FM24: Manchester United - Same old problems?

[Chapman7]

Not bad way to start the Champions League Group Stage!!

[Tummyowl]

Handful of games left in the first season, terrible youth intake , won the EFL Cup against Liverpool, Sold Maguire in the January window and signed Gonçalo Inácio (who is doing super well), still in Europe/FA Cup and top of the league... 

Absolutely no idea who I want to sign in the summer, I have been told my initial budget will be £65 million + £5 million in wages, which should be ok along with player sales.

No signs of a takeover yet .

[molemenacer]

Season 1 has ended and it went from being potentially great to being fine (a good thing for me actually).  Last year i put all my screenshots in spoilers so not to take up loads of room so will continue that again this year.

Competition Overview

Spoiler

At one stage i was on for a treble, in the end finished with nothing but loses in 2 cups and a second place in the league with 91 points.

 League:

Spoiler

Finished second in the league with 91 points behind Haaland, he scored 48 goals in the league, 63 in total.  

Early on we were scrapping wins with poor performances but adjustments to the tactic meant our performances picked up and second half of the season Hojlund turned up.  April looked like a horrible month with 2 games against Real Madrid in the CL as well but apart from the Chelsea game we were superb.  

EFL Cup:

Spoiler

Awful, at a stage of the year when we were not playing well and a rotated side got beaten badly

FA Cup:

Spoiler

Apart from the third round a very easy route to the semi final, semi was against a high flying championship Leeds in the middle of our crazy run in April but Hojlund and Rashford dispatched them.

Final, Shaw decided to have a shocker, Onana decided he couldn't make a save, they had 3 shots on target and scored all 3.  Rashford missed a pen at 0-0, Mount scored a pen at 3-0 down.  Allison saved everything else and was MOM

Champions League:

Spoiler

A tough group but some very good results against Milan and Bayern got to top spot.  The Quarters against Real were great games, it looked like it was finishing 1-1 but 2 late Rashford goals got us a great lead going to them.  We were 2-0 with 20 minutes to go at their place but 2 late goals made it interesting.  Leipzig away was a rotated side because it was at the end of a crazy April and we were awful, second leg was superb.

Final followed on from the awful FA Cup final, 2 from Mbappe and 2 from Hojlund made 2-2 at 90 minutes.  By 98 minutes it was 4-2, Onana let in 4 from 4 on target, meaning 7 goals from 7 on target in cup finals, 6.2 against Liverpool and 6.1 against PSG.

Squad:

Spoiler

My front 4 of Sancho, Fernandes, Rashford and Hojlund were great with Mount chipping in as well.

Tactic evolved over the first 6 months and making use of a Segundo Volante, Libero and Inverted Full Back meant i had great movement of players and scored some great goals, also meant i had a box defensive which helped with counters i was seeing early on.

Summer transfers, no idea at the moment will see what happens but some early musing's

1) Onana: his save percentage is awful and the 7 goals from 7 on target in the finals has me questioning him a lot.  Other places to strengthen first so we will see
2) Center Backs: I need cover for Silva and Inacio who have been great
3) Right Back: Not happy with Dalot or Wan Bissaka so probably movement here, both are currently wanted.  Might be a more center back type player as he plays alongside Inacio in possession.
4) Casemiro: I think he is leaving, Mainoo will be around both this spot and as a backup for Mount.  Will need 1 player may be a starter with Mainoo a backup for both roles
5) AP: Need backup for Fernandes, he missed the final 2 months of the season and there is no one i have that can replace him

Wide forwards and strikers are good with decent backups so probably no movement here, although Brighton got relegated so Ferguson is a target at a decent price

[davehanson]

On 29/10/2023 at 19:07, sedge11 said:

So far in the 2nd season, no mention of a takeover.

Mmmm. I would have thought that at least, in game, the owners would be looking to sell. 

[Tummyowl]

While I am a huge, huge fan of him (both in the game and in real life), I just could not turn down this much money...

Final game of the season against Brentford coming up... then just the Champions League Final Vs PSG  and the FA Cup final Vs Tottenham... 

Had some cracking results this season. Hopefully can finish with even more silverware.

[Tummyowl]

Comfortable 0-2 win against Tottenham. Uncomfortable win against PSG 1-2.

Great first season. Martial, Amrabat (won't be signing him), Lindelöf are set to leave. Varane transferring. Evans and Heaton retiring... saving almost £1 million in wages .

[Ronaldo Beckham]

If I do start a Man Utd save I am definitely retraining McTominley as a striker with him playing a Target Man role.

 

[vrig]

8 hours ago, krkyseventwo said:

Having a little fun now with Man Utd before full release. McTominay as a shadow striker and shoot more PI is lethal in front of goal. I’m finding it hard to drop him.

Edit: This is with a direct, counter attacking tactic so may not be as effective with the tiki taka. 

I was planning on using him as a box crasher, but a full blown shadow striker sounds like quite something!

[molemenacer]

14 hours ago, krkyseventwo said:

Having a little fun now with Man Utd before full release. McTominay as a shadow striker and shoot more PI is lethal in front of goal. I’m finding it hard to drop him.

Edit: This is with a direct, counter attacking tactic so may not be as effective with the tiki taka. 

I've been rotating Mount and McTominay in the Segundo Volante role on Attack and he was great in that role

Edited November 1, 2023 by molemenacer

[molemenacer]

Summer transfer window complete and it was a busy one.  Originally i was only going to upgrade the defensive positions but then i kept getting what i thought were decent offers for players so this happened

Mostly i was doing straight swaps so the headlines

Casemiro OUT and Tchouameni IN - No brainer really they came in with a low bid for Casemiro so negotiated to £100 mill and they kept negotiating, we settled on £80 mill.  So i get a younger player on far less wages.
Antony OUT and Thuram IN - Antony had done ok for me but that was it really and when Napoli came in and we negotiated to £45 mill i thought why not.  Thuram is not a natural wide player but playing with and inside forward now on the right and it is looking good.
Martinez OUT and Scalvini IN - Again another no brainer, i found that Martinez kept getting beaten in the air so needed and upgrade and Scalvini is definitely that.

