FM14: West Ham United - Come on you Irons!

[bubunabu]

Welcome to official team guide for West Ham United for FM 2014.As this being my first time doing a team guide please have patience and with your suggestions we can make it even better.

Why Hammers?

Well Hammers are a club on the rise.With chairman who is willing to spend money,a decent squad of players to gradually improve and prepare the team to conquer Premier league after they move to Olympic stadium in 2016.Also for people who likes to develop own players Hammers Academy of Football will get you a gem or two every year.

SQUAD

As i said Hammers have pretty decent squad to start with but here is a bit more detailed look into it.

GOALKEPPERS:

Jussi Jaaskelainen

Stephen Henderson

Adrian

Although not that bad section of the team but after first season you should look for your new number 1.Jussi is good but at the age of 38 is close to calling it a day while the other two are solid reserve keepers but nowhere near Premier league standards.

DEFENSE:

Winston Reid

James Tomkins

George McCartney

Razvan Rat

Guy Demel

Matthew Taylor

James Collins

Joey O'Brien

Here is when it gets a bit tricky.Reid and Tomkins should be your no brainer choice for central pairing in defense and Rat should operate down on left side of defense.McCartney is not a good player and on big wage so you should try and sell him which is quite a task.You should give a good run of games on left side of defense to Danny Potts who can provide a decent cover for Rat.

On right side you have Demel and O'Brien which is really bad when you have to place them against the quick and technical gifted wingers of Premier league so a new RB is a must.

MIDFIELD:

Mohammed Diame

Mark Noble

Matt Jarvis

Joe Cole

Kevin Nolan

Stewart Downing

Alou Diarra

Ravel Morrision

Ricardo Vaz Te

The best part of the team where no immediate spending is needed.Diame and Noble do there best in centre of the pitch while Nolan its best playing a little bit ahead of them.On the wings you have old style wingers in Jarvis and Downing who can run up and down the pitch and provide crosses for striker.Joe Cole can provide creative spark of the bench so can Ravel Morrison who is still difficult to develop because of his low mental stats (if he continues the same way we should expect improvement in January data update).

IMPORTANT:At the beggining of the game Diame still has 3,5 million release clause which you should take care of as soon as possible.

ATTACK:

Andy Carroll

Modibo Maiga

Mladen Petric

If Carroll could stay healthy they you have a good,although not spectacular striker for years to come.But as he is more likely to go down more often then hooker in Amsterdam finding a new attack force is on top of your priorities.In real life you can go with Carlton Cole or if you dont wanna spend big try looking for loan players.Guidetti from Man City looks a good option.

CONCLUSION:

Not bad but not spectacular.As I manager you should not rush it.Build gradually look for unhappy players and snatch them at knock down prices.A top concern in the beginning should be a new RB after that you are set for season really.

TACTICS

Squad is build for the way Fat Sam plays so its best to go in same direction in the beggining.With all team healthy (sadly it happens more rarely then Gazza declines a drink) you first 11 should look something like this:

GK: Jussi (no brainer there)

DL: Razvan Rat (i have him on attack option set as Wing Back)

DC: Reid

DC: Tomkins

DR: O'Brien (full back on support duty)

DMC: Diame (BWM on support duty)

DMC: Noble (Regista with right individual orders he really excels there)

ML: Jarvis (again nothing fancy here, standard wide midfielder on support duty)

MR: Downing (read above)

AMC: Nolan (he operates a bit infront of central pairing as shadow striker)

TM: Carroll (look for him to get a header before defender and to try to supply the ball to Nolan)

As for team instruction you should go along something like this:

Short passing

Float crossing

Exploit the flanks

Hassle opponents

Be more disciplined

I am not really a good tactician so input here would be greatly appreciated.

Training grounds and stuff

Boleyn Ground its a a little bit over 35.000 all seater stadium which provides a good fan base as well as solid gate receipts for home matches.Things are going to change as soon as 2016 when team moves to new Olympic stadium (capacity of 54.000) which will boast team revenue because of its bigger capacity.

The board is happy to develop youth facilites so you should take full advantage of it.

Looking at coaches its another story.Most of them are utter rubish so you should replace them with no ones as soon as possible.My suggestion would be: Pert and Winsper for fitness,Mark Chamberlein for techique,Kevin Hitchcock for GK.More info will be provided when i play a game a bit more.Also you should be aware of other club interest for Jimmy Hampson who is one of the best scouts in game so be sure to tigh him down with a new contract.

