FM11: Aston Villa Thread - Life after MON

[Up The Villa]

Gabby as dlf possibly even young if i really needed too.

[Andyp]

Cuéllar again!! Headed in the winning goal (91st minute) in a 1-0 win against Man City after we DESTROYED them but were held back by an inspired Joe Hart.! 4 goals in 6 games now - all from corners. New Laursen, anyone??

[Neil Train]

my dlf was a creative player hence mertens. gabby doesnt have the passing or creativity imo. anyway, i offload gabby due to his generally poor technical skills.

[Neil Train]

i asked earlier and i'll ask again before making too many expensive purchases (piatti for 22.5m will be my marquee signing if i go for him) how important is balance while running with the ball/dribbling. the fonz has 14 but the other players i'm looking at only have 12. thoughts anyone?

[Andyp]

Offload Gabby? Really?! His technical (and mental) attributes are awful yeah, but his pace and strength alone can unlock any defence

i asked earlier and i'll ask again before making too many expensive purchases (piatti for 22.5m will be my marquee signing if i go for him) how important is balance while running with the ball/dribbling. the fonz has 14 but the other players i'm looking at only have 12. thoughts anyone?

From what I *think* balance governs how easy a player is to get knocked off the ball.. If a player's got a high dribbling attribute complemented with a high balance then he'll be much more capable to dance his way through opposing tackles.

[Up The Villa]

Exactly andy, he may be a bit of a drip (on and off the pitch) but he comes deep to get the ball and rips the defence because of his raw pace along with bent as a poacher ive found it plays pretty well, gabby scored four in a preseason game getting a 9.80 in that role.

[Andyp]

Yeah. Not that balance is the be-all and end-all of a good dribbler; if you've got a player with high pace, technique and dribbling stats then they should be able to avoid opposition tackles anyway - negating the need to have the strength (sorry, balance) to shrug them off. Example, Messi's balance stands at 15 but you don't see that affecting how well he cuts teams apart. All depends on the role you want the player to take I guess. If you want a deep-lying centre-forward who will have the ball at his feet and hold up play then balance is pretty much essential.

[Neil Train]

balance-wise i find my strikers in pretty deep positions having to run at a defence. i'm tempted by bryan ruiz, all his other stats are great but he has poor balance. i'm loathe to make any purchases until i'm sure of this. so good dribbling, technique and pace should be enough? thanks for the feedback guys

the only forward i'm keeping long-term is the fonz, he's jusst been excellent for me. gabby has missed a few sitters pre-season and i dont reckon i can ever make him as technically gifted as an off-the-shelf striker i can just bring in.

[Up The Villa]

I guess it all depends i tend to look at the bigger picture with attributes and personality's, 3 good attributes and the rest shocking is obviously not what you want even if they are the 3 most important stats for that role.

[taavi191]

After 7 games in leage I hold third position atm (W5 D0 L2).

Mr. Bent has been superb all season - 9 goals in 7 seven games,

goals/shot attempts - 13/54 (24%) pretty good, I think.

I thought I may need a good AMC, who could feed him with those killer passes, so I bought Pjanic from Lyon (12m). so far hes been quite good - 3 assists and 1 goal in 7 league games, pass completion 82%.

Playing 4-3-3, with Bent upfront as a poacher, Pjanic behind him as advanced playmaker, Young and Gabby cutting in from the wings.

So, next game Chelsea home - first big test for the lads

[Neil Train]

i do try to look at the bigger picture: as i said before i've got my eye on a couple of decent looking strikers and ALL they lack is good balance. i'm really thinking of situations where for example the forward has got on the end of a long goal kick and is being pursued closely by a defender who's on his should. the fonz has got a couple like this and it certainly isnt his strength keeping them at bay which is why i wondered if it's his balance.

oh, well. gonna be an all-nighter, shame i'm gonna run out of ciggies at about 4am:) restarted because i've decided i really want shakhtar's fernandinho and sometimes i let my heart rule my head. if a player excites me then i'll overlook any weaknesses because i want to LIKE my team....

[Spike]

I've found that playing Gabby as a Poacher with Bent as an Advanced Forward works well. Fonz is a good back up and has scored a couple of goals already (he was on fire in pre season).

My league results so far have been a mixed bag:

Beat Man C 4-1 at home

Lost 2-1 to Wolves away (conceded twice in the last 10 minutes)

Beat Chelsea 3-0 away (was a very even game, but we took our chances)

Lost 3-2 to Arsenal at home (absolutely dominated, but defended like a bunch of 10 year olds)

My second string has just won our first Europa League group game, beating Vienna 4-1.

Best players so far have been Bent (6 goals in 5 games), Makoun & surprisingly Downing at AML (3 goals & 4 assists in 5 games). Ash is currently out for 5-6 weeks with an injury picked up in the very first game of the season .

I hope to get a bit more playing time in over the weekend.

[avfc88]

Just finished my 1st season, finished 8th in the end so no European football next season

Stand out performer was Hazard who got 22 assists, Bent finished top scorer with 19 goals but he was awful for the last 3rd of the season.

[D3AN]

1st season currently sitting 4th in the league unbeaten at the end of november, 2-1 victories over both Chelsea and Arsenal, only lost the one game in Europa League group stage so far.

Bought Moussa Sissokho and Rodwell in and got rid of Petrov and Reo-Coker for good sums of money, currently playing 4-5-1 with Bent up top and Young and Downing who was been on fire on the wings. Rodwell and Sissoko in midfield with makoun behind them, all 3 have been outstanding so far especially sissoko who as a box2box midfielder has been banging the goals in, believe he is my he is my top goal scorer followed by downing.

Bent is struggling in front of goal but as long as the victories continue to roll on it's not my greatest concern.

