FM17: Chelsea F.C.

[mhaffy]

Automatic promotion with Woking next season then........Presumably you were not playing 3-4-3 with Woking?

Hard to believe Van Gaal took over at Chelsea........Let us know how long he lasts!

[bucket]

6 hours ago, mhaffy said:

Automatic promotion with Woking next season then........Presumably you were not playing 3-4-3 with Woking?

With the squad I'm building, I really am hoping to gain promotion. But the board have just bought the stadium and now messed up the finances so this should be interesting!! Only got one coaching badge too and they won't allow me to progress, so Chelsea will have to wait for a while ?  Like I had a chance anyway lol. Definitely not playing 3-4-3 with these boys. Would confuse them even more then my 4-2-2-2 does!!

 

But with the way I've started the season, maybe promotion and the play offs are a long way off. Terrible. 

[bucket]

Window Round up:

Martial left United to join Bayern for £65m

Griezmann joined Arsenal for £62m

best one...

Di Maria joined Man United for £55m. United also signed Icardi for £66m

Chelsea Transfer History:

Ins: 

Florenzi - £38m

Baio (regen) £3.8m

Mikel San Jose - £37m

Outs:

Bamford - Derby £4.6m

Kalas - Leverkusen £2.2m

Moses - Sassuolo £6.75m

Chalobah - Swansea £2.7m

Remy - Sunderland - £4.7m

Alonso - PSG £44.5m

Costa - Real Madrid - £39.5m

4 games in, won 4. 

[mhaffy]

Some seemingly bizarre transfer dealings there..........Alonso worth more than Costa?......and Di Maria...........

Think I will scout Mikel San Jose.....

[PitchPosh]

1 hour ago, bucket said:

Window Round up:

Martial left United to join Bayern for £65m

Griezmann joined Arsenal for £62m

best one...

Di Maria joined Man United for £55m. United also signed Icardi for £66m

Chelsea Transfer History:

Ins: 

Florenzi - £38m

Baio (regen) £3.8m

Mikel San Jose - £37m

Outs:

Bamford - Derby £4.6m

Kalas - Leverkusen £2.2m

Moses - Sassuolo £6.75m

Chalobah - Swansea £2.7m

Remy - Sunderland - £4.7m

Alonso - PSG £44.5m

Costa - Real Madrid - £39.5m

4 games in, won 4. 

Wow, Alonso went for a ton! Costa fee seems about right, though. I'm still yet to get through my preseason. Work has squeezed any free time out of the picture. Glad to see others are trudging on, though! 

[bucket]

Right so after i typed that up, we had a power cut. Back playing the save now. Will update again at end of transfer window.

[PitchPosh]

20 hours ago, bucket said:

Right so after i typed that up, we had a power cut. Back playing the save now. Will update again at end of transfer window.

Frustrating! It'll be interesting to see if Alonso goes for that much again

[JackJCFC]

I've lost the Champions League final 3 years in a row! Managed a clean sweep of everything else for the last 2 seasons though, won the prem 4 years on the bounce too. I bought in a 36 year old Ronaldo for 2.5mil as he still had something but hes been pretty useless!

[PitchPosh]

4 hours ago, JackJCFC said:

I've lost the Champions League final 3 years in a row! Managed a clean sweep of everything else for the last 2 seasons though, won the prem 4 years on the bounce too. I bought in a 36 year old Ronaldo for 2.5mil as he still had something but hes been pretty useless!

What type of wages did he ask for? I found in the previous versions that he still asks for quite a bit, even at an older age. Did he still manage to increase shirt sales?

[PitchPosh]

I've finally found some time to spend advancing my Chelsea save and have just reached January of the first season.

I've finally put together a tactic that puts on a decent show and things have been going quite well. We're currently sitting 2nd in the league and still competing in both domestic cups. The  tactic is similar to the way we play in real life, as Costa and Hazard are what has been driving the team forward, with the former leading the league in goals scored.

I'll post a more detailed update tomorrow. Looking forward to the Spurs match!

[JackJCFC]

On 11/25/2016 at 01:12, PitchPosh said:

What type of wages did he ask for? I found in the previous versions that he still asks for quite a bit, even at an older age. Did he still manage to increase shirt sales?

He's on 250k a week on a year and a half contract, promised him a job after retirement too. I did get the shirt sales news piece so he probably paid the transfer fee back!

 

I've found wages in general have got a bit crazy though, lot of players demanding 200k plus, still have over 100million in the bank though.

[theisq]

Can I get a PA of these players. You can PM me i you want. Thanks in advance!

 

Marcos Alonso

N Golo Kante

Victor Moses

Michy Batshuayi

Marco Van Ginkel

Baba Rahman

 

Ola Aina

Nathaniel Chalobah

Ruben Loftus-Cheek

Domenic Solanke

[PitchPosh]

On 11/26/2016 at 07:59, theisq said:

Can I get a PA of these players. You can PM me i you want. Thanks in advance!

 

Marcos Alonso

N Golo Kante

Victor Moses

Michy Batshuayi

Marco Van Ginkel

Baba Rahman

 

Ola Aina

Nathaniel Chalobah

Ruben Loftus-Cheek

Domenic Solanke

I don't ever use any of the scouting programs or anything, so I'm not sure what they are as far as CA/PA numbers. I did list the more promising players in the Youth section, and all who are listed there have a 2.5* and higher potential.

[mhaffy]

It has been two weeks now since I posted about the 3-4-3 tactic that I was planning to use in a new, hopefully long term Chelsea save. Despite spending hours playing FM17, I seem to take a lot longer to complete a season that most – PitchPosh and Bucket for two, have already overtaken me. I am currently approaching the Youth Intake date, but this first update covers the period leading up to my first competitive game of the season.

One of the reasons that I probably take so long to progress, is that I start my game earlier than default – using France pre-season. This gives me plenty of time to sort out my backroom team, set up training and get my scouts out looking for good young signings before my players return from their holidays etc.

In FM17 Chelsea have lots of promising youngsters that I hope to bring into the first team, although most of them are out on loan. Andreas Christensen will definitely be in my 17/18 team (if I survive 16/17), and Izzy Brown, Charlie Musonda will probably also not be loaned out again. Of those not on loan in 16/17, I hope to give opportunities to Dujon Sterling and Dominic Solanke.

For me, getting a good coaching team in place is essential; as well as aiming to maximise the quality of training (5* ideally in each category), I also want to try mould my players personalities towards being professional. Whenever possible, I endeavour to recruit coaches with good professionalism as well as coaching attributes.

Neil Bath, despite good coaching attributes, had to go and I hired Bernhard Peters as my Head of Youth Development -  a model professional with 5 stars for Strength, Aerobic,  Tactics and 4 ½ stars for Ball Control, Defending, Attacking and Shooting. Ideal. Hopefully on Youth Intake day, some quality prospects mirroring his personality will arrive for development…….

Other Coaches recruited were:

Phil Cannon (Balanced personality) 4 star Attacking, Shooting, Defending, Ball Control

Joao Tralhao (Professional) 4 star Ball Control, Attacking, Shooting

Silvino Morais (determined) 4 ½ star Ball Control, 4 star Tactics, Shooting

Michael Johnson (Fairly Professional) 4 star Defending

After overhauling my coaching staff, the coaching team were rated Best in Premier League in all categories except Attacking…..where we were 2^nd (with 4 stars). Most categories are now 4 ½ stars and average/light for coaches workload. A good improvement on Day 1 position.

