[[FM20] Manchester United: Falling Giant...]

2020-2021: Season Preview

At Manchester United we all know we have a plethora of quality players and pockets full of money to sign more of them. What I find interesting, and the reason I keep an eye on this thread, is seeing the different approaches we all take to developing our players and spending our budget. I thought, therefore, I would provide an update on how I have shaped my squad going into the second season. Season 1, which I last wrote about here back in August, ended with us finishing 2nd just three points behind Arsenal, but having also thrashed Arsenal 4-0 in the Europa League. We weren't far off from where I want us to be, but there were certainly key areas I wanted to improve. I went through the squad in a methodical fashion, analysing our recruitment needs.

Goalkeepers

David De Gea played more times in the first season than any other player, and he had a really strong campaign. My long term plans are to try and give the returning Henderson the chance to become first choice, but De Gea isn't ready to give up the number one spot just yet. Romero deputised for De Gea at the end of the season, after the Spaniard picked up an injury, and he delivered 7 clean sheets in 11 games (including the Europa League Final). This put him firmly in the shop window and I was happy to accept £11m from Juventus, especially as Henderson is a ready-made replacement. I decided that home-grown Joel Periera was a sufficient third choice 'keeper for the season ahead and I even renewed his contract.

Full Backs

Right back was a position I was very happy with and had no intention to do any business. Wan-Bissaka had a great season, including providing 10 assists, and Dalot had also done very well. Dalot only played 19 times and his form suggested he should get more opportunities, but AWB was just too good to drop.

Williams had been my first choice left back in the first season and he had performed admirably, but I knew this was an area I needed to improve upon. I was pleased to acquire my first choice target Alex Grimaldo for £30m. Shaw had done okay when called upon but, as in real life, he was often injured and therefore a liability. I tried to sell him but nobody would take him. In the end I loaned him to Cagliari on transfer deadline day.

Centre Backs

All United fans know that we are carrying a lot of deadwood at centre back, so one of my big aims going into the summer was to get them off the books. After the frustration of him rejecting West Ham, Smalling eventually agreed to join Guangzhou Evergrande. I quickly became a fan of the Chinese side, as they also bid for the unsettled Lindelof, again for a very good fee. West Ham, continued their hunt for a CB, this time being successful and acquiring Jones. Fosu-Mensah was loaned to Sheff Weds. Despite trying, I was unable to find a buyer for Bailly so he remains at the club.

I considered splashing the cash on a top class CB, but in the end I decided I wanted to prioritise giving the opportunity to Tuanzabe, who after a strong first season was now rated as the best defender at the club by my staff. I signified this commitment by tying him down to a new five year contract. Rather than adding a top class 4th CB alongside Tuanzabe, Maguire and Demirel, I went for a player with potential and signed Swiss 18 year old Leonida Sterigou, beating Inter and Dortmund to his signature.

My centre backs barely ever scored in the first season, so I spent some time working on set piece routines and it has already started to work at the start of the second season, with more headers being scored from corners after we began targeting the six yard box.

Centre Midfield

Going into the second season, I effectively only had three first team central midfield players. Pogba was our star man in the first season, getting an average rating of 7.76 and providing 11 assists from a deep lying position. McTominay also had a great campaign, scoring 8 goals, getting 7 assists and winning the Europa League Player of the Season. Despite only being 16, Bellingham performed wonderfully, playing in 48 matches (starting 29) and providing 5 goals and 5 assists. I rejected a £119m bid from PSG for Pogba, and luckily this did not unsettle him.

Arturo Vidal had been a useful stop-gap on loan but I had no intentions of making that deal permanent. A top class central midfielder was my number one priority and I was delighted to be able to bring in Sandro Tonali for just £37.5m. I decided Garner, Levitt and McCann could all do with more experience so sent them all on loan but kept Mejbri at the club with the intention of giving him sporadic appearances as I have long-term aspirations to make him a mainstay in my team.

Attacking Midfield

Bruno Fernandes had a solid first season, with 5 goals and 10 assists. I did build my team around him though, with Pogba pushed deeper to allow him to shine, so I probably did expect more from him. I'll be expecting even more returns from him in the season ahead. James Rodriguez was available on a free and was willing to accept a back up role. I decided not to do this deal though, as it would hamper the development of Angel Gomes (remember him?) who prior to getting injured was having a great season with 9 goals in just 14 starts.

Wingers

Sancho had a very good first season on right wing, getting 10 goals and 10 assists. He would probably get more if I made him an inside forward but that may be a little aggressive with Rashford operating in that role on the left hand side.

Similar to with centre backs, I knew I had a selection of wingers who were surplus to requirements. This proved to be quite a challenge for two players. Dan James rejected contracts at Wolves and Bournemouth after £30m deals were agreed. I could not get my head round him turning them down, but it worked out okay as he eventually agreed to move to Spurs (who were surprisingly interested), for only a little bit less. Likewise Lingard rejected £20m moves to two Chinese sides and it was looking like he couldn't be shifted, until he eventually moved to Milan. I loaned out Chong and Doku to get more game time.

Somewhat surprisingly, I decided to keep Sanchez as a squad option. I had read the difficulties others have had in getting him out the door, so I decided to go down the route of renewing his contract - reducing his was from £350k p/w to £150k p/w. I may look to sell him in January or the end of the season, when I'm hoping his lower wages make him more appealing to buyers.

