Subject: [U21] Inter

Hi All

I would love the chance to take over the U21 team and continue the work of Skyland in helping develop the countries upcoming talents.
(Obviously on the prevision that Skyland does step down and not sign up for the next season)

Despite not having the most experience (did have an account for about 4 years before this one) i have had a number of NT/U21 roles with some success across several nations but feel i prefer, and am more suited, to the U21 and development side of the game. In my current role i was able to boost our nations rankings and get some good results vs better opposition. I am also a big advocate of the youth system and have had several U21 players in my squad. Coming over from Morocco i feel Ireland would suit me in a couple of ways: particularly the slightly larger number of active users, quality of squad and lack of language barrier.

I have also recently switched job in real life so have plenty of time to put into tactics, scouting and training plans/pathways which from my last role at South Africa U21 can be a time consuming but crucial part of the role. So if you would like a fresh face who will be committed to the role with consistent open communication then i would hugely appreciate your votes.
https://sokker.org/election/pollID/35468

Thanks Again
Inter
(edited)

Hi Inter!
Good to see you. I'm glad you decided to apply to Ireland :-)
I will ask the same question as Behmen - why Ireland?

And we will start more questions :)

Hi There,
No worries question away :)

I decided to move on from my current job at Morocco to go back to an U21 job as i much prefer the youth side of the game and developing/helping to improve nations, which is only really done through the youth players. I was looking at nations in the 40-65 ranking spots as my lack of experience would probably prevent me being considered for anything higher, and often managers build and stick around.
Ireland is obviously close to the top of that range, and i assumed the previous manager would carry on, but when you gave me a nudge on the forum and i read the post was free i thought it was worth a try. My key requirement for my next role is active users, in some of my other jobs that havent had this you can feel like your putting in huge amounts of work with little reward or progress. I have the space and budget to take on Irish trainees, and the time to put in long term plans and pathways to improve the nation. Ireland can match that and i think i would be a great fit as someone who is dedicated to improving the squad and their own skills.
(edited)

I make no secret that this is what I am looking for. Someone who will dedicate his team to training Irish players. I don't want to speak for everyone, these are obviously just my questions. I haven't decided yet who I will vote for.

The next season will be a season of friendly matches. Which teams would you prefer to play against, is ranking important to you and what tactics do you prefer in the U21s?

In terms of teams to play against with a season of friendlies i would go for more of a mix of levels across the season, as to me there isnt much benefit in taking on the very worst each week for easy wins. I would like a couple of games against some better sides as that is something that we are likely to come up against in future competitions etc. so getting a good defensive tactic nailed down is always useful to me but games against teams of a similar level would probably be a fair chunk of what i would like for the season in order to test tactics and see our level.

Ranking is nice to see progress and confirmation of good performances, but isnt an initial focus until i have a squad that i am happy with. I would have to have a good look over the squad and whats being trained outside of the team as if the squad is lacking in positions it may take a bit of time to get a fully rounded squad. As an example i took over South Africa in a season where almost all the U21 NT strikers turned 22 in the same season but the previous manager hadn't started the chain of progression so the next strikers were well below the level.

As for tactics they would be tailored to the squad avaliable and opponents upcoming, but a balance of defence with counter attacking threat is something i have had good results against the better sides. Generally i favour a wide winger, and athletic team but am not nailed down to a certain formation as some of the older players seem to be and would happily change to a back 4/5 and multiple wingers if the squad and situation needed it.

He's a good manager, active, always trying to improve the team and his tactics. Deserves to step up to a more active community than South Africa or Morocco.

This is probably what I would do if I were in the U21s. Trained a wing player and played with a winger - a lot of teams in U21 play 4 defenders so this is ideal.
Well, but first you have to have such players in the team as you said yourself, it all depends on the squad :)

It seems that the competition with Behmen is over.
So from me +1 :-)

This seems like it will be a good fit. My team is essentially a NT academy so I'll be happy to help with keeping the youth pipeline going and training U21 prospects. Our current challenge is getting enough youths through the schools as we only have 9 active managers in the country right now. Most have a youth school though which is good at least.

Appreciate the words Camus, and if i can take some inspiration from your handling of the England U21's then im on the right track.
As i say i like the idea of having a bit more of an active community/nation which can be hard to get as a newer user (especially with tied votes going in favour of older players etc.) but am a big advocate of the Junior School as mine almost single handedly pushed by club up a division and allowed us to be profitable so would hope people keep them open. I know 9 isnt a huge number of users/schools so it will probably be a case of maximising what we have and i can certainly take on some trainee projects where needed, and from a quick look only a handful of the squad turnover to 22 yrs next season.

Gl on Irish u21 my friend :P

Thank You, still a few days before its definitely confirmed but im looking forward a bit of a project and improving things :)

Would also be interested as to what people think about entering the Druid's Cup? ive never played it and from quickly reading the post seems to be a mixed ability U20 competition, which will be good to see what we have coming through but kind of stops the players that are about to turn 21 from playing NT games and we could struggle for results (draw depending etc.)
(edited)

I wouldn't worry too much about results in the non qualifying season. Getting tactics sorted and a look at players is probably more important.

Yes very true, will probably enter should sundays result go my way :)

I would join if I were you. It's always some extra adrenaline involved in the tournament and as far as I know, the worse teams don't have as hard a time there.
Good luck :-)

If you don't mind me asking about something not related to the U21.... what is the history of your nickname? :P

Lets do it then, with my apologies to anyone whose players have just turned 21 :)
it would give us a good look at what we have coming through and from what ive read (ive never played it before) we wont just be playing the pot 1 best teams each week.

Of couse you can ask anything. Unfortunately i dont have a great story for it, i wanted something unique that i could easily see in table/posts (although we now have another Inter in England) with a bit of humor and ended up with this as i was struggling for ideas and wanted to get registered quickly. One of my favourite players growing up was Adriano (The Brazilian Inter Milan striker) so i could lie and say that influenced it instead :)

Firstly a huge thank you for voting me in and giving me a chance to take over a new nation in Ireland, and continue the long standing work of Skyland.

Despite not being the most experienced manager on Sokker, I will give my time and effort in collaborating with you all to bring the next batch of Irish talent forward. As a starting point I do things a bit unconventionally and will remove everyone from the squad before re-adding using the scouting sites and crafting my squad, it just allows me to make depth charts for age ranges etc.. and to learn the players and see what im working with. On top of that im keen on open dialog/discussion so if you see that a player you think should be in the U21 squad and isn't just drop me a message and I will have a look.

I know budgets for newer users might mean some you cant run Junior Schools, but I am a huge advocate for them as they have generated large profits for my own team and is the only way to keep Ireland generating new talent. Also if you have any players that your struggling to train or are unsure about I am very keen to take on Irish trainees (as I cant have a Irish Youth School) either post them in here or drop a message and ill take them on. I am very keen to not have stagnant players, if you cant train them then move them on and let someone develop them rather than rot in your squad!!

I have also entered us into the Druids cup as something to test ourselves against some of the better nations as an easy guarantee of fixtures and to test tactics if I am totally honest. I would hope this to be a longer term approach so will not stress hugely on the results of this season but will hope to put some building blocks in for the next competitive season (even if someone else is voted in next year).

As I say I will make charts for each position and age range which I can post every few months if that's something people would find useful to see and some other bits but its up to you how much information you would like posted. I don't want to spam the forum with things people are not looking at or interested as that will just get annoying!

Thanks again for the opportunity, and I look forward to trying to put a mark on the Irish team soon. :)