FM23: Manchester United The Ten Hag era

[molemenacer]

End of the January Transfer Window 29/30 (Season 8)

Players out:

Jadon Sancho - Took a shot at bringing him back and it failed massively, took a hit in selling him but clearing £225k p/w off the books was worth it.  He also got injured for 5 months just after joining Barcelona

Wisdom Amey - Signed him from £10.75mill in the 26/27 season and has been a solid backup for Fresneda but wanted more first team football and Napoli were desperate for him.  Recalled an english youngster from loan and he is now my backup right back

Edouard Mendy - 3rd choice keeper on £90k p/w and Chelsea offered some money for him so out he went

Alex Tremble - A very good young english full back, decent loan fee for starting games at Real Betis

David Larsson - A young Swedish center back came in on deadline day and loaned back until the end of the season

 

Players In:

David Lind and David Larsson - young players coming in

Sese McArthur - Came in as a replacement for Sancho to provide a different option on the right 

Has had a really good start to his career at Old Trafford as well

 

It has so far been a good season:
 

Final of the EFL Cup

4th round of the FA Cup at home to Forest

Finished 2nd in the CL league stage

Top of the premiership by 9 points after 24 games

[DominicForza]

On 27/06/2023 at 13:03, MichaelNevo said:

I forgot to mention, as the transfers are weirdly added into last season, despite being from the same window for this season.

Nicolas Jackson had a good first season with 29 goals in all competitions.

Ugarte was a brilliant signing and a perfect partner to Casemiro in CDM. He managed 5 goals and 7 assists alongside his defensive duties as a Ball Winning Midfielder.

While the English transfer window opens in June, the Fiscal Year/Season starts in July for financial rules compliance.   

[sedge11]

So after I left Man Utd after 5 seasons on my save, I couldn't get into being Roma, so I took a break from FM.

After a small break, I decided to come back to my Man Utd save, I had luckily created an extra save file before I left for Roma. I did think about starting a new save, but there's some great regens on this save it would be a shame not to use them.

So straight into and to summer transfers going into season 6.

1st the outs

Aouar left after his loan, it never really worked out for him and 62 mil is great price. N'Dicka had done a good job for me but was only ever really a back up. Now the deal of the summer Sancho, Bayern were sniffing around and bid a couple of times which I rejected, but they kept coming in so I managed to negotiate them to 110 mil up front, 65 mil in installments then the rest in appearance bonuses, which he will easily achieve. 

Also to note Varane had retired, and Casemiro had left on a free, both players giving us a great 5 years.

Now the ins

We hadn't spent much the 2 seasons before this, so with the Sancho money I thought a big summer was needed.

Min-Jae is 30 but I just wanted him so paid the money, simple as that. Gavi comes in as I needed a younger midfielder with Casemiro leaving and Bruno now mid 30s. Olise is someone I'm not sure I really needed but he had a great season for Palace as they finished 2nd in season 5, and he adds great depth.

Horrigmo is a CB, who could break into the team in maybe a season or 2. Lopez is straight in the 1st team, and this is how he looks.

We have a very mixed start to the season.

We were poor against Chelsea, then Corbalan got a hattrick against Arsenal to start our season. The Norwich was a game I just couldn't believe what I was seeing, Gavi got injured after 3 mins, Bruno was then sent off after 5 minutes and we conceded a penalty after 10 minutes, after that we dominated the game and their keeper got man of the match.

[molemenacer]

2 hours ago, sedge11 said:

So after I left Man Utd after 5 seasons on my save, I couldn't get into being Roma, so I took a break from FM.

After a small break, I decided to come back to my Man Utd save, I had luckily created an extra save file before I left for Roma. I did think about starting a new save, but there's some great regens on this save it would be a shame not to use them.

So straight into and to summer transfers going into season 6.

1st the outs

Aouar left after his loan, it never really worked out for him and 62 mil is great price. N'Dicka had done a good job for me but was only ever really a back up. Now the deal of the summer Sancho, Bayern were sniffing around and bid a couple of times which I rejected, but they kept coming in so I managed to negotiate them to 110 mil up front, 65 mil in installments then the rest in appearance bonuses, which he will easily achieve. 

Also to note Varane had retired, and Casemiro had left on a free, both players giving us a great 5 years.

Now the ins

We hadn't spent much the 2 seasons before this, so with the Sancho money I thought a big summer was needed.

Min-Jae is 30 but I just wanted him so paid the money, simple as that. Gavi comes in as I needed a younger midfielder with Casemiro leaving and Bruno now mid 30s. Olise is someone I'm not sure I really needed but he had a great season for Palace as they finished 2nd in season 5, and he adds great depth.

Horrigmo is a CB, who could break into the team in maybe a season or 2. Lopez is straight in the 1st team, and this is how he looks.

We have a very mixed start to the season.