Forwards

Martial had a phenomenal season, scoring 36 goals, along with 8 assists. Rashford was also great, scoring 28 goals and getting 9 assists, primarily cutting in from the left wing. I decided I actively didn't want to sign a new first choice striker as I wanted to keep on developing the pair. Mid-way through the transfer window, after I had made my three main signings, I still had £128m in my budget and contemplated activating Haaland's £65m release fee - I stuck to my guns though and thought of my objectives for this save which was to develop the players already at the club.

Young Mexican forward Macias has bags of potential but couldn't get a look in last season so was loaned to Bournemouth where hopefully he'll get a lot of Premier League action. To add strength in depth to the wing / inside forward roles, I brought Memphis back to Old Trafford, activating his £35m release clause. Experienced Olivier Giroud was brought in on a free as emergency cover for the centre-forward position. Certainly an upgrade on Ighalo. Finally, young Louie Barry (once of Barcelona) was signed as 'one for the future'.

The transfer window closed and I still had £120m sitting in the bank that I had chose not to spend. We have only the 4th highest wage bill in the division. In previous years I would have definitely spent the surplus budget, but for this save I have a clear focus on how I want to manage and I am happy with the improvements I have made to the squad.

I made one further signing after the transfer window closed, triggering the £14.25m release fee in the contract of Sparta Prague wonderkid winger Adam Hlozek. He will arrive January 1st.

[FM20: The English Football League thread]

@Jogo BonitoDespite just 30 minutes ago saying I was contemplating parting company with Garner, I've just agreed to loan him for the seventh year! I checked and I could once again get him for 0% of his wages, with no fee and that's a deal too good to turn down for a player of his quality. I'm as surprised as anyone that I've had him for this long and without paying a penny

I'm also pleased to say that I've managed to get Doyle for another season. He only costs me his £20k weekly wages.

[FM20: The English Football League thread]

Bolton Wanderers - Season 6 - Part 3

After an uplift in form in January, February did not go as I had planned.  We drew a blank at Newcastle, lost to Spurs (in what was a tight game until Tommy Doyle got himself sent off) and also fell to defeat against high-flying Norwich. In both the Newcastle and Norwich games we had over 50% possession and had 11 and 15 shots respectively, so we were playing well but crucially were not being ruthless enough. Brighton was a pleasing result as we were probably the poorer side, but this time we were the ones who picked up the victory.

We lost to Southampton and then again, heavily, to Man United. We perhaps didn't play as badly at Old Trafford as the scoreline would suggest, they were just extremely clinical.  That said, I was starting to worry as we starting to drift down the table. Mejbri, who I had pinned so much hope on, was injured for the whole month of March, and my best attacking outlet Bowen was ruled out too.

The win against West Brom was crucial. Our first convincing win in two months acted as a morale boost for the squad. Striker Tedic got a brace and Mejbri's deputy Martin even scored.

I sneaked in a morale boosting friendly against Curzon Ashton in the international break and it did the job as we had an extremely successful March. The football started to click and the goals started to fly in - even Doyle who is operating as a Volante started hitting the net regularly from his late runs into the box. I was disappointed not to make the top three for April PL Manager of the Month, but the main thing was 10 points out of 12 at a crucial stage of the season. This propelled us up to 10th in the table.

May's fixtures were tough, as we took on the 1st and 2nd placed teams in the league, both of whom were vying for the title up to the final day. We had built up a decent lead ahead of the teams in 11th and below, so a comprehensive victory over Watford was enough to secure a top ten finish. This far exceeded my expectations at the outset of the campaign. We defended valiantly against Man City on the final day, before conceding in the 88th minute. I really didn't mind though, our job was done for the season. We ended up finishing closer to the European places than to relegation, which I would not have predicted.

Going into next season I will look to reinforce us defensively as we conceded more goals than I would have liked, but generally it was only against top six sides. We also are lacking a lethal goal scoring threat. Wearing was brought in to replace promotion hero Hirst, but he only managed to get 6 goals. He is still is only 21, so room to improve. Our top scorer was Tedic with 9 and he appeared more times from the bench than he started.

The switch from 4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1 in the middle of the season was a real game changer.  It unlocked the potential of my wingers, with Bowen delivering a crucial 14 assists from the right side. The tactical change also benefited the partnership of Doyle and Bafounta, who formed a partnership as volante and half back. Doyle got the highest average rating of all my players, and Bafounta provided a valuable defensive shield. James Garner, who has been on loan with me for six seasons now, was the man to miss out with this switch. Since he became a squad player in the second half of the season I'm questioning whether I'll even look to take him on loan for a seventh campaign. On the other hand, I will be begging Man City to let me keep Doyle for another year.

My personal player of the season was Solet, who started the season as third choice centre back and finished it as the first name on the team sheet. Lenihan got injured In November, Solet got a chance, performed and then never looked back. His attributes have grown exponentially through the season. Mejbri, who I had hoped would be my star man only played 11 times due to injuries. I'm hoping with a proper pre-season that next season he will start to shine.

There are still a few weeks till the next FM so onwards I go...

UPDATE - To motivate me even further to continue onwards, the club have just announced that they intend to build a new stadium, we have increased our youth level to Category 1 and, considering the mess the club was in when I took over, this was a delightful announcement to receive:

[FM20: The English Football League thread]

11 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

@Jogo Bonito  Oldham Athletic

I’ve already decided Oldham will be my long-term project for FM21 (just counting down till the games out!). Arguably the most consistently poor performing team in the country over the last ten years, with no top half finishes.  Would be interested to see @Jogo Bonito give them a crack. 
 