ACADEMY OF FOOTBALL

Well sadly to say the Academy has lost a bit of its magic in the last few years and there are few players that made such impact in recent years in Premier football.The best young players are Potts,Chambers and Elliot Lee but nowhere near the likes of Ferdinand,Defoe or Johnson to name a few.

But with good scouts and good scouting network you should be able to lure new youngster in the club and develop them good.Also intake of youth players usually produces a gem or two.

LAST WORDS:

As stated before Hammers are club on the rise.The key is to continue with patience and when dealing on transfer market you should be patient.Wait for unhappy players and snatch them at knock down prices.Scout the world and get ahead with signing good regens and then develop them.With a squad at your disposal you could aim for a finish around tenth place and maybe try to make an impact in one of the cups.Have fun and COYI!

[bubunabu]

Reserved for recomended signins (players and stuff)

So after playing a while there are few things worth pointing out.

Transfer budget:

Non existent in the beggining so you will have to rely on free transfers and try to sell few high earners.Alou Diarra,George McCartney,Matty Taylor are first on the list that have to go.If you are succesful you save over 100.000 pound on weekly wages which is huge.Maybe you will have to pay some of their wages but they are injury prone players so its worth taking a risk.So my dealing were:

Alou Diarra was out for Mohamed Sissoko (free)

George McCartney was released

Matty Taylor although useful player was on 25.000 a week thats a bit to much.I sold him to Derby and got Buttner on loan without paying his wages.

Next up was selling Guy Demel to France and buying George Seitaridis on free transfers.Both are right back but Demel is rubbish at crossing which is vital for the way i play with Hammers.

Jordan Spence...Although i am quite fond of this player clubs from Champhionship are interested in him so take advantage in that.And if you are quick enough you can go after Rosenborg gem Stefan Stranderbg who is an absolute steal at 300.000 pounds.

The beggining takes a lot of wheeling and dealing on transfer market and looking to get rid of few high-earners and replace them with cheaper and better players.After first season things should get better because there are few players running out of their contracts (Cole,Rat,Petric)

As of youth players in the team there is noone that can be considered a top Premier league prospect.Danny Potts is the only one which can be useful in the future.

Becouse Andy Carroll starts injured for 5 months you will need other strikers asap.Try to loan someone or if you managed to get a bit of money try to go after Aleksander Mitrovic from Anderlecht.I managed to get him for 1,8 upfront raising up to 6.5 million with add-ons.Its quite big investment for an 18 year old players but i think it will be worthwile.First game against Swansea he scored hat-trick for easy 4-0 win.

Although not vital in the beginning finding a new GK should be high on your bucket list as i Hammers manager.Try to go after Alex McCarthy.Here he is at the start of the game:

and after 7 seasons (computer developed so there is a room to improve if managed correctly)

So few general guides for transfer market:

- try to sell high-earners

- replace them with useful free transfer players on short-term contracts

- if you cant buy then LOAN players

Coaches:

Utter rubbish.Change everyone leave only Tony Carr.Thats how bad they are.As i am playing with only English league loaded so my player count is only 15.000 i dont have much stuff to look for.But few general recomendations that works every time would be.

Paul Winsper,Martyn Pert (fitnness coaches, over 4,5 stars)

Mark Chamberlein (technique coach)

Kevin Hitchock (GK coach, 5 stars)

David Lowe (under 21 Manager)

Mick Hansall (under 18 Manager)

[bubunabu]

Reserved for tactics masters input

[bubunabu]

Reserved for people who would like to show succes with Hammers

[SRL88]

Nice OP .

[benffffffffffff]

COYI Nice work OP

[MichaelBrown]

Nice thread!

[bubunabu]

A bit dissapointed that nobody plays with Hammers.

Well here is my update after restarting it: will probably continue with this save when full game is released.

So first of all transfers update:

OUT:

Demel (Nantes)

Taylor (Nott Forrest)

Spence (Derby)

O'Brien (Norwich)

Nolan (probably a suprise but he is on 50k week wages,31 years old and 3 more years on his contract.Crystal Palace paid 4 millions+his wages)

Collision (need the money to improve elsewhere)

Jarvis (when you see his replacement you will know why)

Diarra (again,high earner, injury prone)

McCartney (released)

Henderson (released,high wages for third string GK)

IN:

Strandberg (a Rosenborg gem known from FM13)

Lowton (3,4 million from Villa seems like a steal)

Towsend (4,2 from Spurs, another steal)

Seitaridis (backup RB)

Mohamed Sissoko (replacement for Diarra)

Anderson (on loan from Man UTD)

A striker remains a top priority for january transfer window becouse Maiga and Petric are highly injury prone players.Carroll is not yet fit.

