FM17: Chelsea F.C.

[PitchPosh]

 

Welcome to the

Chelsea F.C. FM17 Club Thread

 

Do we really need to speak about last season? You'll be taking over as manager of Chelsea after an absolutely nightmarish title defense that saw the club finishing the season sitting at a "lowly" 10th in the table. A season that saw our second honeymoon with Mourinho end, our trusty caretaker Hiddink called upon once again, and all of our biggest stars' ability and commitment to the club questioned. What more could you ask for?

Everything isn't as grim as the picture painted above, however. The first team squad at Chelsea is still highly talented, with the likes of Eden Hazard, Diego Costa, and new boy N'golo Kante there as building blocks to create something special with. The current challenge will be to steady the club and bring it back to the winning ways we've grown accustomed to. This seems an easy task when you're at a club with such abundance in the talent and finance departments, but the one thing there never seems to be an abundance of is patience. Results will be expected immediately, so you'll need to hit the ground running. Can you stick around long enough to see the club take on your image, or will you be dust in the Stamford Bridge wind?

 

Club Info

Chelsea's Division Two match vs West Brom. Stamford Bridge 1905. Chelsea win 1-0.

Founded: 1905

Location: Fulham, London

Nicknames: The Blues, The Pensioners

Owner: Roman Abramovich

Chairman: Bruce Buck

Finances: Rich

Estimated Value:   £1.0B

League: Premier League

Rivalries

82,000 People cram into Stamford Bridge  to watch Chelsea take on Arsenal in 1935

Fierce: Millwall, Tottenham, Liverpool, West Ham

Other: Arsenal, Barcelona, Manchester United, Q.P.R., Fulham

Legends

Gianfranco Zola

Ron Harris

Peter Osgood

Frank Lampard

John Terry

Facilities

Stamford Bridge

Built: 1877

Rebuilt: 2001

Capacity: 41,629

We always want a new stadium, here in FM. If you can survive under Roman long enough, you're sure to get one. Information on Herzog & de Meuron's final design proposal for Chelsea's stadium overhaul can be found here.

 

What You're Working With

Transfer Budget

38.6M - 40.7M

(90% of transfer revenue made available)

Wage Budget

2,967,488 p/w - 3,043,467 p/w

Currently Spending 2,677,770 p/w

(Differences based on FA Cup expectations)

Competition Expectations

Premier League: Winner

FA Cup:  Reach Final or Winner

EFL Cup: Not Important

(Photos courtesy of Blue Clique)

[PitchPosh]

The First Team

* - Indicates a new purchase

* - Indicates the player is currently out injured

Goalkeepers

Thibaut Courtois - Age: 24 | Belgian | Value: 28.5M 

After last season, there were a lot of questions about Courtois. Once a player who was only rivaled by De Gea for best goalkeeper in the Prem, some may not even put him in the top 5 at the moment. However, in FM he looks quite good still, and at 24 years young he can absolutely be your #1 keeper for a long time to come.

Asmir Begovic - Age: 29 | Bosnian | Value: 18.5M

Brought in to deputize for Courtois, should anything happen, Begovic was doing just that in the beginning of last season. The Bosnian played well (relatively) through those appearances, but a porous Chelsea defense didn't make life easy. With that said, he should still be behind Courtois in the pecking order, but he's an excellent option to come in for less important cup games, or fill in if Courtois goes down. 

Eduardo * - Age: 33 | Portuguese | Value: 1.2M

Though Eduardo starts in the Under 23 squad in the beginning of the game, you'll find that he's a capable backup with quite a bit of experience. Getting any time in while playing behind Courtois and Begovic will be tough, but should the truly unfortunate situation of losing your number one and two keepers, Eduardo can certainly do a job.

Defenders

Cesar Azpilicueta (Dave) - Age: 26 | Spanish | Value: 26.5M | Positions: D (RL) , D (C) , WB (RL)

Dave is most certainly one of my personal favorite players in the squad. Reliable, hard-working, and versatile, he's absolutely a key player at the club. His only downside is his lack of ability to go forward and deliver a ball, but if you're looking to stop an opposition wide player, Dave is your man. At only 26, you should be set at left or right full back for years to come.

Branislav Ivanovic - Age:  32 | Serbian | Value: 3.0M | Positions: D (RC)

Once one of our best players, Ivanovic has noticeably lost a step or two over the past couple of seasons. However, in FM he still looks quite good for 32 years of age and can certainly do a job helping youth players along as a tutor. You can do a lot worse than him, so I'd probably keep him for at least the first season and see what his contract demands are from there.

Kurt Zouma * - Age: 21 | French | Value: 28.5M | Positions: D (RC)

A serious injury last season "spared" Zouma from being part of a calamitous Chelsea defensive unit, but things may have indeed been different if the young Frenchman was in the side. Still an absolute powerhouse, Zouma should be at the heart of your defense for the foreseeable future. Out for 2-3 months at the beginning of the season, once he returns he should surely knock someone out of the first team.

John Terry - Age: 35 | English | Value: 2.6M | Positions: D (C)

35 years old and still seen as a key part of our defense. Mr. Chelsea is still going strong and certainly looks every bit like the veteran captain in this year's FM. His mental stats should absolutely be taken advantage of for tutoring the younger players, but finding a place for him in your side may be a little challenging. With that said, there's certainly a place for him somewhere, as he's highly intelligent and makes up for his lack of speed with good positioning and reading of the game. If he'll accept anything similar to the contract he's currently on, I'd sign him up again at the end of the season.

