FM14: Manchester United FC Thread - Dawn of a New Evra!

[u]Start of Season Expectations[/u]

Title Challenge:              Transfer Budget: £33.5M		Wage Budget: £2.4M
Winner:                       Transfer Budget: £38.5M          	Wage Budget: £2.6M

Manchester United Squad

GK:- David De Gea, Anders Lindegaard, Ben Amos
CB: Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Jonny Evans, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling
RB: Rafael
LB: Patrice Evra, Fabio
CM: Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher, Anderson, Tom Cleverley, Marouane Fellaini, Ryan Giggs
RM: Nani, Antonio Valencia
LM: Ashley Young
AMC: Shinji Kagawa, Adnan Januzaj
ST: Robin Van Persie, Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez, Danny Welbeck

Key Player

Robin Van Persie

Promising Players

Adnan Januzaj

Nick Powell (on loan at wigan)

Goalkeepers

1:- David De Gea

13:- Anders Lindegaard

40:- Ben Amos

The goalkeeper position is one you shouldn't have to worry about, the only concern is a backup for David de Gea with question marks on how good a backup either Lindegaard or Amos really are. However when you start the game you shouldn't have to worry too much about it but good back up should provide some competition for De Gea.

Central Defense

12:- Chris Smalling

4:- Phil Jones

5:- Rio Ferdinand

6:- Jonny Evans

15:- Nemanja Vidic

No need to worry about this position either! You have club captain Nemanja Vidic here who should probably be first choice although he is a on the slow side (play a deeper line possibly). For the 2nd starting slot at the minute Ferdinand edges it ahead of Evans for me. Until his (Ferdinand's) stats start to decline, they probably will sooner rather than later. You have absolutely fantastic back up in Evans, Jones and Smalling. They will also be your future defence and they're all british which is a bonus.

Full Backs

2:- Rafael

22:- Fabio

3:- Patrice Evra

So again you're all set at right back with Rafael da Silva there for years, you do need a back up/competition for the right back slot as I personally don't think Varela will cut it. At left back you have the aging vice captain Paddy Evra, he'll be good for a season or two at best and Rafael's twin Fabio backing Evra up. Fabio might make the full back slot his own when Evra goes. But I'd still be inclined to bring in another left back after season 1 or 2.

Centre Midfield

16:- Michael Carrick

31:- Marouane Fellaini

24:- Darren Fletcher

11:- Ryan Giggs

23:- Tom Cleverley

8:- Anderson

Strength in numbers, of the current crop I'd start new signing Fellaini alongside Carrick. I'd look to sell Anderson and maybe even Cleverley, then I'd look to bring in a CM or two especially as Fletcher is out for two to four months with a stomach virus.

Wingers

25:- Antonio Valencia

17:- Nani

18:- Ashley Young

For me this is the weakest part of the squad as none of the wingers are "world class", and Young is certainly not worth the £120K you're paying him. Nani and Valencia might just be worth their wages but only just. I'd look to strengthen this area as and when you can.

Attacking Midfield

26:- Shinji Kagawa

44:- Adnan Januzaj

Another position nicely stacked, with Shinji only being 24 and Adnan still to fully develop you really are set here for years to come. Not much more to say really.

Strikers

20:- Robin Van Persie

10:- Wayne Rooney

19:- Danny Welbeck

14:- Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez

Again you're oozing class and style here with Van Persie, Rooney, Chicharito (always said he reminded me of Solskjaer) and Danny Welbeck. Naturally RVP and Rooney should be top of the pecking order with Chicharito and Danny providing very good back up. Really no need to invest here either.

Areas to Strengthen

Right Back:- Suggested targets - Seamus Coleman, Martin Montoya, Mattia de Sciglio

Left Midfield:- suggested targets - Angel Di Maria, Antoine Griezmann

Right Midfield:- Suggested targets - Oxlade Chamberlain, Pedro

Centre Midfield:- Suggested targets - Paul Pogba, Koke, Ward-Prowse, Sami Khedira

Coaching Staff Analysis

Assistant Manager

Steve Round Attacking

Under 21s Manager

Warren Joyce Defending

Fitness Coaches

Tony Strudwick

Richard Hawkins

Goalkeeping Coaches

Chris Woods - Shot Stopping

Coaches

Jimmy Lumsden Shooting

Ryan Giggs Tactics

Paul Scholes Ball Control

Phil Neville Tactics

Nicky Butt Attacking

Tactic Analysis

is januzaj a

You shouldn't mention CA's/PA's as alot of people don't want to know.

