[FM20] Manchester United: Falling Giant...

[Gee_Simpson]

Hmm... not sure whether to set Bellingham for a future transfer to Dortmund or not bother and sign him myself. I did have him in my save before I deleted it, kinda regret deleting that save now.

[Chapman7]

13 hours ago, Sherkey said:

I wouldn't. As United, you don't really need the money, and Pogba is Home Grown at Club, and genuinely WC. Depends on which year, though. For me, I didn't even consider until the fourth year, and even now, in 24-25, he is still bossing the midfield.

Is there a way of getting him to stay? He's not made it known to wanting to leave but it's common he requests to leave so was just preparing a shortlist if needs be 

 

[Gee_Simpson]

I've done a u-turn on my potential tactic choice for my new save.

I have gone back to my 4231 but with the help of Rashidi, I have tweaked a few things that has improved the tactic. Looking forward to getting up and running.

It seems I'm obsessed with my striker scoring the most goals lol, I just love it too much, so I'm hoping to get Greenwood firing again. Went from the complete opposite in a F9 then back to a PF or CF (A)

Edited July 22, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Sherkey]

8 hours ago, Chapman7 said:

Is there a way of getting him to stay? He's not made it known to wanting to leave but it's common he requests to leave so was just preparing a shortlist if needs be 

 

If he is unhappy after a bid, and there is a long while left on his contract - just let it be. Continue playing him, and he will eventually get over it once the teams lose interest (after the window).

If he doesn't have long left on his contract, then just offer him a new contract before the bids come in, that should help remove interest. If he doesn't want a new contract, then it's a bit of a sticky wicket, considering everything. Then, maybe you want to sell.

Generally, if you are influential enough (and have improved the club enough) and are among his important people, just telling him you can't afford to lose him (with him being influential) is enough to calm him down.

Sometimes, if I know a bid is coming my way, then I just offer the player out at exorbitant fees. This generally tends to dissuade the interested clubs, and generally, I remove the player from the transfer list a day or so later. And a month later, offer them a new contract. (Mind you, this can be hit and miss, and is generally not that advisable).

[Gee_Simpson]

I just signed him up to a new 4 year contract 1st season, probably should have just extended it by one year and then offered him one afterwards.

[Spiegel]

I've had no issues keeping hold of Pogba to be honest. Turned down Barcelona's bid at the end of the first season, and they immediately stopped being interested in him. :')

He's turned 30 now, and is still excellent. Typically plays the MEZ(S) alongside Bellingham, or will play DLP(S) alongside Eriksen. 

[sirmikey]

Has anyone else entered season 2 with ridiculous ambition from the board? First season I won the league, fa cup and europa league but my target for the league in the second season... top half finish! 

Is this a bug or do my board really not rate our chances of doing so well again? 

[MatthewS17]

So, like many, I've made my return to FM by starting again. What a strange season it was, with me chopping and changing the midfield and wide roles trying to get the absolute best out of my team. I only settled on a consistent starting roles after 2/3 of the season has been completed, gaining more confidence in my tactics after heavily parking a planet in the big games early in the season. The only signing being Donny Van De Beek in January, the first season was a little heartbreaking.

We were 2nd on the last day. But Liverpool drew 1-1 with Wolves(Damn, I love watching Wolves play the big teams), and I had to win by 2 away against West Ham. Unfortunately, at the end of the season, I'd begun conceding a lot of goals in the last 6 games or so. They included a 2-2 draw away to Leipzig in the Europa League, an incredible 4-3 win over Newcastle who were fighting their last hope at survival with Greenwood hitting a hat trick from RW, a 3-2 loss to Liverpool which ultimately probably cost us the title. In my final game, I got dominated by West Ham and fell behind 2-0 early on, but a second half blitz meant I won 3-2, thanks to Greenwood, Rashford and Martial. It was a shocking result, as one more goal would probably have given us the title on the absolute bare minimum. There's also a lot to be said about our taking of chances as Man United's conversion rate for the season was 9%. Nine bloody percent! That is shocking!

I ended up winning the Europa and Carabao Cup, but that League loss really hurts. I wasn't expecting to be competing, especially with my early bus tactics and experimentation, but falters from Liverpool and especially City(who broke ahead early) game me first place for a long duration of the season. Ultimately, Liverpool held on, and their victory really knocked me over. Losing to THEM of all clubs makes it so much worse. 

Interestingly enough, even though he finished 3rd and won the FA Cup, Pep was sacked by City.

Transfer Window is going to be interesting. With Dan James and Chong being hopelessly hopeless all season, and me wanting to emphasise that Greenwood is a CF and not a winger in the coming seasons, I'm looking for 2 new RWs. One as a backup, and one as the first choice.

It may sound like blasphemy, but Riyad Mahrez was a player I had hoped we'd signed in reality when he was back at Leicester and I've always been a massive fan. He's available for 30m and would be a fantastic backup, but the City link is a problem, as I would have liked a loan to buy. He's quick, creative, left-footed and a natural RW, but also City are being douchebags over his fee, so I'm out of luck probably. Serves me right? If anyone has any suggestions for a quality, creative, left-footed RW that offers a good backup choice, I'm all ears. Looking for a player around a 30 - 40m valuation.

Having a look at the squad this time round, Manchester United have a lot of potential in youth, but so many players who are not even worthy of being squad members in a top 4 team, let alone one challenging for a title. Aside from players on loan, players like this are namely Mata, Bailly, Fred(jack of all trades, but no significant abilities, so what does he really add to the team?), Chong and James are players that you just wouldn't see in a big team who wants to compete. Jones, Pereira and Lingard have already been shipped on for a combined 60m.

Obviously, a lot of work needs to be done, and not all in one season, but this is definitely not a squad that is attractive in any sense when you take away sentimentality. Ah well, getting down to business is sure going to be interesting.