Updates to come!

[Up The Villa]

Had a fantastic start to the season yet to lose and beat the blues at the sty!

[Spike]

After a pretty impressive pre season I'm now into the season proper, with results so far as follows:

Friendlies

Competitive

We've had some brilliant results against Man C, Chelsea & Porto:

As you can see the goals are flowing, with Darren Bent being in absolutely devastating form:

We just need to get some consistency & tighten up a bit at the back!

[Spike]

This game just about sums up our season so far:

We aren't having any problem scoring (have scored in every game so far this season), but can't keep a clean sheet. To be fair though I did put out our second string for this game.

[Neil Train]

Here's a question: As an amc (i've sold ay cos irl he's off unfortunately) would you plump for dries martens or milos ninkovic, and why..........?

[Neil Train]

Bit of a dunce, me. Was wondering how you post screenshots?

[Falahk]

Bit of a dunce, me. Was wondering how you post screenshots?

read the FAQ

[Up The Villa]

Use stevie ireland as attacking mid hes the best villa have in that position in the game. If you really want to make a signing maybe Augusto from leverkusen?

[Andyp]

I've just installed a new motherboard/graphics card combo (allowing me to play FM11 in glorious, glorious high detail :):) ). However, in doing so I had to reinstall windows - losing my FM11 save data as a result!

Balls.

So, starting again!

[Neil Train]

Use stevie ireland as attacking mid hes the best villa have in that position in the game. If you really want to make a signing maybe Augusto from leverkusen?

thanks. dont like ireland, i offload all the players who IRL dont want to play for my beloved Villa. during my searches only 4 players come up regularly: alex (spartak moscow but v.expensive), dario conca (like the look but would he get the work permit?), ninkovic and mertens. like the look of mertens, if only his technique was higher he'd be lethal but i could develop that.

just had a look at augusto as you suggested, looks good no idea why he didnt turn up in my searches. could be the low composure? that's the only problem with ninkovic too......

[Neil Train]

Use stevie ireland as attacking mid hes the best villa have in that position in the game. If you really want to make a signing maybe Augusto from leverkusen?

i looked again at augusto and see the problem now: low off the ball. i need my amc in space to receive the ball and sometimes to be in and around the box for a may dribble and a shot. so it's still down to ninkovic or mertens. if you had the choice which would you plump for? ninkovic is more technically gifted at this stage but has v.low composure which makes it hard to decide..........

[Chris6543210]

Try Paulo Henrique aka Ganso

[Neil Train]

Try Paulo Henrique aka Ganso

dont want to spend that kind of money though i've been tempted. my "marquee" signing is going to be pablo piatti he's got everything that my kind of forward needs. no, it's down to ninkovic or mertens. mertens would cost 5m, ninkovic 9m. which would you go for? the only problem with ninkovic is his composure, no way i can train that to get to an 11 or 12. i have my amc (currently delph) set to ttb often and long shots often and rwb often. gives him plenty of scope to cause havoc in a number of ways. delph is the future without a doubt but i'll need to nurture him for a couple of years i reckon

[Andyp]

What have people thought of Delph in this game? He was absolutely immense in FM10, became a Scholes-type surging midfielder who scored so many screamers it became a cliché...

[Neil Train]

What have people thought of Delph in this game? He was absolutely immense in FM10, became a Scholes-type surging midfielder who scored so many screamers it became a cliché...

as i posted a few mins ago delph is my "amc of the future" dont reckon he has the technical stats to pull it off yet, have plumped for dries mertens while i develop delph. he's one of the few players i keep, i have a full-scale clear out at the beginning of the game and only keep bent, makoun, delfouneso, delph really.

[Neil Train]

clean start. have my tactics sorted a 4312 using some atackers with real guile: pablo piatti and bryan ruiz. developing the fonz as a future star and will bring on gabby after about 60-65 mins when the opposiiton is tired. also looking at nolan roux to develop alongside the fonz, both their stats mean they'll develop into the type of player i want ripping up defences.

decided to use makoun in the holding role in midfield, was tempted by ojnjen vukojevic of dynamo kiev a real midfield destroyer but plumped for trying to improve makoun's defensive stats.

in the amc position i'm going to develop delph over a couple of seasons but in the meantime will try for dario conca - not sure he'll get the work permit - or if i cant get him then spartak's alex.

completely ripping up the defence, IRL dunne and collins could be offloaded anyway so i'm going to play offside and rely on pure intelligence, no pace: a superb backline of cristian sorensen (OB) - joris mathijsen - mirel radoi (with ondrej mazuch as backup to both dcs) - anders moller cristiansen.

i'm getting excited just dreaming of seeing this team gel. played a few friendlies before re-starting and the fonz - piatti up front were lethal:)

[Andyp]

Sounds good mate (Y) I like your method: Exciting attacking talents. Looking forward to hearing how it goes.

In my (new) game, I've made my transfers, settled on my formation and am pretty happy with how I'm going to start season #1:

IN:

Montgomery, Enyeama, Masilela, Quintero - as I did in my last save, for the same prices (except Masilela, who I had to spend £180k on instead of £60k in my last save, as Juve were interested).

Also brought in Danny from Zenit on loan for the season. £2.1m loan fee and a future fee of £6.25. He's got good technical stats and I think will do a great job rotating with A.Young as an Inside Forward in the AML position. If he does well enough, I'll make him a permanent player at the end of the season (hopefully).

I bought Dale Jennings from Tranmere as well. He was highlighted by my scouts as a player with potential, and a a 17 y.o. striker, aml and amr with a dribbling of 14, finishing of 12, composure of 12, acceleration of 14 and pace of 17 makes for a pretty exciting talent if you ask me. He's also already got some good PPM's as well (Cuts Inside, First Time Shots, Runs With Ball Often), so fingers crossed he'll develop. Cost me £1.1m.

