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

[fmFutbolManager]

Okay, I admit I'm no tactical master by any stretch, but what could I have done to prevent this from Rafael? It's the Manchester derby, and City are battering us at home. It's 1-1 in the 92nd minute. I'm playing defensively as I'm hanging on for a point.

The ball is down in our corner, Rafael has just chased down a lose ball. Rather than a) defend it and prevent the City player getting it, or b) kicking it down the touchline he decides to cross the ball into my own area for Richards to smash a volley from 20 yards. De Gea spills it for Aguero to tap it in. We lose 1-2

How can I prevent a fullback crossing for the opposition like that? Please tell me there nothing tactically I could have done. That game could have pulled us back to 4 points distance, but we're now 10 points away from City with 9 games to go. The league is well and truly over. Thanks Rafael, take a bow son!

[scott MUFC]

are they at home or you? because I see players doing lots of random stuff away from home, they just don't do at home.

are you using any shouts? because i switch off my shouts away for defencive lines and tackling/marking, seems to make them play better.

if at home mark them tightly push your line up, and tackle heavy.

[Seba Gibbon]

Zaha has been very good for me. 24 Assists in his first season, plays well on either wing for me. Nearing the end of my 4th season i use him and Nathan Redmond on the wings rotating with Bakkalli and Januzaj who i use on the right wing cutting in.

[martymcfly]

5th season,

Nicolas Ioannou

Adnan Januzaj

and regens

[tomtuck01]

How on earth have you managed to do so well with Ioannou and Januzaj? I'm assuming they must have random PA's of around the -8 or -9 varierty?

Ioannou was never anything special in my save and Januzaj, although has developed nicely, hasn't quite kicked on to that extent. Damn you.

[scott MUFC]

yea they are Random, Ioannou is not as good on my current save as the previous. Adnan Januzaj on mine is similar, but being a season ro so behind that screenie it isn't as high.

[tomtuck01]

yea they are Random, Ioannou is not as good on my current save as the previous. Adnan Januzaj on mine is similar, but being a season ro so behind that screenie it isn't as high.

Damn.

Cheers for the reply.

[fmFutbolManager]

Signed some cracking newgens. The first season is always the hardest for me. The youth and reserves at United are really poor. There's not a lot to work with and develop.

I have a model citizen in my reserves for tutoring. I need to get at least one of them up to this so I can start to pass the personality on to my other players.

[TheDecentOne]

Just thought I'd post a quick review of my how I'm doing at United on my first proper save.

Capital One Cup runners up, FA Cup winners (2012-2013). (I was then offered a new contract).

Community Shield winners, Champions League winners (2013-2014).

Super Cup runners up, Glazer leaves, local businessman takes over, Club World Championship winners, Capital One Cup runners up, Premier League winners (2014-2015)

Community Shield runners up (2015-16) (still in play)

I have made some 'interesting' signings in which my scouts have influenced, although the best buy has to be either Schneiderlin or Papadopoulos.

My horror buys have been Ward-Prowse, Tioté and Deulofeu.

Was just wondering what others have had happen in there save? City are fairly dominant, Columbia beat England in the final and won the World Cup and Rangers are back in the Scottish Premier League.

[tomtuck01]

Who is it that keeps saying away games are so difficult??

Really don't think they are as hard to negotiate as what you some people seem to think.

[damo666]

Who is it that keeps saying away games are so difficult??

Really don't think they are as hard to negotiate as what you some people seem to think.

as you can see below have beaten Dortmund away 5-1:

and my transfer dealings (missing is RvP 44mil):

[andrew bowditch]

just seen the league get a hell of a lot easier, Hazard has joined my united revolution. chelsea finished 10th in 2017, sold hazard, oscar, mata among others, only left with reserves now as every player wanted to leave ! sweet, never seen this happen before.

[RTHerringbone]

Updates from me will be far less frequent now, due to a recent addition to the family.

Main change since the last update is tactical. I had used a couple of tactics in previous saves which weren't quite working with United.

I've tweaked things to fall somewhere in between the previous tactics used, and now line up like this:

Main changes are individual slider tweaks which I never used to touch, but I've changed wide play on the CM and AM to Normal to avoid them getting in the way of the wing back and full back.

I'm near the end of Season Two, with the league clinched 6 games from the end:

Was one game from being unbeaten in my first season, but have fixtures remaining which make this viable this season.