Other headline transfers out:

Donny van de Beek - Leicester for £19.75 mill, was awful all season and was happy to get something for him
Aaron Wan-Bissaka - Spurs for £26.5 mill, playing with an IFB this year he was not suited to the role at all
Anthony Martial - Lyon £14.5 mill, Got some money for him so theres that - paying £100k of his wages for the year
Facundo Pellistri - Rennes £25 mill, Had struggled to make an impact when he had played so took the choice to sell while he had a decent value
Harry Maguire - Real Sociedad £13 mill, He had played pretty well for me but wouldn't sign a new contract so got something for him

A Few loans and youth players also sold.

Other transfers In:

Lutsharel Geertruida - Feyenoord £55 mill, the perfect player i was after for the IFB/IWB role
Lucas Perri - Botafogo £9 mill, backup goalkeeper
Chadi Riad - Barcelona £40 mill, 4th center back after Harry Maguire left
Dijon Kameri - Red Bull Salzburg £15.75 mill, after having no one to play if Fernandes got injured in the AMC role Dijon comes in and looks a great prospect who will play straight away
Shaqueel van Persie - Feyenoord £15 mill, 17 y/o English winger who is a great prospect
Arthur Vermeeren - Antwerp £13 mill, 19 y/o Belgian CM another great prospect
Claudio Echeverri - River Plate £16 mill, 18 y/o Argentinian who can play across the front 3 behind the striker another great prospect
Mike Kleijn - Feyenoord FREE, 19 y/o Dutch CM decent prospect on a free

All of that meant this

Wages much better, only 7 players on more than £150k, only Thuram and Tchouameni have come in above that as well.  Sancho and Rashford want massive wage increases as well, they are already the top 2 paid in the squad.  Sancho will probably go next summer but i want to keep Rashford so we will see.

Tactic for the season has seen me change my wide player roles to try to get them closer to Hojlund.  Also never used the Raumdeuter role before so along with the Libero, IFB and Segundo Volante i figured why not

2 days before the window ends Fernandez injures his cruciate so will miss most of the year, this means Kameri goes straight into the starting 11 so trial by fire!!!

[Marc Lister]

6 hours ago, molemenacer said:

Summer transfer window complete and it was a busy one.  Originally i was only going to upgrade the defensive positions but then i kept getting what i thought were decent offers for players so this happened

What season is this? That's quite the transfer activity! Apart from Onana the defence is completely changed. Are you going for younger players with potential?

[molemenacer]

18 minutes ago, Marc Lister said:

What season is this? That's quite the transfer activity! Apart from Onana the defence is completely changed. Are you going for younger players with potential?

End of season 1.

My CBs are now aged Silva 20, Scalvini 20, Riad 21 and Inacio 23 - from Martinez 26, Maguire 31, Varane 31 and Lindelof 30 so yeah young talented players.  The thing is that apart from Varane (who went for £99 mill to Saudi), noneof the other 3 are really good enough, maybe Martinez but his height seemed to be a massive issue in the ME this year.
RBs i still have Dalot as backup but because i play normally with a IFB i wanted a more CB type player
LBs Shaw is still number 1 with a new backup

Overall this window is how i see the real Man Utd squad at the moment, overrated and overpaid and most of them should not be playing for us.

My aim of the window was to get the average age and wages down, wages dropped by £800k and the quality has gone up and the average age down

[Marc Lister]

1 hour ago, molemenacer said:

End of season 1.

My CBs are now aged Silva 20, Scalvini 20, Riad 21 and Inacio 23 - from Martinez 26, Maguire 31, Varane 31 and Lindelof 30 so yeah young talented players.  The thing is that apart from Varane (who went for £99 mill to Saudi), noneof the other 3 are really good enough, maybe Martinez but his height seemed to be a massive issue in the ME this year.
RBs i still have Dalot as backup but because i play normally with a IFB i wanted a more CB type player
LBs Shaw is still number 1 with a new backup

Overall this window is how i see the real Man Utd squad at the moment, overrated and overpaid and most of them should not be playing for us.

My aim of the window was to get the average age and wages down, wages dropped by £800k and the quality has gone up and the average age down

Nice work. I'm trying to do the same in my beta save. Have got VDB, McTominay, Martial and Maguire all out on loan. I signed Inacio to replace Maguire. I think Lindelof and Varane will be out next. Lindelof's wages for a backup DC are ridiculous and Varane is on too much for an injury prone player in his 30s. I'm going to keep Casemiro for this season and see how Mainoo and Hannibal develop then see if I need to replace Casemiro with another DMC next season.

[molemenacer]

That’s the trouble with the squad in general.  The wages are massive.

I got lucky that Saudi wanted Varane and Casemiro as otherwise I would have struggled to shift them I think.

Martial I am paying £100k for a season, better than the £250k he is on though!!

It is always easier end of season 1 to shift players as teams have a transfer budget

[Marc Lister]

6 minutes ago, molemenacer said:

That’s the trouble with the squad in general.  The wages are massive.

I got lucky that Saudi wanted Varane and Casemiro as otherwise I would have struggled to shift them I think.

Martial I am paying £100k for a season, better than the £250k he is on though!!

It is always easier end of season 1 to shift players as teams have a transfer budget

Exactly. Varane and Casemiro might be top players but to be on a collective £650k a week?! No way. Silly money. Rashford on £300k and Sancho on £275k a week? £1.22m a week between those 4?!

I hoped to get rid of the more obvious deadwood in VDB, Martial and Maguire at least. I think I will start a new game when the game launches proper.