With regard to Scouting, my first job was to get Piet de Visser to sign a contract – only on rolling one initially. Derek Langley (Resolute) was added to the scouting team with Judging CA 18, judging PA 20. Still scope to improve this side of things overall as we only rated 4^th best in league. I plan to strengthen this area as my poorer quality scouts contracts run out.

The Medical side of things was fine, and I really only needed to recruit Sports Scientists. Ranked 1^st.

With the backroom side of things sorted, and plenty of easy friendly matches arranged to try and get my tactic fluid asap, plus ramp up player morale, it was time to send my scouts out looking for good prospects (up to 19 years old, with minimum 4* PA) and assess/strengthen my squad for 16/17.

As I am planning to play 3-4-3, and with Terry/Ivanovic nearing the end of their playing days ( I plan to try and hold on to them for their tutoring though), Zouma injured and Christensen out on loan,  additional Centre Backs was a position that I wanted to strengthen. In Central Midfield, Matic is solid but somewhat slow, and I wanted to bring in a good youngster. Another area of weakness was Wing Back Right. My hope here was to sign Danilo when Real Madrid made him available. Knowledge from early beta games was put the good use!

My scouts came back fairly quickly with reports, including Kane Wilson (a "promising" Right Full back at WBA). I ended up signing Thiago Maia, to take over from Matic, and Michael Keane, Jairo Riedewald ("Mr Versatility") as Centre Backs. Kane Wilson was also snapped up (a steal at £675k) and will be trained as Wing Back Right. Danilo was duly captured when he was offered.

Costa thinks more attacking strength is needed but there seemed little point in splashing the cash (not that I had much left) on an additional striker as I wanted to give Dominic Solanke some games.

Mikel and Moses were sold, and Fabregas loaned to Man City – Fabregas has good stats but I just could not slot him in as a regular first teamer in my 3-4-3.

Pre-season went well after a couple of early losses and morale was high as we approached out first competitive game.

Tactic not fully fluid but Accomplished/Competent in all areas before my first Premier League match.

The squad that I have should, hopefully, be competitive. Fingers crossed that I do not have an injury crisis. My squad, excluding those on loan, and sorted by CA is as follows:

How will the 16/17 season go? Can I avoid getting the sack………TBC……

Going forward, the squad seems to have plenty of potential.......

[PitchPosh]

7 hours ago, mhaffy said:

It has been two weeks now since I posted about the 3-4-3 tactic that I was planning to use in a new, hopefully long term Chelsea save. Despite spending hours playing FM17, I seem to take a lot longer to complete a season that most – PitchPosh and Bucket for two, have already overtaken me. I am currently approaching the Youth Intake date, but this first update covers the period leading up to my first competitive game of the season.

One of the reasons that I probably take so long to progress, is that I start my game earlier than default – using France pre-season. This gives me plenty of time to sort out my backroom team, set up training and get my scouts out looking for good young signings before my players return from their holidays etc.

In FM17 Chelsea have lots of promising youngsters that I hope to bring into the first team, although most of them are out on loan. Andreas Christensen will definitely be in my 17/18 team (if I survive 16/17), and Izzy Brown, Charlie Musonda will probably also not be loaned out again. Of those not on loan in 16/17, I hope to give opportunities to Dujon Sterling and Dominic Solanke.

For me, getting a good coaching team in place is essential; as well as aiming to maximise the quality of training (5* ideally in each category), I also want to try mould my players personalities towards being professional. Whenever possible, I endeavour to recruit coaches with good professionalism as well as coaching attributes.

Neil Bath, despite good coaching attributes, had to go and I hired Bernhard Peters as my Head of Youth Development -  a model professional with 5 stars for Strength, Aerobic,  Tactics and 4 ½ stars for Ball Control, Defending, Attacking and Shooting. Ideal. Hopefully on Youth Intake day, some quality prospects mirroring his personality will arrive for development…….

Other Coaches recruited were:

Phil Cannon (Balanced personality) 4 star Attacking, Shooting, Defending, Ball Control

Joao Tralhao (Professional) 4 star Ball Control, Attacking, Shooting

Silvino Morais (determined) 4 ½ star Ball Control, 4 star Tactics, Shooting

Michael Johnson (Fairly Professional) 4 star Defending

After overhauling my coaching staff, the coaching team were rated Best in Premier League in all categories except Attacking…..where we were 2^nd (with 4 stars). Most categories are now 4 ½ stars and average/light for coaches workload. A good improvement on Day 1 position.

With regard to Scouting, my first job was to get Piet de Visser to sign a contract – only on rolling one initially. Derek Langley (Resolute) was added to the scouting team with Judging CA 18, judging PA 20. Still scope to improve this side of things overall as we only rated 4^th best in league. I plan to strengthen this area as my poorer quality scouts contracts run out.

The Medical side of things was fine, and I really only needed to recruit Sports Scientists. Ranked 1^st.

With the backroom side of things sorted, and plenty of easy friendly matches arranged to try and get my tactic fluid asap, plus ramp up player morale, it was time to send my scouts out looking for good prospects (up to 19 years old, with minimum 4* PA) and assess/strengthen my squad for 16/17.

As I am planning to play 3-4-3, and with Terry/Ivanovic nearing the end of their playing days ( I plan to try and hold on to them for their tutoring though), Zouma injured and Christensen out on loan,  additional Centre Backs was a position that I wanted to strengthen. In Central Midfield, Matic is solid but somewhat slow, and I wanted to bring in a good youngster. Another area of weakness was Wing Back Right. My hope here was to sign Danilo when Real Madrid made him available. Knowledge from early beta games was put the good use!

My scouts came back fairly quickly with reports, including Kane Wilson (a "promising" Right Full back at WBA). I ended up signing Thiago Maia, to take over from Matic, and Michael Keane, Jairo Riedewald ("Mr Versatility") as Centre Backs. Kane Wilson was also snapped up (a steal at £675k) and will be trained as Wing Back Right. Danilo was duly captured when he was offered.

Costa thinks more attacking strength is needed but there seemed little point in splashing the cash (not that I had much left) on an additional striker as I wanted to give Dominic Solanke some games.

Mikel and Moses were sold, and Fabregas loaned to Man City – Fabregas has good stats but I just could not slot him in as a regular first teamer in my 3-4-3.

Pre-season went well after a couple of early losses and morale was high as we approached out first competitive game.

Tactic not fully fluid but Accomplished/Competent in all areas before my first Premier League match.

The squad that I have should, hopefully, be competitive. Fingers crossed that I do not have an injury crisis. My squad, excluding those on loan, and sorted by CA is as follows:

How will the 16/17 season go? Can I avoid getting the sack………TBC……

Going forward, the squad seems to have plenty of potential.......

Great update there, mhaffy! I'm currently sitting in the airport (traveling again) waiting to head back home, so mine will probably have to wait until tomorrow. 

Jay Dasilva has seen a good amount of the first team so far, while Aina, Summit, and Sessegnon (brought in from Fulham) have all been handed debuts. It's good to see everyone is taking advantage of the youth setup so far! Can't wait to have Christensen and Kenedy back from loan next season.

[mhaffy]

7 minutes ago, PitchPosh said:

Great update there, mhaffy! I'm currently sitting in the airport (traveling again) waiting to head back home, so mine will probably have to wait until tomorrow. 

Jay Dasilva has seen a good amount of the first team so far, while Aina, Summit, and Sessegnon (brought in from Fulham) have all been handed debuts. It's good to see everyone is taking advantage of the youth setup so far! Can't wait to have Christensen and Kenedy back from loan next season.

