FM17: Manchester United - The Special One Arrives

[olanrewaju]

On Sunday, January 22, 2017 at 07:50, axehan1 said:

Haven't posted in here for a while now.Marcus Rashford is having a blinder of a season playing solely as a AMR

How come Rashford earns 300k/week

[warlock]

14 hours ago, olanrewaju said:

How come Rashford earns 300k/week

Look at the year, his season stats, his bio for the four years in-game. Why wouldn't he be on £300k a week!? 

[PaulC2K]

Spent about 6hrs reading this thread from start to finish last night looking for info and taking various notes, as my first attempt just wasnt going to plan, moral was wavering, and every time i felt like i had things going in a decent direction, we'd get a drubbing from teams that really shouldnt be a problem. So i figured i'd try and get my head around things, ive barely played FM since around FM10. So figured i'd start from scratch, try and do things properly, get my head around how the game thinks now, and try to get involved in more than just picking the team and signings etc.

The biggest gripe i had in my 1st attempt seems to be a fairly common one - tons of shots on target and their keeper is everywhere, and yet they get the occasional chances, and far too many of them go in. At the same time, i probably wasnt organising the team ideally, not for want of trying but probably lack of understanding or giving up on it if they have a bad game and blame a change rather than RNG etc.

So, im still at day0, ive got my shortlist of coaches & physios to line up, made myself 5* for attacking as theres no decent coaches for that. Next up im trying to figure out my Mentor/Mentee line-up, although heres what i came up with so far: Zlat & Martial, Mata & Cribbin, Mkhi & Memphis, Blind & Riley, Valencia & Rashford
Im uncertain who to pair TFM and Tuanzebe with, Carrick & Jones maybe? Beyond Gomes in the U18s im not sure who's worth focusing on (assuming i get that far with it, too).

Beyond getting the right coaches in and balancing their workload with avg coaches (im assuming thats ok, using 3-4 star staff to change their workload from 'heavy' to 'average' without it hurting development using average coaches) I've absolutely no idea what to do with the training regime, assuming its something i should be meddling with, ive always been hands-off and it seems safer to leave to Faria rather than mess. I've always tried to play FM with the starting line-up in 90-fitness, and if someones getting into the 60s then i'd want to sub them. Im not sure if its the Europa fixtures and being in the league cup, but i was finding it hard to play keep players like Pogba in that zone, without leaving them out, because i need their presence. Is there something i can do, like more fitness training, dont train the day before a fixture, try and give players holidays at opportune moments??


So i basically have a couple of questions, pretty much above already, but summarised i suppose.

Q1) What should i be trying to do with the training, should i find a regime someones uploaded and leave it alone, or is it fairly simple to tweak, cos i havent a clue where to begin with it!!

Q2) What Mentor pairings have others done, and im not entirely sure what else i should be doing, i read people talking about using Valencia to increase Rashfords determination for example, and training him as a False-9 and Complete Forward, TFM as a midfielder not CB etc.

Q3) Following Q1 & 2, Im somewhat concerned if i take over things like this and the training regime, theres a good chance i'd miss things and do more damage than leaving it to Faria. Should i leave him to manage these things and just keep using 'Yes, but only this time' when it questions whether i want to overrule him being in control etc, or is it one of those things where it needs to be done properly and right, or not at all, else its pointless and potentially stopping them doing things to help that im not identifying etc.

Q4) The fitness, can i improve that, i've tried to rotate but with the slump we were in, a defeat in a Europa group match when we're already through, still hurts moral and makes matters worse for turning things around in the league which is where im really struggling. I beat City in the cup, but i'll struggle with WHU, Stoke, Sunderland etc in the league.

As mentioned, im at Day0, im basically trying to organise things before committing to anything (ie get shortlists built, scouts looking at targets, tutoring & training organised) and then create a sort of master-save to come back to without having to go through a lot of it all again, and without having any commitments in place either. So i if i have to do the first 6-12 months a couple of times because of screwing up, and learning from mistakes, it should take some of the sting away at least. I've also disabled Brexit, screw that!!

Also, if anyone wants my list of coaches i'll be snagging, i'll add it to a spoiler, cos this post is already long enough to put people off
 

Spoiler

Leagues loaded - Eng, Fra, Ger, Spa, It, with 2-3 tiers enabled, Por, Bel, Bra, NL & Scot just the top tier league. I'll list the country/league where its possible they might not be in smaller db's.

