higgins Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Leeds United have been one of English football’s great punchlines for almost a decade-and-a-half now. The club’s business affairs and on-field performances have been prone to tragi-comedy since 2000, when then-chairman and chief executive Peter Ridsdale “lived the dream”, as he termed it, by borrowing £60m in the erroneous belief that Leeds would qualify for the Champions League – which generated huge revenue – every season. New owners and chairmen have come and gone but the problems have never really settled. While other clubs may have experienced worse financial and legal difficulties, it is hard to think of anywhere where the hardship has lasted so long. The recent arrival of another new owner, Italian businessman Massimo Cellino didn't improve the situation, five managers sacked in 12 months while Cellino has been banned from running the club by the Football League for the second time in a year. A grinding situation for the historical club from West Yorkshire, long gone are the days when Leeds were a successful club in England and Europe, now they're a clear example of how not to run a football club, they don't own their stadium, Elland Roads, the training groung has been sold and the debts are still an obvious problem. The Withes, of course, are more than that, they're a fallen giant hoping to regain their lost status and in Football Manager terms they're a nice challenge with a lot of potential, when the game starts you don't have money to invest, but you have a solid enough team full of interesting domestic prospects: Lewis Cook, Alex Mowatt, Sam Byram, Charlie Taylor and Kalvin Phillips should all have a bright future and you still have a great youth academy capable to produce other exciting prospects. You're predicted to finish 15th in your first season but I think there's potential to do better than that, a playoff spot could be reached even if a good start will be vital, don't forget that the lifespan of a manager at Elland Road is usually quite short, so keep calm and try to play some solid football in the first part of the season, without risking too much, there will be time to be more expansive. These are my suggested budget settings when you start, as I told you before there's room to do better than a mid table finish, but there's no need to put too much pressure on your young squad and to be fair, even if you're more ambitious, you can't raise significantly the money at your disposal to improve the team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgins Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 It's time to meet our players and then decide what kind of tactic could suit them better... Keepers A top keeper for the Championship, he's still young so could develop and become solid enough for the EPL, experienced Ross Turnbull is your backup here. Defenders Probably your best and more reliable centre back, the former Italian U-21 has great mental and tackling skills, average heading ability. Liam should be Sol Bamba cover, but personally I don't like Bamba lack of concentration, so I could play him alongside Bellusci in the middle of my defensive line; Scott Wootton will provide some cover in this department as well. An attacking full back with a great potential, this boy is premiership material, be sure to renew his expiring contract as soon as possible. Gaetano Berardi is your first and only alternative here, accomplished on the other flank as well. Another one for the present and for the future, Taylor is a very reliable performer that should develop quickly if exposed to first team football, he likes to run with the ball down the left. Midfielders This guy is the real deal, only 18 but ready to play in the first team from the start, nurture him and he'll become an International level midfielder, skilled and creative with the ball at his feet but capable to make a tackle if required. The idea would be to rotate him with Casper Sloth, another good creative midfielder a bit more experienced. Another hot English youngster, 2 years older than Cook (and a bit slower), he's another central midfielder with nice playmaking ability, if needed Mowatt could be employed on the left side of your midfield as a wide playmaker. His attributes are not so good as last season, but he's still a good ball-winning or box to box midfielder at this level, in the same role you could employ Tom Adeyemi, on loan from Cardiff, who has got similar skills. The last three central midfielders at the club are Kalvin Phillips, Chris Dawson and Luke Murphy, the first are two decent youngsters but less developed if compared to Mowatt and Cook, the second starts injured (4-7 weeks) and is probably overrated, a big earner that you could try to sell. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgins Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 Wingers As you read we have many good central midfielders at Leeds, but we lack wingers and wide midfielders, this is the weakest area of the squad and if you're planning to adopt a tactical asset that employs them, you should bring in some new flankers, maybe on loan. The best winger available is Stuart Dallas, he can play with both feet and down both flanks, he works better if played as an inverted winger though, not so explosive but very strong mentally, consider his hipster look as an added bonus. The only present alternative is new signing Jordan Botaka (Amr/l), quick and flamboyant but with generally poor mental attributes. Strikers Potentially this is your best striker, if you like a big and strong target man who can play with his back to goal, then Chris is your man, even if you're planning to use a lone striker formation, train him properly to improve his first touch. He's more experienced than Wood and can do different things on the pitch, Antenucci is a creative striker, maybe not so prolific, but surely technically gifted with vision and flair, if you choose to play two men up top they could work well together. Behind them there are Souleymane Doukara, a 23 years old defensive forward with low composure and Lee Erwin, a young and versatile Scottish forward that you could consider to play on the wings due to Leeds well known shortage in that area. My thoughts are that if you want, like me, to play with a lone striker you should sell Doukara to recover a decent amount of money (1-1.5 M) to invest somewhere else. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgins Posted November 7, 2015 Author Share Posted November 7, 2015 After the players analysis I'll give you some tactical hints about how to start your Leeds United game, I don't want to change too many players, otherwise this team guide would be pointless, so the tactic I'm thinking to start with is the following, a very fluid 4-3-3 with a lone striker and two inside forwards, to do that you should look for more wingers, there are some good EPL wingers available on loan and I'd try to sign at least two of them (Isgrove, McEvoy, Traorè, Oikonomidis, Mavrias, McAleny etc...), otherwise if you sell Doukara, Murphy or both you could consider to sign some new players on a permanent basis, it's up to you. Other options you should consider are a short passing 4-4-2 (remember that we have decent passing skills but don't have quick players, so try to avoid direct passing and/or counterattacking system) or a slow-paced 3-5-2 with wing-backs. Season 2015-16: financial overview when the game begins I hope to have provided enough info to start a good save managing Leeds United, I already started mine with the beta (so unusual here...) and will keep this thread updated, enjoy your games and report here about your progress and/or failures, follow me on twitter for further updates: @Armchair_Gaffer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshace Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Yes! good start higgins, like the style on your graphics, careful of that spelling though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgins Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share Posted November 8, 2015 Yes! good start higgins, like the style on your graphics, careful of that spelling though Spelling? We don't need spelling where we're going... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshace Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Question, you using photoshop or something else to make those graphics? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgins Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share Posted November 8, 2015 Question, you using photoshop or something else to make those graphics? Something similar, Pixelmator and other stuff for the Mac. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshace Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 ahh macs.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chob Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Into my 5th season now and Lewis Cook has come on nicely. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chob Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Charlie Taylor has turned out decent as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedromanuelpinto Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Nice guide until now. I hope that will be this time that I'm able to bring Leeds to Premier! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshace Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Chob, how did the likes of Mowatt, Phillips and Dawson get on? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chob Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Chob, how did the likes of Mowatt, Phillips and Dawson get on? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgins Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share Posted November 8, 2015 Just finished the players section, hope you like it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgins Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share Posted November 8, 2015 Nice guide until now. I hope that will be this time that I'm able to bring Leeds to Premier! Thanks and good luck with your save Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coen Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Nice work Higgins, I'm looking forward to getting stuck in to a Leeds save this year after not really playing FM15 at all. I've been playing around on the beta and must admit I've been struggling a bit, probably because so far I've just been using the same 4-4-2 tactic I used in FM14 and it seems the starting squad isn't really suited to it. So will be trying a lone striker formation next. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgins Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share Posted November 8, 2015 Nice work Higgins, I'm looking forward to getting stuck in to a Leeds save this year after not really playing FM15 at all. I've been playing around on the beta and must admit I've been struggling a bit, probably because so far I've just been using the same 4-4-2 tactic I used in FM14 and it seems the starting squad isn't really suited to it. So will be trying a lone striker formation next. Thanks bud, I still think some sort of 4-4-2 is viable, but 4-5-1 variations look better if you find the right wingers. Keep us updated! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshace Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Have to admit, I've found it hard this year, money is hard to come by and the squad is thin as can be. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgins Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share Posted November 8, 2015 Have to admit, I've found it hard this year, money is hard to come by and the squad is thin as can be. That's the main reason why I'm managing them, surely an interesting save with some nice prospects... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
macca72 Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 Evening. I actually think the squad this year (agree that it is very thin on the ground) is probably the best base we've had to work from in years. The thing that has been most frustrating is the massive lack of quality available to loan in, I was looking forward to having an almost empty loan quota to work with, but there's literally nothing around in my save. I did ship out Antenucci and Doukara (but only saw 60% of the transfer funds). I, of course, then walked into a striker crisis with Erwin & Mulhern injured, and Wood got himself suspended...No panic though as my makeshift DLF did this... I honestly think he's a must, must sign. His stats are so well distributed I reckon he could play in just about any central position and role in the game. He's my only signing, wanted a few others (Fossum, Gamal, Olsson, Cole (J), Matty Taylor) but couldn't get anyone. I'm just at deadline day, so will be spending some time scouting how to spend the 600k or so I have left over, any advice welcome. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgins Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share Posted November 8, 2015 My 2015-16 summer transfers, quite happy with these: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshace Posted November 8, 2015 Share Posted November 8, 2015 In my practice save I bought in : Jason Cummings Sander Svendsen Jake Buxton Before I gave up and had dinner. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