[molemenacer]

I normally start a new save when the games out proper but am enjoying this one at the moment.

There is always a risk carrying on from a beta release that there is something game breaking in there though

[FifaBing]

Me waiting for my Saudi money. 

Seriously, everyone else here has had ridiculous offers for players, and I'm in July 2024 and nothing so far. 

[Tummyowl]

Other than Varane, no big offers for anyone. I do wonder how people are getting them.

[FifaBing]

46 minutes ago, krkyseventwo said:

McTominay - The Shadow Striker. I would say long may it continue but I doubt this save will last much longer with other things planned. This is in January, first season.

 haha I'm training him as we speak for that role. Looks fun. 

[duvels]

Few days off work, so finally managed to start a save. I started the game in classic mode with first window transfer activity disabled.

I'm now early February and these are my transfer deals of January

Out:

(don't mind the default club badges, still need to update those)

Well, I got 2 offers in for Varane from Arabian clubs. They came in with offers of about €80m, but I really didn't want to sell him so I replied with a ridiculous counteroffer of €120m, all up front. To my surprise, that wasn't that ridiculous at all and they immediately accepted...

Diallo, Mainoo and Hansen-Aarøen are loaned out to get some first team action. van de Beek was moaning, so decided to loan him out, hopefully gaining a bit of value in the process so I can get a decent fee for him in the summer transferwindow.

 

In:

Only 2 incoming transfers. Smith Rowe will act as a backup for Fernandes. He was transferlisted and I wanted to get some homegrown blood in.

Diomande will replace Varane in the long run. Currently I'm playing Lindelof as he's already used to the tactic. 

 

Quite happy with this window. Varane will be a loss in the short term, but that fee was just bonkers for a 30 year old central defender.

[molemenacer]

Just got to January 2025 and the Glazers in all their wisdom have taken out another loan, a Mortgage Loan, which is apparently a "Short term loan taken out on clubs future earnings"

No idea where it has gone as it hasn't gone into the clubs accounts.

This is now the make up of the , over £700 million pounds in debt, paying almost £12 mill a month.  I am praying for a takeover but really who buys a club with that level of debt.  As the club is in worse state financially than expected they have taken £800k out of the salary, luckily i had already reduced it below their new level, and taken the remaining £4 mill out of the transfer budget.  Just hit Jan 1st as well, luckily i was not planning on doing any business in Jan anyway.

Has anyone else had this new loan appear?

[Stevmon]

13 minutes ago, molemenacer said:

Just got to January 2025 and the Glazers in all their wisdom have taken out another loan, a Mortgage Loan, which is apparently a "Short term loan taken out on clubs future earnings"

No idea where it has gone as it hasn't gone into the clubs accounts.

This is now the make up of the , over £700 million pounds in debt, paying almost £12 mill a month.  I am praying for a takeover but really who buys a club with that level of debt.  As the club is in worse state financially than expected they have taken £800k out of the salary, luckily i had already reduced it below their new level, and taken the remaining £4 mill out of the transfer budget.  Just hit Jan 1st as well, luckily i was not planning on doing any business in Jan anyway.

Has anyone else had this new loan appear?

Wow…

going to be really interesting what happens on FM24 regarding takeover. Since what’s going on IRL there should be a fair amount of takeovers in the saves.

[molemenacer]

1 hour ago, Stevmon said:

Wow…

going to be really interesting what happens on FM24 regarding takeover. Since what’s going on IRL there should be a fair amount of takeovers in the saves.

The Finances are in such a state that it is going to be really difficult and great fun managing the next few seasons.

I was going to start a new save when the full game gets released but this is turning into a great save.

[sedge11]

5 hours ago, molemenacer said:

The Finances are in such a state that it is going to be really difficult and great fun managing the next few seasons.

I was going to start a new save when the full game gets released but this is turning into a great save.

Yeah the finances are a mess. I'm also in January 2025, they took my transfer budget away and reduced the wage budget to 4 mil though I was just under that.

I then sold Amad for 20 mil, Garcia after 6 months for 22 mil.

Brought in Ito and Bardghji for combined 31 mil and the finances are already back in the red.

[sedge11]

So a little update on season 2.

Have to admit I seriously considered starting again, as I just wasn't happy with the squad and my transfers. But I decided to stick with and correct my mistakes, can't always get it right straight away and am glad I have stuck with it.

Anyway I usually never do any business in January, however I feel I needed to.

So Garcia left after 6 months, he was one of my mistakes. Amad also left, I had given him the chance but he didn't take it and we needed the money.

Ito comes in as a back up left back and centre back, and he is someone I should of got instead of Garcia in the first place.

Bardghji also in, an fm favourite. I brought in on fm23 in my Man Utd save but didn't develop him properly, this time will be different as he will by my first choice RW for the rest of the season.

Been a mad save, most players I've ever brought in a season.

The table is incredibly tight so this should be a fun end to the season.

Edited November 3, 2023 by sedge11

[calcal]

On 31/10/2023 at 18:57, krkyseventwo said:

Having a little fun now with Man Utd before full release. McTominay as a shadow striker and shoot more PI is lethal in front of goal. I’m finding it hard to drop him.

Edit: This is with a direct, counter attacking tactic so may not be as effective with the tiki taka. 

I read your comment and made the same change to Mctominay, 7 goals in 3 games including a hattrick in the CL! He's on fire!

[vrig]

On 01/11/2023 at 22:03, Tummyowl said:

Other than Varane, no big offers for anyone. I do wonder how people are getting them.

I think the key is to play unwanted players into some form. I'm only after starting out yesterday and just entered October, but Maguire, Lindelof, Varane, McTominay, Eriksen, Dalot, Wan-Bissaka, Van de Beek, and Martial are all wanted by other clubs already, even with a couple of 1-year clauses triggered. 