Fitness - Bordon (5) & Carlinhos Neves (5 - BR)
Tactics - Anselmo Sbragia (5 - BR)
Ball Control - Faria (4.5 - Utd)
Defending - Danny McGrain (4.5 - Scot)
Attacking - Myself, cos they're all junk! I think 4-star is as good as it gets otherwise.
Shooting - Gianni Vio (4.5)
GK Stopping - Hugo Oliveira or Bobby Mimms (4.5). Oliveira is a gnats whisker from 5* i believe (358/360), so hoping if he attends a training course it might make him a 5.
GK Handling - Louro (5 - Utd)

Medical/Physio - Fevre as the new HoSS, with Massimo Dellacasa & Sergio Jiménez Rubio filling up the roster.

 

[warlock]

For general training I leave it to Faria (who's one of the best AMs in the game), often overriding for things like positional training ('only this time'), and sometimes PPMs (get Memphis to lose the 'shoots from distance' ASAP).

Playing two games a week, you can usually get two or three games in a row out of a player but they'll need a rest after that. Easier to rotate a couple of players for each match and keep them fresh. One thing to do at the start is go through your squad and adjust everybody's squad status - you can't have two 'key players' or a key player and a first team player in the same position because they'll all want to play nearly every game. The majority of your squad should be on backup or rotation status.

Pogba is a bit of a special case regarding fitness - he'll run around like a maniac, especially in the B2B role, and finish the match exhausted.

If you find yourself competing in all competitions in January/February, I often override training to add a rest day before and after a match.

I wouldn't worry too much about coaching, if you can get all training categories up to 4 or 4.5 stars you'll be fine, and there are plenty of coaches who can do that.

As for losing to lesser teams, happens in every save, in my experience. As it should - just ask Klopp and Wenger!

[PaulC2K]

Cheers, glad you reminded me about Memphis & shoot from distance, as i'd forgot to make a note of that. Hadnt thought about changing players squad status before, its usually something i only think about when im signing players, but it would make sense, although more often than not the ones that come to me unhappy have probably had decent stints in the team but then a couple of bad results has had me looking for a reshuffle and things have looked better and that line-up hasnt included them. Giving them time isnt an issue, but it would be 1 less thing to deal with if i didnt have players needing to be played when they're not who i want to play ideally. I'd rather be doing it because of resting, through injuries, weaker cup oppo etc, so lowering their status should help.

Losing, as an isolated incident, isnt such a problem. Its when you've just managed to convince the teams moral to take a step back from the cliff face, but your first XI are shattered and you identify an easier target to give others game time and let your stars recuperate. Then they go and lose, because even the first team have regular struggles, and in his capacity as club captain Rooney decides whats best in a crisis is for him to throw himself off the cliff and try and bring others with him. When it feels like every opposition keeper is superman, stopping tons of shots on target, then they score with one of their few chances and nick the points, it no longer feels unlucky, it feels tilted in their favour.

I was giving them limited instructions (usually just 'play wider'), with 442 or 433. I'd give them roles that suited them most, rather than asking Pogba to be a BWM etc.
442 felt like we lacked the wingers to make that work, but i tried it using Lingard & Memphis, and Mkhi & Mata. It never felt great, but i did feel like it had better shape.
433 i thought worked better for Rash/Martial - Zlatan/Rooney - Mkhi/Mata, and Carrack, Pogba & Herrera. Its much easier to fit everyone into that team where they're suitable for the role. Except it didnt seem to really do much. I gave up at December, but the 433 familiarity was only 50%, compared to 100% with 442, so i started to favour 442 thinking maybe unfamiliarity was the issue.
4231 I also tried, but gave up for the same reasons as 433.

I also didnt sign anyone, i wanted to try and stick with the current team, but i think i might try and strengthen the fullbacks so ive got attacking options, and i wish i'd thought about TonyV as a winger not sure it would have fixed things, but it could have been better than the square block in a round hole solution of using Mkhi & Mata there. So i'll probably add someone for the right to push forward, and Tierney from Celtic to rotate with Shaw. Beyond that, not sure i'd need to strengthen elsewhere, and might be better to wait till we can offer CL fixtures for a top CB & CF. Ideally i'd love to take Atleticos spine of Laporte - Koke - Greizmann  

[brigzi]

On 03/01/2017 at 14:25, eple said:

I have created a monster.

I'm in early January 2nd season and we're 15 points clear, frequently scoring 5-6 goals a game, sometimes as much as 8. And they are coming from everywhere! I'm using a very average tactic with no bells or whistles but the attacking play is fluid and beautiful. I'm particulary impressed with Mata. I wasn't expecting much, but he has 13 goals in 17 starts in the league. Depay has also turned out to be very useful when playing on the right. Mkhitaryan and Dybala both did their achilles tendon hence the low amount of appearances for them. Still haven't found the best way to utilize Dybala. But I think Trequartista will be his role. In that role he doesn't score as much, but he seems to make everyone around him play a lot better.

