Jtomsett11

End of season review As I alluded to in my last post, we may have fallen short this season compared to last, but we also played in the Champions League for the first time and finished in the top 4 for just the second time ever. I won manager of the year, so it can't have been too bad a performance! We also sold one of our best players and didn't really even notice, which I think is a testament to the system and our decisions to recruit the right players for the roles we have, which means that even when we have a drop in quality, the players who end up in the roles are well suited to them and so the overall team continues to perform. Next year is the last year before we move to a 29000 seater stadium, which I imagine will need instant expansion as we smashed our average attendance this year, probably due to Champions League outings. I thought this was a great graph to show our progress. Okay, we have only won 5 leagues on the way to the Premier League, but to add the Carabao Cup and Premier League trophies in our four years since hitting the top flight (and staying there after our one year stay in 2036/37) feels like a huge achievement. I've not really looked at this page before, but I like how it shows the progress Bah is making towards our records. He's 24, so I think he can easily break both records if he stays with us. Player performances No record breakers this year, but some new names as Guyot gets 17 assists and wins the most MOTM awards too. Bazan and Morillas essentially started every game at CB which shows perhaps where we need some reinforcement. There's not much I disagree with here, but Harte did so well at RB in the second half of the season so I feel he was unlucky to miss out on a spot, which would have given us a Jersey-born player in the best eleven. Shame. Goalkeepers At 31, I would like to buy a new goalkeeper this summer, although Kubiszyn has performed pretty well over the season. De Rosa is happy as a backup and as he's home grown, I'll keep him in this role until younger players are ready. Defenders I can't believe Harte isn't in the TOTY, his win ratio is so much better than Fontana. His output is better, but he was playing a lot more offensively than Fontana was given licence to. On the left, I've been disappointed with Marcos in an offensive capacity, with just 0.8 key passes a game and 3 assists for such an offensive player. Herrero breaks up the game more effectively in the tackle, but was also disappointing offensively. At CB, Bazan is the best player we've had in this role probably ever, and won the most headers in the league this season, while his tackle win ratio and pass success ratio is excellent too. Morillas is a great number 2 CB and won't be going anywhere any time soon. Marshall doesn't have good stats at all compared to the other two, but he is home-grown and happy to sit in the bench, so for now he isn't going anywhere unless he kicks up a massive fuss. Midfield Wow has Johnston been good since he returned from loan to replace Morais. Okay, we've been in excellent form, but he outperforms Parreiral in pretty much every important statistic. He may start as my number 1 BWM despite his relative lack of ability (but his attributes are all in the right place). The change to a roaming playmaker has really suited Smiljanic. 9 assists and 1.9 key passes per game has been hugely boosted since my review in December. Cortes isn't particularly happy about his game time, but he got a new contract recently so is just going to have to lump it. To be honest, he's a pretty solid option himself. Are there average ratings good? No, but the underlying statistics aren't bad with 15 assists from this role this year our best return for a long time. In the attacking mid role, Palmer and Schutt have both contributed, although the latter has been nowhere near as effective as last year and is now unhappy about my new contact offer not matching £7 million a year. I really like Palmer as a great example of a youth prospect who pretty much always performs and comes up with really key goals and assists. He's happy on a squad role contract. Wingers/ strikers It's pretty clear who our standout performers are. Lopez on the right, Guyot on the left. 27 goals and 27 assists between them. Behind them it's a tale of mixed and limited success. Bah scored 18 goals in the end, but was nowhere near as effective as in previous seasons. That very much reflected our season as a whole and it's noticeable that his points/ game shows that when he plays we generally win. Dilrosun wants to leave and has had diminishing returns this and last season, so I'm tempted to let him and use the space for a younger player. Gonzalez had a good season last year, but apart from a bit of run when Bah was out of form, he's never convinced me. Interest in him is high, and he's valued at £59 million. Perhaps it's time to upgrade. Dominguez was signed to replace Scott but offer a LW option once retrained. His retraining has been slow but he is getting there. He scored quite a few, but his contributions were nothing like Guyot or Lopez. Guyot rarely takes any set pieces so is perhaps the best comparison. He lacks PPMs, so perhaps once he's comfortable playing LW we'll add a few of those. Coelho is the other player we used on this wing, but he only played 3 times. If Dilrosun goes, he's nowhere near the quality, but he needs game time to improve as he'll be 18 in July.

