The Art of Squad Building – Football Manager

This blog acts as a follow-up, sister piece to my previous entry – The Art of the Signing. In that blog, I went through the various considerations that I undertake when deciding upon bringing someone into my squad. It hinted heavily about the importance of having a strong sense of harmony in a squad, and the benefits that this can bring a side. It is this facet of sports, though focusing within the realms of Football Manager, that this post will investigate.

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There is little doubt that having a settled squad, with good relationships between the management and the playing staff goes hand-in-hand with success. Animosity between the two doesn’t drive a cohesive working practice if you are at loggerheads with the players that you want to portray the style of play that you want to instigate. Indeed, it is quite possible that the players themselves could harbour animosity towards one another. To try to minimise this, it’s important to ensure that there is a balance in the squad, which necessarily takes many different forms.

Age range

If a squad is to enjoy a prolonged success, it’s more probable for this success to come with a wide range of player ages, as the more experienced players pass down their knowledge and advice to the younger players in the squad.

The above graphic (click on the image to open for a larger size, as with all my graphics) shows the range of player ages against the number of minutes they played over the previous season, in which we won both the Bundesliga and the Champions League.

If the elder members are sage and capable of passing on their wisdom within general training, during matches and perhaps more critically within mentoring groups to those who have yet to be significantly whetted behind the ears in terms of first team football, then this can significantly aid the latter’s development.

When things get tough, or there is a big run of important games, older players can be a fantastic resource to show the way for younger players, perhaps allowing them to thrive whilst doing more of the grunt work in the background. Yet that calming, guiding influence in the changing room should never be overlooked in the clamour to drive towards ever younger sides in the desperate search for that next wonderkid. Experience has added value to every side.

Playing time

Yet, keeping those at their peak happy requires a recognition that many of these players will want considerable first team football across the course of the season.

It’s important to monitor those in your squad that expect to be playing regularly, or even being marked out as a star player. Failure to ensure their playing time meets with their expectations is a one-way trip to having an unhappy player in your office demanding to have it explained to him why you’re not playing him, and then likely asking to leave when your answer is because an 18-year-old Bolivian wonderkid is in the form of his life, and you don’t want to drop him in favour of this 27-year-old sat in front of you with two years in his contract remaining.

As such, it pays to look at the squad tab to see who is unhappy or concerned about their current playing time, and look to bring the squad status of the player into line with their likely playing time as much as possible.

It isn’t always the case that this works, as it can further frustrate the player, causing another potential meeting with a player that may in all probability end up in a transfer request. Nonetheless, it can have a calming effect by allowing you to communicate that you still value the player and their skills, just perhaps not as much as you previously did.

Looking at the squad view, I have three players who are currently receiving minutes which add up to less than their agreed playing time, yet they aren’t concerned. This might be a sign that I could look to reduce their agreed playing time, and they would accept the decision without being upset and asking to leave.

However, I also have two players, those boxed in red, who are unhappy about their existing playing time. Wirtz is seemingly unhappy about his playing time despite being injured, which is more than a tad unreasonable. Yet Gabriel Solomon is unhappy because I’m only utilising him as a squad player currently, which is beneath what was agreed. This can be explained by the form of home-grown talent, Canpolat Darande, who is in outstanding form in the same position after deputising for Solomon due to injury. I’ll need to play Solomon more to avoid him becoming unsettled going forward. With a campaign across three fronts in Germany and Europe, this should not prove hard with our heavy workload tactic with gegenpress and fast counters.

Wage structure/disparity

With minutes in mind, it’s very much worth then taking into consideration the wage/salary structure at the club against that of the player’s agreed playing time.

Given the player hierarchy of playing time, those who are featuring more regularly for your side would, naturally, expect to be some of, if not the highest earners in your squad. True, you may have some wonderkid in your side who is still a way off your top-earner, but if you were to likely compare their salary of a young player who is achieving minutes in your first-team relative to that of their peers at a similar age, one would expect their salary to be higher, perhaps significantly so at the top level.

Yet what can so often be overlooked is the disparity between players in a squad and then the ructions that this can create.

If a star player is brought in on considerably higher salary than that of his fellow squad members, this has the potential for the original squad members to request new deals themselves, presumably on the basis that if X is worth Y, then why am I not worth Z?

In fact, if you look at the current situation across my wage distribution with my Bayer 04 side, you can see that there might be an issue here. For a regular starter, Moise Kean seems to be substantially overpaid and is someone I either need to move on, or less likely sign to a contract on a lower wage. I’m ruling out the idea of playing him more because of the continued emergence of Endrick, whom I’m trying to bring through.

