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Every Country? Are You Nuts?


smp20

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On 29/03/2017 at 15:29, smp20 said:

After much deliberation I've decided that I'm not going to be continuing with Linkoping, I just can't seem to really enjoy it, even with relative success. I'm going to be delving into a new career in a nation/region/continent I've never managed in before.

Ooooooohhhhhhhh... South America?

I seem to be attempting to convert everyone to South America lately. It's like a cult now. :D

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4 hours ago, noikeee said:

Ooooooohhhhhhhh... South America?

I seem to be attempting to convert everyone to South America lately. It's like a cult now. :D

That would be highly entertaining, and yes, your enthusiasm for South America is infectious. :D

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So it turns out that I can't just leave Sweden. I've got unfinished business here. Updates to follow :)

PS. I have another idea for a save, but it's on the back-foot for now. AFK Linkoping, I have returned!

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On 4/1/2017 at 08:04, BathCity said:

Please don't! This better be an april fools joke...

7 hours ago, smp20 said:

So it turns out that I can't just leave Sweden. I've got unfinished business here. Updates to follow :)

PS. I have another idea for a save, but it's on the back-foot for now. AFK Linkoping, I have returned!

Looks like it was sort of an April Fool's joke then.

 

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9 hours ago, smp20 said:

So it turns out that I can't just leave Sweden. I've got unfinished business here. Updates to follow :)

PS. I have another idea for a save, but it's on the back-foot for now. AFK Linkoping, I have returned!

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20 hours ago, oriole01 said:

Looks like it was sort of an April Fool's joke then.

 

 

17 hours ago, ManUtd1 said:

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13 hours ago, BathCity said:

Great news, looking forward to it!

 

On ‎31‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 10:13, noikeee said:

Ooooooohhhhhhhh... South America?

I seem to be attempting to convert everyone to South America lately. It's like a cult now. :D

Thanks all for your interest - if it was an April fools joke it fooled me as well :D. I'm away from my computer at the moment, but I've got 2025 update. Noikeee unfortunately my idea wasn't for South America...but the idea is on hold anyway :).

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Just read through the whole thread; incredible stuff you've achieved so far. Came across the thread having just started my own Youth challenge / journeyman save, and started in Austria with First Vienna too - sitting in second place a couple of months into the first season at the moment.

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19 hours ago, joethequin said:

Just read through the whole thread; incredible stuff you've achieved so far. Came across the thread having just started my own Youth challenge / journeyman save, and started in Austria with First Vienna too - sitting in second place a couple of months into the first season at the moment.

Thanks @joethequin - great start there with First Vienna. I enjoyed my time there :)

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smp20

Squad Review 2025

Apologies for the lack of detail in the last update, I had started one in more detail whilst in a cafe, lost it, then had to get back to work. The gist is there with the images though, we managed to win the Allsvenskan for the first time :). Here's the team that did it.

Goalkeepers

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Lannholm became our first choice keeper early on in the season and has been  developing very nicely into a very competent keeper.

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He may have lost his place in the first 11, but Olsson is still a good keeper and an excellent second choice. With these two keepers, we have depth between the sticks.

Right Wing Backs

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Samuelsson started as our first choice right wing back and he's done well. We've got excellent depth here.

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Tinnerholm has really blossomed of  late and I fully expect him to be first choice next season. Two great right wing backs.

Left Wing Backs

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On the left we simply don't have the same quality. Though Appelquist has performed well despite his lower ability in comparison to our right side.

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Olsson is one of the 'veterans' of the side having came through the ranks in 2017. He's definitely not Allsvenskan standard, but he's the best back up we've got on the left.

Centre Backs

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Franzen is a quality centre back with plenty of room to grow further. Strange PPM, but he doesn't really get the opportunity to use it.

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Birgersson performs well, though he's pretty average all round.

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We really lack depth at centre back, as proven here with Roos as our best back up. If we'd managed to keep hold of Anton Nyman, we wouldn't have this issue.

Half Backs

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Johansson does well, despite half back not really being his optimum role.

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A reasonable back up option, but overall we lack quality in DM

Centre Midfielders

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Junus continues to excel for us, this time as a box-to-box midfielder after a stint in defensive midfield for the last couple of years. The only remaining player from the original squad, he's made nearly 300 league appearances for the club.

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Larsson is a reasonable all rounder, therefore fits the box-to-box role well despite being very average.

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Axelsson acts as an attacking option from the bench, though it's clear he's more of a striker. He needs plenty of training to become a real box to box player, but physically he's great.

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Gustavsson is our back up creative type, filling in in MC or AMC when needed.

