[FM20] Manchester United: Falling Giant...

[BigV]

12 minutes ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Pogba was poor as a BBM in the '2', so much so that I may sell him this summer, he doesn't fit into a 4231 that well anyway it seems. Frustrating as in my test saves he done really well as a BBM in the 4231 but in my proper save he didn't do much at all, a few goals (one hattrick near the end of the season) and a few assists but didn't impress me really. I would like to get more goals out of Bruno in the AMC spot but not sure how. I may try him as a Treq but I don't like the fact that a Treq doesn't press as my tactic employs a high aggressive press. 

Better as a DLP/AP/RP/Mez, one thing i've looked into is putting CM's in DM spots and it's worked quite well in terms of stuff found in forums and personal testing. Segundo volante works great for his role if you put 2 DM's in. 

As for bruno, Engance. Personally tested better at pressing than a treq or you could go the AP route but ball hogging is somewhat of a tricky thing- read this article, kinda useful but doesnt mention AM unfotrtunately- https://www.thehighertempopress.com/2017/03/choose-best-player-role-number-10/

[Gee_Simpson]

45 minutes ago, BigV said:

Better as a DLP/AP/RP/Mez, one thing i've looked into is putting CM's in DM spots and it's worked quite well in terms of stuff found in forums and personal testing. Segundo volante works great for his role if you put 2 DM's in. 

As for bruno, Engance. Personally tested better at pressing than a treq or you could go the AP route but ball hogging is somewhat of a tricky thing- read this article, kinda useful but doesnt mention AM unfotrtunately- https://www.thehighertempopress.com/2017/03/choose-best-player-role-number-10/

I have considered the 2 DM's instead of 2 CM's but I don't think the DM version lends itself to a high press system because of their deeper position on the pitch?

I have actually read that AMC article before, but completely forgot about it until you linked it just now. Aren't the Treq and Enganche a ball magnet playmaker role too?

[Gee_Simpson]

On 17/06/2020 at 22:37, Chapman7 said:

The one player I have noticed that doesn't perform on the opposite side to his preferred is Pogba. If i play him as a MC on the right of a two man pairing he won't perform what ever you have him as or no matter the system.

Could this actually be a thing? Because I've nearly played through a whole season with him as a right sided BBM and he was pretty poor in all honesty. Now whether he suits BBM in a 4231 is another thing entirely but your experience of this has me questioning it now. I was told elsewhere on these forums that it definitely does not have an effect though, strange one. Who could we tag for an answer?

[Gee_Simpson]

@judyislife Yeah Nouri looks great. I was alerted to him after reading a thread in the good player section of the forums.  I may try for him this summer but thing is I disabled the first window and now with me nearly at the end of the first season they want mega bucks for him, just like every half decent left back in the game it seems My plan is to sell Shaw and have Williams compete with another LB.

Edited July 3, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[BigV]

2 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

I have considered the 2 DM's instead of 2 CM's but I don't think the DM version lends itself to a high press system because of their deeper position on the pitch?

I have actually read that AMC article before, but completely forgot about it until you linked it just now. Aren't the Treq and Enganche a ball magnet playmaker role too?

IRL yes but the match engine doesn't quite suit it. Think of CM's as both no.8 regardless of the role in a 4231 where as with DM's think of them as 6's. A more attacking role such as dlp/segundo will work with pressing, same goes for BWM, the rest not so much. Personally I think there is a fault with the system with the CM's or at least shown in the match engine but thats to be argued.

They are but not as much as AP. AP is like the focul point of the team, everything goes through them (reason why people say more than 1 playmaker is a "Bad idea") where as enganche makes more passes and is much more attacking, they are basically how we used bruno since he came to united, the prime creator. Treq is a role i dont know much about but they act like playmaking poachers, they just move around finding space, they play 1-2 passes, make riskier passes but it also distributes more passes to your wider players/strikers more so than AP. 

I've noticed that with an AP your passes for wide players is less than 30 in most cases where as with a treq/enganche hitting 40 ish on average depending on role aswell- IW more so than wngers and IF's 

[Gee_Simpson]

52 minutes ago, BigV said:

IRL yes but the match engine doesn't quite suit it. Think of CM's as both no.8 regardless of the role in a 4231 where as with DM's think of them as 6's. A more attacking role such as dlp/segundo will work with pressing, same goes for BWM, the rest not so much. Personally I think there is a fault with the system with the CM's or at least shown in the match engine but thats to be argued.

They are but not as much as AP. AP is like the focul point of the team, everything goes through them (reason why people say more than 1 playmaker is a "Bad idea") where as enganche makes more passes and is much more attacking, they are basically how we used bruno since he came to united, the prime creator. Treq is a role i dont know much about but they act like playmaking poachers, they just move around finding space, they play 1-2 passes, make riskier passes but it also distributes more passes to your wider players/strikers more so than AP. 

I've noticed that with an AP your passes for wide players is less than 30 in most cases where as with a treq/enganche hitting 40 ish on average depending on role aswell- IW more so than wngers and IF's 

I think I'm going to keep the 2 CM's where they are and for tougher games basically pull the wingers back to make a 4411. I think in tougher away games the 4231 isn't too solid but as a 4411 it should help me vs Liverpool and CIty away especially.