League Cup:

FA Cup - stupid games against Liverpool, no idea why it took a replay, nor why that was so close:

Champions League. After a disappointing but acceptable exit to Barcelona in the first season, I have a very realistic chance of making the final this year. I'll take no chances whatsoever against Valencia to achieve this:

Newgens are getting game time. Of the season one "normal " player recruitments, Ward-Prowse needs to kick on or he's going to lose his place on the bench to a 16 year old.

Shaw has improved after a slow start and my young striker options of Maupay and Henriquez have understandably failed to step into the big boots of Rooney and RVP. Lewandowski will be a starter next year.

Finances OK, still in the black in mid April.

Spanked Ipswich 3-0 in FA Cup with four newgens starting to set up a Manc derby in the final.

Lewandowski has 32 goals in 44 games for Dortmund this season.....

[Seba Gibbon]

Just finished my 4th season which was nearly perfect. Won the League, FA Cup, League Cup, Community Shield, Super Cup, World Club Cup .... then lost the Champions League to Barca on penalties.

Roberto Martinez got the England Job after World Cup 2014 and has picked 12 United players for his 2016 European Championship squad. He picked Rooney (Captain), Cleverley, Welbeck, Jones, Butland, Zaha, Wilshere, Powell, Smalling, Redmond, Shaw and Iannou.

[tomtuck01]

RTHerringbone - I'm sure I never saw that you had sold Rooney on your transfer updates?

Roberto Martinez got the England Job after World Cup 2014 and has picked 12 United players for his 2016 European Championship squad. He picked Rooney (Captain), Cleverley, Welbeck, Jones, Butland, Zaha, Wilshere, Powell, Smalling, Redmond, Shaw and Iannou.

That's pretty awesome is that. Think the most I've managed is eight.

[manchester]

Any really good youngish players i should buy for united in-regards thinking for the future

[dyne]

what season and what db you use? I strongly recommend Luke Shaw for your DL prospect. If you have cash to spend, try Jadson and Sandro for your Carrick and Fletcher replacement.

If you using the default DB (no Zaha in your team), Nem is a good choice for the winger.

[RTHerringbone]

RTHerringbone - I'm sure I never saw that you had sold Rooney on your transfer updates?

Post #1411, £50m from Chelsea.

Season ended with the quadruple and an unbeaten league campaign. FA Cup was surprisingly run of the mill against City, with my first Champions League trophy easily secured against Bayern.

The board have decided to increase OTs capacity again, I never even played a game after the initial capacity boost as building finished on that and went straight onto 16,000 more seats. That will put us up to maximum expansion for OT.

No board takeover on the horizon yet but we are doing well on and off the pitch. The summer transfer window will see focus on newgens and possibly a developed centre back, as Rio is now purely used for tutoring.

[tomtuck01]

Post #1411, £50m from Chelsea.

Oh yeah. Didn't see him in the screenshot then obviously didn't read the post properly. Whoops.

Any really good youngish players i should buy for united in-regards thinking for the future

Would help if you gave a bit more information. What season you're in, patch, etc.

[manchester]

Oh yeah. Didn't see him in the screenshot then obviously didn't read the post properly. Whoops.

Would help if you gave a bit more information. What season you're in, patch, etc.

I have not started the save yet and i will most likely be using the latest patch

[tomtuck01]

I have not started the save yet and i will most likely be using the latest patch

Kenny Tete, Stefano Denswil, and Queency Menig, (all from Ajax), have turned out very well for me.

I'm in my fifth season now and Tete is my first choice RB and Denswil one of my four first team centre backs. Menig is also getting games and has four goals in eight appearances this season.

[manchester]

Kenny Tete, Stefano Denswil, and Queency Menig, (all from Ajax), have turned out very well for me.

I'm in my fifth season now and Tete is my first choice RB and Denswil one of my four first team centre backs. Menig is also getting games and has four goals in eight appearances this season.

sounds good i would guess those are players you buy then loan out for a season or two

[tomtuck01]

sounds good i would guess those are players you buy then loan out for a season or two

Nope, I don't loan players out unless I don't feel I can aid their development anymore. All three of them made appearances in season one and have gradually made more and more each year.

[fmFutbolManager]

When you sign a really promising newgen without checking his weakness.

Injury Prone.

[tomtuck01]

I just love a stoppage time winner.............

Only the AI get late winners, apparently.

[tomtuck01]

Loved this, so proud;

[fmFutbolManager]

On the team instructions page, at the bottom you can allocate a 'playmaker' and a 'target man'. I never use these, mainly because a) I don't know what they do, 100%, and b) when I have used them I've not noticed any difference on the pitch. Although B could be because of A.