Chelsea youth in FM17 so much better than previous versions. Lots of decisions await re the large number on loan.

Keep us updated when you return from travels.

[mhaffy]

Just wondered who people were using as the main penalty taker and how they have been performing. I am seriously considering removing Hazard (who on stats would seem to be the best choice) from taking them. Now missed 3, crucial, penalties out of 11. Costing me valuable league points!

[bucket]

End of January 2018 update:

Chelsea manager is Louis Van Gaal,

Position: 4th in Prem.Played 25, Won 14 Drew 9 Lost 2.

Top Scorer: Pedro - 11 goals, Hazard - 10 goals. 

Top Assist: Morgan Sanson - 8 assists.

Players In: Alessandro Florenzi - £38m, Sergi Gomez - £25.5m, Morgan Sanson - £28.5m, Fabinho - £35m, Sergej Milinkovic Savic - £26m Total: £107m

Players Out: Diego Costa - Barcelona - £32.5m, Yann M'Villa - Lazio - £22.5m, Moses - Sunderland - £6.75m, Van Ginkel - Norwich - £4.8m, Remy - Celtic - £4.5m, Atsu - Swansea - £5m, Kalas - West Brom - £2.3m.

 

Anything else, just ask. My career - still at Woking, just been knocked out of FA Cup by West Brom 3-2 in extra time after we drew 0-0 at my ground. 3rd in league, hoping to get promotion this year around! 

[mhaffy]

10 minutes ago, bucket said:

End of January 2018 update:

Chelsea manager is Louis Van Gaal,

Position: 4th in Prem.Played 25, Won 14 Drew 9 Lost 2.

Top Scorer: Pedro - 11 goals, Hazard - 10 goals. 

Top Assist: Morgan Sanson - 8 assists.

Players In: Alessandro Florenzi - £38m, Sergi Gomez - £25.5m, Morgan Sanson - £28.5m, Fabinho - £35m, Sergej Milinkovic Savic - £26m Total: £107m

Players Out: Diego Costa - Barcelona - £32.5m, Yann M'Villa - Lazio - £22.5m, Moses - Sunderland - £6.75m, Van Ginkel - Norwich - £4.8m, Remy - Celtic - £4.5m, Atsu - Swansea - £5m, Kalas - West Brom - £2.3m.

 

Anything else, just ask. My career - still at Woking, just been knocked out of FA Cup by West Brom 3-2 in extra time after we drew 0-0 at my ground. 3rd in league, hoping to get promotion this year around! 

Fingers crossed you get promotion with Woking this year. What formation are you using, 4-4-2?

Have the Woking board allowed you to progress your coaching badges or are finances still an issue?

Seems Florenzi only lasted a season at Chelsea (In for £38m then Out for £38m). Based on transfer activity, Van Gaal doesnt seem to be giving the Chelsea youth prospects much of a chance.

[bucket]

34 minutes ago, mhaffy said:

Fingers crossed you get promotion with Woking this year. What formation are you using, 4-4-2?

Have the Woking board allowed you to progress your coaching badges or are finances still an issue?

Seems Florenzi only lasted a season at Chelsea (In for £38m then Out for £38m). Based on transfer activity, Van Gaal doesnt seem to be giving the Chelsea youth prospects much of a chance.

Ignore the first update, my save crashed soon after that. This is the *new update.

Playing 4-2-4. Scoring goals for fun, but defence is sometimes a bit wayward!! Yes finally after asking for a fair few months - Currently studying for my Nat B licence. Finances ok, especially after those 2 West From games!

[dino]

2 hours ago, bucket said:

End of January 2018 update:

Chelsea manager is Louis Van Gaal,

Position: 4th in Prem.Played 25, Won 14 Drew 9 Lost 2.

Top Scorer: Pedro - 11 goals, Hazard - 10 goals. 

Top Assist: Morgan Sanson - 8 assists.

Players In: Alessandro Florenzi - £38m, Sergi Gomez - £25.5m, Morgan Sanson - £28.5m, Fabinho - £35m, Sergej Milinkovic Savic - £26m Total: £107m

Players Out: Diego Costa - Barcelona - £32.5m, Yann M'Villa - Lazio - £22.5m, Moses - Sunderland - £6.75m, Van Ginkel - Norwich - £4.8m, Remy - Celtic - £4.5m, Atsu - Swansea - £5m, Kalas - West Brom - £2.3m.

 

Anything else, just ask. My career - still at Woking, just been knocked out of FA Cup by West Brom 3-2 in extra time after we drew 0-0 at my ground. 3rd in league, hoping to get promotion this year around! 

Van Gaal should have retired by this year; stop ruining our football club!

[Bert44]

Has anyone experience of Stefan de Vrij? Thinking about buying him as replacement for John Terry, I know I will get Christiansen back from loan but think I will need another cb

[mhaffy]

2 hours ago, Bert44 said:

Has anyone experience of Stefan de Vrij? Thinking about buying him as replacement for John Terry, I know I will get Christiansen back from loan but think I will need another cb

No direct experience of de Vrij, but decided to look him up on my save - i am hoping to post update on my save shortly (20 games into season). Scout reports for de Vrij as follows:

His attributes/playing stats to date are pretty good:

 

He looks as though he would be good buy to replace Terry but unlikely to come cheap. I would be tempted to try for Jairo Riedewald (see my earlier post) who is younger, very versatile, probably cheaper and CA only slightly below that of de Vrij.  Riedewald seems to have more potential and ability to be one of best players at Chelsea. Can play CD, DM, Wing Back.........

Riedewalds performances for me to date, have been as good as ratings de Vrij has been getting at Lazio

Keep us updated on who you get it in....good luck

[Bert44]

thanks for the advice, any other suggestions for a new cb?

[lukekarts]

2 hours ago, Bert44 said:

thanks for the advice, any other suggestions for a new cb?

Jorge Mere, if you like to maintain a Spanish contingent in the squad. More of a composed technical defender, a nice fit next to Zouma.

[mhaffy]

Update to earlier posts - 16/17 Mid-Season Report

 

Backroom team in place, transfer dealings and pre-season over, the opening day of the Premier League finally arrived. Our first fixture was at home to Crystal Palace and I was looking forward to seeing how my 3-4-3 (as previously detailed) performed in a competitive match:

We won 3-0 with Costa delivering a man of the match 9.0 performance, netting two goals; David Luiz rated 8.6. The team had 61% possession and dominated Palace who were restricted to 3 shots with none on target! Apart from setbacks against Man City (lost 3-2) and Arsenal (drew 2-2 after being 2-0 down), results were good until late November.  We then lost to Spurs in EFL and were thumped 3-0 by Man Utd. Losses against Sunderland and West Brom followed. We ended the year, after 20 games, in second place – 8 points behind Arsenal, but with a game in hand. FM obviously doesn’t build in a November blip for Arsenal!

Although my 3-4-3 was dominating possession in most games, I was susceptible to counter attacks, and had difficulty trying to close matches out.  Four of my five defeats were at home and I felt that I probably needed to mix things up a bit tactically to counter the opposition AI – I had probably become too predictable. Although I had plenty of possession, it was often hard to break teams down and I was tinkering with the defensive line and dropping deeper to try and tempt opponents out, or playing even narrower to try and protect my lead. I did sometimes change the formation to 4-2-3-1, with some success.

