FM17: Sheffield United - Be A Blade

[stevemc]

So that's Marseille safely disposed of now, onto the Semi Final's of the Champions League... 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: And Liverpool too... final here we come!

[Powermonger]

2 hours ago, stevemc said:

So that's Marseille safely disposed of now, onto the Semi Final's of the Champions League... 

Impressive, quite the slaughter!

[stevemc]

Sheffield United: 2020/21 - Premier League (season 5) - End of season

So the end of the season is finally here, and we took the league title to the final day, by beating Manchester United in our penultimate game, but unfortunately, we both won our last game's and United won the league by one point:

Dembele was no where near as effective as last season after his recovery from long term injury, and we missed his goals. Sterling also picked up a terrible injury:

 

We did however complete a domestic double of EFL Cup and FA Cup. Nice to start with a win over Manchester United

 

This FA Cup win also makes us back-to-back winners of the competition:

 

Unfortunately, we lost the Champions League final in an epic game with Manchester United, we missed a penalty and folder early in the second half, making it hard to get back into the game, although Tieleman's came off the bench to try his best:

 

Our under-23's once again won the league, for the third consecutive time:

 

So the season was another success and another building block added for the future, we've improved the youth and training facilities and commercially we've also improved. The Champions League is still my holy grail. Onwards and upwards!

 

I have, however, signed one player for next season, brought to my attention by my scout, defensive midfielder Carlos Soler, a model professional who far exceeds the ability of any of my current midfield, costing me a cool £34m.

Manchester City are about to break the £100m mark for a transfer, on Inaki WIlliams.

 

England: 2020/21

Since my last update (where we topped our Nations League group), we've started our World Cup qualifying campaign, the majority of the teams in our group are garbage so I don't foresee any issues qualifying. The game against San Marino also brought up my 300th game in management.

 

We did manage to win the Nations League:

[Powermonger]

1 hour ago, stevemc said:

Sheffield United: 2020/21 - Premier League (season 5) - End of season

Great update, you are doing well. How is your squad looking now and what formation have you been playing?

Thanks for the screenshot of your leagues, I went back and recreated my game to add Scotland as I left them off, I wanted more Scottish options for players and staff.

[stevemc]

11 hours ago, Powermonger said:

Great update, you are doing well. How is your squad looking now and what formation have you been playing?

Thanks for the screenshot of your leagues, I went back and recreated my game to add Scotland as I left them off, I wanted more Scottish options for players and staff.

No worries mate, I've just made a few summer signings, so this is a my squad and formation currently, might tweak it over the season though. I generally set up on the "counter" for away matches, and "standard" for home games. If I go behind, I up the tempo and go slightly more direct, with "be more expressive", seems to work quite well.

 

[Powermonger]

2 hours ago, stevemc said:

No worries mate, I've just made a few summer signings, so this is a my squad and formation currently, might tweak it over the season though.

Cheers for that, quite the squad you have built up there. Looks like you still have a few faces hanging around from season 1: George Long, Aaron Ramsdale, Jack O'Connell, Louis Reed.

Your formation is a little like the one I am aiming for when I get promoted further and can get better players for. I am aiming to move towards recreating GeorgeMcD's classic 01/02 tactic: 2-3-3-2, which will probably morph more into a 3-2-2-1-2 depending how it performs. Looking forward to it. Hopefully tonight if I get a bit of time to play I can post up some screenshots from my Sheffield United start.

[stevemc]

@Powermonger Would be good to see your progress 

[stevemc]

Sheffield United: 2021/22 - Premier League (season 6) - Start of season

Had a good Summer window, with 6 main signings being made, significantly improving the starting eleven. First off, I sorted a deal out for model professional Carlos Soler who came in as an upgrade on Bakayoko (who I got on a free, and sold to PSG for £32.5m). Next out the door was Joe Hart, who was great for us, but was looking to upgrade to Donnarumma originally, however AC Milan wanted £60m, he eventually left to Real Madrid for £30m later in the window but by then I’d managed to snatch Thibaut Courtois away from Chelsea for £27m.

Facundo Colido was a player I’d been watching for 18 months, I went in for him last January but he suffered tendonitis in his knee and was out for months, so I waited on the deal and eventually got him from Juventus for £27m. Only 21 but looks a great finisher, and will help cover the loss of Sterling’s injury and the exits of Lemar (who I got on a free, and sold to Hoffenheim for £31.5m) and Son (who I got on a free, and sold to Burnley for £10.5m). Bayern’s Thiago came in on a free as cover, and a tutor.

