FM15: Aston Villa F.C. - Building around Benteke!

[heartandgroin]

I bloody give up with this game I really do! I'm all for having a game where you can't rely on a single tactic to get you through the season, winning X,Y & Z! But to lose 6 games on the spin, when you dominate all but one of them games, is not fun! I'm taking a break from this before I explode.

Sitting just off the bottom 3, with the likes of Alli, Dockal, Grealish and Mitrovic all losing faith in my management! I fear the writing is on the wall....

[smplfc123]

Ah the feeling I experienced with the first 6 attempts I had with Villa

[heartandgroin]

Sacked! After the rugby (and a few beers), I decided to load up to see if my fortunes would change.

2 fixtures later I was given the boot by Graham Taylor, with Paul Lambert as favorite to take over?!? Lost 2-1 away to Palace, then drew 0-0 at home to Newcastle!

The question is this - do I go again? That was my second save after my son deleted my first one. Love this thread, and being a Villa fan, my heart is never quite in it when managing another team. Am I talking myself into it? lol

[smplfc123]

Well i'm on my 6th attempt and I'm not even a Villa fan.

I've loaded games up with about 8 different teams, but keep crawling back to Villa.

Only once I've managed a whole season and with Villa and I was let go in the summer. I'm determined to give myself the opportunity to get another summer with this club!

[heartandgroin]

Well i'm on my 6th attempt and I'm not even a Villa fan.

I've loaded games up with about 8 different teams, but keep crawling back to Villa.

Only once I've managed a whole season and with Villa and I was let go in the summer. I'm determined to give myself the opportunity to get another summer with this club!

I'm in! I just can't leave this thread and you guys! I don't even know what to do different this time. Might try a tactic from this site and see how it goes.

[Sunstrikuuu]

I picked up the Aston Villa tycoon save that's posted on these very forums. It's quite an interesting save as the sale was finalized in November 2014 with Villa in 19th place.

Villa have quite a wad of wonga to work with, of course; they've got a brand-new tycoon. The bad news is that money can't play central defense, and at the start of the save Ron Vlaar has been sold (along with Fabian Delph). Compounding your problems are that both Nathan Baker and Jores Okore are injured, leaving you with a makeshift center of Senderos and Alan Hutton. Jonathan Walters has joined from Stoke to give you more reinforcements from the wing. Piotr Trochowski has also joined to play essentially the same position.

Since I've taken over - it's now early January - I've indulged in some money porn, buying Ruben Nevez, Balanta, Lucas Romero, Ajer and one or two others. I usually start in lower leagues so it'll be interesting to play with some wonderkids who aren't regens. I'm still looking out for an AMC and some new fullbacks. Wingbacks are always a big part of my tactics and Villa's just aren't quite good enough. I'm also finding the central midfield without Delph to be extremely lightweight and a bit weak before the January spending spree. Spending has been a bit handicapped due to my place in the relegation zone.

Interestingly, N'Zogbia has been by far my best player from early November through Jan 5. I started playing a 4-4-2, moved to a 4-1-4-1 and am now playing a diamond; N'Zogbia has played nearly every match either on the left or as a Trequartista and has been extremely good. 7+ rating over two months.

Squad January 5

Results through January 5 have been pretty damn bad. The highlights are the draw against a United side that actually spent money on defenders too, and not really a lot else.

Transfer History. Moves made before January weren't made by me

[Wyer]

Villa might be awful but they were on the last version.

The thing was with a good tactic Villa could be done to a top 6 finish in the 1st season, the tactic I made last year done just that.

Problem is, with every tactic I try & there has been a few, the game just comes across as bloody unplayable to me.

Think this could well be the last time I buy game.

I'm getting too old to invest so much time in failing saves.

I want to be able to pick up a tactic & build my team around it. Just like we have been able to do over the years.

[Spike]

Have been developing it since last season.. think it's pretty balanced now. Tried it with fluid but wasn't as good. Also I think the team is now good enough to go into most games with attacking mentality except the really tough ones.

Any chance you can post your Team Instructions so i can compare them with mine & see what you're doing differently.

Thanks

[andrewfx]

Villa save is so hard this year . Was doing great last season sitting 8th for the majority, and then about February we just started shipping goals left right and centre. Finished 13th after all that, and this year it's so hard to sign players. £6M budget but I can only offer top players around 40K. Big challenge.

[karanhsingh]

Any chance you can post your Team Instructions so i can compare them with mine & see what you're doing differently.

Thanks

this is the base

Here's what I change though..

1. if playing a defensive minded team change to play wider

2. if playing a poacher like Ings change to low crosses rather than whipped

3. if playing a team with slow defenders I turn on run at defence

4. if one full back is particularly weak we focus down that flank

5. if we struggle for possession we change to more direct passing (esp. with someone like Benteke/ Mitrovic up front who is strong)

6. also if getting pressed & want to play more on the counter, I will switch on clear to flanks and switch off play out of defence

[karanhsingh]

Tempting but I think I will stay at Villa until I win us the League title

By the way, just wrapped up the season

Finished 3rd in the league, and lost the FA Cup final 0-1 to Chelsea in extra time, another annoying set piece goal

[Spike]

this is the base

Here's what I change though..

