Data driven football
Here’s to the data driven recruitment, the Moneyball fans, this one is for you. Brentford FC on FM24 are built on statistical models and theory, the new age.
Welcome to the next episode of the managing Brentford FC in the first season series on FM24. This is part two of the season guide so far and the results of the season. The previous guides you can find here:
Now then, a bit of honesty, I love Brentford FC in real life and FM24. They are a different sort of club, built on fact and principle. I first fell in love with their data driven approach especially, after my studies into Moneyball and football statistics. If I were a football club, I would be Brentford FC.
In this guide we are going to:
- Look at the end of season league performance and individual performances.
- We will look at the tactics which have been used.
- Where the team will go next.
Read on to see how we can continue Brentford FC and their fabulous work on FM24!
Brentford FC results on FM24
First things first, we need to analyse the bigger data and how it measures up to our goals. How are we doing so far? Are we succeeding against our goals? While this is general data it is a starting point of the overall picture and then we can deep dive.
Let’s answer our first question, are we succeeding against our objectives with Brentford FC on FM24? In short, yes we did, we established ourselves in the league like we were asked to do. We actually went one step further and ended up in the top half of the league.
As you can see from the games won and lost, as well as the goals for and against we are a middle table performance team. This season was a game of two halves, the first half was very disjointed and the second half of the season was smooth flowing football. We had a barren spell in January where we couldn’t score for love nor money, but we also played the top four in quick succession.
Overall, there isn’t much to say, the board wanted midtable to top half, the team performed like a midtable table in win rate and goals. The signings I bought are for the future and to bolster the squad.
Individual Performance
In this section, we start to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the squad. The team stats give us a general overall view to point us in the right direction. So far we are treading water in midtable and we now need to look how we push up the table through the Brentford FC stats on FM24.
We have a nice four players selection that have been playing over a 7 average rating, which is impressive. Pascal Struijk came in January and Ethan Pinnock is his defensive centre partner, this shows how solid the centre backs are. Norgaard and Janelt have been ever present, as well as working as a creative force in midfield.
Looking at the Xg data we have the majority of the team doing what they are meant to do. We have a couple of outliers, one of them is a massive outlier in Yoane Wissa. His expected goals was 6.46, but he ended on 10 goals, which is pretty good for a midtable inside forward. Mbeumo also had a good run and achieved over his expected Xg, the problem is none of my forwards scored or expected anywhere near as much.
The passing completion stats are pretty good as a team, the main areas of focus are the inside forwards and the fullbacks. I could change the striker to a deep lying or false nine role in order to help the inside forward with passing options.
Brentford FC Tactics FM24
In this section, we speak about the tactics that we have used with Brentford FC on FM24. Most of the time, we will use the tactic that we built in the day one series. We will discuss any changes that have evolved the tactic, as well as any ideas for the future.
The idea around this tactic is that the team work in three distinct units, the defence, the midfield and the forwards. The main striker has a big question mark over it’s role, as it is not working, but between the three we are trying to overload the centre.
The midfield are our creators, Norgaard will intercept balls being passed through and lay it off to the two advanced playmakers. They will in turn push forward and pass the ball into space for one of the overloading forwards to latch onto.
The defence is two fold, in attack it is made up of the two centre backs and DM. In defence it turns into a five man, flat back four with a DM. The defence is not a happy place at the moment, and I have some ideas of creating a mid compact block to keep the opposition out the central areas and passing through us. We have big centre backs so they could defend with their height.
Conclusion
Brentford FC was always going to be a save game that I would enjoy on FM24. A lot of the players in this squad are not house hold names, but they have been bought for a reason. The data driven approach has served Brentford FC very well over the years and now they are in the EPL and looking to stay.
The strength of this team is the core of the team. The centre backs and central midfield are the driving force for this team, this is great to build from. Additionally, they complement each other, it is a very defence first mindset which is solid.
The weakness of the team is that it is so defence minded that there is a lack of goals. Toney is suspended until January, so you are missing your go to striker, which is like a new signing by that point. This could be changed with another creator in midfield and a striker that scores goals.
The opportunity here is that you have a solid base to work from, a strong squad with strength and depth. I think using the strong core and discipline, there needs to be that flamboyancy in the forward positions.
The threat to the team is what we are seeing happen now. Over 50% of the squad is wanted by another team. I think this can cause upset, as some players will want to move like Toney does, to a bigger club. We cannot afford this squad to lose it’s key players or identity.
I hope you enjoyed this guide, now go and start your journey with Brentford FC on FM24. Please comment any feedback below.