This approach had backfired against West Brom and Sunderland who both defeated me 1-0 and I needed a new approach. My last game of 2016 was away to Crystal Palace, and I decided to be bold. I moved my middle DC (Riedewald) into defensive midfield and gave him Regista role. I also changed the role of my MCL to DLP(D), and played a higher defensive line. It worked a treat and we won 3-0. This “modified” version of my 3-4-3 was going to be put to the test in the second half of the season.

New "Regista" variation for second half of the season:

As I enter 2017, Premier League 2^nd – 20 games, 41 points, Ave Possession  3^rd 55.1%, Goals Scored 2^nd 43, Goals Conceded 4^th 20, Dribble/game 1^st 31

With Liverpool 15th in the table, Klopp was sacked on 31 December with Michael Beale acting as Caretaker Manager - Antonio Conte still unemployed...will Liverpool turn to him?

Of the players, Hazard playing well with Ave rating 7.45 (3^rd best in Premier League), 7 goals, 9 assists and 4 Man of Match in Premier League.

Apart from in match "tweaks", and occasional changes to 4-2-3-1, I have stuck with my 3-4-3. I have noticed that there is a bug with the tactical analysis info in FM17. The tactical analysis does not get updated to reflect in match changes and just seems to show the tactic in place when you go to the match. This probably means opposition information on tactics is incorrect and the information provided in this analysis is highly unreliable! I have reported it and it is being looked into although no idea when it will be fixed. Similar problem in FM16 but they sorted that only for it to recur in FM17.....

Danilo also performing very consistently. Costa is my leading goalscorer with 13 in the league but he seems to blow hot and cold. I have been trying to bring on some of the youngsters, particularly Solanke. He played in all my EFL Cup games and scored 4 goals. Chalobah, Wilson, Dasilva also given game time. Batshuayi not used much by me as I prefer to give Solanke a chance – I see him having a more long term future. I have been using U23 matches and also friendlies, during international breaks, to keep the squad match fit.

Maia settling in well, and attributes improving but sharing game time at this stage with Matic. Riedewald is one of the first names on teamsheet and performing very consistently; looks like a good buy! Keane also solid at centre back. Solanke also progressing well and benefitting from game time:

Premier League appearances/stats

EFL Cup Appearances/Stats

As I end 2016, Alonso is out long term with a broken leg (doubt if he will play again this season) and Costa is out with an abdominal strain – not a good way to start 2^nd half of the season.

I have signed “Captain/Leader/Legend” Terry and Ivanovich on new contracts, more for their tutoring than their current playing abilities. Terry increasingly slow but played some EFL Cup games but made only 1 league start for me.Ibra came to me seeking a new challenge but I convinced him to stay on!  Oscar, who is not a consistent performer, has been complaining about a lack of first team football – given Hazard’s performances and Willian’s it would be crazy to leave them out! I refused to guarantee him starts, and he is currently on the transfer list (status reduced to rotation) with an asking price of £40m. I will wait and see what happens.    

At start of transfer window I have just signed a promising youngster for £3m (can play AML or Striker), Thomas Buitink. Liked the look of the scout reports and plan to train him as AP, covering for Hazard.

Fingers crossed for the second half of the season and holding on to secure a Champions League place for 17/18; a good cup run would be a bonus.  I am desperate to avoid being given the sack by Roman. TBC……..

[bucket]

22 hours ago, dino said:

Van Gaal should have retired by this year; stop ruining our football club!

He's doing better then Conte in the save lol!

[James Debate]

Am I the only one struggling to get Bertrand Traore a work permit when his contract is up for renewal? That seems odd given he already has a work permit at the start of the game.

[RandomGuy.]

9 hours ago, Bert44 said:

thanks for the advice, any other suggestions for a new cb?

Mattias Ginter at Dortmund is complete quality, no idea how much he'd cost though.

[Bert44]

Now my other problem is that Im running the risk to fail FFP for the champions league, Im in april of the first season and on course to win the league. The board has said that they will explore other revenue streams, but if I fail the FFP does that mean I wont be playing champions league in my second season despite winning the league? Help please?

[mhaffy]

1 hour ago, Bert44 said:

Now my other problem is that Im running the risk to fail FFP for the champions league, Im in april of the first season and on course to win the league. The board has said that they will explore other revenue streams, but if I fail the FFP does that mean I wont be playing champions league in my second season despite winning the league? Help please?

Presumably you "splashed the cash" on transfers/wages to fail FFP in first season? ......Can you offload some players to balance the books?

[Bert44]

1 hour ago, mhaffy said:

Presumably you "splashed the cash" on transfers/wages to fail FFP in first season? ......Can you offload some players to balance the books?

Bought Gaya and some youngsters, so yes. Could probably sell some players but that will happen in the summer, isnt that to late? So now I will not be playing champ league next season?

[bucket]

1 minute ago, Bert44 said:

Bought Gaya and some youngsters, so yes. Could probably sell some players but that will happen in the summer, isnt that to late? So now I will not be playing champ league next season?

Pretty sure you will be! I had that in Fm16. After renewing a few contracts within the squad I passed it. Try and get them on lower contracts though. But I have no idea if that will help you in anyway, just saying what happened to me!

[Bert44]

26 minutes ago, bucket said:

Pretty sure you will be! I had that in Fm16. After renewing a few contracts within the squad I passed it. Try and get them on lower contracts though. But I have no idea if that will help you in anyway, just saying what happened to me!

Ok, will the prize money help me? Im only 5 m over the "rules" for FFP champ league

[bucket]

Yes i do believe so mate. Just continue and I'm pretty sure you'll be fine. 

[georgey]

2 hours ago, Bert44 said:

Now my other problem is that Im running the risk to fail FFP for the champions league, Im in april of the first season and on course to win the league. The board has said that they will explore other revenue streams, but if I fail the FFP does that mean I wont be playing champions league in my second season despite winning the league? Help please?

Usually when at a big club they either announce a new sponsorship deal or the prize money being confirmed is enough to get you past the FFP. 

[PitchPosh]

So, I went to begin writing my mid-season review, but once I fired up the save I ended up almost finished the season entirely. Today I completed it, so here's the rundown:

Table:

You can see it was an extremely close race right up until the final day. A 1-0 win at Sunderland is what finally clinched the title for us, but the most important wins were a back-to-back pair against Man City and Arsenal, which we won 4-1 and 3-1 respectively. Although I find the match engine flaws quite annoying, this is probably the most challenging season I've played as Chelsea so far. The usual suspects carried us (Hazard, Costa, Willian), but an early FA Cup exit and no Champions League football is what probably made the biggest impact. The little amount of rotation required made it pretty easy to keep my first team lineup fresh and stable. 

Goals Scored

Costa - 26

Hazard - 17

Willian - 16

Assists

Hazard - 13

Alonso - 9

Willian & Fabregas - 7 

Courtois won the Golden Glove as we conceded the least goals and also kept the most clean sheets. Cahill and Zouma formed quite an effective partnership, while Luiz and Terry did a nice job when rotated in. Overall, a decent way to regain the title, but it will be much more difficult as we'll be back in the Champions League. 

Cup Competitions

An early exit from the FA Cup at the hand of Mourinho's United wasn't an easy pill to swallow, but a fantastic run with an always-rotated squad full of youngsters and backups in the EFL Cup saw us take home our first trophy during my tenure. Ola Aina, Jay Dasilva, Ryan Sessegnon, Ruben Sammut, and Dominic Solanke all got at least 2 appearances under their belts, so it was a success in that regard, too. 