Table currently looks like this:

 

Ideally I want those losses down to around Liverpool's amount, but for the 1st season I think we've put up a good fight so far. We have Leicester and Crystal Palace both away for the last two games, Liverpool have Newcastle away and then Chelsea and Burnley at home. I'm hoping we can win our last two and Chelsea do us a favour. Out of our 5 defeats 4 were away from home, 3 against big sides in Arsenal (1-0), Liverpool (2-1) and City (2-0) with the other frustratingly against Brighton (1-0). At home we've been superb with only one defeat vs Wolves (0-1) and one draw vs Burnley (1-1). Frustratingly we were around 9 points ahead of Liverpool at one stage but then went through a patch of no wins in 5 games, including those two at home I just mentioned.

 

As for the AM, I may play around with various roles to see if I can get a better goal contribution from Bruno although he has just bagged a brace vs Southampton at home. That takes him to only 5 goals and 12 assists from 28 league games, not great tbh but his average rating in the league is 7.36 so he's playing well without having a direct affect so to speak, overall he has 8 goals and 13 assists from 30 games. Pogba has the exact same stats as Sedge's Pogba (6 goals, 3 assists) but mine is over a whole season lol. He only played 21 games in the league tbf because I feel it's a big risk playing him in a 4231 away from home or any game vs tough opposition. Again, a decent average rating of 7.27 whereas McTominay played there over 18 league games and only averaged 6.98 with 2 goals 0 assists.

 

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[BigV]

9 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

I think I'm going to keep the 2 CM's where they are and for tougher games basically pull the wingers back to make a 4411. I think in tougher away games the 4231 isn't too solid but as a 4411 it should help me vs Liverpool and CIty away especially.

Table currently looks like this:

 

Ideally I want those losses down to around Liverpool's amount, but for the 1st season I think we've put up a good fight so far. We have Leicester and Crystal Palace both away for the last two games, Liverpool have Newcastle away and then Chelsea and Burnley at home. I'm hoping we can win our last two and Chelsea do us a favour. Out of our 5 defeats 4 were away from home, 3 against big sides in Arsenal (1-0), Liverpool (2-1) and City (2-0) with the other frustratingly against Brighton (1-0). At home we've been superb with only one defeat vs Wolves (0-1) and one draw vs Burnley (1-1). Frustratingly we were around 9 points ahead of Liverpool at one stage but then went through a patch of no wins in 5 games, including those two at home I just mentioned.

 

As for the AM, I may play around with various roles to see if I can get a better goal contribution from Bruno although he has just bagged a brace vs Southampton at home. That takes him to only 5 goals and 12 assists from 28 league games, not great tbh but his average rating in the league is 7.36 so he's playing well without having a direct affect so to speak, overall he has 8 goals and 13 assists from 30 games. Pogba has the exact same stats as Sedge's Pogba (6 goals, 3 assists) but mine is over a whole season lol. He only played 21 games in the league tbf because I feel it's a big risk playing him in a 4231 away from home or any game vs tough opposition. Again, a decent average rating of 7.27 whereas McTominay played there over 18 league games and only averaged 6.98 with 2 goals 0 assists.

 

 

You've certainly done well given that you're in the phases of tweaking/wanting more from both players, makes sense for 4411, compact and very useful on counter i'd say.

Go for it, any of the other roles apart from AM/AP you'll see a drop in effort to get back, might be useful to use those in smaller games and then use the likes of AM/AP in bigger games, i've had problems to with 4231 even while moving the CM's to DM's reason i gave up for fm20. You dont get alot of CM action that helps with goals or assists unless they're long shotting or passing at edge of the area/set peices which is kinda strange compared to IRL. As for big games with pogba, his long shots with another role, maybe try mezz if your team is strong enough may add some width and its quite an OP role for assists and goals 

[Spiegel]

Lost one league game over the last three seasons (fifth season in charge). 
I'd say the league is getting easy, but Liverpool are still finishing within a couple of points of me! :')

[Gee_Simpson]

Well, end of the 1st season, we were top with 36 games played, 2 points ahead of Liverpool, but they had a game in hand. Our last two were Leicester away and Crystal Palace away. Liverpool had Newcastle away, Chelsea home and Burnley home. So it was in their hands, pretty frustrating given I was around 9 points ahead of them at one stage.

Final table looked like this:

I was hoping for Chelsea to do us a favour, but somehow it was Newcastle who had been poor for most of the season! They also only survived relegation by one point so for them to beat Liverpool was fantastic, Liverpool beat both Chelsea and Burnley, so we won the league by 2 points. We deserved it tbh, we were top for most of the season, but lost it in the 2nd half for a while.

Our efforts in the other competitions was really poor though, but I was only focused on the league this season. My target was top 4 so to win it was brilliant.

Greenwood had a great season, our top goalscorer with 28 goals in 31 games across all competitions and 21 in 26 in the league. He was the top goalscorer in the League which was great.