Edited July 23, 2020 by MatthewS17

[Gee_Simpson]

Fred and James are usually excellent for me and have started well again 

Edited July 23, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Gee_Simpson]

I have indeed started with the file I linked further back, so we start where we were irl after 23 games. Played two and won two so far, beat Burnley 3-1 at home and Wolves 5-1 at home which was a great performance. Out of the FA Cup straight away though which is disappointing, we lost to a late Southampton goal away from home in a poor performance. Martial has 5 goals in his first 2 league games which is excellent and I hope he can keep that up. 

[Chapman7]

18 hours ago, Sherkey said:

If he is unhappy after a bid, and there is a long while left on his contract - just let it be. Continue playing him, and he will eventually get over it once the teams lose interest (after the window).

If he doesn't have long left on his contract, then just offer him a new contract before the bids come in, that should help remove interest. If he doesn't want a new contract, then it's a bit of a sticky wicket, considering everything. Then, maybe you want to sell.

Generally, if you are influential enough (and have improved the club enough) and are among his important people, just telling him you can't afford to lose him (with him being influential) is enough to calm him down.

Sometimes, if I know a bid is coming my way, then I just offer the player out at exorbitant fees. This generally tends to dissuade the interested clubs, and generally, I remove the player from the transfer list a day or so later. And a month later, offer them a new contract. (Mind you, this can be hit and miss, and is generally not that advisable).

He's on his original contract until 2022. Have a feeling I may have done an extension clause that is available at the start as he got unhappy of not being in the champions league and was after realised his contract length was running short. He wont talk of a new contract due to PSG interest. I'm not a personnel favorite maybe due to being first season. I've just set his acceptable fee at £200 million due to being PSG if they want him they'll pay it if they really want it. If it comes up I'll try persuade him as I've got a good club atmosphere and managers support too.

 

I mean I won 2 trophies in my first season which is why I was debating starting again but reckon I;ll stick with this one.

[Chapman7]

16 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

I just signed him up to a new 4 year contract 1st season, probably should have just extended it by one year and then offered him one afterwards.

I didn't think to check his contract length at the start by the time I got round to doing so he was talking of wanting to get champions league football so he wouldn't talk to me lol 

[Chapman7]

2 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Fred and James are usually excellent for me and have started well again 

Fred I do yes, James is in and out of form for me. Might have to play about with his role to have him playing well again

[D'TripleA]

Anyone know how to make Dan James look useful? He didn't score and assist for 3 month

[stevemc]

1 hour ago, D'TripleA said:

Anyone know how to make Dan James look useful? He didn't score and assist for 3 month

Only use I got out of him was the cash when I sold him

[Spiegel]

6 hours ago, D'TripleA said:

Anyone know how to make Dan James look useful? He didn't score and assist for 3 month

I've had luck with him either as a W(S) in a flat 4-4-2, or as a IW(S) in a 4-3-3. Been typically good for 10 goals a season as a squad player in my current save.

 

 

[Conor O'Hare]

So just finished my first season of what I hope will be a long career save for me. My plan is to attempt for the first time ever to reach number one manageral spot in Hall of Fame and usurp Sir Alex.  I hope to do this at Manchester United but I may well move around if I get bored....Or if things start to go sour.

DISCLAIMER - I always edit the DB to remove all Summer/January transfers from United and then bring them in / ship them out in the in-game date they leave.  I also use an edited database to make United's debts more of an issue but also bump up their commerical income - The challenge here is that as long as we're still producing decent performances on the pitch and producing good players we can continue to operate comfortablty....I also made the debt more of an issue this time to reflect that Covid19 might have a detrimental impact on United's finances.  As long as I trim down the highly earning flops and keep my spending modest I should be able to attract one world class player a summer and supplement that by selling off deadwood and bringing in decent squadies to keep the team rolling.  During the first season, I play every game in the league / cups as they went in the season just past, as in I pick the same players and I reload the game until I get the same result (even if it's not the same score etc) as the real life result (Although I did have to make some amendments in this as we were falling too far behind the top 4 and I needed to beat some of the teams we drew against in the top 4 to ensure we could try and get top 4).  I don't perfrom these reloads in the Cups/Europe and if I get beat/knocked out then so be it.  

2019/20 Season Review

League

A terribly inconsistent season in the league saw us finish 5th despite an amazing unbeaten streak from January until end of Season that saw us drop just 6points in 14 game.  Although a promising record against the top 5/6 means we can be optimistic next season.  We completed the double against Man City, Tottenham and Chelsea this season, beat Arsenal at home and held Liverpool to a draw at Old Trafford (although a slaughter awaited us at Anfield).  The run we went on in second season points that my team is finally learning how to hold onto wins and how to win ugly games and I hope this continues next year as our record against the top 4 shows we can be challengers.  Liverpool however are animals in this game and I feel it may take us 2-3 years plus I feel the other challengers need to step up to ensure Liverpool don't go onto dominate for years to come. 

Cups

Carabao Cup I opted to play youth and fringe players throughout and we had some difficult games, with a 4th round visit of Liverpool - I stuck with a Shut Up Shop and Quick Break Tactic that I utilised in the league meeting which was successful and whilst this time, they did break through us but the fact they were risking more to break through our defence left them more vulnerable on the counter - and we punished them before a wonder goal by Brandon Williams won us the game.  We then lost 2-1 to City in the Semi final at the Etihad but our away goal gave us hope and in the second leg we grabbed the goal to equalise the tie in the first 30 minutes, and resorted to shutting up shop and hitting them on the counter and we grabbed a second on the hour mark.  For the final we played a Bournemouth side that were actually above us in the league and had hammered us earlier in the season.  I stuck to the players who got us to the final and we managed to secure victory 3-2 although, Bournmouth did rally a late come around scoring a second in the 89th minute and we had to work hard in the end for the Victory.  My first trophy as United Manager and the first trophy for a lot of our players and a medal for some of the kids who helped us progress to the final.

