FM22: THE ROAD TO JAMOR — SEASON ONE
The opening season with ADS in Portugal was nothing short of a massive success. The club outperformed the seasons initial expectations to be crowned Champions of Liga 3 for the 2021/22 season.
I must admit that the save so far is so good, I am really enjoying the added dynamics which a lower league save will offer. The is no room to be frivolous when it comes to transfers or offering players renewed contract offers, every penny counts.
Another bonus is that the Marcelo Gallardo tactic worked, this despite not having the best quality of player to draw upon. The style of play was still expansive enough to see us score the highest number of goals throughout the first stage (22 games), I will look to write a little on our performance a little later in this post.
THE MAIN AIM
The main aim for me for 2021/22 was to not only attempt to reach the promotion stage of Liga 3, it was to look to navigate the potential problem of not securing the signatures of the playing staff which earned the club promotion.
As you will know from my introductory blog, we had no fewer than 21 of the 23 Senior Squad with contracts due to expire at the end of the 2021/22 season.
We entered the 01 January 2022 having only managed to secure the signature of Fostino Manga (CB), Gabi (LB) and Ze Pedro (F9), which meant at this stage where all players could be poached on a free we had a squad of five players for the following season.
The main problem is that the club had no flex in the wage structure as we had zero transfer budget to play with, the only way players at this point were able to join was if players left.
An offer was received (the only offer we had across January) for Rui Pedro, the 33 year-old was our most experienced player, he was also our highest earner. Diosgyor-Vasgyari Testgyakorlok Kore of the Hungarian second division offered us £10k for the central midfielder which we accepted. Rui Pedro averaged a rating of 7.00 for us and scored four goals and two assists. However his departure enabled us to free up some monies and invest all of his transfer monies back into the wage budget.
I also headed over to my Discord channel to talk to @FMacademy about my concerns (FYI he is a pro when it comes to lower-league to Champions league), I needed his advice and guidance.
Try and get a Senior Affiliate, you’ll get some decent players without their wages. It is a good way to get key players in key positions.
Unfortunately our new President Nuno Santos had different ideas, he obviously didn’t get the memo. Therefore I had to navigate the market for individuals which caught the eye whilst playing in Liga 3, who were available on a free.
Marco Grilo — the 28-year-old was the first player to commit to joining ADS, the right-sided full-back had played in Liga 2 the prior season for Vilafranquense and was averaging at 6.75 with Lusitania in Liga 3. Whilst Grilo isn’t a like for like replacement for Faustino (lacking pace and vision), he is more than capable of doing the job in a position of need, whilst Faustino plays hard-ball over a new deal.
Pedro Machado — the 26-year-old ‘Model Professional’ is a physical player who is good in the air, he has experienced Liga 2 football with both Casa Pia and UD Oliveirense. Due to his personality he is a complete role model for younger players and a player which ideally can develop into a clubman.
Mid -January the side was starting to take a little more shape as I slowly put the building blocks down, piece by piece. A few more deals were made in the market bringing in two individuals on free transfers as they were un-attached.
Diogo Gomes — at 21 Diogo signed as a player who is already operating at Liga 3 standard, he also has the potential to progress to be a Liga 2 player. A leader (Leadership 13) who works well within a team and a fairly consistent performer. Diogo will add both strength and depth to the midfield, his height of 6'4" makes him one of the tallest players in the squad, his height from the half-back position will add an additional protection against aerial threats a.k.a. that route one ball from the GK.
Danilo Gomes — at 23, Danilo is already at Liga 2 standard with the potential to be a leading Liga 2 player. I am not quite sure how he didn’t sign a new contract for Brazilian Serie A side Cuiaba. However, I am not complaining, Danilo is a consistent performer with an abundance of pace (14) and technical ability (13).
As the January window slammed shut, I tried my luck again with Nuno Santos in relation to the acquisition of a senior affiliate, persistency paid off.
