TheGoodRebel

The Libero would normally push into the DM zone and the DM would move across to form a 2 in that area. However, my understanding is that the match engine will only allow a maximum of three players to form part of a zone when they rotate positions. Since you've already got 2 IWBs who will join your DM I am not sure if the Libero will still push into this zone. You should watch a match in full and pause the game when your team are in possession to see what positions they take when you have the ball.

SEASON: 2026-2027 Before the January transfer window closed we brought in a new defender to replace Jarrad Branthwaite; LORENZO PIROLA - CENTRAL DEFENDER Lorenzo was signed for £34m from Salernitana. He is another left-footed central defender so will compete with Buongiorno for that spot. That concluded our transfer business for the season. How would we fare in the competitions? EFL CUP A definite low point of the season as we lost at home to Stockport in the 3rd Round. FA CUP Thrashed Leeds in Round 3 but then lost narrowly to Bournemouth in Round 4 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE I feel we had more potential than we showed here. Our home record was exceptional in the Premier League but awful in Europe. We, somehow, made it through the League Phase before getting dumped out in the Play Off Round by Benfica. PREMIER LEAGUE Back to back Top 4 finishes but this time we finished 3rd. Just 9 points to bridge to top spot. We need to turn some of those draws into wins next season and we might have a chance of winning the league. THE PLAYERS Nelson Weiper and Evan Ferguson both among the goals again. Weiper has decided he wants to leave though because we couldn't agree terms on a new contract. Hopefully I can change his mind and tie him down to a new deal before the new season. We need some more firepower in the wide attacking positions so this is an area I will be looking to strengthen in the summer. I don't think I'll be turning Sancho's loan into a permanent move though We have already decided to move on a couple of players before the end of the season. Miranda has been unfortunate because he suffered a few injuries last season and Doig took over him in the pecking order. Adingra doesn't possess the quality we need to get to where we want to be so he has been let go also. I have a couple of promising youngsters who might be promoted to the first team squad for next season.

Your transfer policy intrigues me. You’ve let some big important players go. What’s the thinking behind it?

IVÁN FRESNEDA - RIGHT BACK Iván was available and he's a big upgrade on Patterson. He cost £50m but he is only 21 and has bags of potential. Should be our nailed on first choice right back for many years to come. We have made it until January and things are going ok as far as the league is concerned. We've lost a couple of silly games but we're in with a title shot. Hopefully Manchester United will drop some points soon. However, there was some player unrest. Amadou Onana was unhappy with his game time and a bid was received from Atlético. We decided to let him go so as not to disrupt the harmony of the squad. Jarrad Branthwaite's contract was due to expire at the end of the season so we let him go instead of losing him for nothing. We have a transfer budget of £167m so we will look at bringing in some new faces to make us stronger for the run in until the end of the season.

SEASON: 2026-2027 We ended up getting off to a decent start - much better than I expected at least. Before the transfer window closed we made some signings. IVAN BAJIĆ - GOALKEEPER Ivan was brought in for the future. We immediately loaned him back to Čukarički for the rest of the season. HEITOR - RIGHT BACK As our full backs were in demand with Saudi clubs we brought Heitor in on the cheap as a potential replacement. If we end up not needing him we can always sell him on later for a profit. JOSH DOIG - LEFT BACK Likewise with Josh. However, I actually think he's better than the two at the club, and it didn't cost much because he had a release clause. It makes selling one of either Miranda or Mykolenko an easier decision.

SEASON: 2026-2027 The new season is drawing closer and we had a transfer budget of £25m to work with - not much for a club in the Champions League. A couple of our players wanted to leave but there had been no bids for either so we were having to be frugal in the transfer market. Therefore we only made one signing during close season. JADON SANCHO - WINGER In comes Jadon Sancho on a season long loan from Manchester United. We have the option to buy him for £33m at the end of the loan - but let's see how it turns out. However, it wasn't long before the Saudi clubs decided to raid us; That's a very tidy profit on Jonathan David. Signed on a free, one average season later and then sold for £62m. We'd also made tidy profits on Adli, who didn't even play a match for us, and Mukiele. Nathan Patterson is also attracting interest from the Saudis but no bids have come in yet. Abdoulaye Doucouré has Ieft on a free transfer. However, I now have a transfer budget of £152m and desperately need a new right back. Pre season is over though so we don't have much time to bed one in. I'm also beginning to think Football Manager doesn't like me after seeing my start to the new season; Despite that brutal opening set of fixtures we are looking forward to the new season and hopefully we can make our mark in the Champions League.

PREMIER LEAGUE We made a good start to the season, had a bit of a lull around the middle, but finished strongly to secure 4th place and Champions League qualification for next season. I am pleased with the volume of goals we scored, the most in the league, but still need to sort that defence out if we're going to mount any challenge for the title. THE PLAYERS Overall some very strong performances. Nelson Weiper actually outscored Evan Ferguson. Although, in fairness, Weiper played in a lot of Conference League games and most of his goals came there. Juan Miranda managed 10 goals and 10 assists from left back. However, he is our set piece taker. A few players have expressed a wish to leave this summer so expect to see the likes of Jarrad Branthwaite, Abdoulaye Doucouré and Vitaliy Mikolenko going. I'm not 100% convinced with Jonathan David. There is Saudi interest in him so he will be on his way if a suitable offer comes in. All in all though I am very happy with how the season went and can't wait to have a crack at Europe's elite next season!

