[FM21] Manchester United: A club stuck in transition

[BigV]

For those looking at what shola can look like, check around the 11:00 mark. Looks incredible, his value is astonishing 

[Billy0810]

19 minutes ago, BigV said:

For those looking at what shola can look like, check around the 11:00 mark. Looks incredible, his value is astonishing 

He’s coming along nicely on my save too. Him and Hugill both seem to perform better than their stats. A lot of the youth are just becoming first team ready during season 3. I like to keep them in and around the first team squad and give them opportunities when I can 

[Juls317]

55 minutes ago, Billy0810 said:

He’s coming along nicely on my save too. Him and Hugill both seem to perform better than their stats. A lot of the youth are just becoming first team ready during season 3. I like to keep them in and around the first team squad and give them opportunities when I can 

Hugill is probably going to slot into the backup striker role for me after he finishes his current loan. Hopefully that will allow me to get Edouard off the books. Shoretire may be one more loan off, but we'll see. Elanga looks quite good in my save as well.

Edited November 20, 2020 by Juls317

[Woolly]

Update on the situation with Jones in my save, I decided to send him on a coaching course you never know he may decide to retire young lol. He may not be able to play but if he manages to pass the course I may just offer him a place in the U18 coaching team.

 

[Juls317]

5 minutes ago, Woolly said:

Update on the situation with Jones in my save, I decided to send him on a coaching course you never know he may decide to retire young lol. He may not be able to play but if he manages to pass the course I may just offer him a place in the U18 coaching team.

 

After I finally got to terminate his contract, he spent some time as a free agent and then retired. His stats are terrible though.

[Billy0810]

16 minutes ago, Woolly said:

Update on the situation with Jones in my save, I decided to send him on a coaching course you never know he may decide to retire young lol. He may not be able to play but if he manages to pass the course I may just offer him a place in the U18 coaching team.

 

It’s a shame really because he probably would be good backup but he just can’t get fit. Just like in real life. He had lots of potential but it’s just never worked out

[Gee_Simpson]

How many of you disable the first window budget? I'll probably do so again, although it's really tempting to enable it to try move some deadwood on and also strengthen the team, but it feels strange adding on top of the business that's already been made irl. Means all the squads are correct and match real life up until January in game. 

[Chapman7]

4 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

How many of you disable the first window budget? I'll probably do so again, although it's really tempting to enable it to try move some deadwood on and also strengthen the team, but it feels strange adding on top of the business that's already been made irl. Means all the squads are correct and match real life up until January in game. 

I leave it so can be done but I usually only do some signings of under 18's anyway 

[sedge11]

11 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

How many of you disable the first window budget? I'll probably do so again, although it's really tempting to enable it to try move some deadwood on and also strengthen the team, but it feels strange adding on top of the business that's already been made irl. Means all the squads are correct and match real life up until January in game. 

I will be disabling the 1st window and I did on fm20 for my Man Utd save as well. If I don’t it will be to just get rid of players, I won’t buy anyone till January.

[rstebbing1709]

Definitely didn't expect this 😂

[milan_manutd]

S.Romero sign contract with Real Mardid in January and I offer them "sell now" option and they pay 2,5mil£ for him and offload me 6 months of his 70k£/w salary.

[Harryseaess]

17 hours ago, BigV said:

For those looking at what shola can look like, check around the 11:00 mark. Looks incredible, his value is astonishing 

He's looking decent for me at the moment.

Sent him on loan twice, hopefully he continues to perform well in the Championship this year and then I'll try to integrate him in to the first team squad.

[duvels]

I got rid of Romero, Grant, Rojo, Matic, Fred and Mata quite fast. Same for Fosu and Andreas Pereira and I even managed to sell Shaw for more than his value.

Jones, Bailly and Lingard are impossible though. No interest in them at all.

[rstebbing1709]

First final of the season. Even sweeter to beat the Scousers in it too. Martial has not been playing great this season but a final hat-trick definitely helps redeem him 

 

 

[BigV]

15 minutes ago, Harryseaess said:

He's looking decent for me at the moment.

He looks brilliant, reminds me of rashy and greenwood's attributes before they got the bump up to first team, very creative and technically great 

[rstebbing1709]

This reporter has clearly been watching a different game 😂

[Cunego]

35 minutes ago, rstebbing1709 said:

This reporter has clearly been watching a different game 😂

 

Can you use PrtSc? 
 