@smplfc123 Good luck for the final run-in! 
 

Quick update on my Bolton save, had a heart-in-mouth moment last night as the save file (which I’ve been playing on and off for almost a year) would not load and was corrupted. Luckily one of the auto-save backups still worked so I only lost a few hours of game time...

[FM20: The English Football League thread]

@warlock It’s games like that United one which are why we love this game! 

Some tough periods in that season (that I can certainly relate to at Bolton!) but a great achievement to stay in the Premier League for another year.

Good luck with your summer recruitment and your tactical shift.

[FM20: The English Football League thread]

@smplfc123 Great season there, especially considering where you started with them! One of my favourite parts of the game is clearing out a squad you’ve taken over at the end of the season and rebuilding it as you see fit. I’m sure you’ll be able to more effectively spend the wage budget than Stoke are currently doing! 
 

@warlock Great update, I always like to read the thought process behind signings and squad building. Looks like you’re set up well to build on last season. Who would have thought you’d be sticking it out and enjoying the Premier League ay   

[FM20: The English Football League thread]

@warlock You've set the bar high with your 12th placed finish, first season in the Prem! I'll be happy just to not be in the relegation conversation

[FM20: The English Football League thread]

Bolton Wanderers - Season 6 - Part 2

I ended my last update, after 10 games in the Premier League, sitting in 12th place with things looking promising for our debut campaign back in the top flight. It is fair to say things took a turn for the worse in the months of November and December with the harsh realities of the Premier League proving apparent. After a win away at Leicester, we had two narrow defeats against West Ham and West Brom.

We began December with two results I was proud of; we scored three goals and drew with Everton and then pulled off a big defensive effort to draw with United. I was disappointed to lose to Southampton and Norwich, sides that we are looking to compete with, but there was at least a win against Brighton in between. We finished the year with two predictable defeats against Arsenal and Liverpool - I was just pleased not to be thrashed against Liverpool again! - but things weren't looking great.

In November I spotted that to my surprise Hannibal Mejbri was plying his trade in the MLS. After a few loan spells away from Old Trafford, United had released him and he had joined Seattle on a free a season earlier. I have managed him on my United save and he is quite the prospect so he immediately became my number one transfer target. I scraped every last remaining penny in my transfer budget together and met their fee of £7.75m, meaning he arrived on January 1st. Up until this point I have been predominantly playing 4-4-2 but I knew I wanted to build my team around Mejbri if possible and therefore switched to a 4-2-3-1, playing him as a trequartista.

Our form was slipping and I was worried we would soon be in a relegation battle. I hoped the new signing and tactical switch would give us a new lease of life - and that seems to have been the case so far.

We lost the first two games of the month, but the performances were vastly improved. We created far more chances in both of the games, which gave me a lot of hope. Against Burnley we played a much changed side as the first team was exhausted from the Christmas period. Mejbri played particularly well against Birmingham, making three key passes and having a goal disallowed that would have drew the game. We threw away a 2-0 lead against Wolves which was frustrating, but again we played really well and were creating more chances with Mejbri unlocking the potential of my wingers by serving them up opportunities. We beat bottom of the table Villa in a must-win game, but it was the final game of the month that really got me celebrating. In the biggest win of my managerial tenure we beat Arsenal 4-1. After going 1-0 down we pulled off a late, great comeback that will go down in the Bolton history books. As you can likely tell from the tone of this paragraph, I go into the remainder of the season with renewed optimism that we can avoid a relegation dogfight.

Since it's Transfer Deadline Day, I'll end with a brief transfer window wrap up. Mejbri was looking to be my only piece of business, but as the month rumbled on some players started to complain at their lack of game time so I decided to move some on. Thiago arrived as a statement signing, but the reality was that his legs weren't what they were and Doyle and Garner were two of my better players, so I cut my losses and sold the soon-to-be 34 year old to Lecce for £1.5m. Ezri Konsa also left for the same price, joining Crystal Palace in the Championship. I couldn't find a buyer for Doyle-Hayes, so he joined Portsmouth on loan. Finally Conrad Wallem, who played a role in our promotion, had spent most of the season injured so I loaned him to League One leaders Blackburn to get some playing time.

To provide some cover, on the last day of the window I signed young regen centre-back Cyril Charrier from Lyon and to replace the two departed centre-mids I brought Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain back to the UK on loan from Fiorentina.

[FM20: The English Football League thread]

Bolton Wanderers - Season 6 - Part 1

In our opening five games in the Premier League, we lost resoundingly to Tottenham, Chelsea and Man City. This was fully expected, so I actually came away from this period very happy as we managed to beat both Newcastle and Bournemouth. Both wins were scrappy, a late penalty in one and a late winner in the other, but in this division it's just points that matter. I played a full strength side against Lincoln in the Cup and that win successfully built morale.

Tedic was the star against Watford, coming off the bench to score a brace. Up till that point I'd been operating with Wearing as loan striker, however after his brace I switched to the 4-4-2 that had served us well in the Championship and he went on to score 4 in 3. I played a fully changed side in the Cup and got knocked out by Barnsley; lesson learned. We secured a big win against Wolves and were unlucky not to draw against Burnley as we missed a penalty. We got our most convincing win of the season against Villa, a game in which they had Grealish sent off. Discipline has also been a challenge for my side too, with three league red cards so far - I'm not sure if it's the pressure or they can't handle the pace of top attackers and take them down.

Then came the worst result of my management tenure, we got pumped 8-0 by Liverpool. They opened the scoring in less than 2 minutes and we just could not stop them scoring.

