An epic match that didn't really mean anything

I just had an awesome match (on FM 07), thought I'd share:

I'd already won the Premiership, Man Utd were 3rd for now. My team was fringe players, youngsters, whoever wasn't figuring in the next Champions League game, as well as first-teamer Ledley King as he's one card from a CL suspension (the next match is the second leg of the semi-final at home, leading 4-1 on agg.)

24 mins: Rooney scores a blinding, 10 minute hat-trick. Spurs = 0 shots, Utd = 6 (4 on target). I change tactics to all out attack, deepest defending and hard tackling.

My team immediately improve and Anelka scores a hat-trick! I signed him over a year ago and he's been typically hot and cold, but has recently been scoring regularly.

79': Stalteri (RB) gets sent off - shirt tugging Rooney as the last man. He's retiring (in September for some reason), so a sad way to end his possible last match. Downing scores from the resulting free kick. I sub off the so-so (7) AMC for my young, reserve DC to balance the def. and mid. out.

We keep attacking.

89': We get a corner, there's chaos in the area and the ball eventually goes in for another against-the-odds equaliser.

92': Still we attack, the young, sub DC makes last ditch tackles and shows mature defending. The final whistle finally goes.

Shame it was a pretty pointless match!

Surprised Anelka's still good enough to play at that level in 2014. Most players are well in decline by their mid thirties.

Any chance of a screenie of his stats?

don't ask for much do you.

on topic: its always nice to beat man utd whether its pointless or not.

Surprised Anelka's still good enough to play at that level in 2014. Most players are well in decline by their mid thirties.

Any chance of a screenie of his stats?

Here ya go, stats and attributes:

I never really thought about it but he is one of those rare cases of a player well into his 30s that can still play at the very top level (when he wants to).

on topic: its always nice to beat man utd whether its pointless or not.

I didn't beat them but I guess I may as well have, same thing.

i am still playing 07 and i have anelka for my rangers side cause bolton got relegated. dont think im as far as 2014 though.

nice screenshot, but off topic why don't you buy fm09 and play that?

I didn't beat them but I guess I may as well have, same thing.

i know what i meant

Because I don't ever buy FMs that aren't fully patched. Plus, if the game isn't a major progression and/or pretty much bug free and/or up to standard, I have no need to buy it anyway (hence no FM 08).

Also I'm having fun with this game, this is my original long-term save game so I've been playing for a couple of years now, so all-in-all I have no desire to end it by buying a newer FM.

(Let's end the discussion about that there before the topic goes off-topic)

Sounds like a great match, in my opinion FM07 was the best version so far.

I remember getting from a shop in clearance what said Football Manager 07 on the front, for £3, thought it was a real bargain. Got home, opened the box, and it was Fifa Manager 07, and I couldn't play it as I had no booklet for the activation code.

That day sucked.

Nice match you had though

Surprised Anelka's still good enough to play at that level in 2014. Most players are well in decline by their mid thirties.

Any chance of a screenie of his stats?

I don't think most players are 'past it' until 33 and some can be fine until 35 ..

It depends how good they were to begin with of course, and at what level you need them to play.

I don't think most players are 'past it' until 33 and some can be fine until 35 ..

It depends how good they were to begin with of course, and at what level you need them to play.

I think perhaps they were talking about how the game utterly ruins older players, at least that's the case on FM08, not sure about 07 or 09, by the time they hit 33 they're useless for top flight clubs.

i have had quite a few epics with man utd when i was west ham, 2 up after 10 mins, 3 2 down by half an hour then 3 all half time, take the lead 2 mins after half time then 5 4 down by 70 odd mins then pumped 7 4 cos a guy got sent off

when i say epics i mean epic hammerings where i have scored a couple

I think perhaps they were talking about how the game utterly ruins older players, at least that's the case on FM08, not sure about 07 or 09, by the time they hit 33 they're useless for top flight clubs.

Judging from the comments about 08's older players, I doubt it's a problem in 07. Berbatov is my star striker and has been since the start, despite his similar age. Riquelme will probably finally lose his overall quality in the next season (2014/2015) and he's what 'now', 36?

Physical stats do go down, they just don't kill the good players.

Ive had the last 5 football managers including the last champ manager which is obviously wrong as I didn't get FM 07 which quite saddens me to hear that it was the best one.

Back on-topic, good thread, very interesting

Off topic, but where'd you get the kits from? I've checked out sortitoutsi.net but can't find the exact ones.

Off topic, but where'd you get the kits from? I've checked out sortitoutsi.net but can't find the exact ones.

They're FM07 style logos I think, have you tried the FM07 section in sortitoutsi?

They're FM07 style logos I think, have you tried the FM07 section in sortitoutsi?

Yep.

1010101010

Yep.

1010101010

Tried their forums? I don't think all of the kits available for download are shown in the downloads section for some reason.

Off topic, but where'd you get the kits from? I've checked out sortitoutsi.net but can't find the exact ones.

Unfortunately I don't remember! I just went with any old graphics.

Tried their forums? I don't think all of the kits available for download are shown in the downloads section for some reason.

Unfortunately I don't remember! I just went with any old graphics.

No problem, I'll keep searching. Currently checking the forums.

Thanks.

nice screenshot, but off topic why don't you buy fm09 and play that?

7.0.2 is awesome, arguably the most stable and realistic version out there.

Just as in real-life, 36-year-olds in 7.0.2 are alright as long as you don't tell them to run around too much. 35-year-old Anelka still looks awesome.

Just as in real-life, 36-year-olds in 7.0.2 are alright as long as you don't tell them to run around too much.

My old players run around plenty still! If I was partnering Anelka with Podolshi, he would play deeper so would do more dribbling and runs. Berbatov was the same, though they both are still around 10 in pace and acceleration.