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[FM 17] If You’re Not First, You’re Last Redux – Redemption For The “Nearly Men” Of Europe


ManUtd1
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Just now, EvilDave said:

I know right, swanning in from Sweden and Greece of all places...

Yea. Country of Hampus Lindgren and country of back hair. :idiot:

2 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said:

Hey!  I love the lesser-known team names!

:lol:

Hey, they're not just a toy you can have fun with you know! :herman:

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5 minutes ago, EvilDave said:

I know right, swanning in from Sweden and Greece of all places...

Leeds is basically a third-world country, isn't it?

giphy.gif

:lol:

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9 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said:

Leeds is basically a third-world country, isn't it?

giphy.gif

:lol:

Start a fight between two users then dissappear as they tear into eacher other. Check!

:ackter:

Edited by Benjoe
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Do It.  Just do it.  Don't let your dreams be dreams.

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Eintracht Frankfurt / Greece

April 2045 Mini-Update

Once again, Austria played us much closer than it ever should have been.  We need to be much, much more clinical.  A 2-1 away win in Qualifying isn't something to be bothered by, but we truly need to do better.

Meanwhile, there are signs of trouble in the Bundesliga.  We're dropping points, with both Gluubadoobelebele and Bayern lurking close behind.

Our ess-than-stellar form is also evident in Europe, where we missed a big chance in the 1st leg of the Europa League quarterfinals against Porto.  1-1, when it easily could have been a solid win more.  

The Estadio do Dragao will be a big test in the second leg, where the first goal will be critical...  Friedeck sprung free in the 35th, but he smacks the post.  It's the first real chance from either side.  Toure misses another one-on-one in the 41st.  This doesn't feel like our night, but we're in control.  Unfortunately, our finishing doesn't improve.  We're never in danger of conceding, but cannot find that elusive, critical away goal.  We crash out of Europe on away goals, after completely controlling both legs against the Portuguese.  Not good enough.

5 matches left in the Bundesliga.  Our indifferent form cannot continue.  There will be no trophies this year.  The only question is which European competition we will qualify for.

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Edited by ManUtd1
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Quick glance around Europe...

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Lyon's Renaissance continues, as they lead Ligue 1 and have also reached the Champions League semifinals.  Will they become eligible?

Chelsea have pulled ahead of the pack (after everyone was neck and neck), while Fiorentina once again find themselves adrift.

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3 matches to play.  We beat Hannover, but lose to Giovanni Simeone's Leipzig.  Gloupderdooberee win both, to draw level on points.  But our goal difference is vastly superior (+35 to +22).  

Bayern have drawn and lost, and are all but out of the Champions League spots.  We're not there yet, and should win out.  If we take care of business, we'll have an automatic spot in the Group Stage.

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34 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said:

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FIFA has really saved money on marketing for the World Cups after 2018. Still uses the logo for Russia 2018...

8 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said:

Gloupderdooberee

I like how Hakan gets Gladbach - Glad Bach - mixed to become Gloup der doo be ree. Sounds like the lyrics for a dutch song. 

Top 2 looks difficult, but I'm hoping Dortmund hits a brick wall. 

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Just now, kidthekid said:

Just noticed that top 3 bundesliga average ratings were your players. The voodoo of strikerless

Yep -- my inverted wingbacks and enganche :cool:

We're more hip than Guardiola wearing lederhosen.

Image result for pep guardiola lederhosen 

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45 minutes ago, kidthekid said:

Could you post a screenshot off Diallo if possible. It's been 2/3 seasons since his last screen shot, just curious to see the progress.

Absolutely!  He's a dream libero, I'm very pleased with him.

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A full-blown squad review will follow after the summer. :cool:

39 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

I don't think that's what hip is.

40 minutes ago, Adonalsium said:

It's Pi(e)p, though. #DadJokes

Image result for brendan rodgers smiling

Say what you want...Brendan likes it.

14 minutes ago, Keano16 said:

Disappointing to crash out of Europe but it'll make it that much more satisfying when you win it. Tense end to the season but you did just enough. 

Very disappointing, but those are the breaks.  It was nice to pull it out in the Bundesliga -- we're making strides.  Next year is going to be a big one.  Aiming to challenge for the title and get through to the CL knockout rounds.

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Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable

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Eintracht Frankfurt / Greece

2044/45 Season Review

There had been some hope that this year would see the first trophy of my tenure at Frankfurt.  There has even been some negative talk in the press -- wrapping my 4th season (3 full), with no titles to speak of?  Has Telleus lost his touch?