Plus, there's currently no way of knowing unless you're involved with the game as the editor has not been released.

Started Season in Beta.

Staff - Fired Butt, Neville, Fettis and Hawkins. Hired Paul Winsper, Joop Hiele, Gianni Vio, John Murtough, Claudio Gaudino (who is dirt cheap since he joined Lippi in China)

Transfers In -

Nemanja Matic 11 Million. Cost me more than budgeted due to Bayern's interest

David Alaba 24 Million. Went for Baines, got quoted 40. Checked out Alaba on a whim, jackpot

James Ward Prowse 12.5 Million.

Two 16 year olds

Richairo Zivkovic 575k

Youri Tielemans 2.2 Million

Transfers Out

Antonio Valencia to Chelsea 15M.

Anderson to Valencia 10M.

Ashley Young to Newcastle 3.8M. I also pay 53k a week wage difference. Totally worth it.

Nani to Real Madrid 7.5M

Transfer Notes

Cleverley starts in the transfer list but I restored him to first team.

Keep on getting offers for Rafael (PSG), Evra (Juventus), Vidic (Madrid) and Smalling (Arsenal). I was offered Morata in exchange for Vidic, Smalling went up to 16M before withdrawing. Evra was in the 2-3M range. Rafael I didn't even look at the price before throwing the offer out. Also had to give him new contract as per agent demand.

I loaned out Buttner, Zaha, Lingard, Macheda, and pretty much all of the U21 team.

Tactics andLineup.

Play a slow short passing 4-1-2-1-2. Very high line, slow tempo, play out of defence,work ball into box, drill crosses, more expressive, retain possession, very high line, offside trap.

Person after '/' is second choice

GK - Goalkeeper -DDG/Amos

DR - Complete Wing Back - Rafael/ Fabio

DL - Complete Wing Back - Evra/Alaba

DCL - Central Defender Defend - Vidic/Evans

DCR - Central Defender Defend - Smalling/Rio

DM - Half Back - Matic/Jones

MCL - DLP Support - Carrick/Ward Prowse/ Giggs

MCR - B2B - Fellaini/Cleverley

AMC - AP Attack/ Enganche - Kagawa/Adnan

STCL - Adv Fwd - Van Persie/ Chicha

STCR - DLF Att - Rooney/Welbeck

Results and Performances

Won all my games comfortably except two. I'm in October now (played 7 PL games, 1 UCL and 1 League Cup game) and just lost to Chelsea (fake fixtures). Lost to Norwich 1-2 after Van Wolfswinkel beat my defenders in the box for a header. Also lost to Chelsea 1-3 after Mata, Ivanovic and and own goal from DDG, all caused by overloading box and pumping ball in. High line means opposition is playing long balls into box.

Scoring mainly through forwards (all 4 contributed though RVP got injured) and aerial goals and long shots by Fellaini. My wing backs give me ridiculous assists, goals and ratings consistently against weaker teams but make errors time to time. Evra and Alaba I use equally. Fabio has been impressing at RB. Adnan has been giving okayish performances and might drop him for second choice AM and try using James Ward Prowse instead. I used Giggs in my Capital One Cup game as an LB and he turned in a 8.9 performance.

Also, I'm averaging 20 shots vs medium opposition and 10 vs equal. Creating lots of clear cut chances. One thing I've noticed is that all my strikers regularly give headers and shots at point blank range right to the goalkeeper. Doing well on set pieces and counter attacks. Luckily Fellaini and Carrick aren't going to town with Long Shots, always had that problem in FM13 with MCs shooting all the time. Fullbacks tend to drift and come inside the box a lot so I gave them instructions to retain width. But Evra has given me goals across multiple saves. No cricket scores although I beat Leverkusen in UCL 5-0 with a front line of Adnan, Chicha and Welbz.

Problems in Beta

I play DoF to do my transfer work. But I hired Pantelo Corvino in one save and he rejected perfectly legitimate offers for all my players. Not sure if it's a bug.

I mentioned Cleverley as a starting transfer listed player. Not cool. Also, he has way too poor stats.

CWBs are way too overpowered.

Too many chances, no corresponding goals, even DDG has made some ridiculous saves. Pretty much 99% of my headers floated to far post and headed in at point blank have been saved, so I switched to drill crosses and have seen success.

What sort of youth team is that? Completely underpowered youth setup for United while ridiculously overpowered for Chelsea with multiple 4* players.