 

[Smaldini]

5 hours ago, duvels said:

Jones, Bailly and Lingard are impossible though. No interest in them at all.

I’ve started a save three times now and Jesse always has interest from Roma. Just wait for them to make a bid rather than offering him out.

[Juls317]

58 minutes ago, Smaldini said:

I’ve started a save three times now and Jesse always has interest from Roma. Just wait for them to make a bid rather than offering him out.

They even came in for him when I offered him out

[Gee_Simpson]

9 hours ago, sedge11 said:

I will be disabling the 1st window and I did on fm20 for my Man Utd save as well. If I don’t it will be to just get rid of players, I won’t buy anyone till January.

Yep as much as I'm tempted to enable it, I want a bigger challenge so I'm keeping it disabled, so I have to work with the squad you start with. I'll probably go for Marcus Edwards in January, the lad looks absolutely brilliant, is young and is an English homegrown player. Only downside is him being left footed only, low stamina and work rate, he will need to work on those intensively to play in my first team. 

We now train weak foot through normal training, technique training apparently.

[duvels]

2 hours ago, Smaldini said:

I’ve started a save three times now and Jesse always has interest from Roma. Just wait for them to make a bid rather than offering him out.

No, not for me. He even played quite a bit during the first season and had decentish performances. Still, no interest in him when I TL'd him.

[Juls317]

Pretty good year I'd say

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mason is looking like he'll be an absolute cheat code this year

[sedge11]

8 minutes ago, Juls317 said:

Pretty good year I'd say

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mason is looking like he'll be an absolute cheat code this year

Great season 👍🏻. How did you do in the 1st 2 seasons?

[Juls317]

4 minutes ago, sedge11 said:

Great season 👍🏻. How did you do in the 1st 2 seasons?

Finished 4th in the league in the first season, along with winning the FA Cup. Second season won the league, finished runners up in the Carabao and won the FA Cup.

[axehan1]

Missed FM20 altogether(couldn't put 18 down)but 21 has completely sucked me in.

First season down and overall a very successful one.

It took a while to finally settle with this tactic and its roles and duties,quite frustrating at times but now the football is really good.

Somehow we found a way yo fumble our way to the Champions League final where we(somehow)came up against Benfica

4 defeats including a 1-5 thrashing at Porto after going a goal up.Had to be complacency because we were in cruise control.

Transfer wise we did a fair bit of business

 

These were the ones that I made, Kessie was a great buy, he shored up the left side of midfield, covering for Telles/Shaw who both bomb foward.

I'm just approaching season 2 pre-season.Made a few transfers and sold one or two so i'll post an update once the season is about to kick off.

 

Edited November 22, 2020 by axehan1

[axehan1]

Any ideas why my images aren't showing?Used to be easy doing this with imgur

[BigV]

14 minutes ago, axehan1 said:

Any ideas why my images aren't showing?Used to be easy doing this with imgur

Links aren't embeded, scrn shots/snipping tool might work if you're on windows

[BigV]

56 minutes ago, Juls317 said:

Pretty good year I'd say

Congrats!! 

Also I love it when I see a dark skin user  official one? or a downloaded skin?

[Juls317]

3 minutes ago, BigV said:

Congrats!! 

Also I love it when I see a dark skin user  official one? or a downloaded skin?

Downloaded one, until the official dark skin comes out. I just couldn't take the white text boxes blinding me haha. Though I may give this one a try for a bit since it's basically the default without the white.

Edited November 21, 2020 by Juls317

[trekman]

On 12/11/2020 at 15:05, BigV said:

Gone are the days when you could sell them for 30m+  good realism to the game, although there are some valuation issues atm it will be patched come release or further patches.

Maybe not. I was watching a really interesting video on youtube from a youtuber called Lollujo today who has been playing the game since it was called championship manager and he ended up with a 100M transfer budget for his Leicester side. So there are definitely ways to make large sums of money in the game. Granted this was the beta so that might be tweaked come full release.

[sedge11]

8 minutes ago, trekman said:

Maybe not. I was watching a really interesting video on youtube from a youtuber called Lollujo today who has been playing the game since it was called championship manager and he ended up with a 100M transfer budget for his Leicester side. So there are definitely ways to make large sums of money in the game. Granted this was the beta so that might be tweaked come full release.