Transfers * indicates player was brought in/sold during the January window

Ins:

Ryan Sessegnon - Fulham - 2.0M

William Carvalho - Sporting - 23.0M (26.5M)

Iker Munian* - At. Bilbao - 2.7M

Marco Asensio* - R. Madrid - Ln Fee 300k p/m (1.5M)

Carl Jenkinson* - Arsenal - Ln Fee 46k p/m (230k)

Total: 29.0M

Outs:

John Obi Mikel - Southampton - 10.5M

Victor Moses - Man City - 14.0M

Marco van Ginkel* - Everton - 18.5M

Banislav Ivanovic* - Everton - 1.0M

Total: 44.0M (Net Spend of -15.0M)

I was hoping to have both transfer windows to be as quiet as possible, as I was looking to rely on the existing squad and youth as much as possible. However, with Mikel's contract expiring at the end of the season, I decided to bring in Carvalho to give Matic some stiff competition and Moses was never going to make it into the team. Sessegnon was an absolute steal, as I offered him a contract right off the back with minimal compensation, and he looks to have quite the future ahead of him at the club. 

Once January arrived, Ivanovic wanted to move to China for a larger paycheck, but it was Everton that ended up signing him. They also came sniffing around for van Ginkel and due to his constantly injured state, when I was able to negotiate to 18.5M it was an obvious win. His exit was also eased by the fact Asensio was listed for loan, while Jenkinson was (regretfully) brought in for added coverage at right back. At. Bilbao were never able to tie down Munian, so I negotiated a contract with him. With some competition from Tottenham, I was a little nervous about losing him to a rival, but he decided to make the right choice and head to the Bridge and with Bilbao only asking for 2.7M to complete it immediately I finalized things quite quickly. 

Moving Forward

I was offered a new contract until 2020 and was exciting to finish the season completely, as there were a number of youth prospects I wanted to join the first team, but now Man City and PSG have come sniffing around for Hazard and Costa. Costa is demanding 190k p/w, while PSG is offering north of 60.0M for him and Man City is offering a deal of 120.0M for Hazard. Really torn about losing the core of my title-winning squad, but 180.0M is a lot of cash flow! Any thoughts? 

[bucket]

7 hours ago, PitchPosh said:

So, I went to begin writing my mid-season review, but once I fired up the save I ended up almost finished the season entirely. Today I completed it, so here's the rundown:

Table:

You can see it was an extremely close race right up until the final day. A 1-0 win at Sunderland is what finally clinched the title for us, but the most important wins were a back-to-back pair against Man City and Arsenal, which we won 4-1 and 3-1 respectively. Although I find the match engine flaws quite annoying, this is probably the most challenging season I've played as Chelsea so far. The usual suspects carried us (Hazard, Costa, Willian), but an early FA Cup exit and no Champions League football is what probably made the biggest impact. The little amount of rotation required made it pretty easy to keep my first team lineup fresh and stable. 

Goals Scored

Costa - 26

Hazard - 17

Willian - 16

Assists

Hazard - 13

Alonso - 9

Willian & Fabregas - 7 

Courtois won the Golden Glove as we conceded the least goals and also kept the most clean sheets. Cahill and Zouma formed quite an effective partnership, while Luiz and Terry did a nice job when rotated in. Overall, a decent way to regain the title, but it will be much more difficult as we'll be back in the Champions League. 

Cup Competitions

An early exit from the FA Cup at the hand of Mourinho's United wasn't an easy pill to swallow, but a fantastic run with an always-rotated squad full of youngsters and backups in the EFL Cup saw us take home our first trophy during my tenure. Ola Aina, Jay Dasilva, Ryan Sessegnon, Ruben Sammut, and Dominic Solanke all got at least 2 appearances under their belts, so it was a success in that regard, too. 

Transfers * indicates player was brought in/sold during the January window

Ins:

Ryan Sessegnon - Fulham - 2.0M

William Carvalho - Sporting - 23.0M (26.5M)

Iker Munian* - At. Bilbao - 2.7M

Marco Asensio* - R. Madrid - Ln Fee 300k p/m (1.5M)

Carl Jenkinson* - Arsenal - Ln Fee 46k p/m (230k)

Total: 29.0M

Outs:

John Obi Mikel - Southampton - 10.5M

Victor Moses - Man City - 14.0M

Marco van Ginkel* - Everton - 18.5M

Banislav Ivanovic* - Everton - 1.0M

Total: 44.0M (Net Spend of -15.0M)

I was hoping to have both transfer windows to be as quiet as possible, as I was looking to rely on the existing squad and youth as much as possible. However, with Mikel's contract expiring at the end of the season, I decided to bring in Carvalho to give Matic some stiff competition and Moses was never going to make it into the team. Sessegnon was an absolute steal, as I offered him a contract right off the back with minimal compensation, and he looks to have quite the future ahead of him at the club. 

Once January arrived, Ivanovic wanted to move to China for a larger paycheck, but it was Everton that ended up signing him. They also came sniffing around for van Ginkel and due to his constantly injured state, when I was able to negotiate to 18.5M it was an obvious win. His exit was also eased by the fact Asensio was listed for loan, while Jenkinson was (regretfully) brought in for added coverage at right back. At. Bilbao were never able to tie down Munian, so I negotiated a contract with him. With some competition from Tottenham, I was a little nervous about losing him to a rival, but he decided to make the right choice and head to the Bridge and with Bilbao only asking for 2.7M to complete it immediately I finalized things quite quickly. 

Moving Forward

I was offered a new contract until 2020 and was exciting to finish the season completely, as there were a number of youth prospects I wanted to join the first team, but now Man City and PSG have come sniffing around for Hazard and Costa. Costa is demanding 190k p/w, while PSG is offering north of 60.0M for him and Man City is offering a deal of 120.0M for Hazard. Really torn about losing the core of my title-winning squad, but 180.0M is a lot of cash flow! Any thoughts? 

Hazard i'd keep at all costs. He'll win you more in prize money then the £120m. And in my eyes irreplaceable. Costa you could move on as I find he would be easier to replace. 

[dino]

10 hours ago, PitchPosh said:

I was offered a new contract until 2020 and was exciting to finish the season completely, as there were a number of youth prospects I wanted to join the first team, but now Man City and PSG have come sniffing around for Hazard and Costa. Costa is demanding 190k p/w, while PSG is offering north of 60.0M for him and Man City is offering a deal of 120.0M for Hazard. Really torn about losing the core of my title-winning squad, but 180.0M is a lot of cash flow! Any thoughts? 

It's a lot of money but do you really need the money from the sales? What would you do with it? Would you be able to find a better set of players? 

Not to mention that Chelsea are financially stable anyway. 

[mhaffy]

10 hours ago, PitchPosh said:

Once January arrived, Ivanovic wanted to move to China for a larger paycheck, but it was Everton that ended up signing him. They also came sniffing around for van Ginkel and due to his constantly injured state, when I was able to negotiate to 18.5M it was an obvious win. His exit was also eased by the fact Asensio was listed for loan, while Jenkinson was (regretfully) brought in for added coverage at right back. At. Bilbao were never able to tie down Munian, so I negotiated a contract with him. With some competition from Tottenham, I was a little nervous about losing him to a rival, but he decided to make the right choice and head to the Bridge and with Bilbao only asking for 2.7M to complete it immediately I finalized things quite quickly. 