1. if playing a defensive minded team change to play wider

2. if playing a poacher like Ings change to low crosses rather than whipped

3. if playing a team with slow defenders I turn on run at defence

4. if one full back is particularly weak we focus down that flank

5. if we struggle for possession we change to more direct passing (esp. with someone like Benteke/ Mitrovic up front who is strong)

6. also if getting pressed & want to play more on the counter, I will switch on clear to flanks and switch off play out of defence

Thanks

[Sunstrikuuu]

Currently in a relegation 6-pointer. I'm in 19th on 16 points. Swansea are 17th on 20. In the first half, I went down 1-0 to a Wayne Routledge twisting half-volley from the edge of the D. Which wasn't fun.

That man N'Zogbia again.

In the first half, I had 35% possession.

I started with a 4-3-1-2. Richardson as a CWB, Senderos and Balanta in the center and Hutton as a FBs. In the midfield, Romero and Cleverley flanked Carlos Sanchez as CMs, CMd and RPM. N'Zogbia starts as a Trequartista behind Benteke's CFa and Agbonlahor's AF. That, to put it mildly, didn't work. At half time, I pulled off Agbonlahor and Hutton, replacing them with Piotr Trochowski and Leandro Bacuna.

This was the new formation, save with Bacuna in for Hutton.

More or less it worked. The second half went much more smoothly.

I like the 4-3-1-2, but there are three problems. First, I really want a DM. Sanchez and Nevez are both significantly better at DM than CM, I think, even defensively-minded ones, and the DM seems to help against long shots from the center of the park, which has been my weakest point thus far. Pulling that central midfielder back seems to compress the other two, though, and I need them to be a bit more widely spaced during defensive phases. Anyone have any ideas?

Second, Hutton just isn't good enough to be on his own. Even as a FBs, he offers almost nothing without a creative player ahead of him. I'm thinking about just putting Bacuna in there, relying on his pace to make up for mistakes and tilting my midfield defensively that direction. That's about all I can do until Lawton returns from injury, I think. (Except that, as I recall, it's still January and I have a tycoon owner. So I don't need to wait for Lawton.)

Third and probably most importantly, I can't get anything out of Agbonlahor. He's been pretty bad in most games and I can't figure out how to unlock his pace. I've tried him as a poacher, as an AF and even as a Ramadeur. Just doesn't seem like it's working out, and trying to get the best out of him seems to be forcing Benteke away from his best positions. Any thoughts?

[Sunstrikuuu]

After winning my last league game against fellow strugglers Swansea, I went out of the League Cup against Brentford 2-0. They were the superior team the entire game. I had one shot on target, and a total of three. Just awful stuff. Next is a match against Everton. Everton are level on points with Swansea at 20. I've moved to 19; that's 'good' enough for 18th in league, above QPR on goal difference. A win and I could conceivably end up as high as 14th. Since my last game I've signed Gino Peruzzi to be the long-term right back, but I've not really made much progress ironing out the tactical issues. Against Everton's 4-4-1-1, I've decided to go back to the 4-1-2-3 I used at the start of the save.

The hope is that Neves will handle Naismith and any midfielders trying to push forward, Romero will be able to effectively contribute defensively and in attack and the advanced wide players will pin back Everton's dangerous fullbacks. I want Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman defending, not swinging in crosses. I'm torn between the BBM/CM combination and a DLPs/CMa. I'll see how I look defensively, and if it gets gnarly I'll try to get Romero more involved defensively and push Cleverley forward. Changing to a 4-2-3-1 with two DMs is also a possibility; I'll use Romero as a DLPs with Cleverley in some sort of stationary playmaking role. Grealish as an APa I'm unsure about as well. I may change him to a Winger with a support duty and instructions to man-mark the opposing fullback. N'Zogbia starts because he's freakin' undroppable for me with an average rating of 8.00 in his last 5, and six goals and seven assists in 14 starts.

An absolute travesty of a goal early in the first half; a throw-in deep in my half sees Brian Oviedo completely unmarked on the side of the penalty area. He has literally all day to pick out Romelu Lukaku with a cross, and Lukaku heads in at the near post despite being marked by four (4) players. Despite the goal, I've had more shots, more posession, higher pass%, more tackles won and more aerial challenges won. They've had one CCC and taken it; I've had three half-chances at half. I'm feeling more-or-less good about things, though I'm really, really laboring to create anything other than corners. They're packing the middle of the pitch, so I'm going to change Grealish to Ws, Romero to RGA and Cleverley to AMa, go 4-2-3-1 and see if I can open up some more space. Peruzzi's had a few very good crossing opportunities, but Everton have had so many bodies in the box it's been tough to make anything of them.