Just wondering what they actually do. Does the playmaker just receive the ball more, and the Target Man just gets the ball as instructed? Because when I set Rooney as my playmaker in the AMC as AM attack role and RVP as Target Man and run onto ball I don't really see this happening.

Any tips?

[tomtuck01]

OneUnited

I don't use the Target Man option, but I do use the Primary Playmaker option. It's the player that makes your team tick. I don't understand why you would have a Playmaker as high up the pitch as AMC though? Look at real life, and who makes things happen for various clubs, and it's hardly ever a player that high up.

United - Michael Carrick

Arsenal - Mikel Arteta

Tottenham - Moussa Dembele

Real Madrid - Xabi Alonso

Barcelona - Xavi

Juventus - Andrea Pirlo

Etc, etc.

[fmFutbolManager]

Thanks, Tom.

However, I still don't understand what they do. Do the other players just look to give the ball to them more? Is that as simple as it is? My team play quite deep. I counter a lot. So Rooney is usually around the centre circle before fast break away attacks. It's usually him that decides if the ball goes to RVP, Nani or Young around him.

Because I play a 4-4-1-1 a playmaker in the CM role didn't quite seem right. And Carrick is always injured for me, so he couldn't really consistently play that role.

Next season I'm looking to go a little more attacking, using a 4-2-3-1 (2 DMs) and so I think Carrick could sit in the CM position as a DLP support with Sandro as my Anchor/defensive Midfielder. This would work with Carrick as a playmaker, but I need to retrain someone else to cover. I'm thinking Nick Powell might do, but defensively he isn't great.

[RTHerringbone]

I use both Target Man and Playmaker tick boxes. Playmaker works as Tom said, Target Man just makes the designated player receive more focused passes. Both tick boxes are very effective.

Playmakers can work in DM, MC or AM slots, how effective they are depends on the players around them. I currently play with an MC AP and a MC DLP and set the AP as Playmaker. The DLP positioning still makes him receive a lot of ball, and he's then a competent player to find my main playmaker.

[abhid30007]

OneUnited

I don't use the Target Man option, but I do use the Primary Playmaker option. It's the player that makes your team tick. I don't understand why you would have a Playmaker as high up the pitch as AMC though? Look at real life, and who makes things happen for various clubs, and it's hardly ever a player that high up.

United - Michael Carrick

Arsenal - Mikel Arteta

Tottenham - Moussa Dembele

Real Madrid - Xabi Alonso

Barcelona - Xavi

Juventus - Andrea Pirlo

Etc, etc.

i think you are talking about deep lying playmaker, advanced playmaker attack is highly effective. Read SFraser's thread why your advanced playmaker should be higher up the pitch

[tomtuck01]

i think you are talking about deep lying playmaker, advanced playmaker attack is highly effective. Read SFraser's thread why your advanced playmaker should be higher up the pitch

Nope, I'm just talking about what I see a playmaker as. It's a personal view, nothing more, nothing less.

[abhid30007]

Nope, I'm just talking about what I see a playmaker as. It's a personal view, nothing more, nothing less.

deeplying playker ticks your team, but the advanced playmaker is one who is your magical player to create chances from almost nowhere. Both have very different roles. Higher up your magical player more he can do

[tomtuck01]

deeplying playker ticks your team, but the advanced playmaker is one who is your magical player to create chances from almost nowhere. Both have very different roles. Higher up your magical player more he can do

What's your point? I've explained what I see what a Playmaker to be in answer to a question that was asked. That's all. As I said, personal opinion.

[abhid30007]

What's your point? I've explained what I see what a Playmaker to be in answer to a question that was asked. That's all. As I said, personal opinion.

my point is dlp is good for possession while alp high is good for chance creation. so if you play both dlp and alp. naturally your dlp will always find more scpace and receive more ball but avp high might be sitting in right pockets to create chances. So basically if you prefer possession tick your playmekr to dlp and if you prefer to be more attack minded tick your playmekr to avp.

In real life examples you gave all are dlp's. look what role ozil played last season. ap attack.

Although you always a pro

[fmFutbolManager]

I was forced into substituting Carrick from my Champions League semi-final clash against Barcelona due to a gashed arm. Seriously.

[fyrefuze]

well it also depends on your passing - DLPs are highly effective when you use counter attack + long passing while APs are good in attacking + short passing play.