My target for next season is to win the league again, but also to do better in the other cup competitions. I will be strengthening, I'm not sure if it's worth keeping James/Lingard/Pereira as I don't think they have enough quality to compete across all comps. Already have a really good deal for Everton from Gremio, he requested a transfer so he only cost me £18.5m, and I can confirm a £20m deal for Sebastiano Esposito but I'm in two minds about it. Not sure if I should sign him as backup to Greenwood or bring in a top striker like Haaland or Martinez, or possibly a halfway option with someone like Belotti? I'm considering letting Pogba go but not sure who would replace him.

 

Edited July 5, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Spiegel]

31 minutes ago, Gee_Simpson said:

My target for next season is to win the league again, but also to do better in the other cup competitions. I will be strengthening, I'm not sure if it's worth keeping James/Lingard/Pereira as I don't think they have enough quality to compete across all comps. Already have a really good deal for Everton from Gremio, he requested a transfer so he only cost me £18.5m, and I can confirm a £20m deal for Sebastiano Esposito but I'm in two minds about it. Not sure if I should sign him as backup to Greenwood or bring in a top striker like Haaland or Martinez, or possibly a halfway option with someone like Belotti? I'm considering letting Pogba go but not sure who would replace him.

Great opening season! 

I let both Lingard and Pereira go. Pereira was okay, but I got decent money for him and had better players. Lingard did nothing for me. 
James, on the other hand, has been excellent for me, his pace is a nightmare for defenders and he pops up with key goals all the time. I use him and Rashford as rotation options behind my main three of Greenwood, Sancho and Kane. 
Everton is a cracking signing at that price.

Greenwood makes for an excellent centre forward, even early in the game. I brought in a top striker (Kane), and while Greenwood typically starts as a right winger for me, I move him into the middle when Kane's out. Of your big name options, Haaland's consistently been effective everywhere I've seen him (though I've not managed him). 

Can you get hold of Jude Bellingham? He's become my Pogba successor (though I do still have Pogba :') )

[Gee_Simpson]

28 minutes ago, Spiegel said:

Great opening season! 

I let both Lingard and Pereira go. Pereira was okay, but I got decent money for him and had better players. Lingard did nothing for me. 
James, on the other hand, has been excellent for me, his pace is a nightmare for defenders and he pops up with key goals all the time. I use him and Rashford as rotation options behind my main three of Greenwood, Sancho and Kane. 
Everton is a cracking signing at that price.

Greenwood makes for an excellent centre forward, even early in the game. I brought in a top striker (Kane), and while Greenwood typically starts as a right winger for me, I move him into the middle when Kane's out. Of your big name options, Haaland's consistently been effective everywhere I've seen him (though I've not managed him). 

Can you get hold of Jude Bellingham? He's become my Pogba successor (though I do still have Pogba :') )

Cheers.

Yeah I'm definitely letting those first two go, although Pereira can have some brilliant games and scores some really good goals, but he's very inconsistent (says so in his report too), so he'll not be staying. Lingard didn't do anything for me either. James on the other hand contributed well but I don't think he has the quality to bother the top teams, although he really does give some smaller sides a torrid time, so I may keep him purely for his pace. I plan to bring in Sancho in addition to Everton though so James will find it very tough to get a look in, especially if I move Martial to the wing too. On second thoughts maybe I should sell Martial actually as he doesn't get a game ahead of Greenwood up top, and he doesn't get in ahead of Rashford either. I'm not a fan of his 10 determination tbh and I think he's one of the reasons the players in my squad are having determination drops as he's the only highly influential player that has low determination in the squad. He is a good player though so I have a tough decision to make on him.

I actually brought in Bellingham in the January window for 22.5m so I'm hoping he turns out well. I spent unnecessarily in January after having the summer window disabled. I brought in another two young wingers who look excellent but as I said I don't think they were needed. They both look great though and maybe not the usual options people go for.  I also brought in three young CB's, again they were not needed, and I'm not sure why I went for three of them, so I'm actually considering selling one or two of them this summer I'm really bad for bringing in too many players when they aren't needed tbh, especially with the funds you get at Utd

Here are the 5 youngsters excluding Bellingham as he's going nowhere obviously. Out of the three CB's, It will probably be Gvardiol that I keep as he was my 1st choice and I've read about him, he does have big potential coming from Dinamo Zagreb. Oh, and I also brought in Nohan Kenneh for 800k and a cheap young striker who won't make it here but will be useful for the under 23's. I also signed Darren Fletcher from Qarabag for 40k Purely for his personality, he will never get a game, maybe he'll get one game before retirement.

 

 

[Gee_Simpson]

[Gee_Simpson]

[Spiegel]

28 minutes ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Cheers.

Yeah I'm definitely letting those first two go, although Pereira can have some brilliant games and scores some really good goals, but he's very inconsistent (says so in his report too), so he'll not be staying. Lingard didn't do anything for me either. James on the other hand contributed well but I don't think he has the quality to bother the top teams, although he really does give some smaller sides a torrid time, so I may keep him purely for his pace. I plan to bring in Sancho in addition to Everton though so James will find it very tough to get a look in, especially if I move Martial to the wing too. On second thoughts maybe I should sell Martial actually as he doesn't get a game ahead of Greenwood up top, and he doesn't get in ahead of Rashford either. I'm not a fan of his 10 determination tbh and I think he's one of the reasons the players in my squad are having determination drops as he's the only highly influential player that has low determination in the squad. He is a good player though so I have a tough decision to make on him.