FA Cup we had a 3rd round tie against Chelsea but playing on the break we had them beaten 3-0 at half time.  Our next big challenge in this competition came in the quarter finals against a Norwich side who had done well in the league and by Christmas were in the top half.  This was sandwiched in between a hectic European and Domestic schedule and a lot of my players were feeling the effects of our demanding system/schedule.  We rode our luck and were lucky to be only 1-0 down heading into stoppage time before Ighalo grabbed an equaliser from a corner....We then went onto win with a Bruno Fernandes penalty.  Semi final, Bournemouth awaited us again at Wembley and the score was the same as the last Wembley meeting, 3-2 with us being 3-1 up before Bournemouth rallied late and made us dig in deep to see the game out.  We then went to Wembley to meet Tottenham who were headed up by Jose Mourinho and also the new team of former United academy prospect Adnan Januzaj....I had to rotate my squad for this one as the team were dead on their feel so opted to drop Martial, Shaw and Paul Pogva as our priority had to be the Europa League as our performance in the league meant we had one last throw at the dice at Champions League football for next season which would massivel impact on our financial status and our ability to progress our rebuild.  However, we soaked up everything Tottenham had to offer and thanks to Odion Ighalo yet again we grabbed the opening goal before Rashford and Martial grabbed goals in the last minute.  Scott McTominay winning Man of the Match as a DM was brilliant as he played this game to allow us to rest Matic who had to play the Europa League final thanks to McTominay being suspended.   A domestic cup double in my first season and more medals for my young squad and building a winning appetitie.  

Europe

Whilst the Europa League would never be our preffered competition.  I'm a firm believer in European trophies are European trophies and I felt that even in second gear we could overpower the teams in this competition.  I did use these games to rotate the squad and give minutes to my younger players. However we done brilliant and wiped the floor with the teams include a 2-0 win over Slavia Prague away from home when I opted to play my U23's essential and then a 5-0 drubbing of LASK Linsk with a Mason Greenwood hat trick n the final games of the group stages.  PSV awaited us in the next round and despite overcoming them 7-1 on Aggregate, they were a tough team to breakdown.  The quarter finals did however open my eye to the fact that this was going to be a tough competition to win thanks to the addition of teams from the Champions League, and I was already aware that despite our upturn in form this may represent our best chance of getting into Champions League.  The second knockout round includes teams like Roma, PSG, Inter, Napoli, Lazio and Sevilla.  I was well aware that any of these teams over 2 legs could turn us over.  We did draw Sevilla in the next stage and a 2-0 win in Spain, meant a goal less draw at Old Trafford seen us through.  We avoided the tougher teams in the quarters and were up against Frankfurt - However, I always hate German teams in FM and they always tend to trouble us irregardless of form or status in the game, however a 4-0 win in Germany meant we could breath a bit easier at Old Trafford and we went through 5-0 over 2 legs.  Lazio awaited us in the semi final and they were our hardest opponents to date.  We beat them 1-0 away at Old Trafford with Scott McTominay continuing to nail himself as big game player with a fine goal....before getting sent off for violent conduct.  The second leg things went horrible...At this stage, the team's legs had gone and I was working our tactics to go gung ho and overwhelm teams in the first 20 minutes to get the early goal and then coast through the game by reducing our intensity and compacting the game...However Lazio made this very difficult for us and by about the hour mark we had completely shut up shop and were focusing on breaking down attacks near our own penalty area and lumping the ball forward to our target man (Ighalo) and hoping the pace of our wide players would get in behind....Lazio took the lead on the night and meant we faced the prospect of Extra Time and Peanlties which I knew my team wouldn't survive as Lazio were on top of us and we had nothing left in the tank.  However Ighalo somehow managed to ghost in between two Lazio defenders and slide the ball into the net with an 82 minute goal...An Away goal, we weren't going to have to endure extra time at least.  Lazio however were still undeterred and scored in the 90th minute which set up a nervy few minutes...Referee playing 6 minutes when he shown 4 minutes was brilliant for my stress levels at this point.  But we managed to hold on and would go onto meet PSG in the final.  The one team that frightened me the most in the competition...but I was thankful for meeting them in the final....as I knew if we got ourselves back to fitness....over 90 minutes we could do anybody.  The final was a really testy affair with both teams matching each other, no clear cut chances and each teams defence was equal to the flair and speed of the others attack.  I opted to push to 442 in the last 10 minutes as it meant I could get Martial/Rashford/Greenwood and Ighalo on the pitch and it was Ighalo's work that won us the ball in the corner and passed the ball to Williams who whipped in a great cross for Rashford to clinically slot away, was tough on PSG....but sure they're used to this happening.  

Transfers

Dan James, a young player with lots of pace coming up from the championship.  I expected frustrating times with him, and so it proved.  He chipped in with vital goals, and assists but they were too far and between....He's a player that when he's at his worst can stink the place up - and I probably used him too much this season, and he may have had better stats with playing less games.  However I think it's a decent enough season and for his age, and I reckon he can be a good squad player - I will expect him to kick on next season with better performances and even if his goals drop, the performance is what matters.

Wan Bissaka I believe was our best summer buy as he can become our dominant RB for ten plus years.  His stats show how good he was, don't recall ever having to remind him of his form etc.  Chipping in with 2 goals a 7 assists all season is a decent return - I hope he can build upon this.  His tackle won percentage is unreal also - And for a RB who has the PPM Dives into Tackles (My request) to pick up just 7 yellow cards in 44 appearances is very promising.  