As the second half opens, Kieran Richardson smacks a free kick off the underside of the bar and then somehow it's cleared. Cleverley gets injured around 60 minutes, and I bring Agbonlahor on, against my better judgement. I've still not created a chance. Andi Weimann replaces N'Zogbia ten minutes later. In the 82nd minute, Leon Osman is totally unmarked on the edge of the penalty area and scores a first-time screamer into the top corner where have I seen this before oh right in nearly every single game I've played.

Pretty sure the game is gone now. I cannot figure out how to get my forwards to do anything other than be useless. Benteke has put one shot on target, Agbonlahor zero.

[Sunstrikuuu]

So Agbonlahor just got beaten for pace by Per Mertesacker. How the hell do I get him to go fast?

[heartandgroin]

Nice to see some new people in the thread - welcome.

Mystery regarding Gabby Sunnstrikuuu - perhaps it was his condition at the time? Could have had a small knock and was trying to play through it. Who knows when FM is concerned.

[Sunstrikuuu]

I'm currently trying him as a trequartista in front of Benteke/Weimann as a CFs. Hopefully he'll be able to find some vertical spaces to accelerate into that way. 26 games in and still 19th in the table. That loss to Everton was really damaging, as was a 0-0 with Sunderland; both results when I was by far the better side.1

[Welshace]

Sunstrikuuu... If you need Gabby to find space on the right wing for instance, you may want to try something like this like i'm doing with my leeds side...

Rayos or whoever I put on the right wing is almost given free reign to bomb up the wing or cut in when needed due to Sharp and co dragging the defence away..

Something to think about..

[Sunstrikuuu]

Definitely, and I'll try that. Ultimately I'll replace him soon. I'm not a villa fan in life, I've got alot more money than everyone else in the thread, I think, and Gabby isn't as cerebral as I'd want alongside Benteke.

[Sunstrikuuu]

I do really like the idea of moving the lone striker to the other side though

[Sunstrikuuu]

So I've more or less scrapped the 4-1-2-3 and 4-3-1-2 formations I'd been using in favor of a 4-2-3-1 DM and a 4-1-3-2. I've gotten two good performances in a row now out of Agbonlahor; once on the wing where he forced Gary Cahill into an OG in a 2-2 draw with Chelsea and once up front as a trequartista when he knocked home a rebound from a Benteke miss in a really important 1-2 over Leicester. The strikers and attacking play in general isn't quite where I want it to be, but N'Zogbia continues to shine. I've moved him about a bit as I've searched for a working formation. He's currently splitting time as a Trequartista and as a CMa. Using him as a CMa is new, but so far it's gone well and that his three fellow midfielders are all very strong defensively helps cover his deficiencies in tackling, work rate and positioning. 23 appearances so far with seven goals and eight assists. 8.3 rating against Chelsea and 8.4 against Leicester with a 7.44 over the course of the season. Easily one of my key players right now, even if I do plan to replace him in the summer.

Edit: Two more games and we startin' to figure it out, boys. Up to 15th after a 2-0 over Hull (Benteke brace with an assist from N'Zogbiaaaaaa) and now 1-0 up against last-place Burnley. Benteke scored in the 9th minute after a neat little pass from N'Zogbia, this time playing just in front of Benteke. This is a good thing because Andre Villas-Boas is openly campaigning for my job - stupid beardy-faced crouching ***** - and the board is making kissy faces at him. I'm only 5 points off 9th and if I can finish in mid-table that'll hopefully be enough to not get fired. N'Zoginho is doing his best to keep me in a job, it must be said; against Burnley he's had another 8.5 with an assist and a goal. Shoulda been two assists and a won penalty but both Andi Weimann and the referee screwed up.

[karanhsingh]

I'm at the beginning of the summer, and I'm at one of those points in the game where I just do not know who to sell / buy.

The team did magnificently well to finish 3rd in the league. We have a squad of good players, but not quite world class. But since almost everyone played well & had a good season, I don't really know who to replace! The only real downside the entire season was when Mitrovic was injured and Ings off-form.

Here's my squad - let me know your thoughts!

GK - Guzan (Steer)

DR - Trippier (Lowton)

DL - Cresswell (Richardson)

DC - Stones (Vlaar)

DC - Okore (Clark)

DM - Sanchez (Herd)

MC - Gudelj, Westwood (Ajer)

MCa - Alli (Gudelj)

AMR - Grealish (Agbonlahor)

AML - Morrison (Roberts)

SC - Mitrovic (Ings)

[Sunstrikuuu]

Six match unbeaten streak ended in style; completely tonked by United. 5-0 at half, 7-1 total. The tactics were wrong, the performances were terrible. I conceded a stupid near-post corner in the first minute and it was downhill from there. Januzaj had 4. The forwards couldn't retain possession for toffee, the midfielders couldn't pass, everything was bad. Over the summer, in addition to Falcao, Di Maria and their other moves, United bought Mattia De Sciglio, Sasha Horvath, Nagatomo Yuto and Mateo Musacchio. They're insanely, incredibly scary. It's definitely an argument for playing with first-window budgets disabled.