OUT:

Heskey again went to Spurs for £500k and a future fee of £1.5m

Salifou is at sunny Scunthorpe, for £550k (genuinely going to follow his progress to see how he does; god a weird soft spot for him)

Beye to OM for £2.5m

Sent Bradley back home (he'll never get a game)

My formation is a fluid, attacking, short-passing 4-3-3 (but I think it's a 4-5-1):

GK: Enyeama / Friedel

RB: Walker / Young

LB: Warnock / Masilela

CB: Dunne / Clark

CB: Cuéllar / Collins

CM (Advanced Playmaker - Attack): Downing / Bannan / Pirés

CM (Ball Winner - Defend): Petrov / Mongomery / Reo-Coker

CM (Central Mid - Auto): Makoun / Petrov / Bannan / Downing / Delph (when he's back)

AMR: Albrighton / Young (instructions = Winger - Attack) / Fonz (instructions = Inside Forward - Attack)

AML: A.Young / Danny / Quintero (Instructions = Inside Forward - Attack) / Downing (instructions = Winger - Attack)

ST (Poacher): Bent / Fonz / Gabby / Quintero

[Neil Train]

sounds good, good luck. my major shortcoming is i play finances in the game like i play my personal finances in real life: total overspending. as i've sold most of the squad except bent, delfouneso, delph, bannan, makoun, gabby i got myself a kitty of about 30m and i'm signing everyone on deals over 48 months. so i've managed to build my squad for years to come (except will need some cheap younger defenders for when my backline gets too old) the problem being i'll be paying for it a la leeds for years to come:)

yeah, attacking-wise having ruiz and piatti up front with gabby and delf. to come on as needed i'm going to cause some serious havoc.

have both my attackers set to poacher with high rwb and ttb and my amc exactly the same. my midfield is packed with ballwinners and all they need to do is get the ball back and feed the front 3. i'm hoping to have a major sesh tonight so when the serious business starts i'll keep you posted:)

[Neil Train]

Sounds good mate (Y) I like your method: Exciting attacking talents. Looking forward to hearing how it goes.

In my (new) game, I've made my transfers, settled on my formation and am pretty happy with how I'm going to start season #1:

IN:

Montgomery, Enyeama, Masilela, Quintero - as I did in my last save, for the same prices (except Masilela, who I had to spend £180k on instead of £60k in my last save, as Juve were interested).

Also brought in Danny from Zenit on loan for the season. £2.1m loan fee and a future fee of £6.25. He's got good technical stats and I think will do a great job rotating with A.Young as an Inside Forward in the AML position. If he does well enough, I'll make him a permanent player at the end of the season (hopefully).

I bought Dale Jennings from Tranmere as well. He was highlighted by my scouts as a player with potential, and a a 17 y.o. striker, aml and amr with a dribbling of 14, finishing of 12, composure of 12, acceleration of 14 and pace of 17 makes for a pretty exciting talent if you ask me. He's also already got some good PPM's as well (Cuts Inside, First Time Shots, Runs With Ball Often), so fingers crossed he'll develop. Cost me £1.1m.

OUT:

Heskey again went to Spurs for £500k and a future fee of £1.5m

Salifou is at sunny Scunthorpe, for £550k (genuinely going to follow his progress to see how he does; god a weird soft spot for him)

Beye to OM for £2.5m

Sent Bradley back home (he'll never get a game)

My formation is a fluid, attacking, short-passing 4-3-3 (but I think it's a 4-5-1):

GK: Enyeama / Friedel

RB: Walker / Young

LB: Warnock / Masilela

CB: Dunne / Clark

CB: Cuéllar / Collins

CM (Advanced Playmaker - Attack): Downing / Bannan / Pirés

CM (Ball Winner - Defend): Petrov / Mongomery / Reo-Coker

CM (Central Mid - Auto): Makoun / Petrov / Bannan / Downing / Delph (when he's back)

AMR: Albrighton / Young (instructions = Winger - Attack) / Fonz (instructions = Inside Forward - Attack)

AML: A.Young / Danny / Quintero (Instructions = Inside Forward - Attack) / Downing (instructions = Winger - Attack)

ST (Poacher): Bent / Fonz / Gabby / Quintero

sorry for the dual post, wanted your quote in. wont happen again, promise:)

sounds good, good luck. my major shortcoming is i play finances in the game like i play my personal finances in real life: total overspending. as i've sold most of the squad except bent, delfouneso, delph, bannan, makoun, gabby i got myself a kitty of about 30m and i'm signing everyone on deals over 48 months. so i've managed to build my squad for years to come (except will need some cheap younger defenders for when my backline gets too old) the problem being i'll be paying for it a la leeds for years to come

yeah, attacking-wise having ruiz and piatti up front with gabby and delf. to come on as needed i'm going to cause some serious havoc.

have both my attackers set to poacher with high rwb and ttb and my amc exactly the same. my midfield is packed with ballwinners and all they need to do is get the ball back and feed the front 3. i'm hoping to have a major sesh tonight so when the serious business starts i'll keep you posted.

as a final thought, you're keeping that turncoat ay? i let him go to manure just as he will IRL

[Andyp]

Haha, no prob. I'm too much of a wimp to get rid of so many players! I'm kind of happy with the squad for the time being anyway. I think the only members I'm considering to get rid of in the near future are: Petrov, Reo-Coker, L.Young, Dunne, Pires... And even then, I'm giving them the rest of this season to play themselves into my plans. I know for a fact that Dunne won't impress me however - he always (ALWAYS) makes the most stupid mistakes. Terrifying player.