As for Maguire....he's good, if not just a little meh...He rarely has a terrible game, but he also rarely has an excellent game - He's a consistent solid defender - Not someone I think will become a world class leading CB like Rio/Vidic or VVD at Liverpool.  Certainly don't see him being the captain to lead us to European and League dominance either.  I would be surprised if he is still part of my team within 4-5 years. 

His tackles won was a fairly low number but he has won a load of headers and won interceptions.  He just doesn't wow me.  His mistakes really worried me, I didn't pick up on them until reviewing his season, I guess because they didn't cost us goals they weren't apparent, but as we push on to the higher levels.  Mistakes can be costlt and I'll need to review and study Maguire closely next season

Bruno Fernandes was our last addition and we moved to buy him as seeing our team suffer from creativity in the early parts of the season.  We paid big for him, but his stats and attributes make me believe we couldn't afford not to buy him.  He did pefrom admirabally but I don't feel we'll see the best of him until next season, he started brilliantly and his passing was key to us getting ball forward and actually creating chances.  However, he did get tired quite quickly after a really hectic schedule in February and he vanished in games towards the end and his goal record was boosted by us getting penalties, but he also scored some key penalties late on in games so he shown mental fortitude...I also think his settling in has been hampered by me not knowing where to play him because he is so good.  I tried playing him as a Mez, or as Treq/Enganche and AP or AM up front....AP just off the striker or MEZ deeper in MDF seemed to bring the best out on him but with proper pre season and more time to settle in our system...and better players on the bench to rest him now and again gives me hope he can be key to our rebuild.  

Odion Ighalo came in on Loan in transfer deadline day and I've been very impressed with him....He seems to be a striker who can hold the ball up and give us a different option.  Has really only started games when I needed to rest a player but when he came in he's been vital.  Mainly scored in our Europa/Cup runs but what important goals did he score...We were going out to Norwich before he scored a last minute equaliser from a corner which he also helped us create after holding the ball up and running forward with it and releasing Fernandes which helped carry us through as Norwich crumbled after that and then scored what was the winning goal in the semi final. He also scored us the away goal which seen us go past Lazio and then his goal was the difference between us beating Tottenham 3-0 in the FA Cup final as it was his goal that meant Spurs had to push forward late on which allowed Martial/Rashford to pounce in 88 and 90th minute to make the win look more comfortable than it was.  A player who doesn't care if he doesn't play week in/week out and when he does play makes a difference....I've had players who will play in lesser games and score goals but he also made an impact and scored goals in important games.  I have agreed to keep him on until January and I really have a soft spot for this guy now but don't know if I can afford to bring him in permanently.  Whatever happens, he will be able to look back on his career and have won a League Cup, FA Cup and Europa League medal and know that he played an important part in the latter two.

Performers

Martial was incredible despite the fact he had only 11 goals before Christmas and didn't score between August and November....Constant fines/chats actually seemed to be demoralising him and I didn't think we'd have got this from him...He scores some wonderful goals but god does he miss a lot also (58% shots of his actually hit the target) but I then managed to have him learn to shoot from distance and curl the ball which seen him  curl more of his shots past the keeper into the top corner - I fear that he doesn't have the consistency to do this on a regular basis and fear that as teams start to make it tougher for us to open them up...He'll become less effective - I live in hope that he can continue though.  

However the pleasing thing was that our front line players (Rashford, Martial, Fernandes, Ighalo, Greenwood and James) managed 97 goals and 40 assists between them.  That bodes well especially as I feel both Rashford/Martial can achieve more if they can become more consistent and I feel the team can improve a bit plus I will improve the players around them.  If the players can perform what they achieved across the full season what they achieved across the second half of this this season - We could possibly push on a bit and challenge for the title - However that's a big ask - As already I've seen signs that teams are sitting back against us and seeing if we have what it takes to break down a solid unit, something I have doubts with in this squad.  

Young Players

Young players who I'm excited to see develop and who played for the first team are as follows:

Tuanzebe, Williams, Chong, Garner, Gomes, Laird, Bernard and Greenwood - Greenwood being the most successful.  Here is there attributes after a full season 

If I'm honest, I suspect Di'shon Bernard and Tahith Chong won't make it here, Chong I feel will do well for a European or mid table Premier League but my hope is Dishon can forge a career for himself with possibly a championship club.

End of Season awards - No personal accolades for my team domestically but we did have 3 players in the Europa League Team of the Year - Maguire, Greenwood and Fernandes...with Fernandes also winning Europa League player of the Year 

 

Closing Review

 Very pleased with my teams ability to grab late goals and win big matches.  My view is that there is a definite United DNA present in this team and after throwing away a lot of points early in the season, they have learned how to win games ugly as well grind games out with a narrow lead.  There is much work to be done in the transfer window.  And whilst I know what players will be departing....I'm yet to decide on who I'll bring in during the summer. Plus it will depend on who I can sell on and how much wages/funds I can free up. I have identified Sancho and Grealish as number one targets.  Whilst Dan James has done great, he's too inconsistent and young.  I feel our right side is the only position in the first team that needs addressed.  I do need squad players but I'm reluctant to bring any more than 4-5 players in on one season.  I also want a CB and possibly a CM.  I'm considering letting Pogba go if anybody bids for him, his form when he did play was terrible and I think Bruno can be our top advanced midfielder and don't feel Pogba offers enough to be the deeper midfielder.  I always plan my summer transfers 2 seasons in advance, and I reckon within 2 years I will be considering replacing Matic (Age) DeGea (just want to try someone different non on those wages) and moving on Lindelof & Bailly.  I also have initial doubts of wither Maguire can be a commanding CB in a team looking to dominate the league...He might help us get back to the top but will he be good enough to help us cement our place - I doubt it.