April 2042 overview We smashed Chelsea, but United only drew and City won, so third it is for us. It is only our 4th season in the Premier League since promotion, so to finish on 79 points is really still quite impressive. When you consider the difference between our second half of the season and first, you can see how tactical tweaks have improved us. If we'd performed similarly to the second half of the season in the first, we'd have won the league by a country mile.

April 2042 match day 4 City and United won, while Spurs' defeat confirms we're going to finish 3rd at worst. I'm really happy with our recent performances and Bah is now on 18 goals in all competitions this season, which is brilliant as he had an awful first half of the season.

April 2042 match day 3 A tight win, but one we should have won by more than 1 goal. The Spurs draw and City defeat are great, but I still don't think it's going to happen. We need City to lose and United to lose one of their last two games. I can't see both of these events occurring.

What's his current attributes look like? How much has he already improved? I personally look to hold on to home grown talents as buying home grown players tends to be very expensive, especially if you get promoted again!

Ben, I've been putting off catching up with your thread as I really need to dedicate time to read your posts and haven't had that until the last week (although that could read as a criticism over length and detail, it's not!). I'm so glad I did put it off and spend an hour over the day today reading through and clicking all the links so I could fully appreciate your journey in the Netherlands so far. I'm delighted that you moved from Russia as these recent posts as you progress and develop a side are so engaging and interesting. Having played my most recent career on instant result and enjoyed the perks of that, your posts are inspiring me to return to a detailed tactical and recruitment approach in the next FM. Long may you continue your good work!

89 points is incredibly unlucky not to win the league. 100 goals scored too. What does your overall trophy haul look like now?

Thanks! I couldn't quite believe our form at the time, we were unstoppable for a long period of time. We haven't quite lived up to that this season, but I feel that was definitely an overachievement with this season probably more par with where we are.

This looks like it'll be very fun to follow! Great start!

April 2042 match day 2 This happened just before the Spurs game, which essentially sees Schutt out for the rest of the season.Tottenham won their game in hand, so beat them and we'd be right on City, but lose and we could end up 4th. I resolved to keep going with the offensive tactics. Yeah, that wasn't a success. The goals came from two set pieces and one poor piece of positioning at LB, influenced by my tactical instructions. We didn't really compete and I regret not just trying to go more conservative and sneaking a win as we did playing City. United also won their game, as did City, so the table now looks like this. I think it's highly unlikely we'll retain our title from here. One positive is our recent form, which sees us top of the 2nd half of the season form table with 3 games to play. It won't win us a trophy, but it feels like we've made progress still. Just in case anything dramatic does happen, here are the remaining games for all 4 top four sides. City United Tottenham Jersey We may win our remaining games, but I can't see United beating City, then dropping 3 points (due to goal difference) while City drop another 3 points and have a 10 goal swing with us AND Tottenham drop points somewhere. If we'd beaten Spurs, I'd have put us at a 20% chance and City 80% I think, but we didn't!

April game 1 City faced Everton away, a team in mid-table, while we played Wolves at home. ' This should have been a lot more comfortable. A brilliant Lopez finish from Smiljanic's pass set us up, but we conceded from a goalkeeper kick, both Bazan and Morillas complacent at the back and allowing it to bounce past them. Guyot then set up Schutt for a last minute finish after a great run and cut-back. Schutt has decided he's unhappy I won't meet his demands of £8 million a year wages (he's currently on £2million a year), but since declaring he wants to leave he scored twice and assisted once, so it's not affecting him. Let's see how City did. Get in! The gap closes to 3. United beat Liverpool, so they're right behind us.