Fornals is perhaps arguably underpaid for a star player, but he is very young yet at 21, so I’m sure that over time he will sell higher wages to compensate for his considerable talents.

The other player that falls into this category is the world-class talent of Gabriel Solomon. The inverted winger is on a considerably cheaper salary than his peers, given his status is the squad. The vultures of the ‘bigger’ teams in the Premier League and Spain are already circling for him, so it may prove tricky to sign him to a more lucrative deal. This will be a loss given his leadership credentials as our current vice captain.

Leadership

If you want to have a stable and together team, then this can quite often come from having the right people in leadership roles. In the below graphic, you can see that I’ve been able to seemingly achieve this by giving the captaincy to Engibarov despite his tender age of 21. His leadership qualities shine through on and off the pitch, with his professional personality and reserved media handling style. Whilst he doesn’t have seen to have the ability to quash any dissent in the ranks, he is at least popular and respected amongst them.

Player personalities

When it comes to player personalities, it can be important to ensure that there’s a consistency across their personality types. Too many clashes in this area can lead to disjointed thinking and unhappiness creeping into the changing room, which can affect the discord between players.

There are of course the more sought after personalities, such as model citizen, perfectionist, model professional, etc., but even then, it’s still important to have a spectrum of these across the squad, as they each have something to offer, not to mention the wider benefits of the mentoring of younger, more inexperienced players.

Player communication

Anyone who has studied Business, has any concept of managing people, or has had the fortune/misfortune of working for a good/bad boss will know how important positive communication is to enabling someone to be at their most productive. This is no different in-game.

Praising players during games, at half- and full-time, and with their training/development efforts too is vital to developing a player who feels comfortable under your leadership. Even those that are out on loan shouldn’t be immune to communication, whether that be praising their form, or again, their development.

That isn’t to say that it should be all sunshine and roses – there is a time and a place for admonishment. If a player has had a bad game, they can expect a fine to make it clear that their effort was not in keeping with expectations, and players training efforts and development will be similarly criticised. If a player doesn’t accept their effort is below the minimum required standard consistently, they won’t last long at Bayer 04. This is to maintain what is expected of all players – a willingness to give everything, not just for yourself, but for your teammate alongside you – there is no room for passengers in this side.

Squad dynamics

In an ideal world, squad dynamics would look something like the below, where everyone is part of the same, tight-knit social group.

To achieve this, and have fantastic team cohesion demonstrated below, can take time and a careful accumulation of factors, many of which are laid out above.

A significantly important factor though is winning, and winning often. It builds confidence, improves morale and a positive feedback loop is created from the training field onto the pitch on match day.

This in itself is the key point. There are a multitude of approaches required to have a happy and settled squad who are ready to go out to win a game of football. Each of them must be addressed, to a greater or lesser degree, depending upon the needs of the squad and individual personalities within it.

So how do you build a settled squad?

Cutting ties, contract renewals and player pathways

It is necessary, when the time is right, to go separate ways and move a player on from his contract, or choose not to renew a deal. This is something that cannot be overlooked when looking to recycle a team, and avoid a ‘reset’. It is better to evolve when you are playing well rather than fix a broken roof due to weakened, rotting stanchions.

Knowing when is the right time to let a player go is a key part of achieving a good squad balance. It might be the case that you need the funds to reallocate that transfer fee into other areas of the squad to address weaknesses, or that you’ve had a deal for a player that you simply cannot turn down. The situation may even be taken out of your hands by the triggering of a minimum release clause or the board accepting an offer on behalf of the club. Nevertheless, it is a necessary process – whether for financial reasons or otherwise, players do need to be evolved out of the playing squad.

Of course how you choose to do this, assuming you do have a choice, is down to the individual manager. However, there are more optimal solutions.

If you know you want to sell a player, it’s far better to do it with two or more years left on the player’s contract. This is because his transfer value will be higher than after this point because of the fact that he will be available to sign on a free transfer in less than twenty-four months. It’s a significant point to look to sell these players for maximum value because, assuming you can use this cash for transfer incomings, you’re providing yourself with greater budgets in doing so. As such, it’s important to recognise who these players are and identify them early before the transfer window opens, either to offer them out when the window opens, or to know that you would accept bids from other clubs for the player.

Equally, if you don’t wish to cut ties with a player, and they have less than two years remaining on their contract, then a negotiation needs to take place with their agent to ascertain initially their wants, and then if these are acceptable, agree upon a deal to extend their time with you.

When extending a deal, it has become an increased focus of well run clubs to consider the players age at both time of offer and also upon the end date of the contract. In part, this is to identify whether or not there would be any resale value left in the player towards the end of their contract, as discussed above.