Moving Forward

I was offered a new contract until 2020 and was exciting to finish the season completely, as there were a number of youth prospects I wanted to join the first team, but now Man City and PSG have come sniffing around for Hazard and Costa. Costa is demanding 190k p/w, while PSG is offering north of 60.0M for him and Man City is offering a deal of 120.0M for Hazard. Really torn about losing the core of my title-winning squad, but 180.0M is a lot of cash flow! Any thoughts? 

Enjoyed reading your update; good to see you won Premier League. Would be great to see what tactic(s) you used. Re players, did you have any issues with Oscar/Pedro or others? Oscar seems high maintenance in my save.

Re Hazard, I agree with bucket and would try to keep him at all costs. Re Costa it is probably easier to get good alternative in, or you could accelerate the promotion of someone from Chelsea youth ranks......

Let us know what happens.

[mhaffy]

Think I need to have a good sort out of my "squads" after end of 16/17 season when players return from loan......Over 110 players seems far too many. Only need circa 25 for each squad (1st, U23 and U18), so may well be looking to offload lots of "surplus" players.

[bucket]

16 hours ago, mhaffy said:

Think I need to have a good sort out of my "squads" after end of 16/17 season when players return from loan......Over 110 players seems far too many. Only need circa 25 for each squad (1st, U23 and U18), so may well be looking to offload lots of "surplus" players.

110 players!! Bloody hell!!

[bucket]

Well, I've just finished my 2nd season. Having won the league and FA Trophy with Woking. I'll give you an update on Chelsea this evening. But I do know that Van Gaal has been sacked, having finished 5th. Arsenal ran away with the league. (They've signed Luan and Griezmann)

 

[mhaffy]

49 minutes ago, bucket said:

110 players!! Bloody hell!!

May be slight overstatement with a few "double counts" (players in main squad and U23 etc) but the game starts with > 100 players; loads of players out on loan as well as enough to support first team, U23 and U18 squads.. I have not bought significantly more players than I have sold but youth intake will be a factor. Too many for my "hands on" approach so overhaul needed methinks. 

Sounds like good progress being made with Woking......the Chelsea job offer gets a little bit closer.

 

[mhaffy]

My last update saw me entering 2017 in 2^nd place with 40 points after 20 games but 8 points behind Arsenal, who had played 21 games, but with Oscar on the transfer list as he was unhappy with his lack of first team starts. During the January transfer window things soon took a turn for the worse with Bayern coming in for Hazard; offering £75m. I rejected their bid and slapped a £120 value on Hazard; there was then a long conversation with Hazard effectively trying to get me to budge and reduce his value… I held out and crossed my fingers. Pedro then started moaning about his lack of starts……….I had no intention of weakening my squad in the January transfer window and planned to try and ride the storm out.  Then, towards the end of the window Begovic becomes really unhappy with lack of football and OM came in with an £11m bid. I decided to take this and bought Matthew Ryan from Valencia (a sweeper keeper) as my new number 2 for £16.25m. Expensive but, according to my scouts he was currently as good as Begovic but with potential to be better (CA 3 stars, PA 4). At the start of the window I had spent £3m bringing in Thomas Buitink from Vitesse a player with 5 star potential (plan was to train him up as AP cover for Hazard, but he is also a good striker).

 

I was particularly pleased with a couple of my Youth Intake who were influenced by my Head of Youth Development (Bernhard Peters) traits etc:                                                    

Chris Evans, a Goalkeeper with Professional personality and rated at 4 star PA

Bernard Brennan, a Striker with Resolute personality and 5 star PA and Finishing already at 17.   

The last “star” of my youth intake only had a balanced personality but Wes Tanser, a midfielder, was rated as having 5 star potential.

After some playing time, and the transfer window ending with no offers coming in, Oscar was “happy to say”, and some game time also kept Pedro happy. Bayern dropped their interest in Hazard. At the end of March I negotiated a new contract with Hazard through to June 2021 but with an option for me to extend it by a further year (an option I always try and include in new contracts, as well as avoiding yearly rises). The Hazard negotiation highlighted a bug in FM17, that I have reported, which only allows you to offer bonuses for competitions you a participating in during current season. So although Hazards old contract had Euro Cup bonuses, I was not able to include similar bonuses in his new contract! A rather large oversight by FM methinks. Anyway, I tied him down for £240k p/w basic with £43k per appearance, and no minimum release fee.

On the field the team performed superbly using my modified 3-4-3 as described in my previous post. After two disappoint draws and a 2-1 defeat at Man City, we won 5 on the spin (incl an FA Cup tie) before losing to Arsenal 3-1. We then went on to win our next 8 games. The results when my title rivals played each other “went my way” and Arsenal started imploding during the title run in.

With one game to go, Chelsea were top of the league needing a draw away to Sunderland to clinch the title – Arsenal were away to West Brom. We entered the last game 2 point clear but with a far superior goal difference. I “rallied” the troops, successfully, and made sure that I played my “relish big game” players whenever possible. Arsenal soon went ahead in their game but David Luiz was superb (8.7 rating), scoring a great free kick to ease the nerves. Sunderland equalised with a late, dubious penalty, but despite Arsenal winning 3-0, we were champions.

In the Cup Final we were up against Man Utd and Mourinho tried mid games before the match. Luiz was immense (9.0 rating) again, scoring after 26 minutes; a Hazard penalty sealed an easy 2-0 win.

A great end to the season.

Costa was my top goalscorer with 21 in all competitions, followed my Willian 14, Solanke 13 and Hazard 10.  

For assists, Danilo was top with 13 followed by Hazard 12 and Willian 8.  

Solanke is developing well and “has the potential to be a key player for the team”.

In the Premier League we topped possession stats (56.32%) with Pass Completion  82% (3^rd), Cross Completion 15% (2^nd) and goals scored 74 (joint 1^st).

 A late disappointment was my Head Scout, Piet de Visser, announcing his retirement at the end of the season.

Plans for 17/18 campaign are to try and rationalise the number of players at the club; 120 including those on loan at the end of the season is far too many. Lots of them have absolutely no chance of making it at Chelsea so lots of “out” activity will be taking place! Fingers crossed that the transfer window doesn’t cause squad problems re Hazard, Costa, Willian etc

[PitchPosh]

On 12/4/2016 at 09:52, mhaffy said:

Think I need to have a good sort out of my "squads" after end of 16/17 season when players return from loan......Over 110 players seems far too many. Only need circa 25 for each squad (1st, U23 and U18), so may well be looking to offload lots of "surplus" players.

I've been trying to do that so far in the summer transfer window. It's not easy because there are a lot of decent players, but I know I can't develop them all. I've actually brought in an incredible amount of money so far from sales and have managed to get rid of those I wasn't planning on using at all.

Transfer Outs:

Diego Costa - PSG - 82.0M

After listening to the reasoning of the rest of my fellow Blues, I decided to let Costa go, and you can probably see why! I was expecting a little north of 60M due to the transfer rumor stories that were being published in game, but when PSG came knocking I decided to demand 85M as life would be easier by keeping him. To my surprise, they countered with a non-negotiable offer of 82M! I practically bit their hand off and sent Costa off to Paris! Au revoir, Diego!

David Luiz - Man Utd - 33.0M (44.0M)

Mourinho wanted Luiz back apparently and with them finishing in 5th, I was surprised he kept his job there. With that said, they weren't really hurting at center back, but they do have Jones and Rojo listed, so I expect they needed some depth there and Luiz had a pretty good season with us. I ended up making a million on the price we paid to bring him back, and at his age along with Christensen coming back I was happy to tack on some clauses and send him on his way. 