£175m transfer budget, but don't really see the need to spend any of it. I could do with a right back, but it's not essential and the only really interesting option is Bellerin. Long term I might look to get Bernardo Silva or Neymar to replace Mata. 

can you show the tactic you used for this?

[eple]

9 hours ago, brigzi said:

can you show the tactic you used for this?

Yeah, sure. Nothing much about it, really, as I said.

Control/fluid is starting shape but I changed it based on opponent and during matches. Don't feel bad about going defensive/contain. A lot of times that just lead to quality chances as the players take their time.

Is has three instructions

Instructions: Get stuck in, play out of defence, work ball in to box

Fullbacks on attack-duty in many matches

CBs are ball playing if they are good enough in that area.

BMW changed to DLP-d or CM-d depending on who plays ther

DLP-s sometimes changed to AP-s

AM-A: Depending upon who palys there I use Roam from position, More risky passes, Dribble more & change is to AP-A if it's a creative player.

IFs: Sit narrower, Get further forward, Roam from position, Shoot less often, Hold up ball.

IF-s on the right side I frequently changed to W-a (whenever I used Depay there, which was quite often as he was a monster there)

As for the striker role I used Zlatan as a TM-A, Martial as an AF-A. Dybala does great as a Treq.

Note: If I saw that the opponent used attacking fullbacks or changed to attacking FBs during the game, I set my wingers to specifically mark them, in order to not be overloaded on the flanks.

 

 

 

 

 

[scott MUFC]

Icardi is stupidly broken

[TheNextScholesy]

Started a United save a few days ago (Had to get a new laptop hence why I'm so late this year). Having an absolute nightmare start to the season, sitting 8th just coming up to January  I started out with a 4411 formation and it worked well in preseason but after that it didn't do well in the league but did in Europe so I've qualified for the knockout rounds. Bought Fabregas in for 20mil and he has done nothing! Changed to a 3-4-1-2 and it's done alright in it's starting process but the full backs are complaining about not enough game time, there's just no winning

[mattskelding]

On 03/02/2017 at 02:12, scott MUFC said:

Icardi is stupidly broken

 

Is this playing him on the aforementioned 451 tactic with him as a DLF?

 

[scott MUFC]

no 4-2-3-1 as AF

 

[craiigman]

Not had a lot of time for FM past couple of years, but started a FMT with United as I kind of like their squad. Anyway, just played vs Bayern in a friendly with this, and got a 2-1 win. Probably a bit lucky, but stats looked decent after and watching on extensive it looked like it was doing okay, I'm just not too sure why, which is why I'm making this post.

So I started out with this:

PI as follows:

GK - roll it out, FB's - sit narrower, CF - close down more. Was meant to put it on AMC as well but forgot.

I changed the DLP to a CM(D) and RPM to AP(S) during the game.

I've uploaded the pkm file of the game: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2QhuaaeWjUnZ0h6U1F0UzBOUUk (hope it works)

Just trying to learn that's all.

[United_kaz]

In my 2nd season Nov 

brief overview of my save,

Got rid of fellaini 16mill Rooney loan rojo 12mill

brought Tiago Maia 14mill Danilo 12mill bazeor 18mill j Williams 4mill

1st year used 4-1-2-3 pretty attacking and worked great, 

won the league with 5 games to go

Ko off the efl cup 3rd rd by Chelsea

won fa cup

won the europa league against Bayern 3-2 amazing they didn't finish in the top 2 of their cl group 

my top players

Depay 31goals as a f9(ibra got injured in august for 5months) martial 24goals 13assists pogba 23goals 12assits(using as a cm with att responsibilty and long shots with killer ball trait)

martial won player of the year and golden boy award

2nd season

outs: ibra free(didn't use him much) miki psg 42mill schniederlin Chelsea 20mill jones spurs 42mill Valencia 3mill mata arsenal 41mill Rooney loan again, januzaj loan, 

ins: dybala 60mill+40mill add ons, barbosa 28mill pasaleck 22mill soler 8mill a few other youngsters

alot of youth players getting a chance, perrera, tunzeabe, tfm, all members of my squad

