Life After Sir Alex

[gandycoleuk]

I have decided to start running a new game on FM13. The club I will manage at the start of my career don't come much bigger than my beloved Manchester United. I have loaded the English, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, German, Portuguese, French and Scottish with a large database.

Introduction

Founded in 1878, Manchester United are a professional English club currently playing in the English Premier League. The club play their home games at Old Trafford and possess state of the art training and youth facilities. The Manchester United reserve team play at Moss Lane. The club also has excellent junior coaching and an extensive youth recruitment network. The club is affectionately known as the Red Devils and retains a fierce rivalry with Liverpool, Manchester City and Leeds United.

Having enjoyed their greatest spell of success during the 1990s, The Red Devils are undoubtedly one of the most successful clubs in England. Boasting a proud total of 59 competitive trophies, here are some of the highlights: Manchester United won the Champions League in 1968, 1999 and 2008 and finished runners-up on another two occasions, won English Football's top division a record 19 times and the FA Cup a record 11 times.

My challenge now is to continue this success following Sir Alex's sudden retirement from the game. No pressure now . . .

[gandycoleuk]

Board Expectations - 2012-2013

Premier League - Title Challenge

Champions League - Semi-Final Appearance

FA Cup - Final Appearance

Capital One Cup - Not a Priority

Budgets

Transfer Budget - £22.5m

Wage Budget - £1.72m per week

Squad

My only rule when playing with United is I don't buy any major players in the 1st season, preferring to bring in young players with potential. Therefore, here is my squad for the 2012-2013 season:

Goalkeepers

1. David De Gea

13. Anders Lindegaard

Defenders

2. Rafael

3. Patrice Evra

4. Phil Jones

5. Rio Ferdinand

6. Jonny Evans

12. Chris Smalling

15. Nemanja Vidic

28. Alexander Buttner

Midfielders

7. Antonio Valencia

8. Anderson

11. Ryan Giggs

16. Michael Carrick

17. Nani

18. Ashley Young

22. Paul Scholes

23. Tom Cleverley

24. Darren Fletcher

26. Shinji Kagawa

Strikers

10. Wayne Rooney

14. Chicharito

19. Danny Welbeck

20. Robin van Persie

Manager's Thoughts

I felt that the squad was very strong in all areas, particularly in central defence and attack. There is great competition at on both wings and in central midfield. I think it is very capable of challenging in all competitions and possibly winning the Premier League crown for a record 20th time.

[gandycoleuk]

Pre-Season - 2012-2013

I have just concluded my first pre-season in my reign at Old Trafford and the players got valuable minutes under their belt with decent results:

Olympiakos 1-4 Man Utd

Man Utd 2-2 Barcelona

Racing 0-2 Man Utd

Huesca 1-2 Man Utd

Antwerp 0-2 Man Utd

Manager's Thoughts

I think the players' fitness was more important than the results as it is what pre-season is all about - thankfully no injuries came out of it too with the already injured Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans, Phil Jones and Darren Fletcher the players set to start the new season on the sidelines.

As of this moment, I have not made any signings but will surely have something rustled up by the end of the summer transfer window.

[gandycoleuk]

Season 2012-2013 - August

Sunday 19th August 2012

Premier League Match 1 - Man Utd vs Man City

It was a very difficult first game in charge and it was one I was relishing. Young came very close in an otherwise cagey first half as both sides looked to cancel each other out. But in the second half, Nani swapped passes with Rooney to cross for van Persie to head in on his debut. Substitute Valencia clinched victory from Evra's cross late on as my career got off to the perfect start:

League Position - 1st

Saturday 25th August 2012

Premier League Match 2 - Reading vs Man Utd

After his contribution from the bench last week, Valencia came in for Young and the match started off very quiet. The game though sparked into life when Le Fondre tapped home into an empty net to give the Royals a shock lead but van Persie levelled slotting into the far corner from Rooney's through ball. And past the hour, the turnaround was complete as Nani pulled the ball back for Rooney to rifle into the top corner.

Final Score - Reading 1 (Le Fondre 48) Man Utd 2 (van Persie 55, Rooney 61)

Line-up - De Gea, Rafael (Young 45), Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Carrick (Anderson 76), Scholes (Cleverley 61), Nani, Rooney, van Persie.

League Position - 2nd

Manager's Thoughts

I couldn't have asked for a bigger match to start my reign at the club but the players responded magnificently, putting a great team performance to defeat the noisy neighbours. Then came an equally difficult away match at one of the promoted sides and it looked like being a tricky situation until Rooney and van Persie started gelling together and the turnaround was pretty quick. So all in all, a very good start to the season with two wins out of two including a massive win against the defending champions. The season won't really begin until the Champions League starts next month and hopefully the players are ready for the challenge ahead.

[gandycoleuk]

End of Month Review - August 2012

Player of the Month - Kompany (Man City)

Manager of the Month - Khan (Man Utd)

Other Competitions

Community Shield - Chelsea 0 Man City 2 (Fellaini 37, Nasri 43)

Super Cup - At Madrid 2 (Falcao 11, Turan 17) Chelsea 1 (Ba 16)

[gandycoleuk]

Summer Transfer Window - 2012-2013

As I mentioned at the beginning of this thread, I refrain from buying major players in the 1st season who can fit straight into the squad. I prefer to snap up some promising youngsters instead. Here are my dealings before the end of August:

Out

There were no permanent departures from the club, only loan departures including the likes of Henriquez, Macheda, Tunnicliffe and Zaha.

In

Ryan Gauld from Dundee Utd - £650k - a young Scottish wide player with great intelligence. The player has decent technique and has the potential to be one of the best players at the club in the future.