Pedro - Man City - 25.5M

Man City seem to have a thing for Chelsea wingers. Shortly after I rejected their bid for Hazard (128M!) they came in with a 80M bid for Willian. Those two played too well for me to let them go, especially after losing Costa, so they ended up having to settle for Pedro. It'll be a nice reunion for him and Guardiola, and I don't really think he'll get much playing time with them. This could be a signing that costs us a goal this coming season, but with Kenedy back in the squad, I was willing to take the chance.

Asmir Begovic - Marsielle - 17.0M

A fantastic backup to Courtois, he just wasn't happy with playing cup football. I knew it would be hard to keep him on and towards the end of the season he started getting restless, so I let him have his move. His performances the previous season saw his value shoot up to 18M, and while I lost a million from that point of view, we more than doubled the money spent on him. Another one off to France!

Christian Atsu - Newcastle - 8.0M

Another story of a decent youngster who just wasn't good enough to make the cut. Atsu enjoyed his loan spell at Newcastle, where he made 30 appearances for them with an average rating of 6.97, so I moved him on for a solid 8M. 

Loic Remy - Marsielle - 4.6M

When we initially brought Remy in, I thought it was a bargain of a deal. However, playing behind Costa is no easy feat, and while he was a decent enough striker, he wasn't a significant upgrade on Batshuayi. I was a little disappointed in the small fee, but there was no way he'd see any playing time.

Tomas Kalas - Sassuolo - 4.5M

Similar story to Atsu, Kalas was decent, but not decent enough. I like Sassuolo as a club and the way they shake things up in Serie A, so I let him go for a modest fee. 

Lucas Piazon - Brentford - 3.6M

I remember Piazon being the next big thing out of Brazil when we brought him to the club, but he never quite lived up to the hype and he didn't look to have that potential anymore. Small fee, but he had to move.

Todd Kane - LA Galaxy - 1.9M

As an American, I thought it was fun moving Kane stateside. I think this is the first time I've sold a player to an MLS club, so it was something new. I thought he had a shot of getting a couple of games under his belt, but with Aina's potential being higher I thought it better to give him the time. Enjoy sunny LA!

Total: 182.0M

Transfer Ins:

Saido Berahino - West Brom - Free

A no-brainer. Berahino has a a tremendous upside with literally no risk. He signed as a rotation striker for 38.5K p/w! He's a better finisher than Batshuayi, but he's a bit weaker in the air. He's still got some untapped potential in him, so I'll be interested to see how he turns out. A quality English striker would be nice to have around!

Alban Lafont - Tolouse - 15.0M (16.0M)

Okay, okay, I paid quite a bit for an 18 year old, but I still spent less than I got for Begovic and this kid really has got it all. He is my long-term replacement for Courtois hands down, and his current ability makes him an able replacement if Courtois goes down for an extended period. I'm happy with the signing despite the large outlay.

Bacary Sagna - Man City - 1.2M

We lost Ivanovic, we lost Luiz, and while I'm happy the squad is moving in a younger direction, having experienced players around is important. Sagna has seen and done it all, and on top of that he's a good role model for some of the youngsters coming through. I don't plan on playing him much, but he can certainly do a job if Dave goes down, and since he signed on as a backup he should be happy with minimal playing time (hopefully)

Total: 19.25M

Potential Targets

Lewis Cook - Bournemouth - Right now, I'm working with Pasalic and Chalobah as backups to Kante, and while they both from our youth setup, Cook is a much more complete player, especially given his age. It looks as though he'll cost a significant amount, so I may take the long road and look to unsettle him. 

Jonathan Leko - West Brom - A very promising young English winger. I'm trying to put a focus back on homegrown talent, from our academy or otherwise, so I'd love to have him at the club. Stats are good enough to play cup games and he would be one for the future

Striker? - I'm currently about "half" in the market for a striker. I have Berahino, Batshuayi, and Abraham on the books, but I feel like the team could suffer if I don't bring someone in that's more comparable to Costa. Seeing as Arsenal just snapped up Icardi and Dybala isn't interested in joining, I'm running low on ideas. Any recommendations? 

Preseason & Tactics

I'm currently making my way through the preseason, and am trying to get an alternate tactic that works, so I'll follow this post up with a tactically-focused post. I'm a little nervous about how I'm going to balance the squad, as there are a LOT of players, but I know we'll put most of them to good use after making our way back into the Champions League. I'm interested to see how the second season goes!

 

[PitchPosh]

2 hours ago, mhaffy said:

Spoiler

 

My last update saw me entering 2017 in 2^nd place with 40 points after 20 games but 8 points behind Arsenal, who had played 21 games, but with Oscar on the transfer list as he was unhappy with his lack of first team starts. During the January transfer window things soon took a turn for the worse with Bayern coming in for Hazard; offering £75m. I rejected their bid and slapped a £120 value on Hazard; there was then a long conversation with Hazard effectively trying to get me to budge and reduce his value… I held out and crossed my fingers. Pedro then started moaning about his lack of starts……….I had no intention of weakening my squad in the January transfer window and planned to try and ride the storm out.  Then, towards the end of the window Begovic becomes really unhappy with lack of football and OM came in with an £11m bid. I decided to take this and bought Matthew Ryan from Valencia (a sweeper keeper) as my new number 2 for £16.25m. Expensive but, according to my scouts he was currently as good as Begovic but with potential to be better (CA 3 stars, PA 4). At the start of the window I had spent £3m bringing in Thomas Buitink from Vitesse a player with 5 star potential (plan was to train him up as AP cover for Hazard, but he is also a good striker).

 

I was particularly pleased with a couple of my Youth Intake who were influenced by my Head of Youth Development (Bernhard Peters) traits etc:                                                    

Chris Evans, a Goalkeeper with Professional personality and rated at 4 star PA

Bernard Brennan, a Striker with Resolute personality and 5 star PA and Finishing already at 17.   

The last “star” of my youth intake only had a balanced personality but Wes Tanser, a midfielder, was rated as having 5 star potential.

After some playing time, and the transfer window ending with no offers coming in, Oscar was “happy to say”, and some game time also kept Pedro happy. Bayern dropped their interest in Hazard. At the end of March I negotiated a new contract with Hazard through to June 2021 but with an option for me to extend it by a further year (an option I always try and include in new contracts, as well as avoiding yearly rises). The Hazard negotiation highlighted a bug in FM17, that I have reported, which only allows you to offer bonuses for competitions you a participating in during current season. So although Hazards old contract had Euro Cup bonuses, I was not able to include similar bonuses in his new contract! A rather large oversight by FM methinks. Anyway, I tied him down for £240k p/w basic with £43k per appearance, and no minimum release fee.

On the field the team performed superbly using my modified 3-4-3 as described in my previous post. After two disappoint draws and a 2-1 defeat at Man City, we won 5 on the spin (incl an FA Cup tie) before losing to Arsenal 3-1. We then went on to win our next 8 games. The results when my title rivals played each other “went my way” and Arsenal started imploding during the title run in.

With one game to go, Chelsea were top of the league needing a draw away to Sunderland to clinch the title – Arsenal were away to West Brom. We entered the last game 2 point clear but with a far superior goal difference. I “rallied” the troops, successfully, and made sure that I played my “relish big game” players whenever possible. Arsenal soon went ahead in their game but David Luiz was superb (8.7 rating), scoring a great free kick to ease the nerves. Sunderland equalised with a late, dubious penalty, but despite Arsenal winning 3-0, we were champions.

