We had 6 games in September which 4 of them were league matches and 2 were Champions League games. In the league, our performance was quite average, however, we delivered incredible performance in the European competition. Unfortunately, we drew Strasbourg after the international break. Then, we won our first Champions League game this season against Shakhtar. Brest and Angers SCO were easy opponents and we got our 3 points from them comfortably. Nimes game was dramatic as we scored the equaliser at the very last minute of the game. However, we had a brilliant game after the draw, beating PSV 5-1 in our home turf.
League Table
Now, we are sitting at the third position on the table. Our rival PSG is having an amazing run, winning all 8 games. Olympique de Marseille is sitting at the second position, having the same point and same goal difference as us, but they have more wins. This doesn’t look good but at least we haven’t lost a single game. PSG is having a sweet time in the league this season, and I can’t see them slipping at the moment.
Fan Satisfaction
Without fans, the club is nothing. So, let’s have a look at the fan satisfaction on the matches. Well, the conclusion is our fans are quite rational. First game, 0-0 against Strasbourg, we had a ‘D’ – fair enough. In fact, we didn’t do well in this game. Next, there was a ‘A+’ from the fans on our 2-1 win against Shakhtar. I can see why the fans were extremely happy about this because this was an away game and it was European competition. Our fans were clearly excited because last season we did poorly in Champions League. Then, we only get a ‘C+’ against Brest and ‘B’ against Angers SCO. Brest game was a home game so the fans would expect more goals from us. We had an ‘E’ on our draw against Nimes. I can see why because this was a home game. Not only we didn’t win the match, but also we only scored the goal at the last minute. PSV game we got a ‘B-’ which I personally think it doesn’t make sense. I know it was a home game, but we scored 5 goals. It was the highest scoring game on that day as well. However, fans satisfaction doesn’t really matter at the moment. As long as we continue perform at our best, I am confident that we will at least win a silverware at the end of the season.
Tactical Changes
If you noticed, there was something interesting regarding the formation we played in September. In the first three games, I was using the 4141 formation. However, I switched back to the 4231 Flying Fox at the last 3 games. The reason behind it was I wanted to try out which tactic works better. Before the Angers SCO game, we played 8 matches with 4141. The results weren’t bad – 5W, 2D and 1L. However, something doesn’t right about this 4141. We did keep a lot of clean sheets and scored quite an amount of goals, but I loved 4231 so much because it was way too entertaining compared to 4141. Another thing that I realised was players like Houssem Aouar and Thiago Almada played better in the attacking midfielder position. I tried to play them as the centre midfielder in a more attacking setup like Mezzela or Advanced Playmaker, but the result wasn’t good enough. So, I was mainly playing around with my tactics.
vs Strasbourg
The first game that I would like to highlight is the game against Strasbourg. What a poor performance by the Lyon boys. We had a total of 23 shots, 11 on target and 1 clear cut chances, but we failed to score a single goal. Looking at the player ratings, only our defenders did well. Kenny Tete grabbed the Man of The Match with 7.8. Moreover, he even made 3 key passes, but our striker just can’t score goals. Our centre defenders did well, both of their ratings were more than 7. Sadly, Dembele was injured so we had to use Gouiri, but the youngster had a bad day in the office. I did see some positives from the game, for example our young midfielder Maxence Caqueret did quite well in this game. I had been training him as our Deep Lying Playmaker for months and in this game he did deliver 3 key passes which I was impressed.
Here, I do want to highlight Houssem Aouar’s position. I played him alongside Caqueret (DLP on Support) as a Mezzela on Support duty. Later, I will show you the difference between 4141 and 4231, also how important an attacking midfielder is in my system.
vs Nimes
Next, let’s have a look at our worst performance in September – vs Nimes. We had 26 shots in total, more shots than we had agains Strasbourg. We had the higher possession as well, so did clear cut chances. The funniest thing was our opponent only had 10 men after the 81st minute. Yes, we did score at the last minute, but the overall performance was just disappointing. Again, Caqueret did well in creating 3 key passes. Lucas Tousart and Hakim Ziyech were also the better players on the pitch. In this game, I subbed on Houssem Aouar, who appeared to be our saviour. To be honest, I wouldn’t say I did any tactical changes. The goal was just pure luck. I was furious so I talked to my player aggressively in the dressing room.
vs PSV
The best game in September – vs PSV. What a win and what a performance from our Lyon boys! Most importantly, this game showed how important the attacking midfielder is in my tactics. Houssem Aouar, again, was the main man in this game. He had 4 key passes, created 2 chances, assisted 2 goals and scored 2 goals himself. What a performance! Let’s look at the match stats now. We had 18 shots, 11 on target, 3 clear cut chances, but we only had 39%, and that showed how good our counterattack was. Just by looking at the player ratings, we defended really well, and we took our chances.
4231 vs 4141
Firstly, we will go into our analyst report. From the report, it says that we created a chance every 46 minutes with 4231 which is extremely incredible. Our opponent created a chance every 120 minutes – that’s more than one game. In short, we could potentially create 2 chances in a single game without a chance against us with the 4231 formation.
Moving on to the 4141, we created a chance every 60 minutes and chance against every 273 minutes. Defensively, we are absolutely dominant in a 4141. However, our attack isn’t as good as 4231. I realised one thing – in general, our defence was great. Most of our conceded goals were coming from set pieces, which means our defence can cope with counterattack, crossing, and long shots very well. However, by using 4141, it exposed our bad attacking play.
Here’s another analyst report of Houssem Aouar. I will be using him as an example because he is my first choice AMC. This analysis is based on the matches against Shakhtar and PSV.
The red circles show two different positions and roles– centre midfielder Mezzala and attacking midfielder Advanced Playmaker. Now, if we look at the yellow circles, which represents key passes, you will see there’s a huge difference. Mezzala sent out 1 key pass while Advanced Playmaker had 4 key passes. The green line is highlighting the defending stats, and obviously Mezzala had more tackles and headers won. The other interesting stat is the dribbles made (pink circles). Mezzala made 5 dribbles in a game, but Advanced Playmaker made 1. However, the most important thing that I want to see is the outcome (white circle) – 2 goals 2 assists in a game.
By showing these reports and analysis, it is quite clear that I personally prefer to 4231. Mezzala is a very good role – he can dribble, he can defend, he can create chances. To me, I think I already had two strong midfielders in my 4231 system, and I rely more on my wingers to make dribbles rather than the centre midfielder. However, I am still considering whether or not I should switch back to 4231 or should I remain using the 4141 tactics. That will be the main question from now.
Conclusion
ISo far, I am satisfied with our performance. PSG is now dominating the league but there is still a long way to go. European Competition has treated us well so far and I hope we can proceed to at least the round of 16. Youngsters like Maxence Caqueret and Cristian Romero have also impressed me a lot in this season. Hopefully, everything will go according to my plan and we could win another silverware in the second season. Stay tuned for more!
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ABT Football Manager 