We were poor against Chelsea, then Corbalan got a hattrick against Arsenal to start our season. The Norwich was a game I just couldn't believe what I was seeing, Gavi got injured after 3 mins, Bruno was then sent off after 5 minutes and we conceded a penalty after 10 minutes, after that we dominated the game and their keeper got man of the match.

Welcome back

That is a hell of a window, and a great price for Sancho.

I will be interested in seeing how Kim Min-Jae works out as i almost bought him a few times

 

I have had a few of seasons where my away form has been shocking at the start of the season, my view (which is completely unfounded) is that it is linked to how busy my summer transfer window was

[ThanatosAFC]

@sedge11 Holy smokes, that Sancho deal is nuts.

[MichaelNevo]

On 03/07/2023 at 09:06, molemenacer said:

Yep same thing happens to me the whole time.

 

An even weirder example, Sancho was on £275k and wanted £350k for a renewal, sold him to Real Madrid and he signed for £190k, bought him back 3 years later for £220k.  The AI is always able to get better contract deals than i am

 

On 02/07/2023 at 22:05, Verby said:

This game really annoys me sometimes, I have just sold  a 32 & 33-year-old Varane and Eriksen because I refused to give them 300k a week each (Contracts were expiring). They went to the new club for 150k and 180k a week.

It can heavily depend on your wage structure within the club, the country you manage in (I believe to be true?) and can also depend heavily on the bonuses you offer, something which I'm actually exploring myself right now.

Also...

It is possible to ask your DOF to negotiate a contract which allows the AI to get involved. Not something i'd suggest if you were to look into offering more bonus heavy packages, but definitely worth doing if you'd prefer the AI to take a shot at it.

Also...

I would definitely suggest discussing the contract with the players agent prior to offering a contract and DON'T just agree to his initial demands. Start the conversation by saying you're interested (not very interested) in renewing the players contract. Then you want to be contesting his offer, I always go with "I think you're asking too much", 4 times out of 5 they will lower their demands, i guess it depends on the agent in question. You could try the other contest option also, but I've got no experience with that one.

[MichaelNevo]

Decided to take a different approach to contracts going forward. Managed to reduce Luke Shaws wage down to 130k from 170k per week, focusing more on an expansive bonus package to bolster his wage when the team does well and also for individual performances. This is perfect to combat the massive wage culture at United and still offers those massive wages if the player really deserves it.

I got this idea from what I've heard United are actually attempting to do in real life, it definitely makes a ton of sense.

[Verby]

Bidding war going on for a 32-year-old Kane right now between Porto and Milan. Has 6 months left on his contract.. started at 20m and I've gradually managed to get it all the way up here.. wether he accepts one of them is another thing

 

Edit; managed to get 65m out of them both. Happy to see him leave, i could not fit him into my system properly, even as a DLF he wasn't great plus i replaced him with Vlahovic whos a beast pressing forward.

Edited July 11, 2023 by Verby

[molemenacer]

End of the season 29/30 and almost the perfect one

Spoiler

Winners in the Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, Super Cup and FA Community Shield.

Runners Up in the Champions League to PSG.

 

Premier League:

Spoiler

95 points, 9 clear of Man City in second and 34 ahead of a poor Spurs in 5.  Once again Crystal Palace, who are pretty good in this save, get CL football. 

Fixture List:

Spoiler

Lost to Man City away on the 22nd September and didn't lose again until Liverpool away on the 16th February.  The month of May was a disaster for injuries, after the Southampton game i only had Rashford, Endrick and Smith Row available as Ferguson, McArthur, Gouiri, Fuentes, Fernandes and Gittens where all out injured.  Struggled with tiredness in the Man City and Arsenal games and as we won the league with the Southampton result players effort took a dive.

 

FA Cup:

Spoiler

Played a Premier league team in every round but all at home and all very comfortable.  West Ham had a man sent off after 21 minutes in the final but due to being unable to rotate my attacking players at all due to injury we really struggled to hit the target and break the deadlock.   Although i was having lots of chances i was struggling to hit the target and West Ham were dominating the ball with the DM dictating the play.  At half time i went much more aggressive and moved a player into the AMC role to hassle their DM a lot more, it worked and i had a goal disallowed after 60 minutes then Rashford scored a great goal.  Two late goals put a gloss on the result but we got the win, ended the game with 33 shots but only 7 on target.

 

EFL Cup:

Spoiler

A mixture of home and away games but nothing too difficult, should have made the semi easier than it was but with 60 minutes gone in the first leg and leading 2-0 i made 5 subs to rest players and then 5 minutes later got an injury.  Burnley scored 2 in injury time at the end of game.

Final was more straight forward than 1-0, they had 4 shots 1 on target with a combined xg of 0.24 so never challenged me, our finishing again was awful, which made it a little nervy at the end.

Champions League:

Spoiler

Started off with a tough trip to Bayern, who i struggle with massively.  Decided to change it up a bit in the Round of 16 away to them and should have won the game, the changes i made there i also then used in the away games to RB Leipzig and Napoli as well.  Something i will look doing in the Prem next season against Man City and Liverpool away from home.

