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FM 2013: Manchester United Team Guide : Who needs Batman when we have Robin!


matty2323

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Just signed Wilshere for £40 million, anyone had any luck with him?

Also just agreed deals for Zuma and Shaw to join at the beginning of the third season.

Finally can anyone give me a link for The Premiership Facepack?

I have all 3 . Got Wilshere and Shaw 1st season. Rotataed Shaw with evra for first year then sold evra and hes played ever since consistent player I have alba at rb who get a lot more assists though. Wilshere I play as a dlp swapping with Thiago. Very consistent and when he plays in amc gets a lot of assists you need a dm if you play him dlp though hes useless at tackling. Got Zouma start of 3rd season too trying to break him in slowly with varane and umtiti and vidic already there.

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My squad butchering ended last night, and I got to the end of preseason without conceding a goal.

The tactic is Fluid in all areas barring Formation and Closing Down; this plus the number of changes of personnel will almost certainly impact my performance in the first half of the season. I was delighted to see that my first three fixtures include Reading away and Norwich at OT.

Preseason gave me a view of the squad in Role, and I have to say that the highlights have been Kagawa as an Attacking Midfielder on Attack behind the front two; Hernandez is lethal as an Attacking Advanced Forward.

The reasons behind kicking out the wide men should be clear below:

ManchesterUnited_TacticsTeam_zpsc8184b64.png

I am a firm believer in squad rotation, so I'll be doing the following this year:

SK (D) De Gea firm first choice; Lindegaard will be restricted to FA Cup, League Cup and "easy" CL or PL games

BPDs (D) Initially Ferdinand and Vidic, but Rio will possibly be replaced by Jones when he is fit. Smalling and Evans will certainly get game time, and Rio and Vidic will be Tutoring the hell out of everyone. The BPD role is a legacy of the players I had at Barcelona; I may be forced to set Vidic at least to a standard CD

WBR (A) Rafael and Danilo will rotate after each game. My tactics utterly knacker wing backs and they need all the rest they can get

WBL (A) As above, Evra and Alaba will play alternate games, Evra to tutor Alaba, Rafael and Danilo

In the DM slot, when Sandro isn't unfit / injured / suspended, he'll play as an Anchor. Carrick will drop from the MC strata to play as DLP (D) when Sandro is unavailable or rested. Fletcher is injured so I haven't seen him in action or really checked out his role suitability yet, but I can see him getting a lot of games in the DM or MCR slots, with his roles and duties in those positions to be decided yet

DLP (S) will be Carrick unless he is playing in the DM slot, Carrick will also be an active tutor. See above re Fletcher. Giggs and Scholes will get game time where suitable, and will be used as tutors on the likes of Cleverley

AP (A) will typically be Cleverley and Pjanic, with the option of dropping Kagawa back if required, although my plans for him principally are....

AM (A) Kagawa has been a revelation in ths role. I want to improve his finishing, composure and long shots as he spurned a few chances in preseason, and the tactic sees the AM score as many as the front men, so he needs to sharpen up. Pjanic and Rooney will also get game time in this area, I'm unsure if Rooney is a good tutor, but if he is, he'll take Shinji and Miralem under his wing

DLF (S) will be RvP as first choice, Rooney stepping in when not in the AMC slot

AF (A) will be Hernandez as first choice - he has been obscenely effective in preseason in this slot. Welbeck will get a lot of game time as well as I see him being suited to this role

The season proper kicks off tonight for me at the Madejski Stadium. I am struggling defensively with injuries to Evans, Smalling, Jones, Alaba and Rafael at the back. My defensive options are so short that Fornasier and McCullough will be on the bench. Fortunately these defensive injuries should ease in the coming month.

Pjanic got injured in the final preseason game, so the game will see debuts for my signings Danilo and Sandro, plus Shinji Kagawa and RvP. Once the team has gelled and the tactic is fully Fluid, I'll be starting a game like this on Control, but I'll be pragmatic for a couple of months and will play Standard Strategy in this game while I see how Reading are set up.

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Not the worst start to a season ever:

Fixtures_zps701eedbd.png

Some of the games have been less than convincing, and we've been battling with a series of injuries which finally seem to be easing.

Welbeck and Cleverley have been exceptional, with Welbeck seemingly capable in the DLP (S) and AP (A) roles. Cleverley at AP (A) is timing runs brilliantly and scoring goals.