This was a nice touch, from FM and the players!

So after 10 games, things have gone as well as they realistically could have. We've been thoroughly outclassed by the top 6 and are holding our own against the other teams. I'm hoping the 8-0 pasting doesn't damage morale too severely, it's certainly taken a hit on the goal difference, as we now have the worst in the league.

[FM20: The English Football League thread]

40 minutes ago, Creativity said:

Very happy with how August went

Welcome @Creativity - an interesting update and a good start to the season 

[FM20: The English Football League thread]

3 hours ago, warlock said:

Wish you luck . Looks a decent squad, given the financial constraints but that's a tough welcome to the PL.

Thanks @warlock, going to need it!

2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Perhaps a few too many players to keep happy but you look to have a reasonable amount of quality for the challenge ahead!

Thanks @Jogo Bonito. Totally agree, I definitely have too many players. As I’m still not certain of my tactical approach I thought I’d give myself options and then trim the squad down in January. 

[FM20: The English Football League thread]

Bolton Wanderers - Season 6 - Premier League Preview

With what is sure to be a very tough season competing against Premier League giants who seem to spend on average £40m per signing and with squads bristling with highly rated wonderkids, I set to work building a team I hoped would be able to avoid relegation back down to the Championship. With a modest budget of £31m and no players that I could sell to raise funds (last season's key men were all loanees), free agents and bargains were my transfer strategy.

With the transfer window now closed on the eve of the league season, here is how my squad looks:

Goalkeepers

We conceded fewer goals than any other side when winning the Championship, so Pontus Dahlberg will feel hard done by to have been replaced, however I had to put sentiment to one side and strengthen the squad wherever possible. Luis Maximiano joined from Sporting Lisbon, where he had been their first choice 'keeper for the past three seasons, for £3m. Previous back-up Remi Matthews was loaned out to Stockport County and Aussie prospect Ryan Ryan was loaned to Blackburn.

Defenders

Last season's first choice right back was Ethan Laird, who returned to Man Utd after his loan. I have decided to give his understudy Donnelly the opportunity to start the season as first choice. This is probably the biggest risk I am taking as he still needs a lot of development technically. I have added Premier League experience with the free transfer signing of Matt Doherty, who may well be called upon against tougher opposition.

Club captain Lenihan had been partnered at centre back last season by 21 year old Shaquille Browne. Although the youngster performed admirably, his technical ability still didn't match up to his impressive physical stats. I opted to loan Browne back to the Championship and bring in some quality in this position. Experienced Serbian defender Nikola Maras joined from Red Star for £2.4m and the younger Oumar Solet arrived from Lyon for £2.5m. 

At left back I had been tempted to give Boon the opportunity, having been with me since League One and not letting me down yet. The coaching staff advised that my other left back, the Brazilian Marlon, would not get a work permit for his next contract, so I sold him to Santos for £2.8m. This meant I did need to recruit in this area, so I returned to Red Star and new recruit Mihailo Ristic is a big upgrade on Boon. He signed for £3.1m and will also add experience to an area of the pitch that certainly needs it in the Premier League.

Midfielders

As previously mentioned, I was delighted to be able to secure James Garner on loan at no cost for the sixth successive season. He has been key to my success throughout my tenure and provides consistency in the middle of the park. Conor Gallagher was transfer listed so I met his asking price of £7.75m. I hoped he'd join us after being part of our promotion campaign whilst on loan. Unfortunately he chose to join Watford instead, so I looked to other options.

I was surprised to find that former Bayern Munich playmaker Thiago was interested in joining us on a free transfer. All though he has waned physically his technical and mental stats remain first class. In pre-season the quality of his set pieces were apparent too, which may prove useful in our league campaign. He may not be first choice however, as on deadline day I was able to bring in Tommy Doyle on loan from Man City and my coaches now rate him the best player at the club.

I want to be able to play two different ways this season; 4-1-2-2-1 (wide) against bigger sides and 4-2-3-1 against sides I think we might be able to beat. Garner has successfully played in the deep role of the 4-1-2-2-1 (wide) for me before, but I wanted to recruit and out-and-out defensive midfielder. I settled upon Kamal Bafounta, who cost me £3.3m from Wolfsburg.

Attacking Midfielders

We hadn't played 4-2-3-1 before, so I was starting from scratch when building my CAM options. I managed to find two quality players who were available on a free. Hannes Wolf was previously at RB Liepzig and Ivan Martin was at Villareal. Martin is a CAM, whereas Wolf is more of a shadow striker. It may be too ambitious to try and play an attacking system in the Premier League at this stage of our development, but I want to give myself the option. Inevitably one of these players will end up unhappy as I can't play everyone, I will deal with that when it happens.

I also signed a third attacking mid, Aaron Ramsey, who came on a free but cost £1.2m in tribunal. I wanted to loan him out to develop but there were no takers. He will hopefully go out on loan in January.

Wingers

The wings was another area I knew I needed to improve in, so there was a lot of activity here. Andre Schurrle was sold to Goztepe for £3.1m and Carlo Holse was loaned to AA Gent. Former Saint Etienne man Arnaud Nordin joined after a period on trial and young prospect Petr Brezina signed for just £800k from Sparta Prague. Sparta are a team I often enjoy signing regens from. The biggest outlay of the transfer window was £4.3m on Jarrod Bowen, and I am hoping his quality can really add value to our squad. Finally, Danny Loader feels like a new signing after I recruited him from Reading in January but allowed him to remain on loan for the remainder of the season.

