[FM21] Manchester United: A club stuck in transition

[Chapman7]

24 minutes ago, Zeonflux said:

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)

Might be there a while, I've tried that in the past on previous games and takes hours and even then didn't get any better than I got the previous attempts 

 

[Zeonflux]

26 minutes ago, Chapman7 said:

Might be there a while, I've tried that in the past on previous games and takes hours and even then didn't get any better than I got the previous attempts 

 

Yeah I know it’s gonna be a bugger and I’m not looking for them to be perfect but some thing like 3 1/2 or above star potential would do

[Falahk]

43 minutes ago, Zeonflux said:

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)

I would not worry to much, even a -7 player with good attribute distribution could turn out to be a good squad player, and it's possible that your staff might be wrong 

[Chapman7]

3 minutes ago, Zeonflux said:

Yeah I know it’s gonna be a bugger and I’m not looking for them to be perfect but some thing like 3 1/2 or above star potential would do

I had a go at it just to see if there was a possible of a higher potential ability and think I got 2.5 stars each time and done it around 3 times 

 

[Zeonflux]

6 minutes ago, Chapman7 said:

I had a go at it just to see if there was a possible of a higher potential ability and think I got 2.5 stars each time and done it around 3 times 

 

Ah well I’ll give it 3 goes and use the best one as my save.

I wanna use them as when I was younger I’d alway just buy players and would kinda neglect the youth players unless they were proper wonder kid new gens but as I’ve got older I enjoy using the players that start at the club.

Shoretire looks great and I want to use Hugil and McNeil as my youth prospect strikers.

Probably gonna start a new save and bring in Haaland and Sancho then get rid of the usual suspects and Martial if I’m honest

[Chapman7]

2 minutes ago, Zeonflux said:

Ah well I’ll give it 3 goes and use the best one as my save.

I wanna use them as when I was younger I’d alway just buy players and would kinda neglect the youth players unless they were proper wonder kid new gens but as I’ve got older I enjoy using the players that start at the club.

Shoretire looks great and I want to use Hugil and McNeil as my youth prospect strikers.

Probably gonna start a new save and bring in Haaland and Sancho then get rid of the usual suspects and Martial if I’m honest

Yeah I was the exact same. I was only a teen at the time so wasn't really aware of the full features like training younger players well will allow them hit heights of superstars in some cases

I'm probably going to keep Martial until I either get a decent offer or Greenwood or one of the young strikers are first team ready to be starting games .

 

I may do that but would change my tactic to a 4-4-2 or something in a save to accommodate Halaand so I can have Greenwood play alongside him 

[Zeonflux]

18 minutes ago, Chapman7 said:

I may do that but would change my tactic to a 4-4-2 or something in a save to accommodate Halaand so I can have Greenwood play alongside him 

I’ve been thinking of a 4-4-2 as a secondary tactic but I’ll probably have it asymmetrical with the left winger in the AML as an IW and then the right as a straight up W

[Chapman7]

3 minutes ago, Zeonflux said:

I’ve been thinking of a 4-4-2 as a secondary tactic but I’ll probably have it asymmetrical with the left winger in the AML as an IW and then the right as a straight up W

I'm not entirely sure on what type of 4-4-2 I'll go with most likely a trip back to memory lane of Fergie time of a flat 4-4-2 

I've just done it another 3 or 4 goes and both have had horrid determination and one at best is 3 star and other 2/2.5

Edited November 24, 2020 by Chapman7

[bluehefner]

So it appears that since the full release it is now harder to sign Sancho.

During Beta it was costing me around £80m (£30m upfront and £50m in instalments) but just now it cost me £95m (£30m upfront, £50m in instalments, £15m after 50 games and 50% sell on profit) who knows if this is just one unlucky time or if Dortmund now play hardball, also Jadon wanted a lot more in wages and bonuses to come.

[Chapman7]

29 minutes ago, bluehefner said:

So it appears that since the full release it is now harder to sign Sancho.

During Beta it was costing me around £80m (£30m upfront and £50m in instalments) but just now it cost me £95m (£30m upfront, £50m in instalments, £15m after 50 games and 50% sell on profit) who knows if this is just one unlucky time or if Dortmund now play hardball, also Jadon wanted a lot more in wages and bonuses to come.