Tactics wise.Well i am learning here but looks like i am finally settling for formation and approach.

GK-DL-DC-DC-CWB-CM(D)-DYP(S)-WM(A)-WM(A)-AP(A)-AF

best eleven: Jussi-Rat-Tomkins-Strandberg-Lowton-Diame-Noble-Downing-Townsend-Anderson-Petric

control-rigid-short passing-work ball into box-drop deeper-hassle opponets-exploit wing-more disciplined

in the future i am looking to apply a bit more attacking approach;something like this

GK-WB-CD-CD-WB-BWM-REGISTA-WINGER(S)-AP(A)-INF(A)-AF

will probably try it this season agains worse teams.

Results wise its quite good so far: Played against all of top teams (most of them away) and after 11 games i am sitting on 8 place.Had few heart breaking results (losing against Chelsea in 95 minute from Hazard free kick) and also one good game against Man UTD (at Upton Park i got battered but Jussi played a game of his life,allowing one goal,saved van Persie penalty in 87 minute,and Rat scoring in 92 minute for a 1:1 draw.Totally undeserved: shoots on goal were something like 3 against 22) The highlight was probaby 3:1 victory agains WBA away and 3:1 against Fulham at home.Drawing 2:2 against (overrated) Southampton away,after trailing quickly 2:0 was also nice.

[benffffffffffff]

Just about to start a hammers save and appreciate the ground work you've put in. Should give me a bit of a head start.

[MrSundlofer]

Good work with the OP

Clean and simple.

[Woodmansee]

Up the hammers! First chance playing today, West Ham obvious first choice. Wish me luck, I need it.

[burnum]

I just got the game today and will start either with West Ham or Liverpool. Still looking for some good tactics.

[Sunwell]

How is the transfer budget after first season, till zero?

[drevil1969]

Sunwell, that was one of my gripes with fm13, the money the two davids have invested into West Ham, we have spent 20 million every summer and 10 million in january.

[jimbob1000]

I am about to start a West Ham save.

Just had to quit my previous Hammers game, as i was going to play a 4-1-3-2 with no wingers, but to do so would have meant selling Jarvis to fund a couple of necessary signing's, but zero offers(even at a reduced price).

I am now going to play a 4-4-2 instead.

[jimbob1000]

I am about to start a West Ham save.

Just had to quit my previous Hammers game, as i was going to play a 4-1-3-2 with no wingers, but to do so would have meant selling Jarvis to fund a couple of necessary signing's, but zero offers(even at a reduced price).

I am now going to play a 4-4-2 instead.

[pedromanuelpinto]

I'm trying to implement a 3-6-1 in the first season of West Ham, but having dificults.

My tactic:

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/370779-Implementing-a-3-6-1-in-England

I will put my transfers later.

[camstar]

Are they scheduled to move into the Olympic Stadium in the game?

[bubunabu]

Yes they are.Moving in 2016.

[DaggerPaul]

Trying out the demo with the Hammers at the moment.

Transfer wise couldn't do a lot Diarra (£550k) and Henderson (£825k) were the only players I was able to part company with, just as well as the only player brought in was Samba Diakite on loan from QPR.

Tried the formation bubunabu said but have noticed that it leaves a massive hole in central midfield, so have moved Diame into the centre of the park still playing as ball winner. Mixed results so far:-

WBA (h) 1-1 Downing late equaliser

Man Utd (a) 2-3 tried Big Sam's no striker formation and went 3-0 down in 20 minutes, reverted to 4-1-3-1-1 and pulled 2 back.

MK Dons (a) 3-1 straight forward win in the Capital One Cup.

Norwich (h) 3-1

Swansea (a) 0-1 struggled badly for possesion despite attempting to play possesion football, Noble missed a penalty as well.

Cardiff (h) 1-0 better possesion frustrated in front of goal though, Tomkins headed late winner from a corner.