**** off, I say.  Does the Euros win with the Greeks not count?  Does it, ****?!

We're not looking for instant success, but building for a long, sustained dominance even after Ludwig and I pack our bags (voluntarily or after getting sacked).  Regardless of what anyone says, we're moving forward.  Slowly but surely.  Crashing out of the Europa League against Porto was frustrating, but we were dominating that match.  Next time we face them, we'll win.  We also earned our 3rd place finish, as opposed to falling into it (like we did, to finish 2nd 2 years ago) or blowing it like last year.

Things are looking up at Frankfurt, no doubt.  With the Greeks, I've satisfied myself that strikerless can work with a national side, and we'll head to South Africa (assuming we qualify...) with essentially the same squad that won the Euros.

In terms of transfers, I've got some great talent coming in this summer -- more Greek youth, and a handful of other players (some may have already arrived, and I've just forgotten...).  So, there's some serious thinking to do about the squad -- who's in it for next year, who's off on loan for further development, and who's not going to make the cut and needs to move on for their own good.  So, by the end of the summer I'll put together a full squad review.

Goals for 2045/46: Challenge for the Bundesliga title.  Qualify for the Champions League knockout rounds.  Don't embarass ourselves at the Confederations Cup.  Win our World Cup Qualifying Group.

Squad|League Overview|Finances Overview|Income Detail|Expenditures Detail|Transfers

Bundesliga Fixtures|Europa League Fixtures|DFB-Pokal Fixtures

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Champions League Review

Yet again, no new sides emerged.  Kurt Zouma's Manchester United dominated Barcelona in the final.

I think it is only a matter of time before Lyon wins it outright or becomes eligible, though.  Domesticaly, they've managed to overcome the financial might of Monaco and PSG, and the upstarts at Stade de Reims and Saint-Etienne...either they'll collapse or take the final step.

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Challenge Overview

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Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable

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Eintracht Frankfurt / Greece

June 2045 Mini-Update

It's Moldova, lads.  Enough with playing down to the level of our opponents.

3 points are 3 points, but it's not good enough.  Even a 2-0 win over Sweden in Stockholm can't make this ok.  We're 3 for 3 in qualifying, and showing glimpses of what we could be.  But there is a lot of work to be done.

The Confederations Cup in South Africa should be quite the test.

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6 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

Small, non-consecutive bills, please.

 

Lose this number.

 

6 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

Yep -- my inverted wingbacks and enganche :cool:

 

I really wish they got inverted wingbacks working properly in FM16 :/

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12 hours ago, aderow said:

I really wish they got inverted wingbacks working properly in FM16 :/

It is really nice to have them working, no doubt.

1 hour ago, BathCity said:

Any Sweden players you recognise? How many years has it been since you carried them ro glory? 

This is fantastic as always! :)

Thanks, man! 2030 was the big year!

Jorgen Friberg is still Sweden's AMC. He was my enganche at Leeds, and is a beast. (I played In Catene against them because of how deadly he is!)

No laptop today, but I'll try to remember to post a screenshot of him later.

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how bad were inverted wingbacks in fm 16 and 15, I have heard complaints about it, but I never noticed the problems in FM 15. I just figured all they did was cut inside, I wasn't expecting more than that

Same with libero.

But then again, I tend to play most games on key highlights

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1 hour ago, kidthekid said:

how bad were inverted wingbacks in fm 16 and 15, I have heard complaints about it, but I never noticed the problems in FM 15. I just figured all they did was cut inside, I wasn't expecting more than that

Same with libero.

But then again, I tend to play most games on key highlights

As I recall, the complaint was that they would cut inside with the ball, but not otherwise drift inside or "underlap" like you would see at Bayern.

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It'd be interesting if there were an option for either way, like an "inverted wingback" that does the Bayern etc thing, and some kind of  "inside wingback" that would cut in with the ball like an inside forward.

Could cause more confusion than help, though.

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34 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said:

As I recall, the complaint was that they would cut inside with the ball, but not otherwise drift inside or "underlap" like you would see at Bayern.

Yup. I'm still playing FM16 and I just recently tried making a tactic somewhat replicating Pep's Bayern. My idea was to use a halfback to push the CBs out wide when we had the ball and use IWBs to come supplement the center of the park. While the HB worked, the IWBs didn't. Which was a real shame.

In other news, I have also joined the strikerless hype train and it is devastating.

