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Normally I'm a Liverpool fan. I've played countless LFC saves over and over, building and rebuilding the team many ways. But this time around, I wanted something a little different.
After watching last weekends LFC v Southampton game and seeing the potential their squad has, I decided to make my next save about them.
In this game I'll be playing with a different system and something I've never used before, inspired by the 6-2-2-0 Counter Hypothesis thread. The formation and play style will be my own creation though, using ideas and tips from that discussion.
So this story is kind of dual natured. It's about Southampton, but also about this new tactic I'm trying to create.
So all that being said, on to the show:
Week 1 (Staff and Deadwood):
As with most saves, on day one I like to rearrange the club I take over completely. Out goes any and all staff to mutual termination that don't meet a certain standard. Unfortunately, my first roadblock with Southampton is I can't get in some of the staff I want due to the previously manager's new hires.
I'm stuck with Jesus Perez as my assistant coach, as well as the previous regimes GK coach and tactics coach. I almost completely replace everyone else, except the u18 and Reserves coaches, as well as the DoF and the head of youth development.
I also choose to keep the physio tandem of Mo and Emma Gimpel... because I think they are married... and how heartless would it be to fire both the husband and the wife?... What if they have pixel children to support?... So despite being rubbish, they'll stay on my staff.
Final staff hirings/coaching categories:
The next thing I like to do in a new save is get rid of all my deadwood players and get an idea what my budget will be for the season. What's nice about Southampton is they start with a decent wage and transfer budget for a small team, but also have a lot of deadwood to sell (and the board starts with 80% transfer revenue, but will allow you to increase to 100% if you ask).
Immediately I put everyone that is rated three stars or below on the transfer list (even young reserve players), and use the new 'unwanted list' feature to have my DoF sell the players. While i'd like to get value for them, most of the players are priced to move as I want not only the transfer revenue, but also the salary off the books.
Next I start slashing the size of the u18 team. In the past, Southampton has been known for their youth development... however, 80% of the u18 team are rated 1 star or below by the coaching staff. I usually release on a free anyone without even a remote chance of making the team. This usually leaves me with only a handfull of u18 players on the books and a weakened u18 team for the u18 league... but I'm ok with that. I usually try to bring in a couple of 16-17 year olds each transfer window for development.
Once the deadwood is gone, it's time to start looking at new players. From the original Southampton first team I inherited, this is who is left:
After selling everyone and asking for a wage budget increase, I had over 20m to bring in new players.
The formation I developed (which I'll talk about in a minute) is a 3-7-0 with 3 DM's. Because Southampton's defense is probably one of their weak spots, bringing in a few quality CBs was my number one priority, followed by bringing in a good anchor man for my defensive midfield.
For CBs my top three targets were Danny Batth, Stefan Strandberg, and Borja (Real Sport SAD 18 year old). I like young, tall CBs that can either pass the ball or have pace. On the plus side, all three are relatively cheap too and can be had for less than 3m.
Unfortunately, Batth signed a new contract with Wolves before I could sign him, but I did land Borja (2.3m) and Strandberg (1.2m).
The next most important area for me was some quality DM's. Southampton start with quality players that can fit in to the DM spot, but they are more DLP's than they are hardmen holding midfielders that can break up play, which is what my system needs.
I first eyed Maxime Gonalons who was on the transfer list. I was surprised he was willing to sign for Southampton, and at 6.5m he would be a pricey addition, but I could justify spending it.
Later on in my first month I was also made aware that Victor Wanyama would be interested in signing for Southampton. Capturing Wanyama would truly be a coup for the club, and after some wheeling and dealing, we secured him for 10m (half paid out over 48 months) + a player exchange of Jason Puncheon. Surprisingly, Wanyama was willing to take a reasonable salary as well.
Those were the biggest transfers in, with the rest being quality youngsters for either the bench or the u18 team.
Here is a complete list of my transfers by the end of the 1st month:
As a side note, I also like signing players with a high determination attribute that can tutor. Because of this, I brought in Arthur Boka on loan from Stuttgart to cover or start on the left side (DL/WBL/ML) as well as tutor Nathaniel Clyne.
The system 3-7-0:
So as I mentioned before, i was inspired by the 6-2-2-0 Counter hypothesis thread by Shyftyy. I wanted to create a strikerless counter formation that would be strong defensively, and quick and direct on the break. This is completely opposite to the kind of formations I'm used to playing with, having played a lot of Liverpool saves and focusing on possession, overlapping width, and passing football.
My formation and current starting XI for pre-season friendlies looks like this:
Here are the sliders (although it's a work in progress)
So as you can see, the formation is a little unorthodox... but Southamptons players fit in quite nicely. Lambert surprisingly makes a decent AMC, although his pace is really bad for a counter-attacking style of play. In my first two friendlies the defence has been fantastic, holding the opposition to zero shots. But the lack of pace upfront is definitely noticable and something I may have to fix later on in the season.
Also, I'm retraining Nathaniel Clyne (one of Southampton's best and brightest young talents) to play as a right winger. I'm not using fullbacks, but he's too good to exclude from the team. The same goes for Luke Shaw, who I will also try to develop as a defensive winger.
As a back up, I'm also working on a 5-5-0 with wingbacks and wingers as a backup tactic for when we need a little width... but it's a long way off from being presentable.
In the next post I'll talk about friendlies, results, formation tweaks, and the league!
March on you Saints.