Using the beta to purely evaluate players at this stage. I've calculated that I may make approx. £90m from sales from about 13 players I don't want in the squad.

Our youth team, as stated above, is pretty poor so that's one area to improve for all of us. Will be interesting to see who you all bring in

Indeed it is very poor, one youngster I'll be bringing in for certain will be Timo Werner. Should be able to slot in the easy games nicely.

I got rid of Rafael for 24 million and picked up Montoya for 5.25m cheaper wage and has same potential, no brainer for me. Bought alaba and shaw as well for 24m and 12m respectively. Personally I have always found full backs a vital role for the tactics I have used in the last so with this set up I think I'm sorted for the next 10 years.

Only playing 1 up top so decided to sell Hernandez to arsenal for 25m, still not sure I made the right decision but Hernandez wasn't going to get a game. I've been desperately trying to off load young, cleverly, Anderson and Valencia as they just don't cut the mustard but nobody would buy them, so that's frustrating. My main signing I guess is Sanchez bought for 15.75m but the contract is insane can't remember off the top of my head but I've been bent over a barrel.

With regards to youth I've bought in Barkley, Hughes who I've sent back to derby, thielemans who looks like a cracking player. Going to try and pick up ward-prowse as I like to try and keep an English backbone in the team.

I also turned down a bid for smalling for 23m. Like I said before I want to keep a British backbone and it seems like to much hassle to try and bring someone else in.

I want a top class midfielder like fabregas has anyone had any luck signing a truly world class midfielder?

@Craglyboy , how do u play , what tactic etc ? i'm still searching for the right one with Man utd

I got rid of Rafael for 24 million and picked up Montoya for 5.25m cheaper wage and has same potential, no brainer for me.

Really? I'm surprised at that?

Really? I'm surprised at that?

It wasn't my intention but they put the bid in and I couldn't turn it down, picking up a RB that my scouts say at least has the same potential as Rafael does and I get to bank 19m to spend in other areas. And with the fact you only get 30 odd million at the start when man utd have been touted with having 80 million to spend all summer, and also not being able to shift Anderson, cleverley and young meant I needed to sell someone I would of ideally kept. I chose to keep smalling just because he's British and he can cover two areas, but I forgot he's as fragile as a new born kitten.

Heard good things about Montoya IRL though was part of the Spain u21 side and is starting to push alves for that spot.

@Craglyboy , how do u play , what tactic etc ? i'm still searching for the right one with Man utd

Currently trying 4-2-3-1 it doesn't feel right, I'm trying to get rooney and RVP in similar roles I see them play IRL, but I don't feel like I'm playing wide men properly, and not quite got the philosophy right yet.

It wasn't my intention but they put the bid in and I couldn't turn it down, picking up a RB that my scouts say at least has the same potential as Rafael does and I get to bank 19m to spend in other areas.

Sounds like Montoya may have been given a bit of a boost then.

how are you getting Alaba for 24m, they want silly money

anyway

in:

Luke shaw - 15m

Kyrakos Papadopolous - 13.25m

Richairo Zivkovic 500k

out:

Jack rudge - 66k

Alex Buttner - 2.1m

Anderson 5.75M

am i missing something here, Rafael is banned for 1 match for a sending off?

Januazaj got sent off in the community shield, and he isnt.

I got Alaba for £24m too, bargain considering Evra's age and wage... sold him off for £4m so Alaba basically cost me £20m.

Ins:

Alaba - £24m

Inigo Martinez - £13m

Tom Ince - £3m (surprisingly good for me too, needed a cheap winger late in the window as Nani/Valencia/Kagawa and Giggs all injured)

Keisuke Honda - £1.6m (could've got him for free in December but wanted him now)

Out:

Alex Buttner - £7.5m

Patrice Evra - £4m

Ashley Young - £12.5m

How do you sell Ashley Young for £12.5m? I can't get more than 6m for him

how are you getting Alaba for 24m, they want silly money

anyway

in:

Luke shaw - 15m

Kyrakos Papadopolous - 13.25m

Richairo Zivkovic 500k

out:

Jack rudge - 66k

Alex Buttner - 2.1m

Anderson 5.75M

am i missing something here, Rafael is banned for 1 match for a sending off?

Januazaj got sent off in the community shield, and he isnt.

Rafael in real life had to miss a game that was carried on from the previous season so its also brought to the game.

How do you sell Ashley Young for £12.5m? I can't get more than 6m for him

I got 11m from Newcastle. 5m up front and then 6m over 48months. Need to pay 53k thru to 2016 though for his contract, best I could get.

