[FM22] That's an awfully big stadium, are you compensating for something?

[Dev'o]

"forever blowing bubbles... pretty bubbles in the air."

Barring the 3rd place finish in 1985-86, West Ham United have been the perrenial underperformers in the English top flight. Now with a big-ass stadium holding 60,000 and a few decent seasons under their belt, it's the prime time for West Ham United to make good on their potential and finally get some Champions League football at London Stadium and maybe some silverware.

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Dev'o

[Dev'o]

Saved for future

[Dev'o]

Pre-season

Quite the successful pre-season you might say with the highlights being a 4-2 win over Atalanta, and a 7-2 flogging of Palermo.

I've been playing a 4-1-2-1-2 diamond formation with a false nine, Vlasic has been the most impressive of the players in pre-season, with Zouma and Diop also staking their claim to start in the middle of defence.

[Dev'o]

Cup draws ahoy...

We've had the best possible outcome with our draws for UEFA Europa League.

Only Olympique Lyonnais seems to be a speed bump in our quest for success, and hopefully a bump in our finances.

[Dev'o]

August 2021

Despite the loss to Liverpool, a very promising start to my time at London Stadium, with two strong home wins and Jarrod Bowen snaring three goals in three games at the tip of the spear of our attack.

Very early days - but hopefully we can continue our momentum into September.

[Dev'o]

Holy s**t.

 Bowen, Antonio and Zouma lit up Genk - I've never had a result like this in Europe on Football Manager.

At 13 minutes, I thought we were headed for a 2-1 win.

Scary that considering our ninth goal went in on the 70th minute, that we might have even had more had we not taken our foot off the pedal.

[Dev'o]

September 2021

Wowowowow, what a month. Jarrod Bowen has absolutely been on fire - 11 goals in six games 0 as we've blown away all that've come before!

However, we're still seeking an elusive clean sheet - and despite our good start, I'll be looking at replacing Areola in the upcoming January window.

Some huge wins put us up to second after six games.

But again, early days!

One more win away at Randers and we can basically lock in second round European football.

Here's a snapshot of Vlasic's injury time-winner against Lyon.

[Dev'o]

October 2021

"We are top of the league, say we are top of the league."

We go top of the league after our win away at Molineux, but probably the best result so far was our fourth round win over a depleted Liverpool side in the Carabao Cup.

Bowen is top of the league for goals with 11 goals in total and a big win against Randers away from home sees us all but through in Europe.

Chelsea, Liverpool and Man U all are undefeated though and we've only faced one of the five teams below us.

We've drawn Arsenal in the next round of the Carabao Cup too.

It's going to take a capitulation of epic proportions to not qualify in Europe.

 

[Dev'o]

November 2021

Only a smaller month ahead of the massive Christmas Period where in December alone, we will be playing at least nine fixtures.

Probably the most challenging game for myself was the 2-0 win against City, as after scoring our second goal we were effectively forced into parking the bus against a superior attacking side.

And we rued our chances against Arsenal - but still sit comfortably top of the table by a point, and well embedded in the ECL places.

In the Europa League, we're through as first seeds after another two dominant performances.

Have to feel for Genk who've just been the whipping boys in this group.

[john1]

Wow, some impressive wins in the league and Europe!

[JoOSTAR]

Some impressive results!

Are you planning to dedicate a detailed post around your tactic?

[Dev'o]

51 minutes ago, JoOSTAR said:

Are you planning to dedicate a detailed post around your tactic?

Yeah, likely towards the end of the season.

My biggest issue with these games is that I don't last past the first season so trying to just pump out the updates now!

Currently a 4-1-2-1-2 Diamond formation with a false nine though - when I jump on later, I'll share a screenshot of the tactic and team.

[Dev'o]

Soucek re-signs for five years

Really happy to snare this guy, he's been the backbone of our diamond so far this season.

[Dev'o]

December 2021

Our great form continues this month despite some huge outs...