I've been doing a lot of match-by-match tweaking and picking players in a 'horses for courses' kinda way, which is a far more pragmatic approach than I normally have to the game. FM keeps changing its mind as to whether I'm a Park the Bus or a Wing Play manager .

But it does seem to be sort of working as the only match we've lost was against Leicester in the Carabao, where I probably went a little overboard on rotation and was subsequently beaten on penalties.

By the way, just as a minor tip for set piece coaches - renegotiating Eric Ramsay's contract so that it's his only job instantly bumps him from 3* to 4. It's no loss, as he 's not well suited to a split role anyway. I tried getting the Brentford guy at first, but he decided to stay put, and that little workaround coincided with an instant improvement in scoring from corners.

[duvels]

7 hours ago, vrig said:

I think the key is to play unwanted players into some form. I'm only after starting out yesterday and just entered October, but Maguire, Lindelof, Varane, McTominay, Eriksen, Dalot, Wan-Bissaka, Van de Beek, and Martial are all wanted by other clubs already, even with a couple of 1-year clauses triggered. 

...

Just sold Casemiro for €140m to the Arabians... It's a mess though, because Rashford immediately started complaining about lack of squad depth for defensive midfield. I got Guido Rodriguez in on a free, but that wasn't enough.

 

Well, just finished my first summer transfer window:

OUT:

Spoiler

Managed to get rid of quite some dead wood. AWB, Williams, Maguire, Donny and Martial were all players playing a small role in my squad and/or on too high wages. Casemiro was hunted by the Arabians, as was Varane in January. I again counteroffered a ridiculous amount, which they accepted, albeit €104m payed in 4 6-monthly instalments. Unfortunately, I had to sell Eriksen too. He wanted to leave on a free at the end of his contract, so I opted to cash in on him. On top of that, I got a decent fee for Pellistri. Not visible in this screengrab is Lindelof, who left to Newcastle for €50m, quite early in the transferwindow. Evans retired.

Some players went out on loan too: Greenwood (forced by the game, I hate that...), Hansen-Aaroen, Mainoo, Fish, Shoretire, Fernandez, Oyedele, Hannibal and Vitek are all needing some first team action. Vitek didn't get a work permit either, so I hope he can get that one after some first team action in Belgium.

 

IN:

Spoiler

With a lot of backups leaving, I had to get some in too. Vitik and Edwards will provide cover for Diomande, Pavlovic for Martinez. Rodriguez is replacing Casemiro, Abraham will be backup for Hojlund. Neves will be in rotation with Mount. Sugawara is a backup right back, who can also play as a winger further up front. Finally, Gillespie will be the 3rd keeper after Heaton retired. Barreto is a cheap investment on a decent young player, who I plan to sell for a profit within 2 or 3 years. 

 

I also have a young prospect joining us in January:

Spoiler

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by duvels

[FifaBing]

I was eventually in OCt 2024 able to get decent offers for Casemiro, Varane and I even offered Bruno Fernandes out via "generate market interest" and was able to sell all 3 to the Saudis for 55M, 75M and 95M each respectively. 

They all leave in January 2025, so I am in the midst of finding replacements for a few of them. So far Alex Scott joins us in January from Bouremouth, and Tchouameni will join to re-bolster the midfield. Going to splash cash on Evan Ferguson as well as I need some cover there for Hoijlund and Konate. 

[Stevmon]

Could we get an early, full game release tonight maybe? 👀😇

[Swaban]

2 hours ago, Stevmon said:

Could we get an early, full game release tonight maybe? 👀😇

If only! I dont think they've ever released early have they?

[Stevmon]

35 minutes ago, Swaban said:

If only! I dont think they've ever released early have they?

Probably not. They put out on twitter that it’ll be 4pm UK tomorrow.

I was just restless today 😂
But really looking forward to starting my save tomorrow.

I’ve mainly been browsing/simulating so far. Looking forward to set up the save with staff changes, responsibilities and squad statuses tomorrow 🙌

[luka_zg]

Finished my 4th season and finally managed to win the Premier league. Also won Carabao cup and FA cup. Got knocked out of the CL in the Round of 16.

After four seasons I have won: 1 Premier league, 3 FA Cups, 2 Carabao Cups, 3 Community shields

Quite a lot of my top players refuse to sign new contracts..Antony refused so I had to sell him, Bruno also refused and left on a free transfer, and now Rashford is refusing to sign and can left on a free next summer. He is unhappy because I sold Antony and when he came to me with his complaint there was no option to tell him that Antony wanted to left the club! That is so stupid...and they advertise they made improvements in interactions. Right...

Anyway I had offers for Rashford form PSG and Newcastle but I refused to sell him, I'll let him go on a free rather but am hoping he will maybe reconsider during the season.

My team:

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Andre Onana, Gavin Bazunu

Defenders: Josh Doig, Lisandro Martinez, Arthur Theate, Marc Guehi, Goncalo Inacio, Killiann Sidililla, Ousmane Diomande, Daniel Ruiz (newgen), Alexis Olmedo

Midfielders: Manu Kone, Federico Redondo, Kobbie Mainoo, Mason Mount, Benat Turrientes, Sandro Tonali, Jacob Ramsey, Claudio Echeverri

Forwards: Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Feran Torres, Arda Guler, Rasmus Hojlund, Marcos Leonardo

[Tummyowl]

On 31/10/2023 at 02:15, Tummyowl said:

Comfortable 0-2 win against Tottenham. Uncomfortable win against PSG 1-2.

Great first season. Martial, Amrabat (won't be signing him), Lindelöf are set to leave. Varane transferring. Evans and Heaton retiring... saving almost £1 million in wages .

So I finally have a 'plan' for my summer rebuild.

Martial is free to Lyon for a small fee (£2 million). That leaves Højlund up top, who scored 20 league goals in 27 appearances for me, I cannot rely on one single 21 year old... drum roll... Leonardo! (£15 million, absolute robbery) I now have two 21 year olds up top! oh and van Persie (£25 million). Højlund, Leonardo, and van Persie are all on a combine wage which is lower than Martial .