The club returned with three propositions for a senior affiliate club, they were Benfica, Boavista and Porto. With two of the big three teams included in the list it would be ludicrous for me to consider Boavista. Porto and Benfica have significantly better youth facilities and no doubt have a wider pool of talent to draw from which would lead to an increased surplus of youth players, more for me to secure the services of in the name of development.
We signed our agreement with Boavista, what was I thinking?! I literally can not believe my decision in relation to choice, will it come back to haunt me later down the save…time will tell…they do have a sweet kit though!
QUALITIES OF THE LEADER
The term leader derives from the English verb “to lead” which means to direct, to drive. The etymology immediately makes us understand that the leader leads a group of people.
A team consists of many elements and the leader must bring them all to reason in the same way.
The figure of the leader shows more initiative than the others, directing, suggesting, proposing new ideas. I am sure the majority of readers utilise their captain to talk to teammates who are unhappy (playing-time), they can also be used to welcome new signings and be ask for their opinion on team morale etc.
If you remember from my initial post we started the save with no individuals sitting in both ‘Team Leaders’ and ‘Highly Influential Players’ within the team hierarchy.
Edgar Almeida has established himself as a team leader within the group. However, there is a lack of leadership and influence within the squad at present and I will need to ensure that players are recruited who can in mid-term fill these slots.
The below takes a little deeper look into the qualities of a leader, some of which I have taken from Massimiliano Favo’s UEFA Pro License thesis.
ATTRIBUTES
On FM when selecting a potential captain you are presented with only two attributes, leadership and teamwork.
Leadership — how inspirational and motivational a player is to his teammates, the most important attribute when choosing a captain.
Teamwork — how closely a player performs his tactical instructions and how aware he is of the positions and movements of his teammates. Players with higher ‘Teamwork’ will play better as a unit.
However, in my opinion there are also a few more additional attributes which I feel make up a great leader.
Determination — how much a player tries to succeed in his actions during a match even in mentally exhausting circumstances.
Bravery — how willing a player is to choose an action that risks pain or injury.
Work Rate — how much physical effort a player puts into his actions during a match.
PERSONALITY
Personality is, fundamentally, a psychological imprint of the subject. It is a set of characteristics that, despite the passage of time, they allow us to always be ourselves, to act with same predisposition, regardless of the situations you are present.
Your captain should ideally have a positive personality so that he will display a good attitude on the pitch and be a suitable role model off the pitch, in particular one that has high ‘Professionalism’.
AGE
Your captain should ideally be one of the more senior members of the squad, it would also be more beneficial if he has been at the club for at least a few years.
REPUTATION
It is advantageous for your captain to have a high reputation relative to other players in the club. This will likely lead to other individuals showing greater respect. a players reputation can easily be found on the ‘Information’ section of his ‘Overview’ tab.
POSITION
Although perhaps not of particularly high importance, the position the captain plays will affect his ability to influence the different areas of the pitch. For example, a goalkeeper’s influence will be restricted to organising his defence, whilst a midfielder will have a greater influence on the whole team.
Looking the the above custom view, the players with the highest leadership score are Fabio Matos (GK) and Bavikson Biai (HB). Ideally I would like for my ‘Captain’ to play in midfield, Bavikson certainly fits the mould, scoring highly across the other attributes. However, at 21 and not initially due to receive a large volume of minutes from a starting position, it is not for him.
This makes my decision in relation to the choice of captaincy a two way tie, will the armband go to Diogo Gomes or Danrlei, both players will play a significant role in the side for 2022/23. However, the Brazilian is older, has been at the club longer, holds a greater world reputation and already holds a position of significant value in relation to the clubs hierarchy.
Danrlei Rosa dos Santos, Associação Desportiva Sanjoanense Captain
2021/22 SEASON SUMMARY
Our form across the initial stage of the season, prior to the league splitting out was exceptionally consistent, this is reflected in our league positioning over time (blue). You will note that we were more often than not sitting at the top of the table, apart from a short period where both Andia and Felgueiras made the top of Liga 3 their own, if only for a short period.