macca72 Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Managed to get Duelund in on deadline day, absolutely delighted about that. Had to pay over the odds wages wise to get him, as Bayern and Dortmund both made bids after I did. I shipped out Bianchi to cover the cost. Also got Stokes in on loan from Celtic, he's average but gives me cover in 2 positions. That's it now until Jan, will try and crack on with that tonight and see how I get on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgins Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 15 games played in this first season, having a decent start, injuries are a major concern so far, new signing Ovenstand (4 months out) and Stuart Dallas (6 months out) will miss the main part of the season, Antenucci is often injured and didn't score a single goal yet, Jordan Botaka is better than expected (4 goals). Chris Wood is my best scorer with 9 in 11 games! Bristol city are surprisingly leading the table, we're 7th so far, not bad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgins Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 Uhmm.... other troubles Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgins Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 Thanks Massimo! I knew you weren't a manager eater Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgins Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share Posted November 9, 2015 Strange week, I defeated Derby 3-1 with many players that, for several reasons, never really performed for me this season, then this happened: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpitts Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 I've started a Leeds game, we almost walked the league in the first season It was hard to sign players with the meagre budget, so i was limited to frees and loans. Amalfitano came in January, stayed for about 6 months, and was sold for £3.2m. My tactics fit the players we have, with Sloth playing AM, and mostly Antenucci upfront, he scored 18 in 33 games Sitting 6th in the 2nd season, safe to say there's been some strange results Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedromanuelpinto Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Hi, mpitts can you share the rest of your tactic? (TI and Mentallity) thanks, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshace Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 By the way, some old favourites are still around on the cheap... Boudjemma Marcelo Matteos (might be hard given he's just joined) Rasmus Wurtz Daniel Bode William Soares Rafa Jorda Goran Popov Jesus Rueda Juanmi Callejon (one of my fave finds so far) And Roland Linz too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpitts Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Still struggling to sign anyone of any note Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westralian Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Good thread! Im just starting my first season in the EPL. Won the Championship on the last day in my first season. Close race in the end. My signings in after old Massimo was generous enough to give me 19mil to spend. Trying to offload some others like Doukara, and Erwin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeg2912 Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Lewis cook looks like englands hope for a dynamic ball playing midfielder. Let's hope he lives up to it in real life! Little bit disappointed with mowatt considering how good he's been in real life of late. I'm in December and hoping cellino will be selling to a consortium. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliotreid13 Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Charlie Taylor has turned out decent as well.http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu24/chob_2009/Charlie%20Taylor_%20Overview%20Profile.png[/img Really nice evolution. How many PL seasons does he have by '19? btw, which skin is that? Really gorgeous, mate Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJSaxton Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Great to see the Thread up and running for another year. As I'm sure many of you have found this time around attracting players in terms of buying them has been much more difficult. I hadn't played FM16 at all until full release but heres who I've managed to pick up: Luigi Castaldo is actually banned until 27/11/15 which I didn't realise when I bought him! D'Oh! But I think he could be useful for a season or 2 and the assistant manager rates him highly. I also sent Tom Adeyemi back to Cardiff didn't think he was worth the 8k a week wages when you could get the likes of Harrison Reed and Kristoffer Ajer on a quarter of that. In terms of Back Room Staff not much is needed, I placed a request for more coaches to increase our specialization which was desperately needed and brought in a Fitness Coach and a First Team Coach. Jean-Christophe Hourcade - Fitness Coach 4.5* on strength or aerobic when only training in one of these sectors. & Giuseppe Tortora - 4* Attacking Coach to free up one of my other coaches to increase other areas. There is no restrictions on Scouting and the 2 that you have available at the start are reasonably poor. 2 Extra Scouts were hired to boost this rating up. A head Physio was also taken on board. Went for a young 29 old from the Lower Leagues trying to give him a chance to prove himself as I don't see this as a vital area. I've set the team up like what seems to be a favored formation for Leeds, with a variation on a 4-3-3 / 4-5-1. It looks as follows with what has been my starting line up in the positions: After a miserable preseason struglling to draw against low league scottish teams the first 5 games and 5 wins conceding a total of 0 goals. Hopefully the form can continue, fingers crossed!. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeg2912 Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Rodrigo bentancur that is all Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Just finished the players section, hope you like it! Great stuff. I just started a Leeds save with a dozen of friends (all playing the same save and comparing tactics, results, progress, etc.), but as not everybody owns FM16 yet, it's on FM15. I see there are still quite a few players from last year around. Will follow reading this thread parallel to my FM15 save. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AhChang Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Usually what role you guys play Lewis Cook ? I was looking at training him as a Box To Box Midfielder, but somehow I feels he's more like an Advanced Playmaker ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedromanuelpinto Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 mpitts , Can you share the team instructions? Great job. How is Cook proving to be a BWM? I'm also using a 4-2-3-1, with Cook as a BBM and Mowatt/Murphy as a CM D. Using a possession with slow tempo, with get stuck in (because the team have a lack of agressive, so I want to them to be more agressive) and work ball into box. Don't have sure about the pass type (short or I will keep it normal) and retain ball... I'm using a standard mentallity with a Fluid mentallity. Any suggestion? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeg2912 Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Yes excelling in the free roaming playmaker for me alongside a dedinsive playmaker in Murphy. Mowatt in the hole. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chob Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Really nice evolution. How many PL seasons does he have by '19?btw, which skin is that? Really gorgeous, mate This was his 4th PL season, I got promoted first season. I'm playing FM Touch, it's the Touch Dark Skin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJSaxton Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Well I've just completed season 1 and managed to gain promotion going up in 2nd place. The promotion race went right down to the wire with Derby holding 2nd spot until two games to go. And then they didn't manage to gain any further points and I managed to win both games sending us up! Giuseppe Bellusci was an absolutely brilliant captain to have for this time and rallied the troops before every game. Heres the final standings: I only purchased two players all season Luigi Castaldo mentioned previously & Matty Foulds - looks to be a possible high potential Left back and provided cover for Charlie Taylor who is an absolute beast this year. The rest I got in on loan as cheaply as I possibly could. I picked up Sean Morrison & Callum McManaman on loan before sending them back as they didn't work within my formation and style of play. The Key loan players were Harrison Reed(Southampton), Kristoffer Ajer(Chelsea), Ramadan Sobhy (FCP), Joe Gomez(Liverpool) & Tyias Browning(Everton). I also sold the likes of: Tommaso Bianchi, Casper Sloth, Souleymane Doukara, Mirco Antennuci & Scott Wooton. See below for full details: Heres the formation that I reverted to after the first 10 games as the 4321 really wasn't working: This formation meant I conceded the least goals in the division but also meant I scored the lowest amount out of the top 7 clubs. This is something that you can live with this though as it was getting me consistent results. At on point Marco Silvestri went nearly 400 hours without conceding. Just before the last game of the season I received a possible consortium take over: I mean "Sam Allardyce" really?? Hopefully if this does go through I get given a chance after winning promotion. And just a quick shot of what the board have set the initial budgets at: Should be able to strengthen a few areas with that budget!! Onwards & Upwards, fingers crossed they let me keep the Managers Job! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
macca72 Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Mixed emotions from me it's fair to say. I've got through until today in the game and am sitting joint top. Something's not quite right though, I've conceded 9 out of 15 goals via crosses. I can see it coming but can't really throttle my fullbacks any more - they are FB(S) - or I'll lose the little attacking threat they offer. Preston, Bristol City and Hull sit 2nd, 4th and 5th respectably and all play 5-3-2 formations, so there's something the ME likes about that. I'll probably not carry on unless I can figure out the crossing thing, hope you're all enjoying. EDIT: Changed them to WB(D) and now it's 4 from 5 goals conceded from crosses. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiky Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 fair play higgins. excellent guide and i love the style. I am really enjoying the leeds team, i agree its a little light but we have a great group of youngsters i am doing a youtube career save with them which you can see here - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-3wJqf60YbC6jzAfPRm2ig i signed rolanda aarons from newcastle my first season and he was fantastic. i also bought kyle bartley and a young striker jason cummings here is my thumbnail from the series, thought it might give you a chuckle https://www.evernote.com/shard/s683/sh/44f6a1e5-0ad9-4795-8718-e4b0470fdfda/f043e0e53e0559969f5072561ced749f dont know how to embed sorry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Like Pie Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Rodrigo bentancur that is all Great find! Trying to get him on loan. Gained promotion in the first season, although lost last 4 games and dropped to 4th, but won the playoffs quite easily. Encountered a bug though.. in the playoff final, my star player (Wood) and main GK were away on international duty was planing to moan in the bug forum, but won the game so whatever Just finished building my team for the first season in the Premier League.. aiming for Europe. Have some doubts about Taylor, but going to give him a chance anyway.. well, at least until January.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
macca72 Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Man alive, how did you get Stones, Barkley and Lukaku??? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Like Pie Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Man alive, how did you get Stones, Barkley and Lukaku??? Everton got relegated, so.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
macca72 Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Everton got relegated, so.. Wow, excellent advantage taking. Always amazes me when they do down, I mean they have some outstanding players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshace Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 hmmm how much did they cost you? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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