MatthewS17

I know the hype and everyone is going for Bellingham, but anyone had any experience or seen any transfer that pries Saka out of Arsenal? Won't spend more than 100m on anyone, but I'd make an exception for him.

I basically got very lucky. I scored 4 goals off 0.83 xG(Maguire with two headed in from a corner), while they scored 1 from an xG of 2.82. And it was a penalty at that. It was a defensive 4-2-3-1, with 2 DMs, lower defensive line, lower engagement, to compact the space for them to play through, balanced mentality, direct passing at highest tempo. Hold Shape when ball is lost, but counter in possession. I kept play out from the back, because I thought it would help prevent long balling. I don't remember pressing, but it wasn't maxed. Rashford left, Garnacho right and Hojlund upfront had pace to burn which helped in both games. My 1-0 was off a counter, scored by Rashford. Got battered in everything but the scoreline too. It's not recommendable, because the defending in the ME doesn't really work properly, so sitting deep is never effective, other than through luck, but honestly, going at them makes even less sense than being battered by them, so I went with this. Second season, I'll have a go at them though.

So, just got done with my first season. Transfers disabled, so no incomings. We still feel a bit strong in-game, so I decided to play a more defensive style, starting with a 4-2-3-1 with two DMs who just shielded the defense. Focusing on absolutely parking the bus against big teams and ceding possession against most of the teams, while trying to catch them on the counter. It probably was more effective than I planned, as we beat City 4-1 with a 0.83 xG(Their first loss of the season), and in general seemed to hit teams too hard and fast for them to do anything. We conceded a few, but nothing too crazy and only two teams managed more than two against us(Real Madrid and Liverpool). I largely thought I was battling for third or fourth place, with us battling Liverpool who couldn't stop drawing games, while Arsenal were 6 points ahead battling it out with City. While we then clicked into gear, Arsenal then lost 3 of their last 6, falling to pieces at the end(as expected) and a comprehensive victory over Liverpool in the last game secured us second place in what was probably a really good run. Bruno(17), Rashford(21) and Hojlund(16) all managing a really good goal count which contributed to our 100 goal tally. Getting Madrid in the Round of 16 was unlucky and we just couldn't match them at home, but we somehow motored our way to an FA Cup win. The 1-0 against City was a game I should never have one, but it was a treat to steal the match from City(Again!) In terms of transfers, I made one out and one in. Unfortunately, I had it with Varane earlier in the season who cost us a game with a terrible mistake then had repeated mishaps in the coming games. I had enough and used the Saudi interest to send him off for a handy 60m. Could have got more, but thought maybe that would be a bit unrealistic. Since we were playing a deeper defensive line, Maguire was pretty handy and popped in with a few goals from set pieces as well. On the other side, Martial did not feature at all, and I needed a backup, so Toney came in as his ban was up for a pricey but necessary 43 mil. Not really got going yet, but I'm sure he'll be handy. Onto the new season, and with Van De Beek, Martial and Sancho all not featuring in a single game for me, I have done my best to get rid. So far, we've been rid of: Van De Beek: 12m Hannibal: 15m Martial: 0(Completing removing his wage was worth) Sancho: Loan, but with mandatory 60m purchase Heaton: Retired Evans: Free I still plan to get rid of Dalot, as he never feature much for me either. The freed wages getting Sancho, Martial and Van De Beek out is so much more refreshing to see. Despite interesting in their services from Saudi clubs, I decided that I wanted to keep Bruno and Casemiro(despite poor performances), as it would be too much to fix in one window. Bruno is also part of the core players that I will never sell until they've past it. I'll probably give him a contract to lock that down soon. Bruno, Martinez and Shaw make up that core. On the In side, I probably did more than I wanted, but this United side is in disarray. It's still a solid window, but I usually draw a line at 4 first team players max. So far we've brought in: Alex McCarthy: Free(Replacement for Heaton) Michael Kayode: 32m(Too cheap to ignore, and won every U21 award in Italy, looks a great prospect. Also, hence selling Dalot) Ousmane Diomande: 53m(Wasn't my first choice, but getting him below the release clause looked great business) Valentin Barco: 8.5m(Signed him because he actually looks a top quality midfielder if he could be a little less one-footed) Ismael Bennacer: 43m(Was chasing Calhanoglu and Lobotka all season, but 80m was too much for them. Bennacer is more mobile and can allow my midfield to be more dynamic. A good buffer till Mainoo develops) Michael Olise: 35m(Release clause, replacement for Sancho. Form at Palace was worrying but will give him a go. Don't think Diallo can make it). Still need a replacement for an ageing Casemiro, but that can wait another season. Still maintaining a solid net spend of under 150m, so I'm pretty happy with that. I got a lot of players at what I think are bargains for their quality and for good wage values(For now). Freeing up an entire 1m in wages between 4 players as well showed how ridiculously overpaid our squad was in the first place as well. All in all, a really good start, the squad looks more balanced, and I'm looking forward to giving City a greater run this season. We'll also play more on the front foot now that my midfield is temporarily complete.

Essentially, it seems the belief that FM players would be such imbeciles, they wouldn't notice the J-League would have licensing issues, and they could just gloss over it without even so much as a single announcement that this would not be the case(FM players must be too busy fawning over the new facepaint to notice). Despite the fact that this was advertised as a "major feature", which now appears to be blatant misleading and borders on false advertising. If the licensing hadn't been sorted beforehand, it should not have been announced as a feature. There seems to be a very real precedent of apathy when it comes to bugfixes and issues, and a consistent pattern of not delivering on the 'features' that are promised. This has been the case over a couple years now. It's incredibly disappointing.

Seems like I'm going to be joining you guys again for this one. Only after the Beta, though, so all the unhappiness and squad issues are ironed out. Will also be my first time playing us without licensing, which is, eh. It's been a while, given I've been sitting on FM22 all this time. It's interesting to see what you guys are doing with the squad and what your ideas are. We look a convoluted mess in terms of team building. I don't know about some of you, but reflecting my real life opinions on players is something I like to do. And our current squad is a bit iffy to me. Even players I quite like, such as Bruno, Martinez and Rashford, I find myself questioning their long term viability in a team that wants to be the very best. Case has lost his marbles quite a bit, Antony is very meh and so on. So far, the only locked in players I'm looking at to stay are Dalot(not priority) and Hojlund. Maybe Shaw. I'll see when I start playing, but I'm probably gonna completely refresh the squad. Establish a home grown contingent , keep the at least 1 academy player in the team every game(amazingly, we've managed this since forever), and build a team from the ground up. Obviously, gonna be a little harder since my go-to in Rice is gone to Arsenal and the likes of Maddison in the opposite direction. As for Greenwood, well that's what the delete button is for. I'm not bothered to deal with that headache. Good luck to all. Hopefully we can give ourselves a little bit of that feeling of our old successes.