I actually brought in Bellingham in the January window for 22.5m so I'm hoping he turns out well. I spent unnecessarily in January after having the summer window disabled. I brought in another two young wingers who look excellent but as I said I don't think they were needed. They both look great though and maybe not the usual options people go for.  I also brought in three young CB's, again they were not needed, and I'm not sure why I went for three of them, so I'm actually considering selling one or two of them this summer I'm really bad for bringing in too many players when they aren't needed tbh, especially with the funds you get at Utd

Here are the 5 youngsters excluding Bellingham as he's going nowhere obviously. Out of the three CB's, It will probably be Gvardiol that I keep as he was my 1st choice and I've read about him, he does have big potential coming from Dinamo Zagreb. Oh, and I also brought in Nohan Kenneh for 800k and a cheap young striker who won't make it here but will be useful for the under 23's. I also signed Darren Fletcher from Qarabag for 40k Purely for his personality, he will never get a game, maybe he'll get one game before retirement.

I found similar with Pereira, there were games where he was like a prime Beckham, then others...not so much. I sold Martial to Norwich, he got a bad injury then never made it back into the squad - he's seemingly over it now though as he's PSG's starting striker now! :')

Bellingham's been an animal for me, coaches rate him on the same level as Pogba and a Ballon D'or winning Eriksen. Kenneh's in my squad also, he was just about my starting DM before my new chairman signed Frenkie De Jong. I don't plan on keeping De Jong around for too long, though I'm hoping I can pass on his personality and some PPMs before moving him. Fletcher was in my first season squad, before moving into my coaching staff and eventually onto management at Ipswich. 

Gvardiol looks really promising. Can't say I've heard of him!

 

 

[Gee_Simpson]

36 minutes ago, Spiegel said:

I found similar with Pereira, there were games where he was like a prime Beckham, then others...not so much. I sold Martial to Norwich, he got a bad injury then never made it back into the squad - he's seemingly over it now though as he's PSG's starting striker now! :')

Bellingham's been an animal for me, coaches rate him on the same level as Pogba and a Ballon D'or winning Eriksen. Kenneh's in my squad also, he was just about my starting DM before my new chairman signed Frenkie De Jong. I don't plan on keeping De Jong around for too long, though I'm hoping I can pass on his personality and some PPMs before moving him. Fletcher was in my first season squad, before moving into my coaching staff and eventually onto management at Ipswich. 

Gvardiol looks really promising. Can't say I've heard of him!

 

 

I feel exactly the same as you, Pereira was on fire in some games but then other games he was ineffective. I'm considering keeping Martial purely based on his irl performances but I'm not sure if he's worth keeping as a backup left winger and a backup striker. Greenwood is already better and I prefer Rashford at left wing, so he would be an expensive backup. Everton is just as good imo and he's only on 70k a week which I think is cheap. Maybe I'll stick with him for another season but I'm seriously tempted to sacrifice him for Haaland or Lautaro Martinez. Esposito can turn out crazy good, but would probably be one of those unnecessary signings again if I go through with it for 20m.

I'm looking forward to giving Bellingham more games, but not sure if he's ready yet. I'll probably keep training him until he's 18 then give him games when game time matters more. Gvardiol only cost me 8.5m which I thought was quite cheap, he'll be getting a few games this season I would imagine. I loaned him out straight away when he was 17 to Forest and he was excellent for them. They managed to reach the playoff final but lost to Leeds 1-0 and unfortunately Gvardiol missed it due to being injured. Quaresma cost me 12.5m and Badiashile only cost 5m, but I'll probably move them both on. 

Edited July 5, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[sedge11]

Right so the summer and my 1st transfer window is done and season 2 is underway.

Here are my transfers.

Plenty of outs, Smalling was one I was going to keep, but I felt at 30 and that fact the club as whole are trying to move on and move forward I decided to sell. Sanchez was tough to sell, even though I had got him on a reduced contract, and even though I'm still paying 80k of his wages I'm glad to be shot of him.

I didn't buy as many as I thought. Bailey is a player I really like IRL and on the game, I tend to buy him at least once on any save during each fm edition, I hadn't brought him yet this year and as I didn't want Sancho he was the perfect alternative.

Grealish comes in as back up to Bruno and Pogba, and Onguéné is a player I took notice on my Lazio save, Inter had signed him and he developed into abit of a beast, so although its not the top class cb I was going to aim for, I feel I have someone who will be in the future.

In other transfer news look at this deal.

205 mil for De Bruyne, never seen a deal that big on the game, and rather surprisingly City haven't really spent that money or replaced him.

These are the formations I shall be using for the coming seasons.

 

We have started well, winning 4 out of 4 in the league scoring 13 goals in the process. We did however lose the super cup to Barca, but I weren't that interested in that.

[Gee_Simpson]

After reading through @Powello's comments regarding Pogba, I may give him another chance this season. You said he played well as a BBM for you right? he plays there in my 4231 but didn't do much for me last season. He got 6 goals and 4 assists in 23 games.

Edited July 5, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Gee_Simpson]

Anyone recommend Sebastiano Esposito? I can sign him now for 20m, I have been asked to confirm it but can delay for a week.