The Final was a missed opportunity, lots of shots from each side but hardly any on target either, 17 and 4 from me and 23 and 6 from them, i had the slightly better chances and higher xg but not much to choose between the sides really.  Late in the secodn half and Extra time i just didn't have the players to change the game because of injuries.  I had 11 players on the bench, 1 GK, 5 defenders, 2 holding midfielders, a rubbish Bynoe-Gittens and an almost fit McArthur and Fuentes.  I had to play it out and in the end we lost 16-17 on penalties.

 

Squad:

Spoiler

Endrick was a beast all year except the games in May when he had no rest at all

Spoiler

McArthur joined in January and what a signing he was, made me move Pedri from the right in the AP(S) role and McArthur was going to be the difference until he missed the month of may

Spoiler

Pedri joined in the summer and started out on the AMR position, when McArthur came in he moved to the AP(S) role and that transformed the way my team played.

Spoiler

The point of the save for me was to try to win every competition the most, so how is that going

Premier League - Man Utd (25 times winner)

Champions League - Real Madrid (14 times winner) - Man Utd have now won it 6 times so not likely to catch Real Madrid in this save

FA Cup - Man Utd (16 times winner)

EFL Cup - Liverpool (9 times winner) - I have also won it 9 times now with 4 wins in the last 5 years so hopefully next year.

Community Shield - Man Utd (24 times winner)

Super Cup - AC Milan (6 times winner) - Man Utd have now won it 3 times so i have a chance here

 

Next Season:

Probably not much happening in the squad over the summer as there is nothing i really need to change at the moment.  There are a few players that have had their head turned one who i do not want to lose Fernando Monge who is my Half Back and is excellent.

Jamie Bynoe-Gittens contract is up so will be going on a free so i have space for another wide player.  There are some young players that could fill it but it depends if i send them out on loan or not.

Bruno Fernandes is now 35, he has 1 year left on his deal and has lost his starting spot to Pedri and sub spot to Fuentes so he may go as he is unsettled, i was hoping to keep him until he retires but he may go in the summer as well

Marcus Rashford, who has just had his best year for me also has 1 year left to go on his deal and i do not want to increase his wages from his £275k.  I am hoping he will negotiate at the same value, which is what i managed to do last time.

[W2C]

So I finally got my save going. Nearly to the winter break and it's been an interesting one so far. I gave myself some restrictions in terms of not being able to move anyone on except for the one keeper on loan as I had no use for him at all. Been playing Rashford up front and moved Sancho into the midfield primarily playing as an AP in a 4231 but occasionally as a Mez in a 433 and he's starting to look reasonably impressive. City has had some injury issues and has been sitting 14th in the table most of the early season so far. Weird season so far but my team's off to a great start.

[molemenacer]

Summer 2030 transfer window complete and not masses of changes really, as usual though a large number of loans

Players Out:

Spoiler

Biggest outs:

Wesley Fofana - huge loss here but was not worth his huge wage so getting his wages off the books was the most important.   I can imagine the headlines though if this happened in real life!!

Christian Libreros - Signed for £2.3 mill and sold for £47.5 mill so a huge profit on him.  He wanted more playing time but had actually drifted further from the starting 11 with Pedri moving into the AP(S) role so out he went 

Bruno Guimarães - Lost £1 mill on him over 1 year and he did his job but not too bad really

All the other sales where players that were not going to make it and we managed to get some decent fees for them.

 

Players In:

Spoiler

Main incomings

Lars Engelsing - I have been tracking him for a while and needed another Half Back option and he fits it perfectly for me

Spoiler

Jose Antonio Luna - A great option available for a great price to play from the left

Spoiler

Alejandro Garnacho - I thought about this transfer for about 3 weeks of game time and decided on deadline day to go ahead.  Rashford got injured for 3 months 2 days before the window closed and at 32 i was not sure how good he was going to be when he comes back so brought back Garnacho, hopefully he will be better than when i let him go.  Sold for £60 mill because he wanted a contract worth over £200k p/w,  bought back for £46 mill on £160k p/w.

Spoiler

Other good news in the window is that Marcus Rashford signed a new 2 year deal for a reduced £240k p/w so happy with that.  He just had his best season for me last year with 36 goals and 9 assists at 32 y/o.

Season has started ok 

Spoiler

Nice Community Shield win over Man City, 89 minute header from a corner

Should have lost to Spurs away, Wilk had a blinder in goal and we escaped with a draw.

Away to City and a brace for Haaland as they ran out 2-1 winners, i tried to be more conservative by sitting deeper and it didn't work first half.  Second half went more aggressive and should have got a draw in the end.

So after playing Chelsea (h), Spurs (a) and City (a) in the first 4 games of the season we also have Arsenal (a) and Liverpool (a) before the end of September so a tough start.