Strikers

Replacing Hirst was always going to be an unenviable task. That said, I have a lot of hope pinned on my new striking signing Jay Wearing. Signed on a free from Wolves, with only a £1.3m tribunal fee to pay, the England under-20 forward has bags of ability and potential. The other recruit in this area was young Portuguese striker Fabio Modesto, who is more one for the future. Tedic had a great season alongside Hirst last time around, so I will be hoping he can continue that. As I will likely only play one up top for the season, and the likes of Loader and Bowen can play here if needs must, I decided to loan out Brown and Bereton to give them more experience.

Tough Start

The fixture list hasn't been kind to us, with Spurs, Chelsea, Bournemouth (top 8 finish in last 4 seasons) and Man City in first five games. I have really enjoyed building this squad but a run of defeats could quickly sap the fun out of this save! I'm sure I'll keep persevering, whatever happens. Wish me luck!

[FM20: The English Football League thread]

After not looking at it since late May, I have decided to dust off my Bolton save and pick up where I left off. It actually took me a little while to familiarise myself with where I was up to after four months away. I knew we had just secured promotion to the Premier League and had a summer of squad rebuilding ahead, but not much more than that! I have taken some time to look at my squad in depth and reading my previous updates in this thread actually came in very handy (my detailed updates have finally paid off!). The memories of this save to date have all come flooding back.

I have now completed the 2024 pre-season and have made a large number of signings to rebuild the squad. The squad was not particularly strong by Championship standards and we were reliant on a large number of loanees, none more so than Tottenham wonderkid striker Jimmy Hirst who had bagged 26 league goals for us, so a lot of work was needed to be done for there to be any chance of us being competitive. Full update coming shortly.

[AZ Alkmaar FC Team Guide]

@Ronaldo Beckham Quite surprising to see PSV finish all the way down in 7th!
 

Interesting club AZ, they employ a ‘Moneyball’ approach as Billy Beane is an advisor. A couple of years ago I took the train to Alkmaar, when visiting Amsterdam, and watched AZ beat NAC. I recall they played good football and have a nice stadium.

[FM20: The English Football League thread]

8 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Do a youth only save. I done 6 seasons with Reading sticking to youth only. It keeps you interested more then a normal save.

It’s a good suggestion @Ronaldo Beckham. I’m currently playing a United save for a bit of fun and although it’s not youth only, it’s certainly youth focused. 

6 hours ago, warlock said:

Although in my case, from now to December would be more like 15-20 saves 

Haha yes @warlock, you are certainly more prolific than me when it comes to saves! 

I still have a mind to go back and revisit my Bolton career. I got them promoted to the Premier League and then never played it again. I should really give the Prem one crack, after all the hard work to get them there.

6 hours ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

 

The more saves to follow, the better! I've been quietly following as always. 

 

Agreed @DefinitelyTaylor. This forum went a bit quiet for a while but great to see it pick back up again recently! 

[FM20: The English Football League thread]

On 22/08/2020 at 23:07, warlock said:

Looking ahead, I'll definitely be taking on Wycombe in the Championship, and Harrogate in the EFL. A relegated Norwich should also be a good challenge. And there's so many Championship clubs who should be doing better... Brentford, Forest, Preston. Bournemouth and Watford should be interesting, too.

I keep thinking about all the saves I want to do on FM21 (many of which are EFL clubs), now the season has ended, but I think we are likely going to have to wait till December for the new game... Probably need to get stuck into one more interesting FM20 save to pass the time 🤔

[FM20: The English Football League thread]

3 hours ago, warlock said:

Still, we go into the new year in a very pleasing second place.

Great job @warlock, season is going very well 👏🏼 Good luck for the end of season run-in.

2 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I beat Shakhtar twice, I drew and lost against Barcelona and drew and lost against Roma.

Very respectable performance that @Ronaldo Beckham, in a tough group. 

[[FM20] Manchester United: Falling Giant...]

13 hours ago, ShadowEdSide said:

Also here's an interesting occurrence: Leroy Sane has been put on the transfer list by City...he's 96 scout rated, recommended to be signed whatever the price and on offer for around £55-£60 million.

I’ve had something similar. Man City just finished 5th first season on my save (update above) and the majority of their squad are unhappy about missing out on Champions League football. Sterling, De Bruyne, B.Silva and Gundogan are all transfer listed by request! I’m hoping this leads to the club capitulating 😂

[[FM20] Manchester United: Falling Giant...]

Season 2019-2020: Part 5

We began March with a draw away at Man City, which saw Liverpool overtake us into 2nd. We picked ourselves up with a Cup win over Blackpool that Gomes shone in and a thrashing of Watford. I rested some players against Torino and ended up regretting it - Rashford missed a penalty and we drew the first leg. Up next was Southampton and I was again left frustrated; we scored what I thought was the winner in the 91st, but Ings equalised in the 94th. We righted our wrongs in the home leg against Torino, winning comfortably. Around this time I was proud to see Henderson, Wan-Bissaka and Tuanzabe get their first England caps, and bemused to see the bald fraud Pep get sacked by City.

It's worth mentioning how well the youth team have done - they won the Italian Youth Cup Invitational, beating Juve 5-0 in the Final, and only a few days later they also won the EFL Trophy, beating Peterborough 3-1 at Wembley. I did sprinkle a few squad players into the team for the EFL Trophy and it was that touch of class that made the difference as Macias, James and Dalot all got on the scoresheet. The only shame was Gomes picked up an injury playing, that would rule him out for 5 weeks. The U23s would go on to secure promotion to U23s Division 1, capping off a great season for them.