Hernandez has continued his silly preseason form, with Kagawa hampered by injury so far.

Danilo and Sandro are settling well, Alaba and Pjanic are finally getting game time after injuries.

Thus far, we have 13 different scorers, and a distribution of goals throughout the areas of the pitch is what I want:

ManchesterUnited_SquadPlayers_zpse9dbbae3.png

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Season 8 Review

Well after zooming through last season this one has taken alot longer to get through and on the whole has been very disappointing :(

Minor Cups

Community Shield - Beat Man City 1-0 and not really an exciting game.

Capitial One Cup - Lost 2-1 aet to Liverpool (A) in 4th round, in all honesty had quite a strong team out for this so was'nt happy.

WCC - Won 3-1 against Fluminense with a mixture of youth and reserves.

League

Again cruised this one with a very impressive goal difference :)

EnglishPremierDivision_OverviewStages-2_zpsbed898ed.png

Champions League

Crusied the group stage with record goals then dispatched Valencia and Napoli.

Semi-final against Bayern was a disaster. I lost first leg away 4-1 which is the heavist defeat in europe i've had in a long time. Return leg was very dramatic, took a very quick 2-0 lead only to conceed one to very poor defending. Scored 2 more before H/T to lead 4-1 and looking like getting through.

Second half failed to take a couple chances and then they scored again due to very poor defending, managed to score again but alas could'nt get the goal to win. Won 5-2 to make it 6-6 on agg and went out to away goals.

FA Cup

Completely one sided and can't believe only won by so little.

ManUtdvBlackburn_OverviewOverview_zpsfde958ed.png

Transfers

Bar Danilo the other were highly rated youngsters brought in (always cost so much), though Macchionehas played well when played.

ManUtd_TransfersHistory_zpse78d11b7.png

Squad

Overall I'm happy with the squad with plenty of goals and youth coming through. The next season is going to be tough though as i have the mixture of experiance and also those that now have to be registered in the squad. As much as im always looking to sign players i think next season will be virtually trasnfer free and bring more youngsters through.

ManchesterUnited_SquadPlayers-2_zpsab7ad575.png

ManchesterUnited_SquadPlayers-3_zps65a3d1ad.png

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In October 2014 I was taken over by a consortium led by a tycoon, no extra money came in but they wiped the debt so no more loan repayments ! In the summer Old Trafford will be expanded to 85,000.

The only real problems I have now are fitting everyone in, all the youngsters are pushing for first team places now. The picks of the bunch being Maupay (5*), Powell (5*), Rabiot (4*), Pereira (4*), Januzaj (4*), Ionnau (4*) , Shaw (5*) Zouma, Zaha and Redmond. I play 4-4-2 a lot and Redmond & Zaha are outstanding on the wings. I still have Nani, Valencia & Young as well. Mats Daehli is rated at 3* but I'm not sure he'll quite be good enough to make it.

Up front Neymar is unreal with Rooney. Welbeck is superb in whatever role he plays, Deep lying, Poacher, Inside Forward he always performs. Maupay is a superb poacher and has done ok as deep lying forward. Henriquez is ready to play more as well and James Wilson is still rated at 4 stars and scored his first goal for me in the Champions league. Hernandez is still there as well but is in a dodgy run of form.

I sold De Gea in the summer for 51m to Barca and bought ter Stegen and Butland and have given both plenty of games, both are outstanding. Sam Johnstone has developed in to a good back up, he has good goalkeeping skills but his mental stats are weak. He's rated at 2.5* and will be a good homegrown back up.

Of the old guard, Fletcher is reliable whenever he is needed, Vidic is 33 and still superb but he's losing pace, Carrick is still solid but the depth in midfield means he's not figuring as much as the 1st 2 seasons. Scholes, Rio & Giggs all retired at the end of season 2, I signed Scholes and Giggs as coaches.

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In October 2014 I was taken over by a consortium led by a tycoon, no extra money came in but they wiped the debt so no more loan repayments !

I thought it was great when I had my takeover, which was the same as yours. It really doesn't end up being great as the players now ask for much higher contracts. :(

As much as I'm not best pleased about that, got to say that I like that part of the game - the AI now recognises that the club has more money, therefore the players ask for more money. Realistic, but hugely annoying.