In the Cup Final we were up against Man Utd and Mourinho tried mid games before the match. Luiz was immense (9.0 rating) again, scoring after 26 minutes; a Hazard penalty sealed an easy 2-0 win.

A great end to the season.

Costa was my top goalscorer with 21 in all competitions, followed my Willian 14, Solanke 13 and Hazard 10.  

For assists, Danilo was top with 13 followed by Hazard 12 and Willian 8.  

Solanke is developing well and “has the potential to be a key player for the team”.

In the Premier League we topped possession stats (56.32%) with Pass Completion  82% (3^rd), Cross Completion 15% (2^nd) and goals scored 74 (joint 1^st).

 A late disappointment was my Head Scout, Piet de Visser, announcing his retirement at the end of the season.

Plans for 17/18 campaign are to try and rationalise the number of players at the club; 120 including those on loan at the end of the season is far too many. Lots of them have absolutely no chance of making it at Chelsea so lots of “out” activity will be taking place! Fingers crossed that the transfer window doesn’t cause squad problems re Hazard, Costa, Willian etc

 

Great update there, mhaffy, It looks like the end to the season wasn't easy on you either! Not to burst your bubble, but there will certainly be a few big clubs knocking on your door for all of your key players (see my post). It seems like there's enough good, reasonably priced talent, though. Stefan de Vrij just got transfer listed in my save for 16.25M! I'm really considering making a bid, but my starting pair of Christensen and Zouma looks great to me. 

 

[mhaffy]

On 05/12/2016 at 20:17, PitchPosh said:

 

Thanks for the warning. I am hoping that the £120m asking price that I set for Hazard during January transfer window when Bayern tempted him will put off new offers.....Only time will tell. When he signed the new contract he expressed it was in part due to his admiration for me! Hope he meant it and that there is an element of loyalty for at least another season. I will soon find out.

[James Debate]

On 05/12/2016 at 20:10, PitchPosh said:

I've been trying to do that so far in the summer transfer window. It's not easy because there are a lot of decent players, but I know I can't develop them all. I've actually brought in an incredible amount of money so far from sales and have managed to get rid of those I wasn't planning on using at all.

Transfer Outs:

Diego Costa - PSG - 82.0M

After listening to the reasoning of the rest of my fellow Blues, I decided to let Costa go, and you can probably see why! I was expecting a little north of 60M due to the transfer rumor stories that were being published in game, but when PSG came knocking I decided to demand 85M as life would be easier by keeping him. To my surprise, they countered with a non-negotiable offer of 82M! I practically bit their hand off and sent Costa off to Paris! Au revoir, Diego!

David Luiz - Man Utd - 33.0M (44.0M)

Mourinho wanted Luiz back apparently and with them finishing in 5th, I was surprised he kept his job there. With that said, they weren't really hurting at center back, but they do have Jones and Rojo listed, so I expect they needed some depth there and Luiz had a pretty good season with us. I ended up making a million on the price we paid to bring him back, and at his age along with Christensen coming back I was happy to tack on some clauses and send him on his way. 

Pedro - Man City - 25.5M

Man City seem to have a thing for Chelsea wingers. Shortly after I rejected their bid for Hazard (128M!) they came in with a 80M bid for Willian. Those two played too well for me to let them go, especially after losing Costa, so they ended up having to settle for Pedro. It'll be a nice reunion for him and Guardiola, and I don't really think he'll get much playing time with them. This could be a signing that costs us a goal this coming season, but with Kenedy back in the squad, I was willing to take the chance.

Asmir Begovic - Marsielle - 17.0M

A fantastic backup to Courtois, he just wasn't happy with playing cup football. I knew it would be hard to keep him on and towards the end of the season he started getting restless, so I let him have his move. His performances the previous season saw his value shoot up to 18M, and while I lost a million from that point of view, we more than doubled the money spent on him. Another one off to France!

Christian Atsu - Newcastle - 8.0M

Another story of a decent youngster who just wasn't good enough to make the cut. Atsu enjoyed his loan spell at Newcastle, where he made 30 appearances for them with an average rating of 6.97, so I moved him on for a solid 8M. 

Loic Remy - Marsielle - 4.6M

When we initially brought Remy in, I thought it was a bargain of a deal. However, playing behind Costa is no easy feat, and while he was a decent enough striker, he wasn't a significant upgrade on Batshuayi. I was a little disappointed in the small fee, but there was no way he'd see any playing time.

Tomas Kalas - Sassuolo - 4.5M

Similar story to Atsu, Kalas was decent, but not decent enough. I like Sassuolo as a club and the way they shake things up in Serie A, so I let him go for a modest fee. 

Lucas Piazon - Brentford - 3.6M

I remember Piazon being the next big thing out of Brazil when we brought him to the club, but he never quite lived up to the hype and he didn't look to have that potential anymore. Small fee, but he had to move.

Todd Kane - LA Galaxy - 1.9M

As an American, I thought it was fun moving Kane stateside. I think this is the first time I've sold a player to an MLS club, so it was something new. I thought he had a shot of getting a couple of games under his belt, but with Aina's potential being higher I thought it better to give him the time. Enjoy sunny LA!

Total: 182.0M

Transfer Ins:

Saido Berahino - West Brom - Free

A no-brainer. Berahino has a a tremendous upside with literally no risk. He signed as a rotation striker for 38.5K p/w! He's a better finisher than Batshuayi, but he's a bit weaker in the air. He's still got some untapped potential in him, so I'll be interested to see how he turns out. A quality English striker would be nice to have around!

Alban Lafont - Tolouse - 15.0M (16.0M)

Okay, okay, I paid quite a bit for an 18 year old, but I still spent less than I got for Begovic and this kid really has got it all. He is my long-term replacement for Courtois hands down, and his current ability makes him an able replacement if Courtois goes down for an extended period. I'm happy with the signing despite the large outlay.

Bacary Sagna - Man City - 1.2M

We lost Ivanovic, we lost Luiz, and while I'm happy the squad is moving in a younger direction, having experienced players around is important. Sagna has seen and done it all, and on top of that he's a good role model for some of the youngsters coming through. I don't plan on playing him much, but he can certainly do a job if Dave goes down, and since he signed on as a backup he should be happy with minimal playing time (hopefully)

Total: 19.25M

Potential Targets

Lewis Cook - Bournemouth - Right now, I'm working with Pasalic and Chalobah as backups to Kante, and while they both from our youth setup, Cook is a much more complete player, especially given his age. It looks as though he'll cost a significant amount, so I may take the long road and look to unsettle him. 

Jonathan Leko - West Brom - A very promising young English winger. I'm trying to put a focus back on homegrown talent, from our academy or otherwise, so I'd love to have him at the club. Stats are good enough to play cup games and he would be one for the future

Striker? - I'm currently about "half" in the market for a striker. I have Berahino, Batshuayi, and Abraham on the books, but I feel like the team could suffer if I don't bring someone in that's more comparable to Costa. Seeing as Arsenal just snapped up Icardi and Dybala isn't interested in joining, I'm running low on ideas. Any recommendations? 

Preseason & Tactics

I'm currently making my way through the preseason, and am trying to get an alternate tactic that works, so I'll follow this post up with a tactically-focused post. I'm a little nervous about how I'm going to balance the squad, as there are a LOT of players, but I know we'll put most of them to good use after making our way back into the Champions League. I'm interested to see how the second season goes!

 

Courtois is 24, isn't it a bit premature to be lining up a long term replacement? As for strikers, Lacazette?

[Cunego]

My first season:

tac: 4231