[Dong21]

Season 2019-2020: Part 3

When I last posted an update we were sitting in 7th place in the Premier League and Bruno Fernandes had just been ruled out for two months. It's fair to say business has picked up since then...

Bellingham filled in for Fernandes in our next game and scored the match winner, instantly putting me at ease that we have good alternatives in attacking midfield. This was coupled with Gomes grabbing a goal from the same position against PSV in the following game. Gomes took things to another level in our next Europa League game, bagging a haul of four goals against Getafe. Greenwood was the hero against Bournemouth, rescuing a point after we conceded in the 87th minute.

A 5-0 thrashing away at Watford in mid-December (including a McTominay brace) was particularly pleasing, however this was eclipsed in terms of enjoyment by our 3-0 win against City. This was achieved despite both Fernandes and Pogba being ruled out injured (Pogba was ruled out for 6 weeks just days before the game) and saw us leapfrog our local rivals into 4th place.

Out form was strong in a busy Christmas period. Sancho scored his third in four games against league leaders Arsenal on the last game of the calendar year, but frustratingly we drew after an own goal error from David De Gea. The point meant we ended the year in third, and Arsenal remained top of the table - with Liverpool sandwiched in between.

Europa League - Group Stage

We concluded the Europa League group stage with a 100% win record. This was particularly pleasing as I selected primarily a youth based side throughout, and on paper the group hadn't looked the easiest. McTominay, Chong and Gomes were the standout performers for us in these games. Somehow Bayern, Dortmund and Atletico all finished third in their respective Champions League groups, meaning they drop into the Europa for the knockout stages. This makes winning the tournament a tougher proposition for me. That said, we were lucky and drew Standard in the 1st Knockout Round. 

Year-End

Sancho ended 2019 on a high as he picked up both the European Golden Boy award and the Premier League Young Player of the Month for December. Pogba was named in the World Team of the Year and De Gea came second in the World Goalkeeper of the Year rankings.

I was also informed that in a year's time, due to Brexit, all EU players would require a work permit. As far as I can recall this is the most hassle of all the possible scenarios, so I was disappointed to discover this.

I'll follow up shortly with another post on how the season has continued, as I'm conscious of not making this update too long!

Edited July 25, 2020 by Dong21

[Dong21]

Season 2019-2020: Part 4

January Transfer Window

The board injected £40m into my otherwise empty transfer budget in advance of the January window. However, I had little intention to add to a squad that I thought was already a little bloated. In addition I am focusing on giving youth opportunities, so didn't want to make a large number of signings that will block pathways to the first team. The exception to this was if an opportunity arose that was too good to ignore. This happened when I saw Man City and Spurs bidding for Juve centre-back Merih Demiral for what looked like a bargain price of £20.5m. I matched their bids and was delighted when he chose us. He's 21 years old and rated a better player than Lindelof and Tuanzabe. I loaned out Phil Jones (would have preferred to sell, but no suitors) and tried to do the same with Bailly, but no interest.

I was extremely frustrated with Pereira who 'opted to stay' turning down three Chinese clubs who had each bid £27m for him. Eventually I sold him to Schalke for £21m. There was interest in Lingard, but not for a reasonable price. He will go in the summer. I wanted to loan Mexican prospect Macias out to get game time but he had unfortunately already played for two sides (us and Chivas). Luke Shaw expressed his unrest over his lack of playing time - I've been prioritising Brandon Williams - however I managed to stop that from escalating, for now.

Fred handed in a transfer request due to a lack of playing time. I'd have kept him around as an option but he was firmly at the bottom of the pecking order for his position, so I was comfortable letting him go. Unlike his Brazilian compatriot, he was happy to move to China and so joined Jiangsu for £19.75m (that should rise to £27m). To fill a short-term gap, providing cover and experience, I brought in Arturo Vidal on loan from Barca for the rest of the season.  Next summer Garner may well get the chance to join the squad, or I will turn to the transfer market for a longer-term solution.

I was disappointed to get the youth intake preview and learn that our next crop sound very underwhelming. Luckily there are already a great number of talents to develop. I have just given one such prospect, Hannibal Mejbri, his first pro contract.

Twenty Five Games Undefeated

The first match of 2020 was a classic Football Manager match; we had 35 shots, Norwich had 1 shot, the full time score? 1-1. Everything else went our way in January though. The fans were certainly happy as we won away at Anfield and won the Roses Derby comfortably in the FA Cup. I really did not expect to be beating Liverpool home and away in the League this early into my United career, having seen how dominant our rivals can be on other saves. I won the January Manager of the Month, and used this as leverage to get the board to offer me a two year contract extension which I duly signed.

We scored goals for fun in February - in fact we have scored four goals per game on average over the last seven games. The blip amongst the wins was a 3-3 draw with Sheff Utd - annoyingly we had been 2-0 up, pegged back to 2-2, took the lead again and then conceded in the 95th minute to draw. We beat Standard 9-2 on aggregate in the Europa League and go on to face Torino next time out.

After beating Newcastle 4-0 we went second in the table for the first time. We have City up next though, so things could change again. Arsenal are the surprise runaway leaders. Latest news is that Martial won the February PL Player of the Month and media speculation that PSG will bid for Pogba in the summer is building.

The final thing to mention is we are on course to achieve a niche objective of mine for the season; to with the EFL Trophy (Leasing.com). I have been making the younger players in the first team available for these matches, sometimes at the detriment of my own bench, as often the EFL Trophy fixtures have fallen the day before our first team has played. Experience against Football League sides can only help their development. We have beaten Man Citys U23s (2-1), Blacpool (5-0) and Burton (6-0) in the knockout rounds and will now face Peterborough in the Final at Wembley. Greenwood is the competitions top scorer, Bishop has the most clean sheets and Mejbri has the most key passes.