Harsh on depay but he's my back up now and even with a month out dybala has 17g in 15games, dominate most games with my tactic even away from home, using control, close down a lot, short passing(home mixed passing away) fluid, overlap, play from the back, more dribbling, close down keeper, normal d line, narrow  just beat ath Madrid 6-2 away so looking unstoppable at the moment

other notable players this year pogba again 8goals and 9 assists martial 11goals 8 assists barbosa 7goals 7 assists

shaw avg rating of 8.21 pogba avg rating of 8.11 dybala avg rating of 8.07 

team and roles

------------------de gea sw keeper---------------

pasaleck cwb. Baily-smalling.  Shaw cwb

-----------------maia half back-----------------

---------------bazeor-----pogba both cm att--

barbosa inf att-----------------martial inf att

-------------------dybala com frwd---------------

only real diff between home and away is control and normal mentality, mixed passing away but short at home and narrow at home and slightly narrow away

 

But all in all finding in difficult to lose lol loving bringing some quality youth through it's how I will start to play after my splurge this year in the anticipation of worse case of hard brexit 

[scott MUFC]

I just rotated midfield and defenders and won 8-1

[Rasmus]

@scott MUFC I see you are using Mkhi in a AMR spot. How do you manage to get the best out of him? I have played him as an IF - support, but seems to lose posession too easily when he dribbles. I'd say the right side of my formation is my greatest weakness, and I don't feel i'm getting enough out of my right wing. I usually play him as IF - Support, with a wing back on attack duty overlapping him in either a 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-2-3.

[scott MUFC]

he does a few different things, the issue with IF is they cut inside, and try and shoot, on mine he uses the wing back then gets into the box, or stays wide and crosses himself.

[Rasmus]

38 minutes ago, scott MUFC said:

he does a few different things, the issue with IF is they cut inside, and try and shoot, on mine he uses the wing back then gets into the box, or stays wide and crosses himself.

So you use him purely as a Winger - support/attack?

[scott MUFC]

he is IF support on the attacking tactic

Support and Attack bring different behaviour.

[simonbyrneno.4]

I signed Griezmann in my second season for €70m, but am really struggling to get him playing at a decent level. He has 1 goal in 15 games so far which is extremely underwhelming. How do people utilise him? What roles have people found effective?

 

I playing him AMC with Attacking Midfielder (Attack role). Zlatan is up top as a complete forward attack with Martial IF attack on the left with Micki on the right as an IF support.

 

Micki isn't really playing too well either - what roles do other people use him in?

[Rasmus]

1 hour ago, simonbyrneno.4 said:

I signed Griezmann in my second season for €70m, but am really struggling to get him playing at a decent level. He has 1 goal in 15 games so far which is extremely underwhelming. How do people utilise him? What roles have people found effective?

 

I playing him AMC with Attacking Midfielder (Attack role). Zlatan is up top as a complete forward attack with Martial IF attack on the left with Micki on the right as an IF support.

 

Micki isn't really playing too well either - what roles do other people use him in?

I imagine playing him either as an IF - Attack on the left or perhaps Complete Forward support as a lone forward. In a Two striker system he could play as Complete Forward - Support or perhaps as an Advanced forward next to a another striker on support duty. Haven't tried him out by myself though.

However, try using Zlatan as a Deep Lying Forward - Support so he'll drop deeper and hold the ball up more. That should encourage Griezmann to run in behind him. I am actually curious to see if Griez can be used as Shadow Striker perhaps?

Regarding Micki, I think I might have found a good role for him on the right. AP - support.

[i Love United]

Who is a good replacement for Zlatan? 

I'm approaching the end of season 3 - close to winning the league. At the start of the season Zlatan announced this would be his last season, I tried to talk him out of it but to no avail. He's now top scorer and I want to keep him for one more year but the option to talk him out of it is now gone. Will I get another chance to convince him to stay before he retires? 

If not, who is a good replacement? Kane? Dybla? I'd love to give Rashford a go in the central role but he hasn't scored enough for me to be confident enough. He's only 21 but I want to turn him into a lethal goal scorer...

Any tips appreciated. 

Thanks! 

[Scath]

Zlatan retired at the end of my second season and Dybala requested a transfer at Juventus...

Not bad!

[oneronaldo]

17 hours ago, i Love United said:

Who is a good replacement for Zlatan? 

I'm approaching the end of season 3 - close to winning the league. At the start of the season Zlatan announced this would be his last season, I tried to talk him out of it but to no avail. He's now top scorer and I want to keep him for one more year but the option to talk him out of it is now gone. Will I get another chance to convince him to stay before he retires? 

If not, who is a good replacement? Kane? Dybla? I'd love to give Rashford a go in the central role but he hasn't scored enough for me to be confident enough. He's only 21 but I want to turn him into a lethal goal scorer...

Any tips appreciated. 

Thanks! 

Dybala is a natural, but he's giving up 20cm on Zlatan and Juventus are known to play hard ball over asking prices. Either that or someone could have bought him in the 3 seasons.