Edited July 5, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[sedge11]

6 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Anyone recommend Sebastiano Esposito? I can sign him now for 20m, I have been asked to confirm it but can delay for a week.

I’ve not personally used him, but I’ve seen a lot people do and he seems to be very good, and develops well so 20 mil is a good deal.

[Gee_Simpson]

I confirmed Esposito for £20m, couldn't turn that down. That means Greenwood stays as number 1 striker with Martial 2nd choice, Esposito 3rd choice. I'm not going for Haaland or Martinez for now, maybe even not at all if Esposito develops well enough.

Edited July 6, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[FifaBing]

10 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

I confirmed Esposito for £20m, couldn't turn that down. That means Greenwood stays as number 1 striker with Martial 2nd choice, Esposito 3rd choice. I'm not going for Haaland or Martinez for now, maybe even not at all if Esposito develops well enough.

Do any of you pay for some transfers in instalments? Considering it for one or two potential signings so I can afford them now.

Esposito looks immense in my save. I'm going into my 3rd season right now, and I signed him after the first season for 12M, with some add ons, and he was loaned out last year to Bristol City. He led the Championship in goals with 27, and got Bristol City into the Prem. I extended his loan for a second season due to Bristol City now being in the Prem and I want him to get that crucial playing time at this level. Plus I don't have room for him yet as I have Lautaro and Cavani who I got for free as my strikers at moment. Cavani will most likely be gone after this season which will give Sebastiano more time. 

[stevemc]

Sebastiano Esposito is incredible:

[Gee_Simpson]

Okay so forgive me, I haven't played a proper save before this since FM13, so I'm very rusty when it comes to the transfer market.

Here's the situation.. For some reason I decided to wait until the summer window before signing anyone for season 2, well apart from Everton who I agreed to sign for 18.5m.

I went into the window knowing I definitely wanted to sign Ruben Dias, but unfortunately Spurs beat me to making an offer for him first. So I matched their offer for his 52m release clause and offered him 205k p/w but his agent told me his preferred choice was Spurs (why?!). I then panicked and reloaded (never done this during a save before) without seeing who he chose. I found if I bid before the start of June I could get him without Spurs making an offer. I felt bad about this so got into a stupid cycle of reloading. I decided I would give Spurs a chance to offer him a deal like the very first time, but then I would also offer him a deal like I did originally, and finally see who he chose, he chose Spurs I kept offering him more money yet no matter what I offered, (375k p/w!), he would always choose Spurs. 

I've considered  just going for it and signing him before June and continue on, but not sure if I can now. Also, because I progressed far enough to see who he picked, two of my other targets (Tonali and Florentino Luis) received offers from Man City and Liverpool respectively. Now I feel either way I must wait and let them make offers for both and I will also offer them deals like I would have, and see which team they both pick. 

Thoughts? 

Edited July 6, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Gungner]

1 hour ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Okay so forgive me, I haven't played a proper save before this since FM13, so I'm very rusty when it comes to the transfer market.

Here's the situation.. For some reason I decided to wait until the summer window before signing anyone for season 2, well apart from Everton who I agreed to sign for 18.5m.

I went into the window knowing I definitely wanted to sign Ruben Dias, but unfortunately Spurs beat me to making an offer for him first. So I matched their offer for his 52m release clause and offered him 205k p/w but his agent told me his preferred choice was Spurs (why?!). I then panicked and reloaded (never done this during a save before) without seeing who he chose. I found if I bid before the start of June I could get him without Spurs making an offer. I felt bad about this so got into a stupid cycle of reloading. I decided I would give Spurs a chance to offer him a deal like the very first time, but then I would also offer him a deal like I did originally, and finally see who he chose, he chose Spurs I kept offering him more money yet no matter what I offered, (375k p/w!), he would always choose Spurs. 

I've considered  just going for it and signing him before June and continue on, but not sure if I can now. Also, because I progressed far enough to see who he picked, two of my other targets (Tonali and Florentino Luis) received offers from Man City and Liverpool respectively. Now I feel either way I must wait and let them make offers for both and I will also offer them deals like I would have, and see which team they both pick. 

Thoughts? 

I've always found that saving and reloading is cheating, but that's just me personally. 

It's your game, so you're clear to do whatever you want  

[Gee_Simpson]

52 minutes ago, Gungner said:

I've always found that saving and reloading is cheating, but that's just me personally. 

It's your game, so you're clear to do whatever you want  

Yeah I can't bring myself to do it  There's plenty more fish in the sea, lol. I really wanted Dias but maybe I'll try for someone like Ben Godfrey instead, he looks insane already after 1 season at Norwich. Todibo and Upamecano are also long term options but probably not in this window.

Edited July 6, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[stevemc]

39 minutes ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Yeah I can't bring myself to do it  There's plenty more fish in the sea, lol. I really wanted Dias but maybe I'll try for someone like Ben Godfrey instead, he looks insane already after 1 season at Norwich. Todibo and Upamecano are also long term options but probably not in this window.

Try Declan Rice or Matthijs de Ligt too.

[Gee_Simpson]

2 minutes ago, stevemc said:

Try Declan Rice or Matthijs de Ligt too.

Cheers, I'll keep an eye out 

[BigV]

2 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Okay so forgive me, I haven't played a proper save before this since FM13, so I'm very rusty when it comes to the transfer market.