Not much to report on wide players (I play 4-3-3 DM). Rashford is still first choice on the left with Garnacho, they both had a great season. On the right there is Antony (scored an amazing solo goal in the Champions League final, winning it for United and halting any rush to sell him) with Sancho behind him in the pecking order. Diallo and Pellistri covering both sides between them and progressing well, but also no bids for any of my wide players that has reached their valuation.

Midfield... a total rebuild? Amrabat will leave once his loan is up, made 23 league appearances and was very solid when needed but I feel there is better quality out there... Casemiro is leaving to go to the Saudi League (£80-100 million, depending on how much I can get out of them). Both Eriksen and van de Beek are free to good homes, those homes looking like midtable Italian / Premier League sides (£20-30 million for the pair). That means I have saved approximately £650k in wages. Now in midfield dreams are made of... Zaïre-Emery is willing to join (£55 million), Ouédraogo (£17 million, steal), Nypan (£3 million, steal), and Scott (£60 million, less of a steal). With there combined wages being lower than Casemiro.

Defence... Fernández and Lindelöf are leaving for free , However, Varane is going to the Saudi's (£90 million). Huddlestone and Evans (I'm not willing to pay £25k a week for him to manage the kids) are retiring. Leaving me with... Martínez and Inácio as my senior centre backs. There is some crazy money being asked for defenders this summer. Guéhi or Scalvini (looking at £75 million for either), and Yoro (£27 million) are coming in to help out. Shaw and Malacia have not had any good bids, and I am very happy to keep both (though Doig is my 'back up' option if either decides to leave, looks like a Scottish knock off version of Robertson, but he would only be £7.5 million). Life is not as simple on the right side, with Arsenal and PSG sniffing around Wan-Bissaka (and he is free to either for £60 million) and his replacement looks a lot like Kayode (£25 million) because I refuse to pay the silly money clubs want for Geertruida / Frimpong although Patterson/Hickey look good for the Scottish quota, price depending (before anyone suggests Fernandes from Porto, he has a 3 for determination, which is a pass from me).

Onana had a good season, good in the league without being outstanding, very good in Europe (UEFA Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season, 8 conceded and 6 clean sheets in 13). Bayındır did ok in the FA Cup, Heaton did well in the under 21/18's. Heaton has decided to retire and I will not be trying to persuade him otherwise for the £65k he is on a week. Looking at an Australian regen goalkeeper (£1.5 million?) who looks an excellent prospect and will save me about £50k a week in wages.

Williams is also free to a good home (saving £50k a week ) as are a bunch of under 21/18 players who do not look like being good enough (~£20k~ a week saved there too).

So squad is looking good; younger and cheaper with some really talented players...

First Team Squad;

Goalkeepers; Onana, Bayındır, Armstrong/youth keeper

Left back; Shaw, Malacia
Right back; Dalot, Kayode
Centre back; Martínez, Inácio, Scalvini, Yoro

'Defensive midfield'; Zaïre-Emery, Gore, Mainoo
Midfield; Fernandes, Mount, Scott, Ouédraogo, McTominantor, Hansen-Aarøen, Nypan (look at that depth )

Wide forwards; Rashford, Garnacho, Antony, Sancho, Diallo, Pellistri, Hannibal

Forwards; Højlund, Leonardo, van Persie (youth)

Tempted to look for a cheap player who can cover CM/DM (besides McTominator) in a pinch.

Happy with how the squad is looking, however, will need to think about longer term replacements for wide forwards on the right and at left back. Fingers crossed for a good youth intake!

Also upgraded coaches throughout the season.

[BigV]

Evenin gents, decided i'll be back for this one given the ME changes and it looking very promising. Will get it during the sale though as im currently still testing the waters on the demo:

First thing first, WTH is that transfer budget?? 6m yikes. Trying to sell deadwood when you get agent offers and solid replacements for above 40m+ is worrying, for anyone disabling the first window, I have no idea how you could do anything with this squad, feels so bare bones and only 2 midfielders can actually tackle... 

Had a few games, 433 traditional, still pre season so nothing really works yet nor the fimiliarity is good enough BUT it doesn't fill me with confidence playing high tempo and direct in this system. Nor does high pressing with a high line work well, dont think we have the players, noticed once the ball moves into the wide areas, midfield just gets bypassed, not sure weather to stick em to playing the outside or move them through the middle where the 3 man midfield can haggle at them? 

Will play more tomorrow and give an update, but with it being the demo, just testing the waters seeing how I feel since i've been out of the game for 3 years.

One major downfall ive noticed among the many good small updates is scouting a competition is tough to find the right scout, used to be so much easier, now you have to scroll through our many and find the right one that covers that area, some even cover over 7 so you have to scroll constantly, eurgh. 

[molemenacer]

7 hours ago, BigV said:

Evenin gents, decided i'll be back for this one given the ME changes and it looking very promising. Will get it during the sale though as im currently still testing the waters on the demo:

First thing first, WTH is that transfer budget?? 6m yikes. Trying to sell deadwood when you get agent offers and solid replacements for above 40m+ is worrying, for anyone disabling the first window, I have no idea how you could do anything with this squad, feels so bare bones and only 2 midfielders can actually tackle... 

Had a few games, 433 traditional, still pre season so nothing really works yet nor the fimiliarity is good enough BUT it doesn't fill me with confidence playing high tempo and direct in this system. Nor does high pressing with a high line work well, dont think we have the players, noticed once the ball moves into the wide areas, midfield just gets bypassed, not sure weather to stick em to playing the outside or move them through the middle where the 3 man midfield can haggle at them? 

Will play more tomorrow and give an update, but with it being the demo, just testing the waters seeing how I feel since i've been out of the game for 3 years.

