Testing recruitment techniques
We are testing different recruitment techniques to find ways to reinforce with Man Utd. I think we are all interested in ways to develop the best team.
This is a series that I am interested in posting. It will be the same save game with Man Utd just played with different recruitment techniques I have learnt over the years in football. This blog will be about using stretch targets with average ratings. I will play half the season of season 2 until the 1st January and report the results. I will then play the second half of the season and post a blog on how it finishes.
A stretch goal is a technique to improve the standard within the team. You divide the team in a 60% – 40% split. Where they meet is the benchmark for the team, the bottom 40% will be culled and the top 60% stay. We will then look for players in the top leagues in Europe who have averages above the benchmark.
Interested in seeing how this worked, please read on.
The new Man Utd team
So, I’m going to honest, the team changed far more than I anticipated, which creates it’s own problems in settling the team. The criteria for each player was that they played in the top league in Europe (La Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, EPL or Serie A) and that they had an average over the benchmark.
Some of the players we have bought, I would never had even looked at, let alone buy. It’s an interesting team and has played well at times. I particularly like Nmecha, who ironically was a Man City player before Dortmund.
Losing McTominay and Casemiro were big blows to the settled defensive unit of the team. McTominay was playing under average and I could not stop the Saudi teams from upsetting Casemiro in their pursuit. Mason Mount was awful in the first season.
Man Utd results
So the experiment is struggling at the moment. Liverpool have blown the league away, which is disappointing being our rival. Villa have been unreal getting to second. We have a game in hand, but the board have requested a meeting to discuss my future, in which I have bought another month to improve results.
We have been fantastic at home, but away we have struggled massively. On another note, I have never seen a team perform as bad as West Brom at the half way point.
Conclusion
Our main problem, is gathering a consistent run of form. I know that the players have the ability, but unfortunately they do not have the will.
Our first solution is to have a change to the tactics. The shape is okay, but the internal tactics probably do not suit the players, as we never bought any players on style or role.
Our second solution, is to look at the weaknesses of the team and mitigate them as best we can. We can look at the weaknesses through the assistant reports or the average rating.
Our third solution, is allow the team to settle and not make any rash decisions which could potentially upset the team. The team may need time to settle as we brought in so many players different leagues and countries.
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