SEASON: 2025-2026 TRANSFERS Before the summer transfer window closed we added another striker to our ranks in the form of Nelson Weiper for just £5.25m. The young German striker would provide an excellent alternative to Evan Ferguson. Then during the January transfer window we brought in two more players to the club; LEOPOLD QUERFELD - CENTRAL DEFENDER We actually wanted to sign Leopold in the summer transfer window, but he moved to Real Madrid. However, he didn't get the game time he was promised and wanted to leave. We signed him for £16.25m JOAN GARCÍA - GOALKEEPER A few of my players were unhappy with the squad depth in the goalkeeping department - so Joan was brought in for £2.5m from Espanyol to boost the numbers. Would the new signings help us achieve something this season? EFL CUP Man Utd beat us 3-1 in the 3rd Round. FA CUP We made it through to the semi-final against Norwich and we fancied our chances of making the final. However, we just didn't turn up on the day and got beaten comfortably. UEFA EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE An early set back against Lyon, but we bounced back and eased our way through to the final where we would face Napoli. We went 2-0 up and despite Napoli pulling a late goal back we were always in control of the game and it was a lot more comfortable than the result suggests. We had finally won our first trophy at Everton!

Finally, we completed our transfer business before the season beginning by signing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Leicester for £36m. He will be our new mezzala. I'm looking forward to the new season and there will probably be another couple of new faces arriving before deadline day, but we're ready. Although I'm not too keen on the start to the season.

Conor Gallagher arrived from Chelsea. I am very happy to have gotten him. He will be our main box to box midfielder. Taylor Harwood-Bellis from Manchester City who be one of our right sided centre backs. We then decided to spend some of that £150m we had sitting in the bank; Simon Adingra arrived from Brighton for £7.25m. We needed some more cover out wide and Simon fitted the profile of player we were looking for. Then we smashed our transfer record to bring in our new centre forward. Evan Ferguson joins us, also from Brighton, for an initial £47.5m rising to potentially £57m with add ons.

SEASON: 2025-2026 Despite our capitulation last season we HAVE got European football coming to our new Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium in the shape of the Europa Conference League. Not the competition we were hoping to be in but we will definitely give it our all this season. I was unhappy with a few players at the end of the last season so I have gone about reshaping the squad ahead of the new season. TRANSFERS OUT The first thing we decided was that we didn't want to retain the services of Politano and Castrovilli. They were shipped off to Sheffield United and Fulham respectively. Then we received a couple of offers from Saudi Arabia and we decided to cash in; Trincão and Beto left for a combined £98m which meant we had a total transfer kitty over £150m. However, we wanted to see who we could pick up on the cheap firstly. TRANSFERS IN First through the door was Yacine Adli from Milan for just £1.8m. He has been brought in for some much needed squad depth in midfield. After him came an influx of players who all arrived on free transfers. Tommy Doyle was the first one to arrive from Man City. Another midfield player to provide squad depth. Jonathan David is a versatile, quick forward. We will look to utilise him on the left hand inside forward position primarily.

Probably - he's on borrowed time now that's for sure! Thank you - nice to have you along for the ride

We just completely fell apart in the second half of the season. Pickford just seemed to be letting everything in. If you'd have said at the start of the season I'd finish 8th after 16th in the first season I'd have been happy. But to be challenging for the title and just completely fall away is hard to take.

SEASON: 2024-2025 At the half way stage of the season we were mounting an unlikely title challenge. Could we push all the way until the end? TRANSFERS We decided to bring in Nikola Milenković on loan from Manchester City to boost our defence for the run in. However.... PREMIER LEAGUE I had the worst 2nd half of the season I've ever had. Our form just fell off a cliff; Not only did we miss out on Champions League football, we missed out on European football altogether - a total disaster! FA CUP We got past York and Crystal Palace before Arsenal taught us a lesson at The Emirates. EFL CUP We beat Chesterfield and Leyton Orient but couldn't take our chances against West Ham, who beat us on penalties in Round 4. PLAYERS A few players will be moved on during the summer. Politano, Trincão and Castrovilli haven't worked out, Beto wants to leave and I won't be following up the permanent signing of Samuel Lino. Hopefully I can get Zaïre-Emery on another loan as well as sign a top quality goalkeeper and central defender. Not the end of the season I was expecting so my plans for next season will have to change dramatically!

What a rise this has been! Great job! Just had a binge read now. Honestly don’t know how you get Vertical Tiki-Taka to work so well. Whenever I try I do ok for a couple of games but then start getting pumped and can’t find the back of the net.