Can get Ansu Fati for less I think still around the same as the beta from what I remember 

[Falahk]

16 minutes ago, Chapman7 said:

I'm not entirely sure on what type of 4-4-2 I'll go with most likely a trip back to memory lane of Fergie time of a flat 4-4-2 

I've just done it another 3 or 4 goes and both have had horrid determination and one at best is 3 star and other 2/2.5

Fergie did not really play a flat 4-4-2 thought (even if this is the base formation you should use in the ME, if you want to recreate his style), it was always a bit closer to a zona mista 

Attacking left back, defensive right back, one cm given more freedom as a playmaker left winger cutting inside, a more traditional right winger and one striker dropping deep to link up play

This ment that the team could sometimemes look like a 4-3-3 or even a 3-5-2 during different stages of play, but would still drop back and defend in two banks of four 

[MatthewS17]

3 hours ago, Zeonflux said:

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)

Yes. :))

Nor is it worth the effort.

Edited November 24, 2020 by MatthewS17

[Chapman7]

1 hour ago, Falahk said:

Fergie did not really play a flat 4-4-2 thought (even if this is the base formation you should use in the ME, if you want to recreate his style), it was always a bit closer to a zona mista 

Attacking left back, defensive right back, one cm given more freedom as a playmaker left winger cutting inside, a more traditional right winger and one striker dropping deep to link up play

This ment that the team could sometimemes look like a 4-3-3 or even a 3-5-2 during different stages of play, but would still drop back and defend in two banks of four 

It did evolve but I'm referring to how he set up when he first joined where in a defensive shape it had capable of playing many shapes and on the break is catastrophic  if executed corrently

[Joao Arq]

4 hours ago, Zeonflux said:

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)

I loaded the FM21Editor and found some new attributes to players, like Peak CA and Peak PA. I don't know yet how they work in the game, but I think they are good for players extrapolate his initial CA/PA. 

[Juls317]

4 hours ago, Zeonflux said:

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)

Doesn't matter what it's considered in the minds of anyone else, it's a single player game. Play however you want to. Buy the editor and make their potential whatever you want, it's your game.

Edited November 24, 2020 by Juls317

[pele10]

My first league game on FM21 epic

[Zeonflux]

53 minutes ago, Juls317 said:

Doesn't matter what it's considered in the minds of anyone else, it's a single player game. Play however you want to. Buy the editor and make their potential whatever you want, it's your game.

Well I’m not gonna use the editor as I don’t want to physically change anything I just want to re-roll the potential of 2 players, and I’m not looking for them to have specific attributes just the potential.

[milan_manutd]

So Bruno is back from over 2 months injury and he get 6 goals and 1 asist. Without him we suffered 3 defeats and 4 draws and turn season into nightmare.

[Juls317]

32 minutes ago, Zeonflux said:

Well I’m not gonna use the editor as I don’t want to physically change anything I just want to re-roll the potential of 2 players, and I’m not looking for them to have specific attributes just the potential.

Oh I know, I was just trying to make the point that it's your game, so you should feel free to do whatever you want.

[axehan1]

Anyone going to buy Gabriel Barbosa? I managed to buy him for £25m at the start of season 2, he is well worth a punt, can play as a striker or just as happy out on the right wing.

[BigV]

Any newbies that have joined or wanting to see how we look attribute wise, i've updated with scrn shots (spoiler tags)

Some beautiful youth prospects!! 

[Zeonflux]

2 hours ago, axehan1 said:

Anyone going to buy Gabriel Barbosa? I managed to buy him for £25m at the start of season 2, he is well worth a punt, can play as a striker or just as happy out on the right wing.

Which skin is that?

[DominicForza]

17 minutes ago, Zeonflux said:

Which skin is that?

Priisek 21 Dark.  

[calcal]

Evening all! Been holding off starting my United save till today, Finally got my teeth stuck into it.

Currently top as I approach Christmas and looking good!

Has anybody tried A "wingerless" tactic at all? I escaped the Sancho signing obsession and went for a narrow 4-3-1-2 and its brilliant so far.

Transfer wise i got in - Camavinga, Vanheusden, Veschaeren and Aarons. Planning a mass clearout throughout the first season and second summer.

Great reading how you are all getting on, Hopefully the thread will be buzzing all year with us all dominating the silverware!

