Darren: Newcastle’s August to December — new beginnings 2018/19

Hey guys and welcome back to my Football Manager 2011 story. Last time you witnessed a squad overhaul at Newcastle, with Kakuta, Rodwell and Wilshere all departing for big amounts. This left me contemplating my market moves. Financially I can’t complain, but my new vision for a trimmed down squad was yet to be tested. Add to this my new tactic ‘The Manchelona’, and you’ll understand the posts title ‘new beginnings’. I received a wake up call last season, losing to Manchester United in the Champions League quarter-final, but this had been a long time coming to be honest. Today you’ll see Newcastle’s first half of the season and my evolution towards a new system and more potent tactic.

Premier League results (in 3 sections)

I will present my EPL results in three sections today, not by month but by tactical development. The first section is from August to the 22nd September, during this time I stuck by my old cautious tactics and played it safe. The season began with a lucky 3-2 victory away to Chelsea in which my side came back from 2-0 down. We then hosted Manchester United and despite playing well could only draw 1-1, following this was another lucky match away from home as we beat Man City 2-1. Then a rather unconvincing performance was embellished with a 3-0 scoreline against Burnley. The final straw came against Blackburn where deadly finishing helped us win 3-0, but my side just didn’t dominate and therefore could have fallen victim to some shock results.

You may be wondering what planet I’m on, talking about such great results if though they were losses. The problem is we start so well and get great results even when they’re maybe not deserved, but later in the season as happened last year, my side tend to miss golden opportunities and get complacent at which time my usual tactic shows weakness, hence the shocking display and loss to United that knocked us out of Europe last season. Besides, I am desperate to develop a tactic that offers possession play and more entertaining Football for my videos. This leads me from the 29th September to the 27th October, a period of testing and indecisive decisions.

The first tactic I tried was actually Johnny’s 4-4-2 and my test dummy was Spurs. Despite dominating the match with more than 65% possession we just won 2-1 at home. Although Johnny’s tactic is amazing I crave to make my own and just used this for inspiration, besides I am addicted to variations of the 4-5-1 formation.

With a tough away match approaching at the Emirates I developed my second stage of evolution and crawled back to the 4-5-1. However, this was nothing like my old tactic, the passing was shorter, defensive line much higher, then my philosophy and strategy were far more attacking and creative too. While the shape remained similar (I just dropped one CM back to DMC,) the player roles changed, in fact not one single role remained the same as in my old tactic. Either way, we performed fairly well and won 2-1, before going onto thrash Everton 7-0 and Liverpool 2-0.

All decent performances but again I felt the results were misleading. We failed to dominate possession and the Everton result was purely down to deadly finishing as opposed to tactical genius. Therefore the final stage of my tactical evolution was complete as I pulled the DMC back up to CM again. A few more little tweaks and I was set to go, this tactic wasn’t about thrashing every single side or chance conversion it was about possession and playing the beautiful game, so I named it ‘The Manchelona’. I couldn’t have changed the same formation any more even if I’d tried. Before showing the results, I’d like to inform you all these matches were played using my new tactic and without making any adjustments no matter who the opponent may be.

The first match in which I could watch the newly formed tactic was at home to Birmingham…and I instantly new this was what I’d been working towards. After carrying out many tests in other FM saves I’d finally landed on the perfect combination from defence to attack in each player role to form a unit. We won 6-0 against Birmingham, had 28 shots, 13 of which were on target and we held 65% possession. Not to mention my massively improved percentage of 86 for passes completed. My new tactic was born and this is the last time you’ll hear me mention the old one.

Carrying my new tactic forward meant keeping more consistency within team selection, something that hadn’t been done for the last three seasons. I was prepared to make that sacrifice, but if you’ll look below I think you may see my timing to form this new tactic wasn’t a coincidence. I wanted the players to win and win a lot while keeping possession, so purposely concluded testing just before Newcastle’s easiest run of the season. One or two shaky results became apparent but this was down to my bad team talks, the most important thing was what I envisaged was been played in the match engine. A mix between Man Utd’s industry and Barcelona’s possession and flair.

Premier League table

A great start to the season and comfortable league standings despite my tactical tinkering. Newcastle are 6 points clear at the top with a game in hand over second placed Manchester City. We have let in just 9 goals and scored for fun with 59.

League Cup results

The League Cup started at the Emirates against Arsenal and featured my old tactic. Another bland display saw Newcastle just beat the Arsenal youngsters 2-1. Then the draw got even tougher with a trip to Old Trafford and a very strong Manchester United line up. My new and fully formed tactic was used and proved very successful, the lads did well in possession and progressed 2-1. Then a convincing win over Everton saw Newcastle through to the semi-final. We’ll continue this competition next time as I play Championship side Forest.

Champions League results and group table

This competition left a bitter taste in my mouth from last season and was the main reason for such a drastic tactical switch. This year saw a very easy draw and my opportunity to field one or two less known youngsters for development. Those youngsters enjoyed some great form as we completed the group stages with six victories for the first time since I took charge.

My opponents for the First Knockout round are Marseille, the side I thrashed last season. Hopefully that form can be repeated and with Manchester United already knocked out I’m optimistic provided Barcelona don’t pop up in the draw should I progress. :)

Squad stats and finances

While the debate between attacking and cautious tactics roles around in my head, one thing is for sure…Yaya Sanogo hasn’t adjusted well to his new role of complete forward and support duty. The star usually smashes goal scoring charts but has just managed 12 goals from 13 starts. Marcelo Santos on the other hand couldn’t have adapted better with 11 goals and 11 assists from 12 games. Given the fact that my strikers must act as a playmaker also from now on, Santos seems to have the perfect attributes compared to Sanogo who’s mainly a goal machine.

While we are talking about strikers, I have some brilliant news. After searching through EPL sides and wasting time on my holiday I found a bargain. Eddie Adams was apart of the Man Utd youth academy and tried to break through the ranks at Old Trafford. With United still in love with Rooney and Hernandez, Adams became surplus to requirements and was therefore transfer listed (very short sighted considering Rooney is 33 and Hernandez 30.) The asking price was £4.3 million and I snapped their hand off at that. Adams is perfect for my new system and despite a rather crap scouting report I relied on my own judgement. My plan to include more home grown talent has seen another addition and at 23 he’s a bargain. By the way, with Sanogo far less potent in the new system, Adam’s arrival could spell the Frenchman’s departure ;) But we’ll wait until the seasons end before making rash decisions.

While my new striker didn’t cost much, his signing on fee and agent fee moved the deal to around £7-8 million. This did have an impact on finances which were at £257 million at the end of pre-season. Now, in January my bank balance reads almost £240 million, not bad considering that January transfer.

To complete this post, let me share the coming fixtures. A mixed bag really and my new tactic will be put to the test early on against both Manchester clubs. I am very intrigued to see this new system react under big pressure and cup finals…I remembered the fashion of which Barcelona beat United in the 2010 Champions League final and made this tactic with that in mind so hopefully it will work.

Well that is all for today, I hope you enjoyed the post and thanks for dropping by. My next post will feature the League Cup outcome, progression in both the Champions League and FA Cup…not to mention my last games within the Premier League. Please feel free to ask any questions below and I look forward to hearing your thoughts as always.