Edited July 25, 2020 by Dong21

[Gee_Simpson]

@Conor O'Hare Have you edited Greenwood's finishing to be 20?

[Conor O'Hare]

No, there's been no edits done to any players attributes in my game - He started with 17 and it has risen to 20 - I literally crticise his finishing every game if he doesn't score as well as having him train as a poacher and special focus on shooring - in order to get the best of him - and this I believe has resulted in his finishing improvement, mentoring and playing so many huge games I would imagine has resulted in a huge CA boost for him and as this was such a focus in training the CA gained has fed into this.

It appears he went from 17 and rise to 18 in Januayry and he went from 18 - 19 between March - The 20 appears to be recent - he did just play a full 90 minutes in a European final and was voted into a team of the year so all of these factors has probably seen his CA explode and the attributes are channelling to where I need them. 

[Conor O'Hare]

Gonna be a challenge actually here - I usually easily offload Smalling, Rojo, Jones, Lingard and some academy players but it's not happening this season - Unless I can free up wages and raise some additional revenue from sales - I'm in a difficult spot this summer.

Also - Liverpool won the Champions League which means next season we'll face off in the Chairty Shield and Super Cup.

Edited July 25, 2020 by Conor O'Hare

[Smaldini]

Season 2 done. I've managed to clear out most of the deadwood now, strengthen the depth and also decided to break the transfer record on Sancho,

No idea why Juventus were so keen on selling Demiral for cheap, he wasn't transfer listed or unhappy, my scout reports just suggested he'd be under £30m so I snapped him up. Brescia were relegated so I triggered Tonali's bargain release clause. Ighalo had been useful for me so I had to replace him with a similar strong forward, I did consider Haaland but I thought it would be harsh on Dortmund to take both Jadon & Erling. I opted for Milik as he is a United fan and was rated higher than my other target Raul Jimenez, presumably cheaper too. It worked out well.

Bruno was a little inconsistent this year, so with his backup being the less reliable Pereira (who thought he should be starting more games despite getting plenty of minutes) I decided to kill two birds with one stone and get shot of Andreas while providing some serious competition for Fernandes. It's the first time I've ever used Havertz and so far I've been very impressed. The only negative thing about my transfer business this season is I failed to cash-in on Mata. He'd spent the second half of the first season on loan at Valencia, who tried to sign him for £13m at the end of the campaign but he rejected it. He didn't show enough in the appearances he made to warrant a contract extension so he'll be walking for free at the end of June.

The table might suggest otherwise, but we were chasing Liverpool for the majority of the season, IIRC it wasn't until April we overtook them and started to create a gap. They added Varane to their team during the summer so defensively they're very strong now, and they also improved their attack with Immobile. They beat us in the Community Shield, we responded with a victory over them in the European Super Cup, but in the league they just went on a mad winning streak up until we handed them their first loss in December. We beat them in February too (Chelsea had already given them a second loss a couple of weeks earlier) but aside from that most of their dropped points came from March onwards.  

Speaking of Chelsea, they were our other main rival this season. They took 4 points off us in the league and eliminated us in the FA Cup semi-final (they went on to beat Liverpool in the final). We did meet them in the Champions League final though, which was held in Russia, and we beat them on penalties after a 1-1 draw  Before all that though we had eliminated them in the League Cup quarter finals, only to then get knocked out in the semis by City.

That lead to a final with Tottenham, who had recently been taken over by Pellegrini as they had been sitting in midtable under Jose, so he had to be replaced. Of course, they beat City, which results in Allegri being fired (Pep went around April in the first season, he's now managing Athletico). So they hire Rafa Benitez, and the poor guy gets sacked a month later when Liverpool knock City out of the CL  I've never seen a big-name manager have such a short time in charge in all of my years playing this game. They've brought in Şenol Güneş so he's hardly an upgrade. 

So anyway, we won less trophies this year but despite that I was pretty pleased to have won the CL so soon, and breaking the points record in the league too was an improvement on season 1. De Gea retained his Golden Gloves award, Pogba was crowned league's POTY and Greenwood won YPOTY after being robbed by Grealish in the previous campaign. Mason did fall short of his previous goal tally, but I was very pleased with the number of assists he provided. Milik was great, especially in Spring, and Sancho probably would have pushed him for top scorer if he hadn't picked up so many injuries. Good to see an improvement in Correa's goal contributions too, Madrid and PSG are sniffing around him now though so I might sell depending on the size of the offer. 

 

[Gee_Simpson]

@Smaldini What formation you using? 

[Dong21]

6 hours ago, Smaldini said:

No idea why Juventus were so keen on selling Demiral for cheap, he wasn't transfer listed or unhappy,

@Smaldini I was also able to pick him up for a similar price (see my update above) and was equally baffled why they don’t want to hang onto him!

6 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

@Smaldini What formation you using? 

I was also wondering this. I’ve been considering signing another striker for the second season (with Haaland high on my list), like Smaldini has done with Milik, but as I play a 4-2-3-1 currently I worry how this will limit Greenwood, Rashford and Martial’s playing time.

Edited July 26, 2020 by Dong21

[FifaBing]

9 hours ago, Dong21 said:

@Smaldini I was also able to pick him up for a similar price (see my update above) and was equally baffled why they don’t want to hang onto him!

I was also wondering this. I’ve been considering signing another striker for the second season (with Haaland high on my list), like Smaldini has done with Milik, but as I play a 4-2-3-1 currently I worry how this will limit Greenwood, Rashford and Martial’s playing time.

