FM22: Viva el Betis — The game model

8 min readOct 30, 2021

It is the first duty of a new coach to decide upon a ‘game model’ — a way of playing — that he wants his team to follow.

Like all saves I will be starting with the initial transfer window disabled and therefore needed to gain a good understanding of the current players at my disposal. I covered the initial phase of the squad analysis in my opening blog ¡Viva el Betis manque pierda!

Why you might ask…well there are several factors which can influence the way a team plays: the capabilities of the players already at the club; the desire of the board; the culture of the club; the demands of the fans; and the culture of the country and opposition teams.

In this post I will attempt to break these down for Betis to create the initial tactic, we will then create a squad depth visual before finishing up with the save objectives.

The game model

The capabilities of the players already at the club

Ok so we should all be familiar with both current and potential ability, each are scored out of 200 with current ability largely determining how good a player is on the pitch. Whilst potential ability acts as a limit to the individuals current ability and is typically the maximum rating the player can reach.

Both of these are estimated in game by coaches and scouts and are presented in the form of star ratings. It is important to be aware that perceived current ability star ratings, for both your own players and those at other clubs, are shown relative to the perceived current ability of your squad as a whole.

Taking a look at the first-team squad at Betis, six out of the initial 30 man squad hold a current ability of four stars whilst two other individuals (Rodri and Juan Miranda) are perceived to hold significantly high ceilings.

Again a point to consider when considering potential ability is that this rating is based mostly on a players age and perceived current ability. Therefor a younger player would be considered to have more time left to improve their current ability over say a 25 year old teammate and therefore influence the rating.

This is not to say that star-ratings are the be-all and end-all, I am certain that many of you reading this today have had previous experience of three star players performing to a greater level than others with higher star ratings.

The squad comparison, which sits under the Squad Menu>Analyst Report is as good a place as any to assess the capabilities of the players within the squad, it is from here that we can break down the units (Defence, Midfield and Attack) and compare their attributes against the league average, providing the manager with a flavour of what his/her players can and can not do.

First up looking at the defence we need to establish if the defensive unit have the ability to support a high line (pace, acceleration and tackling) or a deeper defence (positioning, marking, heading and jumping).

Looking at the above I think it is fair to say that we have a pretty solid defence with most attributes above the league average. I think the attributes favour a lower defensive line, so we will look to implement a mid-block which should favour the more organisational attributes over the dynamic ones.

Moving onto the midfield you will note that the only three attributes which are above average are passing, vision and technique. These three are the gold standard of a possession based game, therefore we will look to play shorter passing in order to starve the opposition of the ball.

Lastly, a look at the forwards shows that although the strikers are quick over a long distance they lack explosive acceleration. The attacking unit have exceptional long shots (shoot on sight) and movement is bang on the league average. Our heading and jumping are better than our finishing which leads me to think that a floated cross could well be the best option of delivery.

The desire of the board

Real Betis have had no fewer than 11 managerial changes since the club last achieved a top four finish in La Liga back in 2004/05, under Lorenzo Serra Ferrer.

Despite Angel Haro’s initial targets for the club (covered in my previous post), the Betis Chairman and his entourage of advisors certainly aren’t hesitant to pull the plug on the Manager if things aren’t going to plan.

This could well be a quick save if I can’t steer Betis to at least a mid-table finish if historic trends have anything to go by.

The Boards desire

The board’s only demand which we will need to convert into our tactic is to play attacking football. Let’s face it, this is what I’d imagine most FM players are looking to implement within their saves (especially top tier saves).

The culture of the club

In order to assess the culture of the club I have opted to analyse the mental attributes of the side. For me, often when looking to implement a DNA within a squad I often select a few key mental attributes which in turn form the foundation of what all recruitment is built upon.

Drilling down into the squads mental attributes should give me a good idea of not only the character of individuals but oversight on what team instructions could work well.

The following attributes are those which have averaged the highest when analysing the first eleven.

Anticipation: How well a player can predict the movements and actions of his team and opposition players.

Composure: How unaffected a player is by mental pressure when making a decision or performing an action.

Concentration: How unaffected a player is by lost focus when making a decision.

Decisions: How well a player can evaluate the options he is aware of and choose which action to perform, when to perform it and how to perform it.

Teamwork: how closely a player follows his tactical instructions and how aware he is of the positions and movements of his teammates.

These highlighted mental attributes certainly solidify that our players have the mental capacity to implement a possession based game, although due to the high level of anticipation, passing into space will be selected to ensure individuals do not shy away from playing through balls.

There are also quite a few individuals within the side which possess a good level of flair, for this reason I am going to allow players to be more expressive, allowing them to play their natural game and deviate away from the game model. (If you got it, flaunt it!)

Taking the attributes away from the equation you might have noted that the average age of the squad sits at 30 years of age.

I found a nice quote from The European Game: The Secrets of European Football Success by Daniel Fieldsend.

Italian clubs see older players as a luxury to be savoured. Their experience is viewed as an intangible, essential for team-building.

Those of you who have followed my FM saves before will know how much I enjoy a young squad. However, this sentence speaks volumes and age is no doubt a factor which I will need to incorporate into this save as I look to lean upon the experience gained through past failures/successes in order to break into the top four and beyond.

The demands of the fans

Manquepierda is the cornerstone of Betis, it’s an acceptance of the difficulty of life and the idea that no matter what happens, you’ll always get up.

This isn’t a matter of putting a positive spin on defeat — it’s a statement of love. An acceptance that no matter how badly one is doing in life they will never abandon the club.

This statement speaks volumes, it goes to show just how closely the club has links with Andalusia, a land which has gone through periods of suffering throughout the years . The people of Andalusia have shown they are robust enough to overcome their defeats and problems, they are hard-working people.

The culture of the country and opposition teams.

Rather than look to assess La Liga as a whole, I have opted to take a closer look at La Furia Roja, the Spanish national football team.

Comparing our mental attributes to those of the players selected by Luis Enrique you will notice that there is a correlation. Both squads posses the highest average in Anticipation and Teamwork, with the national side also having a greater emphasis on Determination (makes sense) and Work-rate.

Composure, concentration and decisions are all ranked as the second highest attributes, which shows that there is synergy between the culture of Betis and that of La Furia Roja.

This puts Betis in a good position for future selection (form depending) as in theory we wouldn’t be attempting to fit a round peg into a square hole.

The tactic

once a game model is decided upon by the coach (tick), inspiration for training sessions is drawn from flaws in matches. Therefore what I am attempting to say is that this by no means is the finished article. We will look to assess the weaknesses month on month, schedule training to make marginal gains, if the same cracks appear then player roles will be reviewed.

Save Objectives

Like any long-term save I have sat down and thought hard about some objectives for the save. Like most of you who will be reading this, playing FM for me just isn’t enough and therefore the following objectives will add an additional challenge, hopefully aiding longevity.

1. Secure Betis a return to Europe’s top club competition the UCL.

‘If you want football’s finest fruit, you grow your own.’ The job of a manager should be to blood new players into the first team every season.

2. Promote a minimum of two youth players into the first team each season.

What a club needs is a strong league with regular windfalls, allowing them to reinvest in their facilities. They must be able to offer competitive wages and regular silverware to entice players to stay.

3. Remove the clubs finances from being in the red, improving its financial health and securing in the future.
4. Secure Betis their first piece of silverware since 2005.
5. Win the Pichichi.