A great option for a CM is Koke from Atletico Madrid, of course you could always revist Ander Herrera?

Both look exceptional.

Just a heads up at the start of the game you can get 25 mill each for Hernandez and valencia.

I like Hernandez but i dont think hes gonna get alot better then he is and i think its better to bring a younger st with more potential for the 4th st spot. I brought in werner for 7 mill who at just 17 allready has 15 for finishing and scouts and coaches rate him as a future world class st with a bit of training from rvp i hope he can live up to the hype

The only downside its arsenal who buy him and will make them stronger imo.

Another thing i did is sign up gray neville and beckham up as a coach its nice to have the class of 99 all as coaches

Had the beta now for a few days and far from convinced on what system to play.

I started off with a 4-2-3-1 but i hate not having a formation that uses 2 strikers so i can play both RVP and Rooney. The 4-2-3-1 also means having to play Rooney in the AMC role and then shifting Kagawa to AML.

As the weakest area of our squad is our wide players i am considering going for a 4-1-2-1-2 formation as this will allow me to use the decent CM we have. You can also pick up Fernando for £4.3m at the start of the game who on previous versions was a cracking DM.

This would hopefully free me up to sell off Valencia, Nani & Young. I would probably also get rid of Anderson also and bring in someone like Koke and Tieleman as both are pretty cheap with excellent potential.

On my 1st save which i have just used to play around with buying and selling to see what deals i can make i also got Alaba for £24m and sold Evra for £4m which i think is pretty decent as Alaba will be 1st choice for 8-10 seasons. I too though am struggling to get rid of young. I think i might consider getting rid of him for 10pence as that is all he is worth anyway, especially with £120k wages.

I am trying a 3 at the back system and using wingbacks for width its going to be a lot of trail and error through out the season though

am i missing something here, Rafael is banned for 1 match for a sending off?

Januazaj got sent off in the community shield, and he isnt.

Well, Rafael got sent off at the back end of last season against Chelsea and got a three match ban. The ban wasn't aplicable in the Community Shield and carries straight over into the start of the domestic league campaign.

However, red cards in the Community Shield aren't carried over, although they use to be.

thought that might have been it.

am I the only one playing 4-4-2 then?

I want to play 4-4-2 as I feel it utilises the rvp-rooney partnership best. However, I find problems in

1) finding the right players as I do not trust any of the current 3 wingers(Valencia, nani, young) and kagawa/januzaj cant seem to play well in a ML position. Wanna give zaha a chance but at best he is only a backup/starter against weaker sides for now. Thinking of shifting welbeck to become something of a reus-like player.

2) having the required balance in the middle 2 with carrick and his partner. Need to find a player with good creativity going forward but also being able to provide good defensive cover and closing down. Looking at gundogan but alternatives are perhaps koke and Herrera.

I want to play a very fast paced and direct game with sharp vertical passes(similar to that of Dortmund) but with a 4-4-2 formation.

Alaba for 24 mil is completely unrealistic. Bayern would never sell.

Alaba for 24 mil is completely unrealistic. Bayern would never sell.

Once you start a save then the game world is taken away from reality.

Sold Rafael myself for £30M (PSG unsettled him, and he put in a transfer request), would have loved to have kept the little fella, but brought in Montoya for £5.5M. Hopefully bringing in Gundogan for around £35M.

I am trying a 3 at the back system and using wingbacks for width its going to be a lot of trail and error through out the season though

Hows the 3 at the back working so far? Been toying with that idea myself.

Anybody having success playing kagawa, rooney and rvp at the same time?

Anybody having success playing kagawa, rooney and rvp at the same time?

I use them like this, in a 4-3-1-2 formation:

------------Rooney---RvP

---Kagawa

Rooney as false nine, RvP as advanced forward and Kagawa as inside forward.

Cant believe nobody mention Marco Veratti, got him for 12M ... Totally worth it!