David Luiz * - Age: 29 | Brazilian | Value: 21.5M | Positions: D (C) , DM

Though he was a fan favorite, the return of Luiz caused some heads to be scratched when purchased this summer. A passionate player with the flair to score from a free kick once in awhile, Luiz has never been known for having outstanding defensive qualities and is seen by many as a liability, but working under Conte in real life, he has been quite solid in the 3 man system. It'll be up to you to replicate this form in-game, but at 29 years old, you should start looking at younger options for the future.

Gary Cahill - Age: 30 | English | Value: 6.0M | Positions: D (C)

Mr. hot and cold. Cahill can look fantastic, or give a goal away on a moments notice. Thankfully, this doesn't seem to be reflected so much in this year's game and he can certainly be used effectively at the back in a 2 or 3 man unit. His story is similar to Luiz and Terry, though, as he's 30 years old and will need to be replaced in a couple of seasons. Until then, you shouldn't have any problems playing him at the back.

Marcos Alonso * - Age: 25 | Spanish | Value: 21.0M | Positions: D/WB (L), M (L)

The Spanish new boy from Fiorentina, Alonso has a fair amount of Premier League experience under his belt after spells with Bolton and Sunderland. His price tag and lack of reputation made some wonder why we brought him in, but his recent performances in real life have certainly made his purchase make a bit more sense. In this year's game it looks as if you can expect similar performances from him, as he's well-equipped to go forward and deliver a quality ball, while he should be fairly solid defensively. I'm interested to see what type of performances people are able to get out of him.

Midfielders

Nemanja Matic - Age: 27 | Serbian | Value: 33.5M | Positions: DM, M (C)

Matic has went from being an integral part of a Premier League winning side, to a player who was subbed off after being subbed on under Mourinho. To say the past few seasons have had their ups and downs for the Serbian would be fair. In this year's FM, his stats have received a little bit of a decrease, but he is still a fantastic player. He can absolutely boss the midfield for you and should be utilized where you need some steel in your tactic/formation. Matic turns 28 on the first of August, so he'll be entering his footballing prime under his current contract. At 70k p/w, you could do a lot worse than him. 

John Obi Mikel - Age: 29 | Nigerian | Value: 12.0M | Positions: D (C), DM, M (C)

The ever-present Mikel. Once a promising attacking midfielder ready to sign for Manchester United, Mikel became "Mourinho-ized" at Chelsea and has become a specialist in stabilizing the midfield and seeing winning scorelines preserved. While not irreplaceable, Mikel will be entering his 11th season at Chelsea this year and he's made 20 or more league appearances in all but one of them. To say he's a key member would be untrue, but he can certainly do a job as a backup/rotation player. Given his age, however, this job could certainly be done by a younger member of the squad, so integrate or ship him out accordingly. 

Ruben Loftus-Cheek - Age: 20 | English | Value: 6.0M | Positions: DM, M (C), AM (C)

Once our hope for being the next academy success story, Loftus-Cheek has stalled a bit in the last couple of seasons. Though it looks like he still has what it might take to win a starting spot in the squad down the road, time may be running out and this is reflected by the slight decrease in his potential this year. Giving him consistent first team football could be what he needs to fire up his Chelsea career, so keep an eye on his development and go from there. 

Nathaniel Chalobah - Age: 21 | English | Value: 6.75M | Positions: D (C), DM, M (C)

Chalobah is another one who we've had high hopes for, but has been living the nomadic lifestyle that comes from being a Chelsea youth prospect. This year, he's in the first team squad and has a decent enough skill set to hop in for EFL and FA Cup matches or make late sub appearances to gain those much sought-after first team minutes. A little more well rounded than Loftus-Cheek, Chalobah should be the go-to youth prospect in the midfield until van Ginkel is fit again. 

N'golo Kante * - Age: 25 | French | Value: 32.5M | Positions: DM, M (C)

What many considered the Premier League signing of the summer, Kante was prized away from league champions Leicester to add some much needed steel and industry to the Chelsea midfield. Parallels have already been made between he and Makelele, and the job he does is certainly similar, but in Kante you have a player who can certainly be a bit more box-to-box than Makelele was. Looking at his stats, it'll certainly be difficult to replace him and at 25 he still has his best years ahead of him. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what he can do!

Cesc Fabregas - Age: 29 | Spanish | Value: 29.0M | Positions: M (C), AM (C)

Marco van Ginkel * - Age: 23 | Dutch | Value: 12.0M | Positions: M (C), AM (C)

Attackers

Eden Hazard - Age: 25 | Belgian | Value: 50.0M | Positions: M (RLC), AM (RLC)

Willian - Age: 27 | Brazilian | Value: 32.5M | Positions: M (RLC), AM (RLC)

Oscar - Age: 24 | Brazilian  | Value: 38.5M | Positions: M (C), AM (RC)

Victor Moses - Age: 25 | Nigerian | Value: 14.0M | Positions: WB (R), M (RL), AM (RL)

Pedro - Age: 28 | Spanish | Value: 29.0M | Positions: AM (RL)

Diego Costa - Age: 27 | Spanish | Value: 35.0M | ST (C)

Michy Batshuayi * - Age: 22 | Belgian | Value: 13.75M | Positions: ST (C)

 

Youth Prospects

This year's FM sees quite a few of Chelsea's youth products get a bump in potential. I think this is something a lot of us had a small issue with in previous versions, given the youth teams' success in recent years. With that said, there are quite a few players that could be listed here, but out of a sense of efficiency, and the fact that some player potentials seem random, this section will focus on the most prominent prospects.