Normally I'm a Liverpool fan. I've played countless LFC saves over and over, building and rebuilding the team many ways. But this time around, I wanted something a little different.
After watching last weekends LFC v Southampton game and seeing the potential their squad has, I decided to make my next save about them.
In this game I'll be playing with a different system and something I've never used before, inspired by the 6-2-2-0 Counter Hypothesis thread. The formation and play style will be my own creation though, using ideas and tips from that discussion.
So this story is kind of dual natured. It's about Southampton, but also about this new tactic I'm trying to create.
So all that being said, on to the show:
Week 1 (Staff and Deadwood):
As with most saves, on day one I like to rearrange the club I take over completely. Out goes any and all staff to mutual termination that don't meet a certain standard. Unfortunately, my first roadblock with Southampton is I can't get in some of the staff I want due to the previously manager's new hires.
I'm stuck with Jesus Perez as my assistant coach, as well as the previous regimes GK coach and tactics coach. I almost completely replace everyone else, except the u18 and Reserves coaches, as well as the DoF and the head of youth development.
I also choose to keep the physio tandem of Mo and Emma Gimpel... because I think they are married... and how heartless would it be to fire both the husband and the wife?... What if they have pixel children to support?... So despite being rubbish, they'll stay on my staff.
Final staff hirings/coaching categories:
The next thing I like to do in a new save is get rid of all my deadwood players and get an idea what my budget will be for the season. What's nice about Southampton is they start with a decent wage and transfer budget for a small team, but also have a lot of deadwood to sell (and the board starts with 80% transfer revenue, but will allow you to increase to 100% if you ask).
Immediately I put everyone that is rated three stars or below on the transfer list (even young reserve players), and use the new 'unwanted list' feature to have my DoF sell the players. While i'd like to get value for them, most of the players are priced to move as I want not only the transfer revenue, but also the salary off the books.
Next I start slashing the size of the u18 team. In the past, Southampton has been known for their youth development... however, 80% of the u18 team are rated 1 star or below by the coaching staff. I usually release on a free anyone without even a remote chance of making the team. This usually leaves me with only a handfull of u18 players on the books and a weakened u18 team for the u18 league... but I'm ok with that. I usually try to bring in a couple of 16-17 year olds each transfer window for development.
Once the deadwood is gone, it's time to start looking at new players. From the original Southampton first team I inherited, this is who is left:
After selling everyone and asking for a wage budget increase, I had over 20m to bring in new players.
The formation I developed (which I'll talk about in a minute) is a 3-7-0 with 3 DM's. Because Southampton's defense is probably one of their weak spots, bringing in a few quality CBs was my number one priority, followed by bringing in a good anchor man for my defensive midfield.
For CBs my top three targets were Danny Batth, Stefan Strandberg, and Borja (Real Sport SAD 18 year old). I like young, tall CBs that can either pass the ball or have pace. On the plus side, all three are relatively cheap too and can be had for less than 3m.
Unfortunately, Batth signed a new contract with Wolves before I could sign him, but I did land Borja (2.3m) and Strandberg (1.2m).
The next most important area for me was some quality DM's. Southampton start with quality players that can fit in to the DM spot, but they are more DLP's than they are hardmen holding midfielders that can break up play, which is what my system needs.
I first eyed Maxime Gonalons who was on the transfer list. I was surprised he was willing to sign for Southampton, and at 6.5m he would be a pricey addition, but I could justify spending it.
Later on in my first month I was also made aware that Victor Wanyama would be interested in signing for Southampton. Capturing Wanyama would truly be a coup for the club, and after some wheeling and dealing, we secured him for 10m (half paid out over 48 months) + a player exchange of Jason Puncheon. Surprisingly, Wanyama was willing to take a reasonable salary as well.
Those were the biggest transfers in, with the rest being quality youngsters for either the bench or the u18 team.
Here is a complete list of my transfers by the end of the 1st month:
As a side note, I also like signing players with a high determination attribute that can tutor. Because of this, I brought in Arthur Boka on loan from Stuttgart to cover or start on the left side (DL/WBL/ML) as well as tutor Nathaniel Clyne.
The system 3-7-0:
So as I mentioned before, i was inspired by the 6-2-2-0 Counter hypothesis thread by Shyftyy. I wanted to create a strikerless counter formation that would be strong defensively, and quick and direct on the break. This is completely opposite to the kind of formations I'm used to playing with, having played a lot of Liverpool saves and focusing on possession, overlapping width, and passing football.
My formation and current starting XI for pre-season friendlies looks like this:
Here are the sliders (although it's a work in progress)
So as you can see, the formation is a little unorthodox... but Southamptons players fit in quite nicely. Lambert surprisingly makes a decent AMC, although his pace is really bad for a counter-attacking style of play. In my first two friendlies the defence has been fantastic, holding the opposition to zero shots. But the lack of pace upfront is definitely noticable and something I may have to fix later on in the season.
Also, I'm retraining Nathaniel Clyne (one of Southampton's best and brightest young talents) to play as a right winger. I'm not using fullbacks, but he's too good to exclude from the team. The same goes for Luke Shaw, who I will also try to develop as a defensive winger.
As a back up, I'm also working on a 5-5-0 with wingbacks and wingers as a backup tactic for when we need a little width... but it's a long way off from being presentable.
In the next post I'll talk about friendlies, results, formation tweaks, and the league!
March on you Saints.
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