Zakaria Bakkali from PSV - £600k - a young Belgian striker with bags of pace and acceleration that could cause plenty of problems in the future. Already capped at under-19 level which suggests a bright future for the youngster.

[gandycoleuk]

Season 2012-2013 - September

Saturday 1st September 2012

Premier League Match 3 - Man Utd vs Norwich

An injury to Rafael allowed Young to come in with Valencia going to right-back. The players took the lead in the first half when Evra's cross was smashed home by van Persie but Norwich came back straight away as Holt powered his through before slotting into the far corner. The second half was pretty much in the visitors' half but unfortunately, we couldn't find the winner.

Final Score - Man Utd 1 (van Persie 18) Norwich 1 (Holt 22)

Line-up - De Gea, Valencia, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Carrick, Scholes (Cleverley 66), Nani, Young (Kagawa 66), Rooney (Chicharito 73), van Persie.

League Position - 6th

Sunday 16th September 2012

Premier League Match 4 - Man Utd vs Aston Villa

It was the return of Fletcher and Rafael from injuries as the injured Valencia and Scholes made away. Straight from the kick off, Evra crossed for van Persie to fire into the roof of the net and the Frenchman then stood up a cross for Rooney to thunder his header in off the crossbar. Another clinical finish from van Persie from Young's cross gave him his second and put us in full command. The players took their gas off the pedal after the break and a loose back pass allowed Benteke to round De Gea and square for Bent to slot into the empty net.

Final Score - Man Utd 3 (van Persie 1, 14, Rooney 7) Aston Villa 1 (Bent 73)

Line-up - De Gea, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra (Evans 69), Fletcher (Powell 63), Carrick (Jones 69), Nani, Young, Rooney, van Persie.

League Position - 1st

Wednesday 19th September 2012

Champions League Group Match 1 - Benfica vs Man Utd

The Champions League was back and Kagawa made his first start for the club. It was a very quiet first half in Lisbon as both sides preferred conservative approaches. The game sparked into life after the break as Kagawa crossed for Rooney to place home the opener and then Nani cut in from the left before curling a low effort into the bottom corner. Cardozo did scramble home in stoppage time but the players hung on to begin the group stage in perfect fashion.

Final Score - Benfica 1 (Cardozo 90+2) Man Utd 2 (Rooney (52, Nani 67)

Line-up - De Gea, Rafael (Jones 67), Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Fletcher, Carrick, Kagawa (Scholes 61), Rooney, van Persie (Cofie 67).

Group Position - 2nd

Saturday 22nd September 2012

Premier League Match 5 - Stoke vs Man Utd

For a game just three days removed from Europe, Cleverley came in for Fletcher and Gauld was given a shock debut replacing Kagawa. In an otherwise quiet first half, Crouch played Jones through and he coolly slotted into the top corner. The players were heading towards our first defeat of the season before Nani latched onto Chicharito's through ball and crashed the ball through Begovic to earn a share of the spoils.

Final Score - Stoke 1 (Jones 44), Man Utd 1 (Nani 82)

Line-up - De Gea, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Cleverley (Scholes 71), Carrick, Gauld (Powell 62), Rooney, van Persie (Chicharito 10).

League Position - 2nd

Tuesday 25th September 2012

Capital One Cup 3rd Round - Man City vs Man Utd

It was the toughest possible draw we could get and I decided to rotate with Jones and Evans coming in for Ferdinand and Evra. Chicharito also started with van Persie out for around 2 months and the Mexican gave us the lead, slotting away Rooney's deep free kick. Into the second half and the ball broke for Aguero to level matters but a fine one-touch move finished with Chicharito firing into the far corner for his second goal. Nani's corner then found its way to Jones who headed into the roof of the net to give the players breathing space. A late goal from Aguero sparked a final onslaught from City but the players held out to progress with a massive victory:

Saturday 29th September 2012

Premier League Match 6 - Chelsea vs Man Utd

It was a huge clash at this early stage of the season with Evans keeping his place ahead of the injured Ferdinand and Giggs made his first appearance of the season. The hosts made a very positive start as they took the lead when Ba turned home from close range and then Mata met Hazard's cross to double their lead. The players did try and come back after the interval but it was a poor display and Chelsea deservedly won the three points.

Final Score - Chelsea 2 (Ba 13, Mata 18) Man Utd 0

Line-up - De Gea, Rafael (Jones 61), Evans, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Fletcher (Cleverley 20), Carrick, Giggs (Kagawa 45), Chicharito, Rooney.

League Position - 7th

Manager's Thoughts

The month started with a winnable home league game against Norwich but the players were held by a resilient Canaries and had to settle for a point before the international break. After the break, the players started like a house on fire in defeating Aston Villa at home and then the Champions League got underway with a hard fought victory at Benfica. Then came an away game at a notoriously tough ground as we visited Stoke and it turned out very hard too as Nani managed to earn a point late on. After one local derby already this season, the Capital One Cup 3rd Round saw us make the short trip to the Etihad and the players were fantastic again, taking the game to the noisy neighbours and progressing to the next round. The month ended with another tough away day in the league, this time at Chelsea and it told in the end as a rampant hosts' display saw the first defeat of my reign so far. So all in all, it was a very mixed bag of a month as the Premier League form suffered a little bit and saw us drop to 7th although it is still early days. The result at City was great to see and gives us a great chance of challenging for the Capital One Cup and the Champions League group stages got off to the perfect start. Hopefully, the players can push on in the league and the other competitions in October although some of the upcoming games look very tricky indeed.

[gandycoleuk]

End of Month Review - September 2012

Player of the Month - Crouch (Stoke)

Manager of the Month - Mancini (Man City)