Ugo Ciardi (left wing back) and del Castillo (centre back) are two younger regens who look like top talents, whom I’m going to look to develop.

My business was done there, but on Deadline Day it went crazy, I received a brilliant offer for a 19-year-old right back I was developing, Linder, for £18.25m (+ £2.9m after 1 international cap and 40% of next sale), and Atletico Madrid offered £25m for a rather stuttering Youri Tielemans. I decided to cash in on both to push a deal over the line for world-class centre midfielder Bernardo Silva for £30m. I might live to regret selling off Youri Tielemans but Bernardo Silva will offer serious quality right now for us.

 

Here are some of my signings:

 

Just wanted to show off Ayoze Sanchez, he’s been with me two season’s now, still only 20 years old, but this guy is going to be a future Ballon D’Or winner. I’ve had him tied to a 5-year-deal and I’ve rejected £40m from Bayern and £67m (inc. add ons) from Juventus (on Deadline Day) for him:

 

We lost the a rather boring Community Shield match against Manchester United, where literally nothing happened

 

I’m joint top after 4 games, 3 wins and 1 draw (away at Arsenal), so its a solid start. The EFL Cup has drawn us at home to Stoke City.

The Champions League draw offered no stand out team in our group, but its a well round group whereby each team could cause problems:

 

This season I’m looking to go one further and win the Champions League, the only trophy missing from my collection, but I’d also like to win the Premier League again.

 

England: 2021/22

No games have been played since the last update but we top our group, looking to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.

 

[nextqprmanager]

You`re doing great

btw Is Ayoze Sanchez a regen?

Ive got young Soler on a loan in 2017/18 season - any advice how to get him on a perm?

[Powermonger]

Tried to spend a bit of time tonight to actually progress my game, I must say the tight wage budget at the start is really limiting my ability to bring in a couple of new players and have money leftover for new staff and some youngsters

Damn you fair play rules!

[stevemc]

2 hours ago, nextqprmanager said:

You`re doing great

btw Is Ayoze Sanchez a regen?

Ive got young Soler on a loan in 2017/18 season - any advice how to get him on a perm?

Thanks. Yes Sanchez is a regen.

I'd suggesting trying to keep loaning Soler, you may become a favoured personnel, giving you a better chance of signing him later on. If your a big club at the start of the game, i believe you can pick him up quite cheap.

 

1 hour ago, Powermonger said:

Tried to spend a bit of time tonight to actually progress my game, I must say the tight wage budget at the start is really limiting my ability to bring in a couple of new players and have money leftover for new staff and some youngsters

Damn you fair play rules!

Yeah, I just lived off free transfers at the start and didn't start spending money until the Championship really.

[Powermonger]

9 hours ago, stevemc said:

Yeah, I just lived off free transfers at the start and didn't start spending money until the Championship really.

I found some good players on free transfers to bring in but there is not much wiggle room with the wage budget as from the start of the game you have a £6,150,000 limit in the EFL1, leaving only about £1m left in the kitty. To get some new staff in and able to get in a couple of new players for positions that are a bit weak, it's turning into a bit of a struggle

I have three positions I need to strengthen for my 4-2-3-1: AMR, AMC and DR. Even with their modest wage demands it is really stretching my wage budget to the max. Might need to see which of the existing squad I can get rid of to reduce my wages

[stevemc]

Ayoze Sanchez has had a brilliant start to the season, the latest bagging a hat trick away at Manchester City. I've moved him to central striker as the focal point of my attack, dropping Dembele to the bench to make room, and he's delivering (with Memphis and Odegaard playing off him).

He's got 14 goals in the first 8 games of the season:

 

Just got him to sign a new 5 year deal, with an optional +1 year by the club for extra security, and he's just been capped by Spain.

No doubt this kid is going to be the best player in world football one day. 

[Jonfun1980]

On 03/12/2016 at 19:57, stevemc said:

Just to confirm, you can cash in and it takes your transfer budget to £3.8m. Game changer.

how do you do this?

[stevemc]

Go to transfers, and clauses. Its in there.

[Matheryoo]

Just a heads up that I've been lurking and really enjoying this thread. Will be posting my own screenshots mid-season soon.

[stevemc]

Look forward to it @Matheryoo 

I'll get some more time in this weekend, hopefully post a mid-season update too.