LIGA 3 NORTHERN
Looking below at the ‘XG Table’ our position was just deserved, this is highlighted in ADS leading the expected points table with 44.9 points. The biggest over achievers of the campaign were Felgueiras and Anadia, both sides racking up more points than their performances merited. Whilst on the flip side Lusitania Lourosa and Sao Joao de Ver might count themselves a little unfortunate, gaining less points than their expected points.
A few notable stats surrounding the performances of the sides from Liga 3, Northern sides who will be entering the Promotion phase of the season.
UD Oliveirense — Second best possession 58%, which is a single percent behind ourselves as the league leaders (59%), second highest xG 35.69 again this stat was enough to be the second best in the league behind ourselves (41.39) and the highest crosses completed 242, a country mile above second place with 189.
Felgueiras 1932 — won possession the most 2010 times across the campaign.
Anadia —Third highest conversion rate at 14% along with the second highest highest dribbles completed.
LIGA 3 SOUTHERN
A few notable stats surrounding the performances of the sides from Liga 3, Southern sides who will be entering the Promotion phase of the season.
Vitoria de Setubal — the side managed by Pedro Gandaio boasted the best defensive record across both leagues conceding only 12 goals across the campaign, we found ourselves in third place, conceding 18 goals. Setubal also had the most clean sheets, which should come as no surprise.
Caldas — The second highest scoring team, finding the back of the net 41 times (a single goal behind us) they also has the highest conversion rate 15%.
Amora — highest shots on target 47% — second most dribbles 192 — highest headers won 74%.
Alverca — second highest goals from free kicks (3), whilst they completed the least number of passes, which gives an indicator into their style of play.
The promotion phase group had been drawn and we would be playing, high scoring Caldas, dribble masters Anadia and aerial dominant Amora.
A reminder of the rules, teams would play each other twice with the winners securing promotion and passage to the ‘Championship’ game to play the winners of the other group for the right to be crowned champion.
A close to perfect record across the promotion stage and four goals across the six games from new signing Danilo Gomes was more than enough to see us face Alverca in the one off Champions Playoff Final. A goal in each half from our Brazilian strike partners was enough to see us crowned champions!
THE ROAD TO JAMOR
Taça de Portugal — unfortunately our journey to the all important final was cut short, this journey this season was short, only 187km to Peniche in the second round.
We were outclassed by Rui Jorge’s side in the third round, 25 year-old Colombian forward Oscar Estupinan scoring a hattrick and securing the match ball.
Feirense nearly completed a fairy-tale story, the Liga 2 side reached the Semi-Finals to only lose out to FC Porto, the giants dispatched Famalicao in the final to lift the trophy. Their only piece of silverware for the season as Carlos Carvalhal’s Braga side were crowned the Portuguese champions for the first time in the clubs history, they had a five point advantage over Porto, with Benfica and Sporting securing the other places in the top four.
PERFORMANCE
The above performance radar gives you a flavour of our play, as with any team which finish high in the league, we have a positive goals per game ratio. Surprisingly this is closely aligned to our expected goals, meaning that we didn’t over perform in this area, this for me is a positive, reassuring me that the goal scoring should continue to flow next season even though in a higher league.
The passes attempted visualisation shows just how dominant we were on the ball, it is not very often across a save on FM22 that you will find this visualisation showing that your team have attempted 50% or above in the oppositions half. This credits the sides ability to sustain attacking threat for long periods of time and not force the shot, this is backed up with our sides total shots and shot % of.
The above visualisation is our best eleven for the 2021/22 season, showing the players average rating (no player below 7.02) and their total goal contributions.
What the visualisation brings to my attention is the threat we hold down the right flank. Looking more specifically at the three players with the highest goal contributions (CM-A, Mez-A and F9-S) all operating down the right side of the pitch, causing havoc in the half-space.