Andreas Christensen -  (BMG) - Age: 20 | Danish | Value: 14.5M | Positions: D (C), DM, M (C)

Jake Clarke-Salter - (Bristol Rovers) - Age: 18 | English | Value: 525K | Positions: D (C)

Nathan Ake - (Bournemouth) - Age: 21 | Dutch | Value: 11.25M | Positions: D (LC), DM

Jay Dasilva - Age: 18 | English | Value: 725K | Positions: D (L), AM (L)

Ola Aina - Age: 19 | English | Value: 3.3M | Positions: D (RLC)

Baba Rahman - (Schalke 04) - Age: 22 | Ghanaian | Value: 13.0M | Positions: D/WB (L)

Charly Musonda - (Real Hispalis) - Age: 19 | Belgian | Value: 9.0M | Positions: DM, M (C), AM (RLC)

Jeremie Boga - (Granada) - Age: 19 | French | Value: 3.2M | Positions: AM (RLC), ST (C)

Lewis Baker - (Vitesse) - Age: 21 | English | Value: 3.3M | Positions: DM (C), M (C), AM (RLC)

Kenedy - (Watford) - Age: 20 | Brazilian | Value: 10.25M | Positions: AM (RL), ST (C)

Izzy Brown (Rotherham) - Age: 19 | English | Value: 3.5M | Positions: M (RL), AM (RL), ST (C)

Tammy Abraham - (Bristol City) - Age: 18 | English | Value: 4.9M | Positions: AM (R), ST (C)

 

Transfer Targets

Ryan Sessegnon - (Fulham) - Age: 16 | English | Transfer Cost: Compensation of 1.8M  | Positions: D (L), M/AM (L)

Michael Keane - (Burnley) - Age: 23 | English | Transfer Cost: 13.25M - 22.0M | Positions: D (RC)

"The Marios"

Mario - (Villareal) - Age: 25 | Spanish | Transfer Cost: 25.5M | Positions: D (R), WB (R)

Mario Fernandes - (CSKA Moscow) - Age: 25 | Russian | Transfer Cost: 17.0M - 33.5M | Positions: D (R), WB (R)

Danilo - (Real Madrid) - Age: 24 | Brazilian | Transfer Cost: ~7.0M | Positions: D/WB (R)

More to follow.

Coming Soon

[PitchPosh]

Tactics

Coming soon

I'm hoping that the tactical portion of this thread will become more of a discussion between those of us sharing our stories and progress here. Conte's 3 at the back formation have everyone salivating at the way we're currently performing in real life, so it'll be nice to see what everyone comes up with!

[Raymubdo21]

Can't wait

[Lobaeux4]

Hooray!

[wetfred]

Started a Chelsea save and am using Conte's 3-4-3 but where do I fit in Fabregas? I already retrained him to a DM as suggested but he is too good to be a backup and his morale is slipping fast.

Sell him at a loss or just patch him in when I can? I'm not about to loan him to City or United. The only teams that want him.

[mhaffy]

In my version of 3-4-3 , I play hazard in aml as AP(A). I have successfully retrained Fabregas to be my cover for Hazard in this position/role. Agree his stats merit a place in first X1 but he is definitely not a first choice for me in a front 3 and I prefer my midfielders to be more robust in providing defensive cover.

[PitchPosh]

14 hours ago, wetfred said:

Started a Chelsea save and am using Conte's 3-4-3 but where do I fit in Fabregas? I already retrained him to a DM as suggested but he is too good to be a backup and his morale is slipping fast.

Sell him at a loss or just patch him in when I can? I'm not about to loan him to City or United. The only teams that want him.

I feel like your situation reflects what's going on in real life at the moment. I'm using him currently and he's performing well, but if I wasn't I would move him on. He's not getting any younger, so if you can get a team outside of the Prem to pick him up I'd go for it.

[georgey]

Considering a Chelsea game next , what is the starting budget and who are the hottest youth prospects please anyone if you have time ? 
Thanks

[PitchPosh]

35 minutes ago, georgey said:

Considering a Chelsea game next , what is the starting budget and who are the hottest youth prospects please anyone if you have time ? 
Thanks

Welcome, Georgey! I've made some adjustments to the opening posts regarding the information you're seeking. The youth prospect portion will go into greater detail once I find the time. 

[bucket]

Great start to the new thread PitchPosh! Following.

[PitchPosh]

20 minutes ago, bucket said:

Great start to the new thread PitchPosh! Following.

Cheers, bucket! Glad to have you around. I'll certainly be working on it a bit more and making an effort to make things lively in here once again!

[mhaffy]

Many thanks PitchPosh for getting this years Chelsea thread set up and underway. Good work. Looking forward to following.

[PitchPosh]

1 minute ago, mhaffy said:

Many thanks PitchPosh for getting this years Chelsea thread set up and underway. Good work. Looking forward to following.

Cheers, mhaffy, I'm always happy to do it! I didn't think I'd have time, but ended up making some! Next, I'll have to find time to start progressing my save

[georgey]

1 hour ago, PitchPosh said:

Welcome, Georgey! I've made some adjustments to the opening posts regarding the information you're seeking. The youth prospect portion will go into greater detail once I find the time. 

Thanks for that !

[Bert44]

I need to buy some fullbacks and need advice, should I get Gaya from valencia and Danilo from real madrid. Or should I trust Azipuelzeta as my left back and get Mario Fernandes as my right back?

[mhaffy]

in Beta, I picked up Danilo for c £8.5m and wages £135k. Good, solid at fullback and as wing back if playing 3 at the back. In full game release Danilo wanted c £235k wages....far too much...so Man Utd got him. Alonso has been great at wing back for me in beta and full game release so I have been using Dave on the right with Ivanovic as back up. With no European football in first season, I am hoping to get through without buying additional full back. Baba back next season so left side should be covered and will be looking to strengthen right side so long as I qualify for Europe! Never tried/looked at Gaya/Fernandes.