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Had a really good end to my third season. Coasted the league, ending up with 95 points, a 7 point gap over City, and a 22 point gap over 3rd place Liverpool. Also beat City 4-2 in the CL final after extra time, so became champions of Europe for the first time in my 3 seasons. My players were finally congratulated in the end of season awards, with Bale picking up Europe's best player, Van Persie golden boot, and a good selection of players in the CL best XI. Really good season, really happy with the squad, finally getting the consistent performances I've been wanting.

Going into the 3rd season, I've made 1 major signing, securing Mario Gotze from Dortmund for £60m, with the only other incoming player being Wilfried Bony on a free. Nemanja Vidic wanted to leave to find a new challenge, so he departed on Free, and has since signed for Dortmund, and with Kagawa wanting ludicrous wages, I decided to cash in before he left on a free at the end of the 4th, and sold him to FCP for £30m. So, with those transfers made, my strongest XI is currently:

--------------------------De Gea-----------------------------------

---Rafael---------Varane-----------Zouma----------Baines-------

-------------------Verratti-----------Pogba------------------------

---El Shaarawy------------Gotze--------------------Bale----------

-------------------------Rooney/RVP--------------------------------

My England management is also going superbly. Still have a 100% record, and much to my surprise, my star players haven't been Wilshere or Rooney, but Welbeck and Adam Johnson. Welbeck's England record is exceptional, with 32 goals in 40 games, and in my last 2 England games, Johnson has 6 assists. Qualified for Euro 2016, and ranked number 1 in the world. Good times.

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I thought it was great when I had my takeover, which was the same as yours. It really doesn't end up being great as the players now ask for much higher contracts. :(

As much as I'm not best pleased about that, got to say that I like that part of the game - the AI now recognises that the club has more money, therefore the players ask for more money. Realistic, but hugely annoying.

After having trouble with De Gea I locked up all my key players so everyone is under contract until 2018 or 2019 so in the short term I should be ok.

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Tom I see you have Tyler Blackett there, how did he develop for you ? He didn't develop much at all for me and it didn't help that he fell out with Evra when I had him tutored. Also how are you finding Zaha ? He's been class for me, often beating 2 or 3 before getting in a cross, he got me 14 assists in his 1st season.

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Was awful for me. Stats never improved, never made an impact in a game for me. Sent him on loan, to Spurs also, did nothing there, so sold him on the next season, to Spurs again, for £10m. Was very happy to get that for him, as there's no way he was ever going to get anywhere near to the level of El Shaarawy.

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Progress remains impressive on the face of it for me, but I'm still unconvinced by our performances.

The league position and form are good, and our lead is as much down to City's poor away form as our own unstoppable form - although the fixture list has been firmly in our favour so far.

We owe a lot to Hernandez who is averaging a goal a game as an Advanced Forward, and I've been pleasantly surprised by the performances of Powell and Cleverley.

Injuries have eased, with just Vidic unavailable at the moment. Kagawa is still finding his feet, the rest of my new signings are performing well.

EnglishPremierDivision_OverviewStages_zps8db736d9.png

What I have noticed on this save are two things:

1. Even with ex-International footballer status, I struggle to get widespread positive reaction from the team after team talks

2. I seem to need to play quite high up the Strategy scale to truly dominate. I'm not sure if teams generally sit deep against United in FM, but it appears that way to me, and I'm having to force the initiative

I have a horrible run of fixtures in a month, but truly believe that eleven points from these five games will have the title effectively sewn up by the New Year.

ManchesterUnited_FixturesSchedule_zps59be960e.png

Finances are troubling. The £8.5m per month of loan fees is devouring our balance, I hope and pray for a takeover by the 2014 summer window to clear the debt.

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Not quite the run of results I wanted, but City's continual trouble away from home has opened up a 14 point gap:

ManchesterUnited_FixturesSchedule-2_zpsc2ece05f.png

The future run of games until Anfield are all nailed on wins if I don't make a mistake tactically, so I remain confident about the league.

The Capital One Cup will be ours, as Birmingham and West Brom are the other semi-finalists.

Champions League sees us pitted against cash-rich Paris Saint Germain.

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Our procession to the title continues unchecked, as second place City continue to drop points in games they should be winning.

They also face an FA Cup replay at The Emirates, which will nicely clog up their fixture list.

