most of my players from last seasons contracts are up in a week and dont want to run the risk of losing anybody decent enough to stay in the league above? 😬
Wardie37 said: Hey Zaz, I'm kinda in a similar journey having just been promoted to the VNL with Chesham. Just wondered how close to the new season you usually leave it to confirm your new squad and signings. Most of my players from last seasons contracts are up in a week and dont want to run the risk of losing anybody decent enough to stay in the league above? 😬
To be honest, you can start hiring as soon as league is over, which increases your reputation and allows you to hire new players. I usually try to choose who stays and who goes before pre-season, but sometimes some transfer goes wrong and I keep trying to hire someone deeper in pre-season.
About renewing contracts, I never leave players with less than six months unless I'm planning to replace that player. However, if some player has only one week of contract and no one tried to hire him yet, then it's very unlikely that you will lose him to some other team.
Doesn't the adventure continue?
pixar said: Doesn't the adventure continue?
Sorry, took a pause because of external factors, but I'll be back soon to make Concord win the UCL (which will take a couple of seasons).
@ZaZ I am undertaking a similar journey, I have got Oxford City in to the prem. One thing I am really struggling with is holding on to leads, any advice?
Pip said: @ZaZ I am undertaking a similar journey, I have got Oxford City in to the prem. One thing I am really struggling with is holding on to leads, any advice?
If you are using Blue, then try changing to Cautious when you have a good lead. Keep shouting to your players all time (praise or no pressure) and make sure to use all subs every match. Other than that, rotation also helps the players stay fresher for longer, and better players will obviously also help.
Thanks @ZaZ will try the cautious mentality and a few more shouts. Squad rotation and subs is essential, especially with the amount of bookings!
Pip said: Thanks @ZaZ will try the cautious mentality and a few more shouts. Squad rotation and subs is essential, especially with the amount of bookings!
You can also change players to "Ease Off Tackle" if they get a yellow card, or change the tactic to Light Blue if you have the match under control (if you are using Blue).
josealmeida said: OLá amigos. Qual é a melhor tatica para ganhar contra esta formação: (433 com 3 strikers)
tenho um jogo online importante contra um adversário com esta tatica e não posso perder. Uso 3 centrais ou arrisco com a ZAZ blue 4,0????
obrigado
To be honest, I would just keep Blue. He is probably wondering how to win against you more than you are.
@ZaZ
3 strikers playing all the time in my defensive area is very dangerous dont you think??? when he crosses they have 3 strikers and the miedfield centers!!
The ZAZ BLUE 4.0 with a line of 4 (2 central defenders) you think can handle against 3 strikers???
Thanks
josealmeida said: @ZaZ
3 strikers playing all the time in my defensive area is very dangerous dont you think??? when he crosses they have 3 strikers and the miedfield centers!!
The ZAZ BLUE 4.0 with a line of 4 (2 central defenders) you think can handle against 3 strikers???
Thanks
That might be true, but when their wingback goes to the byline to cross, you have a whole flank to exploit in counter attacks. That's the biggest disadvantage of having only one player in each flank, and gegenpressing is a good way to take advantage from that, since you can intercept the ball closer to the opponent's goal and face his defense exposed.
Got a bit of free time and decided to get back to my career at Concord Rangers. I'm now at 25 matches in my first year at Premier League and lost three of the past four matches. Somehow, I'm still at 7th and inside the Euro League, which is my goal for this season.
During the last transfer window, I brought a couple of new faces. I had to replace a defender and a defensive midfielder, because they wanted to leave the club and their morale wouldn't get green again. I also replaced a goalkeeper, a striker and another defender for cheaper players with similar ability, since they were in the last year of contract.
Other than that, I'm just playing and praising players to keep morale high. My team quality is steadily improving with both training and transfers, and I expect to have a better second half of season, to stay around 6th or 7th place. Unfortunately, UCL is not a reasonable goal for this season.