Financially I'm planning to keep a few million for January, as that window always seems to be a good opportunity to pick up some very good transfer-listed players (previously I've managed to get Hamsik, Akinfeev, Zapata, and Pjanic in that window).

Of course I'm keeping him! I need as many decent attackers as I can get! Of course, if someone comes in with a good bid for him (£12m+) then I'll accept with no questions! And you reckon ManYoo? I think it'll be between Spurs and City (when they finally man up and get rid of Sh*te-Phillips).

A midfield full of ball-winners? How's that going? I'm considering that in away games against the bigger teams, but I have a nagging feeling that without the Advanced Playmaker in the middle, I'll have no creativity going forward...

[Neil Train]

Haha, no prob. I'm too much of a wimp to get rid of so many players! I'm kind of happy with the squad for the time being anyway. I think the only members I'm considering to get rid of in the near future are: Petrov, Reo-Coker, L.Young, Dunne, Pires... And even then, I'm giving them the rest of this season to play themselves into my plans. I know for a fact that Dunne won't impress me however - he always (ALWAYS) makes the most stupid mistakes. Terrifying player.

Financially I'm planning to keep a few million for January, as that window always seems to be a good opportunity to pick up some very good transfer-listed players (previously I've managed to get Hamsik, Akinfeev, Zapata, and Pjanic in that window).

Of course I'm keeping him! I need as many decent attackers as I can get! Of course, if someone comes in with a good bid for him (£12m+) then I'll accept with no questions! And you reckon ManYoo? I think it'll be between Spurs and City (when they finally man up and get rid of Sh*te-Phillips).

A midfield full of ball-winners? How's that going? I'm considering that in away games against the bigger teams, but I have a nagging feeling that without the Advanced Playmaker in the middle, I'll have no creativity going forward...

no wimpishness here:) the squad IRL is gonna have a shake-up in the summer so i'm just getting in ahead of time. there some exciting talents like delf and delph and bannan and players who defo have a role like makoun and gabby but the rest? cant really be bothered with them.

thing is, i'm playing a 4312 like i said and that of course means i'm playing a villa team with no wingers, so i need to offload them all. my passing has always been focused through the middle i like dribbling, i like thru balls, dont like "slinging it in the mixer". as i watch whole games on quite a slow speed to grasp what's going on (bit slow myself) i like to watch exciting footie and crosses have never done it for me.

yeah, i reckon AY will go to manure because he wants to and they want a long-term replacement for giggs, at least that's what i've read. and if i kept him it would be as an amc. wow! you can get those players in january? they seem a little above villa's pay-grade. i'm gonna probably get alex and also buy dries mertens for 5m, as soon as his technique increases he'll be lethal. use the amc as a thrid striker as well as a playmaker and mertens can play that role well. either way, they're both better than ay imo. no, i sell anyone who irl is going anyway. dunne's fitness always concerns me, and i can get mathijsen for 9.5m and mazuch (a reeeeally good prospect) for 3.5m from anderlecht. really like him. my back 4 all have 14+ decisions and 16+ positioning so should have the intelligence to play the offside trap in a very high defensive line (cos i play attacking).

yeah the 3 ball winners works, all they need to do is get the ball to the front 3. to be honest they're not exclusively defensive, i play them on ballwinning mmidfielder/support but i insist on 13 creativity cos they'll sometimes try some (pretty simple) through balls to the strikers.

right, the game waits for no man...........

[Andyp]

no wimpishness here:) the squad IRL is gonna have a shake-up in the summer so i'm just getting in ahead of time. there some exciting talents like delf and delph and bannan and players who defo have a role like makoun and gabby but the rest? cant really be bothered with them.

thing is, i'm playing a 4312 like i said and that of course means i'm playing a villa team with no wingers, so i need to offload them all. my passing has always been focused through the middle i like dribbling, i like thru balls, dont like "slinging it in the mixer". as i watch whole games on quite a slow speed to grasp what's going on (bit slow myself) i like to watch exciting footie and crosses have never done it for me.

yeah, i reckon AY will go to manure because he wants to and they want a long-term replacement for giggs, at least that's what i've read. and if i kept him it would be as an amc. wow! you can get those players in january? they seem a little above villa's pay-grade. i'm gonna probably get alex and also buy dries mertens for 5m, as soon as his technique increases he'll be lethal. use the amc as a thrid striker as well as a playmaker and mertens can play that role well. either way, they're both better than ay imo. no, i sell anyone who irl is going anyway. dunne's fitness always concerns me, and i can get mathijsen for 9.5m and mazuch (a reeeeally good prospect) for 3.5m from anderlecht. really like him. my back 4 all have 14+ decisions and 16+ positioning so should have the intelligence to play the offside trap in a very high defensive line (cos i play attacking).

yeah the 3 ball winners works, all they need to do is get the ball to the front 3. to be honest they're not exclusively defensive, i play them on ballwinning mmidfielder/support but i insist on 13 creativity cos they'll sometimes try some (pretty simple) through balls to the strikers.

right, the game waits for no man...........

Hmm I think I'll definitely try a couple of ball-winners in the middle against the better teams then. Maybe a midfield-three of Petrov and Makoun on Support and Montgomery as Defensive could be a good wall and should allow my attacking trio of Danny, Young and Bent to surge forward and make trouble. Thanks for the suggestion!

I did get them in the Jan window, but in FM10 and a couple of seasons in. I think the earliest one of those 4 was Hamsik in the first January window as my Villa team were flying high in all comp's resulting in the board giving me something like an extra £15m, and Hamsik falling out with Napoli. Kind of the perfect storm! He became my best-ever FM signing actually, being a central part of the team for 10 seasons and becoming captain. Ironically, he couldn't even get a regular place in the team in season #1. Akinfeev, Pjanic and Zapata were a few seasons down the line when I'd already won the EPL and a European Cup or two so not really that much of a coup but still good people to get that time of year.

