FM22: ON THE CAROUSEL OF ZDENĚK
Zdeněk Zeman
Zeman's career spans over four decades, during this time he has never won any major trophy or enjoyed sustained periods of success. Despite this he remains a popular cult figure and his legacy has impacted some of the top managers of the modern era such as Pep Guardiola.
“Do you expect a coach who won 25 trophies to respond to someone who won Serie B twice?” Jose Mourinho on Zdenek Zeman.
Zeman has never cared much for the concept of avoiding defeat. “In Italy, managers are afraid that losing a game might mean losing their job. That’s why most teams … tend to not make the opponents play, rather than play themselves,”
Zeman was counter cultural, believing managers of his time focused too much on the wrong things, the result. Zeman believed that the main reason people came to the stadiums was to be entertained, the result was inconsequential, it was all about the system, from this moment Zemanlandia was born.
“A 0–0 is boring,” he once proffered. “It’s better to lose 5–4, at least it gives you some excitement.”
Zeman was labelled by his peers as a dinosaur, critiques of his footballing philosophy often stated that his brand was out of date. Zeman would have none of it and was a strong believer that he was as matter of fact 15 years ahead of his time.
The 4–3–3
In more modern terms, Zeman’s values have been translated into an adventurous interpretation of the 4–3–3. The back line pushes up, the midfield marks zonally and the forwards press relentlessly. With the ball, there are few restrictions. The attacking trio are essentially strikers, the midfielders storm forward and the full-backs are defenders in name only.
“Whenever we attack, all three forwards have to be in the penalty area, while two of the three midfielders come forward as well. That way, the opponent is pinned back. Then you put the ball in the box, and because you have more men, you have more chances of scoring. It’s not rocket science. It’s simple math.”
Mentality
A Zeman team is built to attack, without tactics, based on the principle that the important thing is to score one more goal than the opponent, play to win while having fun and entertaining people.
In possession
The passing style is closer to Marcelo Bielsa than to Barcelona and Johan Cruyff; Zeman demands fast and vertical moves that catch opponents off guard.
“In my football, I try to eliminate pointless things, so for me a horizontal pass is futile, as it’s just loaning each other the ball,”
Former Roma Manager Eusebio Di Francesco is another ambassador of the Zeman legacy, stating that he has been the biggest influence on his career. Di Francesco adopted the 4–3–3 and played vertically, as seen in his ‘Masterclass’ video.
Out of possession
The intense pressing and high defensive line he sought required an inherent indefatigability, a willingness and ability to run and move constantly. It also required a goalkeeper comfortable in coming off his line to sweep up any loose balls, thwart opposition attackers and build possession.
“Sometimes the losers have taught more than the winners.”
Tactic testing
After searching for as much content on Zeman I stumbled across @Lckyby on the SI Forum and noticed that many of his posts were surrounding Zeman, I reached out and asked him what he felt the best representation of Zeman’s tactics were on FM22.
To my surprise a few hours later my inbox was full with dialogue and also a few tactics which he had been using himself. Now given my love for numbers I opted to test a few variations with teams from Zeman’s past to establish two things;
- Who were the key players to making the tactic work
- What metrics were outliers, therefore highlighting what type of player I would need to be playing the role to ensure maximum effectiveness.
Results
I opted to test the tactic with a range of teams which Zeman has historically managed, yes the majority of these teams are predicted to finish high in their respective leagues. However, experiencing how media favourites would function under this brand of football in my opinion is the best way to establish a benchmark for KPIs, I mean we all play to win, right!
The first thing which initially stands out is the goals scored column with an average of 89 goals per season! Zemanlandia will no doubt provide an exciting save if you are keen to see the net ripple at both ends of the pitch. There was an average of 3.5 league games with a total of six or more goals scored and a whopping 7.75 games per season where Zemanlandia produced four or more goals for our side.
The Complete Wing Back
The Wing-Back as stated above is key to this tactic firing, Rick Karsdorp, Filip Novak, Milan Gajic and Alberto Rizzo all flourished under the system, which is reflected in their average rating scores. The benefit of playing three strikers up top within the realms of the 18-yard-box draws the wide defenders in allowing the complete wing backs the freedom to advance down the flank, this is represented in the dribbles per90.
It is from these deep positions within the final third that the majority of key passes are delivered, with three players within the box and two central midfielders getting further forward where they can also provide a numerical superiority or pick up the second ball from the edge of the area to keep periods of sustained pressure.
The Central Defender
The ability to have a strong aerial presence is key, this is partially due to the above, with so many players condemned in the final third, often the opponents only way out is route-one.
Given the fact that Zemanlandia will often see an attacking/defensive split of 7–3 or even 8–2 the defender, like a full-back in rugby needs to be comfortable under the high ball, this is reflected in the average of 14.52 headers won per 90.
The Target Forward
With great risk comes great reward, an average goals scored per 90 of 0.72 for the likes of Tammy Abraham, Ohi Omoijuanfo, Serdar Dursun, and Alexis Ferrante.
Both wing-backs have the player instruction to aim crosses in the general direction of the target forward, therefore you’d ideally want your man leading the line to have a physical profile, using his strength and physical presence to disrupt the oppositions defence and create space for his two supporting pressing forwards.