March 2042 youth intake At first glance, this is another unimpressive intake. However, the top 3, especially Faulkner, are all capable of playing in the squad if they meet their potential and they have decent personalities. From then downwards... it doesn't look great! Attribute analysis wise, this is actually not a bad team with the highest rating in about 5 years. I'll probably sign most of them simply for numbers to avoid my U18s being used for millions of U18 games and ending up injured all the time. The best ones: I like Faulkner as there's no obvious deficiencies in his game and he looks like he'll be pretty decent on the ball. No key attribute is below 9 with the exception of heading, which we can probably sort with some training. To be honest, I often think that as long as they win the ball, I don't mind where it goes. If he ends up a 3 star CB he'd be my joint-best centre back, so at worst he'd be a backup in the future if he makes it (and I don't see why he won't unless his potential has been over-egged). Ebbrell has had a boost to potential ability already, which is nice. It's a shame about his dribbling and acceleration. He could play an inverted wing back role perhaps, not that we use it. He'd have to be seriously good to change tactics, and he probably won't be, but he could be a decent option one day. Pearson is an interesting one. I'm not really sold by him, perhaps he'd be better as a winger after all! If either of these two had better potential, I'd be seriously excited about them, as they have superb attributes for their roles. I'll keep an eye on both of them and see how they develop as I'm aware that initial ratings can be very wrong.

Really unlucky there! Hate it when a season peters out despite it actually being a truly excellent season all round! Won't be long now until you win the title!

Yeah there's quite a lot of similarities, although I feel from reading through your season you've been more impressive generally and city are just having an excellent season as seen by their points. I think another year you'd have won the title with the points you're likely to end up on! Still, can't complain about being in the title race my end, perhaps I'm not giving enough credit to how competitive its been this season!

March 2042 I really cannot complain about this month, but the draw to Newcastle with a rotated squad feels like a blow in what could have been a potential late-title challenge, but now feels too difficult. Beating Man City was an excellent start to the month as Kubiszyn had an absolutely brilliant game to keep them out. Leeds and Newcastle were dispatched routinely (Leeds scored a late goal), while we could have played for a month against Brighton and nobody would have scored. While the squad, on paper, has some depth, we are struggling again due to injuries. Just as our wingers recover, we lose our starting BWM and our backup BWM before the Barcelona game, leaving an untried midfield duo of Smiljanic and Cortes, with the latter playing as BWM for the first time for us. Just a bit annoying! We were comfortably beaten in that one, but in our debut Champions League campaign I can't be too disappointed with being knocked out by a superior team. Our new tactic seems to be working well! You can see below why the draw against Brighton is annoying, as we're 5 points off City rather than 3. Tottenham have completely collapsed. The run-ins look like this. Jersey Bulls run-in Wolves, Everton and Chelsea are mid-table sides, but Chelsea turned us over earlier this season, so it's not a guaranteed 3 points. Blackburn is winnable, while Tottenham could depend on whether they end their free-fall before we play them. Man City run-in The 3 away games aren't easy at all, but they should win their last two home games. I think the title might be won by 80-82 points here, which is incredibly low. We can only achieve 82 points anyway, so we need City to lose twice to lower their goal difference. I think they'll probably still win it, but it's nice to be in with a shout having felt like we were miles off (performance wise at least) for much of the season.

Feb 2042 new contact I missed this from the last post, but thought it worthwhile of a separate one. Contracts for my best players are becoming expensive now as demands shoot up towards £150k a week. I've got the option of an extra year here with Guyot who has been a standout performer this season, so if he then doesn't want to sign a new deal I've got him for a bit longer. I have done similar with Lopez who is here until 2045 with an option of an extra year; he now won't sign a new deal. The real challenge is to balance wage expenditure by occasionally selling a big player - Morais for £100 million this year, for example - without disrupting the squad too much. I'm finding recruitment much more challenging now as finding players who are better or as good as the ones who are wanted is very difficult. When I do find them, other clubs often poach them, or they want £10 million a year +. I also find post-Brexit rules much more difficult to navigate in terms of having a production line of young foreign talent in the U23s and U18s, and my own youth aren't really much to shout about at the moment (bottom of the U18s league with only 1 win). With success has come new challenges which I will need to overcome in the next few seasons.