[karanhsingh]

Six match unbeaten streak ended in style; completely tonked by United. 5-0 at half, 7-1 total. The tactics were wrong, the performances were terrible. I conceded a stupid near-post corner in the first minute and it was downhill from there. Januzaj had 4. The forwards couldn't retain possession for toffee, the midfielders couldn't pass, everything was bad. Over the summer, in addition to Falcao, Di Maria and their other moves, United bought Mattia De Sciglio, Sasha Horvath, Nagatomo Yuto and Mateo Musacchio. They're insanely, incredibly scary. It's definitely an argument for playing with first-window budgets disabled.

United are really good, scary good in the game. RVP is definitely overrated I think.

How are you doing in the league, does it look like you'll survive? Is the transfer window now shut?

[heartandgroin]

I'm at the beginning of the summer, and I'm at one of those points in the game where I just do not know who to sell / buy.

The team did magnificently well to finish 3rd in the league. We have a squad of good players, but not quite world class. But since almost everyone played well & had a good season, I don't really know who to replace! The only real downside the entire season was when Mitrovic was injured and Ings off-form.

Here's my squad - let me know your thoughts!

GK - Guzan (Steer)

DR - Trippier (Lowton)

DL - Cresswell (Richardson)

DC - Stones (Vlaar)

DC - Okore (Clark)

DM - Sanchez (Herd)

MC - Gudelj, Westwood (Ajer)

MCa - Alli (Gudelj)

AMR - Grealish (Agbonlahor)

AML - Morrison (Roberts)

SC - Mitrovic (Ings)

This was your third season is that right mate? I would perhaps look at a world class Gk and DM. Maybe ship Gabby out and find a good enough understudy for Grealish. I think you will have to focus on strength in depth now.

[avillafan.com]

Havent been on here in a while - Havent loaded FM up in a while haha!

Last time i played I suffered back to back 4-1 defeats against Man United and Leyton Orient (YES LEYTON BLOODY ORIENT) and top of that my next four games are Man City, Everton, Liverpool and Arsenal. Combine that heartbreak and a trip to Turf Moor the weekend I havent had to much spare time on my hands.

Loaded back up and I will let you know how i progress with my new owner who doesn't want to give me the money he promised me!!

[avillafan.com]

I'm at the beginning of the summer, and I'm at one of those points in the game where I just do not know who to sell / buy.

The team did magnificently well to finish 3rd in the league. We have a squad of good players, but not quite world class. But since almost everyone played well & had a good season, I don't really know who to replace! The only real downside the entire season was when Mitrovic was injured and Ings off-form.

Here's my squad - let me know your thoughts!

GK - Guzan (Steer)

DR - Trippier (Lowton)

DL - Cresswell (Richardson)

DC - Stones (Vlaar)

DC - Okore (Clark)

DM - Sanchez (Herd)

MC - Gudelj, Westwood (Ajer)

MCa - Alli (Gudelj)

AMR - Grealish (Agbonlahor)

AML - Morrison (Roberts)

SC - Mitrovic (Ings)

Looking at your squad the full backs, back up DM and AMR are the areas I would be looking at.

Being in the champions league are your full backs good enough for that level? Sanchez is a beast for me and no doubt is for yourself but a better backup or even someone to step up for Sanchez could be an area to look at. And then Gabby - being a Villa fan i know hes **** - but hes our **** - hes one of our own and someone i hope sees his career out at the Villa but hes on about 50k a week - a lot for a back up dont you think?

[Vanikain]

The year the thread is on fire is the year I dont do a Villa save :/ May need to try and start one up again to go along with my main save.

[avillafan.com]

Decided to give Benteke a new contract as he is just unsettling the side.

Luckily got him to sign a 40k a week deal but the downside is the 20.5m min fee clause that was greyed out so i couldn't do anything with.

[Sunstrikuuu]

United are really good, scary good in the game. RVP is definitely overrated I think.

How are you doing in the league, does it look like you'll survive? Is the transfer window now shut?

I don't really think any of their forwards are overrated per se; I think they gain tactical fluidity faster than they have in real life, so their early results were much better. United are 3 points behind Chelsea in my game. I also think that having first-window budgets enabled has allowed them to spend absurd amounts of money. In RL, this summer they spent roughly £145 million. In game, they also bought Nagatomo for £11m, Musacchio for £13m and De Sciglio for £23m, bringing them up to nearly two hundred million pounds. That's crazy. Arsenal are also big beneficiaries though they haven't spent their money as wisely, bringing in Insigne, Nkoulou, Florenzi and Nicolas Gaitan.