Here's the situation.. For some reason I decided to wait until the summer window before signing anyone for season 2, well apart from Everton who I agreed to sign for 18.5m.

I went into the window knowing I definitely wanted to sign Ruben Dias, but unfortunately Spurs beat me to making an offer for him first. So I matched their offer for his 52m release clause and offered him 205k p/w but his agent told me his preferred choice was Spurs (why?!). I then panicked and reloaded (never done this during a save before) without seeing who he chose. I found if I bid before the start of June I could get him without Spurs making an offer. I felt bad about this so got into a stupid cycle of reloading. I decided I would give Spurs a chance to offer him a deal like the very first time, but then I would also offer him a deal like I did originally, and finally see who he chose, he chose Spurs I kept offering him more money yet no matter what I offered, (375k p/w!), he would always choose Spurs. 

I've considered  just going for it and signing him before June and continue on, but not sure if I can now. Also, because I progressed far enough to see who he picked, two of my other targets (Tonali and Florentino Luis) received offers from Man City and Liverpool respectively. Now I feel either way I must wait and let them make offers for both and I will also offer them deals like I would have, and see which team they both pick. 

Thoughts? 

Save reloading is up to you, personally i've done it before many a times in past versions, recently done it with lozano and my god what a decision that was xD

Up to you really, not good nor bad if you do it or not 

[Gee_Simpson]

5 hours ago, BigV said:

Save reloading is up to you, personally i've done it before many a times in past versions, recently done it with lozano and my god what a decision that was xD

Up to you really, not good nor bad if you do it or not 

Haha, it's tempting but I don't think I could do it

Just messed up when offering Tonali a contract, hs agent rejected me and I tried to renegotiate, but he wouldn't talk. That's him off to City so another one gone He preferred us over them too,

Edited July 7, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[BigV]

10 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Haha, it's tempting but I don't think I could do it

Just messed up when offering Tonali a contract, hs agent rejected me and I tried to renegotiate, but he wouldn't talk. That's him off to City so another one gone He preferred us over them too,

Oooofffff allthe more reason to use it next time  lil snake, you need players who want to play for united 

[Gee_Simpson]

2 hours ago, BigV said:

Oooofffff allthe more reason to use it next time  lil snake, you need players who want to play for united 

Haha, I think it's more down to the fact I'm a tight fisted so and so and try to save on wages as much as I can  I've decided I don't need him anyway, I prefer Camavinga. 

I'm considering signing a DOF who handles the contracts for me and also can actively move on players I don't want. For those of you who use one, are they effective? 

[Gee_Simpson]

PSG offered me 201m for Pogba

I rejected it 

[Gee_Simpson]

I'll be accepting if they come back in with that offer. Has anyone ever received a 200+m bid before? 

Edited July 7, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[john1]

2 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

PSG offered me 201m for Pogba

I rejected it 

How can you turn that down?!  

[Gee_Simpson]

2 minutes ago, john1 said:

How can you turn that down?!  

Yeah I know, silly. I will accept if they offer it again. 

[john1]

1 minute ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Yeah I know, silly. I will accept if they offer it again. 

Crazy  But I would be surprised if they did!

[Gee_Simpson]

4 minutes ago, john1 said:

Crazy  But I would be surprised if they did!

Yeah that was their 3rd or 4th offer, lol. I think they started at 80+ and eventually offered 201 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Pogba probably would of rejected it anyway. 

The amount of times I have had silly offers for my players the player usually rejects the deal if I accept.

[FifaBing]

200M?! I've only gotten them to a max of about 120M. Crazy to turn down 200M. 

[Gee_Simpson]

4 hours ago, FifaBing said:

200M?! I've only gotten them to a max of about 120M. Crazy to turn down 200M. 

I wonder if they'll accept if I offer him out for 200m? Does this upset a player without transfer listing them? 

[jackripper]

Am I the only one that managed to keep pogba happy? Currently in 2025 and he just signed a new 4 year contract.

[Spiegel]

9 hours ago, jackripper said:

Am I the only one that managed to keep pogba happy? Currently in 2025 and he just signed a new 4 year contract.

He's still with me five seasons in. Turned down £120-ish million for him in season 1. 
Been no bother!

[Gee_Simpson]

31 minutes ago, Spiegel said:

Turned down £120-ish million for him in season 1.

Not as much as 201m, lol, but at least I don't feel like the only one who rejected a big bid for him  I know 201m is loads but the cash you get to spend at Man Utd is crazy anyways, even without having to sell Pogba. He didn't have a good 1st season for me tbh but I wanted to give him a 2nd chance as he clearly has amazing attributes. I have been told from various people that he's not good enough defensively to play as part of the '2' in a 4231 but that's why I bought the brilliant defensively Florentino Luis for the big games against Liverpool, City, Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal. Pogba will play against the rest I would imagine as a BBM. Luis will play as either a BBM or more likely a BWM (s). 

I ended up going for Sebastiano Esposito, as I have read only positive reviews of him, and £20m seems a steal. He looks insane in @stevemc's screenshot. Who would you say is better out of the two, Esposito or Haaland @stevemc? I have decided to loan him out to Aston Villa with the option for him to be recalled if needed. I brought in Andrea Belotti for £28m as a stop gap for a few seasons, I like him, very solid striker and he's always pretty cheap. His model citizen personality is a bonus, he'll also be used to mentor Greenwood and Esposito.