Arsenal (a) 1-3 rested a few for the Capital One Cup before the upcoming league game with Arsenal, A spirited defeat.

Arsenal (a) 4-0 terrible first half we were just chasing shaddows which showed with Arsenal having 66% possesion and 3-0 up at half time.

How are others getting on and any ideas, formations to share?

[bubunabu]

Yeah the suggested tactic was not really good.After a while i settled for quite standard 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 with quite regular player roles.But i got really upset while I finished first season on 11th place i did not get any transfer budget whatsoever (2 million and 60k wage doesnt do the trick in PL).I hope in future update Ravel gets a bit of bump in mental department because ATM is untrainable.Reject all the tutors and doesnt develop at all.

[DaggerPaul]

Maybe they got Ravel's attitude spot on!

In real life he seems to have knuckled down and it'll be interesting to see how handles the pressure long term!!

What passing do you use for the team and individuals?

[bubunabu]

In the end i settled with 4-4-1-1 formation with quite simple settings.When Carroll is fit i usually play him as TM on support and behind him Kevin Nolan.Using classic wingers (run down the byline,crossing aim to target man).In midfield Noble and Diame.Trying to keep it simple and looking to frustrate opponets and hoping for one goal along the way.Pretty much the way Fat Sam plays but due to awful marking problems (ME issue) its quite hard sometimes.The problem is when Carrol is injured because no one else can play TM well.In that case I switch to 4-4-2.So buying an extra attacker is a must because a lot of players are injury prone.

Other frustrating thing is lack of money VS board expectations.After first season they wanted top half finish and provided only 2 millions pounds.In general you are in survival mode until the move to new stadium.But I dont know if then money becomes any better cos you have to pay for usage of stadium.

Its quite difficult for Hammers in this years game.At least its spot on with how the real season is going.

[DaggerPaul]

Bubunabu,

Sorry mate a few questions, what team/player instructions are you using? What role do you have Nolan playing in your 4-4-1-1? Finally what side are you playing Jarvis in the 4-4-2 or do you play Joe Cole on the right?

I'm still playing the demo and want to get a system in order before I purchase the full game, but nothing seems to be working. I've tried studying the squad and playing to its strengths like Jarvis playing as a left sided IF on support, thus allowing Rat to play as an overlapping WB, Downing or Joe Cole as a right sided winger on attack with O'Brien as a supporting FB, Nolan as a shadow striker. I have a good pre-season but when the season starts the team can't struggle. The last two half seasons I've played have seen me in 18th position both times by the end of the demo.

[Mark Gary hansen]

Do west ham move to stradford in fm14, which should create more money, bigger players attracted etc,

[Rob4590]

Started a game with West Ham - doing nicely so far - 5 league games into the season and top of the league with 4 wins and a draw - beat Man City 3-0 at home on the opening day and drew 1-1 with Arsenal (along with wins over Villa, Hull and Stoke). Into round 4 of the League Cup - beat SOuthampton on penalties after a 3-3 draw.

Playing 4-2-3-1 fluid / counter

GK - Jussi - GK(D)

DR - Reveillere (bought on a free) - FB(S)

DL - Rat - FB (A)

DC - Reid - DC(Stopper)

DC - Tomkins / Collins - DC(D)

MC - Diame / Annan (on loan with option to buy for £300k) - BWM(D)

MC - Noble - DLP(S)

AMR/L - any of Cole / Downing / Jarvis - play as W(A) if on the same side as their 'foot' or as IF(A) if on opposite

AMC - Nolan - SS(A)

FC - Crouch currently (bought for £700k) - TM(A)

Football is generally not that pretty to watch, but Noble has been awesome so far - player of the month for August with ave rating of about 8.4.

Have had lots of injuries (mostly to strikers plus Diame) and just waiting for it all to fall apart.....

[DaggerPaul]

What team instructions are you using?

Having another go on the demo to try to get things right. Having real problems signing anybody despite the board bringing in Damian Comolli as DoF, pre-season went very well got a couple of injurys in Joe Cole, Mark Noble and Petric, the start of the season was a complete disaster as can see below.

With the tactic I am using More Direct Passing, Drop Deeper, Hassel Opponents and Higher Tempo as Team Instructions. Player Instructions are WBl/FBR - Mark Tighter, DCR & MCR - Pass Shorter.