I'll definitely survive. It was a struggle for a long time, but I'm in early May now. Since January 31, I've only lost twice - 0-2 at home to City and 1-8 away to United. I've drawn with WBA and Sunderland away and with Chelsea at home. Other than that it's been a nice steady string of wins with 2-0 over Arsenal and 4-0 over Tottenham as the highlights. I'm two games from the end of the season so I'll post a roundup soon.

[avillafan.com]

Without doubt my best result so far.

I finished my first season with 44 points and i currently have 42 points with 11 games to go. I did go on a awful run last season though so I am hoping I can prevent that from happening this time round.

[Spike]

The year the thread is on fire is the year I dont do a Villa save :/ May need to try and start one up again to go along with my main save.

What are you waiting for?

[Sunstrikuuu]

Right.

So the 2014/15 season ended not with a bang but with a whimper. Went down at Anfield 3-0 and had a tame, boring 0-0 with Crystal Palace at home. In the end, Aston Villa finished in 12th on 47 points.

Liverpool won the league despite having the third-best goal difference. There was a clear gap between the top three and everyone else with Liverpool triumphant on 85 points, Chelsea behind on 83 and United on 81, despite the second-best attack and best defense. City took the last CL place on 71 points and Arsenal finished out of the top five for the first time in forever on 65. As an Arsenal fan the silver lining is that Tottenham also finished on 65 points and will not have European football because 8th place Newcastle won the Cup double behind t'rrific new striker Facundo Ferreyra and t'riffic manager 'arry Redknapp and his t'riffic attitude.

While Aston Villa failed to beat their arch-rivals in either league game, Villa fans can take comfort in knowing that they're staying up and West Brom are goin' down in 19th, along with QPR and Burnley. West Ham finished just outside the drop zone with 35 points. Leicester were the best-placed of the newly promoted sides, ending up five points below us in 14th.

Had we won the game against Everton we dominated and lost 2-0, we'd have finished in the top half despite being 19th as late as January 31.

Barcelona were involved in both of the season's most expensive transfers (at least, the ones that didn't happen in real life). Chelsea bought Rafinha for £25.5m, and Tottenham sold Jan Vertongen for £24m. Mattia De Sciglio, Nicolas Gaitan, Sami Khedira, Andriy Yarmolenko, Seydou Doumbia, Andre Ayew, Lorenzo Insigne and Jose Antonio Reyes also moved to the Premier League. At the end of the season, City will be sending Alvaro Negredo to Valencia for £20m.

Eden Hazard won English Footballer of the Year with a 7.75 rating and 17 assists in 37 games. Yaya Toure was the English Players' PotY with 11 goals in 29 and a 7.45. Van Persie had 23 goals to take top goalscorer, and our own Christian Benteke came second with 21 in 31 and an average rating of 7.09. Rafinha was Young PotY with 7.22 and 10 assists in 34. Simon Mignolet won Golden Glove ahead of De Gea and Hart. Brendan Rodgers was Manager of the Year. Mignolet; Baines, Nkoulou, Kompany, Janmaat; Hazard, Mata, Toure, Rafinha; van Persie, Aguero was the team of the year, and Charles Mutha-effin' N'Zogbia was selected as a substitute. Leo Messi was world player of the year ronaldo yaya toure i lost interest three words into this sentence

Juventus won the European Cup, beating City 2-1 in the final. Juventus beat Chelsea, Zenit and Arsenal along the way. Llorente was top scorer with 8. Gareth Bale had six assists and won Best Pl;ayer.

In Villa news, right backs Peruzzi and Lowton lead in tackles per game at just above eight; no one else finished with more than 6.24. N'Zogbia made 4.73 dribbles per game, nearly double second-place Agbonlahor. Only Benteke scored in double figures, with N'Zogbia finishing with 8 and 10 assists, Agbonlahor with 8 and 7 and Bacuna and Weimann on 3 each.

In the match against Crystal Palace on the last day of the season, Peruzzi tore his hamstring and will be out for three months.

Leandro Bacuna, Jonathan Walters, Nathan Baker, Alan Hutton and Piotr Trochowski have all complained about insufficient playing time and will be sold as soon as possible. As well, Given, Agbonlahor, Joe Cole and N'Zogbia will be sold to free up squad space and wages. Darren Bent will not be retained when his contract expires; Tom Cleverley will be returning to Manchester United. I'm not looking forward to losing Baker or Bacuna, but both are irritating enough with their bitching that I don't feel I have a choice.

We've already arranged transfers for Carlos Fierro as I wanted a more technical striker to play with Benteke and Tielemans because of course you buy him he's crazy good. I'll be spending more money as well - part of the reason I was nearly fired earlier is my total failure to sign any recognized, high-profile players, which my board really emphasizes. I'm not wholly convinced by Senderos as I remember him at Arsenal so I'll probably be looking for a standout defender. As well, I'm looking for a long-term left back but Aly Sissokho is good enough that I'm not feeling any particular urgency. Kevin Mirallas is transfer listed and being shopped by his agent for roughly £14.5m, so he might could be an option for me, but I'm not sure yet. I'm not thinking I'll be playing AML/Rs much. I declined to buy Luis Enrique after his extortionate wage demands.