I'm considering letting Fred go but tbh he was really decent for me last season, does anyone still have him around? I use him as a DLP (d) but his attributes probably lend himself to more of a BBM so he can easily cover both positions in my 4231, but with Garner at DLP (d) now Prem quality I may let him go. I can't see Fred getting in ahead of Pogba or Florentino at BBM. I'm targeting another DLP if I sell Fred, I missed out on Tonali but tbh apart from dribbling and flair, he's not really that much better than Garner. I'm looking at Kristoffer Ajer from Celtic as he looks excellent for the role and can also play CB comfortably. 

Edited July 9, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[sedge11]

15 hours ago, jackripper said:

Am I the only one that managed to keep pogba happy? Currently in 2025 and he just signed a new 4 year contract.

I got him to sign a new deal after the 1st season.

I sold him in my previous save once I had brought Bruno, but the Bruno Pogba duo was too hard to resist this time round.

[Gungner]

So, starting up with Man Utd, which signings would you recommend for the first season?

Is anyone really needed?

[jackripper]

I would say a right winger (Sancho if possible) and a centre back i would recommend dias/upayacamo or however you spell it

[Spiegel]

5 hours ago, Gungner said:

So, starting up with Man Utd, which signings would you recommend for the first season?

Is anyone really needed?

Personally didn't make any big signings in the first season, think it was Darren Fletcher on a free and Jude Bellingham on the cheap. Eriksen was brought in in January, but if you're on the latest version he'll be at Inter and you'll have Bruno anyway. 

Looking back, my thought on positions at the start would be; 

GK - No issues, Romero's an excellent backup to De Gea and you have Henderson coming back from loan. 
RB - No issues, Wan Bissaka, Laird, Williams and Dalot are all promising. 5 seasons in, Laird and Williams are my pair - Wan Bissaka was only sold as he didn't quite recover from a bad injury.
LB - Shaw is good, but injury prone. Williams is promising, but right footed. Not a critical position to improve, but would look to replace Shaw long term. 
CB - No issues imo. Maguire, Tuanzebe and Lindelof can be your main centre-backs for years. Could lose some of the fat (Rojo, Jones, Smalling) and perhaps add younger left-sided CB to back up Maguire. Nohan Kenneh is a good option who can also play CM. 
DM - I love McTominay on this game, but know a few in here don't particularly rate him. He's not the greatest playmaker, but as a pure ball winner he's unmatched for me. Would try and develop Garner as backup - depends on his PA though.
MC - Bruno and Pogba are obviously excellent. Backup options need looking at - Fred, Mata, Perreira are all serviceable but should be replaced long term.
RW - I initially bought Sancho at the start of my second season to play here, but he's ended up being my starting LW. Greenwood is now my first choice RW. I love Dan James as a squad rotation option on both flanks.
LW - Rashford and Martial are both very good. 
ST - Part of me says go for it in just start Mason here. I think he got like 25 goals for me in season 1 and know he's put similar numbers up for @Gee_Simpson. 

In short, targets would look something like; 

LB - Long term starter. I wouldn't make this move in the first season though as there's other positions that can be looked at. 
CB - Left sided back up to Maguire. I've used Nathan Aké (Bournemouth) and Nohan Kenneh here and both are excellent. Both great DMs who can back up/rotate with McTominay also.
MC - Back up midfield option. Only should you decide to move on Fred, Mata, Perreira straight away. Would definitely look to bring Fletcher and Bellingham in again. 
WF - I'd probably go for Sancho again, given the option. 

[Zeonflux]

5 minutes ago, Spiegel said:

Personally didn't make any big signings in the first season, think it was Darren Fletcher on a free and Jude Bellingham on the cheap. Eriksen was brought in in January, but if you're on the latest version he'll be at Inter and you'll have Bruno anyway. 

Looking back, my thought on positions at the start would be; 

GK - No issues, Romero's an excellent backup to De Gea and you have Henderson coming back from loan. 
RB - No issues, Wan Bissaka, Laird, Williams and Dalot are all promising. 5 seasons in, Laird and Williams are my pair - Wan Bissaka was only sold as he didn't quite recover from a bad injury.
LB - Shaw is good, but injury prone. Williams is promising, but right footed. Not a critical position to improve, but would look to replace Shaw long term. 
CB - No issues imo. Maguire, Tuanzebe and Lindelof can be your main centre-backs for years. Could lose some of the fat (Rojo, Jones, Smalling) and perhaps add younger left-sided CB to back up Maguire. Nohan Kenneh is a good option who can also play CM. 
DM - I love McTominay on this game, but know a few in here don't particularly rate him. He's not the greatest playmaker, but as a pure ball winner he's unmatched for me. Would try and develop Garner as backup - depends on his PA though.
MC - Bruno and Pogba are obviously excellent. Backup options need looking at - Fred, Mata, Perreira are all serviceable but should be replaced long term.
RW - I initially bought Sancho at the start of my second season to play here, but he's ended up being my starting LW. Greenwood is now my first choice RW. I love Dan James as a squad rotation option on both flanks.
LW - Rashford and Martial are both very good. 
ST - Part of me says go for it in just start Mason here. I think he got like 25 goals for me in season 1 and know he's put similar numbers up for @Gee_Simpson. 