[stevemc]

Another update on Sanchez, won player of the month, with two consecutive hat-tricks;

 

Then next game he went on international duty and bagged in his third back-to-back hat-trick on his international debut!

[pedromanuelpinto]

Hey there,

 

I'm starting a savae with Sheff United, and I'm having some difficulties knowing what players to contract (don't play FM for 1 year).

 

For now, I buyed Jason Cummings, Alex Finney (free and a hot prospect), a 3^rd goalkeeper with 21 years and a young player from Liverpool in a free loan (right defender to be a backup from the main right FB). Also have sell the clause involving Kyle Walker. Tried to get Marco Motta, but he preferred another club…

I’m trying to sell Reece Brown, and still don’t know who to sell in the front (strikers).

 

In the preseason, I have player three games (two wons and one lost against Newcastle (2-4 nice game)). I’m currently using a 4-4-2 tactics.

GK D: Simon Moore

FB A: Freeman

CD D: Ethan Ebanks-Landell

CB D: Jack O'Connell

FB A: Danny Lafferty

WM S: Coutts

CM S: Fleck

DLP D: Louis Reed

W A: Duffy

DLF S: Billy Sharp

AF A: Jason Cummings

 

Any suggestion regarding transfers? Or other topic.

 

Regards,
PPint

[stevemc]

Sheffield United: 2021-22 - Premier League (season 6) - Mid-season

Decided to make a little change this season, as I felt I was conceding too many goals, so I went from a back three, to a back two but pushed one of the centre backs into a half back, which seems to have made a difference, resulting in just 13 goals conceded this season. 

 

We have a 14 point lead at Christmas, although Manchester United have a few games in hand:

 

We progressed through our Champions League group, finishing second and drawing Atletico in the knock outs:

 

The EFL was a disaster, losing on penalties to Stoke City in the third round. The FA Cup draw has been kind though, giving us Peterborough United at home.

Sanchez is continuing his fine form, but he has an agreement with me that if PSG stump up £91m, then he can leave, so fingers crossed I make it through the winter transfer window. He landed the Golden Boy away, scoring 44 goals in just 48 games. 

I’m not expecting a busy January window.

 

England: 2021-22

We topped our World Cup qualifying group rather comfortably, Portugal didn’t even trouble us:

 

And the draw has been made for the World Cup, Morocco 2022:

[Powermonger]

Finally got my save past the first day and a few fixtures into my first season. Made a few new signings, both for the first team and youth.

Key signings have been:

• Jose Manuel Rueda (MC/AMC)
• Diego Poyet (MC/DMC)
• Marco Motta (DR)
• Fede Vico (AM RLC)
• Matej Pulkrab (ST) (Loan)

Matej has been a monster, scored a hat trick on his debut in a friendly and has been a great player to bring on in the second half as a sub. Saved my bacon many a times. He is on loan from Man Utd after they purchased him during the first fortnight of the transfer window.

I'm playing a 4-2-3-1 and things have been going well. Got knocked out of the EFL Cup by Crystal Palace on penalties but the boys gave their best. Billy Sharp has been fairly good up front, he has had his bad days but is more consistent than Leon Clarke.

Currently got both Duffy and my new signing Rueda out on injuries for 7 weeks and 5 weeks respectively. I'm starting to think whether I should've signed another player to play in the AMC/AMR position.

Anyway, looking forward to getting to the end of the season and hopefully getting promotion.

 

[r0b]

I'm now in my 4th season - after gaining promotion in the first, the board gave me no budget to improve the squad in the second, so had to make do with mainly free transfers.

Fortunately I was able to fend off relegation and secure a mid-table finish, and had about £3m the following season: 

Secured the Championship top spot where we lead all season, but only by a few points.. Which brings me to the current season:

Naughton was pretty much just for the nostalgia, Brayford is currently keeping him out of the team. Definitely an area that requires improvement going forward!

I have, however, rode my luck with youth players. Check out this guy:

 

On the youth intake summary, my Head of Youth Development claimed that he's likely to be one of the most gifted footballers of his generation - I've never seen that before (admittedly I've not played a lot of FM recently!) and I'm not sure I've any way of telling how accurate that is, but he seems to be improving quite rapidly compared to other youngsters so I've started playing him in cup games and sub in league matches.

Here's a guy a scout found in the French 2nd league, was able to get him for about £8m, but had to agree to a release clause of £24.5m, hoping to renegotiate that soon:

Again, not really sure how to tell how far he can go but he's probably the best 18 year old I've seen on the game so far.. really surprised I was able to sign him to be honest!

