ADO Den Haag – Another Comeback

The world is on lockdown and it seems half the population has turned to Football Manager for solace.  Me? Not so much.  I need no solace from self isolation given it is, more or less, my socialising of choice.  Nevertheless, working from home and saving two hours a day commuting has given me more time to play my favourite game.  Add to that a surge in FM activity across ‘the scene’ and a save that has grabbed my attention, and I’ve found the increasingly fleeting urge to blog returning with gusto.

Some of you may be aware that I started FM20 playing in Portugal with Académico de Viseu – a fun save in which I took a second tier side with no money and little history to Portuguese champions.  What made the save particularly enjoyable was, thanks to a twitter user called @fmwkdsoul, a custom skin which hid the attribute numbers and replaced them with grey, bronze, silver and gold coloured blocks.

Whilst this was a fun change from the norm, it was also time-consuming and, after seven seasons, I was ready to dip my toes into a new save with the default attributes.  A few embryonic games came and went, failing to take root and quickly being discarded; before I found one which, touch wood, has stuck.

Partly inspired by a number of other Dutch saves, most notably Curty and Herb’s network save and Ed – formerly of the Deep Lying Pod – at AZ, I went back to a club which long-term readers of this blog may remember fondly from FM13.  I certainly do.  ADO Den Haag.

Back in FM13, the save took a while to take hold but blossomed once we started producing some quality youth and I still have very fond memories of Jan van de Berg, a newgen playmaker who came through the ranks at ADO and was exactly the sort of player that brings FM to life.

That save ended, appropriately enough, in the 2018/19 season as we finally toppled Ajax to seal our first Eredivisie title.  It feels serendipitous, then, that we’ll start ADO Mark 2 in 2019/20.

The idea for this save will be very similar to the last and, in all honesty, is pretty much typical of how I always play Football Manager.  I’ve tried ‘challenge’ saves in the past – looking to play in a manner that’s a bit unusual or just goes against my preferred way to play, something to push me out of my comfort zone.  Inevitably those challenges will fail to hold my interest and the saves just peter out.  You’d think playing FM in essentially the same way for almost 30 years would prove boring.  Well you’d have thunk it wrong.

For first time readers or those who, understandably, don’t care enough to remember my standard way of playing, it tends to have consistent themes:

• I don’t play with elite sides
• I like to develop youth players and tend towards a domestic bias, picking up bargains from the lower leagues
• I tend to play a back 4 with a defensive midfielder screen
• I tend to prioritise mental attributes
• I prioritise clean sheets and ‘build from the back’, primarily because a clean sheet is worth – on average – 2.5 points
• I don’t like to spend big money (I am Scottish)

Or, as FM puts it:

My manager tendencies from the Académico save

I would argue that ‘defensive football’ is a little misleading.  Whilst I do prioritise clean sheets through solid structure in the defensive phase, we also look to play an attractive passing game and the ADO board, who favour ‘entertaining football’, have been pleased with my performance in Den Haag to date.

As I’m writing this, we are starting season 2 at the Cars Jean Stadion.  Our first term was relatively successful with a 6th-placed finish which, in Holland, qualifies you for a European playoff.  After dispensing with Heerenveen in the semis and beating Willem II 1-0 in the away leg of the final, we slipped up at home, losing 2-1 and missing out on away goals.

So not a bad season but, for me, the first campaign is all about finding my feet.  I always disable the first window transfer budgets, meaning there are at least 4 months to play around with the starting squads, develop the team’s tactics and then identify areas that need strengthening.

In ADO’s case there were quite a few of those.  You may be aware that, in the real world, a certain Alan Pardew is in charge of ADO and things have not been going well.  The squad is pretty weak, has more players reaching the end of their careers than I would normally employ and, presumably thanks to Pardew, has a number of questionable loan signings from England.

One of the most bizarre discoveries was that all three of ADO’s first-team strikers were variants on the same player.  6’4″ Tomas Necid, 6’6″ Michiel Kramer and 6’3″ Omar Bogle (on loan) managed a combined 4 goals in 19 starts before I got rid of the lot of them in January.

So an aging squad but not without its prospects.  One of the really attractive aspects of playing in the Netherlands is the quality of the youth – even at a relatively minor club like ADO.   Shaquille Pinas (quiet in the back) looks like developing into a very handy centre back or DM, whilst I immediately promoted Milan van Ewijk, Atilla Agirman and Pharell de Macker into the first team squad as prospects at right back, centre mid and left wing respectively.

What I liked about these three, and what I always look for when assessing new squads, were their ‘core attributes’.  I think most FM players will have a certain set of attributes which they inherently prefer, whether they call these ‘club DNA’, ‘communal attributes’, ‘key attributes’.  Whatever you call them, for me these are, with varying levels of priority:

• Anticipation
• Composure
• Concentration
• Decisions
• Determination
• First Touch
• Leadership
• Natural Fitness
• Passing
• Stamina
• Teamwork
• Technique
• Work Rate

There is an obvious correlation between these attributes and my ‘usual way’ of playing above.  To provide that solid defensive base, I prefer mentally strong teams who work hard together but have the technical ability to retain the ball without making mistakes.

Every squad player, every youth player and every signing is assessed against these key attributes as well as those relevant to their position and role.  For now, those roles will be something like this:

No great shakes really.  Rather than a single DM, I decided to go with a double-screen in front of the back four – primarily because I wanted to utilise the strengths of Meijers and Malone as attacking fullbacks on both sides.  With both fullbacks pushing on, then it made sense to compensate for this with a double pivot.