We beat Roma in the EL Quarter Finals, shutting up shop in the away leg (a game which Maguire was suspended for) and then attacking them at home to secure a 3-0 win. Competing in multiple competitions was starting to compress the fixture list, so I was particularly pleased when we were able to beat both Chelsea and Roma in the space of just three days. I signed Vidal on loan in January as a utility option but due to knocks to McTominay and Bellingham he played more than expected in April. I think his experience was valuable and surprisingly he picked up no red cards (aggression 20!). We lost to Liverpool in the FA Cup Semi Final, ending a run of 36 games undefeated. I can't complain, they were the better side on the day.

Then, with eight or nine games left to play, De Gea was ruled out for three months with a hip injury. This meant Romero had to deputise, who had previously only played once all season. I had concerns about his reliability, but these turned out to be unfounded. We immediately bounced back from the Liverpool defeat, demolishing their neighbours Everton 5-0. The five goals were important, as this was a game in hand and having won it we went back ahead of Liverpool into 2nd, on goal difference. Perhaps we will have the last laugh over them.

We finished the league campaign in strong fashion, winning four out of our last five games. When we drew with Leicester, Liverpool once again regained 2nd place, but they then lost to Chelsea when we beat Bournemouth so we were able to reclaim 2nd place. I was so focused on our battle with Liverpool for 2nd place that it almost passed me by how close to the league leaders we ended up. On the final day, we could have even won the league as we were 3 points behind Arsenal, with a better goal difference. In the end we both won, but I am delighted to have finished 2nd in our first season. Particularly as I have had a strong focus on playing youth. We only lost once in the league all season, we just had too many draws, particularly at the beginning of the campaign. We conceded the least amount of goals and only scored one less than top scorers Arsenal. The way we finished this season gives me a lot of hope we can challenge for the title next season, without wholesale changes needed.

Note - Interesting sub-narrative, Newcastle were taken over by a new owner who spent £88m in January yet they were still relegated to the Championship! They are joined by Southampton and Villa and have been replaced by Leeds, Swansea and Millwall

Pogba had the highest average rating of any player in the PL (7.81) and as such was named the Footballer of the Year and Players' Player of the Year. In April PSG players began publicly tapping him up in the media and I began to worry I may lose my star performer. Luckily when we secured Champions League football he announced he was happy to stay and I was able to agree a new four year deal with him.

Pogba and Fernandes shared the league record for most chances created. Martial was the Premier League top goalscorer with 25 goals and not far behind in 4th was Rashford with 22. Pogba, Martial and Wan-Bissaka were all named in the PL Team of the Year.

Lazio proved to be easier opponents than Roma or Torino in our tour of Italy, as we beat them 4-1 on aggregate in the Eruopa Semi Finals. Our opponents in the Final were to be Arsenal, who had just won the Premier League. I would have prepared non-English opponents. Martial, who had scored 36 goals for me in all competitions, was ruled out with a knock the day before the Final. My worries disappeared though as the game commenced, it turned out to be one of our most convincing wins of the season. So the Europa League is my first trophy of my United tenure (well, if you don't include the EFL Trophy!).

We were top scorers in the Europa League (40 goals) which was pleasing as we often played a lot of youth. This focus was demonstrated when McTominay won EL Player of the Season.

[[FM20] Manchester United: Falling Giant...]

On 04/08/2020 at 16:23, KCHDD said:

Just curious, I am actually trying to do something similar with my united save with regards to the tactics (building around Bruno like the team does irl). How do you usually line up in a 4231 wide, or have you switched to another formation? Pondering over what roles Bruno and Pogba have to play, still split over 4123 and 4231 currently. By the way Gomes was fire in my save, scored a first half hat trick in my first Europa League game vs Ludogorets, sad we didn't tie him down in real life.

I have stuck with the 4-2-3-1 wide formation with a customised gegenpress style and it is going well. Fernandes plays AM (support) and Pogba is DLP (support), sitting behind him next to a BBM (support) - usually McTominay. Unfortunately Bruno was injured for two months so has only played in 24 out of a possible 45 games so far (I’m at the start of April) but he’s done well when he’s played and created a lot of chances for his teammates.

Gomes has been great for me in the Europa League. He’s had 14 starts in all competitions and 9 goals. Unfortunately he’s just got ruled out for 5 weeks, which likely ends his season given where we are in the calendar.

[[FM20] Manchester United: Falling Giant...]

6 hours ago, Smaldini said:

No idea why Juventus were so keen on selling Demiral for cheap, he wasn't transfer listed or unhappy,

@Smaldini I was also able to pick him up for a similar price (see my update above) and was equally baffled why they don’t want to hang onto him!

6 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

@Smaldini What formation you using? 

I was also wondering this. I’ve been considering signing another striker for the second season (with Haaland high on my list), like Smaldini has done with Milik, but as I play a 4-2-3-1 currently I worry how this will limit Greenwood, Rashford and Martial’s playing time.

[[FM20] Manchester United: Falling Giant...]

Season 2019-2020: Part 4

January Transfer Window

The board injected £40m into my otherwise empty transfer budget in advance of the January window. However, I had little intention to add to a squad that I thought was already a little bloated. In addition I am focusing on giving youth opportunities, so didn't want to make a large number of signings that will block pathways to the first team. The exception to this was if an opportunity arose that was too good to ignore. This happened when I saw Man City and Spurs bidding for Juve centre-back Merih Demiral for what looked like a bargain price of £20.5m. I matched their bids and was delighted when he chose us. He's 21 years old and rated a better player than Lindelof and Tuanzabe. I loaned out Phil Jones (would have preferred to sell, but no suitors) and tried to do the same with Bailly, but no interest.

