Brentford FC | PL Archetypes | Ratings | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Real Madrid: Built to Fail

OneNote

The Mechanics of Building a Team is a Methodology that seeks to Simplify the Complex Process of Building Sustainable Championship Teams. For Almost a Decade Now, I have been Adding Elements, Research, Observations, Articles, and Other Anecdotes to a OneNote Notebook. Every Time I learn something new, I find the Appropriate Element in my OneNote Notebook and add a Link and Contextualize the New Learning.

Brentford FC and Player Archetypes

Brentford Football Club isn’t Just a Football Club. It’s also a Research Institution. As an Obsessive Learner, I always find myself Checking-In on the happenings at Brentford FC. When I was thinking about Releasing My Player Archetypes in My Newsletter, My Attention Turned to a Lee Dykes (Technical Director) Interview I had Linked on Brentford’s Website. In that Interview, Dykes talks about 16 Position on a Pitch. While I encourage you to Read the Article, I wanted to share this anecdote because My Approach to Talent ID and Positional Archetyping is Deeper than 16 Positions. It’s Deeper than 16 Positions because Every Player has a Different Style of Play, Preferred Formation, Behavior, and Function. For Example, Jamie Vardy and Erling Haaland may both be Classified as Strikers, but they are Very Different Kinds of Strikers. I wouldn’t put them in the Same Category. My Archetypes are a Combination of Positional Function, Style of Play, and Roster Archetypes. For Example, 4th Striker Archetype isn’t a Positional Function, it’s a Roster Archetype. With that in mind, Let Me Share My First Player Archetype.

Archetype: Traditional No. 9 (Tier 1)

• Erling Haaland (Manchester City)

• Alexander Isak (Newcastle United)

Archetype: Traditional No. 9 (Tier 2)

• Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)

Archetype: Traditional No. 9 (Tier 3)

• Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea)

• Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)

• Dominic Solanke (Tottenham Hotspur)

• Darwin Nunez (Liverpool FC)

• Richarlison (Tottenham Hotspur)

• Raul Jimenez (Fulham FC)

• Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton FC)

• Evanilson (AFC Bournemouth )

Archetype: Traditional No. 9 (Tier 4)

• Patson Daka (Leicester City)

• Ross Stewart (Southampton)

• Ali Al-Hamadi (Ipswich Town)

I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge that there are Deliberate Discrepancies is the Archetype Structure. I am happy to explain if anyone is interested.

Best Buy | Buy | Hold | Sell | Unrate | Kawhi Leonard

Once I had Archetyped a Specific Category, I rate each player as if I would rate a Stock. For Example, I could rate a Player No. 1 in his respective Category, but I could put a Sell Rating next to his name. That’s because there are Elements Outside his Performance that Restrict High Quality Team-Building. For Example, in my NBA Archetypes, I rate Kawhi Leonard Higher than Jayson Tatum in that Traditional Small Forward Archetype. But I have him Unrated because I would never consider Building a Basketball Team around a Player who is never available. I have the same Rating for Ben Simmons for a Different Reason.

Wolverhampton Wanderers | Squad Construction

Contrary to Popular Opinion, Wolverhampton Wanderers are a Team Full of Highly Talented Footballers. While they aren’t Fighting Relegation now, they were earlier on this Season. That should never have been the case. It was the case partially because while Wolves have Really Talented Players at almost every Position, they aren’t a Football Club that is Built Particularly Well. I was going through Wolves Squad Earlier Today and I Identified 9 Center Backs on the Books.

• Santiago Bueno

• Emmanuel Agbadou

• Yerson Mosquera

• Craig Dawson

• Toti Gomes

• Bastien Meupiyou

• Nasser Djiga

• Hugo Bueno (On Loan at Feyenoord)

• Nigel Lonwijk (Huddersfield Town)

This is Representative of Poor Portfolio Construction, Poor Attribution, Poor Capital Allocation, and its Destroying Asset Value.

Built to Fail: Real Madrid

Are We Allowed to Criticize Real Madrid? Real Madrid are arguably the Biggest Football Club in the World. They have the Best Players in the World. Everyone Wants to Play for them. That said, they are Second in La Liga to an FC Barcelona Team in Financial Hell. They are decimated by injuries and have players playing in all sorts of different positions. And So I looked at their Squad Construction. This is what I found.

While Formations Can Be Fluid, One Can Conservatively Assume, that Real Madrid are Built at least theoretically around a 4-3-3. This is what there Best Starting XI Looks Like.

ST: Kylian Mbappe
LW: Vinicius Jr.
RW: Rodrygo
LCM: Jude Bellingham
RCM: Federico Valverde
CDM: Aurelien Tchouameni
LB: Ferland Mendy
RB: Dani Carvajal
LCB: Antonio Rudiger
RCB: Eder Militao
GK: Thibaut Courtois

ST: Endrick
LW: -
RW: Lucas Vazquez
LCM: Luka Modric
RCM: Eduardo Camavinga
CDM: -
LB: Fran Garcia
RB: -
LCB: David Alaba
RCB: -
GK: Andriy Lunin

After you engage in this exercise you are left with a Few Players.

• Arda Guler

• Brahim Diaz

• Raul Ascencio

• Dani Ceballos

• Jesus Vallejo

Real Madrid’s Poor Team Building Observations

1. Kylian Mbappe has to play as a No. 9 and Learn a New Position because Vinicius Jr. Might Be Better than Him. Apart from Non-Footballing Reasons, did Real Madrid need Mbappe?

2. They Have No Backup Left Winger.

3. They Have No Backup Central Defensive Midfielder. One Could Argue there Backup Central Defensive Midfielder is Eduardo Camavinga.

4. They Have No Backup Right Back. Federico Valverde and Lucas Vazquez have been Playing that Position since Dani Carvajal went out for the Season.

5. They had No Backup Center Backs at the Start of the Season. David Alaba has been injured since he arrived in Madrid. Jesus Vallejo isn’t trusted. Raul Ascencio was an Emergency Promotion from the Academy.

6. Arda Guler and Brahim Diaz are Both No. 10s. Carlo Ancelotti rarely plays Traditional 10s.

7. They only have 22 Players in the Squad. They should have 25. It’s one of the reasons they have no Depth.

8. They should be actively promoting players from Real Madrid Castilla. Except Ascencio, they haven’t done that.

If Real Madrid were in a Deeper and Higher Quality League like Serie A or the Premier League, they wouldn’t be a Guarantee to Qualify for the Champions League.