[i Love United]

16 hours ago, oneronaldo said:

Dybala is a natural, but he's giving up 20cm on Zlatan and Juventus are known to play hard ball over asking prices. Either that or someone could have bought him in the 3 seasons.

Thanks yeah he's at PSG in mine. Just about to knock me out of the CL too... 

Ive just been given a transfer budget of £26m... apparently the board don't have the money... Is there anyway to boost this without selling players? 

[martymcfly]

£88m from Dortmund

[PaulC2K]

How are people managing to grab Dybala & Greizmann for about 2/3 of what im being asked?
I've definitely got Dybala nobbled, he's been very unhappy at the rejected offers for about 2mo, but i dont think i can get anywhere near 100m, let alone bang on. Perhaps its because im trying to stack most of the payment over 4yrs? Given whats been said about him and how much others have been quoted and paid, im trying to get to something around 120-140m i think, but im trying to get Greizmann at the same time, with an 88m budget for the summer (Im at the end of April 1st season)
Greizmann ive had 15m down, then 60m/4y, then 3x 5m for max league & international appearances and 50 goals. £90m total, but low enough to keep a Dybala deal on the table if i can negotiate a similar deal just 50% higher amounts. The agent & player signing fees also concern me, from what ive already seen. That could easily be 25-30m for them both, which needs to be factored into my budget to get it finalised. I havent finalised the offer though, i came here to ask if that was decent but im thinking maybe i should hold off.

Q - Someone a while back mentioned waiting till a specific point where deals are more reasonable/forgiving. Is this a commonly held belief in the community, or isolated experience following some fortunate circumstances? Is there a time when its easier to get a lowed deal agreed when we're talking about Dybala or similar huge-fee deals? or is it just luck with timing and their board giving up on retaining the player and switching from a response akin to 'we absolutely dont want to sell... but if you really insist - £100m' over to 'we dont want to lose him, but he doesnt want to be here, £75m and he's yours' type moments? When should i pounce? Are their signs to look for etc?

Managed to get my 2nd attempt at a this save going very nicely, had a 17 game run where we didnt concede a single goal, then the 12 that followed we've conceded in 7 (floodgates officially open). We lost it at City too, was 4 up and ended 5-1, so if it had to happen at least it went on a happy note

[Martin2007rfc]

Hi in my first season with utd 

i am playing a 4231 wide

mentality standard team shape flexible

Team instructions Defensive line Higher,closing down much more,prevent short Gk distribution,use tight marking, pass into space,play out of defence

goalkeeper normal

full backs automatic

cm left AP Att Cm right bbm support

aml support IF AM centre support amr support IF

Stc Complete forward

i have one 12 games lost 3 draw 1 so far

lost to arsenal away 3-2 lost to watford 2-1 away and lost 2-0 at home to arsenal and drw with man city 3-3 s

Anyone help or improve tactic?

[Martin2007rfc]

Any one trying my tactic?

[i Love United]

Does anyone know how long it takes to sort out finances? I'm going into season 4, won the league the last two years and I've only got a £20m transfer budget and 35% transfer budget from sales. I spent around £250m on transfers from seasons 1-3, with all the deals including a fair initial price then extras in monthly instalments, appearances, goals etc.  How long would it take for the club to get back to a position where I can get £100m+ budgets? 

[sedge11]

Hi guys, am new to the forums have always read them but finally decide to join up.

To i love united I'm in my 5th season with united and always get around 200million to spend, but in all fairness I've only spent around 200-250 million in 5 seasons. But I also have made a profit in every season from transfers apart from the 5th season where i haven't really sold anyone.

Just to share how I've been doing this is what i have won so far:

season 1: Europa League and finished 3rd in the prem. 

Season 2: Premier league, EFL cup and champs league. Was a brilliant treble winning season with an intense champs league final win over chelsea which i won 4-2 after extra time. I changed my formation to the 4-1-2-3 in picture below and haven't looked back. Ibra was class and was top goal scorer in the prem and scored in the champs league final to sign off and retire in style.

Season 3: Premier league and club world championship

Season 4 was a poor season with injuries and lack of squad depth so didnt win a trophy and finished 3rd in the prem. I had signed kinglsey Coman from bayern in season 3 for 55 mil and sold him back to them for 93 mil as he was moaning and kept asking to leave, whats more satisfying is he has been terrible since going back.

So far in season 5 have won the EFL cup and with 11 games to go in the league am top by 6 points and still in Fa cup and champs league. Signed Benzema and Rodriquez from Madrid for a combined 50 million which was very happy about.