A couple matches forward and I got some very good results against the top teams. Unfortunately, that didn't bring me up on the table, so I'm still in 7th and now out of the Euro League zone.
In case anyone wants to know to keep morale always high, my biggest tip is to compliment training every single week, when you get the training report. You can see the difference in the pictures below (before and after), where I praised all players circled in red (8.05+) and team morale went from good to almost perfect.
I also decided to pick one match to talk about every 5 or 10 matches. This time, I pick the victory against Manchester City. Before the match, I thought it was impossible to win. On first half, I won 3-0 because they were having one of those days that they miss all shots and keep giving possession away all time. Second half, on the other hand, they came flying and almost won the game. I suppose I have to blame myself for telling my team to not get complacent, instead of telling them to play without pressure.
P.S.: I like to use that progress bar, which you can see in the last squad view, to identify when a player is reaching his top potential. If he stops growing for a couple of months, I then evaluate if he is good enough to stay in the team or if it's better to replace with a young player of similar level that still has chance to grow. For example, Rosannah, Olayinka, Hunt and Cirkin seem to have peaked, so they are positions that I might check for replacement in the future, if they don't improve until next transfer window.
good efforts, pal
Nikko said: good efforts, pal
Thanks!
By the way, I played a couple more of matches today. Now at 35 matches and the season is going well. I wasn't expecting anything from FA Cup, but now I'm on the finals. That's especially impressive considering I played all matches with second team (stronger teams probably got complacent since I came from lower division). Anyway, one good match against Newcastle and I might win the cup in my first season coming from below.
About the league, I got a bad form with three matches without winning against weaker teams, but I'm still in 7th in the league. Lucky for me, Liverpool won Carabao Cup and increased the Euro League zone. I had a couple of injuries and suspensions in the past matches, but the team is now back to top shape.
Anyway, one more tip that I already gave before and would like to say again is to always rest players individually after matches. Just sort them by condition, select all tired players and give one or two days of rest, and leave other players to train normally. That's not only useful to improve condition for next match and avoid fatigue, but it also avoids lots of injuries (tired players are more susceptible to get injured in training).
This time, I picked a match against Newcastle to talk about. I started the match conceding one goal and my DL got a red card, which is always a bad sign. I then removed one striker to balance the team and shouted encouragement like crazy. We got a goal and the match ended in a very even tie. The other option I was considering was to remove my AMR (which was having a bad match) to keep two strikers, but I opted for going the other way.
Now, there are four more matches in the season, three in the league against weaker teams and the cup finals against Newcastle. With a bit of luck I can get more than just a spot on Euro League, but things could also go bad and I end the season without anything. I'll finish the season tonight and see how it goes.
Hy @ZaZ . If you remember my dulwich hamlet career .
I started another with Blyth spartans after the 22.3 patch. Results were pretty much the same as with dulwich hamlet .
Promoted every year . 1st season in the Pl ,survived relegation and 2nd season finishing second in the PL.
Problems always came after the second season, because although investement in the team was huge the team somehow reverted to relegation candidates. Missing a lot of chances , playing well below their expectations.
My theory is that happend both times because of squad building based on youth.
As your reputation increases you start to find great youth players that want to play for you, but they also don't have top flight experience who seems to make them play bang avarege.
I remember that i replaced stephy mavidid then age 30 with a 20 year old striker , better in all aspects . It was a disaster , granted that it played next to a 21 year old striker(scored 21 goals 1st season, next to Elanga(age 26 and mavididi age 29 at the time), better than the 20 year old striker .
Really looking forward to how you do.
Unfortunetly something came up and i didn't want the game to interfere with my personal life so i deleted the saves and the game because it tends to make an addict out of me.
Good luck.
G1102 said: Hy @ZaZ . If you remember my dulwich hamlet career .
I started another with Blyth spartans after the 22.3 patch. Results were pretty much the same as with dulwich hamlet .