[Chapman7]

3 hours ago, axehan1 said:

Anyone going to buy Gabriel Barbosa? I managed to buy him for £25m at the start of season 2, he is well worth a punt, can play as a striker or just as happy out on the right wing.

Damn! £195k! 

[axehan1]

1 hour ago, Chapman7 said:

Damn! £195k! 

Thought i'd get a DOF in.Brainless they are.

[Chapman7]

1 minute ago, axehan1 said:

Thought i'd get a DOF in.Brainless they are.

Who'd you get in for that? One of the reasons I always want to do the dealings of the contract and often the fee too. Just let them do the finding the players if I have one in place 

[MattLDempsey]

Brought Memphis back second season on a free transfer. Great signing so far.

[BigV]

Chosen to play the demo just to get used to the features and how it all works.

My god how are players refusing to leave?!?! Jones, matic, mata, fred and bailly. 

Ended up bringing skriniar for 50m- jones and bailly was gonna cover half of that maybe 3/4 until bailly got injured and both rejected moves 

Ended up bringing marcus edwards in cause sancho wasn't possible, noticed that if you fail first time around they want even more the next time you arrive, got through to negotiations phase but sancho wanted 400k, told him to jog on as i tried negotiating to 300 and ended up throwing a hissy, tried using rashy and maguire to persuade but to no avail.

Greenwood, rashy and martial look class, pre season they're scoring for fun and assisting. Bruno is bypassing every team, pogba hasn't been great but i may try him as a mez instead of DLP. VDB as a BBM or DLP is quite useful, although his off the ball movement would suit CAM.

Tried using ighalo as a SS with Cavani and I gotta say they link up brilliant, 2 massive meat heads up front holding up play and getting on headers.

Fred and mctominay will be shipped out in my full save for better BBM's that can do it all, VDB will move to CAM in rotation to bruno and odd times slip in CM to cover pogba. 

Saul/barella type players, anyone know any? (short term- around 20-28 yrs of age) 

[Cunego]

Upamecano new release clause is 41m.

[duvels]

10 hours ago, BigV said:

Chosen to play the demo just to get used to the features and how it all works.

My god how are players refusing to leave?!?! Jones, matic, mata, fred and bailly. 

Ended up bringing skriniar for 50m- jones and bailly was gonna cover half of that maybe 3/4 until bailly got injured and both rejected moves 

Ended up bringing marcus edwards in cause sancho wasn't possible, noticed that if you fail first time around they want even more the next time you arrive, got through to negotiations phase but sancho wanted 400k, told him to jog on as i tried negotiating to 300 and ended up throwing a hissy, tried using rashy and maguire to persuade but to no avail.

Greenwood, rashy and martial look class, pre season they're scoring for fun and assisting. Bruno is bypassing every team, pogba hasn't been great but i may try him as a mez instead of DLP. VDB as a BBM or DLP is quite useful, although his off the ball movement would suit CAM.

Tried using ighalo as a SS with Cavani and I gotta say they link up brilliant, 2 massive meat heads up front holding up play and getting on headers.

Fred and mctominay will be shipped out in my full save for better BBM's that can do it all, VDB will move to CAM in rotation to bruno and odd times slip in CM to cover pogba. 

Saul/barella type players, anyone know any? (short term- around 20-28 yrs of age) 

I wonder what version of the match engine they use for the demo? My goal output has dropped quite a bit since going to the full game from the beta.

McTominay is a good squad player for me. When he plays, he just puts in the performances I need and with his height, he can be a weapon on set pieces as well. Other BBM type players like Barella: Milinkovic-Savic from Lazio maybe? He's quite expensive though.

Seems like I have the best result by just using the tiki-taka 4231 preset, but it isn't the most exciting type of play. Winning most games with 1-0 or 2-0 scorelines.

[BigV]

55 minutes ago, duvels said:

I wonder what version of the match engine they use for the demo? My goal output has dropped quite a bit since going to the full game from the beta.

McTominay is a good squad player for me. When he plays, he just puts in the performances I need and with his height, he can be a weapon on set pieces as well. Other BBM type players like Barella: Milinkovic-Savic from Lazio maybe? He's quite expensive though.

Seems like I have the best result by just using the tiki-taka 4231 preset, but it isn't the most exciting type of play. Winning most games with 1-0 or 2-0 scorelines.