One major downfall ive noticed among the many good small updates is scouting a competition is tough to find the right scout, used to be so much easier, now you have to scroll through our many and find the right one that covers that area, some even cover over 7 so you have to scroll constantly, eurgh. 

I think FM24 is the best ME they have ever had, really enjoyed my first 18 months and i have seen some great football for and against me.

From a United point of view, I have enjoyed the challenge and with the financial state of the club as well it is going to be a challenge.

It is also basically impossible to get any value for money in the first summer window as everyone has already spent their budget so you get more money later in the game.  If you can survive until the end of the first season you can shift a lot of the players for decent money.

[molemenacer]

Winter window as slammed shut as due to the state of the finances noting really happened

We already had Nypan coming in, a Norwegian 18 y/o midfielder with great potential and a steal at £6.5mill, Smith Rowe came in at the end of the window to offer cover to the wings and AM position.

Diallo has 1 more chance to impress, most likely he will be sold in the summer

Vermeeren and Fernandez go out to get some game time

Currently having a great battle with City and Arsenal with Liverpool just behind us

Pep is still at City, Klopp went to Real Madrid summer of 25 and they replaced him with Marco Rose and Arsenal sacked Arteta in December 2023 and replaced him with Diego Simeone.  They also bought Osimhen in the summer for £86 mill and he is banging them in.  I am hoping this is how it is going to be as it is great fun

[BigV]

2 hours ago, molemenacer said:

I think FM24 is the best ME they have ever had, really enjoyed my first 18 months and i have seen some great football for and against me.

From a United point of view, I have enjoyed the challenge and with the financial state of the club as well it is going to be a challenge.

It is also basically impossible to get any value for money in the first summer window as everyone has already spent their budget so you get more money later in the game.  If you can survive until the end of the first season you can shift a lot of the players for decent money.

It certainly seems so atm, im seeing fluid football and animations that make it as close to fm17 as possible which was my "best fm". 

Demo only goes to jan but really wish you had 1 season to complete and the option to turn attribute masking off but I agree. Tough challenge and one that needs sorting pretty quick, may go back to the good ol' 4231 if 433 doesn't do me justice. 

[Tummyowl]

£180 million for Fernandes... Rashford is already moody about Casemiro leaving... hmm.

[z464]

Here is mine . 

Played half season in Beta and started a new save yesterday.

 

Use 433 and transfer window as below. 

 

Out

Done

Varane - 95M to Saudi  , couldn't remember which club but why not. Huge income and salary save. 

Van De Beek  - Loan . Didn't even pay attention which team he goes just want to get ride of him since we have Gore , Mainoo and Hannibal in the team.

Future 

Marital - Loan failed. Man , I tried so hard to get ride of him, but he didn't want to go to anywhere. Will try in winter window again , just don't want to see him in the team. 

Maguire and Lindelof - At least sell one of them in winter or next summer. If I have to choose between two of them , I will keep Maguire ( just in game ) 

Casemiro - Salary is too high and 32 incoming , gotta sell him. 

Sancho - If he is keep asking for more salary , then I will sell him in this first save. After winter transfer window patch updated which my second save may be I don't have to worry about it. LOL 

 

In 

Done 

Milenkovic - 30m . Not my first choice but Nice doesn't want to let Todibo until they found replacement. 

 

Future 

Todibo - I will bring him in for sure. 

Forward - Need another forward for sure , but I don't want another young kid. 

Midfield - Luckily Bruno is good in game that I don't have to worry that much, but after Casemiro left we need a good DM to defense. 

Winger - Maybe , if Sancho left. 

[molemenacer]

Just had a great game against Man City, first time i have played them this season due to the fixture keep moving, but i think it has highlighted how good the ME is this year

I wish i had taken the half time stats as it was all them.  The goals came from a border line penalty, right on the corner of the box, and a pass back from Sancho that Haaland Intercepted, rounded my SK and scored.  Watching them build from the with with 2 IFB and a Libero and dominate the ball was great.

Second half i went more aggressive and pushed right up to try to stop the build up and it worked.  Possession went from 35%-65% to 40%-60%, i scored a goal when Ederson got caught in possession, due to me now closing the keeper down, and then an equaliser when we pressed high, won the ball back and the 4 quick passes.

Final score was 2-2 and i should have scored more in the second half.  I saw the changes that i made have massive effects in the ME and the outcome of the match.  Disappointed that i couldn't win but watching the match and seeing how City play in real life replicated in the ME and then having to find a solution was great to watch.

The match momentum graph above shows how much my aggressive change worked as we dominated the game

That result means that the league table looks like this

Going to be a great last 12 games. Really enjoying the game so far and the ME is amazing.

Edited November 8, 2023 by molemenacer

[molemenacer]

Goalkeeper bug in full flow.

February 14th - Lucas Perri - Sprained Ankle Ligaments in training - 2-3 weeks out
February 15th - Andre Onana - Broken Hand during the game - 5-6 weeks out

Tom Wooster came on and they had 1 shot and scored it, luckily we scored 6!!!

Games with Tom Wooster in goal

PL - West Ham (A)
EFL Cup Final - Liverpool
FA Cup - Brighton  (Championship) (A)
PL - Crystal Palace (H) - Perri might be back

Also had Smith Rowe injured with a fractured arm in the same game and is out for 4-6 weeks

This is the 3rd injury for Onana whilst catching the ball

Broken Finger - 4 weeks out
Damaged Neck - 3 weeks out
Broken Hand - 5-6 weeks out

West Ham away is going to be really tough, 10th in the league and beat Man City 2 weeks ago 1-0 at home
Liverpool in the EFL Cup final is now done as there is no way i can stop them having shots and i don't think i can outscore them
Brighton away in the FA Cup, might be able to win that, they are top of the Championship so it is going to be tough
Palace at home should be able to win.