Let us know who you end up getting and how they perform etc. Good luck in your search.

[SupraFlush]

I went for Victor Lindelöf, looks good and can play at cb too in case i need it. He's also on the younger side so he could probably improve a bit as well

[mhaffy]

Lindelof has just been suggested by my scouting team and I am planning to get 100% knowledge. How much did you get him for? 2/1/2 star current ability with potential for 5 star (although last 1 1/2 stars for potential are currently black). Personality will need working on, if he can still be tutored.

[SupraFlush]

I believe it was north of £20m, i'm sure you could get him cheaper than i did however. I'm simply to lazy to negotiate too much lol. Also, he has 4½ star potential after i bought him, just a heads up

[PitchPosh]

5 hours ago, Bert44 said:

I need to buy some fullbacks and need advice, should I get Gaya from valencia and Danilo from real madrid. Or should I trust Azipuelzeta as my left back and get Mario Fernandes as my right back?

I'm a little late in responding, but Gaya was absolutely wonderful for me in FM16. Alonso has been great for me so far as well (only 4 friendlies in, though).

[Boy_Wonda]

I tried my hardest to get a tactic with an IF or two to work, but never found anything stable up top.

Ended up going for a four man defensive 'trianglish diamond' - two BPD-Ds, a DCB-C in the middle, and an anchor just ahead with two CWB-S joining him in that strata.

The midfield and up top is where it goes a bit odd... Kante plays as a BWM-S (nothing weird there) but with him is Hazard, playing at MRC as a BBM... He's training up quickly and has basically become a crazy Gerrard-esque game-by-the-scruff-of-the-neck midfield general...

Up top I have Costa as a CF-A and, because no one else seemed to work there properly, Hirving Lozano as an F9. It all seems to gel nicely. playing Flexible Counter, narrow with a higher line, overlaps, disciplined with sticking to positions, high tempo, and mixed passing. 

[PitchPosh]

8 hours ago, Boy_Wonda said:

I tried my hardest to get a tactic with an IF or two to work, but never found anything stable up top.

Ended up going for a four man defensive 'trianglish diamond' - two BPD-Ds, a DCB-C in the middle, and an anchor just ahead with two CWB-S joining him in that strata.

The midfield and up top is where it goes a bit odd... Kante plays as a BWM-S (nothing weird there) but with him is Hazard, playing at MRC as a BBM... He's training up quickly and has basically become a crazy Gerrard-esque game-by-the-scruff-of-the-neck midfield general...

Up top I have Costa as a CF-A and, because no one else seemed to work there properly, Hirving Lozano as an F9. It all seems to gel nicely. playing Flexible Counter, narrow with a higher line, overlaps, disciplined with sticking to positions, high tempo, and mixed passing. 

I've had some success with a double IF setup, but it seems a bit hit and miss. Interesting what you've done w/ Hazard, his dribbling must cause opponents a lot of trouble!

[mhaffy]

On 09/11/2016 at 10:06, mhaffy said:

in Beta, I picked up Danilo for c £8.5m and wages £135k. Good, solid at fullback and as wing back if playing 3 at the back. In full game release Danilo wanted c £235k wages....far too much...so Man Utd got him. Alonso has been great at wing back for me in beta and full game release so I have been using Dave on the right with Ivanovic as back up. With no European football in first season, I am hoping to get through without buying additional full back. Baba back next season so left side should be covered and will be looking to strengthen right side so long as I qualify for Europe! Never tried/looked at Gaya/Fernandes.

Let us know who you end up getting and how they perform etc. Good luck in your search.

My scouts included Danilo in a recent report - he joined Man U after asking me for £235kpw and rejecting my offer of £135kpw........Wages he agreed to join Man U £45kpw! Amazing/ridiculous difference........

[Pancakes]

I never tend to start my Chelsea save this early into FM however due to our previous season and our form since the formation change, i've gone straight in this time round. Massive thanks goes to @PitchPosh for taking the reigns of this year's thread so we can all discuss our saves!

Never been too sure on straying from my normal formation of 4-1-2-3 and forcing it to work each year, but after seeing our fortunes around and realising it's not too far from a wingback formation I used with Chelsea on FM14 (somewhere in that thread). The perception of roles and actual positioning is quite interesting and I was fairly intrigued to see how it would pan out over the course of a season.

I went with the following player roles after signing Michael Keane, Ross Barkley and Silvan Widmer (£16.5m, £30m and £9.25m). I also signed Upamecano (£2m) and Ajer (£4m) however the latter went back to Celtic for the rest of the season. Sold Ivanovic (£2.2m), Mikel (£9m) and Willian (January - £26.5m) to balance the books a bit more.

GK - GK (Defend)
CB - CD (Cover)
CB - BPD (Defend)
CB - CD (Cover)
WBR - WB (Attack)
WBL - WB (Attack)
CM - CM (Defend)
CM - CM (Support)
AMR - W (Attack)
AMR - IF (Attack)
ST - CF (Attack)

I did have the two CMs as a DLP and B2B but found that we would lose our shape a little too much and become overran in the middle of the pitch. Likewise with the ST position - understandably Costa does drop back to link up however as a DLF he didn't make runs in behind the defence often enough, which is something he has in his locker. Tactically, I went with Play Out Of Defence, Close Down More, Work Ball Into Box and Lower Tempo. On occasion I have used Look For Overlap but i'm not certain on how if we lose the ball then we're severely outnumbered.