I can't wait to get rid of Dunne. Problem is, he's still the best CB at the club so I can't afford to not play him. I can't understand why he's so error-prone though; it's not like his Concentration/Decisions are ridiculously low. Just, horrible. Clark looks like a talent so I'll definitely keep him and Cuellar is pretty solid so he'll stay for a couple of seasons at least but at the first opportunity I want to get rid of Dunne/Collins and bring in some slightly more athletic centre backs. Zapata is always high on my list but I must admit I've not looked at any cb's so far in this game as I do think the 4 already at the club will do for this season. I do eventually want to get a couple of quick defenders as I do like the idea of having the Cover/Stopper combination.

Good luck! I'm having myself a little break now I've finished pre-season. Roll on tomorrow!

[Neil Train]

Hmm I think I'll definitely try a couple of ball-winners in the middle against the better teams then. Maybe a midfield-three of Petrov and Makoun on Support and Montgomery as Defensive could be a good wall and should allow my attacking trio of Danny, Young and Bent to surge forward and make trouble. Thanks for the suggestion!

I did get them in the Jan window, but in FM10 and a couple of seasons in. I think the earliest one of those 4 was Hamsik in the first January window as my Villa team were flying high in all comp's resulting in the board giving me something like an extra £15m, and Hamsik falling out with Napoli. Kind of the perfect storm! He became my best-ever FM signing actually, being a central part of the team for 10 seasons and becoming captain. Ironically, he couldn't even get a regular place in the team in season #1. Akinfeev, Pjanic and Zapata were a few seasons down the line when I'd already won the EPL and a European Cup or two so not really that much of a coup but still good people to get that time of year.

I can't wait to get rid of Dunne. Problem is, he's still the best CB at the club so I can't afford to not play him. I can't understand why he's so error-prone though; it's not like his Concentration/Decisions are ridiculously low. Just, horrible. Clark looks like a talent so I'll definitely keep him and Cuellar is pretty solid so he'll stay for a couple of seasons at least but at the first opportunity I want to get rid of Dunne/Collins and bring in some slightly more athletic centre backs. Zapata is always high on my list but I must admit I've not looked at any cb's so far in this game as I do think the 4 already at the club will do for this season. I do eventually want to get a couple of quick defenders as I do like the idea of having the Cover/Stopper combination.

Good luck! I'm having myself a little break now I've finished pre-season. Roll on tomorrow!

good luck for tomorrow! yeah, i'm sort of playing/sort of watching MOTD. terrible result against wolves wasnt it? i'm really surprised by the league table, usually a couple of teams are well adrift at the bottom by this stage but my reckoning places 8 teams within 3 points of one another at the bottom. really hope we dont go down.

sell dunne! you could buy OBs anders moller cristensen for 1m, mathijsen for 9.5, mazuch for 3.5 there are plenty of far better options than dunne.

yeah, i had hamsik in '10. played a christmas tree formation that just got too easy. hamsik and alex as 2xamc behind a front one running onto thru balls i destroyed everyone which is why i want to try something a little different in '11.

[Neil Train]

Hmm I think I'll definitely try a couple of ball-winners in the middle against the better teams then. Maybe a midfield-three of Petrov and Makoun on Support and Montgomery as Defensive could be a good wall and should allow my attacking trio of Danny, Young and Bent to surge forward and make trouble. Thanks for the suggestion!

I did get them in the Jan window, but in FM10 and a couple of seasons in. I think the earliest one of those 4 was Hamsik in the first January window as my Villa team were flying high in all comp's resulting in the board giving me something like an extra £15m, and Hamsik falling out with Napoli. Kind of the perfect storm! He became my best-ever FM signing actually, being a central part of the team for 10 seasons and becoming captain. Ironically, he couldn't even get a regular place in the team in season #1. Akinfeev, Pjanic and Zapata were a few seasons down the line when I'd already won the EPL and a European Cup or two so not really that much of a coup but still good people to get that time of year.

I can't wait to get rid of Dunne. Problem is, he's still the best CB at the club so I can't afford to not play him. I can't understand why he's so error-prone though; it's not like his Concentration/Decisions are ridiculously low. Just, horrible. Clark looks like a talent so I'll definitely keep him and Cuellar is pretty solid so he'll stay for a couple of seasons at least but at the first opportunity I want to get rid of Dunne/Collins and bring in some slightly more athletic centre backs. Zapata is always high on my list but I must admit I've not looked at any cb's so far in this game as I do think the 4 already at the club will do for this season. I do eventually want to get a couple of quick defenders as I do like the idea of having the Cover/Stopper combination.

Good luck! I'm having myself a little break now I've finished pre-season. Roll on tomorrow!

with regards the outside ball-winning midfielders (makoun will be in the centre and set to defend) i've stumped for vertonghen on the left and coutadeur on the right. both can, er, win balls and both have ok creative midfielder stats and i believe both can improve from what my scouts tell me.

i was reeeeally keen on arouca but he's asked for a minimum fee release clause and i wont countenance that. dont want my best players poached mid-season

[Andyp]

It's ridiculous how bad we're doing. I'm not one of those fans who believe we should be challenging top-4 every season - I'm far too sensible for that - but we shouldn't be where we are, for sure. I firmly believe we wont go down. It's a cliché but we're too good for that. We'll finish somewhere between 11 and 16 I think. Houllier needs to be given time; he inherited a squad which was drilled to play a pretty much polar-opposite method of football that he wants, so obviously it will take a while to get his methodology set in... Though I think we all know this kind of patience isn't met by 99% of the Holte Enders, who will inevitably have a big say in Houllier's future. I dunno.

