T_o_M Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 Le PSG - Pastore, Sakho and Gameiro. The new investment into the club has made them an exciting proposition to manage on FM and I have decided to take on the challenge after having a great save with them on FM2010. With leagues from England, France, Italy and Spain loaded I began my adventure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_o_M Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 Tactical Analysis. I was fortunate that I was able to play with my preferred formation in the Football Manager games as PSG had players very capable of playing to my system. A regular back four where the full-backs will make themselves available in suitable situations. The defensive midfielder offers the defence that bit of extra protection, and takes part in nice triangle passes with the two central midfielders ahead as they try to move around the opposition before releasing the two inside forwards or the poacher. Well, that's the idea anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_o_M Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 Summer Transfer Window. After assessing the squad I decided that both the fullback areas needed addressing as a priority and with a £13million budget I would be able to fill those positions without needing to make any drastic sales to fund the purchases. In: Vrsaljko --> £3mil --> Dinamo Young right-back who can rotate with Jallet for the right back slot. Baines --> £10mil --> Everton Potentially rising to £15mil, Leighton was the established left-back I was looking for to fill this position. Sturridge --> Season-Long Loan --> Chelsea Fits my tactics well while being just a loan deal minimises risk incase he can't cut it at the higher level. Out: Tambe --> £100k --> Leece Young right-back who was unlikely to make the grade. Luyindula --> £500k --> Palermo Experience Striker wasn't going to cut it under my management and was in last year of deal. Ceara --> £1mil --> Bordeaux The 31-year old fullback was not needed after the summer signings. Pre-Season was handled by my Assistant Manager and saw the club play 4 matches; 3 away in Portugal and one away to Chivas in Mexico. 2 wins, a draw and loss later the players were looking more match-fit and ready for the season ahead. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_o_M Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 Europa League Qualifying. A great first leg performance meant the tie was effectively over and some of the youngsters and squad players were able to have a run-out and given the opportunity to try to catch the eye. The groups were drawn and PSG would face Lazio, Kobenhavn and Litex. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_o_M Posted October 28, 2011 Author Share Posted October 28, 2011 Europa League Group Stage. Group winners Kobenhavn shocked both us and Lazio as they strolled to qualification leaving it to us two to fight for second place. Conceding a last minute equaliser in the home game against them could have been costly but we managed a narrow win away in what was probably a fair result. I elected to not go for revenge in the final group game and instead make wholesale changes to rest players with our qualification assured. The draw for the next round has been made and we face Russian team Zenit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_o_M Posted October 29, 2011 Author Share Posted October 29, 2011 Ligue 1 Halfway Stage. It's very close at the top, with lots of teams competing. Surprise package Montpellier lie ahead of us in second with title rivals Lyon leading the pack, Caen surprisingly were also right up there but have hit a rough patch of form. Lille and Marseille on the other end of the spectrum have been disappointing so far failing to meet expectations. We have played well for the majority of the season but recent form saw us lose 2 of our last 3 league games as we've begun to move backwards. The best defensive record in the league but it seems that when we concede we don't win as that has only happened twice in the league, the other 10 wins coming with a clean sheet, might say something about the nature of the squad I have here. The competitive nature of the league means there seems to be no easy games but we're only 3 points off the top and have every chance to win the title this season! (I also realised that by not loading the lowest tier of France I have no reserve team to help with squad players match fitness, the new add/remove league feature has come in handy as I've added the lower tiers and they will be available at the end of the season). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikal Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Good luck with your save, have you set yourself any long-term goals? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_o_M Posted October 29, 2011 Author Share Posted October 29, 2011 Good luck with your save, have you set yourself any long-term goals? Thanks Not any real long-term goals so to speak, I have some players I intend to bring in to shape the squad to my liking which might take a few seasons but really I'm aiming to just try and win everything I can until I get bored or frustrated at PSG at which point I will move on - the add/remove league feature looks like it could be useful in this regard say I get an urge to manage in Belgium or maybe a different continent. I usually prefer to move to the lower leagues when the majority of players have become regens. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_o_M Posted October 29, 2011 Author Share Posted October 29, 2011 January Transfer Window. In: I put in some opportunistic bids on some long-term targets I have in mind but didn't get anywhere, I was happy enough to let the current players have the full season before I make major decisions. Out: Landre --> £500k --> Espanyol Young centre-back who was unlikely to make the step up to first team became impatient in the reserves and a deal with Espanyol was quickly arranged. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_o_M Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share Posted October 30, 2011 Coupe de la Ligue. Winners! We had an extremely tough cup run, although benefited from being drawn at home in all fixtures prior to the final. Suprise league package Montpellier were beaten in an even game with good finishing seeing us through, while we dominated Marseille and overturned there early goal to get the victory. The Lyon game was expected to be close but without a man of the match Hugo Lloris performance it could have been a rugby score! The final was a nervy affair and the tightest of all the games. We were struggling with injuries in the attacking department going into the game and it showed, fortunately for us a defensive clanger was enough to give us victory and my first piece of silverware at the club, very happy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_o_M Posted October 31, 2011 Author Share Posted October 31, 2011 Europa League Knock-Out Rounds. A great run which I'm proud of. A tricky home tie with Zenit was our first challenge after the group stages and an impressive home leg set us up well, and a mixture of first team players, youngsters and squad players went to Russia and put in a great defensive display and even nicked the win late on. Hannover knocked out Inter in the previous round so we went to Germany expecting a right battle, however we took a 2-goal advantage into the break and they capitulated in the second half getting a straight red card and giving two penalties away. The result pretty much sealed the tie and we won a dull second leg where they never threatened to make a comeback. Athletic in the quarter finals and a stoppage time goal from Daniel Sturridge meant we would go to Spain with a draw, and in a tight affair an early penalty gave us the advantage and we grabbed the second as they pushed for the equaliser. There would be no easy games in the Semi-Final and we drew arguably the most difficult team in Arsenal. Solid defensive displays from both teams saw a goalless first leg. Sadly the return leg was our 5th fixture in a week (we had league games on back-to-back days!), and with mounting injuries and players fitness levels low an already tough challenge was made all the more difficult and we were well and truly outplayed. Still reaching the semi-final was a great achievement, although arguably affected our battle on the league front. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_o_M Posted October 31, 2011 Author Share Posted October 31, 2011 French Cup. A simple run to the final where we played really well, even the Lyon game proved a formality - maybe the high win bonus influencing them. Sochaux in the final, they have a good team, quite a few match winners but I felt confident going into the game. Sadly though we couldn't maintain the levels of performance from the previous game and they deserved the win as we didn't really threaten. It wasn't without controversy however as Menez had an equaliser ruled out for offside when he was infact, onside Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_o_M Posted October 31, 2011 Author Share Posted October 31, 2011 Ligue 1. A strange league campaign. We won the league with a game to spare but in reality we never truly got going. We had rotten luck with injuries this season and had two periods where we were struggling to fill the bench. While this meant all squad players got used, they weren't all good enough at this level. The often talked about match of the day phrase "win when your not playing well" rings home with this campaign, for example we won 5/6 of our last games, each one by a single goal. Delighted to get the title, and with it Champions League football, especially with the knowledge that the team should only get stronger as I begin to increase the strength in depth while improving the first team. Nene was top scorer with 10 goals, while Pastore got 14 assists, two more than his central midfield partner Chantome who got 12. Ligue 1's Players' Player of the season award - Pastore Pastore and Sakho named in Stars team of the season Round-Up. League - 1st French Cup - Runners-Up Coupe de la Ligue - Winners Europa League - Semi-Finalists Top scorer - Sturridge + Nene, 14. Most Assists - Pastore, 22. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_o_M Posted November 1, 2011 Author Share Posted November 1, 2011 Season Two Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_o_M Posted November 1, 2011 Author Share Posted November 1, 2011 Summer Transfer Window. In: Adil Rami --> £8mil --> Valencia The French international had become unhappy at Valencia after just the one season, and we beat a host of top European clubs to his signature. Nicolas Anelka --> £FREE--> Chelsea Released by Chelsea I bought the experienced striker back to his first club for a third spell, a one-year contract and I'm hoping he'll be able to play a squad role. Signing has seen an increase in merchandising sales too I have been informed. Moussa Sow --> £8mil --> Lille A recommended signing, he became unhappy when Lille rejected a £6million offer so possibly I got him cheaper than Lille would have liked. Scored 11 in 20 for Lille last season after missing the first half with a broken leg. Nicolas Gaitan --> £6mil --> Benfica Argentinean winger has all the attributes I'm looking for at a reasonable price. Mathieu Flamini --> £FREE --> AC Milan Released by AC Milan I bring the Frenchman back to France and he will provide competition in all 3 of the central midfield positions. He only wanted a one-year contract but I negotiated a clause that will extend it by a year if he plays a certain number of games. Out: Zoumana Camara --> £500k --> Ipswich Nicolas Douchez --> £4mil --> West Brom Guillaume Hoarau --> £3mil --> Udinese Granddi Ngoyi --> £500k --> Fulham Neeskens Kebano --> £2.2mil --> Novara Sylvain Armand --> £500k --> Bronby Several unknown reserve/youths. Notables; Loris Arnauld, Everton Santos. Very happy with my signings. I think the pick would have to be Rami as I wasn't looking to strengthen the defence but when he became available I had to take advantage, and he replaces Lugano as Sakho's partner, and they have so far formed a solid understanding. I had wanted to bring in a big name signing in Eden Hazard but when Lille rejected offers up to £40mil I had to cut my losses and looks elsewhere. The striker position was also one I thought about for a while and tried several players sometimes they're wage demands too high, valuation too high, or I would cancel the deal last minute before I eventually went with Sow, hopefully he proves a success. He came off the bench to score on his debut in a 2-0 Champions Trophy win against Sochaux, Menez with the second. Champions League group stage was drawn, seeded 3rd we got Man United, Werder Bremen and Anderlecht Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_o_M Posted November 5, 2011 Author Share Posted November 5, 2011 Champions League Group Stage. Great to progress, even better as group winners. We started of with a last minute winner v Bremen thanks to Naldo gifting us a penalty. A workmanlike victory over Anderlecht away followed. The first game v Man United was all them, while the second game the polar opposite thanks to an early red card. The away trip v Bremen was absolutely amazing, we were 2-1 up at half time and then ran riot in the second. The Anderlecht home game saw some youngsters put in impressive performances. We got a good draw in the next round were we will face Besiktas. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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