In the Chesterfield and Swansea games I went behind in both, but once in the lead i changed the Team Instructions to Shorter Passing, Retain Possesion, Play Narrower, Lower Tempo. I also changed the keepers instructions to Pass Shorter and Distribute To Defender.

[Rob4590]

My tactic had a higher line, hassle more, tight marking, pass into space, exploit the wings, early crosses, floated crosses.

However - after my previous post, it all went a bit pear-shaped - and I started experimenting with other tactics and mentalities etc.

Tried dropping the SC down to AMC alongside Nolan making a 4-2-4-0 - which worked fairly well for easier home games.

Still had LOTS of problems with a big gap between the 2 MCs and the DCs, which led to diagonal through balls to their IFs running inside my FBs (who refused to push up level with the DCs)

After various further experiments, I've now gone (from mid Dec to Jan in game) to a 4-1-2-2-1 which definitely gives far better looking football - much better link ups between all the players. Lying 6th with 38 points after 22 games, just 6 points off top.

Still fluid, but using attacking or control for easy games, standard or counter for aways and harder ones. Trying to play out of defence, no early crosses now (although I am about to add that back into the FBs personal instructions), pass into space, hard tackling, pressing more.

Gk still distribute to defenders (Henderson has now taken over comfortably from Jussi), the DR/L are now WB - either one or both defensive (as I read somewhere that that actually plays very similar to FB(s)) or 1 attacking.

DC - simply DC(D) *2

DM is a DM(D)

MC's are generally B2B(S) and AP(A) (DIame and Noble respectively)

AMR is usually W(A) (Jarvis)

AML is IF(S) - Rat is the fullback that is attacking behind him

SC - can't get him right - have been trying Crouch and Carroll as TM, both support and attack, but thye just don't get in the game at all except for getting on the end of crosses.

Still 'overachieving' according to the game though....

Main trouble right now is trying to actually get anyone new in - no budget and the board won't give me any more.

Given the new setup, I am trying to shift Morrison and Nolan on, but no takers so far, which is annoying as I had a deal completed with Manuel Fernandez to come in June but couldn't complete due to lack of funds to pay his agent!

[jimbob1000]

I've hit on a great 4-1-2-2-1 tactic.

With the initial transfer window closed, i finished 7th in my first season, it could have been better but at one point i had Jaaska, Tomkins, Reid, Noble, Diame, Jarvis and Downing out all at the same time.

Season 2 and i was sat 2nd until a horrible run of losses and draws threatened our season, we eventually started winning again and look like we will finish 5th.

[DaggerPaul]

Well, I've discovered that Ravel Morrison's attitude is poor in FM 2014. Joe Cole didn't want to tutor him as he didn't like him, whereas Kevin Nolan was happy to tutor but Morrison didn't want to work closely with him.

[bubunabu]

Can you provide SS so we can see how did you set up.

And yes, Ravel reject everyone you offer to tutor him. That is because he has low professionalism attribute.

[Rob4590]

Can you provide SS so we can see how did you set up.

Was that to me? If so - I will try later on.

And yes, Ravel reject everyone you offer to tutor him. That is because he has low professionalism attribute.

Yeah he is a right pain in the ****! Earned himself a nice transfer out at the end of the season.

One match to go now - lying 8th, behind Everton on goal difference and 2 points behind Spurs. Unfortunately got Liverpool in final match.....

[DaggerPaul]

I've finally bought FM14 out right and haven't made to bad a start. As you'll all know lack of funds have been a problem so I've added to the coaching staff and the board has brought Damien Comolli in to find my some gems to push us on. Before Comolli arrived at the club I brought in a couple of players myself Anthony Reveillere (RB) on a free and Alexander Buttner (LB) on a season long loan. Comolli added centre back Nemanja Pejicinovic (£1.9m OGC Nice) to bolster the centre of my defence. Injuries have been a problem with near enough all of the regular starting 11 out at some stage.

After a bit of tinkering around I've settled for a 4-5-1 with keep possesion, fast tempo and play offside as the team instructions.

Results have been pretty decent up to half way, but a slump in form at xmas (coming down with the decorations) see me drop from 4th to 8th.

[Gandy]

I didn't see this page and accidentally created my own Hammers thread, sorry. I'm more than happy to give you the coding if you want to use any of it ..

[Gandy]

Have just started my third season with the Hammers. Brought in Benteke for £9,000,000, Luke Shaw for £18,000,000 and got rid of Andy Carroll to PSG for £14,000,000 + clauses.