No ME changes have been made according to the feedback thread but I believe they made it slightly more difficult due to a large amount of people saying it was too easy- same as official release just a slimmed/quick start version 

Barella is quoted at 35m and at 80k, worth it for a better fred/mctominay but I agree could be useful, certainly was when i needed him, just need a player that can thread balls and can do most stuff like a complete midfielder

Maybe tweak it and see how it works- Mine is 4231 positive, shorter passing with higher tempo and urgent pressing. Does the job but also pass into space works. Played salford and absolutely thrashed them cause bruno, vdb and pogba were passing like maniacs 

[milan_manutd]

17 hours ago, MattLDempsey said:

Brought Memphis back second season on a free transfer. Great signing so far.

Bring him in january window first season for 15mil£ because Bruno got injured for 3months and he prefer ST but I play him as AML or even SS (Rashford is first choice for AML). Just not sure where he's the best?

 

[Zeonflux]

23 hours ago, Juls317 said:

Oh I know, I was just trying to make the point that it's your game, so you should feel free to do whatever you want.

Well it was a moot point, loaded up a new game and McNeil was a 4 star potential so just stuck with that.

Brought in Haaland and Sancho and preseason has been a doddle.

Ive had injuries to Maguire and Axel and Mengi is out on loan so McTominay is currently and auxiliary CB, might train him as one as he’s done well there

[DominicForza]

37 minutes ago, Zeonflux said:

Brought in Haaland and Sancho and preseason has been a doddle.

 

How much did you pay for Haaland and Sancho?  

[Gee_Simpson]

@BigV what's the code for spoiler tags?

Edited November 25, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Zeonflux]

21 minutes ago, DominicForza said:

How much did you pay for Haaland and Sancho?  

Haaland was £30m upfront then between £50-£60m in instalments and 50% of profit from selling him on.

Sancho was £37m upfront then like £70m in instalments and 50% of profit from sell on again

[Gee_Simpson]

How can you all bring yourselves to keep the first window enabled?  It just feels wrong to me to be able to add on top of the real life summer transfers. It's just a personal choice really, I am tempted to keep it enabled because there is definitely work needed to be done to the squad, but I reckon I'll stand firm and keep it disabled. 

Not yet started my save because of the PS5 release, so been on that.

[duvels]

1 hour ago, Gee_Simpson said:

How can you all bring yourselves to keep the first window enabled?  It just feels wrong to me to be able to add on top of the real life summer transfers. It's just a personal choice really, I am tempted to keep it enabled because there is definitely work needed to be done to the squad, but I reckon I'll stand firm and keep it disabled. 

Not yet started my save because of the PS5 release, so been on that.

Same here, usually play with first window not enabled. Got to the winter window now and got nothing from the board to spend though... Got some targets I'm keeping a look at, hopefully they won't get snatched up by other teams.

Rojo is off to China for €4.4m, Jones doesn't want to go. Lingard, Mata, Matic and other candidates to be sold won't go until I can sign first. Chicken and egg story there... Meanwhile, I have some teams interested in Shaw, Fred McTominay and Martial. Will see if they'll bid or not.

[Woolly]

With the full release I've decided to hold off on a long term save for now to see how my beta save does. My tactics are still working ok but I have probably succeeded in creating a miracle. I've managed to get another club to actually pay me some money to take Jones off my hands. Cheers Burnley for the 13m in return you can have sicknote , I'm not too bothered about paying 12.25k pw of his wages for the next two seasons it is it means I'm not paying 110k pw to have him sitting on the treatment table. Operation deadwood has been a success I think. Sold: Jones (13m), Romero (4.3m), Rojo (9m), Grant(120k), Mata (4.6m), Matic (11.75m), TFM (3m), and Lingard (14m). A couple also have add-ons so I may just make more money in the long run  

[BigV]

3 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

@BigV what's the code for spoiler tags?

(spoiler)Insert text here(/spoiler) 

but use the [ ] ones instead

[Gee_Simpson]

[spoiler]test[/spoiler]

As you can see, for some reason it doesn't work for me? 

Edited November 25, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[BigV]

I think they've changed it, tried doing it mysself earlier but didnt work, sorry @Gee_Simpson

Maybe ask a mod?