[avillafan.com]

Right.

So the 2014/15 season ended not with a bang but with a whimper. Went down at Anfield 3-0 and had a tame, boring 0-0 with Crystal Palace at home. In the end, Aston Villa finished in 12th on 47 points.

Liverpool won the league despite having the third-best goal difference. There was a clear gap between the top three and everyone else with Liverpool triumphant on 85 points, Chelsea behind on 83 and United on 81, despite the second-best attack and best defense. City took the last CL place on 71 points and Arsenal finished out of the top five for the first time in forever on 65. As an Arsenal fan the silver lining is that Tottenham also finished on 65 points and will not have European football because 8th place Newcastle won the Cup double behind t'rrific new striker Facundo Ferreyra and t'riffic manager 'arry Redknapp and his t'riffic attitude.

While Aston Villa failed to beat their arch-rivals in either league game, Villa fans can take comfort in knowing that they're staying up and West Brom are goin' down in 19th, along with QPR and Burnley. West Ham finished just outside the drop zone with 35 points. Leicester were the best-placed of the newly promoted sides, ending up five points below us in 14th.

Had we won the game against Everton we dominated and lost 2-0, we'd have finished in the top half despite being 19th as late as January 31.

Barcelona were involved in both of the season's most expensive transfers (at least, the ones that didn't happen in real life). Chelsea bought Rafinha for £25.5m, and Tottenham sold Jan Vertongen for £24m. Mattia De Sciglio, Nicolas Gaitan, Sami Khedira, Andriy Yarmolenko, Seydou Doumbia, Andre Ayew, Lorenzo Insigne and Jose Antonio Reyes also moved to the Premier League. At the end of the season, City will be sending Alvaro Negredo to Valencia for £20m.

Eden Hazard won English Footballer of the Year with a 7.75 rating and 17 assists in 37 games. Yaya Toure was the English Players' PotY with 11 goals in 29 and a 7.45. Van Persie had 23 goals to take top goalscorer, and our own Christian Benteke came second with 21 in 31 and an average rating of 7.09. Rafinha was Young PotY with 7.22 and 10 assists in 34. Simon Mignolet won Golden Glove ahead of De Gea and Hart. Brendan Rodgers was Manager of the Year. Mignolet; Baines, Nkoulou, Kompany, Janmaat; Hazard, Mata, Toure, Rafinha; van Persie, Aguero was the team of the year, and Charles Mutha-effin' N'Zogbia was selected as a substitute. Leo Messi was world player of the year ronaldo yaya toure i lost interest three words into this sentence

Juventus won the European Cup, beating City 2-1 in the final. Juventus beat Chelsea, Zenit and Arsenal along the way. Llorente was top scorer with 8. Gareth Bale had six assists and won Best Pl;ayer.

In Villa news, right backs Peruzzi and Lowton lead in tackles per game at just above eight; no one else finished with more than 6.24. N'Zogbia made 4.73 dribbles per game, nearly double second-place Agbonlahor. Only Benteke scored in double figures, with N'Zogbia finishing with 8 and 10 assists, Agbonlahor with 8 and 7 and Bacuna and Weimann on 3 each.

In the match against Crystal Palace on the last day of the season, Peruzzi tore his hamstring and will be out for three months.

Leandro Bacuna, Jonathan Walters, Nathan Baker, Alan Hutton and Piotr Trochowski have all complained about insufficient playing time and will be sold as soon as possible. As well, Given, Agbonlahor, Joe Cole and N'Zogbia will be sold to free up squad space and wages. Darren Bent will not be retained when his contract expires; Tom Cleverley will be returning to Manchester United. I'm not looking forward to losing Baker or Bacuna, but both are irritating enough with their bitching that I don't feel I have a choice.

We've already arranged transfers for Carlos Fierro as I wanted a more technical striker to play with Benteke and Tielemans because of course you buy him he's crazy good. I'll be spending more money as well - part of the reason I was nearly fired earlier is my total failure to sign any recognized, high-profile players, which my board really emphasizes. I'm not wholly convinced by Senderos as I remember him at Arsenal so I'll probably be looking for a standout defender. As well, I'm looking for a long-term left back but Aly Sissokho is good enough that I'm not feeling any particular urgency. Kevin Mirallas is transfer listed and being shopped by his agent for roughly £14.5m, so he might could be an option for me, but I'm not sure yet. I'm not thinking I'll be playing AML/Rs much. I declined to buy Luis Enrique after his extortionate wage demands.

Good read mate although I wouldnt call Villa and WBA 'arch rivals'.

[heartandgroin]

Loving how active this thread is!