[Rob4590]

Have just started my third season with the Hammers. Brought in Benteke for £9,000,000, Luke Shaw for £18,000,000 and got rid of Andy Carroll to PSG for £14,000,000 + clauses.

Nice amount for Carroll - as you will see in my next post, I only got £4m for him at the end of season 1.

[Gandy]

Nice amount for Carroll - as you will see in my next post, I only got £4m for him at the end of season 1.

I find it amazing that he only played 16 games, scored 9 (mostly off the bench) and still gathered interest. I basically swapped him for Benteke and John Ruddy, with money to spare.

[Rob4590]

So an update on my game, nearly midway through season 2.

As I noted in my last update, I was 8th going into the last game of season 1. Playing Liverpool, I got my 2-0 victory (despite, as I did in both games against them, only having about 27% possession but restricting them to purely longshots). Unfortunately both Spurs and Everton also won, so remained 8th - only consolation was that West Brom beat Man Utd in the FA Cup which meant 7th didn't get into Europe anyway!

Then went on a wholescale 'changing of the guard' - Carroll (utterly useless - NO goals in 15 appearances) was sold for £4m to Cardiff, along with Joe Cole for £250k. McCartney, Taylor, Demel and around 20 useless youths went either for free or very cheaply. Winston Reid was sold to Stuttgart for £3.4m (not the greatest deal for me, but I'd refused a few bids and he was starting to get annoyed!)

Picked up a couple of relative bargains in Falque (from Spurs) and Brahimi for £900k and £1.7m respectively, along with John Ruddy for £3m as GK to replace Jaskalainen and Adrian (who went to Barcelona to replace Valdes!) and then (as Gandy knows) I splashed out on Juan Fernando Quintero from Porto for £16.5m, as, having read the 'how to play Messi' thread in the Tactics Forum, I decided a wanted to go down that route long term and he looks perfect - with the minor hiccup that he is only an AMC currently (already retraining though to FC). Picked up a 4.5* newgen winger from my youth intake and brought in around 8/9 other 4-5* prospects to round out the youth squad. I can't remember whether I mentioned in my previous post that I had bought Valentino Lazaro from Salzburg early in the first season, and he has improved a lot and is close to challenging for a spot at either AMC or MC.

Three other experienced free transfers came in as well - Anthony Annan made his loan move permanent at DMC, Manuel Fernandes came in at MC and Rever at DC (although he is a stroppy bugger and is already (in Nov) wanting to leave because I had the cheek to not start him a few times)

Having decided to buy Quintero, I wanted to redesign my tactics to accomodate him. Initially I downloaded a 3-6-1, but although it saw some nice touches going forward, it wasn't particularly secure at the back, so I started reading more and more in-depth tactics threads from Cleon, lam, Tokyoblade etc and decided that I was going to use a hybrid of their tactics with emphasis on Quintero as a TQ.

So I started from scratch after 3 games of the season and am now playing a nice counter attacking 4-1-2-3-0 - in other words the normal 4-1-2-2-1 but with the SC withdrawn to AMC, playing as a TQ.

This has lead me to an 8 game unbeaten run including wins v Arsenal 1-0 (where I had 3 CCC's and 5 half chances in the first half) and Man City (1-0 away) and just today a 4-1 away win v Everton.

Trying to think about my tactics more now rather than relying on a 'plus and play' approach - those tough games were, despite giving up a lot of possession, very easy to watch as they simply didn't create many good chances against me - at least with their 4-2-3-1 formations. They all went 4-4-2 to try and get back into the game, which caused a few more issues at the end (so further thought needed to combat that!)

The team is mostly still the same as the first season:

GK: Ruddy - playing as GK(D)

DR: Reveillere - FB(A or S)

DL: Rat - WB(A or S)

DC: Tomkins (who was recently capped by England - and cost me a wage hike due to his new contract!), Collins and Spence (with Rever throwing the toys out, the 2 'lesser' guys are getting a lot of games and doing well - so why would I drop them?) - both as DC(D)

DMC: Diame or Annan - DM(D or S)

MC - Noble - DLP(S)

MC - Fernandes, Collison or Nolan - AP(A) or CM(A) - was initially Fernandes as AP, but wasn't really doing much, so changed the last 3 games to Collison as CM(A) and although he has not got great ratings, the performance has been excellent - getting on the end of a lot of through balls, but just not putting the chances away

AMR - Downing - IF(A or S)

AML - Jarvis - IF(A or S) - these two guys have been my main goal scorers, supplied by......