Ended the season winning the EFL Cup (vs Newcastle), the FA Cup (vs Crystal Palace) and winning the Prem (W25, D11, L2, GF 64, GA 20, 86 points). Our closest challengers were Spurs and United who both finished on 82 points. Fourth highest goalscorers (fifteen off the highest) and conceded twelve less than anyone else.

[PitchPosh]

2 hours ago, Pancakes said:

I never tend to start my Chelsea save this early into FM however due to our previous season and our form since the formation change, i've gone straight in this time round. Massive thanks goes to @PitchPosh for taking the reigns of this year's thread so we can all discuss our saves!

Never been too sure on straying from my normal formation of 4-1-2-3 and forcing it to work each year, but after seeing our fortunes around and realising it's not too far from a wingback formation I used with Chelsea on FM14 (somewhere in that thread). The perception of roles and actual positioning is quite interesting and I was fairly intrigued to see how it would pan out over the course of a season.

I went with the following player roles after signing Michael Keane, Ross Barkley and Silvan Widmer (£16.5m, £30m and £9.25m). I also signed Upamecano (£2m) and Ajer (£4m) however the latter went back to Celtic for the rest of the season. Sold Ivanovic (£2.2m), Mikel (£9m) and Willian (January - £26.5m) to balance the books a bit more.

GK - GK (Defend)
CB - CD (Cover)
CB - BPD (Defend)
CB - CD (Cover)
WBR - WB (Attack)
WBL - WB (Attack)
CM - CM (Defend)
CM - CM (Support)
AMR - W (Attack)
AMR - IF (Attack)
ST - CF (Attack)

I did have the two CMs as a DLP and B2B but found that we would lose our shape a little too much and become overran in the middle of the pitch. Likewise with the ST position - understandably Costa does drop back to link up however as a DLF he didn't make runs in behind the defence often enough, which is something he has in his locker. Tactically, I went with Play Out Of Defence, Close Down More, Work Ball Into Box and Lower Tempo. On occasion I have used Look For Overlap but i'm not certain on how if we lose the ball then we're severely outnumbered.

Ended the season winning the EFL Cup (vs Newcastle), the FA Cup (vs Crystal Palace) and winning the Prem (W25, D11, L2, GF 64, GA 20, 86 points). Our closest challengers were Spurs and United who both finished on 82 points. Fourth highest goalscorers (fifteen off the highest) and conceded twelve less than anyone else.

Quite a season there, Pancake! I've stuck with my 4-1-2-3 thus far, but it seems to be a very bipolar tactic. Either we absolutely dominate the game and don't concede a single goal, or we get thrashed (typically by other top teams). What Conte has done in real life has certainly made me want to try something similar in game.

[BanOly]

I think you're missing a lot of youth prospects there, such as Baba Rahman. Chelsea have fantastic youth and it would be a shame to not cover all of the promising players!

Lewis Baker should be on here too. He's not too good on FM but inrl he's having a blast in the Eredivisie (on loan at Vitesse).

[PitchPosh]

10 hours ago, BanOly said:

I think you're missing a lot of youth prospects there, such as Baba Rahman. Chelsea have fantastic youth and it would be a shame to not cover all of the promising players!

Lewis Baker should be on here too. He's not too good on FM but inrl he's having a blast in the Eredivisie (on loan at Vitesse).

Yes, as I stated a couple of times, this is still very much a work in progress, so I'll be taking a closer look at everything as I continue to polish everything. I just wanted to get something started for people to have a place to post for this year's game. 

[nexting]

2nd season update.

Costa broke his foot during the summer and was out for 3 months and has really struggled on his return, nowhere near the heights reached last season. Batshuyi has stepped up though with 26 goals in 22(7) apps. Rugani and Maia have been great additions, Berahino decent.

Currently top of the league after 24 games, level on points with Mous United, with 55 points. In the semis of the EFL cup where I hold a 2-0 lead over Arsenal, 4th round of the FA Cup. FC Kobenhavn in the 1st round of the CL.

[PitchPosh]

20 hours ago, nexting said:

2nd season update.

Costa broke his foot during the summer and was out for 3 months and has really struggled on his return, nowhere near the heights reached last season. Batshuyi has stepped up though with 26 goals in 22(7) apps. Rugani and Maia have been great additions, Berahino decent.

Currently top of the league after 24 games, level on points with Mous United, with 55 points. In the semis of the EFL cup where I hold a 2-0 lead over Arsenal, 4th round of the FA Cup. FC Kobenhavn in the 1st round of the CL.

Nice progress there, and I'm glad to hear Batshuayi is firing them in. Costa has been very hot and cold for me. Sometimes he'll grab a few goals in a few games, other times he'll go 4 or 5 games without one. I was looking at Berahino to come in on a free as well. Can't go wrong with that, but I'm concerned he'll take playing time away from the youngsters.

[bucket]

Haven't started a proper game yet, not sure why. In the last few versions I never minded taking over Chelsea straight away, but this one feels different. I want to see how Conte gets on. I've simmed a few different league setups and majority of the time Antonio gets sacked usually early on. In one of the simmed games they finished 7th or 8th. Is that because of a knock on effect from previous season?

any body suggest a good lower league team to get into? Really want to earn my stripes and get the Chelsea job that way, but struggling to pick a team! Loving the updates. 

On most of the sims, RLC is usually the biggest disappointment. Can't remember the rest off the top of my head, but it did look like we got some great youth prospects through the regens coming through. (Finally!) took years on FM16 to get a half decent one, even with best youth facilities etc. Anyone else got some decent regens? Also, any of the youngsters (under 18's) worth looking at? For both my LLM game and a CFC save in the future?