UPDATE:

West Ham - W - 2-0 - 7.7 rating from 1 shot on target straight at him that almost went in.  Not sure why such a high rating for saving 1 basic chance
Liverpool - L - 4-1 - 6.1 rating 5 shots on target so managed to save the one shot straight at him
Brighton - W - 4-3 aet - 6.3 rating 5 shots on target so managed to save 1 shot again
Palace - W 3-0 - 7.7 rating from 1 shot on target, again odd rating for doing nothing

Overall apart from the Liverpool game he didn't cost us anything, extra time was annoying as with a competent keeper we would have breezed it in normal time

Edited November 8, 2023 by molemenacer

[luka_zg]

Nearing the end of my 4th season. Just managed to defend my league title. Next up is a 2nd leg of CL semis against Real Madrid. Must turn around the 1st leg 1-0 loss at the Bernabeu. Also have to play the FA Cup final v Chelsea, And I just got the news that an Australian tycoon is eyeing the club. I had owner status "looking to sell" for most the season and now we have transfer embargo set an "in the process of takeover". We will see what happens. Already had the status "process of board takeover" but there was no embargo and was squashed by Avram Glazer. This time it looks more serious but still wouldn't rule out that the takeover fails.

[Cunego]

[vrig]

First season done, and it's only a mild improvement on Ten Hag's first campaign – a third place finish and an FA Cup victory that took beating Liverpool in the final. As for the Champions League, I really thought we were gonna win it after coming through a group with PSG and Milan, before beating Bayern Munich 6-2 on aggregate. Unfortunately we came unstuck against Inter, which was weird because I usually do pretty well against narrow back-3 systems. In retrospect, I probably over-tweaked.

Still a very satisfying campaign, and I felt like I got a lot out of the whole squad, using 33 players in the league as I aimed to give everyone a chance. An unbeaten home home record, leading for set piece goals, plus a bit of deep defending here and there, all gave the season a bit of an early Jose Mourinho vibe, which was a nice change of pace.

Spoiler

Hojlund did very well, winning every Young Player of the Month award from September to December, and again in May. With 21 goals and 11 assists in 39(5), he was far and away our biggest direct contributor in all competitions; only Rashford, with 18, reached double figures for goals alongside him. We did have a lot of rotation, forced and otherwise, so the goals were generally pretty well spread out besides those two.

While scoring 85 goals in the Premier League – more than all but Asthmatic Athletic and 115 FC – we conceded 37 times, which wasn't ideal. Can't call it much of a surprise though, given I was constantly picking Maguire for his aerial ability in the the opposition box, and that we had to replace Varane halfway through the season.

Lisandro Martinez was also poor at centre back, largely due to him not being able to win anything in the air. He was shuffled to left back pretty early on, which was something that worked well in FM23, but with his pace downgraded this year and his mental attributes not adequately making up for it, that didn't pan out either. Determined not to sell one of the few players I really like in the current squad so early, I ended up using him as a holding midfielder, which very much softened the blow of Casemiro being out from October to February.

Despite that injury layoff, Cas scored 9 and assisted 4 in 23(4), splitting his time between the DM(s) and VOL(a) roles. As many others have found, Scott McTominay is a bit of a secret weapon. He kept Mount out of the volante role for much of the season, but the former Chelsea man got plenty of gametime himself thanks to his versatility. 15 G+A put him one shy of McTominay for direct goal contributions. Kobbie Mainoo's integration is worth mentioning too, with 3 goals and 6 assists in 11(19) a good base to build on next term.

As alluded to earlier, I took the Saudi cash for Varane in January. With no money made available by the human embodiment of herpes, the £100m I got from Al-Ittihad was effectively my January transfer budget. With Licha moving upfield, a lefty was needed at the back, so in came Goncalo Inacio. Harry Maguire remained an every-present, but with no cover for him (Lindelof has been used almost exclusively as an IFB) another defender was required, and £16m for Leny Yoro was an absolute steal. He even had a growth spurt within a month of him joining, so he's absolutely dominant in the air now, which was clearly pretty important for the way I'd been playing.

There were three other January signings: one being Adam Wharton, who went back on loan to Blackburn, and another, Assane Diao, a young winger who my scouts/coaches absolutely do not rate. But he has a pretty interesting spread of attributes, a great personality, and cost just £200k. I reckon I can develop him into a half decent striker with a bit of time. So plenty of youth coming in, but I had to balance out my first signing – the return of David de Gea! Onana got an injury in November, and, while he was fit by the time January rolled around, his absence put the heebie jeebies in me, so I was looking for a backup. At £30k-a-week, you can't go wrong with Dave.

Spoiler

Donny van de Beek (£9m to Everton) and Martial (subsidised loan to Nice) left the club, as did a few youngsters on loan. Amad was among those, as I had a hard time justifying giving him gametime ahead of players who had impressed during his injury.

Planning for the following season, I decided to keep with the youth ethos. Deals were pre-agreed for Valentin Barco (£8.2m) and Gabriel Moscadero (£18.5m). Barco came off the bench to score against City on his debut in the Community shield, and I can see him getting a lot of gametime at left back, on the wing, and even in midfield. This is the first FM in a couple of years where I've been able to load more than five leagues without an unbearable slowdown, so I was already planning to raid South America sooner or later. 18-year-old Roony Bardghji joined for £9.5m and looks good enough to start already. I'm also adding another young Scandinavian in the form of Sverre Nypan (£5m), with that deal going through in January after he turns 18.

Naturally, I need to improve upon last term's defensive record, so a relegated Marc Guehi is joins for £45m. He has the attributes to play all across the backline, and will probably play mostly on the right.

Speaking of pace, it was quite obvious that we needed more of it out on the flanks than Antony or Sancho can offer. The returns when Rashford and Garnacho play are way out in front of those two, so I wouldn't have minded letting go of both. The real-life Sancho saga, his massive wages, and what I can only assume from his reactions is a single-digit value for handling pressure, would have made him ideal to shift.