Bowen, Benrahma,Cresswell are all on the medical table till the end of January, although we might get some of them back sooner.

We've got Watford, Wolves, Norwich and Chelsea this month, so it's not necessarily a bad time for these injuries.

That said we do have Man City in the Carabao Cup semi-final and Reading in the FA Cup Third Round.

That said, we're in a two horse race for the title, nine points ahead of United.

And in the Europa League, we qualify as top seed which means we fly through to the second knockout round.

[Dev'o]

January Transfer Update

In

Yes, you may recognise that we have not signed anyone in January - but not without trying, we tried to get in Johnathan Tah and Diego Costa among others but I guess we'll just have to perservere.

Out

During the January window, there was sixteen outs.

Fabianski, Lanzini, Yarmolenko and Ogbonna are the big ones, but Fredericks was also sold after some consideration.

All in all, we made 19.75 million pounds in January.

[Dev'o]

January 2022

What I thought would be a struggle of a month, we managed to sneak through undefeated.

We dominated Man City in the Carabao Cup which sees us through to a cup final against Leeds and possibly the first piece of silverware in eons for the club.

Liverpool do have two games in hand on us, so they're still definitely in the hunt but we can't take our foot on the accelerator.

Edited May 28, 2022 by Dev'o

[Dev'o]

February 2022

Through to the fifth round in the FA Cup but we blew our chance at Wembley against Leeds thanks to a 87th minute goal.

We also suffered a home loss against Liverpool which has put us behind the Reds in the hunt for the title.

With ten games remaining, we do face a chance of fixture overload - Europa League, FA Cup and the League.

Edited May 28, 2022 by Dev'o

[Dev'o]

March 2022

So it looks like Manchester United can join Leeds United as our bogey side - knocking us out of the FA Cup, and now back into second in the league.

Bowen has gone seemingly blunt in the league, but we do stay in Europa League contention - a 7-3 victory over Brugge at home, with Bowen snaring four goals.

That said, we come into April now with a clean bill of health injury-wise... but another eight matches to play next month accross all comps.

[Dev'o]

WE DID IT - CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FOOTBALL IS COMING TO LONDON STADIUM!

[Dev'o]

YOUTH PROSPECTS

Probably good that we picked up some defensive prospects, I'll be looking to give them the occasional bit of first-team action next year.

Paul Irwin already looks like a superstar.

[Dev'o]

The run in...

Liverpool arguably have the upper hand with the match in hand but let's take a look at the sides we play...

Man City would effectively be that match in hand... We're a chance just yet...

[Dev'o]

April 2022

A thumping loss does not do us any favours at Man City, but we follow that up with three straight wins.

A big win against Lazio puts us in the box seat to make the Europa League final though - perhaps another final beckons?

[Dev'o]

1 hour ago, Dev'o said:

A big win against Lazio puts us in the box seat to make the Europa League final though - perhaps another final beckons?

I'm a bloody jinx...

[Dev'o]

May 2022

Up to Round 37

In the space of three days our cup and league chances were thrown to the way side.

Losing to Lazio hurt, but the pointless loss to Everton also screwed us as well, which puts our fate outside of our hands, and in the hands of Liverpool.

Man United have secured themselves Champions League football too, with Man City and Chelsea playing for the final UCL spot.

[Dev'o]

The Final Round

Sunday 22nd May, 2022

Kick Off

Both sides kick off the final day of the season with both Liverpool and West Ham a chance to win the Premier League.

18'
WEST HAM UNITED SCORES!

West Ham United 91 pts (+54)
Liverpool 90 pts (+51)

Vlasic collects the ball on the edge of the area before curling in a great shot past the helpless Brighton keeper.

30'

LIVERPOOL SCORES!

Liverpool 92 pts (+52)
West Ham United 91 pts (+54)

Liverpool go 1-0 up against Newcastle with a scintillating string from Henderson which sends the visiting fans into pandemonium.

HALF TIME

The way it stands, despite a valiant effort, Liverpool will be taking home the Premier League trophy.