I'm about done with season 1 and in the same boat. I restarted my Man Utd save cause I was unhappy 4 years in how I signed too many attackers and it limited Greenwood and Rashfords playing time. I'd rather build around those two with Martial playing AF. 

 

So right now I am considering just buying a backup striker for now, or maybe offering a contract to Cavani and rotate he and Martial. Martial is killing it in the first year for me with 34 goals thus far in March. Hard to replace that. So far all I have added to the team is mostly youth players, (Bellingham, Kenneh, Yusef Demir, Esposito, Almada, and Hlozek). All of which are in the reserves or on loan. Vinicius Junior I also bought for super cheap as he was unhappy. 

 

I'd say for now, look at a striker to spell Martial here and there. 

[Smaldini]

22 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

@Smaldini What formation you using? 

4-1-4-1 is my main formation, but I switch to a 4-2-3-1 Gegenpress for matches against really defensive opposition. 

[Gee_Simpson]

Looks like overall 4123 (4141dm) gets better, more consistent results going by this thread, so undecided whether to go with that or the 4231. I think the 4231 has more goals in it but it also concedes more too. What's better, a 4-3 win or a 1-0 win? 

Wow, maybe I won't bother going for Ruben Dias if you can get Demiral for 19m! That's a bargain.

Edited July 27, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Gungner]

Just started my Man Utd save... 

Three signings so far, Kenneh from Leeds for £775k, Grønli from Tromsø for £250k and Bellingham from Birmingham for £18 mil. 

Will look to get a left back, defensive midtfielder and a striker. 

Edited July 27, 2020 by Gungner

[Gee_Simpson]

1 hour ago, Gungner said:

and Bellingham from Birmingham for £18 mil. 

Am I the only one who will be giving him a future transfer to Dortmund for realism? 

Maybe I should just leave it and go for him instead. It's FM20 afterall, not FM21. It would be interesting to see how much Dortmund want for him though if I transfer him there. I may still do it and maybe buy him off them in the future.

[Gungner]

2 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Am I the only one who will be giving him a future transfer to Dortmund for realism? 

Maybe I should just leave it and go for him instead. It's FM20 afterall, not FM21. It would be interesting to see how much Dortmund want for him though if I transfer him there. I may still do it and maybe buy him off them in the future.

Well, as you said, this is FM20. I want to able to buy the players that has moved in real life. I'm sure there'll be a summer update at some point, but that's not for me  

[Gee_Simpson]

1 hour ago, Gungner said:

Well, as you said, this is FM20. I want to able to buy the players that has moved in real life. I'm sure there'll be a summer update at some point, but that's not for me  

Yeah, maybe I shouldn't bother either.

I had set Werner to Chelsea, Arthur to Juve, Pjanic to Barca etc but I'm thinking of removing them. I have OCD you see, so it's annoying me

[FifaBing]

4 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Am I the only one who will be giving him a future transfer to Dortmund for realism? 

Maybe I should just leave it and go for him instead. It's FM20 afterall, not FM21. It would be interesting to see how much Dortmund want for him though if I transfer him there. I may still do it and maybe buy him off them in the future.

 

I thought about doing it, but said screw it and just went ahead and bought him. Seems weird as I like realism (I have update with Werner going to Chelsea, etc) but oh well. 

[FifaBing]

I'm shocked over Martial this current save. I recently restarted my Man Utd save this past week after 5 years in previous one, as I wanted to build around Martial, Greenwood and Rashford, and Martial just banged 50 goals in season 1 destroying Denis Law record of 46 goals, held since 1963. 

Not sure what I am going to focus on in the first summer window, but I'm going to take my time and try and avoid signing too many players that push my younger players to the side. 

 

Has anyone in any save ever had any success unsettling Lewendowski and signing him? I have always wanted Lewa at Man Utd, and made him my main transfer target. All year he's stayed commited to Bayern, but I think I may have finally interested him enough to have interest in a transfer. 

[Gee_Simpson]

22 minutes ago, FifaBing said:

 

I thought about doing it, but said screw it and just went ahead and bought him. Seems weird as I like realism (I have update with Werner going to Chelsea, etc) but oh well. 

Yeah, it's a tough one for me, not sure what to do tbh.

50 goals from Martial?! Wow, what formation are you using? 442?

[FifaBing]

52 minutes ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Yeah, it's a tough one for me, not sure what to do tbh.

50 goals from Martial?! Wow, what formation are you using? 442?

This is my main tactic I used. In fact, I'm not sure I deviated from it much all year. Rashford was main IF on the left. 

[Gee_Simpson]

Nice one. 

Yeah I've decided to ditch my 4231 and go with the 4123 instead. Pogba and Bruno both perform better in that formation over the 4231. I've changed my F9 to a PF (A) so I'm hoping he can score regularly.

[Gee_Simpson]

This is what I've decided on:

I did try the January challenge but ended up finishing 5th with my 4231 @sedge11 🙈

I'm going to play from the start instead, because I want to make sure I can finish top 4 first season, especially because Utd have achieved that irl. I reckon the 4123 could get me top 4 playing from January tbh, but I wouldn't mind bringing in a few young players in the January window. I also didn't like that when starting in January the tactical familiarity was at zero obviously. 

[Gee_Simpson]

Juat deciding on Bellingham, it would be interesting to see how much Dortmund would want for him if I give him a future transfer to them.

Edited July 27, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[FifaBing]

10 minutes ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Nice one. 

Yeah I've decided to ditch my 4231 and go with the 4123 instead. Pogba and Bruno both perform better in that formation over the 4231. I've changed my F9 to a PF (A) so I'm hoping he can score regularly.

I definitely had more success with Matic/McT playing a deeper DMF role than putting Bruno forward into an AP role. 

[Gungner]

I just can't get Greenwood to score... All my goals are from my wings and midfield. Sure, he has a few assists to his name, but no goals in twelve matches. 