However, it is also because clubs, at least those clubs that are well run, do not wish to become tied to a contract where the player is on a heavy pecuniarily beneficial deal where they are reluctant to leave. For instance, Moise Kean is now 29 and with two years left on his deal. With Endrick coming through, and Bundegaard being a more than able backup option, the summer transfer window represents an ideal chance to move Kean on and free up his salary to redistribute into new contracts for younger players to lock them into longer deals at prime times in their careers. Especially given that I also have other more junior players ready to step up to being the number two option.

The ‘second’ squad

To ensure that there’s sufficient strength in depth, and, should we receive an offer for a player that we simply cannot refuse, I like to have a ‘next man up’ strategy. As the graphic below nicely explains, for each position, there will be (at least) two players in the first-team squad who are natural in the position and role that I want to play within my implemented tactic. Yet, there is also often a player already registered with the club that I have signed to be the ‘next man’ up – a ready-made replacement, or a player that is developing, typically out on loan so as to receive first-team football to aid his progression.

Looking at the squad in this way helps to recognise future gaps – where we’d be short if a player did want to leave, for instance. This has led me to signing Charles and Matthew Bevis, both right-sided centre backs. Charles has returned to Sporting CP on loan to receive first-team football as he would not yet displace Diego Coppola, and Matthew Bevis will join us from Southampton in the window after turning 18-years-old. Neither of these players are cheap given their age, but it is a measure of future proofing. To replace a player like Coppola like-for-like would cost in excess of £70m, before the wage demands are even required. We’re not really in a place to be regularly able to afford such a player of that level. As such, it’s better to spend £28m and £32m (with add-ons on top) for the two new signings respectively.

Scouting and recruitment

Both of these signings were identified via our scouting network. Neither of these players appear in the graphics of the maps of Europe (ex-Germany), Germany itself and South America, which has been the focus of the majority of our recruitment. You can see from these signings how diverse the signings are, not just in terms of the countries that we’re looking to scout and recruit from, but also the clubs that we’re targetting too. The fees are also wide-ranging. Some of these came in as ready-made first-team players, like Simon Walde, Juan Manuel Fornals, Benoît Badiashile and Rafael Luís, but many are also part of our development approach, and looking to break through into first-team football here at Die Werkself. A player that has made such a leap is the aforementioned Gabriel Solomon. One look at his profile will give you an idea of how easy it could be to turn a significant profit on the net spend. It’s early days still in the progress of many of these players, but there is certainly hope that a handful more will earn minutes playing in the black and red of Bayer 04. If they do, expect them to also turn a profit for the club.

To achieve such a recruitment pathway, it’s vital to have a number of scouts with the appropriate knowledge of countries. Below is the current scouting knowledge that we have of all countries – you’ll see straight away there’s a focus towards Europe and South America. Europe for first-team ready players and youngsters, and South America for a focus on those that are ones for the future, but at bargain fees compared to their European counterparts, particularly those in the ‘Big Five’ leagues.

You’ll note that we didn’t make a single development signing from Germany, Spain, Italy, nor England until we signed Bevis from Southampton. The only signing that was with a view to development from France was that of Yohann Gaudry from Sochaux, a team famed for their academy in Ligue 2. This decision is simply because of the fees involved against the potential risk of the downside should the player not make the necessary progress that the scouts initially believed that they could.

If a player comes in under the age of 18 (those from within the EU only given labour movement regulations), they will remain within the U-19 team, getting used to youth level football in the tactical system, and learning the language. If they are over that age, they will go out on loan with the specific agreement that they are going out to play, not warm the bench. Will all of the signings that I lay out above work? No, of course not, but I only need maybe a couple, with others being sold to help fund the next youth prospect. If our own academy can supplement these like they have done with Canpolat Darande and Christian Priso, then all the better – they’re not free, given the costs involved in the youth set-up, but they do have a £0 book cost in the accounts – so if I do set them, then they’re pure profit.

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This may be a long-read, and it is, undoubtably, but there’s a reason – management and good management at that, isn’t easy. It is meant to be hard. Yet, if you take various steps, and take these consider actions seriously, without trying to take shortcuts, then you will likely be rewarded with success, and be able to put yourself into a situation where winning begets more winning.

Whilst there is no doubt that it is easier in a big club, due largely to the appeal to bring in players of higher quality, and a better coaching team/training facilities, etc., but there are many tips within this piece that can help anyone to achieve success at any level.

I hope that you enjoyed reading this piece, and, until next time, auf Wiedersehen!