[simonbyrneno.4]

What position/instruction are you using for RVP?

[fyrefuze]

What position/instruction are you using for RVP?

Players like RVP can play in any role targetman (with supply on foot), DLF or a poacher.

[RTHerringbone]

my point is dlp is good for possession while alp high is good for chance creation. so if you play both dlp and alp. naturally your dlp will always find more scpace and receive more ball but avp high might be sitting in right pockets to create chances. So basically if you prefer possession tick your playmekr to dlp and if you prefer to be more attack minded tick your playmekr to avp.

Deep vs Advanced is a chicken or egg question. It's too simple to say Deep = Possession and Advanced = Chance Creation, plus it isn't, in my opinion, true. Tom uses a DLP as the creative instigator of moves. If he also used an AP further up field, you could argue that the AP wouldn't function as effectively without the DLP. In that circumstance, I personally would still set the DLP as playmaker as he is the one I want on the ball the most.

[RTHerringbone]

i think you are talking about deep lying playmaker, advanced playmaker attack is highly effective. Read SFraser's thread why your advanced playmaker should be higher up the pitch

SFraser's outstanding thread was talking about an experimental tactical approach in an entirely different formation to Tom's 4-4-2. It also specifically mentions not ticking a Playmaker box as SFraser considered it to be falsely directing the flow of the play.

[tomtuck01]

my point is dlp is good for possession while alp high is good for chance creation. so if you play both dlp and alp. naturally your dlp will always find more scpace and receive more ball but avp high might be sitting in right pockets to create chances. So basically if you prefer possession tick your playmekr to dlp and if you prefer to be more attack minded tick your playmekr to avp.

In real life examples you gave all are dlp's. look what role ozil played last season. ap attack.

Although you always a pro

The Ozil example is mute as Xabi Alonso was still the teams Primary Playmaker, which is what I was picking up on. It was the same for him at Liverpool.

Also I disagree with you stating what a DLP and AP as primary playmaker are good for. I play 4-4-2 with a DLP-Defend and AP-Attack combo. My primary playmker is the DLP-Defend, and yes I dominate possession most games, but I also creat a hat full of chances.

The amount of goals my team scores, I would say I am very attack minded. (For the record, 690 goals in 280 games, an average of 2.46 goals a game).

[fmFutbolManager]

Why is it when you have two key players on yellows in the CL semi-final they're the two players to get booked (despite playing cautious tackling). I'm now in the final without Vidic and RVP. Fantastic!

[tomtuck01]

Why is it when you have two key players on yellows in the CL semi-final they're the two players to get booked (despite playing cautious tackling). I'm now in the final without Vidic and RVP. Fantastic!

Think it's called "luck". The bad variety.

[manchester]

Has anyone got a "Tycoon Takeover" since the latest patch has been relased

[RTHerringbone]

Ooooh (but "Local Businessman" takes the edge off things)......

Typically quiet transfer window so far.....possibly going to pee-off ardent United fans by selling Vidic (just shy of 33 years old) and replacing with Zouma. Also toying with the idea of selling Hernandez and trying to secure a handy looking Brazilian kid as his longer term replacement.

[tomtuck01]

Trust me, a local businessman really wouldn't be too bad a thing. Money in the Premier League, (atleast in my experience with United), just brings higher wage demands. I like it as it's realistic, (the club has more money, so the players want a bigger slice of the pie), but christ it's annoying.

Regarding Vidic, I understand you letting him go. I kept him until the end of the third season and just let his contract wind down. He proved rather injury prone in the first two years, and although I was prepared to extend his deal at the end of season two his wages demands were too much. In the end I kept him for that final season to see how he went on, (performance and injury wise), but he kept having problems.

Selling him and getting anything possible is a decent move.

[RTHerringbone]

The Vidic decision is largely due to my FM ageism, plus the knowledge that Smalling, Evans and Jones are consistently excellent. I have a 16 year old Italian newgen who gets game time from the bench, but he's not nearly ready enough to start.

Hernandez is another of my weird knee jerk decisions. He was my leading scorer by a distance in Season two, and was excellent in season one. He is a valuable asset and I'm servicing a debt. Lewandowski is clearly a different player, but him signing means I can use Welbeck in a different way, and give game time to my new 18 year old Brazilian striker.

[fmFutbolManager]

Has anyone any experience with Yassine Benzia? He looks quite promising, but I'm only in my first season so would be one for the future.

[tomtuck01]

You're a disgrace.