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1 hour ago, aderow said:

Yup. I'm still playing FM16 and I just recently tried making a tactic somewhat replicating Pep's Bayern. My idea was to use a halfback to push the CBs out wide when we had the ball and use IWBs to come supplement the center of the park. While the HB worked, the IWBs didn't. Which was a real shame.

In other news, I have also joined the strikerless hype train and it is devastating.

Yeah, HBs were something I used. You're describing what I've read elsewhere re IWBs, though.

I'm a complete convert on the strikerless approach right now :lol:

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1 hour ago, BoxToBox said:

It'd be interesting if there were an option for either way, like an "inverted wingback" that does the Bayern etc thing, and some kind of  "inside wingback" that would cut in with the ball like an inside forward.

Could cause more confusion than help, though.

It'd be nice, as a player/position specific tick-box. But, like you said...

Frankly, my wingbacks still get forward and provide width on occasion - most often when we're pressing high and recover possession, obviously.

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Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable

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Eintracht Frankfurt / Greece

Confederations Cup 2045, South Africa

After a modest showing against Moldova and Sweden, I wasn't sure what to expect at the FIFA-sponsored jaunt to South Africa for a meaningless tournament.

That being said, it was a nice chance to test ourselves against top quality opposition, with Sweden, Cote d'Ivoire and my former side, Mexico, in the Group Stage.

As expected, Argentina was the toughest match.  We did well to escape at a 1-1 draw, and were relentless in defense.  Cote d'Ivoire forgot to lace their boots, as we ran out to an early 3-0 lead, and held on without trouble.  Mexico was the easiest match of the 3, and really didn't stretch us at any point.

Meaning, we are through to the semifinals to face the hosts, South Africa.  The winner will face either Portugal or Cote d'Ivoire, who will square off in the other semi.  Frankly, the prospect of yet another Greece-Portugal final is truly enticing.

As an aside, the tournament has renewed my somewhat weakened faith in the strikerless approach with the national side.  We were underwhelming in the Nations League, and haven't blown the doors off in World Cup Qualifying.  But, we've been pretty solid -- hard to beat, tough in defense, dangerous in the attack...sometimes.  It's just a matter of time.

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Edited by ManUtd1
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Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable

 5aec611f0d7cfb1b150268dd0435d54c.png         adb46d786d2b54f5e300261d66fdde6a.png

Eintracht Frankfurt / Greece

Confederations Cup 2045, South Africa

Credit to the South Africans.  They nullified us completely for 43 minutes with a defensive/narrow 41311.  But, Leshi broke free wide on the left, got to the touchline and found Kousteris breaking into the box with Christos.  It's the 80th minute before South Africa begins to push forward.  We switch to In Catene, and hold them to low-percentage long cracks at goal.  Not pretty, but it did the job.

We'll face Cote d'Ivoire in the final, after they upset Portugal.  Perhaps this time they'll not sleepwalk through the early stages, yeah?

Christos is on the bench to start after suffering a bruised rib in the semis.  Sfakianakis will deputize for our big man.  We'll play PM Libre from the start.  Our opponents will play a 4411, with Frankfurt lads Bamba in the hole, Diallo in the midfield and Kone at fullback.

So much for Cote d'Ivoire sleepwalking...Bamba buries one in the 2nd minute.  We need to wake the **** up.  We do, but cannot create anything meaningful and go into the half down 1.  A Bamba turnover leads to a lightening counter...Sfakianakis finds Kousteris breaking through.  He makes no mistake.  1-1.  All to play for in the 54th.  Stoilas and Kousteris are off in the 60th.  Christos on, even though he hasn't fully recovered.  Come on, lad!  This is a meaningless FIFA ****-fest!  Get in there and bring us home a trophy!

But neither side can break through, so we're off to extra time.  A 96th minute free kick sees the Africans retake the lead, as Doumbia curls it over the wall and into the near post upper-v.  No keeper would've touched it.

We begin to press high up the pitch, increasing the tempo.  Bamba nearly puts the match out of reach, but Kandilidis makes a big save to keep us in the match.  We break on the ensuing corner, and barely miss the equalizer.  End to end stuff, on tired legs.

15 minutes to play.  We press and probe, but cannot finish our chances.  Lleshi misses by an inch in the 120th.  That has to be our final chance...no!  Christos is sprung through ... but the flag is up!

Moments later, the final whistle blows.  Cote d'Ivoire have won it.  A frustrating end, but an enjoyable trip to South Africa.

A precursor for next year?  Les Elephants have challenged for the World Cup before and, if I'm being honest (**** off, Ludwig), I'd love to see them become eligible.

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Edited by ManUtd1
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