[Juls317]

Spoiler

This is a spoiler

Try writing what you want as the spoiler, highlighting it, and then clicking the eye button in the editing menu at the top of the text box

Edited November 25, 2020 by Juls317

[BigV]

15 minutes ago, Juls317 said:

  Reveal hidden contents

This is a spoiler

Try writing what you want as the spoiler, highlighting it, and then clicking the eye button in the editing menu at the top of the text box

hes on phone i believe, doesnt show up with the eye thingy

[Juls317]

Just now, BigV said:

hes on phone i believe, doesnt show up with the eye thingy

Ah, yeah I'm not sure then. If the mobile browser has a "Desktop site" option, then it may work, though I don't know how great of an experience that would be

[Gee_Simpson]

Yeah that works when on Desktop view, thanks. 

[Gee_Simpson]

So yeah it was about Mason Greenwood's PA. 

Spoiler

I was really surprised to see it was fixed this year, I was expecting a - 9 or - 9.5 but I was delighted to see it as 175 which is really good. Means he will always turn out world class.

I've not went on a mass view of PA's this year like I usually do, I wanted to make an effort to stop doing it. I've only seen Greenwood's, Alphonso Davies' (because of his poor attributes from the beta), Eddie Nketiah and Marcus Edwards. Edwards was by accident, unfortunately someone on these forums had put his PA up without putting it in spoilers, which was disappointing as I'm planning to sign him, I'll make an effort to sign him though. You never know maybe his PA has changed from the beta, but I doubt it.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Sherkey]

So, started a new save on the full game and just had a massive clearout.

Pleasantly surprised that I was able to sell those players (especially Bailly). The board blocked the sale, stating that the amount was too high, but managed to convince them to approve it. Matic, I'm paying half his wages, so that's a bummer (and he didn't want to move since he had signed a new contract IRL). However, shifting him to U23s meant he eventually decided to move. The fees are on the lesser side (or equal to their value), but gets most of their wages off the board, which is what I was going for.

Ins, Skriniar as the starting CB, he looks beastly. For Sancho, I was between two minds - he is more expensive than the beta, which I love. However, because of that, Marcus Edwards was looking like a good option (despite being one-footed and lesser playmaking abilities). Eventually, since I was able to sell so many players, decided to punt for Sancho (60 now, 60 in installments and 12 for 50 goals - which I honestly think is a good deal). Also got in Demir for the future, since I want to play with a Trequarista up-front, and looking at his attributes, it seems he can work well in that role. (overpaid for him, but yeah, no other option)

Was considering offloading Fred, but he is useful and his attributes make him a decent enough cover at LB, which makes him more useful. Jones looks usable, honestly. Might give him a few games and keep him, depending on his newer injuries - let's see.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Sherkey

[Woolly]

5 hours ago, Sherkey said:

So, started a new save on the full game and just had a massive clearout.

Pleasantly surprised that I was able to sell those players (especially Bailly). The board blocked the sale, stating that the amount was too high, but managed to convince them to approve it. Matic, I'm paying half his wages, so that's a bummer (and he didn't want to move since he had signed a new contract IRL). However, shifting him to U23s meant he eventually decided to move. The fees are on the lesser side (or equal to their value), but gets most of their wages off the board, which is what I was going for.

Ins, Skriniar as the starting CB, he looks beastly. For Sancho, I was between two minds - he is more expensive than the beta, which I love. However, because of that, Marcus Edwards was looking like a good option (despite being one-footed and lesser playmaking abilities). Eventually, since I was able to sell so many players, decided to punt for Sancho (60 now, 60 in installments and 12 for 50 goals - which I honestly think is a good deal). Also got in Demir for the future, since I want to play with a Trequarista up-front, and looking at his attributes, it seems he can work well in that role. (overpaid for him, but yeah, no other option)

Was considering offloading Fred, but he is useful and his attributes make him a decent enough cover at LB, which makes him more useful. Jones looks usable, honestly. Might give him a few games and keep him, depending on his newer injuries - let's see.

Good luck with keeping Jones injury free I was tempted to keep him as back up but after him getting injured 4 times on top of the original I bit the bullet and offered him up not expecting to get more than 4m. So to get 13m with a low wage payment was a bonus for me (no doubt now he will have an injury free season at  Burnley lol).