AMC - Quintero - TQ(A)

Quintero is bringing so much to the side as a supplier - if defences give him any time on the ball, he destroys them with delicate little through balls. Still need to work on his strength though, as he does get knocked off the ball by some of the big DCs!

So really apart from Ruddy and Quintero, I have no different a side to season 1 - but I'm now lying 2nd in the league on goal difference! Tactics DO matter (along with common sense in applying them!) And unlike last season, I don't feel it is down (as much:p) to luck!

[Rob4590]

I find it amazing that he only played 16 games, scored 9 (mostly off the bench) and still gathered interest. I basically swapped him for Benteke and John Ruddy, with money to spare.

Well that's 9 more goals than he got for me. And as you can see above - I got Ruddy too!

[Gandy]

Well that's 9 more goals than he got for me. And as you can see above - I got Ruddy too!

I'm in my third season, he's currently my backup to Valdes. I really can't be bothered doing a proper update, though I probably should.

[DaggerPaul]

As my previous post mentioned after a promising start to my first season I hit a barren spell at christmas that lasted until the end of March where I went on to lose 12 out of 14 league games. That horrendous run saw me right down there in a relegation battle, so I thought a change in tactics would be needed. Being desperate for a proven tactic and hoping it would work straight away I downloaded a 4-3-3/4-5-1 fromk the steam store. My gamble worked with the tactic giving me a decent end to the season and achieving the season 'mid-table finish' aim in 11th position. The much maligned Andy Carroll finished top scorer with 9 goals in 18 games despite missing half the season.

I'm now about to start season 2 and stick with the tactic that gave me some success result wise at the end of the first season.

After reading that a lot of people have been given nothing to spend by the board at the start of their second season I was pleasantly surprised to be given £10million, not a lot i know but I'd already committed myself to signing free transfers or loans. So far I have seen James Collins depart to QPR for £250k, Mladen Petric to Sochaux for £50k and Stewart Downing on a season long loan to QPR. I have been trying to offload Joey O'Brien but no-one is intersted even for free. Players coming in are Luca Antonelli (LB) from Genoa for free, Stefano Celozzi (DR) from Frankfurt for free, Omar Elabdellaoui (AMR) from Braunschweig for £1.1million and Vaclav Kadlec from Frankfurt for £4.4million. Francis Coquelin was on the verge from joining from Arsenal but an injury in pre season has blocked the transfer, so I will look to take Jonathan dos Santos on loan from barcelona until January. I'm also looking for a ball playing centre back on season long loan then make move to activate Eric Dier's release fee in the summer.

Looking at my squad this the line up I have in mind.

Gk. (Swp) - Henderson - Adrian

DR. (CWB) - Reveillere - Celozzi

DL. (CWB) - Antonelli - Rat

DC. (BPD© - Tomkins

DC. (CD(S) - Pejcinovic - Reid

DM. (DM) - Diame - Diarra

MC. (AP(S) - Noble

MC. (AP(A) - Collison - Nolan

AMR. (W(A) - Jarvis - Elabdellaoui

AML. (IF(A) - Morrison - J.Cole

ST. (F9) - Carroll - Kadlec - C.Cole

Despite Ravel Morrison being a AMC he did well playing as my IF(L) at the end of the first season, so I'm gonna train him to play that position permanently. Mark Noble will be my on pitch captain with Kevin Nolan remaining as club captain.

[Gandy]

[sNIP]

As my previous post mentioned after a promising start to my first season I hit a barren spell at christmas that lasted until the end of March where I went on to lose 12 out of 14 league games. That horrendous run saw me right down there in a relegation battle, so I thought a change in tactics would be needed. Being desperate for a proven tactic and hoping it would work straight away I downloaded a 4-3-3/4-5-1 fromk the steam store. My gamble worked with the tactic giving me a decent end to the season and achieving the season 'mid-table finish' aim in 11th position. The much maligned Andy Carroll finished top scorer with 9 goals in 18 games despite missing half the season.

I'm now about to start season 2 and stick with the tactic that gave me some success result wise at the end of the first season.