2010 was far too easy yeah. I played a 4-2-3-1; wing-backs; stopper/cover CB combination; a Box-to-Box and a Ball-Winner in the middle; Inside Fwd (L)/Attacking Mid ©/Advanced Playmaker ®/ Advanced Fwd. Everything was based around Gabby's pace up front and Hamsik's genius as the AMC. The last time I played, Gabby had scored 250+ league goals for me. He really was something quite incredible.

I'm definitely going to have a thorough defensive shake-up next season. I'm confident that my current defence can hold up this season and the midfield and attack will last for a good couple of seasons at least so I need to do well this year to get the board backing and funds to get a good RB and at least one world-class CB. I think Warnock/Masilela can last for a few seasons on the left, but there's no way I'll be able to keep Walker and L.Young is barely good enough now let alone next season. Saying that, I've always felt that when it comes to full backs, provided you don't rely on them in a Scolari-at-Chelsea way, you can get away with just 'decent' players there, so may just get someone solid and spend all my money on a worldy CB or two...

[Up The Villa]

The board have given me 19.5m at the beginning of october due to our good financial position apparently, funny thing is i dont need it now but i cold have probably used it in the first summer window

[Spike]

So i'm half way through my first season & so far so good. The transfers went as follows (I overspent a little, but it will be worth it in the long term as i've brought in great young players).

After a mixed start to the season we are now on a 13 game unbeaten run:

This has surprisingly pushed us into the Champions League places, whether it will last is another matter. We are the highest scorers in the Premier League, but the defence is a little shaky and needs to be strengthened.

Having being handed more money to spend I have signed Gregory van der Wiel from Ajax for £9m, and he joins in January. Next summer will see my main targets being a keeper and rock solid central defender (any suggestions welcome for either position).

My best players so far have been Darren Bent, who as you can see from the stats below has been nothing short of sensational:

Ash - 25(2) appearances, 2 goals, 16 assists, 4 mom's, 7.75 average rating

Gabby - 23 appearances, 12 goals, 11 assists, 3 mom's, 7.30 average rating

[Neil Train]

It's ridiculous how bad we're doing. I'm not one of those fans who believe we should be challenging top-4 every season - I'm far too sensible for that - but we shouldn't be where we are, for sure. I firmly believe we wont go down. It's a cliché but we're too good for that. We'll finish somewhere between 11 and 16 I think. Houllier needs to be given time; he inherited a squad which was drilled to play a pretty much polar-opposite method of football that he wants, so obviously it will take a while to get his methodology set in... Though I think we all know this kind of patience isn't met by 99% of the Holte Enders, who will inevitably have a big say in Houllier's future. I dunno.

2010 was far too easy yeah. I played a 4-2-3-1; wing-backs; stopper/cover CB combination; a Box-to-Box and a Ball-Winner in the middle; Inside Fwd (L)/Attacking Mid ©/Advanced Playmaker ®/ Advanced Fwd. Everything was based around Gabby's pace up front and Hamsik's genius as the AMC. The last time I played, Gabby had scored 250+ league goals for me. He really was something quite incredible.

I'm definitely going to have a thorough defensive shake-up next season. I'm confident that my current defence can hold up this season and the midfield and attack will last for a good couple of seasons at least so I need to do well this year to get the board backing and funds to get a good RB and at least one world-class CB. I think Warnock/Masilela can last for a few seasons on the left, but there's no way I'll be able to keep Walker and L.Young is barely good enough now let alone next season. Saying that, I've always felt that when it comes to full backs, provided you don't rely on them in a Scolari-at-Chelsea way, you can get away with just 'decent' players there, so may just get someone solid and spend all my money on a worldy CB or two...

so YOU'RE the other Houllier fan! i thought i was the only one..... yes, he needs time, a full summer transfer window to rid himself of those who refuse to adapt to his methods in training and on the pitch, a full pre-season and some astute signings. we can hardly moan about makoun and bent, and it must be something about houliier that these two signed. well, bent probably moved for the money but i'd say makoun wouldnt normally sign for such a low rep. team unless he believed in the manager.

well, i've got most of my team in. really looking forward to watching the ruiz - piatti combo up front and the possibility of bringing on the fon and gabby when the opposition is getting tired. still tempted to buy nolan roux (IRL we've been linked) he looks like he can develop at the same pace and to the same standard as delfouneso. must admit i've looked on the editor at both their PA and i'm pleased. i dont mind consulting the editor before making purchases now and again i could use my scouts but to be honest IRL any manager could consult SI database so why can't i? dont think it takes any realism from the game. also, even if a player hasnt a lot of PA left to develop - i wont ruin it by giving you a name-it doesnt always put me off if they're good already.

how do you set up your back 4? i used to play stopper/cover but as i've such a high defensive line this time i've decided to play them flat, offside and buy players with good decisions and positioning. the four i mentioned earlier are immense in these respects, but they're ageing so i'll wait til EVERYONE's in then buy a couple more youngsters to take over the reins in a couple of years. already got mazuch he's got excellent stats for a youngster so will look to pick up some cover for myFBs.

[Neil Train]

It's ridiculous how bad we're doing. I'm not one of those fans who believe we should be challenging top-4 every season - I'm far too sensible for that - but we shouldn't be where we are, for sure. I firmly believe we wont go down. It's a cliché but we're too good for that. We'll finish somewhere between 11 and 16 I think. Houllier needs to be given time; he inherited a squad which was drilled to play a pretty much polar-opposite method of football that he wants, so obviously it will take a while to get his methodology set in... Though I think we all know this kind of patience isn't met by 99% of the Holte Enders, who will inevitably have a big say in Houllier's future. I dunno.