With the three big lads available up front, we’d started the season with a targetman through the middle and an AM behind him, both looking to take advantage of the service from those fullbacks.  Sadly I’ve had no luck in FM20 getting anything out of an AMC, and although the targetman was successful for me at Académico, it proved quite the failure here.

Whilst the targetmen were getting plenty of headers in dangerous areas, the success rate was frustratingly low so a change of approach was required.   However, I didn’t want to move away from the general shape too much.  Defensively it was proving effective with the fourth fewest goals conceded last season.

As most will be aware, the formation shown on the tactics screen reflects only the players’ positioning whilst defending.  In the attacking phase, the players will move from these positions both ‘vertically’ and ‘horizontally’ according to their instructions.

Here you can see our standard defensive structure with the flat back four protected by the two DMs making any opposition progression through the middle very difficult.  The team is, for the most part, nicely compact – with the opposition having the ball on halfway and our line is perhaps only 5 yards in front of the 18 yard box. The CM (#47) is happy to put some pressure on the ball knowing that the double DM screen behind provides a safety net.  Although our instructions are, on paper, to engage higher with a higher line in a “Positive” system, this isn’t nearly as aggressive as you may intuitively think.

I don’t want an entirely passive defence but neither do I want to chase the ball so aggressively that a pass or dribble through the press leaves us very exposed at the back – hence why I don’t use the ‘higher intensity pressing’  or ‘mark tighter’ team instructions.  For the last couple of FMs, I’ve found this simple combination of Positive / Higher line / Higher engagement does more-or-less what I want in the defensive phase.

So with a relatively successful defensive system, come the end of the season I was concentrating primarily on increasing our goal threat.  With the three strikers shipped out in January and our first choice wingers Summerville and van Buren completing their loan spells, I was left with almost a blank slate from which to work.

This is a simple example of what I want to see in attack.  The centre backs and double DM screen is still very much in evidence, providing a safety net against counter attacks and a deep passing option to recycle possession.  The full-backs, ringed, have moved up each flank to provide the width and the four forward players are in and around the box.

I might go into more tactical detail another time but, essentially, I want the striker to constantly threaten in behind the defensive line so that any team pushing up to compress the space is running the risk of him getting in behind – hence the Advanced Forward.  I wanted an extra body in midfield during the defensive phase but a runner from deep when attacking, hence a Central Midfielder (Attack) was an obvious choice.

Whilst out wide, our left-back is much more effective going forward than our right-back, so a support function on the left plus a couple of instructions to encourage the overlap made more sense there; leaving the right flank to provide an extra direct attacking threat and a supporting wingback behind.

To fill these fprward positions, the board were relatively generous – providing a transfer budget of around £6m.  My standard approach to transfers is that every window should be used to strengthen the two or three weakest areas of the team.  Any more than that and you run the risk of the squad becoming disjointed.  However, the first summer window is often the exception to that rule and so it proved again this time.

We simply had too many areas requiring strengthening and I’m happy to trade some inconsistency this season, whilst the board’s expectations are still relatively moderate, if it helps provide a solid base for future windows.

My personal biases are pretty evident in the transfers with a heavy Dutch contingent, a number of signings from the second tier and a concentration on those core attributes.

To take an example, Branco van den Boomen is probably my favourite signing of the summer.

Every core attribute in double figures and the vast majority of 13 or over, van den Boomen joined from second-tier De Graafschap for a structured deal that will eventually total £2m.

At this stage, though, it was impossible for all of the signings to fit the mould so perfectly and, typically, it is the attacking players where compromises have to be made.  Take Robert Muric, for example, who will fulfil the inside forward role from the right flank.

Whilst a number of the ‘core attributes’ are there, his concentration, teamwork and work rate are below what I would have preferred.   However, given his role is primarily going forward and, with an attacking duty, I don’t expect him to track back too much anyway, I was happy enough to relent a little on the teamwork and work rate, hoping that his excellent vision attribute will compensate for this creatively.

And whilst he isn’t Dutch, he does speak the language having played for Ajax from 2014-17 – a fact I’m hoping will facilitate his integration into the squad.

A squad which, for the most part, is coming together very nicely.  The average age has been reduced and those players 30 or over have either been replaced or have a clear succession plan.  Alongside the sprinkling of youth talent in the starting squad, we’ve brought in a couple of decent prospects and had a pretty handy youth intake – the cream of which, René Robbemond, has already been shipped out on loan to gain match experience.

There’s still much work to be done and, whilst the board have been supportive in terms of youth facility upgrades,  the club’s infrastructure still needs significant improvement.  We’ve already over-hauled the senior coaching set-up and recruitment team; this year we’ll move onto the B team and under-19 staff.

On the pitch, the board want a mid-table finish and a cup quarter final.   Having finished 6th last year, my aim is to secure some form of European football whilst improving on both our goals scored (49) and conceded (32) from last term.

The save has, thus far, very much got ‘the hook’ and I’m hoping that I will maintain the urge to both play the game and write these blogs.  If there’s a particular topic or aspect of gameplay that you’d like to read about, then please feel free to make a suggestion.  I always find blogs easier to write if they’re centred on a theme.

Without that, this might be the shortest comeback yet…