My goals for a beta save are 1) test out the new features and updates, and 2) try out a team that might be a fun in the short term, but not something I’m interested in continuing long term. For FM23, I decided to tackle these goals at the helm of ADO Den Haag in the Dutch Second Division.
The Mystery of The Hague
The title of this post comes from the English translation of Alles Door Oefening (the “ADO” in ADO Den Haag). It felt appropriate for a save that was primarily meant as practice before my main save. I also wanted to investigate a football mystery: why does the biggest team in The Netherland’s third largest city struggle so much? The team has not won a top-division title since 1943, and this past season were relegated from the Eredivisie.
With that mystery in mind I set out on my first season in FM23.
xG Giveth and xG Taketh Away
With the addition of xG a few years back, Football Manager players have been able to measure in precise detail how lucky or unlucky they were in each match. Of course there are more factors than that, but it’s a simple number to use. As the first few games of the season began, my ADO Den Haag team was far overperforming our xG, mostly thanks to the lethal finishing of our star man Thomas Verheydt.
Using his power and aerial ability to bully defenders en route to double digit goals, Verheydt launched us to the top of the table in the early part of the season. This was important because in the Dutch second division, playoff places are awarded to the team in first at the end of each quarter of the season. Outside of a few 0–1 slip ups, the goals were pouring in. Sure we were scoring far more than we “should” have based on xG, but results are results right?
Disaster struck. In mid-October Thomas Verheydt tore his knee ligaments and was out for almost the entire rest of the season. Predictably, our scoring numbers plummeted and those giddy 4–1 and 3–0 wins turned into grinding draws and painful losses. However, the team had won enough points in the early season to keep us in contention for automatic promotion on the final match day.
Unfortunately, goalkeeper Luuk Koopmans saved his worst performance of the season for the final game against Jong AZ, playing a 6.2 and conceding three goals for the first and only time all year. Despite clawing two back, our dreams of automatic promotion were shattered and we finished in 4th with 64 points, a mere 1 point from promotion.
No matter, we still had the playoffs right? That was where our xG luck really turned. Across two legs against 9th place Helmond we compiled 2.73 xG to their 1.58, but lost 0–1. And just like that the season was over with nothing to show for it.
Perspective
As I write this post, the real ADO Den Haag are languishing in 17th place, dangerously close to back-to-back relegations. It was heartbreaking to finish a point away from promotion, if you had told offered me a fourth place finish before the season, I probably would have taken it. Doubly so, considering our best player was injuring for two-thirds of that time. Having to adapt to such a critical injury push my managerial skills to the limit, but that is the only way to grow as a player. I’ve had far easier and more successful beta saves, but the highs and lows of my time in The Hague were more valuable. Could I have done better? Perhaps, but Everything Through Practice.