Have a few other players out on loan from the academy but none as good as the above!

[stevemc]

He looks like a top player in the making, 19 determination and a professional personality too, lightening pace and good finishing/composure, bodes well for developing him.

[r0b]

18 minutes ago, stevemc said:

He looks like a top player in the making, 19 determination and a professional personality too, lightening pace and good finishing/composure, bodes well for developing him.

he knows how good he is though.. won't enter discussions for a new contract as the players aren't good enough.. So will desperately trying to take a leaf out of your book and level up in the summer. Currently ~8th so should have a decent budget.

Cummings scored about 38 in 42 appearances in the league last season but he's been benched for this guy, who's being supported by Mavididi (who's on fire himself this season, 11 goals and 8 assists by Jan)... Maybe I'll have to cash in and revert to Cummings.

How's your season going? Looks like you need the difficulty level bumping up a bit.. Didn't think it would be possible to assemble a team like that for Sheff Utd.

[stevemc]

16 hours ago, r0b said:

he knows how good he is though.. won't enter discussions for a new contract as the players aren't good enough.. So will desperately trying to take a leaf out of your book and level up in the summer. Currently ~8th so should have a decent budget.

Cummings scored about 38 in 42 appearances in the league last season but he's been benched for this guy, who's being supported by Mavididi (who's on fire himself this season, 11 goals and 8 assists by Jan)... Maybe I'll have to cash in and revert to Cummings.

How's your season going? Looks like you need the difficulty level bumping up a bit.. Didn't think it would be possible to assemble a team like that for Sheff Utd.

I've not been on it for a week or so due to personal circumstances, but i'll be back on it soon!

[therealpete]

I'm blading full bore right now, so many blades, so many goals. Billy Sharpe is absolutely stunning this season, we're first in L1 by 4 points. Billy had an absolute smashing game against Port Vale just now,

 

He's made 16 appearances, with 20 goals. 

[pedromanuelpinto]

Hi there,

 

Started a save with the blades, and we dominated the season since the beginning.

Jason Cummings was our main goaler, and the best player of the season. He and Billy Sharp made a good partnership that gave us many goals, and in the next season, I’m being forced to break this partnership.

As we are going to the championship, I’m expecting a more competitive league, with larger teams than us, and I’m thinking of using a 4-5-1, instead of the 4-4-2 that I have implemented last season.

For the second season, my main goal is to have a good middlefield force to defend well and to secure the games. This was what I buy so far:

The tactics is under construction, but I’m thinking of something like this:

 

Any suggestion?

 

The transfer from last season and the new one:

So far, I made some free transfer, and I’m still trying to sell some players (Brasham and Freeman). My budget is 0, and I’m having trouble to keep the salaries bellow our limit.

 

Regards,

PPinto

[therealpete]

Well my side won L1, moving on up to the Championship. Any strategies for staying up in the championship?

[pedromanuelpinto]

Hi,

In first season in the Championship, I think that I’m doing a fine job.

In the begin of February and I’m in 8^th, playing a nice counter attacking football.

Jason Cummings is a fantastica player, but had a 3 months injury and it’s almost fine.

 

If I can suggest is that you defend more than attack, so you can lose less games.

[moyesout]

just started my game.. seems cummmings is a popular guy but i dont have Scotland open and hes not there 

[1967]

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for The Blades not sure why, maybe because they're quite local to me. Anyway I'm looking around for a lower league team to play as and they've caught my eye. Their very good facilities and low(ish) starting position make them ideal for one of my youth challenges.

 

What's the starting squad like? Top prospects? What formations and tactics is the starting squad suited to? I'm playing with January transfer update.

[Matheryoo]

On 20/02/2017 at 21:23, 1967 said:

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for The Blades not sure why, maybe because they're quite local to me. Anyway I'm looking around for a lower league team to play as and they've caught my eye. Their very good facilities and low(ish) starting position make them ideal for one of my youth challenges.

 

What's the starting squad like? Top prospects? What formations and tactics is the starting squad suited to? I'm playing with January transfer update.

You're probably a bit further on through the season now but I still use Louis Reed in the Prem, so I recommend offering a contract without a release clause. Ebanks and O'Connell are both good enough to be top end of the Championship IMO

[Mr_Demus]

Started a game with Sheff U as I always have had some sympathy towards them.

Awful, awful start to the season though. I create so many chances, but my strikers won't score when it matters. 