Yea I’ve watched his videos, he does a lot of his transfer in installments so can stretch the budget Massively.

[Gee_Simpson]

Been reading that the game is too easy? Certainly seems so going by results in here and elsewhere. I'm waiting for the 24th to start, apparently there will be a ME update on the 24th but I've heard that apparently it's still easy. 

[MatthewS17]

3 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Been reading that the game is too easy? Certainly seems so going by results in here and elsewhere. I'm waiting for the 24th to start, apparently there will be a ME update on the 24th but I've heard that apparently it's still easy. 

Honestly, I don't think it' that easy. I think there's definitely a lot of people going full on 4-2-3-1 Gegenpressing(also 3 striker formations) and it just blows teams over, then they complain despite there being a clear flaw in how things work. Counter attacking is also quite strong this year. Part of the problem is the lack of issues caused by having a top heavy formation, as they would never be able to dominate games. 2 man and even 1 man midfields should never be dominating 3 and 4 man midfields as they would be vastly overwhelmed, which is why the best teams utilize some form of having at least a 3 in midfield.

I've been playing with Monchengladbach for two seasons now trying to implement a possession-based style and it is hella hard to get the mix right between creating chances and possession for the sake of it. I've had matches where, despite being the massively better team, I've had possession but no chances for 60 minutes or so, because my players aren't creative enough and Monchengladbach side is quite average IG. I still 1-0'd my way to second for two seasons despite massive inconsistency. 

Only this season, where I've got in Tonali, Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo in has my squad been able to implement the style of football I want and collectively get results. Gonna sign Neymar to boost it further(Save ends in 2 days so I'm memeing now and I just want to manage him quickly and yes I know it's unrealistic).

 

There's definitely bias when it comes to how easy or how hard it is. If it's harder, it isn't friendly to new players and even longer term players will complain, so I don't see the point in changing that. AI still needs to be more progressive and risky though, rather than just sitting deep for 90 minutes.

Edited November 22, 2020 by MatthewS17

[rstebbing1709]

Season Two Review

 

So season two is over and a mixed bag, we managed to retain our Premier League title and add the Carabao Cup to the trophy cabinet, but an agonising loss in the Champions League Semi Final on away goals to PSG and a fourth round capitulation to Championship side Bournemouth in the FA Cup were the lows of the season

 

 

A number of young players came into the club in the summer and alongside some existing talents at the club they were given the opportunity to get some valuable first team experience. Based on their performances some more established first teamers may be moving on sooner than originally expected.

 

End of Season Awards

 

The youngsters:

Bellingham

Bernard

Hannibal

Hugill

Kitolano

Laird

Papetti

Ugarte

 

A number of other young players were out on loan this season who will be coming back to join the first team squad. 

[Woolly]

I think I may have a wonderkid Shoretire still in the first season but he is already showing signs of being an outstanding talent, next season he will be going out on loan to get the first team exposure he will need. Looking good for now I feel.

[trekman]

15 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Been reading that the game is too easy? Certainly seems so going by results in here and elsewhere. I'm waiting for the 24th to start, apparently there will be a ME update on the 24th but I've heard that apparently it's still easy. 

Maybe it was a freak occurance but I was playing as Man United obviously & finished 4th which was fine for a 1st season since I havent been playing the game constantly because i'm in the process of moving house. The freaky thing I noticed was with Man City. They only finished 7th :o and more surprisingly they sold both Aguero and Jusus.

[rstebbing1709]

Start of season three do I accept this offer from Barcelona for Rashford?

[Falahk]

8 minutes ago, rstebbing1709 said:

Start of season three do I accept this offer from Barcelona for Rashford?

Tricky question if one don't know the full context of the situation, anyway, if you have a player as good as him that could take his place in the first eleven and there is a youth player who could reach a similar level (who needs game time) then yes, you should sell him....if not, keep him around  

[Juls317]

26 minutes ago, rstebbing1709 said:

Start of season three do I accept this offer from Barcelona for Rashford?

I would say absolutely not, he's been fantastic for me and it just seems like it would feel bad to sell him. You're never going to get money out of the profit clause either.

[axehan1]

26 minutes ago, rstebbing1709 said:

Start of season three do I accept this offer from Barcelona for Rashford?