Edited July 13, 2023 by molemenacer

[molemenacer]

On 09/07/2023 at 13:47, MichaelNevo said:

Decided to take a different approach to contracts going forward. Managed to reduce Luke Shaws wage down to 130k from 170k per week, focusing more on an expansive bonus package to bolster his wage when the team does well and also for individual performances. This is perfect to combat the massive wage culture at United and still offers those massive wages if the player really deserves it.

I got this idea from what I've heard United are actually attempting to do in real life, it definitely makes a ton of sense.

I have used this approach over the last 18 months or so and it has made a difference.  Negotiations are still difficult but i have been able to get some decent wages with bonuses

[molemenacer]

So after 11 years, 320 games and 113 goals it has finally happened, Bruno Fernandes the legend has left the club as he was not getting the game time he wanted.  He had 8 months left on his deal and i thought he might retire at the club but an offer from Shabab Al-Ahli came in and he wanted to talk to them and he left.  Sad times for the club but he was on £100k and not playing at all.

He will be missed as has been immense over the years for me.  Even last season he averaged 7.28 in the league.  Still the club moves on and the next potential legend gets his chances

 

[molemenacer]

January 2031 transfer window slams shut and a very quiet one for us

Players Out:

Jose Antonio Luna has got the potential to be Rashfords replacement probably not next season but the one after and needed more game time so goes on loan to get it.

Johnny Bedini - Cost us £9mill from the Italian league with crazy high potential but despite decent loan spells just never improved enough and i have far better players in his spot.  I offered him out for £0 loan for 6 months but a mandatory fee of £44.5 mill, Real Madrid came in and out he goes for a huge profit

The others just some young players that need some loan time

 

Players In:

He came through the Chelsea youth system 4 years ago and i have been tracking him for 2 years now and he got annoyed and wanted out for a decent fee.  Ferguson has been awful so far this year and i am thinking Samson replaces him in the summer

Has got some good attributes already and plenty of space to improve so hopefully he will progress for me.  Will see how things go but i am thinking he will rotate with Endrick and Ferguson, who threw his toys everywhere because i said i was disappointed in him for not scoring for 8 games and he thought he was doing ok.

[molemenacer]

End of Season 2030/2031 (Season 9) and it has been a pretty good one in the end.

Spoiler

We ended up with 4 trophies and despite an awful end to the season we managed to get over the line in the League, FA Cup and Champions League

Community Shield:

Spoiler

A fun start to the season with an 89 minute header from a corner to win the game.

Premier League:

Spoiler

We won the league on 92 points, 6 points ahead of Man City on 86 points.  We had a tough start to the year with games against Chelsea (H), Spurs (A), Man City (A), Arsenal (A) and Liverpool (A) all before the end of September.  We lost to City and Drew with Spurs but won the rest so things were looking good.  The run in we lost at home to Bournemouth and Arsenal and away to Southamption and drew away to Norwich, City were on a great run but had an even more of a melt down than us, winning 1 of their last 5 games.  We limped over the line because they were really bad and we forgot how to score goals.

FA Cup:
 

Spoiler

A really tough draw this season from the Fifth round onwards, scrapped wins over Spurs and Liverpool before a tough semi final win over City.  We went 2 up and were cruising at half time and then Schade got a straight red on 46 minutes, we held on until the 89 minute when they scored and then hung on to win the cup for the 4th time in a row and the 5th in 6 years.

EFL Cup:

Spoiler

Another tough draw, managed a good win over City in the Fourth round before a tough loss to Arsenal away in the Quarter Final, Arsenal are turning in a real rival and have the best record out of the top 6 against us.  We need 1 more win in this competition to be the most successful, currently level with Liverpool.

Champions League:

Spoiler

One of our easiest league phases on paper but we started badly with a 0-0 at home to Milan but after that it was very straight forward and we ended up topping the league.  Round of 16 was a tough draw against Atletico but a good 2-2 draw away from home set up a comfortable home win to progress.  Bayern in the Quarter Finals was the toughest draw we could have got and i was expecting to be out, the home game did not go well.  At this time of the season we were struggling to hit the target with our shots, 22 with 3 on target, and it cost us as they levelled in the 80th minute to give them the advantage in the second leg.  With a few tweaks to the tactic so we were a bit more compact we dominated the game but it took until the 113th minute to score and we saw the rest of the game out with relative comfort.  Semis and it was Arsenal, first leg we were awful and i based on our last few games with Arsenal once again thought we were out but. a superb performance in which the early goal set the tone and we tore them apart.  Final time and it was Spurs,  no idea how they got there as they finished 10th in the league and are not very good.  They scored early through Wilk having a mare so i made a change to go more attacking and it worked, we dominated after that and scored 3 good goals to win the Champions League for the 4th time under me and the 2nd in 3 years.

Squad:

Spoiler

Some decent ratings this year but our conversion rate was down to 11%, we were awful in front of goal all year and it could have cost us all 3 trophies at the end of the year.