Zemanlandia
“His teams are a symphony of harmony and beauty. His players move with synchronicity, pace, fluidity and character. His squads have an undeniable identity; entertainment is assured, boredom and a waste of time banned… Zeman does not perform miracles, but he is one of the few geniuses in our football.” Arrigo Sacchi on Zeman.
The Team
Given the fact that Zeman has managed no fewer than 15 clubs across Italy, it is calcio fans from the Apulia region of Italy that the Czech will live long in the memories of. The 2004–05 season was a pleasurable experience for the supporters of I Giallorossi, one which can be deemed as a once in a lifetime campaign.
“If asked what were the two most exciting seasons in the history of Lecce, I would answer, without hesitation, the first promotion to Serie A with Fascetti (because the first time is never forgotten) and Zeman’s Lecce.” Stella Corigliano
Zeman’s Lecce was sparkling, he scored a lot and conceded a lot. It was an all out team that entertained, conveyed joy.
Under Zeman, Marco Cassetti was called up to the Azzurri squad, the first and only time a player from Lecce has represented the national side; Zemen’s team amassed 44 points, the highest for Lecce in top flight football; they also secured the second best attack in Serie A scoring 66 goals, one less than Juventus.
The DNA
Zeman was renowned for working his teams hard, his players ran through forests, along beaches and up stadium steps. One player said he “barely survived” his first training camp under Zeman; another called the methods “frightening”.
When critics say he merely exhausts his players, Zeman cites a different logic.
“My training sessions may be long, repetitive and intense, but they’re fun and when you’re having fun, you don’t get tired. Have you ever seen little kids running around all day long? Do they get tired?”
With this in mind, it is refreshing to see that my squad have one of the highest stamina within Serie B, worryingly their natural fitness is below average so squad rotation will need to be necessary to ensure players sharpness stays at a good level. The squad is the paciest in the league, which will no doubt be an asset when looking to play vertically, swiftly transitioning from defence to attack. The boys will no doubt become very acquainted with the sick bucket as I will be looking to push their physical boundaries through implementing a training regime which replicates the somewhat anachronistic methods which Zeman (stemmed from a Soviet culture) applied.
I wanted to also draw your attention to the sides mental attributes, for anyone who has followed my saves before will know this is an area which I hold of significant value. The clubs determination is only just above average, which for me is worrying. Determination is how much a player tries to succeed in his actions during a match even in mentally exhausting circumstances.
This includes when his team is losing, which given the openness of the tactic is a scenario which quite well could play out often. We will need players with a higher level of determination, those who can put faith in the process and come back from one or maybe two goals down to secure a victory.
We do however have a high leadership rating, which shows that we have some inspirational figures within the dressing room and possess the leading average in relation to positioning, this shows that our players are adept at moving into positions to nullify opponents attacks, which is music to my ears given the fact that our defenders will often find themselves in positions of numerical disadvantage, therefore the ability to use their top two inches and out manoeuvre opponents could be massive.
Scouting and Recruitment
Lecce built its youth fortunes through a network of observers who scoured the length and breadth of Salento. The two teams that won the Primavera championship (2002–2003 and 2003–2004 seasons) were mostly made up of players from Salento.
The driver behind this force was the Semeraro family who pushed for Lecce to become the most important youth football centre in Southern Italy.
The first team also train at the Acaya Golf Club in Vernole, which is a four star Hotel which is nestled in one hundred and twenty hectares of Mediterranean vegetation.
In terms of scouting, Zemen and his scouts used to look at every team around Italy, and make shortlists of targets. There was a list of first-choice, second-choice and third-choice for every position. Zemen didn’t even look at the list, he would go straight to the third-choice as it would cost him the cheapest.
In order to replicate this in-game (madness) I will set a rule that I am not allowed to recommend individuals to Stefano Trinchera, (our Director of Football) to sign if the scouts recommendation is above B.
My logic for this being that top tier individuals (A+ and A) have scout messages to ‘sign at whatever the price’, the following tier (A- and B+) are quoted as being ‘A superb signing’, whilst the third choice candidates (B) come with ‘Would be a quality signing’.
The Objectives
“This sport is hugely popular not because of big business or pharmacies but because in every corner of the world there is a child having fun with a football…”
This is the exact objective of this save, simply to have some fun and enjoy what will be final throw of the dice for FM22.
If we get promoted, great, if we can break some records along the way, amazing.
However…
“Sometimes the losers have taught more than the winners.”
I will look to write up bi-seasonal blogs, I wanted to start a save in which I can really focus on enjoying the game and for that reason the decision to write up content twice per season seems fair enough for the readers to engage and still get a feel for the save and its narrative.
The blogs will likely cover…
End of season reviews — including performances against baseline metrics, stand-out take-aways etc. these will be more on the save.
Educational blogs — I think one reason why I like to read blogs is to gain insight/understanding on how others play the game, I then like to take bits which resonate with myself and apply to my gameplay. Hopefully you will find these of use as I will look to try and highlight how I play FM by drilling into some methods/theory/madness.
I hope you have enjoyed the read.