In short, targets would look something like; 

LB - Long term starter. I wouldn't make this move in the first season though as there's other positions that can be looked at. 
CB - Left sided back up to Maguire. I've used Nathan Aké (Bournemouth) and Nohan Kenneh here and both are excellent. Both great DMs who can back up/rotate with McTominay also.
MC - Back up midfield option. Only should you decide to move on Fred, Mata, Perreira straight away. Would definitely look to bring Fletcher and Bellingham in again. 
WF - I'd probably go for Sancho again, given the option. 

I’d agree with pretty much everything you’ve said to be honest.

Garner has become a starter for me so much so that I sold Frenkie De Jong and Pogba to fit him in.

I brought Florentino Luis as a DM/defensive CM and he’s been amazing, he’s my rotation with McTominay.

Bellingham is just a must, he’s played great for me in every position I’ve played him (LW,RW,AMC,CM)

id possibly go a slightly different route to you in terms of RW and ST though. I brought in Haaland for the ST and Sancho for RW and Haaland has been great, Sancho not so much. Personally if I started my save again I’d get Haaland in and just use Greenwood at RW with Dan James as back up and then have Rashy and Tony on the left

[Spiegel]

13 minutes ago, Zeonflux said:

I’d agree with pretty much everything you’ve said to be honest.

Garner has become a starter for me so much so that I sold Frenkie De Jong and Pogba to fit him in.

I brought Florentino Luis as a DM/defensive CM and he’s been amazing, he’s my rotation with McTominay.

Bellingham is just a must, he’s played great for me in every position I’ve played him (LW,RW,AMC,CM)

id possibly go a slightly different route to you in terms of RW and ST though. I brought in Haaland for the ST and Sancho for RW and Haaland has been great, Sancho not so much. Personally if I started my save again I’d get Haaland in and just use Greenwood at RW with Dan James as back up and then have Rashy and Tony on the left

Garner has the core attributes, but don't think he had a high PA on my save (I imagine it's a minus number). If he does, I imagine he'd be a great option. 

Luis is at Spurs on mine, and is one of the best midfielders in the league tbf. I went with Aké due to the number of positions he can fill.

Bellingham's CA is on par with Pogba and Eriksen on my save now. Ridiculous player. 

Haaland is a great shout. I recall he wanted stupid wages on my game, so I eventually went with Kane as the big name striker - mainly why Greenwood eventually moved to the wing (though I imagine he'll replace Kane long term).
I do find that wingers are quite inconsistent on this version of the game, but Sancho's been one of the best I've used upto now. Typically comes away with 10 goals & 15 assists a season without set-pieces.

Edited July 11, 2020 by Spiegel

[Gungner]

34 minutes ago, Spiegel said:

Personally didn't make any big signings in the first season, think it was Darren Fletcher on a free and Jude Bellingham on the cheap. Eriksen was brought in in January, but if you're on the latest version he'll be at Inter and you'll have Bruno anyway. 

Looking back, my thought on positions at the start would be; 

GK - No issues, Romero's an excellent backup to De Gea and you have Henderson coming back from loan. 
RB - No issues, Wan Bissaka, Laird, Williams and Dalot are all promising. 5 seasons in, Laird and Williams are my pair - Wan Bissaka was only sold as he didn't quite recover from a bad injury.
LB - Shaw is good, but injury prone. Williams is promising, but right footed. Not a critical position to improve, but would look to replace Shaw long term. 
CB - No issues imo. Maguire, Tuanzebe and Lindelof can be your main centre-backs for years. Could lose some of the fat (Rojo, Jones, Smalling) and perhaps add younger left-sided CB to back up Maguire. Nohan Kenneh is a good option who can also play CM. 
DM - I love McTominay on this game, but know a few in here don't particularly rate him. He's not the greatest playmaker, but as a pure ball winner he's unmatched for me. Would try and develop Garner as backup - depends on his PA though.
MC - Bruno and Pogba are obviously excellent. Backup options need looking at - Fred, Mata, Perreira are all serviceable but should be replaced long term.
RW - I initially bought Sancho at the start of my second season to play here, but he's ended up being my starting LW. Greenwood is now my first choice RW. I love Dan James as a squad rotation option on both flanks.
LW - Rashford and Martial are both very good. 
ST - Part of me says go for it in just start Mason here. I think he got like 25 goals for me in season 1 and know he's put similar numbers up for @Gee_Simpson. 

In short, targets would look something like; 

LB - Long term starter. I wouldn't make this move in the first season though as there's other positions that can be looked at. 
CB - Left sided back up to Maguire. I've used Nathan Aké (Bournemouth) and Nohan Kenneh here and both are excellent. Both great DMs who can back up/rotate with McTominay also.
MC - Back up midfield option. Only should you decide to move on Fred, Mata, Perreira straight away. Would definitely look to bring Fletcher and Bellingham in again. 
WF - I'd probably go for Sancho again, given the option. 

Thanks for the very in-dept analyse, means a lot!