Cheers and have a good day!

 

[PitchPosh]

9 hours ago, bucket said:

Haven't started a proper game yet, not sure why. In the last few versions I never minded taking over Chelsea straight away, but this one feels different. I want to see how Conte gets on. I've simmed a few different league setups and majority of the time Antonio gets sacked usually early on. In one of the simmed games they finished 7th or 8th. Is that because of a knock on effect from previous season?

any body suggest a good lower league team to get into? Really want to earn my stripes and get the Chelsea job that way, but struggling to pick a team! Loving the updates. 

On most of the sims, RLC is usually the biggest disappointment. Can't remember the rest off the top of my head, but it did look like we got some great youth prospects through the regens coming through. (Finally!) took years on FM16 to get a half decent one, even with best youth facilities etc. Anyone else got some decent regens? Also, any of the youngsters (under 18's) worth looking at? For both my LLM game and a CFC save in the future?

Cheers and have a good day!

 

In the couple of saves I ran during the beta, Conte was always sacked. I've had a little trouble taking over at the club mainly because I like what Conte is doing in real life so much I just want to emulate him. The youth does seem quite good this year, so it'll be nice to see who develops well.

[bucket]

How's everyone's saves going? I'm taking my time with Woking but continually keep up to date with Contes Chelsea. Will give an update this evening. 

[PitchPosh]

1 hour ago, bucket said:

How's everyone's saves going? I'm taking my time with Woking but continually keep up to date with Contes Chelsea. Will give an update this evening. 

I've had a hard time to make progress on my save and complete the opening post here recently. I've had a lot of work come in lately and haven't had a minute to set everything up. Wondering how far some people have gotten into their saves now, though. 

[mhaffy]

3 hours ago, bucket said:

How's everyone's saves going? I'm taking my time with Woking but continually keep up to date with Contes Chelsea. Will give an update this evening. 

In answer to your question, my initial save ended in tears circa February with me getting sacked. Season started well but I had problems with trying to get 3-4-3 working consistently. Three CD's and two WB's (not defensive wingers) was my go to set up but I had trouble getting central midfield pair set up securely. I deployed DLP (Support) and B2B and, like Pancakes above, found that all too often we would lose our shape and be overrun in midfield. With wing backs in place, the FM match engine does result in the back line becoming a 5 when out of possession and a 3 when in possession. However, it almost seems too passive, with the midfield pair often unable to break play up and the opposition appearing to be "invited" to come on to us. Through balls between our 5 man defensive line or "over the top" when we lost possession and had back 3 in place were a recurring issue. Moving my middle CD up to Defensive midfield and dropping wing backs to full back slots helped shore things up but this was not the formation I wanted to go with.....3-4-3 was the go to formation I really wanted to deploy.

I have been following a thread in the tactics section of the forum with great interest "Contes 3-4-3", but there was no "silver bullet" to be found. It was time for me to "go back to the drawing board". Time to experiment with tactics on FM Touch (100% familiarity). I tried numerous combinations, formations, instructions and went "On Holiday" to see how results panned out over 1/2 a season. My go to mentality has been Control with my team shape during "testing" being mainly either fluid or flexible. Having re-read WWFan 12 Step Guide, it occurred to me that the shape I was choosing (Flexible of Fluid) needed revisiting.

The 3-4-3 formation that I have "firmed up on" for now, and which will be the starting point of my next full game save is Control/Structured as follows:

A no frills back 3, with David Luiz in the centre as CD(Cover) - I resisted the temptation to set him as a Ball Playing Defender. No additional player instructions added for these 3.

During beta testing, Alonso performed really well as WB(A) and I decided to go with both my wing backs on attack duty to give me width. I added the "Stay Wider" instruction to both as I wanted both players ahead of the Wing Backs to move into more central positions - particularly Hazard. One thing that I am finding frustrating with the current match engine is the way wide players, wing backs in my case, often fail to put in a cross when I expect them to - they hesitate/delay! It gives the opposition time to close them down/dispossess them...cross it!! I believe this has been raised in the bugs forums....

For my midfield duo I have gone for a CM(Defend) with a B2B (the excellent Kante). As I mentioned earlier, playing a DLP seems to lead to the midfield being overrun with the opposition advancing on the back 5. I thought about a Ball Winning Midfielder but felt that this, too, would probably disrupt my shape and expose my back 5. A no frills CM(Defend) seemed the logical choice to help provide some cover for my defence, giving me four players on defend duty to hopefully keep things relatively tight and give my attacking players a solid platform on which to build. No additional player instructions have been applied to my midfield duo.

In attack, I clearly wanted to be able to "free" up Hazard and have him pulling the strings. I set him as Advanced Playmaker on Attack but added several player instructions to the default ones that are preset for AP(A):

Get Further Forward, Roam from Position, Sit Narrower, Close Down Much More.

One of Hazards traits is Comes deep to get the ball. This is fine, particularly with me telling him to roam from position, but I do want him driving forward when the opportunity arises; hence my adding Get Further Forward. Hazard for Chelsea has been playing a lot more centrally, not staying out wide. To try and incorporate this in FM, I added Sit Narrower to Hazard, as Alonso will be bombing forward on the wing (with Stay Wider) to maintain width. Under Conte, Hazard has been given more licence to roam and seems to have been freed up from the tracking back that Mourinho demanded of his wide players. In my FM interpretation, I want Hazard to be relatively free and hence have added Roam from Position but I do still expect him to provide an element of "cover" and have added Close Down Much More......