As it happened, Antony (who hated me) ended up going to Bayern Munich instead, and with him departing alongside Lindelof, Malacia, and Wan-Bissaka, I raised £111m. Bayindir went to Saudi Arabia for a £13.5m, with United-trained Gollini coming in on a free to help with the Champions League home-grown quota. Pellistri had done pretty well in the first season, but a £15m bid came in for him and I ultimately decided that he wasn't really good enough to be taking up a spot in that CL squad. Marcos Leonardo will take it instead, after I met his £14m release clause. Also in, some Dutch keeper on a free because every time one goalie goes down, another one soon follows. 

Spoiler

The biggest departure of the summer was Casemiro, the third of my players to head to the Middle East, with £76m coming in for him, £30.5m of which was used to sign Khephren Thuram as a replacement of sorts. All of that leaves me sat on a £200m transfer budget heading into the Premier League opener, but short of departures or some tragic performances/injuries in August, I can't see myself adding anyone else. If I do go to market, I'll probably be looking for some experience, since this is now a pretty young squad. We also managed to FM a full strength City in the shield despite picking up a few injuries in preseason:

Spoiler

With the youngsters coming in not being quite as physically imposing as the old guard being phased out, there will be a bit of a shift this season towards a style of play more focused on speed and skill. I do plan to keep selecting aerial threats though, especially for the bigger games, so McAssassinay and Harry MagFire will both have roles to play.

It usually takes me a couple of weeks to get through a season, so finishing one in three days and sorting out a load of transfer business ahead of the next goes to show just how much I'm enjoying this save!

[saware]

Just got into 1st week of October in S1 today & it’s going fairly well in the main. Currently 3rd in the league, 4 points behind Liverpool. Have only lost 2 games so far, both after going down to 10 men, & the team are scoring plenty of goals (2nd for GS & GD behind Man City).

Started with ‘real world’ database & the transfer window shut so have had to make do with the current squad. Playing a positive, modern 433, with roles and duties as follows:-

Onana - SK/S

Wan Bissaka - IFB/D

Varane - CD/D

Martinez - BPD/D

Shaw - IWB/D or S

Casemiro - DM/D or S

Bruno - MEZ/A or S

Mount - B2B/S

Antony - W/S (Cut inside with ball)

Sancho - W/A (Cut inside with ball)

Rashford - AF/A

Mount got injured early on so McTominay has filled in for him & done a good job, scoring several goals.

Anthony has also been in & out of the team, & in that instance I swapped Sancho over to the right & took off the PI then had Garnacho on the left.

Not overly happy with the IFB slot so will be looking to reinforce that position relatively soon… there seems to be plenty of options. Would like to bring in another IWB for the left but naturally there doesn’t seem as much choice. Any recommendations?

Haven’t managed to get much out of Hojlund so far. What role is everyone using him as?

Bruno isn’t setting the world alight either, was hoping he’d score more goals but so far he’s just doing ok.

[molemenacer]

Getting towards the end of season 2 and had this pop into the outbox

He is playing a lot in either the BWM role of the segundo volante role. 

[z464]

2 hours ago, saware said:

Just got into 1st week of October in S1 today & it’s going fairly well in the main. Currently 3rd in the league, 4 points behind Liverpool. Have only lost 2 games so far, both after going down to 10 men, & the team are scoring plenty of goals (2nd for GS & GD behind Man City).

Started with ‘real world’ database & the transfer window shut so have had to make do with the current squad. Playing a positive, modern 433, with roles and duties as follows:-

Onana - SK/S

Wan Bissaka - IFB/D

Varane - CD/D

Martinez - BPD/D

Shaw - IWB/D or S

Casemiro - DM/D or S

Bruno - MEZ/A or S

Mount - B2B/S

Antony - W/S (Cut inside with ball)

Sancho - W/A (Cut inside with ball)

Rashford - AF/A

Mount got injured early on so McTominay has filled in for him & done a good job, scoring several goals.

Anthony has also been in & out of the team, & in that instance I swapped Sancho over to the right & took off the PI then had Garnacho on the left.

Not overly happy with the IFB slot so will be looking to reinforce that position relatively soon… there seems to be plenty of options. Would like to bring in another IWB for the left but naturally there doesn’t seem as much choice. Any recommendations?

Haven’t managed to get much out of Hojlund so far. What role is everyone using him as?

Bruno isn’t setting the world alight either, was hoping he’d score more goals but so far he’s just doing ok.

I have the similar formation 

Rashford is the top scorer  . Bruno and Mount both are top assists 

Now in Nov , haven't lose any game yet. 

 

 

Onana - SK/D

Wan Bissaka - IWB/S 

Milenkovic- BPD/D ( Varane has sold to Saudi for 95M )

Martinez - BPD/D

Shaw - WB/S

Casemiro - DM/ S （ D if opponents play 2 strikers  or I'm away facing team like Man city , Liverpool etc ）

Mount ( MCL ) - RPM or DLP depends on opponents 

Bruno (MCR ) - MEZ/A 

Antony - W/S (Cut inside with ball)

Rashford - IF/A 

Hojlund - AF/A

 

Edited November 9, 2023 by z464

[sedge11]

32 minutes ago, molemenacer said:

Getting towards the end of season 2 and had this pop into the outbox

He is playing a lot in either the BWM role of the segundo volante role. 

Think he came 4th on mine in that list. He’s first choice for me and is developing really nicely.

[molemenacer]

36 minutes ago, sedge11 said:

Think he came 4th on mine in that list. He’s first choice for me and is developing really nicely.

My 2 midfield roles get through a lot of work so I have 5 players for the 2 positions and all 5 get loads of game time.

He development has been great for me as well