October 2024 Updates

The FMDataLab Best XI features offer in-depth analytical tools designed to evaluate and optimise squad's by determining the optimal Best XI for a given squad. this is achieved through the integration of the Role Scores Tool which calculates role scores for every player within your uploaded file, across all roles in a selected tactic.

The process entails evaluating every permutation of 11 players in a squad, ensuring that each player in a squad is only placed in roles they are eligible to play in. The system then selects the combination of 11 players that results in the highest cumulative squad score, delivering an optimal Best XI tailored to a squad's specific strengths.

This powerful tool is not limited to assessing your own club but extends to any squad within an exported player list, for example, all teams within your league/division/country, facilitating comprehensive comparisons and providing unparalleled insights into squad strengths and weaknesses. Whether you are looking to fine-tune your own squad or analyse competitors, the FMDataLab Best XI tool offers a crucial edge in understanding and improving tactical success.

There are two principal Best XI analysis tools:

1. Squad Best XI:

   This analysis focuses specifically on your club, exported from the Squad View within Football Manager, calculating the Best XI from your squad based on each player's role score within a given tactic. The Squad Best XI provides multiple ranks to assess your players:

   • Role Rank: Ranks players by how closely their role score aligns with the top player in that specific role.More information on the Top Role Scores dataset can be found in the Top Role Scores Tutorial.Alternatively, view the full Top Role Scores dataset HERE.
   • Score Rank: Ranks players based on their assigned role score, showcasing overall performance in each position.
   • Competition Rank: Evaluates how close each player is to competing at the highest level of competition in their role.More information on the Competition Benchmarks dataset can be found in the Competition Benchmarks Tutorial.Alternatively, view the full Competition Benchmarks dataset HERE.

   Additionally, the Squad Best XI tool offers a Rotated XI, which calculates a secondary optimal lineup excluding players from the primary Best XI, highlighting squad rotation potential. Furthermore, it allows you to review squad depth, identifying areas that may require strengthening or where depth issues persist. An analysis of squad strengths and weaknesses is also available, enabling you to pinpoint your best and worst ranked players, assess their standout attributes, and highlight potential areas for development.

2. League Best XI:

   This feature identifies the optimal Best XI for each club within an uploaded Football Manager file. It serves as a benchmark for evaluating your team against the Best XI for all clubs in a league, providing insight into the competitive standard of each position and role. This comparison can reveal where your squad excels or falls short in relation to the league's elite players.

   Additionally, the League Best XI includes the best players in the league for each position and role within a selected tactic, this can also act as a tool for identifying gaps or weaknesses in your team by comparing your squad to the League Best XI, helping to guide future tactical decisions or transfer strategies.

In summary, the Best XI feature provides valuable insights that go beyond raw role scores, offering detailed comparisons that can drive squad improvements and ensure you stay competitive within your league.

Once you have exported your squad player list as an HTML file from Football Manager using the "fmdatalab_squad_view" view and created a tactic using the Tactics Creator, your next task is to upload the HTML file and choose a tactic to determine your squad's Best XI.

Begin by navigating to the Squad Best XI Tool. On this page, utilise the Select Tactic dropdown to choose from your previously created tactics. (If you have not yet created a tactic, refer to the How to create a tactic? section outlined earlier.)

After selecting a tactic, proceed by uploading your exported squad view HTML file. This can be done via the Squad Best XI File input field.

Choose the HTML file exported from Football Manager using the designated Role Score Views. Please note that "Moneyball" views are not compatible due to differing column formats. Further details on how to get started are listed below.

Once both the tactic and the file have been correctly selected, click the Submit button to generate and analyse your squad's Best XI based on the chosen tactic.

Once your tactic has been selected and the squad view HTML file has been successfully uploaded, the Squad Best XI screen will be presented to you.

This page features a comprehensive table displaying the most optimal 11 players to fulfil the position roles within the chosen tactic. This selection is based on each player's role scores for the assigned roles, derived from evaluating every possible permutation of 11 players placed in roles they are eligible for. The Best XI calculation then selects the highest combined squad score to identify the ultimate Best XI for your squad.

The table offers multiple columns for in-depth analysis of a squad, aiding in pinpointing areas that may require recruitment during the transfer window to strengthen the team or highlighting the squad's key strengths. Each column presents valuable insights that enable you to gauge the squad's collective strengths, potential gaps, and areas for strategic improvement. By examining these metrics, you will be well-equipped to make informed decisions, whether for enhancing tactical alignment or optimising transfer market strategies to address identified weaknesses. Below is an outline of some of the relevant columns, their purpose, and guidance on how to interpret them:

Below the primary Best XI squad table, you will find a secondary table that provides a holistic overview of your squad, focusing on collective squad performance rather than the analysis of individual players.

This single-row table comprises several critical columns designed to facilitate a comprehensive assessment of the squad's overall capabilities and some average metrics to gauge the value of your squad. Below is an in-depth explanation of the key columns, their purpose, and guidance on how best to interpret and utilise this data in your analysis:

In the top-left corner of the page, you will find the name of the selected tactic alongside the file name of the uploaded squad view, allowing for quick reference.

In the top-right corner, a number of action buttons are available:

• Update Tactic
  
  Selecting the Update Tactic button will open a dialog window with a tactic selection dropdown. Here, you can select an alternative tactic to find a new Best XI using the same set of players from the uploaded HTML file.Use the Select Tactic dropdown to select one of your tactics, enabling you to recalculate role scores for all position roles using the updated tactic that will determine the Best XI from selected squad, optimising your team selection process and highlight areas of improvement.Once you have selected a new tactic, press the Update Tactic button to recalculate your Best Best XI.
  
