February 1, 2010

Thomas Levin wrote about aging playmakers on his site FM Pundit last month. Can older players really make the difference? Well, in the case of my career save, it was certainly the experience of one player that helped gain promotion from the Blue Square North league.

At the lower levels, technical and mental skills can be at a premium. In fact, all skills are at a premium. You can often find a striker with nothing more than 16 for acceleration can grab 20 goals a season simply by virtue of creating a hat full of chances by out-sprinting the opposition centre backs. Or a 6′ 4″ centre back with 18 for jumping can be a beast at set pieces, defensively and offensively.

An older player who has been at a higher level, however, will have a lot more technical and mental skills than other players in your league - even if physically they may not be in the best shape.

Older players have “experience”

Many commentators in football talk about “experience”. In Football Manager, this is best expressed through the mental stats in the player’s profile. Mental stats continue to improve long after physical and technical attributes reach their peaks. Never underestimate the power of things like positioning, composure, concentration and decision making. These sorts of traits continue to develop well into a player’s 20s, and can make up for a lack of technical or physical skill.

If a player is more likely to make the right passing decision, he doesn’t need great passing to pull off an audacious pass - he’ll just look for the simpler one.

If a player has great positioning, he doesn’t need great pace to cover an opposition forward - he can just walk into the right place to give himself maximum defensive efficiency.

So, experience in this sense is very useful, especially at the lower leagues where small changes in skill levels can make a big difference. Your scouts, given enough time, may be able to give you more information about hidden attributes which can also affect the way the player behaves. “Professionalism” for example is something that players at the higher levels are much more likely to have than those who have spent most of their lives in the lower leagues.

The Example

In this series of articles, I will use examples from my current career save. In this instance, I will show the example of Sylvain Legwinski, ex-Fulham and France midfielder with a wealth of experience. I signed him for Hinckley early in my first season.

This screenshot comes from the fourth season of the career - so, obviously, with an acceleration of 1 Sylvain is no spring chicken. But even when I signed him, his acceleration was around 5. So, why pick a player who has such poor physical stats?

When I signed him, he was plying his trade in at St. Neots, a team not even in the playable leagues (unless you’ve been fiddling with the editor). But he had stats of 13 and above in a number of areas. Unlike most of my squad (who may just about reach 10 for some of the key attributes for their position), Legwinski was, technically and mentally, good enough to play in the Football League. Indeed, by the end of the second season I was fending off enquiries from Hereford United in League Two.

This gave him the ability to pick a pass and hit a long shot unlike anyone else in my squad - maybe anyone else in the league.

On the down side, Legwinski was incredibly injury prone. And unfit. Despite only playing him one game a week when he first arrived, it didn’t take long for him to need an extended rest. By the second season, I was only able to play him for 60-70 minutes a week.

That meant I had to make the choice of whether to play him in the Wednesday night fixture against a promotion rival, or in the FA Cup game at the weekend!

Despite this, Legwinski managed around 30 league games a season, averaging over 7.00 a game. But why?

When a player can pass the ball well and make the right decisions, it is of less concern whether he is quick over 10 yards or not. Especially when he plays in a position like centre midfield where pace is not a key attribute. Besides - he has a partner in the midfield who can cover for him in the event that he does get caught out of position.

Not that this is likely to happen too often, since his experience gives him such good positioning skills that he can read the game so well. The following highlights from one of his games in season two show that age is no barrier to creating problems in the lower divisions.

Download Hinckley United v Worcester.pkm (right click and “Save target as”)

Obviously, a player with such low fitness and speed is never going to be a great winger. Nor is he going to be a prolific striker. But the creativity that he can provide in midfield is something you will not get from players who don’t have experience of a higher level.

I used Sylvain as a ball-winning midfielder in my tactics, with a more energetic box-to-box midfielder alongside him in a simple 4-4-2. That gave the tactic balance, but also added energy and drive to the midfield. It gives the side a choice, as well - power through with a more pacey central midfielder, or use the skill and touch of Legwinski to find good through balls.

As you will see in the analysis screens in this PKM, Gooding’s passes, tackles and interceptions show far more movement than Legwinski’s.

So - this is what I’ve learned at Hinckley. In future weeks, I will talk more about various tactical elements that have been highlighted by my career save, including more examples and discussions.