Trophy Count:

Champions League - 7 (Liverpool 6) (Real Madrid 14)

Premier League - 26 (Liverpool 19)

FA Cup - 17 (Liverpool 9)

EFL Cup - 9 (Liverpool 9)

Community Shield - 25 (Liverpool 15)

Super Cup - 3 (Liverpool 4) (Milan 6)

We need to win i EFL Cup and 2 Super Cups to really put Liverpool in their place!!!

We need 3 more Super Cups, 1 more EFL cup and 8 more Champions League to be the most successful club ever!!! (Don't think the Champions League will be achieved!!)

 

Next Season:

Don't know.  I was really annoyed with the end of the season and have reservations about a few players.  There is a lot of interest in players so we will see.

[molemenacer]

Summer Transfer Window 31/32 slams shut and it has been a very busy one.  The back end of last season although we won a lot, but i had question marks over the mentality of a few of the players so it has been a summer of change.  We focused on player personality and their hidden traits like big matches this window

Players Out:

Spoiler

So Endrick and Ferguson leave the club

Endrick - Something i had not seen before was that he does not like Big Matches, i had missed it and it explains a lot.  He joined on a free and goes for a final total of £91 mill - record 82 goals in 115 games

Ferguson - He has 138 goals in 208 games for us but was very disappointing last season and again in big matches let me down.  Signed for £20.5 mill and then sold for £76 mill was a good bit of business

Fuentes - Had been replaced in the starting line up by Pedri and i had another player coming in for his role who is much better so out he went

Bedini - Completed the terms of his loan deal and went for a decent fee after being signed for £9 mill

A whole bunch of other deals, 40 players out in total

Player In:

Spoiler

My new starting striker - Mazin Mahmoud

Signed from Crystal Palace for a total of £165 mill.  He is a perfectionist and loves big matches.

Second striker - 

Another perfectionist and big matches

Replacement for Fuentes

Driven compared to Fuentes who was light hearted

Datro Fofana - He was annoyed at Newcastle and managed to get him for a decent price, will replacement Rashford this season from the left

A few squad players to strengthen the midfield with great personalities

 

Season Start:

Spoiler

Community shield win over City and Uefa Super Cup win over Real Betis

Was worried about the 1-1 draw away to West Brom first up but lots of goals since then and Mahmoud has had a great start

7 games, 7 goals and 6 assists.  Someone to finally maybe challenge Haaland.

 

[molemenacer]

Took a break from FM for a while so it has taken me longer than normal to get to January, the window has just shut though and a quiet one with only some excitement on deadline day when a target got transfer listed by request so had to pounce, which meant a player leaving as well.

 

The exchange on deadline day was Andrew Pitman in from Norwich for £39 mill and Ludger Schade out to Arsenal to £41 mill.  Pitman joins on £60k and Schade leaves having been on £145k, £2 mill profit and a huge wage saving for a better player, also Pitman is English so helps with the quota.  He will be backup to Fan Haoyu to start with but he is only slightly worse and hopefully will catch up and Fan is on £230k!!!

 

Lambert joins from Watford, a very good young right sided player with a Resilient personality and he loans back to Watford for the rest of the season.

I have changed formation part way through the season, part of the reason for the break in FM for a week, now playing a 442 although not quite what i want is looking good at the moment.

[molemenacer]

We are now the most successful side in the history of the EFL Cup, after beating Newcastle in the final we have now won it 10 times surpassing Liverpool.  We have now won everything more than they have, they have been dethroned

We should have won in normal time but Wilk completely fluffed a corner and missed the ball completely to give them a free header (their 1 CCC), made up for it in the shoot out though.  We decided that hitting a player whilst shooting was the best tactic

The 10 years of the save so far

 

League titles - 26 Titles (Liverpool - 19)

Champions League - 7 (Liverpool - 6)

UEFA Super Cup - 4 (Liverpool - 4)

FA Cup - 17 (Liverpool - 9)

EFL Cup - 10 (Liverpool 9)

Community Shield - 26 (Liverpool - 15)

[molemenacer]

10 years into the save and it has happened

We won everything we were in, something i have only achieved once before in any FM ever.

Community Shield:

Spoiler

The curtain raise and a tough 1-0 win over City.  This did set the tone for the early part of the season with us missing a lot of chances

Super Cup:

Spoiler

A comfortable 3-0 win over Betis

EFL Cup:

Spoiler

An easy first 2 rounds, then a tough win over City at their place on penalties in the Quarters.  Semis were a rotated squad and we missed a whole bunch of chances especially the home leg, an xg of 3.81, 3 Clear Cut chances and 6 half chances and had to reply on a penalty.  Final was another one that was closer than should have been, 3.25 xg to 1.86, CCC 3 to 1, half chances 5 to 2.  Wilk had a shocker but then saved 3 penalties in the final.