My team close of transfer window September 2013:

GK - De Gea, Lindegaard

DR - Rafael, Montoya

DCR - Jones, Smalling, Ferdinand

DCL - Vidic, Evans

DL - Evra, Fabio

MR - Valencia, Nani, Zaha

MCR - Carrick, Verratti, Fletcher

MCL - Fellaini, Giggs

ML - Asamoah, Kagawa

AMC - Rooney, Januzaj

STC - van Persie, Hernandez, Welbeck

Ins:

Asamoah - Juventus - £22.5m

Verratti - PSG - £12.5m

Montoya - Barcelona - £5.75m

Outs:

Cleverley - Arsenal - £20m (Arsenal enquired, and I said £20m which they accepted. Might've been able to get more)

Buttner - PSV - £4.2m

Anderson - Inter - £8m

Amos - Blackburn - £1.1m

Not bad so far I think, got about £20m left to play with in January, so might invest in a new left back. Young is on the transfer list but will be back up to Kagawa and Asamoah (might shift Kagawa to be back up for Rooney if I choose to loan Janujaz out). Any suggestions?

What is the transfer budget like for this season?

What is the transfer budget like for this season?

Start of Season Expectations

Title Challenge: Transfer Budget: £33.5M Wage Budget: £2.4M

Winner: Transfer Budget: £38.5M Wage Budget: £2.6M

I think the start transfer budget should be upped to around £50m/£60m for saying you will win the league and £40m/£47m for a title challenge. If you go off the reports of the funds that Moyes had at his disposal during the summer.

decided to go with a 4-1-2-1-2 formation and have made the following transfers in my game:

IN: Alaba £24m, Montoya £5.5m, Fernando £4.3m, Tieleman £2.1m, Werner £7.5m = £43.4m

OUT: Young £10m, Valencia £20m, Evra £5m, Buttner £4.2m, Macheda £1m = £40.2m. Still looking to sell Nani but he is still injured so need to wait until fit.

Squad is looking ok:

GK: De Gea / Amos - Lindegard i might sell

DR: Rafael / Montoya

DL: Alaba / Fabio

DC: Vidic & Jones / Ferdinand / Evans / Smalling

DMC: Fernando / Fletcher

MC: Carrick / Fellaini / Anderson / Cleverley / Giggs

AMC: Kagawa / Januzaj

ST: Rooney & RVP / Welbeck / Chicharito

Tieleman and Werner both in U21 squad for the season.

As i have sold a fair bit i still have a little money to spend so may look for some quality youngsters and see who i can pick up.

I bought Luke Shaw, Thielemans and Barkley (for 30milj (euro) ) .. to much i know.. but i'm only testing a few tactics, find all the new features out etc.. and after they release the full game i will start a real save with Man utd. Currently playing 4-2-3-1 with mc mc , amc amc amc and SC.

I'm glad they updated Januzaj

Gareth:- For youngsters at the minute I'm looking at Gaston Gil Romero (CM) and Jonathan Silva (LB) both of Estudiantes.

I've managed to offload Valencia, Anderson, Evra, and Buttner myself. But really struggling to get rid of Young and Cleverley.

Thanks batty1. i might take a look at those 2 also. i am also looking at ryan ledson at everton who my scouts give 4 star potential.

Olivierlandman: how much did you get Barkley for? i had a £14m bid for shaw accepted but went for Alaba instead.

Fellani is a nightmare, he has been sent off 4 times already this season for me. Has anyone else had this issue?

Is it Valencia to Chelsea?

Is it Valencia to Chelsea?

They brought him off me, only club that came in.

Thanks batty1. i might take a look at those 2 also. i am also looking at ryan ledson at everton who my scouts give 4 star potential.

Olivierlandman: how much did you get Barkley for? i had a £14m bid for shaw accepted but went for Alaba instead.

i have Barkley for 31m (euro's) with a lot of clauses like 'after 50 games' they will get 5 milj(included in that 31m).

Fellani is a nightmare, he has been sent off 4 times already this season for me. Has anyone else had this issue?

i'm in october and he did fine for me (hard tackling , def midfielder) . Vidic got two red cards... crazy tackle's !

Just won the League and Champions league in my first season.

RvP is crazy good in this game scoring nearly a goal a game for me, Rooney was pretty terrible and i couldn't even sell him for £10m in January.

Tactics

Transfers:

Got a budget of £86 million for the next season so gunna try and snatch back Pogba.

What the hell have you done? Jesus Christ.

Feels like there is generally a lack of world class wide players that are available, so tempted to try a 4-1-2-1-2 formation or maybe 4-2-3-1 with 3 AMs, with attacking full backs. Which would mean offloading Nani, Young and Valencia, seems like it might be the way to go, but the lack of width it isn't quite the Man United way.

For those signing a new left back, as well as Alaba you can get hold of Alba from Barca for less than £30m.

For those signing a new left back, as well as Alaba you can get hold of Alba from Barca for less than £30m.

You can indeed, I got him for £24M