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Building Cassino: The Defense |
One of my greatest weaknesses as a manager has always been a lack of long term strategic planning. It would be a fair statement to say I know how to win a match but I don’t know how to win a league. And it’s true; I have won neither a private or official league in seven years of managing. I do have some rather memorable matches where I’ve won when I shouldn’t have, especially in private leagues, but I failed to turn those victories into long term success.
With Cassino FC, I hope to be turning a new leaf. Thus, I have made a rough developmental plan for not 10, nor 20, but 30 seasons which I will be disclosing over the next two weeks. Today, I’ll be talking about the defensive side, that is to say, the goalkeeper and defender positions.
My basic philosophy is nothing too spectacular. Cassino will be fielding primarily the 451 and 352. I also believe the 343 is occasionally useful. To maintain a fairly even level of competiveness as Cassino matures, I will be using a conveyor system.
The defense conveyor has already begun this season with the purchase of 2 17/3 hard trainers: GK Dawid Wojciechowicz and D Artur Aquino. True, a 17/3 won’t be good enough to compete at the highest level, but in my estimation, their spots will have been taken by more talented players coming up behind them by the time we reach that point. Also keep in mind that I have only a limited amount of cash on hand.
Another 17 year old defenseman will be purchased in season 3 as a 2 year gap is established in the defender lineup. Season 7 will see the purchase of a youth GK, establishing a 6 year gap there. In season 15, the lineup matures: the defense will have an average age of 29.5 (352) and 28.6 (451). The 31 year olds will then be sold at the start of season 16.
31 is slightly sooner than when most conveyors sell; this is the tradeoff for a two year age gap as opposed to three or four in order to maintain average age. The advantage of selling at 31 is making slightly more money on the transfer market and having a reduced chance of players refusing to be listed.
This conveyor system does have seasons in which the defensive lineup is very young. Season 22 will be particularly difficult, with 23 year old starters at goalkeeper and defense. This weakness will last about 3 to 5 seasons. Long story short, the conveyor repeats itself after season 30. Next week, I'll look at the plan for midfielders and forwards.
For a graphical representation, please see the charts at the bottom of this page: an "X" denotes a sell and a "+" denotes a buy.
Goalkeeper Position: Seasons 1-15
Season |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
GK |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
31X |
GK |
|
|
|
|
|
|
+17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
Goalkeeper Position: Season 16-30
Season |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
GK |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
31X |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
31X |
GK |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
+17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
Defenseman Position: Seasons 1-15
Season |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
D |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
31X |
D |
|
|
+17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
D |
|
|
|
|
+17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
D |
|
|
|
|
|
|
+17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
D |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
+17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
D |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
+17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
Defenseman Position: Seasons 16-30
Season |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
D |
30 |
31X |
30 |
31X |
30 |
31X |
30 |
31X |
30 |
31X |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
31X |
D |
28 |
29 |
28 |
29 |
28 |
29 |
28 |
29 |
25 |
26 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
D |
26 |
27 |
26 |
27 |
26 |
27 |
23 |
24 |
23 |
24 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
D |
24 |
25 |
24 |
25 |
21 |
22 |
21 |
22 |
21 |
22 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
D |
22 |
23 |
19 |
20 |
19 |
20 |
19 |
20 |
19 |
20 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
D |
+17 |
18 |
+17 |
18 |
+17 |
18 |
+17 |
18 |
+17 |
18 |
+17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
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