The standout player of the season was Teixeira winning both the ‘Fans Player of the Season’ and ‘Young Player of the Season’.
The Portuguese player averaged a rating of 7.39 and contributed with a whopping 14 assists across the campaign, along with scoring four goals.
Looking at the overall coach report for Diogo, Marcio Rocha (Assistant Manager) feels that Diogo can become a good Liga 2 player. Given his creativity, pace and sporting attitude I have no reason to doubt Roch’s predictions.
SEASON 2022/23
The initial expectation of the media are for us to finish the season in 15th place, I will take that, this is one place clear of relegation. The Board echo the media’s expectations as they have stated they want us to fight bravely against relegation.
CLUB CULTURE
The Board have three preferences in relation to the brand of football which they expect us to deploy.
Possession football (tick), high-tempo pressing football (tick), play defensively solid football (FML).
Anyone who has taken the time to reach out to trial the Gallardo tactic will instantly know this is something which this tactic is not. If we start to get into trouble later on down the line we might have to look at how we can adjust it to operate with a little more caution.
THE MISSING PIECES
Klismahn — the 22 year old joined us from Liga 3 side Alverca after his one year contract expired. The Brazilian has an excellent pivot (Passing 14, Technique 14, and Vision 13), paired with great compasure 14, Agility 14 and Balance 14. Attributes like this are going to make Klismahn press resistant and capable of working in tight spaces.
Matheus Clemente — the 24-year-old joins from Famalicao, a technical player who in my opinion lacks the physical attributes to make him a threat. He will add some much needed depth to the midfield.
THE LOAN MARKET
Schurrle — the 20-year-old joined us from Braga, he was a player which I had experienced managing on FM21 and is no doubt first-team ready. A smart player who is mentally strong and technically gifted. He will operate as my Mezzala on support duty to ensure he is heavily involved in the build-up phase of play.
Ze Pedro — with no left-footed central defenders at the club, I felt the need to bring one in to ensure we have cover for Almeida. Ze Pedro was the second recruit from Braga, his ‘Jumping reach of 16 and height of 6’3" caught the eye.
Martim Tavares — our first benefactor of the relationship with Boavista, the 18-year-old is composed, skilful and pacey. He will compete with Dinho to play second string to Ze Pedro as a False 9.
THE SQUAD
Above is the full ‘Senior Squad’ for the second season in Liga 2, in my opinion we now hold strength and depth with a eight already having the current ability of a Liga 2 player and a further 14 holding the potential to play at this level.
WAGE BREAKDOWN
Our balance at the start of the season is £484,896, with a wage budget of £30,359 (Committed spend £14,310). We have headroom in the wage budget to allow us some flexibility in the market if needed and have £16,390 of our transfer budget remaining after securing the signings of Danrlei (£13k rising to £15.25k) and Lucao (£6k rising to £14.25k).
The main core of squad are made up of either ‘Squad Players’ or ‘Regular Starters’ which I feel is a good blend which shouldn’t lead to individuals causing me too much grief complaining about their lack of game time.
GALLARDOBALL
Now that we have the initial building blocks in place (a committed squad), I can afford to be a little more selective from now on in terms of recruitment. If Gallrdoball is the aim we will need to align with Gallardo’s River Plate in order to maximise the tactics impact/success.
How do I establish this, well its quite simple really…fire up a save with River Plate, look to the ‘Comparison’ tab and note down the attributes which the team excel in.
Ever since my OGC Nice save I have always prioritised individuals mental attributes, therefore these will be what I conduct initial sifts on when recruiting.
You can see from the above that at present we are only scoring above average in relation to three of the eight attributes (Composure, Decisions and Positioning).
Whilst performance against the secondary attributes again shows a disparity with only beating the average in Balance and Passing.
I will look to cover this in a little more detail in the next post, showing individual scores against these newly formed metric baselines.
I appreciate your time to read this comprehensive review of our first season, RT will be greatly appreciated, feel free to drop a comment as well.
Until the next time!