Our form (the Derby results mean a Capital One Cup Final appearance against West Brom soon). Of the upcoming fixtures, the Anfield trip is the only mildly tricky one on current form:

ManchesterUnited_FixturesSchedule_zpsd3c1111c.png

City's:

ManchesterCity_FixturesSchedule_zps1e6750cd.png

League table:

EnglishPremierDivision_OverviewStages_zpsc946d860.png

The only potential fly in our ointment is our perpetual cycle of injuries. I've not once had a fully fit squad to choose from, and man of glass Shinji Kagawa is always on the treatment table for one thing or another.

I'm now in February and our balance is in the red. Not sure how much money I'll get from winning competitions or TV money, but our finances won't be in check until the loan is repaid, or a takeover happens....

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Tom I see you have Tyler Blackett there, how did he develop for you ? He didn't develop much at all for me and it didn't help that he fell out with Evra when I had him tutored. Also how are you finding Zaha ? He's been class for me, often beating 2 or 3 before getting in a cross, he got me 14 assists in his 1st season.

Blackett isn't great by any stretch of the imagination attribute wise;

TylerBlackett-StartSeason4_zpsbff7c2ca.png

However he does a job when called upon so I'm happy enough to have him around. He also has time to get better and like with all my players I'm constantly rotating his individual traning focus on selected attributes to imporve as much as possible.

His average ratings over the last two seasons have been very good aswell;

Season 1; -

Season 2; 22 apps, (19 starts), avg rating 7.22

Season 3; 15 apps, (15 starts), avg rating 7.36

In that time he has appeared in a League Cup Final (vs. Tottenham), and an FA Cup Final (vs. Liverpool). :thup:

As for Zaha, his first two seasons since his loan have been blighted by injury. He's managed just 25 starts and 14 sub apps, though he has produced when he has played, notching 11 goals and 7 assists in those appearances.

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just told Chelsea to go away when they enquired about Zaha

and a few things I Didn't post yesterday due to time restraints

worst performace of the season at west brom away.... still won 1-0, while City lost to Aston Villa, relegating West brom :D

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Wigan had a shocking last couple of months, they were 5th for a fair chunk of the season.

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had a storming Champions League though.

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930879F21F1A1709DDBE8968CC48E04FB59A9022

83D371C7AABCD1FC6DD7AB5BEB594881EF418E24

all my results with scorers

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final goal totals, wasn't many scorers and your usual suspects at the top of the list

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and assists, shows how good neymar is as a "winger"

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I need "the next Michael Carrick". He has been injured in my game and this has happened:

ManchesterUnited_FixturesSchedule-2_zpse31d5297.png

He's back in a couple of weeks, but I hadn't realised quite how important he was.

We only need four points to clinch the title, and with this form and this run of fixtures, I'm glad of it.

Whatever budget I have will be spent in this area. Scholes will be off to a coaching role, and with him and Giggs having filled in at DLP (S) multiple times, I desperately need another player there.

Barcelona result was disappointing but fair.

Without Carrick I stuck Alaba in as a DLP (S) and he did well, far more defensively solid than Cleverley for me.

I set the wing backs to support rather than attack and the game was very even, we were beaten in extra time by the sheer nippyness of Pedro. Little Spanish git.

How the hell can you beat Barcelona? I was conscious of their high pressing game so actually set myself to Control, figuring that if they are pressing early, it's better for me to be higher when that pressing occurs. In the end it was more conditioning than quality than won the game, disappointing nonetheless.

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I bought Redmond as well, I had Valencia tutor him which helped him improve his determination and mental stats. In his first full season he played 35 times scoring 14 and getting 15 assists. 1 of his goals was 3rd in goal of the season, getting the ball in his own half and beating 4 defenders going round the keeper and scoring. He scored a few cutting in from the left and scoring a placed shot. I prefer him to Nani who tends to shoot from distance.

If it's any help I didn't change any settings, just simple Winger - Attack.

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As you saw with my activity in the first transfer window, I don't like to make many changes......(!) Here's what has happened in the second summer window:

ManUtd_TransfersHistory_zpsd2d87dde.png

What you can't see is Rooney to Chelsea for £50m, Evra to Arsenal for £10m and Buttner to Everton for £2.5. Net transfer spend is favourable, and my fears about finances were largely unfounded as the sponsorship at the start of the year is considerably greater than the value of the loan repayments.

We ended season one with a domestic treble, missing out on an "invincible league season" in the last game at Arsenal.

