Player Recruitment: End of Season Player Averages (Man Utd)

The stretch target average rating method is a analysis method I used as a sales manager to push the standard in my team. I wanted to see how this would work in the Football Manager world and if it would push the standard. I have decided on the average rating metric as it gives a good understanding if the player is fulfilling their role. As well as that it is a metric that can be used universally.

The way in which we recruit is look at the team, split them into two groups of 60% and 40%. Where the split sits is the bench mark. The bottom 40% will be sold or loaned out depending on age and ability. Last season the average rating was 6.91. Let’s see how the season progressed, read on to find out!

Man Utd Results

So the results are in! The average rating split worked at 6.96, which is an improvement of 0.05 and as a result means that we have pushed the average standard up. Below is the list of how each player performed in the top 60%, there are a few surprises too.

So we have our winners, so who are our losers. Looking at the list, I am surprised at a few players, but we can clearly see that the defensive players struggled. These players will be sold or loaned out, Will Fish is still young so will be loaned out, but Anthony and Sancho can go.

What we now need to do is look at the players who are available in the positions we are losing with an average rating over 6.96. We will look at the players in the top 6 leagues, with average ratings over 6.96.

This is how the team looks in terms of highest averages in each position. Additionally there are substitutes, but we are basing the recruitment around the first team.

Man Utd team performance

So the season has been full of mixed successes and near misses. In the Champions league, Super Cup and Carabao cup we ended up runner up. We weren’t meant to get anywhere near the Champions League final, so that was a massive success. The league has been a disaster though, we have regressed to 6th from 4th and it wasn’t particularly close.

Looking at the table, we can see that we just behind on the goals front. It’s not a major, it’s only a minor difference. Defensively we are as good as the teams outside the top two. What this indicates is that when we won, we won well, but when we lost we lost badly. The next step is to stop that inconsistency and produce a consistent trend.

Hopefully by pushing the standard up even more, we can actually create a consistent outcome.

Man Utd transfer ideas

This one is an easy strategy to follow. We know the positions that are needed and then we can search through build towards our tactic above. We need look at players who have rating over 6.96, and have played a number of games. I tend to use 20 games in a top league as a rule of thumb, anything lower is sparse data and taking a big risk.

As you can see, some amazingly talented players do come up on the player search. Berardi and Politano could be good choices to replace Anthony and Sancho. I would love to be able to afford Kvaratskhelia, but it just shows that the talented players do get found.

Conclusion

The team results have been very inconsistent, some real highs and lows in the team. We got to the Champs League final, but came 6th in the league. This is something that needs to be addressed going forward. Hopefully by eliminating the weaker underperforming players and replacing them with better performing players that will help.

I think that building from the back will provide a good opportunity to create that consistency. As well as that all the players will be settled now, as they have been here for a year.

If you are enjoying the series so far, please leave a like or comment. We enjoy receiving the feedback and look forward to hearing from you.