FA Cup:

Spoiler

Penalties galore again in the Qurters and Semi and we stuttered our way to the final and then beat am awful Chelsea side (who finished 15th in the league).  A really even final that we struggled in massively but managed to squeak over the line to win the FA Cup for the 5th time in a row.

Premier League:

Spoiler

2 Loses away to Liverpool and City and 7 draws, a few disappointing ones early on which promoted a formation change to the 442 that i have been training up for the Blackburn game in October that i won 4-0.  Really happy with it, have made a few tweaks over the season and now it is working well.

Champions League:

Spoiler

A really comfortable group stage despite a tough start against Inter, Juventus and PSG.  Round of 16 against Ajax was easy but then a tough Quarters against Palace who have been pretty decent this save with some really good players coming through their youth team.  We dominated away from home and i thought the home leg would be easy but after going 3-0 up Wilks decided to let in their 3 shots on target with a combined xg of 0.49 and get a 6.1.

Semis again started off well with a comfortable 2-0 win away at Inter, then the home leg, they scored after 23 seconds, we then scored on 5 and 8 minutes before they scored again on 12 minutes to make it 2-2 a goal on 41 minutes gave us a 3-2 lead at half time and we saw it out.  Inter had 3 shots on target, their 2 goals had a .38 xg so in 2 home games Wilks let in 5 goals with a combined xg of .87.  I have massive question marks over him going into next season as he has these games.

Final was a battle, i edged the xg and had 3 CCC and 1 half chance to their 3 half chances but Rafael Leao was a menace throughout and gave my right back a torrid time.  2 corner goals from Scalvini won it for me.

8 finals in a row with 5 wins, including the last 2.

Squad:

Spoiler

Plenty of goals with 2 players with over 30 goals and another with over 20.

The change in tactic helped massively 

I had to retrain my wide players to play in the standard MR and ML roles and need to balance the squad in the summer as have too many center midfielders now.

Going Forward:

So 10 years in and we have just won everything we could, i am contemplating stopping the save now as the only thing that beats this season is also going unbeaten in the prem as well.  My aim of the save was to win every competition the most and I have done that except for  the CL were Real Madrid have 14 titles to my 8 so i am not going to catch them.

I do have some good young players though that i want to see how they turn out and am 2 CLs away from La Decima.

I am on holiday next week so might see how i feel after that.  Have loved this save though.

[Rollin93]

Wonder if anyone could help

im a massive United fan but haven’t done a save with them this year wondering if anyone could answer few questions for me 

 

how easy is it? I like a save that’s really difficult

 

last one 2nd season onwards do you get massive transfer budgets? This is what’s out me off the premier league last couple of fms 

 

thanks in advance 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

2 hours ago, Rollin93 said:

Wonder if anyone could help

im a massive United fan but haven’t done a save with them this year wondering if anyone could answer few questions for me 

 

how easy is it? I like a save that’s really difficult

 

last one 2nd season onwards do you get massive transfer budgets? This is what’s out me off the premier league last couple of fms 

 

thanks in advance 

Yes very easy with Man Utd and yes as far I remember you do get massive transfer budgets. 

Well that was the case when I did a Man Utd save when FM23 first come out. No idea if that is the same now but you could always holiday a season with Man Utd to see what transfer budget they get or look on the finances section and it should tell you the predicted transfer budget for the next season.

 

[Rollin93]

9 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Yes very easy with Man Utd and yes as far I remember you do get massive transfer budgets. 

Well that was the case when I did a Man Utd save when FM23 first come out. No idea if that is the same now but you could always holiday a season with Man Utd to see what transfer budget they get or look on the finances section and it should tell you the predicted transfer budget for the next season.

 

This is what I ended up doing and yeah as expected budget was big 

 

thanks for the reply appreciate it

[molemenacer]

So after my holiday i have decided to carry on with the save but to have more of a British core to the side.  This meant that the summer was mad!!!

Players Out:

Spoiler

Loads of players out, most of the top earners are now gone as well and a number of the loan deals have mandatory buy clauses as well.

Biggest ones are probably :

Pedri - With the change to a 442 his game time dropped and his high wage needed moving on thanks to Arsenal for the offer.

Fresneda - A great right back but again on huge wages and i have a great English youngster coming through.

Fofana - was never really great for me so a decent offer came in and out he went.

Fan Haoyu - My starting LB for 4 years and was great but his contract renewal was insane so a loan with obligation to buy was accepted and out he went.

Players In:

Spoiler

Harley Stevens:

I have been tracking him for a while with Chelsea struggling massively he was available for a decent price so in he comes to join Scalvini as the first choice CB pairing.  His physicals are immense

Phil Jones:

Another opportune raid of a poor Chelsea and he brings immense talent to the midfield

Lyall Reynolds:

Crystal Palace and Chelsea seem to be getting all the talented english youths so another pickup from Crystal Palace.

