We have come to the end of season 1. The league title decider went down to the final day of the season, with AZ starting in 2nd place 2 points behind leaders Ajax. Ajax won their game as expected but we fell short and lost our final game of the season which then allowed Feyenoord to overtake in 2nd place. 

Overall, we had over achieved in the league with a 3rd place finish. This actually works in our favour as we expect a lot of our star players to move on in the summer and the rebuilding job will take time to settle in which will most likely give us a similar finish in the league which is what the board expect. We will have Champions League football at AZ next season which is a step up from Europa Conference League football where we lost in the knockout phases. 

Here are some stats for the season in terms of how we performed as a team and players individually:

In terms of our tactics, we can see that we were always on the front foot and playing an attacking system but mostly were dominant in possession too. When we came up against the other teams such as Ajax,PSV, Feyenoord that is where we didnt have as much possession but still had plenty of chances. 

As mentioned in the previous updates, our recruitment is very detailed and looks into the player profile per position. Above we can see some snaps of data and can see for example our right back Sugawara was joint top in assist in the league. So when we look to replace him, we will need to find an attacking full back, who is also able to be a provider and put the ball in dangerous areas. Similar with the key pass metrics, Mijnans provided the most key passes in the league. So if we need to replace him, we need to be looking at a midfielder who is a creator and able to provide a high number of key passes. 

I was very surprised to see that our B team had won the 2nd tier league! Our young players out-dated some top teams, its a shame that they cannot be promoted to the top tier with the first team! There is a lot of interest in the young players who stared in the B team last season, a few have been promoted to the first team. 

Here are some of they key players who featured in the B team:

Remember this guy:

He managed to bag 7 goals in 15 games which is a good start to his step up to AZ. He has slotted in perfectly and so far, a great recruitment which we picked up in January which we did with the extensive data review and analysis. 

Here is the current view of the squad for season 2 so far (end of pre season).

The following have been promoted from the B team into the first team:

• W Goes
• K Goudmijn
• D Kwakman
• D Reverson 
• E Poku

Here is a view of our U18s currently. The plan is to promote some of these who did well last season into the B team as we promoted some of the B team players into the first team. I do also want to create a pathway into the first team and having our B team play in the 2nd tier in a very competitive league is ideal in terms of the step up to the first team. 

As the summer arrives, we need to start planning for next season and replacing any potential departures. Here is a run through as a example of how we identified a centre back to replace the departure of Dekker. 

So firstly, we have these conditions added and find players at the age of 23 or under. We will then change just the country but everything else will stay the same but for this example, lets go with Croatia who is on our list of untapped markets. 

Once we check through the initial data on the players found, we will then scout some of the ones we want to review.

Once the scout report is completed, if this checks out well then we will add them to the shortlist.

Then I would compare all the shortlisted based on the main metrics that is related to our system such as interceptions, passes attempted etc.

Once we find 3-5 players suitable, i add them into a comparison table as per below:

Note: we cannot expect every metric to be better as this differs with the type of system the players club plays or the standard of the league etc. But we can have a rough idea on the player profile and if they would fit the system. For example, we highlighted Galesic as a suitable signing as he is a similar mould to Martins Indi in every metric and also his scout report came back as a A rating, so with all this put together, we will look to sign him. 

Here are the signings that have been made since the end of January to pre season in season 2:

Here is the data view of why we brought in F Krivak:

As for T Palacios, his preferred position is a winger however, he can also play central and plan to re-train him as a advanced playmaker which will give us more attacking strength. 

For the outgoings, this is how we currently look but it doesn’t look like its finished here and clubs are still coming in for our star players or prospects. 

As we can see, we’ve made some good money already without spending a great deal, our transfer budget is currently over 50M. 

Below is our current squad planner but let me break down some of the smart recruitment done and how we’ve replaced the key players.

• R Bazoer (sold for 1.4M) – Replaced with a B team being promoted into the first team
• J Clasie (sold for 2.8M) – F Krivak – Bought for initial 2M
• M Ryan (sold for initial 6.75M – Already Bought Andreev last season knowing we would cash in on ageing Ryan
• Y Sugawara (sold for 20M) – Replaced with a B team being promoted into the first team and D Kasius is now the 1st choice 
• S Mijnans (Sold for initial 16.5M) – Replaced with T Palacios – Bought for 2.5M
• B Martins Indi (Sold for initial 1.4M) – Replaced with N Galeseic – Brought for 2M

We already have targets lined up to replace any that could leave before the window shuts or promote from B team. 

Our Moneyball method is already working in the first season as we have made a good amount of profit in the summer and cleared the clubs debt:

We have also set up an affiliation with Jagiellonia in Poland who is a country that is on the list of one of our untapped markets. They have great training facilities so we can send our development players on loan there but also look at talent that we can bring over from the club.

A further update will be provided at the end of season 2, which will go over season overview, more in depth recruitment analysis and player development. 

If there is anything particular that you want to see in the next update, feel free to comment!