L1: @Bolton 0-0 - fair result

L1: v Rochdale 0-1 - they scored on a counter attack, then parked the bus. We dominated in every statistic.

L1: v Southend 4-1 - a very good game.

L1: @Millwall 1-5 - winless Millwall decided to show up and absolutely thrash us. Horrible game in every way

 

EFL cup: @Shrewsbury 3-1 - decent game

EFL cup: @Burnley 1-2 - seems a decent result, but it wasn't a fair reflection. Burnley got ridiculously lucky, as we had the most possesion and 3 times the SOT's as they had.

 

Results may not seem THAT bad, but we can't hold on to a lead, so I am afraid this may be a very short career for me.

I try to play possession football with TI's: Look for overlap, play out of defence, retain possession, roam from positions. Flexible mentality. I switch between counter, standard and control based on opponent.

 

Formation is a narrow 442 diamon:

GK: Moore

DR: Freeman (WB D/S)

DL: Lafferty (WB D/S)

DC: Ebanks-Landell and O'Connell (CD D)

 

DM: Basham (DM S)

MC: Carruthers (BWM S)

MC: Fleck (CM A)

AMC: Duffy (AP S)

 

ST: McNulty (AF A)

ST: Sharp (DF S)

 

This formation and way of playing has been very successful in the past for me.

 

I hope things will soon change

 

 

[Matheryoo]

On 28/02/2017 at 09:02, Mr_Demus said:

DR: Freeman (WB D/S)

 

 

Reckon that there's your problem, best to get the RB situation sorted 

[Powermonger]

Slowly turtling my way through my SheffUtd save after restarting my game when the winter update came out, easily getting promotion in the first season. After spending a few days between season 1 and season 2 scouring the transfer market for new players to strengthen the squad, I managed to continue on into season 2. Currently I am in about 14th spot after only about 8 games into the Championship.

During the transfer period I brought in a couple of new defenders, a couple of midfielders and some young strikers to compliment Sharp.

Speaking of Sharp, he is has not scored a single goal for me so far this season despite starting nearly all the games. His average rating is about 6.7 and not coping at all. I'm using the same system as last year too. I might have to drop him for a bit and bring him on as a sub instead until he gets his mojo back.

[matsnor21]

Finally managed to start my annual Sheffield United save. Really fun time to play with, and looking forward to bringing them to the place they belong, in the Premier League. 

Transfers:

Really satisfied with the season. Won the league easy, finishing with 119 points. Also clinched the Checkatrade trophy after beating Southampton U23 in the final.

 

[kingdracon]

I can't seem to sell Kyle Walker's sell-on clause. I go to the "transfers" section and see the list of clauses, but there's no option to sell:

 

 

What might the issue be?

Thanks!

[john1]

9 hours ago, kingdracon said:

I can't seem to sell Kyle Walker's sell-on clause. I go to the "transfers" section and see the list of clauses, but there's no option to sell:

 

 

What might the issue be?

Thanks!

You can't sell it unless option comes up saying you can sell it.

[kingdracon]

3 hours ago, john1 said:

You can't sell it unless option comes up saying you can sell it.

Right, I know. So is it just luck, then, whether I can sell it in any individual save? (This was with the pre-winter-update database--in the winter update, I could sell it just fine.)

[pablo1983]

result against Liverpool in the EFL cup 4th round in my 1st season

 

[hal107]

Always manage Dem Blades and looking forward to David Brooks ratings on FM18, that boy will become a star! Love reading this thread. Good work UTB

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Just started a new save with Sheff Utd, any tips, also anyone got a download of a good 3-5-2 tactic to replicate how Sheff United play in real life please.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Here is the tactic I am thinking of, would this be how they play in real life ?

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Here are my transfers so far and starting line up

 

[hal107]

Good luck, nice formation Wilder would be proud! Samir Carruthers is a good player for the club and can remain in the side even if you get promotion.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Yeah I forgot all about this lol, I managed to stay in the league but only just in my first season in charge and managed to get 12th place in the league in my 2nd season.

I love Sheff Utd's youth system churning out talented youngsters that I sell to big clubs for decent fees and add ons, also O'Connell and Carruthers are awesome, I also signed Lee Angol, Britt Assombalonga and Jai Quintago and they are banging the goals in, I changed my formation as 3-5-2 wasn't working at all, I now play a 4-1-2-2-1 formation, whizzing through the seasons and enjoying it.