So far my best players in the 5 seasons have to be Pogba, Mkhi, Rashford, Van Dijk and Dier. Martial was really poor for the 1st 3 season but has picked up in the 4th and 5th but now wants to leave in the summer to go to PSG. Ibra was quality when for the 2 seasons i had him and i kinda regret selling Bailly in the 4th season. Dier has to be my best buy as he has helped shore up my back 4 and make us alot more solid. Pogba, Herrera and Dier have formed an immense midfield 3,  also have never really had alot of success with Herrera but in this save I seem to have finally been able to get the best out of him.

 

Pictures show my best 11 and bench. Also Pogba having an immense season in which he came 3rd in world player of the year.

[Martin2007rfc]

sedge that is very impressive well done good tactic mate

[Sampa]

Won literally every competition I was in (septuple) in my 4th season. Had huge offers coming in for my players and blew up my team.

Sold: Martial - 98m, Fred - 64m, Odegaard - 68m, Fosu-Mensah - 17m, Diego - 18.5m (27m), Bazoer - 52m, Januzaj - 33m.

Took in total £358m.

Bought: Alex Sandro - 34m, Varane - 46.5m, Neymar - 78m, Kane - 89m.

 

Already have Bernardo Silva, Hazard and Dybala.

 

Only at 21st October and all I can say is oh sweet lord...

 

 

[PaulC2K]

14 hours ago, i Love United said:

Does anyone know how long it takes to sort out finances? I'm going into season 4, won the league the last two years and I've only got a £20m transfer budget and 35% transfer budget from sales. I spent around £250m on transfers from seasons 1-3, with all the deals including a fair initial price then extras in monthly instalments, appearances, goals etc.  How long would it take for the club to get back to a position where I can get £100m+ budgets? 

You're probably paying the price for stacking those 250m deals over those years.
If you bought player A for 80m, 20m up front and 60m over 3yrs, thats 20m every season out of your budget. So if you should be getting 100m/season then the board are giving you 80m and paying that 20m on player A.
Apply that for 250m worth of deals and you could be getting 100m but its owed from previously agreed deals, because you didnt pay 80m, you paid 20m and gave an IOU.

Thats something im a little concerned about atm, im trying to stack Dybala & Griezmann over 4yrs with 70-80% of the payment over 4yrs and addons. It could bite me in the ass come season 3, like it presumably is for you. I think chances are you're getting 35% of the income for transfers, then 55% is probably IOUs and 10% dept repayments () and Glazer pocked money etc.

[talhak]

On 2/15/2017 at 21:55, i Love United said:

Who is a good replacement for Zlatan? 

I'm approaching the end of season 3 - close to winning the league. At the start of the season Zlatan announced this would be his last season, I tried to talk him out of it but to no avail. He's now top scorer and I want to keep him for one more year but the option to talk him out of it is now gone. Will I get another chance to convince him to stay before he retires? 

If not, who is a good replacement? Kane? Dybla? I'd love to give Rashford a go in the central role but he hasn't scored enough for me to be confident enough. He's only 21 but I want to turn him into a lethal goal scorer...

Any tips appreciated. 

Thanks! 

 

If I were you, I'd give more chance to Rashford, he has the potential to be one of the best forwards in the history of FM. Or you may exchange the roles of Martial and Rashford since Martial is the better finisher. Also, I think you should consider Ze Gomes, Facundo Colidio, Embolo, and Kuki.

[sedge11]

I agree you should give Rashford a proper go, this is how he has done for me. The 1st 2 seasons I had Ibra, so from the the 3rd season he took over as main striker and as you can see has done pretty well, could of had more in the 3rd season but my team in general just struggled to score all season, was winning most games 1 or 2-0. Still won the league though in season 3 due to the fact one only conceded 14 goals in the league.

Also maybe worth looking at Benzema if you can get him, I got him in the 5th season as he was transfer listed by request for 4 million, he was 32 but has been brilliant and scored 14 in 24 league games.

[i Love United]

19 hours ago, PaulC2K said:

You're probably paying the price for stacking those 250m deals over those years.
If you bought player A for 80m, 20m up front and 60m over 3yrs, thats 20m every season out of your budget. So if you should be getting 100m/season then the board are giving you 80m and paying that 20m on player A.
Apply that for 250m worth of deals and you could be getting 100m but its owed from previously agreed deals, because you didnt pay 80m, you paid 20m and gave an IOU.

Thats something im a little concerned about atm, im trying to stack Dybala & Griezmann over 4yrs with 70-80% of the payment over 4yrs and addons. It could bite me in the ass come season 3, like it presumably is for you. I think chances are you're getting 35% of the income for transfers, then 55% is probably IOUs and 10% dept repayments () and Glazer pocked money etc.

