Part 6: Chapter the Fifth: Undefeated!

Chapter the Fifth: Undefeated!
August 15, 2013-September 8, 2013

We've now played through the first five games of the season. Let's see how it went.



Before the season started, I fiddled with our tactics slightly. As you can see, we're not well versed in our tactics yet, and that could seriously cost us in the early going- especially as the squad also has to gel into a coherent team. This tends to be my biggest problem when I'm trying to raise my team to the top levels. I not only use young players that grow into their talent over the season through regular play but I also have a lot of player turnover. That results in early stumbles as the younger players adjust to a higher level of play if we've been promoted and the new arrivals get used to playing with my tactics and their teammates, and it's something every manager should be aware of when they're reshaping their team.



I've modified the 4-4-2 to focus on controlling the game, as we should have better players than our opponents in the league and at the very least be able to dominate home games. There's a concern that it will leave us open to counter attacks, as we're not a very fast team even for this level of play, but hopefully setting the centerbacks as Limited Defenders will keep them from pushing too far up the field and letting the opposition get behind them via long passes.



I've also added a second 4-4-2 variant that focuses on staying back and playing a counter-attacking game for when we face off against better teams in the FA Cup and the Non-League Trophy. It won't be that effective, our team has a distinct lack of pace, but it's better than trying to hold the ball and push a high line when we're up against a League 2 side whose players can keep us from controlling possession and methodically setting up our attacks. With that, we enter our first league match and see if I was right to be worried based upon our preseason performance.

At Brackley Town, August 17, 2013
Skrill North



Take that. Brackley Town! We played well overall, and I'm very pleased with the 5 “clear cut chances” and 3 “half chance” goal opportunities we had. If we produce that many chances per game, we're going to score heaping bucketloads, and our stadium announcer will wear himself out screaming “GOL!” We were quite lucky to not concede a goal, however, and if that keeps up we're going to have to do something about the defense.

Brackley Town 0-3 Tackleford City



John Bradley came down with a hernia, our third string GK is already out with a strained neck, so I'm spending £2,000 to bring in a 37 year old as a backup.

Andy Morris
Centerback



While looking for a backup backup goalkeeper, I also decided to be proactive and bought two young centerbacks.

Colin Standing
Centerback



Standing and Morris both have the potential to play at the Championship level if they develop, according to the scouts. They're also better than what we already had out there. If they play up to their attributes, our defense should give up a lot fewer chances.

vs. North Ferriby, August 20, 2013
Skrill North



That was frustrating. We dominated the entire game and allowed just two shots on goal, but we still only came away with a draw. Nine times out of ten we win a game with those final possession and shot numbers. I told players they were unlucky and to keep their heads up, which perked the locker room up. Given that we're a young team I don't want to get too angry with them when they played pretty well.

Tackleford City 2-2 North Ferriby



Between matches my Ass Man reminds me that I haven't held a staff meeting recently. Staff meetings involve coaches informing you about any problems a player might be having, any potentially useful players they might know about, and suggesting training regimens for the players. You're free to have a staff meeting as often as you want, I prefer to do it about once a month. I don't take their training advice often unless it involves preferred player moves, but they're useful at identifying potential tutoring relationships between older and younger players.

At Harrogate, August 24, 2013
Skrill North



Okay, maybe I should have gotten angry with them. Not only did Harrogate score without getting even a single half-chance, Rosetti missed a penalty kick and we squandered 4 other chances. We've dominated the last two games and have all of 2 points to show for it. The silver lining is that we should be good enough to win the league once our luck evens out.

Harrogate 1-1 Tackleford City



The team is still not looking confident with our tactics yet, despite having our match training set to maximum, but we are at least improving. I'm hoping by November they'll be comfortable enough that I can have them spend more time on general training and start having them do opponent-specific match training.



Our 37 year old backup goalie goes down. I'm starting to wonder if the team is cursed. Currently we have 4 goalkeepers in the organization, and 3 of them are hurt. You can see the option here for giving the keeper painkilling injections (cortisone shots) which will allow them to play through the injury. When you give a player an injection their condition will max out at 92% and their fitness will drop. The original injury will also take longer to heal if they're trying to play through the injury instead of getting treatment and not playing/training. There's also have a chance of aggravating the existing injury, and this risk increases the more games they play while receiving injections.

I use the injections when I have either a lot of games in a short period of time, very important upcoming games, or when the initial injury isn't all that serious and the player will be back to full health in less than a month even if he keeps getting injections. Occasionally a player will refuse the shots, as they're concerned about hurting themselves further, in which case I usually tell them that they're a soccer player and I need them to play soccer. Depending on the player and how much they trust you they might get pissed off, but I say who cares about their inability to walk without pain when they're 50, I need them to win the next match against Dag and Red.

vs. Stalybridge, August 31, 2013
Skrill North



We still can't win a game. At least this time we were the ones to come back and equalize after we fell behind. This time we were also evenly matched, Stalybridge actually had the better chances to score. Our next fixture will be without our best players, Rosetti and Duchamps. They're both members of their national Under-21 teams and will be away playing international matches. We're up against the team atop the table right now, Guiseley. If we win, we can move up as high as second place.

Tackleford City 1-1 Stalybridge


vs. Guiseley, September 7, 2013
Skrill North



More blown leads, another draw. Guiseley was down 2-0 at the half, and we simply failed to play defense. We hit back immediately after letting them tie it up to take a 3-2 lead, and I thought we'd finally win our second game, but even after I shifted to defensive tactics in an effort to protect the lead we gave up a late equalizer in the 87th minute. I was momentarily ecstatic when Oriogun scored in the 89th minute to put us up 4-3, but it was disallowed as he was offside. We also missed another penalty shot, making us zero for two this season. That's abysmal, and is the difference between our current position on the table and first place.

Tackleford City 3-3 Guiseley



I excoriated the team afterward. I'd told them to stay focused and not get complacent after they'd played very well in the first half, they all seemed to be listening, and then they promptly went out and gave up 2 goals in 25 minutes. The players seemed suitably embarrassed and chastened by my vituperation, and I think they're as sick as I am of dominating the first half and then being outplayed in the second.



So it's a good news/bad news situation after five games. We've looked reliably dangerous on the attack, we've controlled possession almost every single time we've played, and we haven't lost a game. We've also given up several late goals and dropped a bunch of points that count just as much as the ones we earn when the promotion race heats up late in the season. The end result is that we're lying in 9th place at the moment, but we're only 4 points back from the top of the table.