2010 was far too easy yeah. I played a 4-2-3-1; wing-backs; stopper/cover CB combination; a Box-to-Box and a Ball-Winner in the middle; Inside Fwd (L)/Attacking Mid ©/Advanced Playmaker ®/ Advanced Fwd. Everything was based around Gabby's pace up front and Hamsik's genius as the AMC. The last time I played, Gabby had scored 250+ league goals for me. He really was something quite incredible.

I'm definitely going to have a thorough defensive shake-up next season. I'm confident that my current defence can hold up this season and the midfield and attack will last for a good couple of seasons at least so I need to do well this year to get the board backing and funds to get a good RB and at least one world-class CB. I think Warnock/Masilela can last for a few seasons on the left, but there's no way I'll be able to keep Walker and L.Young is barely good enough now let alone next season. Saying that, I've always felt that when it comes to full backs, provided you don't rely on them in a Scolari-at-Chelsea way, you can get away with just 'decent' players there, so may just get someone solid and spend all my money on a worldy CB or two...

SO how did your sunday gaming go? it's been v.quiet on the villa thread today. i've restarted, again. always wracked with indecision about exactly who to bring in and my last save i was well over the wage budget. my current conundrum was whether to stick with bryan ruiz or get dentinho who i believe can be developed to be just as good. so i settled on buying them both:) can try both out for 1/2 a season then offload one in january if i'm not satisfied. ruiz' stats are amazing but he's left footed like piatti so i'm worried he wont be great in the left striker spot. i'm gonna have a wealth of attacking options. decided to keep gabby and bring him on as a sub when the opposition tired. hmmm, believe i already told you this. rest of my team is settled once the window's over i'll post the full list. i went back once and thought i'd try for cheap alternatives in each position but i really REALLY wanted piatti so it semeed a shame to splash out 21m on him and have an average team behind him so i'm using up my full 35m budget again, and am close to the wage bill total. means i'll have to pay 35m in fees every season for 4 years but i'm hoping with this squad CL qualification isnt out of the question. my tactics are quite settled they seem to work in pre-season so just remains to be seen how it stands up to the rigours of the premiership. i very rarely make tactical changes in a game, and anyway i start off attacking so if i go a goal down i'm hardly gonna tell the team to be more cautious, ami? my main ways of changing around will be to rotate the strikers, i'll have 6 at my disposal. will give bent a good run out but the key to my tactics is pacy strikers who can run at defences as well as get in behind them so i'll probably offload him in january.

let me know how you're doing,

neil

[Neil Train]

Offload Gabby? Really?! His technical (and mental) attributes are awful yeah, but his pace and strength alone can unlock any defence

From what I *think* balance governs how easy a player is to get knocked off the ball.. If a player's got a high dribbling attribute complemented with a high balance then he'll be much more capable to dance his way through opposing tackles.

changed my mind re. gabby. i'm keeping him. anyway, the game limits how many players you can offload. i've re-started a few times and i've noticed this. gonna use him in the last 25-30 mins of each game to rip apart tired defences. i've settled on a bryan ruiz-pablo piatti partnership as my main strike force and will develop the fonz and nolan roux - who we were linked to IRL. hope it's going well for you.

[Neil Train]

So i'm half way through my first season & so far so good. The transfers went as follows (I overspent a little, but it will be worth it in the long term as i've brought in great young players).

After a mixed start to the season we are now on a 13 game unbeaten run:

This has surprisingly pushed us into the Champions League places, whether it will last is another matter. We are the highest scorers in the Premier League, but the defence is a little shaky and needs to be strengthened.

Having being handed more money to spend I have signed Gregory van der Wiel from Ajax for £9m, and he joins in January. Next summer will see my main targets being a keeper and rock solid central defender (any suggestions welcome for either position).

My best players so far have been Darren Bent, who as you can see from the stats below has been nothing short of sensational:

Ash - 25(2) appearances, 2 goals, 16 assists, 4 mom's, 7.75 average rating

Gabby - 23 appearances, 12 goals, 11 assists, 3 mom's, 7.30 average rating

who's your defence spike? i've totally revamped mine as i can see collins and dunne being offloaded IRL. that and the fact that dunne is always tired. i went to OB in denmark and got chris sorensen and anders moller cristiansen as my FBs and bought joris mathijsen and ondrej mazuch as DCS. total spend (over 48 months) 15.6m. they're not the paciest but their decisions and positioning stats are immense.

[Up The Villa]

Lol how many times do you restart? Stick with one game, shocking signings is just part of the game ive signed a few in my time. Its a lot more fun to build a team and try to get younger players developed than use all the various programs to guarantee a good signing. You can make an average defence look great with the right tactics. Thats my opinion anyway you can have a good season with villa with just a few comings and goings theres a good squad to play with.

[Neil Train]

Lol how many times do you restart? Stick with one game, shocking signings is just part of the game ive signed a few in my time. Its a lot more fun to build a team and try to get younger players developed than use all the various programs to guarantee a good signing. You can make an average defence look great with the right tactics. Thats my opinion anyway you can have a good season with villa with just a few comings and goings theres a good squad to play with.

i suffer from bad indecision:) so keep restarting but that's it this time. i just like the "perfect" start to the game then i let things fall as they do. instead of choosing between one player and another i'm just signing them all and will see how they progress. i dont use scouting utilities a lot to be honest, but if i'm gonna splash 15-20m on a player i might look at the editor just to check injury proneness (which i promptly ignore anyway) and occasionally PA. i try not to do it a lot and yes, lots will depend on my tactics, and you cant cheat on them as far as i'm aware.

i'm all for developing youth, this time out i've signed dries mertens as a (hopefully) future great amc, ondrej mazuch in central defence, nolan roux as an attacker to develop alongside delfouneso so i'm keen to see how these 3 develop over time. oh, and pavel mamaev. that's 4 for my future alongside fabian delph who i'm also grooming as an amc will see which of him and mertens develops best and fastest and offload the one that doesnt cut it.