Promoted every year . 1st season in the Pl ,survived relegation and 2nd season finishing second in the PL.
Problems always came after the second season, because although investement in the team was huge the team somehow reverted to relegation candidates. Missing a lot of chances , playing well below their expectations.
My theory is that happend both times because of squad building based on youth.
As your reputation increases you start to find great youth players that want to play for you, but they also don't have top flight experience who seems to make them play bang avarege.
I remember that i replaced stephy mavidid then age 30 with a 20 year old striker , better in all aspects . It was a disaster , granted that it played next to a 21 year old striker(scored 21 goals 1st season, next to Elanga(age 26 and mavididi age 29 at the time), better than the 20 year old striker .
Really looking forward to how you do.
Unfortunetly something came up and i didn't want the game to interfere with my personal life so i deleted the saves and the game because it tends to make an addict out of me.
Good luck.
I believe it's more because as you grow in reputation, opponents stop being complacent against you, which makes things naturally harder. First season they look at you like "no way we can lose to those guys, we can play at ease", but after two or three seasons they look at you like "those guys are strong, we need focus to win".
About you deleting your game, I completely understand that. It's exactly the same reason why I limit myself to playing only 5 or 10 matches a day, so I know I won't use more time than I should in the game.
Season is over. Concord finished the league in 6th, which gives me a spot on Euro League. However, we lost the FA Cup finals 3-2 to Newcastle, and a red card at first half didn't help much. As a bonus, I discovered one of my players is a wonderkid (not sure if media description changed or if I just didn't pay attention before).
For next season, my goal is to win Premier League and qualify to Champions League. Meanwhile, I will keep building my squad in the hope of winning Champions League in the season after that. I'll also show my process of scouting players and how I decide which players to hire.
Now hiring players for next season. I'll try to describe the method I use, which might not be the best but at least it works for me.
First step is to identify what position(s) you want to improve. Jacob Shepherd (AML) is one of the weakest players in the group, and Dennis Cirkin (AML) has stopped improving, which means he is very close to the top of his potential. Therefore, I'll start searching a player to that position.
I'll start with the most conventional approach, going to player search in scouting. There, I'll search for all AML with good attributes, looking at the table of important attributes in the first post of Blue. My approach is simple: 14+ for attributes marked 100, 13+ for 75 and 12+ for 50 and so on. I also search for players up to 27 years old, but I usually start with 23 years old, then increase if I don't find too many good players.
That gives me a list of potential candidates with interest to join. Next step is to check if they are economically worth, so I ask their agents for their availability estimate the price. Those that are within my budget I will scout for one week to reveal their attributes. If they are sub-23 or listed to transfer, I might even ask for a trial instead.
After knowing the attributes, it's just a matter of choosing the one you like the most.
The second method requires a bit of extra work. First, I will visit the squad of teams and filter for AML, in both main team and youth teams. I'll start with Burnley since they were relegated this season. Then I will look at attributes with a view that shows the most important attributes, then do the same as previous step, asking agent for availability and scouting the ones I like the most. I usually do that for teams one division below and the same division as me (but only youth teams, since they are usually stronger than me and players in main team don't want to join).
I'll have to hire some new scouts first since I have only three at the moment, but I guess you got an idea of how I hire players. I accept suggestions if anyone knows of a better method (consider that I don't use FM Scout or similar).
Great first season.6th is unthinkable in first season.
and I might since I never used zaz 4.0.
With Dulwich I managed 13th and with Blyth even worse 14th.
Seeing you playing I kinda want to start all over again
Your scouting method is great. I used the opz elite skin , which show current ability number and that helped a lot since you keep increasing that number over the leagues as if in Vanarama National N/S a 65 current ability is considered great , then in the Vanarama National is not so much ,so you look for 75/80 current ability, obviously players with pace and accelaration, in regards to outfield players and reflexes and agility in regards to GK. The way you do it is harder but way more fair .
Looking forward to updates in regard to the new season.
Good luck.