Not exactly on fire is he?I'd sell.

[Chapman7]

32 minutes ago, rstebbing1709 said:

Start of season three do I accept this offer from Barcelona for Rashford?

I'd reject it personally, he'd be a Manchester United player born and bred as they come, Plus that fee ain't great either, and like someone mentioned before it's very unlucky you'll have anything of that percentage clause from some profit

[Woolly]

35 minutes ago, rstebbing1709 said:

Start of season three do I accept this offer from Barcelona for Rashford?

No way! Reject and see if they come back with a better offer, I would be looking for a minimum of £120m just to offset that sell on percentage (which is highly unlikely to be triggered with the current offer).

[rstebbing1709]

I rejected the offer in the end. He kicked off that I didn't let him join Barcelona. So I've managed to renegotiate the offer to £125m upfront and £20m if they win La Liga. As much as I love the player he wants to go and it's a good offer.

[axehan1]

Just about to start season 2,lost to City 1-2 in the community shield and beat Roma 2-1 in the Super Cup

A strong transfer window saw us snap up Donnarumma on a free,Declan Rice got relegated with West Ham so he was cheaper than he should have been.The blockbuster transfer saw us beat a host of clubs to sign wonderkid Camavinga from Rennes and Balotti was transfer list by Torino for just £11.5m so he came in to back up Rashford up front.Nuno Mendes also came in from Sporting(that transfer went through in season 20/21),what a player he's going to be.

How did we balance the books?Barcelona bid £92m for Martial and although he was happy to stay,I accepted the bid.

This is how we look.

 

[DominicForza]

1 hour ago, rstebbing1709 said:

Start of season three do I accept this offer from Barcelona for Rashford?

I know you've followed up on this already, but...

 

I'd have added player exchange for Ansu Fati and Pedri.   So then Barca would back out.   In previous FMs that worked better for player morale than rejecting a bid.  Dont know if that still works.  

With ManUtd (or other top clubs) there is no reason to sell for money.  I only sell when I want to move someone on for whatever reason.  Which sometimes can just be for the fun of it!

I'd still say no and deal with him being upset. 

[rstebbing1709]

2 hours ago, DominicForza said:

I know you've followed up on this already, but...

 

I'd have added player exchange for Ansu Fati and Pedri.   So then Barca would back out.   In previous FMs that worked better for player morale than rejecting a bid.  Dont know if that still works.  

With ManUtd (or other top clubs) there is no reason to sell for money.  I only sell when I want to move someone on for whatever reason.  Which sometimes can just be for the fun of it!

I'd still say no and deal with him being upset. 

Yeah you're right I absolutely don't need the money. What I've decided is to not bring in a replacement for him and see how Shoretire and Pellistri do given game time.

[rstebbing1709]

Season Three - Pre-Season, Transfers and Squad 

Transfers:

Our aim this season is to give the youngsters a chance so there haven't been many ins, even though there have been some high profile outs. My Scouts recommended Arezo and I could not turn down the chance to bring Cristiano back to the club. At 37 he's on stupid money but it's worth it

Squad:

Pre-Season Results

[Gee_Simpson]

Telles and Cavani have had a downgrade from the beta but they still look good, I think Henderson has had a slight upgrade. Williams is now natural at RB instead of accomplished, I intend to use him there as a backup to AWB because he's right footed.

[Chapman7]

48 minutes ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Telles and Cavani have had a downgrade from the beta but they still look good, I think Henderson has had a slight upgrade. Williams is now natural at RB instead of accomplished, I intend to use him there as a backup to AWB because he's right footed.

They have? Didn't even realise that show's how much I paid attention to it last night 

I also am planning to use Brandon there and maybe back up left back for any injuries or lack of fitness to Shaw or Telles. 

Plan to get rid of Shaw end of first season maybe second if no takers 

[Zeonflux]

Well with the release of the full game I shall be starting a proper United save mainly because I only ran a small database and England loaded in the beta so there’s not a great deal of top quality staff knocking about but also because I screwed my beta save by trying to move on players that I ended up relying on such as lindelof (relegated him to the reserves to get Axel and Mengi in the squad and it just didn’t work).

Question is it considered bad/cheating/against the spirit of the game if I keep starting new games until Joe Hugil and Charlie McNeil get decent potential (due to them having a non fixed potential)