Thanks a lot. Yeah it looks like you're right. I've had a look at the deals I've done and I've got lots committed for the next 24 months or so. It's very hard to compete when most teams want stupid money for signings even if you have an £80m budget and you need a few players. Hopefully, I'll be ok as most of the players I need I have brought already. 

Hopefully something happens finance wise to improve the situation or I may have to sell a big name each year. Just turned down £100m for Pogba from PSG. Does anyone else know if these situations generally get better or worse quicker?

[i Love United]

19 hours ago, talhak said:

If I were you, I'd give more chance to Rashford, he has the potential to be one of the best forwards in the history of FM. Or you may exchange the roles of Martial and Rashford since Martial is the better finisher. Also, I think you should consider Ze Gomes, Facundo Colidio, Embolo, and Kuki.

 

18 hours ago, sedge11 said:

I agree you should give Rashford a proper go, this is how he has done for me. The 1st 2 seasons I had Ibra, so from the the 3rd season he took over as main striker and as you can see has done pretty well, could of had more in the 3rd season but my team in general just struggled to score all season, was winning most games 1 or 2-0. Still won the league though in season 3 due to the fact one only conceded 14 goals in the league.

Also maybe worth looking at Benzema if you can get him, I got him in the 5th season as he was transfer listed by request for 4 million, he was 32 but has been brilliant and scored 14 in 24 league games.

Thanks. I'll give Rashford a chance. I already have Lukaku as a backup so we'll see how it goes. 

[mattskelding]

On 18/02/2017 at 20:53, sedge11 said:

Hi guys, am new to the forums have always read them but finally decide to join up.

To i love united I'm in my 5th season with united and always get around 200million to spend, but in all fairness I've only spent around 200-250 million in 5 seasons. But I also have made a profit in every season from transfers apart from the 5th season where i haven't really sold anyone.

Just to share how I've been doing this is what i have won so far:

season 1: Europa League and finished 3rd in the prem. 

Season 2: Premier league, EFL cup and champs league. Was a brilliant treble winning season with an intense champs league final win over chelsea which i won 4-2 after extra time. I changed my formation to the 4-1-2-3 in picture below and haven't looked back. Ibra was class and was top goal scorer in the prem and scored in the champs league final to sign off and retire in style.

Season 3: Premier league and club world championship

Season 4 was a poor season with injuries and lack of squad depth so didnt win a trophy and finished 3rd in the prem. I had signed kinglsey Coman from bayern in season 3 for 55 mil and sold him back to them for 93 mil as he was moaning and kept asking to leave, whats more satisfying is he has been terrible since going back.

So far in season 5 have won the EFL cup and with 11 games to go in the league am top by 6 points and still in Fa cup and champs league. Signed Benzema and Rodriquez from Madrid for a combined 50 million which was very happy about.

So far my best players in the 5 seasons have to be Pogba, Mkhi, Rashford, Van Dijk and Dier. Martial was really poor for the 1st 3 season but has picked up in the 4th and 5th but now wants to leave in the summer to go to PSG. Ibra was quality when for the 2 seasons i had him and i kinda regret selling Bailly in the 4th season. Dier has to be my best buy as he has helped shore up my back 4 and make us alot more solid. Pogba, Herrera and Dier have formed an immense midfield 3,  also have never really had alot of success with Herrera but in this save I seem to have finally been able to get the best out of him.

 

Pictures show my best 11 and bench. Also Pogba having an immense season in which he came 3rd in world player of the year.

No Individual instructions at all?!

[talhak]

5 hours ago, i Love United said:

 

Thanks. I'll give Rashford a chance. I already have Lukaku as a backup so we'll see how it goes. 

 

No worries, would like to see the result.

[sedge11]

3 hours ago, mattskelding said:

No Individual instructions at all?!

No I haven't set any individual instructions, I don't really bother or spend much time doing that.

Hasn't really affected the tactic as it works really well for me as it is, very solid at the back and always have plenty of chances. 

Have just won the domestic treble in the 5th season as well which I shall post later.

[sedge11]

5th season finished and won the domestic treble, beat man city in the fa cup on penalties and beat sunderland 5-0 in the EFL cup final.

This is how the prem finished and just look at Pogba in the player stats, he had a fantastic season and cleaned up in the awards, winning footballer and players player of the year and also won best player in europe, target is now to get him to win world player of the year next season with any luck. Rashford was also quality.

 

This is the individual stats for the league. Benzema had a decent season so was happy with that, but Rodriguez was quite disappointing.