Robert Swaby:

This might be a huge mistake.  There are not many decent English strikers so went to Leeds, hence the massive fee as we are rivals which means you have to double the price.  He was still in the U21s for Leeds but my scouts and director of football raved about him so i think he has a high PA.  He needs to improve quickly so i am hoping he will.

I am not limiting myself to English players but am going to try to get the best English players.

The main issue with the change is that my tactic familiarity has plummeted so the early part of the season is going to be interesting

Wages:

I have dropped from just under £6 mill to £4.1 mill and much happier with the spread of wages across the team.  Jude Bellingham is now the highest earner on £240k and Harley Stevens is the only other player above £200k

[Gee_Simpson]

@molemenacer How was Kokcu for you? Looking forward to using him on FM24 at Benfica.

[molemenacer]

On 06/09/2023 at 17:39, Gee_Simpson said:

@molemenacer How was Kokcu for you? Looking forward to using him on FM24 at Benfica.

I only had him for a year and he was 30 as well but  i needed numbers in midfield as i loaned out more players than i expected.

I didn't expect much but his attributes were decent and he did well for me.  Played 21 games over the season for me in the DLP role, averaged 7.00 and got 4 assists.  The DLP role for me is all about controlling the midfield so he won't have loads of goals or assists but he controlled the midfield for me and linked the play really well.

I only sold him as Sevilla came in with a £40mill bid for him.

If he is as good on FM24 as on FM23 then will be a cracking player

[Skywalk3r83]

On 22/08/2023 at 11:11, molemenacer said:

10 years into the save and it has happened

We won everything we were in, something i have only achieved once before in any FM ever.

Community Shield:

  Reveal hidden contents

The curtain raise and a tough 1-0 win over City.  This did set the tone for the early part of the season with us missing a lot of chances

Super Cup:

  Reveal hidden contents

A comfortable 3-0 win over Betis

EFL Cup:

  Reveal hidden contents

An easy first 2 rounds, then a tough win over City at their place on penalties in the Quarters.  Semis were a rotated squad and we missed a whole bunch of chances especially the home leg, an xg of 3.81, 3 Clear Cut chances and 6 half chances and had to reply on a penalty.  Final was another one that was closer than should have been, 3.25 xg to 1.86, CCC 3 to 1, half chances 5 to 2.  Wilk had a shocker but then saved 3 penalties in the final.

FA Cup:

  Reveal hidden contents

Penalties galore again in the Qurters and Semi and we stuttered our way to the final and then beat am awful Chelsea side (who finished 15th in the league).  A really even final that we struggled in massively but managed to squeak over the line to win the FA Cup for the 5th time in a row.

Premier League:

  Reveal hidden contents

2 Loses away to Liverpool and City and 7 draws, a few disappointing ones early on which promoted a formation change to the 442 that i have been training up for the Blackburn game in October that i won 4-0.  Really happy with it, have made a few tweaks over the season and now it is working well.

Champions League:

  Reveal hidden contents

A really comfortable group stage despite a tough start against Inter, Juventus and PSG.  Round of 16 against Ajax was easy but then a tough Quarters against Palace who have been pretty decent this save with some really good players coming through their youth team.  We dominated away from home and i thought the home leg would be easy but after going 3-0 up Wilks decided to let in their 3 shots on target with a combined xg of 0.49 and get a 6.1.

Semis again started off well with a comfortable 2-0 win away at Inter, then the home leg, they scored after 23 seconds, we then scored on 5 and 8 minutes before they scored again on 12 minutes to make it 2-2 a goal on 41 minutes gave us a 3-2 lead at half time and we saw it out.  Inter had 3 shots on target, their 2 goals had a .38 xg so in 2 home games Wilks let in 5 goals with a combined xg of .87.  I have massive question marks over him going into next season as he has these games.

Final was a battle, i edged the xg and had 3 CCC and 1 half chance to their 3 half chances but Rafael Leao was a menace throughout and gave my right back a torrid time.  2 corner goals from Scalvini won it for me.

8 finals in a row with 5 wins, including the last 2.

Squad:

  Hide contents

Plenty of goals with 2 players with over 30 goals and another with over 20.

The change in tactic helped massively 

I had to retrain my wide players to play in the standard MR and ML roles and need to balance the squad in the summer as have too many center midfielders now.

Going Forward:

So 10 years in and we have just won everything we could, i am contemplating stopping the save now as the only thing that beats this season is also going unbeaten in the prem as well.  My aim of the save was to win every competition the most and I have done that except for  the CL were Real Madrid have 14 titles to my 8 so i am not going to catch them.

I do have some good young players though that i want to see how they turn out and am 2 CLs away from La Decima.

I am on holiday next week so might see how i feel after that.  Have loved this save though.

Can i ask what PI's you use for your 442? I think it's so difficult with this years FM to use a 442.

[Gee_Simpson]

11 hours ago, molemenacer said:

I only had him for a year and he was 30 as well but  i needed numbers in midfield as i loaned out more players than i expected.