February 2042 A really successful month and a return to scoring goals! I changed things after the Burnley game, yet another one where we had a low output in terms of xG and goals scored. There's maybe 1 big chance in there is the whole game. I revisited our tactic and decided on a role change from DLP to roaming playmaker for my left-hand side CM, while allowing 1 or both full backs to shift to attacking mentality with the winger on support. I felt this might just vary things up slightly, with a few more bodies from slightly different positions making their way forward. It does seem to have helped as we've had 2 goals from our roaming playmaker and assists from the full backs in the 3 games since the change. Bah has also picked up some goals, which we weren't seeing before. We are definitely leaving more gaps, and Barcelona took advantage of that to go 2-0 up, so to come back and win 3-2 is a brilliant result, although I feel they'll have too much for us in the reverse fixture. However, overall I'm happy to leave a few more gaps and just have to defend better against better teams, as before we were drawing and losing lots of games against pretty mediocre sides. Finally, we're having an xG of over 1 per game and scoring more than that too (bear in mind the last three games have significantly increased the ratio and they're the ones with the adjusted formation). 3 wins out of 3 in the league sees us remain in fourth, but the gap is now 7 points. We're only 6 points off top, which is the same as last month, but Spurs don't have a game in hand anymore after losing their last game of the month.

Yes, although he's played CM mostly for me, I retrained him to CB as I needed more depth there so he's done well in both roles. I feel we are going to miss him in the long term as there aren't many world class BWM out there. Perhaps we'll need a change in role!

I can see the issues as he doesn't really suit any role in your side. He can't pass and has poor work rate so doesn't suit a more destructive midfield role really, while he also can't cross so full back isn't an option either. It may be you can get a decent fee from him instead perhaps.

I still think this season could be your year, you've had a lot of draws but if they turn into wins over final 7 games and city have a blip (which they're probably due) then you could still do it! Have you played city twice already? Either way fantastic progress this year! Youth intake not as good but still pretty solid with some options there.

I had success a few years ago with a CB with 12 jumping, but use to watch the games and swap him on to shorter strikers and it seemed to work quite well. It was youth only so I kept playing him as I didn't have many other decent options and we won Serie A with him as number 1 cb. Generally speaking though I've struggled. I think average ratings take a huge hit if they're small so I always look at headers won and where they win/ lose them as often my cb's with lower % are losing offensive headers from corners rather than headers in their own half (more concerning). Can you convert him to a CM as he's got a lot of potential? I can't remember what his attribute spread is like.

January 2042 After a period of struggling to play, it took me a few evenings to complete January. Our form hasn't been wonderful up until January, and apart from the first two games, we really struggled with scoring goals and were very lucky to win some of the games, such as Liverpool away. Our strikers just aren't scoring this season, Bah has 6 Prem goals and Gonzalez 4. Dominguez has 7, but only 3 of those are from playing up front. I'm going to see how February goes, but I'm sensing that I need to tweak a few things with our tactics and roles. Our form is still good enough to keep us firmly inside the top four and within 6 points of the top of the league. Transfers We've had quite an active window. Our midfield has been altered quite significantly, as Morais refused to sign a new deal and with just 2 and a half years left on his deal, Barcelona hit the £100 million asking price so I let him go. I also sanctioned Dempsey leaving on loan as he wasn't getting game time, so as a result I brought back Johnston from his loan spell. It's his chance to try and seal a place in the squad ahead of the summer where I'll potentially look to bring in a new BWM (nobody is available now). I am pretty gutted to lose Morais as his season last year, when we won the league, was really impressive. However, it's probably realistic that he's left. Hopefully, he won't immediately come back to haunt us as we face Barcelona in the Champions League in February. We've faced quite a few injuries this season and I feel the team has been constantly disrupted. That's a left back, a striker and two key wingers out for chunks of time. What a pain! So, February looks very winnable in the league, although you never know with our form! That tie against Barcelona looks tough, but a good test of how far we've come!

Sorry bud, not been playing much recently! I downloaded a kits pack from steam and that added the Jersey logo. Not sure which one now and can't seem to find it in downloads! I didn't download kits as I don't watch the games.

Incredible season so far! Gowdy just goes from strength to strength, its great you've been able to hold on to him. If I remember correctly you've got a few more years + option on his current deal?

Just caught up having been away for a little while from FM due to workload, a very good season last year and potential title challenge so far this year! Excellent intakes too, exciting to see if they can all meet their potential now you've got so many decent prospects!