After reading that a lot of people have been given nothing to spend by the board at the start of their second season I was pleasantly surprised to be given £10million, not a lot i know but I'd already committed myself to signing free transfers or loans. So far I have seen James Collins depart to QPR for £250k, Mladen Petric to Sochaux for £50k and Stewart Downing on a season long loan to QPR. I have been trying to offload Joey O'Brien but no-one is intersted even for free. Players coming in are Luca Antonelli (LB) from Genoa for free, Stefano Celozzi (DR) from Frankfurt for free, Omar Elabdellaoui (AMR) from Braunschweig for £1.1million and Vaclav Kadlec from Frankfurt for £4.4million. Francis Coquelin was on the verge from joining from Arsenal but an injury in pre season has blocked the transfer, so I will look to take Jonathan dos Santos on loan from barcelona until January. I'm also looking for a ball playing centre back on season long loan then make move to activate Eric Dier's release fee in the summer.

Looking at my squad this the line up I have in mind.

Gk. (Swp) - Henderson - Adrian

DR. (CWB) - Reveillere - Celozzi

DL. (CWB) - Antonelli - Rat

DC. (BPD© - Tomkins

DC. (CD(S) - Pejcinovic - Reid

DM. (DM) - Diame - Diarra

MC. (AP(S) - Noble

MC. (AP(A) - Collison - Nolan

AMR. (W(A) - Jarvis - Elabdellaoui

AML. (IF(A) - Morrison - J.Cole

ST. (F9) - Carroll - Kadlec - C.Cole

Despite Ravel Morrison being a AMC he did well playing as my IF(L) at the end of the first season, so I'm gonna train him to play that position permanently. Mark Noble will be my on pitch captain with Kevin Nolan remaining as club captain.

That's really unfortunate that you lost 12 out of 14 games at the end of March. Have you managed to get Carroll firing, as he only got a handful of goals for me before shipping him off to PSG.

[Gandy]

.. also, I need some advice on how to play Benteke. He has been almost non-existent in my side since joining, and he's had ample opportunity to blend with my squad ..

[DaggerPaul]

That's really unfortunate that you lost 12 out of 14 games at the end of March. Have you managed to get Carroll firing, as he only got a handful of goals for me before shipping him off to PSG.

In FM12 & 13 I read that Andy Carroll couldn't score for toffee, but seeing as he is primarily a target man I would think 10-12 goals a season is what he'll score. For most he would probably work best with a poacher or advanced forward alongside him. However he did well for me when he returned to fitness playing as a False Nine and scored 9 in 18 games with 5 in the last 6 when I changed my tactics.

I'm about to start my second season so the test to see if Carroll can keep his form up starts now, I've also signed Vaclav Kadlec so Carroll is no longer guranteed a starting position.

[Hurricanez]

Was so hard to offload those big wages idiots, but managed to do it. Wage budget is around 30m now.

[Gandy]

Was so hard to offload those big wages idiots, but managed to do it. Wage budget is around 30m now.

The wages we pay to average players is actually disgusting. Carroll isn't worth 70k a week, Downing isn't worth half of 50k a week and Diarra isn't worth whatever he was on.

[JamboLad]

Ive just started a West Hame game... first season clearly going to be about getting players playing well then moving them on as they are on silly money!!!

[Gandy]

Ive just started a West Hame game... first season clearly going to be about getting players playing well then moving them on as they are on silly money!!!

Good luck mate, be sure to keep us posted. I'll be running regular updates from the start of next season.

[Rob4590]

It's funny how players perform so differently in different saves - Downing for me in the 2nd season has been absolutely on fire as an IF in the AMR position - about 12 goals in 14 games he's played - so well worth his £50k/wk. Carroll - definitely not. Joe Cole - probably not, along with McCartney, Diarra, O'Brien, Vaz Te, Morrison (sorry Gandy)

Jarvis is another one who looks very average (attribute wise) - but does what I want him to (probably due to his 18 acceleration getting him away from his marker easily)

Collins and Reid have been good for me, while Tomkins, Noble and Rat are awesome and Spence has been performing very well in season 2 as well.

Still can't quite work out Diame, while Collison varies between good and frustrating (gets into some great goalscoring positions but scores rarely!) Nolan is also not worth the money for me.

[Gandy]

Morrison is a God. Not so great for me this season, but propelled me to a top 4 finish last season

edit: I quickly checked up on Andy Carroll at PSG, the little sod has eight in fourteen.