At AMR (Willian) I have gone with an Inside Forward on Attack. This will see him cut inside and run at the defence. To exacerbate the movement inside (as the Wing Back behind him will be Staying Wider to provide width), I have added Sit Narrower. Like Hazard, I expect my AMR to provide some element of defensive work and have added Close Down Much More.

With my lone striker (Costa), I was torn between Deep Lying Forward, and Defensive Forward. In my "failed" first save Costa was performing well as Deep Lying Forward on Attack duty, but for this attempt at 3-4-3, I decided to go with a modified Defensive Forward. Both my wide men have been set to attack and Kante, as B2B, will be getting forward to support my attacks, so I wanted someone to harass the opposition back line and provide a attacking threat. A Defensive Forward on Support seemed ideal for this but I added two player instructions - Dribble More (Costa does seem to like the occasional dribble in real life) and Move Into Channels (to hopefully create space, opportunities for my attacking wide men as they come inside).

Time now for a quick look at my team set up - Control, Structured, with 12 Team Instructions.

Abramovich expects Possession based, attacking football in FM and this has influenced my set up choices. The first sentence of the description for Control seems spot on - "This mentality is best employed for matches in which you believe you are the stronger team but are wary of your opponents counter-attacking threat". This ticks both boxes for me - we will usually be the stronger team and I am wary, with a back 3, of opposition counter attacks. My choice of 12 team instructions seems a lot, but they seemed to help give me what I wanted in terms of playstyle.

Retain Possession, Play Out of Defence, Lower Tempo and Work Ball Into Box, should all hopefully help deliver a possession based approach.

With both my Wing Backs on attack and staying wider, adding Exploit left/right flanks, and look for overlap (with AMR/AML cutting inside) again seemed logical choices.

As I want to lead pressing from the front (Defensive forward and both AMR/AML told to Close Down more), I added Prevent Goalkeeper Distribution and Push Higher Up. I also added Get Stuck In for good measure........

My choice of Play Narrower may seem at odds with me wanting width on flanks from my Wing Backs. However, I want to remain reasonable compact and this will hopefully minimise risk of large gaps for opponents to exploit with through balls.

The Chelsea squad has good attributes for Decisions, Vision, Flair and Passing so adding the instruction to Be More Expressive during the build up phase should be a relatively safe, and hopefully beneficial choice.

For Team Shape I have chosen Structured, in part because I want the team to maintain its shape.

Time to play, and observe, my first competitive match of the season...at home to Burnley. The team is as per the formation shown previously and performed remarkably well.

Average positions without the ball were a back 5, shielded by my midfield pair - particularly my CM(D),Matic:

With the ball, my Wing Backs bombed forward, Hazard and Willian dropped centrally and my back 3 fanned out across the defensive line:

My overall average shape/heatmap was as follows:

Possession and control of the game was great. Good control in midfield, plenty of attacking threat in the final third with a good spread of Attack Focus - 47% centrally, 29% left flank (Alonzo/Hazard, my playmaker) and 25% right flank ("Dave"/Willian).

 

Hazard played really well; roaming, creating, scoring.........

Diego Costa played a blinder scoring a hat trick and we ran out 5-1 winners......

58% possession, 32 shots, with an impressive 17 (53%) on target. Pity we didn't keep a clean sheet:

Being pleasantly surprised by the way the tactic worked, albeit in just one competitive match, (and keen to get going on a long term save), I decided to "Holiday" this tactic for half a season to see how it performed longer term.

Results, league table and player stats on return from "Holiday" were as follows:

 

Costa is top scorer in the league with 17 goals and 4 Chelsea players in the top 10 for average ratings (Hazard 2nd, Costa 3rd, Kante 6th, Luiz 8th).

Time to start a long term save again (hopefully more successful than my first attempt). No prizes for guessing the tactic I start out with!

[mhaffy]

2 hours ago, PitchPosh said:

I've had a hard time to make progress on my save and complete the opening post here recently. I've had a lot of work come in lately and haven't had a minute to set everything up. Wondering how far some people have gotten into their saves now, though. 

Sorry to hear that you have not been able to make much progress on your save to date. No probs re completing opening post; grateful to you for what you have already done to get this thread set up and going.

[Radford10]

hi guys, just been reading the post and all the comments. its great to have so many tips specific to chelsea in one place. 

thought id share my 1st season experience. played a 5-2-1-2 wb formation. With Bats upfront with Diego and hazard behind them. worked very well and won the league. Costa won most goals with 20 and Nats came third with 17. Good return from the lads. 

You are very light in back up for some areas in this formation but with the lack of games it wasnt a problem. Pedro was an excellent back up ST and Aina was excellent back up wingback both sides (was leading premier league assists for a while just before xmas). 

Has resulted in Oscar, Willian and Fabregas becoming unhappy. The formation was working very well so Willian was sacrificied for big money. Oscar is likely to get sold very soon also. Fabs is a great back up in the CM and AM positions. 

I wanted to fit the 343 formation but wasnt convinced by playing hazard and Willian so wide (even with IF command). Would definitely recommend the 5212 formation!

[bucket]

Top man,  nice one Radford. Did you bring any players in or just keep it as it is? Did you use any other youngsters like Solanke, Loftus-Cheek and Chalobah?

are you into the 2nd season now? What budget did you get? Cheers mate. Keep up the winning!

[Carefree_Since_1905]

I've fired up my first save with my beloved Chels.

Probably looking to shift out some of the old guard (Brana, Mikel) and integrate the youth.

I think all of Willian, Oscar, Fabregas, Pedro could be sold if the right price comes along. Has anyone sold them and when / how much?

Has anyone tried the Dave (Azpilicueta) at CB and Moses at RWB? Moses is worth quite a lot of money and has some interest so again was thinking he could go.