[Neil Train]

Lol how many times do you restart? Stick with one game, shocking signings is just part of the game ive signed a few in my time. Its a lot more fun to build a team and try to get younger players developed than use all the various programs to guarantee a good signing. You can make an average defence look great with the right tactics. Thats my opinion anyway you can have a good season with villa with just a few comings and goings theres a good squad to play with.

as for a good squad: did you see much of the wolves game? i'm just getting in ahead of houllier and having a fullscale clear out and signing players for whom playing for the villa actually means something

[Spike]

who's your defence spike? i've totally revamped mine as i can see collins and dunne being offloaded IRL. that and the fact that dunne is always tired. i went to OB in denmark and got chris sorensen and anders moller cristiansen as my FBs and bought joris mathijsen and ondrej mazuch as DCS. total spend (over 48 months) 15.6m. they're not the paciest but their decisions and positioning stats are immense.

To be honest I haven't done much with the defence at all. The Centre Backs are pretty decent (using Dunne & Cuellar, with Clark & Collins as back up). On the left I brough in Coentrao and use Warnock as back up. On the right I was using Young with Lichaj as back up (sent Walker back to Spurs as his stamina was awful). Having just got to the beginning of January though Gregory van der Wiel has just joined for £9m, he will now go into the starting spot with Young as back up.

The goals are flying in, so i'm not worried about strengthening the midfield/attack in the summer & will concentrate on a quality young DC/keeper. Saying that though I am currently in negotiations with Nigel de Jong (Man C) & Yuri Zhirkov (Chelsea) as they are both transfer listed and I can get the pair of them for £10m . Zhirkov would be a good signing for me at the moment, with Downing & Albrighton both out with long term injuries.

[Neil Train]

To be honest I haven't done much with the defence at all. The Centre Backs are pretty decent (using Dunne & Cuellar, with Clark & Collins as back up). On the left I brough in Coentrao and use Warnock as back up. On the right I was using Young with Lichaj as back up (sent Walker back to Spurs as his stamina was awful). Having just got to the beginning of January though Gregory van der Wiel has just joined for £9m, he will now go into the starting spot with Young as back up.

The goals are flying in, so i'm not worried about strengthening the midfield/attack in the summer & will concentrate on a quality young DC/keeper. Saying that though I am currently in negotiations with Nigel de Jong (Man C) & Yuri Zhirkov (Chelsea) as they are both transfer listed and I can get the pair of them for £10m . Zhirkov would be a good signing for me at the moment, with Downing & Albrighton both out with long term injuries.

goals flying in? that's the main thing. who are your attackers and how are you playing them? i went through a right load of indecision regarding strikers. i'm playing 2x poachers with an amc (conca - excellent. was worried he wouldnt get a work permit but he did) on ttb often, rwb often. basically i've gone for technique and dribbling with ok finishing stats. now have 6 strikers and i'm watching them all carefully as i intend to get that down to 4-5 in january. amazingly will probably offload bent because my who tactic revolves around getting the ball to the front 3 and allowing them to completely terrorize defences with pace and dribbling. my first choice pairing is pablo piatti (my record signing) and bryan ruiz. then i've got dentinho as third choice, delfouneso and nolan roux as joint 4th at the mo - and i want to devleop them both - and i use gabby as a supersub when the opposition tires. sorry, i've already posted some of this elsewhere.

wanted to revamp the defence cos IRL they're a shambles this season so i went for high decisions and positioning, no pace but the intelligence to get by.

still in the pre-season stage and i'm making the friendlies progressively hard. cant wait for the season proper to start, i want to test my exciting attacking talents against the prem's finest defences.

[Spike]

goals flying in? that's the main thing. who are your attackers and how are you playing them? i went through a right load of indecision regarding strikers. i'm playing 2x poachers with an amc (conca - excellent. was worried he wouldnt get a work permit but he did) on ttb often, rwb often. basically i've gone for technique and dribbling with ok finishing stats. now have 6 strikers and i'm watching them all carefully as i intend to get that down to 4-5 in january. amazingly will probably offload bent because my who tactic revolves around getting the ball to the front 3 and allowing them to completely terrorize defences with pace and dribbling. my first choice pairing is pablo piatti (my record signing) and bryan ruiz. then i've got dentinho as third choice, delfouneso and nolan roux as joint 4th at the mo - and i want to devleop them both - and i use gabby as a supersub when the opposition tires. sorry, i've already posted some of this elsewhere.

wanted to revamp the defence cos IRL they're a shambles this season so i went for high decisions and positioning, no pace but the intelligence to get by.

still in the pre-season stage and i'm making the friendlies progressively hard. cant wait for the season proper to start, i want to test my exciting attacking talents against the prem's finest defences.

52 league goals in 19 games

I play a 4-2-2-2 formation, set up as follows:

Keeper/Defence – Straight forward keeper & back four with standard defender/full back settings (Friedel – van der Wiel – Dunne – Cuellar – Coentrao)

Midfield (2 CM’s) – Eden Hazard at MCR as a Deep Lying Playmaker & Makoun (soon to be De Jong hopefully) at MCL as a Ball Winning Midfielder

Wingers – Young at AMR & Downing at AML, both set as wingers

Strikers – Gabby at STCR as a Poacher & Bent at STCL as an Advanced Forward

Can’t remember all of my settings, but I will post them tonight for you.

As mentioned previously I am looking for a young keeper (hopefully Akinfeev) & two young centre backs (ideally Shawcross will be one, not sure about the other one yet).