I was extremely frustrated with Pereira who 'opted to stay' turning down three Chinese clubs who had each bid £27m for him. Eventually I sold him to Schalke for £21m. There was interest in Lingard, but not for a reasonable price. He will go in the summer. I wanted to loan Mexican prospect Macias out to get game time but he had unfortunately already played for two sides (us and Chivas). Luke Shaw expressed his unrest over his lack of playing time - I've been prioritising Brandon Williams - however I managed to stop that from escalating, for now.

Fred handed in a transfer request due to a lack of playing time. I'd have kept him around as an option but he was firmly at the bottom of the pecking order for his position, so I was comfortable letting him go. Unlike his Brazilian compatriot, he was happy to move to China and so joined Jiangsu for £19.75m (that should rise to £27m). To fill a short-term gap, providing cover and experience, I brought in Arturo Vidal on loan from Barca for the rest of the season.  Next summer Garner may well get the chance to join the squad, or I will turn to the transfer market for a longer-term solution.

I was disappointed to get the youth intake preview and learn that our next crop sound very underwhelming. Luckily there are already a great number of talents to develop. I have just given one such prospect, Hannibal Mejbri, his first pro contract.

Twenty Five Games Undefeated

The first match of 2020 was a classic Football Manager match; we had 35 shots, Norwich had 1 shot, the full time score? 1-1. Everything else went our way in January though. The fans were certainly happy as we won away at Anfield and won the Roses Derby comfortably in the FA Cup. I really did not expect to be beating Liverpool home and away in the League this early into my United career, having seen how dominant our rivals can be on other saves. I won the January Manager of the Month, and used this as leverage to get the board to offer me a two year contract extension which I duly signed.

We scored goals for fun in February - in fact we have scored four goals per game on average over the last seven games. The blip amongst the wins was a 3-3 draw with Sheff Utd - annoyingly we had been 2-0 up, pegged back to 2-2, took the lead again and then conceded in the 95th minute to draw. We beat Standard 9-2 on aggregate in the Europa League and go on to face Torino next time out.

After beating Newcastle 4-0 we went second in the table for the first time. We have City up next though, so things could change again. Arsenal are the surprise runaway leaders. Latest news is that Martial won the February PL Player of the Month and media speculation that PSG will bid for Pogba in the summer is building.

The final thing to mention is we are on course to achieve a niche objective of mine for the season; to with the EFL Trophy (Leasing.com). I have been making the younger players in the first team available for these matches, sometimes at the detriment of my own bench, as often the EFL Trophy fixtures have fallen the day before our first team has played. Experience against Football League sides can only help their development. We have beaten Man Citys U23s (2-1), Blacpool (5-0) and Burton (6-0) in the knockout rounds and will now face Peterborough in the Final at Wembley. Greenwood is the competitions top scorer, Bishop has the most clean sheets and Mejbri has the most key passes.

[[FM20] Manchester United: Falling Giant...]

Season 2019-2020: Part 3

When I last posted an update we were sitting in 7th place in the Premier League and Bruno Fernandes had just been ruled out for two months. It's fair to say business has picked up since then...

Bellingham filled in for Fernandes in our next game and scored the match winner, instantly putting me at ease that we have good alternatives in attacking midfield. This was coupled with Gomes grabbing a goal from the same position against PSV in the following game. Gomes took things to another level in our next Europa League game, bagging a haul of four goals against Getafe. Greenwood was the hero against Bournemouth, rescuing a point after we conceded in the 87th minute.

A 5-0 thrashing away at Watford in mid-December (including a McTominay brace) was particularly pleasing, however this was eclipsed in terms of enjoyment by our 3-0 win against City. This was achieved despite both Fernandes and Pogba being ruled out injured (Pogba was ruled out for 6 weeks just days before the game) and saw us leapfrog our local rivals into 4th place.

Out form was strong in a busy Christmas period. Sancho scored his third in four games against league leaders Arsenal on the last game of the calendar year, but frustratingly we drew after an own goal error from David De Gea. The point meant we ended the year in third, and Arsenal remained top of the table - with Liverpool sandwiched in between.

Europa League - Group Stage

We concluded the Europa League group stage with a 100% win record. This was particularly pleasing as I selected primarily a youth based side throughout, and on paper the group hadn't looked the easiest. McTominay, Chong and Gomes were the standout performers for us in these games. Somehow Bayern, Dortmund and Atletico all finished third in their respective Champions League groups, meaning they drop into the Europa for the knockout stages. This makes winning the tournament a tougher proposition for me. That said, we were lucky and drew Standard in the 1st Knockout Round. 

Year-End

Sancho ended 2019 on a high as he picked up both the European Golden Boy award and the Premier League Young Player of the Month for December. Pogba was named in the World Team of the Year and De Gea came second in the World Goalkeeper of the Year rankings.

I was also informed that in a year's time, due to Brexit, all EU players would require a work permit. As far as I can recall this is the most hassle of all the possible scenarios, so I was disappointed to discover this.

I'll follow up shortly with another post on how the season has continued, as I'm conscious of not making this update too long!

[[FM20] Manchester United: Falling Giant...]