@ avillafan.com - I'm with you on Gabby mate! I overlook his 55k a week on this as i want him to see out his career in claret n blue!

@Sunstrikuuu - great write up mate. Big turnover of staff for you this summer.

I have struggled to get into save number 3 as Villa! Need to sort my life out and bloody get it done! I'm going for a 4-1-3-2 formation this time around. Re-training Grealish as a CM and he will be the creative force in the middle of the 3.

Players out

Zoggy - Palace - 4.8mill

Bent - Burnley - 1.7mill

Weimann - Saint - Etienne - 4.5mill

Players in

Lewis Macleod - Rangers 400k

Edgar Barreto - Palermo - 1.5mill

Paulo Dybala - Palermo 4mill

Dybala will be the diminutive, technical partner of the beast when he returns from injury. His finishing is only 11, but he has bags of technical ability - a good foil i'm hoping for Benteke.

[heartandgroin]

The year the thread is on fire is the year I dont do a Villa save :/ May need to try and start one up again to go along with my main save.

It's a huge, frustrating, but enjoyable challenge mate.

[Sunstrikuuu]

It is desperately frustrating the number of people kvetching about not getting enough football. A dude with a backup status who started fifteen games last year really should just shuuuuut uppppppp.

[Spike]

Decided to start another save to rotate with my Villa save.

Just gone through pre-season and only suffered one minor injury :confused:

[TheBigBoss]

Decided to start another save to rotate with my Villa save.

Just gone through pre-season and only suffered one minor injury :confused:

A lot of people do this I just can't have to focus on one save until it's ran out of legs

[Spike]

A lot of people do this I just can't have to focus on one save until it's ran out of legs

I find it helps to have a change ocassionally

[avillafan.com]

I'm the same, I need one save. Must admit this is the best save I've had in years. Not in terms of success but in terms of addictive ness.

[Sunstrikuuu]

Recruiting people without European football is rather challenging I must say.

[Sunstrikuuu]

So here's what we've got going on on the eve of the 2015/16 season. Originally the save had England, Scotland and the Ukraine as playable leagues; I've added the top two leagues in Belgium, Holland, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, Argentina and Brazil. Hopefully I'll have some more details later.

Preseason preparation went pretty well though I'd have been pissed if I'd lost more than that one game.

My preseasons tend to be densely packed with really easy games, heavily rotated so I can build tactical familiarity, morale and fitness. All that stuff. There was a remarkable consistency to my results against the amateur sides, don't you think?

Transfers were a bit of a struggle. I had and still have some deadwood I need to get rid of. And I didn't do a great job with that. I still have a lot of players on my books I wanted to get rid of. I also struggled to bring in really solid, established players; Villa being out of European competition makes bringing in people tough. I had bids accepted for Courtois, Mangala and a few others, but players generally aren't leaving Champions League clubs for Aston Villa (at least not the ones I want). That left South America.

Transfers in

I also have a bid for Gaston Gil Romero outstanding; he's waiting on a work permit. In one respect I feel slightly bad going after like literally all of the usual suspects. On the other hand, my long-term saves are 5+ tiers below the top level, or a youth-focused Arsenal save. This is just about the only time I'll have a chance to go after the Tielemans and the Vadalas. Gabriel Silva, the Udinese fullback, didn't qualify for a work permit and was sent to LOSC on loan to hopefully get one. I wish I could have sent him to an Italian club, but none were interested. We'll see what happens with the situation; worst case I have faith I can get my money back.

Transfers out were... rather more numerous. Benjamin Siegrist, Darren Bent, Tom and Ryan Strain, Alfie Crooks and like thirty other players were granted free transfers away from the club. Mostly because... I dunno, I've got a big transfer budget, and a big wage budget, and I can't spend any of it on established players because they want Champions League football so I guess I might as well just spend it on young players. And that means that I'm not feeling sorting through thirty expiring contracts and deciding who to keep. Piotr Trochowski after endless complaining and a few good performances went to newly-promoted Ipswich for £1.3m, and Yacouba Sylla went along for £1.1m. Leandro Bacuna after endless complaining and a few good performances went to Swansea for £4.6m. Player of the Year Charles N'Zogbia moved to Everton for £5.25m. New signee Greg Kiltie moved back to Scotland on loan. Philippe Senderos was sent to Italy for £1.3m to make room for Rodriguez, and Nathan Baker, after bitching endlessly went to Rotherham on loan; I'll recall him if I have a defensive crisis.

That leaves Agbonlahor, Given, Hutton, Weimann, Cole, Jonathan Walters and Ciaran Clark as players I'd just as soon sell. Agbonlahor had a move to Stoke lined up but they couldn't pull together enough cash. I don't have a huge problem with just leaving people in the reserves, though. My wage budget is so high I'm not using more than half of it.