I'm refreshing the squad to bring in youth and recoup maximum transfer fees whilst players hold their value. Our average age now is just 22, the French and Italian signings you don't recognise are newgens for the future. Pogba will replace Carrick; Kovacic and Ward-Prowse replace Rooney and offer depth. Shaw replaces Evra effectively as Alaba moves inside to alternate with Sandro in the DM slot. Fabio returning from loan completes the left-back rotation. Zaha and Henriquez will get a lot of game time up front.

Stadium expansion to just shy of 85,000 has been announced, and club facilities are being upgraded.

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teams want Zaha, told Arsenal to go away with thier £19.5m bid, gave him a run out, he is a bit like Neymar and a bit like Valencia

Alba as a DM? he has like 5 tackling

left my assistant to arange friendlies.... played this one, next one is just Braca....... yea.

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this one was first though, Llorente scored 1 header, which is exactly what i got him for, getting on the end of all those crosses.

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I use Rooney as DLP for carrick replacement. He is quite good there, and if the match ended in penalty then can count 2 goals from Rooney and Llorente (barring any bad luck)

With Rooney and Fellaini the DLP role are covered, and I have Keisuke Honda (get him for free) for DLP also. I originally contract him to increase my merchandise sale on japan feeder club

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After 5 different formations, I've finally got this team purring. Winning the last 6 games and scoring 21 and only conceding 2 including a 3-0 win against Chelsea.

I am using a 4-4-1-1 formation with Rooney in the AM on attack and he's outstanding there. RVP is off in January. I just cannot get anything out of him, which is a shame.

Very close to getting to selling Nani and Young in January too, unless they start to up their ideas.

Will post a January update when I get there.

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Buy Jack Wilshere. Like tom says you don't have to go mad and buy everyone, but buy Wilshere ! Unreal player. The thing that makes him a must buy (in my opinion) is that he has all the flair and creativity you'd want but he is aggressive and wins the ball back as well.

I bought him in January 2015 after he was unsettled at Arsenal so he was cup tied but in the league his stats were 11 games played, 4 goals, 4 assists with 7.81 tackles a game. He only got 2 yellows despite having the dives into tackles ppms. I used him as an advanced playmaker - support in a 4-4-2.

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but £191m

you can buy wilshere on Glazers peanuts :p

and community shield played, few players got debut, Xavi, Llorente and Wilshere (who came on for Xavi and nulled the game down after the goal)

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and takeover....... complete waste of time, bank loan debt still there :(, no messi for me :(

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A question re takeovers: For those of you with takeovers in 2014, when do you first receive a news item suggesting that a takeover is in progress?

I'm in November 2013. Glazer "Loves the club" and there's no sign of any action yet.

I'm not overly concerned as the increased TV money in the second season takes the edge off loan repayments, but it would be nice to be completely free of that debt sooner rather than later.

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Think I'll maintain my stance of propping up the finances with a steady income stream on monthly transfer installments.

This, combined with staying within wage budget, TV appearance money and two major merchandising clubs helps to take the edge off loan repayments to the tune of about £4-5m per month.

We generate about £2m per month from transfer installments in (continue to do so until summer 2015, when Valencia and Anderson are paid for by their new clubs).

That means I need to earmark another player or two to flog in summer 2015 to keep this level ticking over until the debt is settled in 2017. If Ward-Prowse and Powell continue to develop as they have, Pjanic could be on his way, and if Henriquez and Maupay continue in the same way, it'll be goodbye to the deadly Hernandez, who will easily achieve £40m+

Balance is currently £65m in the black, so our worst case rough Net loss of £6m per month will see us reach the end of the season with £15m in the bank, before the welcome release of prize money, season ticket sales and sponsorship.

Transfer activity next summer will be limited to newgens and possibly one relatively developed DC, as Rio is going to be less used in 2014/15. This should see us well on the path to financial stability, especially as we'll benefit to a degree from increased capacity from the start of next season.

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Even with money coming in from transfers, you'll surely be doing well to keep monthly net loss to £6million? Without all the crazy transfers that you have made, I was even losing anywhere between £8-14million a month until my takeover happened.

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Even with money coming in from transfers, you'll surely be doing well to keep monthly net loss to £6million? Without all the crazy transfers that you have made, I was even losing anywhere between £8-14million a month until my takeover happened.

You are, as usual, irritatingly correct ;)

I typed that at work and underestimated the usual expense items like non-football costs, match day expenses and maintenance.

Typically losing more like £8m to £10m per month, which at least is better than £12m to £14m that would otherwise occur without the stuff mentioned in the earlier post.

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