• Upload
  
  Clicking the Upload button will open your file explorer, enabling you to upload a new Squad Best XI view HTML file to view new squad Best XI data.
• Show Trajectories

  More information on role score trajectories can be found in the Player Trajectories Tutorial.

  
  The Show Trajectories button toggles the visibility of Upper Percentile Trajectory values for all role scores within the squad tables, squad depth and squad strengths and weaknesses.Role score trajectories reveal insights into squad depth and identifying areas of strength or weakness.If a player cannot play in the assigned position for a role, or if their age exceeds or matches the peak age for a role, trajectory data will not be displayed.
  
• Edit Role Weights

  More information on attribute weights can be found in the Attribute Weights Tutorial.

  

  Clicking the Edit Role Weights button will open a dialog window where you can modify the attribute weights used in the role score calculation for all roles in your chosen tactic.

  

Within the Squad Best XI Tool, the Squad Select: section provides a mechanism to seamlessly switch between different squad views via the corresponding tabs.

By default, the Best XI tab is selected, displaying the optimal Best XI for the uploaded squad, but an alternative option is available: Rotated Squad.

The Rotated Squad feature generates a rotation squad, calculated in a similar manner to the Squad Best XI using role scores, identifying the next best squad (provided there are enough eligible players available). Crucially, this squad excludes any players who appear in the Best XI, thereby promoting effective squad rotation and highlighting any squad depth strengths and weaknesses.

The layout of the squad players table and overall squad table mirrors that of the Best XIview but introduces two key distinctions.

Firstly, in the squad table, an additional column—Compare (Best XI)—is included.

The second distinction is found within the overall squad table, where an additional column—Compare (Overall Best XI)—is introduced.

Also within the Squad Best XI Tool, the Squad Select tabs include another feature: Squad Depth.

Selecting the Squad Depth tab will display the Squad Depth section.

The Squad Depth section offers a comprehensive overview of your squad's depth across all tactic positions. This section highlights up to 3 of the highest-scoring players for each role and position, alongside identifying the most promising youth prospect (players aged 23 or younger) for each respective position.

The position within your tactic deemed to have the strongest depth will be marked with the icon beside the position name.This conclusion is based on the minimal variance in role scores between the highest and lowest-scoring players capable of playing in this position, indicating a well-balanced depth of talent across the squad for this role.

Conversely, the position with the least depth will be identified with the icon beside the position name.This conclusion is based either on the largest disparity in role scores between the highest and lowest-scoring players qualified for this position, or, in cases where there are any positions that lack sufficient depth, it pinpoints the largest gap in role scores within those positions. This suggests a need for recruitment to strengthen this position by introducing higher-calibre players to enhance squad depth.

In cases where no viable players aged 23 or younger exist for a position, this will be flagged with the icon next to the position name, accompanied by a yellow dashed border around the position card.To strengthen or safeguard the long-term prospects of a squad, this highlights that it would be prudent to consider investing in youth talent in this position, ensuring future depth and stability.

Should any position in your squad fall short of the required depth, the system will highlight this with the icon next to the position name.The calculation of adequate squad depth is based on multiplying the number of instances of a position in your tactic by 2, then adding 1. For example, if your tactic employs 2 centre-backs, you would ideally have a minimum of 7 viable players should be capable of covering this role to account for potential unavailability, whether due to injuries, ineligibility, transfers, or other factors. To bolster depth in this area, it would be prudent to consider acquiring at least 2 players in this position, ensuring the squad is adequately equipped to manage such contingencies.

Beneath the squad table, whether in the Best XI or Rotated Squad sections, lies the Overview section, designed to present a detailed analysis of the selected squad's Strengths and Weaknesses.

These two subsections, while similar in structure, serve distinct purposes in evaluating your squad, identifying areas of improvement and highlighting positions where your squad excels.

Within the Strengths section, you will find the Key Players section.

Then, in the Weaknesses section, it includes a Weakest Players section.

Below the Strengths and Weaknesses sections, lies the Tactical Areas Section.

Each tactical area encompasses several detailed sections, one of which is a table similar to the Squad Overall table located within a squad's Best XI.

This table provides numerous columns for comprehensive analysis of a squad's tactical areas, offering critical insights into areas that may warrant recruitment during the transfer window, or drawing attention to the squad's most robust tactical areas. Each column serves a distinct purpose, presenting valuable data that allows you to evaluate the relative strengths of different tactical areas, identify potential deficiencies, and highlight opportunities for strategic enhancement. Below is a breakdown of key columns, their respective purposes, and guidance on how best to interpret the data they reveal.

Below the table you will find a Strengths and Weaknesses section, which mirrors the corresponding sections found above in the Overview section, albeit with a few minor distinctions.

Primarily, the Strengths and Weaknesses here are evaluated within the context of the specific tactical area, rather than assessing the entire squad. This enables a more focused analysis of how individual players contribute to specific tactical roles within the chosen formation or strategy.

Additionally, this section highlights only the top Key Player and the Weakest Player within the tactical area, as opposed to the usual selection of 3 players. In situations where only one player is assigned to a position within the tactical area, that player will simultaneously be recognised as both the Key Player and the Weakest Player. This assessment provides critical insights into the tactical area's standout performers and potential vulnerabilities, particularly in positions lacking depth or balance.