Well, at least Martial scores from the striker position. 

[davecrossley]

3 hours ago, FifaBing said:

This is my main tactic I used. In fact, I'm not sure I deviated from it much all year. Rashford was main IF on the left. 

If I was to recreate this tactic, are there any further instructions I would need to put in place or are they all there? Failing that, any chance you could share it all?

Also, to help with the fluidity, do you put this tactic in to all 3 slots or do you use it alongside others? Also,I presume you train each player individually for their specified positions?

[FifaBing]

1 hour ago, davecrossley said:

If I was to recreate this tactic, are there any further instructions I would need to put in place or are they all there? Failing that, any chance you could share it all?

Also, to help with the fluidity, do you put this tactic in to all 3 slots or do you use it alongside others? Also,I presume you train each player individually for their specified positions?

Everything you see there should be good to go. 

If you're asking if I have the same tactic/formation in all three slots, the answer is I don't have all three slots with the same formation/tactics/ The other two have one with a AM role and the other is a two striker formation, which I haven't really needed yet. If I were to get another striker or two I'd probably use that one more than the AM role. 

 

The only player I trained specifically for their specific role has been Greenwood. Other than that my ass.man takes control of training for me. 

[Gee_Simpson]

3 hours ago, FifaBing said:

I definitely had more success with Matic/McT playing a deeper DMF role than putting Bruno forward into an AP role. 

Yeah, it seems that the 4123 is definitely the way to go for Utd if playing a lone striker. I've tried the 4231 but it's too restrictive and rigid of a formation imo. 4123 is more versatile for me.

Edited July 27, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Gee_Simpson]

2 hours ago, Gungner said:

I just can't get Greenwood to score... All my goals are from my wings and midfield. Sure, he has a few assists to his name, but no goals in twelve matches. 

Well, at least Martial scores from the striker position. 

What role are you playing Greenwood in? He got 26 in 28 for me 1st season back when I was using 4231. 2nd season he went 8 games without scoring, so I can understand your frustration! Tbh I've kind of realised he's maybe better off playing on the wing instead, let a more complete rounded player play through the middle. Greenwood is effectively a poacher really, he's not that creative or strong.

Edited July 27, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Conor O'Hare]

So I had a crash in my last game and when I reloaded the Champions League final was replayed and Liverpool went down to Juventus meaning I would face off with them in the Super Cup.  My summer plans would be dependent on how I would fare in moving players on.  It was difficult tbh and constant offering out players, some of which I've had to pay thier wages or percentage of their wages for the forseeable....And signing players was very difficult also.  I had to IMO overpay for 3 of the players brought in, but the money earned meant we still have money available in January when I might bring in more squad players. Anyway my summer 2020 window looked like this.

 

 

Villa went down in the summer and I thought I could get Grealish for at least 5mill cheaper but Villa were steadfast.

Sandro Tonali is a young player who I had to make a move for as Liverpool started sniffing at him - I matched Liverpool's bid but agreed to send him on loan right back to Brescia which is better for his development as I'm keen to give Garner more game time here this season.

Sancho - I thought I could negotiate the deal for lower but in the end I had to pay the release clause (all up front)

Ake - I had actually agreed terms with Bournemouth earlier in the summer but he refused my offer - I then had to up my price by paying more for this transfer up front.

I also agreed a deal worth up to 19.75 million for Jude Bellingha to join us next year.  

Worryingly Pogba won't sign a new deal but despite starring in the European Championships where France beat England in the final -   No clubs were interested in him (I guess I rode my luck in the market with the sales I did do) Although there is still time left for that to change.  I don't have any more planned incomings for this window, but I believe I'm moving toward Lindelof, Bailly and Fred leaving after this season - Unless they do incredible but I can't see Bailly playing much.  I also still plan on some more loans before the end of the season and I'm somewhat hoping that someone will bid for Pogba as I am worried about losing him for free.

Season Opening

I ended up getting destroyed by Liverpool 3-0 in Comm Shield, although some of my squad were making their first appearance of preseason after being given an extended break after European Championships.

However the Super Cup was a great spectacle - Twice we had to come behind to Juventus (Jadon Sancho scoring a world class goal) and Martial getting a brace, what pleased me was Martial went and scored a great goal by running at his full back and slotting home minutes after he missed his penalty.  Him and Ronaldo both missed penalties but both redeemed themselves in the shootout.  Martial has now got 5 goals in his first 3 games of the season.

 

 

[Gee_Simpson]

Are you offering your players out? 42.5m for Lingard is brilliant.

Edited July 27, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Gee_Simpson]

I've reduced the amount of leagues I'm running by half as it was taking too long to progress. I was running with 50 leagues, I've cut it down to 25. I'll see how long the 1st season takes, could reduce it further if I find it too slow.

I'm going to let Dortmund have Bellingham as it feels more realistic now. It will be interesting to see how he progresses at Dortmund, hopefully they don't use him much and I'll buy him, lol. Either way if he does well I will be in for him in a few years time.

Edited July 27, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Gee_Simpson]

6 hours ago, FifaBing said:

 

I thought about doing it, but said screw it and just went ahead and bought him. Seems weird as I like realism (I have update with Werner going to Chelsea, etc) but oh well. 

It's tempting to just 'forget' this transfer happened, so I can buy him

[Conor O'Hare]

7 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Are you offering your players out? 42.5m for Lingard is brilliant.

Yeah, but Lingard actually had a decent season...much better than in his IRL season was, I did however have to pay a good chunk of his wages for that deal to go through...Whilst the money I picked up in each transfer was good....I'm still carrying much of their wages - I think Lingard I'm carrying 60% of his wages, and Jones I'm carrying 50% and he still had a long contract