Season 2019-2020: Part 2

Pre-season is all about building match fitness, squad togetherness, tactical awareness and team morale. In a busy period of games we scored more than four goals in seven out of eight pre-season fixtures, so I was certainly pleased with how things went. We carried our electric form into the start of the league campaign, thrashing both Sheffield United and Aston Villa. Martial got a hat-trick on the first day of the season and Rashford bagged a brace on matchday two. Fernandes was great in both fixtures.

What followed was a frustrating period of four draws. They came against decent sides, but I felt we deserved so much more from the period. Spurs parked the bus in classic Mourinho style. We had 29 shots, 15 of which were on target and 63% possession, but only drew 0-0. To add salt in the wound, Sancho got ruled out for two months with an injury incurred only four minutes into the game. Then we were 2-0 up against Everton, when we capitulated and conceded in the 89th and 95th minutes to draw.

The win against Getafe in the Europa League was a real highlight as I played a very young side and we won comfortably with Greenwood, Chong and Bellingham bagging the goals. Another young player, Macias, got his first goal - a late equaliser against Leicester.

A 7-1 trouncing of Norwich was very enjoyable, but even more pleasing was the 3-0 win against Liverpool that followed. Hometown hero Marcus Rashford stepped up when it mattered scoring a hat-trick against the Scousers. This win was made more impressive, I thought, due to the fact that I had to start Lingard and James as Martial and Sancho wer both out injured.

Although we'd had a few too many draws, I was very pleased we made it to late October without losing a match. Defeat finally came when we lost to Arsenal in a frustrating game in which we were the better side. I knew luck was not with us that day when David Luiz smashed in a world-class free kick. I played a younger side against City and we lost, exiting the Carabao Cup. Rashford won Premier League player of the month for October.At the point of writing this update we sit in 7th place, six points off 4th with a game in hand. I'm not disheartened as I knew this would take time with a very young squad. The defence needs reinforcements but that is a job for another transfer window as securing Sancho and Bellingham took precedence. A couple of our draws could easily have been wins, and that would have seen us into the top four. Plenty of season still to play.

Update: I'm gutted to report that Fernandes has just been ruled out for two months with torn ankle ligaments. On the bright side, this creates opportunities for the likes of Bellingham and Gomes.

[[FM20] Manchester United: Falling Giant...]

Season 2019-2020: Part 1

After spending much longer than expected on an EFL save managing Bolton, I've finally got round to starting my annual United save. Generally I like to wheel and deal at whichever club I manage, but I'm going to try to be a bit more hesitant in the transfer window with this career as I'd like to give our many talented youth prospects the opportunity to develop. Here is how I've got on so far...

Backroom Enhancements

I believe a quality Head of Youth Development is essential, therefore I was delighted to secure my first choice for this position Bernhard Peters. Some managers don't see value in having a Director of Football but I sometimes like to utilise the 'suggest transfer targets' function to get fresh ideas - I hired ex-Barcelona and Milan Director Ariedo Braida. I cleared out most of the coaches, including Carrick who sadly just isn't good enough, and brought in a raft of replacements including Miguel D'Agostino and Danny McGrain. I was surprised to find that the standard of goalkeeping coach was poor across all levels, so I brought in six new goalkeeping coaches.

Tactical Intentions

I intend to play a 4-2-3-1 (wide) formation, with a secondary but similar 4-5-1 formation familiarised in case of the need to be more defensive. The desire to play Bruno Fernandes in a central attacking midfield position was a major influence when deciding on a tactic. Pogba would play deeper, hopefully building up a strong relationship with Bruno. Pogba had expressed an interest in leaving early into my tenure, however our private discussion went well and he has been settled thus far since.

Player Recruitment

My two primary transfer targets when commencing this save were Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham. Right wing is for me probably the biggest weakness in the squad and Sancho is a quality player with great potential who I wanted to secure before my rivals. Bellingham, on the other hand is a prestigious talent who I want the opportunity to develop. With a budget of £50m I decided to try something new and ask the board to handle signing for Sancho. To my delight they got the job done, securing him for £90m. I had a deal for Bellingham agreed, but that fell through when my budget was depleted to £0. I sold experienced players Mata (to Wolves) and Matic (to Leicester) for a combined £25.5m. This allowed me to renegotiate with Birmingham and complete a £22m deal.

I offered out Periera and Lingard as I would prefer to give Greenwood, Chong and Gomes opportunities, however the bids I received were below my valuations of the pair, so I elected to keep them, for now. I pulled off what I believe to be somewhat of a masterstroke though, recalling Marcos Rojo from his loan and then selling him to Guangzhou Evergrande for £16.5m. My final deal of the window was for Mexican wonderkid striker José Juan Macias for £16.5m from Chivas. The only downside was I had to pay him £80k per week wages in order to secure his work permit.

I tried to sign 17 year old Anderlecht winger Jeremy Doku during the transfer window, however his club wanted a deal totaling around £15m and we just didn't have the money so had to step away. After the window had closed Doku became unsettled and handed in a transfer request. I was frankly shocked to see him listed for £1.3m so I swooped up and signed him. He joins in January.

Youth Focus

One of my first order of business was to renew the contracts of Tahith Chong, Aidan Barlow and Angel Gomes (if only we could have done this in real life...). I asked the board for a feeder club and selected Derby from the options presented due to their excellent training facilities and the chance for my players to play alongside Rooney. I sent Garner and Laird there and I am really hoping they get a lot of game time. I intend to give some of the younger players opportunities in the Europa League, where we have drawn PSV, Getafe and AIK.