FM21: NISSA — 2023/24 Season Analysis
I am happy to provide you all with another update from my NISSA series as we close off season four of Ligue 1 with OGC Nice. For those of you who are new to the series, the save is often the back story as I look to provide you the reader with varied content, which I hope has provided many of you with a form of escapism or inspiration for you to take into you own FM journeys.
PSG Dominance
For those of you that have experienced a save in France on Football Manager you would have most likely experienced similar frustrations surrounding your save, most if not all of which surround PSG.
The side from Paris have now secured their seventh Ligue 1 title on the bounce, this now see’s them crowned as champions in 11 of the last 12 seasons. PSG’s last defeat came in game week 3 of the past season so they are on for securing two full seasons without defeat!
AS Monaco were the last side which managed to break PSG’s choke-hold on the French game back in 2016/17, even an invincible season for us last time around was not enough to secure the title as we surprisingly joined a list of clubs which finished the season undefeated and yet failed to secure the title.
This dominance paired with their relentless spending £811 million to date, gives us another reason to sulk as they are benefiting from having a front-end sugar daddy who continues to throw money at them, enabling them to continue to sign top talent.
The final standings above, show us missing out on the title by four points, in a season in which we scored our highest amount of goals (105). Clearly this free-flowing attacking football came at a price, we conceded 25 goals which is the second-highest figure to date on the save, however the aim this season was to play a brand of football that reduced the number of draws, which was our stumbling block from the previous year. (think Pochettino at Spurs days)
The defeats against PSG were the decisive factor to us not securing the Ligue 1 title this season, we will absolutely need to improve on the head to head against PSG which has seen us only secure the one victory to date.
Another gem that I’ve only just discovered in-game is that by hovering over the league table and the goals for/against, you will be presented with a little pop-up that shows a total of who you have scored goals against during the season, as you can see we stuck 10 past Dijon FCO over the course of the season, lovely!
Looking at the performance radar for the season, you can see how well we have performed against the metrics, one point which surprised me was the fact that we had an average pass completion ratio in comparison to the league, maybe this is a reflection on trying to play too many killer balls.
UEFA Champions League
When the initial draw for the group stage was made I thought I would be competing for the UEFA Europa League come the end of the season, being drawn against the likes of Atletico Madrid and Liverpool.
However, the footballing gods were clearly on our side as I managed to secure victories against them both in the opening games taking nine points from nine after the first three fixtures.
The four-goal victory away at the San Siro in the first knockout round was a result which I never would have expected to secure, Inter simply crumbled after Renyer opened the scoring on the 29th minute.
After holding our own in the Santiago Bernabeu against Real Madrid in the Quarter Final, all would be to play for in the return leg which ended up being a case of agony and ecstasy…just in the wrong order.
Renyer opened the scoring in the 21st minute after an acute pass from Ludovic Blas found the Brazilian in space on the edge of the box, his effort curling into the bottom corner, just out of reach for the sprawling Thibaut Courtois.
This goal gave us the edge in the tie as we scored what could have been a crucial away goal.
Mo Salah ensured that Real Madrid we back on level terms on the night and leading the tie on the 29th minute, a Loic Bade tackle on Luka Jovic diverted the ball into the feet of an unmarked Salah, the Egyptian showing his class which secured him the £128 million move to Spain.
73 minutes in and the home fans were given another reason to believe, Blas striking a powerful effort which deflected off Eder Miltao, before Pedro Brazao got enough on the ball to send it back into the danger zone, Dominik Szoboslai taking advantage of a scene which resembled an old school pinball machine by slamming into a vacant net.
The game was tied, could we be heading for extra time?
In the 85th minute, the long throw was propelled into the Real Madrid box and well-controlled by Kasper Dolberg. What followed next resembled your everyday school ground scramble, no fewer than 10 outfield player battling for the ball before Fuchs sent the ball past Courtois.
Les Aiglons were ahead and with only four minutes of time left on the clock and whatever injury time to be played from progressing to another UEFA Champions League Semi-Final.
Time to shut up the shop, play more cautious and crank up the time-wasting!
No words needed.
Coupe de France Final
Despite being drawn away from home in every round of the Coupe de France we managed to not only make the Final but retain the trophy which we secured last season.
The victory over Lyon means that Les Aiglons have now won three trophies spanning across the four years to date on the save, which without blowing my trumpet too hard, I’d say is pretty impressive.
The final itself was a lot close than last seasons routing of AS Monaco, even though it got off to a similar start with Dominik Szoboszlai scoring a free-kick after 85 seconds, the Hungarian making good use of his attribute of 17 for free-kick taking.
Edimilson Fernandes scored in the 83rd minute after Thiago Maia played a floated cross to the back post with the Swiss midfielder outjumping Arthur Zagre to equalize.
Andre Silva scored the winner (above) in the first period of extra-time, the Portuguese striker deftly guiding the ball past Anthony Lopes to ensure OGC Nice lifted the trophy again.
Squad Analysis
As per usual I have taken the time to create a squad profile to help make data-driven decision within my save.
If making a squad profile is something that is appealing to you then you can find my piece on how to create a squad profile here.
In this edition I have opted to colour the dots with the goal contribution metric, the deeper the red, the greater the contribution. Amine Gouiri (IF on support) leading the way with a combined goals and assists value of 38.
In terms of goal contributions, my biggest contributors other than Gouiri are Ludovic Blas (AP on attack), Dominik Szoboszlai (MEZ on support), Kasper Dolberg (DLF on attack).
Drilling down into the squad profile it is clear to see that the likes of Pedro Brazao, Emiliano Fernandez and Henrique Sanches need attention due to their lack of senior football at the crucial age, all being 21 or under.
Again the same applies to Alexis Claude-Maurice, Robson Bambu, Imran Louza and Andre Silva all who have completed under the average amount of minutes for the team.
I have a total of 14 players who are in their prime, this is the greatest number spanning across the save, Andre Silva is the oldest squad member at 28 years old.
Alexandre Parsemain finished the season with 20 goals whilst on loan with Chamois Niortais. His contribution helped to keep the newly promoted side up in Ligue 1 with Parsemain contributing to over 50% of their goals across the campaign.
His ability to succeed in Ligue 1 will see him stay with OGC Nice next season and provide competition for out strikers.
Accolades
Szoboszlai secured the Fans Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season at the annual Les Aiglons Player Awards.
The Hungarian totalled 26 goal contributions across the season (nine goals, 15 assists) which equalled his tally from the previous season (six goals, 18 assists. There is no doubt that the midfielder has swiftly become one of OGC Nice’s star players during his two years at the club.
Below is an assist map that shows all of Szoboszlai’s assists from the 2023/24 campaign, I was inspired to attempt one of these after viewing the work of Marius Fischer, the King of assist maps in my humble opinion.
If you would like to view an analysis of Dominik Szoboszlai’s second season at the club along with a data analysis comparing him to players from Ligue 1 who have contributed to over 1,000 minutes for their sides then please click on the below link.
Dominik Szoboszlai Analysis Video!
As always I hope you have enjoyed the latest from Nice.
Fin.