Tactics

I'm using this with the Counter mentality and the Structured shape. (The players in there are just whoever happened to play the last preseason friendly.) Roles will change a little depending on what the opposition is doing. The basic idea is to try keeping defensive solidity without sacrificing creativity, and using a defensive winger to try to control whichever opposing flank seems more dangerous.

Again, Counter with a Highly Structured shape, and the players are the same. This is one of the formations I used early last season, and I'm still trying to refine it. That trequartista role is the one that N'Zogbia made his own last year. I moved the AF to one side to give the right winger more space. I think I'll be using this against 4-4-2s and flat 4-5-1s. I may also use it against teams of similar quality with good wingers. Using the Wa and IFs plus attacking fullbacky types should hopefully keep their flanks pushed back, and the double defensive midfielders ought to stifle play compressed into the middle.

This is based on something I saw on these very forums and as such uses Attacking/Flexible. It's also an evolution of my various attempts last season at getting narrow diamonds and 4-3-1-2s to work. I started with a TMs/P up front, a DLPs in the middle, flanked by BBMs, with dual WBs. The pairing up front didn't work, to put it mildly. Defensively it was a bit of a shambles. Too often my BBMs would get caught upfield and opposing central midfielders or playmakers would hit diagonal balls behind my fullbacks, which would turn into dangerous crosses and goals. The target man dropped out of the formation early to stop my players from hitting long balls towards Benteke's head and chest; he wasn't knocking the ball down to runners the way I wanted. I still wanted power and dynamism in the central midfield, so the two BWMs roles supplied a lot of runner and ground-covering while also making my midfield more defensively solid. Because the central midfielders wouldn't be getting forward, I changed the middle one to a CMa to supply some sort of central playmaker/finisher from midfield. Benteke didn't seem quite cut out to be a DLF so CFs seemed the best role to get creativity in my strike partnership; the CFs is also winning the knockdowns I wanted more often. The fullbacks got pulled back as part of my increased focus on defensive solidity. After checking Mr. Uwe Rosler's tactic on the forum, I changed my poacher to a trequartista, a role I'm really enjoying in 2015 in a way I haven't before, and altered the mentality and structure. I've been pretty happy with it so far, and expect to use this tactic primarily at home and in easy away games. I'll also use it against United in an effort to stifle the 4-3-1-2 they used against me.

At least I've improved the coaching

Scoutingcan still improve

You can also see I've got a gigantic amount of money left. I'm trying to focus scouting on Africa, just to improve my knowledge, and whenever my scouts have asked to scout particular nations I've been pretty ok with that. I'm definitely looking for young players, especially in the AM, wingback and sweeper roles. I'm pretty interested in moving to a 3-4-1-2 system with a sweeper.

Outside of Aston Villa, things have happened!

Italy!

Spain!

I think PSG might have some money boys

Meanwhile there isn't really much going on in Germany

Transfers occurring overseas are going to show up with both this and last season's moves as they only became playable at the start of this season.

Anyone have any requests for screenshots?

[avillafan.com]

How did you get so much to spend?

[heartandgroin]

How did you get so much to spend?

I think he used the Villa Tycoon save which is knocking around these forums somewhere.

[avillafan.com]

Season 2 done.

Final League Table

Average Ratings

Top Goalscorers

Christian Benteke 18 (Apps: 27(5))

Jack Grealish 13 (32 (8))

Luciano Narsingh 10 (25(8))

Lucas Romero 9 (39 (1))

Both Dorek and Helenius finished on 8 goals each also.

The amount of goals i conceded is a worry despite the fact that my defenders average ratings are pretty decent. With a few of them being young I am hoping this will improve in Season 3. Also, a goalkeeper and a left back are two positions I would like to strengthen this summer.

All depends on what finances are offered. The new chairman did promise £18M in January which never materialized so who knows.

[Britton5]

Try Tielemans as every time i've had him he turns out brilliant

[Sunstrikuuu]

I think he used the Villa Tycoon save which is knocking around these forums somewhere.

Yep and more characters are needed

Here ya go lads!

https://mega.co.nz/#!F5AyDTBb!lngBrx_lf433tPI3UO1lfcoCR1gF2PJn51SuKzBj3EI

Villa Tycoon!

Novemeber 2014. Just retire my manager and bobs your uncle.

Leagues loaded, England, Ukraine (for some reason?) Scotland.

Database size, Custom, circa 50k maybe.

[TheBigBoss]

Try Tielemans as every time i've had him he turns out brilliant

It was the same with me had a change of heart in the third season and wanted to sign

[Shambolic]

Just taken over Villa in November 2015 with the team languishing in 8th in the Championship. The big guns (Benteke, Agbon, Delph, Grealish) are all still there with the obvious exception of Ron Vlaar. I've been given a healthy £10.25m to take us up but I'm pretty confident in getting promotion with the current crop, plus I'm going to try and sign and then develop my own regens. Unfortunately I lost my first game 2-1 away at Ipswich in which they had 8 shots to our 30. Despite the defeat it's looking decent and I'm not worried.