52'

PENALTY FOR WEST HAM UNITED!

Declan Rice streaks into the box, cuts inside and is hacked down by Lewis Dunk.

Noble steps up for West Ham United and..

WEST HAM UNITED SCORES! 2-0!

Liverpool 92 pts (+52)
West Ham United 91 pts (+55)

54'

OWN GOAL! NEWCASTLE EQUALISE AGAINST LIVERPOOL!

A ball from Sanit-Maximim into the box, and deflected in off Matip, the title is still up for grabs!

West Ham United 91 pts (+55)
Liverpool 90 pts (+51)

61'

Some individual brilliance by Mo Salah, who dazzles his way into the box and slices it to the right of the keeper.

LIVERPOOL TAKE THE LEAD

Liverpool with one hand on the title once again.

Liverpool 92 pts (+52)
West Ham United 91 pts (+55)

'75

Diogo Jota with a free kick and it rebounds off the crossbar into the net.

Game over, hand the title to Liverpool

LIVERPOOL 3 - 1 NEWCASTLE

Liverpool 92 pts (+53)
West Ham United 91 pts (+55)

'85

Jota gets his double, this time easily beating the offside trap to put Liverpool further in the lead.

LIVERPOOL 4 - 1 NEWCASTLE

Liverpool 92 pts (+54)
West Ham United 91 pts (+55)

'86

Trossard has scored a consolation for Brighton, but it's all over red rover, the title is headed back to Merseyside.

BRIGHTON 1 - 2 WEST HAM UNITED

Liverpool 92 pts (+54)
West Ham United 91 pts (+55)

[Draakon]

16 hours ago, Dev'o said:

I'm a bloody jinx...

 

And Divock Origi once again scoring a vital come-back goal. Who would have thought?

[Dev'o]

Our team of the season...

Alphonse Areola - Brought in before I got here, didn't really have much of a say in him coming in on loan but glad he did and we are trying to extend his loan for next season while we search for a star goalkeeper.

Vladimir Coufal - Solid at right back, but also delivered when we needed him to, with 16 assists and 4 goals, a solid return from 46 games - only one of those was off the bench!

Kurt Zouma - Again solid and scored some important goals for us, the best performing of our defenders. Fans POTS.

Issa Diop - Initially my third choice DC, he ended up impressing and eventually locked in his position in the heart of our defence.

Arthur Masuaku - Normally a pacey midfielder, found himself at the left back position, and made it his own, snaring 13 assists in a strong season.

Declan Rice - 50 games, 8 goals, 8 assists and a solid season all round by the vice captain. Rewarded with a new five year deal.

Pablo Fornals - 22 goals in 57 outings, this guy was phenomenal from the midfield, and arguably our player of the season.

Tomas Soucek - Another who snared a five year deal. 19 goals, 12 assits from the centre of the park as well as DM is an impressive haul.

Nikola Vlasic - This kid was phenomenal, picking up the young player of the season award and scoring 18 goals from an attacking midfield position.

Michail Antonio - Filled in for Jarrod Bowen when he was injured over Christmas, and did so with aplomb, managing on average a goal every other game, settled into a False Nine rotating with Benrehma in the back end of the season.

Jarrod Bowen - Our club record goalscorer this season, had he not been injured he may have gone on to score more, a case of what might have been for the striker.

 

[Dev'o]

3 hours ago, Draakon said:

 

And Divock Origi once again scoring a vital come-back goal. Who would have thought?

Worst part is, at one point he was a transfer target!

[JoOSTAR]

Great season man, unlucky that you fell 1 point short to win the title!

Looking forward to your tactical post!

[Dev'o]

2 hours ago, JoOSTAR said:

Great season man, unlucky that you fell 1 point short to win the title!

Looking forward to your tactical post!

Thanks for the kind words, should have it up soon!

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by Dev'o

[Marcussy]

Great season 👏🏽 Enjoying this thread too! 👌🏽