I brought in Ruben Neves as a long term option to replace Matic. Who else have you guys bought?

[Radford10]

3 hours ago, bucket said:

Top man,  nice one Radford. Did you bring any players in or just keep it as it is? Did you use any other youngsters like Solanke, Loftus-Cheek and Chalobah?

are you into the 2nd season now? What budget did you get? Cheers mate. Keep up the winning!

I brought in De Vrij from Lazio at the start and he was very good. Then Ruben Neves in january and was ok but he was bought for the potential really. 

Chalobah got used as a back up to Kante playing the box to box role. I didnt use Loftus and Solanke very much after the League cup. i was pretty lucky with injuries i think probably due to so few games. 

2 games into second season now. Bought Dybala to partner Costa and De Sciglia (i think his name is) as he is comfortabke back up at both WB positions. Also bought Rudiger. My budget was 100mil second season. Still got a fair whack to spend after some sales but not much i want to change. 

[Radford10]

3 hours ago, bucket said:

Top man,  nice one Radford. Did you bring any players in or just keep it as it is? Did you use any other youngsters like Solanke, Loftus-Cheek and Chalobah?

are you into the 2nd season now? What budget did you get? Cheers mate. Keep up the winning!

My team going into 2nd season..

----------dybala ---- costa -----------

 --------------- hazard -----------------

 --------- Neves ----- Kante ---------

Alonso -------------------------- Dave

-- De Vrij --Christianson-- Luiz --

------------------ Cech ------------------

I'll let you know how it goes!       

[PitchPosh]

6 minutes ago, Radford10 said:

My team going into 2nd season..

----------dybala ---- costa -----------

 --------------- hazard -----------------

 --------- Neves ----- Kante ---------

Alonso -------------------------- Dave

-- De Vrij --Christianson-- Luiz --

------------------ Cech ------------------

I'll let you know how it goes!       

Great to see that formation being used! I am putting together something similar for my start to the season as well. Ruben Neves looks as good as always, I love him in FM. I think I'm going to take a chance on Sergi Darder from Lyon this year. Looks to be a good one for the future and would fit in well with the rest of the Spanish contingent.

Edit: What roles and TI's are you using? In the past, it was easy for things to get a little congested in the midfield and upfront. 

[bucket]

36 minutes ago, Radford10 said:

My team going into 2nd season..

----------dybala ---- costa -----------

 --------------- hazard -----------------

 --------- Neves ----- Kante ---------

Alonso -------------------------- Dave

-- De Vrij --Christianson-- Luiz --

------------------ Cech ------------------

I'll let you know how it goes!       

Cech???

[Radford10]

1 hour ago, bucket said:

Cech???

Haha yea ignore that i meant courtois. You'd think id have got use to him not being here any more

[bucket]

13 hours ago, Radford10 said:

Haha yea ignore that i meant courtois. You'd think id have got use to him not being here any more

Unless your a secret Arsenal fan lol!?!

[PitchPosh]

Always get inspired to delve into my FM saves while watching the Prem over the weekend. I'm really starting to dislike this year's match engine. It seems really clunky and it's been near impossible to get my teams to play the way I want. Anyone else having some trouble/have problems with this year's ME?

[BlueAnderson]

On 14 November 2016 at 17:12, PitchPosh said:

In the couple of saves I ran during the beta, Conte was always sacked. I've had a little trouble taking over at the club mainly because I like what Conte is doing in real life so much I just want to emulate him. The youth does seem quite good this year, so it'll be nice to see who develops well.

Funny that. In my Beta save he won the title and moved to Barcelona.

[iAmRockyFeller]

Having not really played much FM since 08, this game is very new and different to me. Having said that I always have to try and get a Chelsea save going.
I'm just at the cusp of my first season and had a fairly successful Preseason (shortened to 3 matches)

This whole 'Role' thing is a very new concept to me and admittedly I've fallen off on watching any Premier League the past season so I have no idea what this Conte Tactic is but it does intrigue me.
I threw together a random tactic and adjusted so everyone is play their preferred roles etc and I'm gonna try an approach of changing the smallest details I can per player/exchange.|
No transfers coming in, only Victor Moses set to go out (If he accepts the contract).

TACTIC

4-1-1-3-1
Like I said.. Random, but somewhat has worked ok for now.

(a) 1-1 Portsmouth
(h) 2-1 AC Milan
(a) 2-0 Galatasaray

Had a few injuries up til this point but mostly coming back in for the start of season. David Luiz might miss the first match.

As you can see, I have no idea what I am doing and am hoping for the best. I'll keep you updated where I can.
 

[mhaffy]

Progressing slowly through pre-season of what will, hopefully, be a long term save.

Plenty of potential in players currently out on loan that I am looking forward to introduce to first team going forward. Quality of youth prospects in FM17 seems higher than previous versions....

 

 

[bucket]

End of season one update with my Woking side. Lost in play offs semi finals, gutted but quite relieved as don't think squad is strong enough for League 2.

Chelsea meanwhile....

Finished 7th, sacked Conte and hired LOUIS VAN GAAL of all people!

They signed:

Stefan de Vrij for £28.5m

Yann M'Villa for £2.1m

Bacary Sagna for £2.4m

Florenzi will be joining when window opens, Daley Blind soon following depending on contracts. 

Sold Ivanovic for £3.8m

 

Prem Update:

Arsenal, United, City, Liverpool, Spurs, Leicester Chelsea occupied top 7 spots. (in that order).

Seems there is some MAJOR money available if rumours are to go by:

Hazard to City, Di Maria back to United.

 

Any more updates wanted, just ask.