I didn't expect much but his attributes were decent and he did well for me.  Played 21 games over the season for me in the DLP role, averaged 7.00 and got 4 assists.  The DLP role for me is all about controlling the midfield so he won't have loads of goals or assists but he controlled the midfield for me and linked the play really well.

I only sold him as Sevilla came in with a £40mill bid for him.

If he is as good on FM24 as on FM23 then will be a cracking player

Do you play a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3? Because his defensive attributes are awful so I could only see me using him at AMC in my 4-2-3-1. I'm hoping his defensive attributes get improved for FM24 but probably not. 

Edited September 8, 2023 by Gee_Simpson

[Chapman7]

On 08/09/2023 at 20:21, Gee_Simpson said:

Do you play a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3? Because his defensive attributes are awful so I could only see me using him at AMC in my 4-2-3-1. I'm hoping his defensive attributes get improved for FM24 but probably not. 

Deep-Lying Playmaker doesn't need to be the best defensively as it's not the last man type of player 

[molemenacer]

On 08/09/2023 at 13:35, Skywalk3r83 said:

Can i ask what PI's you use for your 442? I think it's so difficult with this years FM to use a 442.

Sure, i don't use any PI's at all.

I leave the role definition to determine how the player plays within the system.  We get caught a few times on a quick transition or if they switch the play but with a DLP(D) and a CM(S) as my midfield 2 it is quite conservative anyway and a FB(D) on the left means that i have a number of players back at all times.

At home against weaker opposition i might change the FB(D) to an FB(S) or the midfield 2 to e more aggressive or i might move the ML and MR to an AML and an AMR but i let the roles determine rather than any PI's

[molemenacer]

On 08/09/2023 at 20:21, Gee_Simpson said:

Do you play a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3? Because his defensive attributes are awful so I could only see me using him at AMC in my 4-2-3-1. I'm hoping his defensive attributes get improved for FM24 but probably not. 

I play a 442 now and he played as a DLP(D) but i also have a CM(S) next to him and 3 of my back 4 are on a defend duty so his lack of defensive attributes don't really affect my team.  I also tend to have a lot of the ball so his controlling attributes make up for his lack of defensive ones 

[hyrule_king]

Do many of you get takeovers in your saves?

[hyrule_king]

Decent start

 

[molemenacer]

On 13/09/2023 at 19:48, hyrule_king said:

Do many of you get takeovers in your saves?

I had an internal take over after i think 3 seasons.

They did nothing except replace the board of directors with new people.

There was no clearing of debts, investing in the club, nothing at all.

Nothing since that either but we are debt free now

[Chapman7]

Started new save for last one before 24 comes out.

Heres how it looks in first half of the season

Sitting Third in the league behind Liverpool and City(expectedly) had form had been pretty good 3 losses 11 wins in 14 then 2 games before World Cup started was 1 win and 1 draw. Since returning from World Cup just had 2 draws a 2-2 with Southampton(Bruno got sent off for two footed tackle 1-0 up in first half and after going 2-0 up players head dropped and conceded a silly goal and then gave a pen away) 

 

 

 

Pressing Is Working 

As you can see my press is working very well being top of the OPPDA chart so that is a bonus.

Final Third Passes

My final third passes are of good numbers again sitting top of the chart so can take that as good sign of the tactic working

Chances Created 

Here's the start of the problems, chances created aren't as high as I had hoped to be half way through the season. My guess not enough forward passes while in the final third.

h

 

Passes by midfielders

Bruno Fernandes:

The main main in midfield, but not as much of a progressive passer as I would like which could be part of the problem of why we don't create as much as other teams

 

Christian Eriksen: 

The more playmaker of midfield but plays more in the DM as doesn't have the legs to play as a more advanced 8 as I like 

 

Donny: 

Surprisingly been very solid especially at the start of the season playing mostly as BBM 

Fred: 

Didn't get used much at the start due to getting injured while in pre season so wasn't fit enough to play. Once I got him fit again by sub appearances he became a decent player to have available not one to start demanding starting spot no any means though.

 

Marcel Sabitzer: 

Talk about injury prone has had several injuries already always coming once he gets into some form that could give him a starting berth so his loan has been disrupted hugely by injury.

Casemiro:

The ball winner the bookable player in the side if you like but is a decent level Deep Lying Playmaker though 

Isak Hansen-Aaroen:

Having a decent start to his breakthrough season with 3 assists already to his name mostly from off the bench 

Squad and statistics for season so far

My main tactic:

Pretty much possession/total football scenario once get the players to become more fluid in playing such football 

 

Transfers in first window 

The two main ones needed to get new CB after loaning Maguire to Spurs for mandatory £21 million and felt we needed another player upfront with playing a Flalse Nine at first but wasn't working out to well so recently changed to Deep Lying Forward which Pedro can play both roles reasonably well. Along with being a great role model with his personality.

Edited October 2, 2023 by Chapman7