Now to prepare for season 6, Mata's contract is expiring and will be released and Martial wants to leave for PSG and will not accept a new deal, as I promised him in january if they were still interested in the summer i would accept a bid from them, so I'm resigned to losing him, also Rodriguez may go as didnt really impress at all during the season. So will need to bring in a winger and that will probably be the only player i sign as am very happy with the balance of the team and the players i have. Angel Gomes and Ro Shaun Williams were both brilliant seasons and will become key starters for me next season, so Gomes will probably fill the left winger spot.

Have to say have struggled the last couple of fm's to really get a man utd save going but I am loving this save and will probably do another 2 seasons before i decide to start a new game.

[talhak]

1 hour ago, sedge11 said:

Benzema had a decent season so was happy with that, but Rodriguez was quite disappointing. 

 

Which position & role do you use James? He is always great in my careers both when he is managed by me or AI.

[sedge11]

52 minutes ago, talhak said:

Which position & role do you use James? He is always great in my careers both when he is managed by me or AI.

I usually play him on the right as an advanced playmaker or inside forward. I'm keeping him though as he is a quality player so expecting a better 2nd season for him.

[scott MUFC]

so hard getting the players I want, Bayern taking my backup right back was not good, but I had to sell to risk unhappiness, still held out for a great price, and found a superb replacement.

Bayern also tried to Hijack it....

[stevemc]

Manchester United 2016/17 (season 1) - Pre-Season

Decided to start up a Manchester United save, with the latest transfer update, and no transfers in the first window. The only thing I have done is loan out Ashley Young.

First thing I actioned was the backroom staff, as we were considerably short. So in came some ex-United favourites, Paul Scholes, Phil Neville and Dwight Yorke:

 

I decided to get the Rio & Vidic combination back too, with Rio Ferdinand as U23 manager and Vidic as his assistant:

 

Pre-season was a bit sketchy, but we were on fire for Wayne Rooney's testimonial and the Community Shield:

 

Zlatan made an immediate impact in his first Premier League match too  

 

We are currently 2nd in the league, with Tottenham top, winning 7 games from 7. We progressed in the EFL Cup, beating Hull away to set up a home tie against Chelsea. The Europa League group looks quite comfortable too:

 

So far, I've given Gomes, Tuanzebe and Gribbin some game time, but T Fosu-Mensah has started every game in defensive midfield whilst Rashford & Martial have also started every game.

 

[Martin2007rfc]

stevemc would like to see how your tactic is mate looks good zlatan scoring for fun

[stevemc]

15 hours ago, Martin2007rfc said:

stevemc would like to see how your tactic is mate looks good zlatan scoring for fun

Sorry for the late reply, here it is:

 

Smalling usually partners Bailly, but he's injured.

[talhak]

1 hour ago, stevemc said:

Sorry for the late reply, here it is:

 

Smalling usually partners Bailly, but he's injured.

 

Looks an interesting tactic, Can I learn your specific reason of using False Nines instead of Inside Forward Wingers which would still fit for both Martial and Rashford?

[npjones88]

I am managing ManUtd and 2 and a half seasons in. I have poured my time and devotion into this save and worked the transfer market masterfully (if I do say do myself) to accumulate the squad below. I have also swept away all before me using TFF Reaver V4 Tactic with the occasional tweak here and there. (Definitely worth a download if you're a powerhouse team.)  

So I am in Jan and Ronaldo is available on a pre-contract. I desperately want him in my team and can bring him in now for 2.4m. Home-grown and a legend for me, having grown up watching him develop into a superstar at my boyhood club.

However...

A random scout on Messi (I always periodically do this throughout any big team save in case his manager sleeps with his wife or something and he gets inexplicably unhappy) and Messi is AVAILABLE! 37m. 31 years old. 

Both players will come in on 300k p/w contracts with 50% yearly increases (note, I find this is the best way to get a superstar through the door, then offer him a slightly better contract ASAP with the 50% not included and they are always delighted to resign.)

Do I confirm both deals? I know Ronaldo will keep going forever and ever but Messi tends to fall to bits in his early 30's. I would probably end up moving on some of Martial, James, Hazard, Memphis to make room so could make back plenty of the money I fork out on these deals as I am already over-stocked on attackers. 

Feels silly to buy two ageing superstars on big, wage-structure-busting deals that I don't really need but the thought of watching Ronaldo cross for a Messi goal and vice versa gives me goosebumps.

TL;DR I can sign Ronaldo AND Messi in one window. Irresponsible or Irresistible?

Thanks for any feedback in advance!

[stevemc]

4 hours ago, talhak said:

Looks an interesting tactic, Can I learn your specific reason of using False Nines instead of Inside Forward Wingers which would still fit for both Martial and Rashford?

I developed the tactic on my Sheff United save, and changed from IF to F9's as I found it worked better, and they dropped into the space in the middle.