Attacking Mids

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Olofsson is the star of the team, operating on the left side of our AMC trio. I'm not sure we've won any of the games he's missed.

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Lagerberg plays as our advanced playmaker, but it's his pace that is his real asset.

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Ohman emerged as a key first teamer this season, particularly impressing in European games.

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Rahimic has gained the reputation of super-sub after scoring 10 goals in 11 starts and 11 sub apps in the league.

Other news

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More development on the recruitment front.

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Further expansion to our stadium!

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Here's where we're ground-sharing until October. We played our European games here last season.

 

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You have done a great job here and are obviously really good at FM, but does anyone else think this shows how easy FM can be? I mean taking multiple sides up the leagues and winning the champions league inside 10 years with no major investment and using only youth players seems a tad easy for me.

 

Edit: This is my only grievance with FM, that after a period of time the AI doesn't know how to properly manage the big sides.

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Thanks for the messages @nextqprmanager and @rdan.

 

Unfortunately I had some issues with my FM after downloading some graphics files. It just wouldn't get past the loading screen. The only thing that seemed to fix it was deleting all my FM17 related files (graphics, data, games, tactics...everything) and re-installing. Therefore this career thread is being laid to rest like all my FM17 files...

I'm going to be back though with something entirely different, which I hope you will all like.

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  • 1 month later...
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  • 3 weeks later...

Wtf?!?!

Read through the entire thread in awe buzzing to catch up to post about it it's ended?!?! F•ck!!!

Amazing read though and has inspired me to alter my Aberdeen save of champs league winning ambition with just scots to modify it to youth only afew seasons down the road when I've got my facilities in order.

Does the OP have any other threads?

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  • 1 month later...
On 1/30/2017 at 04:39, smp20 said:

Arrigo Sacchi 4-4-2 Tactic

So this tactic is based on the philosophy behind Arrigo Sacchi's 4-4-2 approach. Sacchi played with high intensity and a high defensive line. This enabled him to squeeze the play in the middle of park, and ensured that the distance between his defensive and forward lines was never more than 25 metres. Essentially, this constituted naturally occurring pressing—perhaps one of the first in football with such velocity. Sacchi reasoned that by squeezing the pitch, in order for his opponent to get through his side, they'd need to break down three lines of players in quick succession. Not many managed it. Attacking-wise, there was no one strict way to break down the opposition. Chances were created through build-up/passing play through the middle, crosses from wide and counter-attacks. Sacchi was a proponent of multi-purpose players. Not fond of the specialist, he looked for all of his players to be capable of every job on the field, which is why his interchanging 4-4-2 worked so well.The midfielders were well-rounded and functional in every area, his forwards chased and his defenders pushed up. Teamwork was what his side were predicated on, and it was teamwork that allowed them to become one of the greatest sides in footballing history.

The tactic resembles a 4-4-2, however with a slight change of two DMs as opposed to MCs. This enabled the tactic to be a lot more solid defensively, bringing the lines of the players a lot closer. The Sweeper Keeper does his job sweeping up behind the back line, two FBs on support allowing them the licence to get forward, but not at the expense of their defensive duties. The two DCs act as ball playing defenders, able to pick out those quick counter passes once the ball is won. The DMs act as box-to-box players, supporting the attack and defence. The wingers provide the outlets for the attack, pushing forward once the ball is won, but also have defensive duties in winning the ball back. A complete striker supports the advanced forward, although both are equally important in both assisting and scoring goals. With the emphasis on fluid play and well-rounded, high pressing players a general basis of teamwork, work rate and determination are needed for this tactic to work. Lazy and/or selfish players will ruin the cogs in the machine. There is no target man or playmaker as individual creativity and decisions are important in this tactic."

Any chance you can refresh the link or post a screenie of PIs and TIs?

Interested in your approach - haven't done a 442 on FM17 yet

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I'm back again in Sweden

Hogaborgs BK: 2018 Mid-Season Update

Well, I just couldn't leave it alone. I've flirted with a load of different saves in the last few months but I always come back to this. I have unfinished business in Sweden after my spell with AFK Linkoping. Unfortunately that save has gone to the wayside as it was on an old laptop and I had to delete everything after installing a graphics pack which broke my FM - what a numpty. Hogaborgs were relegated in 2016 to the Swedish 5th tier, so they became eligible for the youth challenge when using a 2017 start on the last patch. They are perfect for this challenge; they are the breeding ground of one of the best ever Swedes Henrik Larsson as well as his junior Jordan Larsson. They also brought through twins Martin and Marcus Olsson as well as Imad Khalili and two of his relations. They like to keep it in the family here...

Despite being renowned as a club that develops and educates its youngsters very well, Hogaborgs have never troubled the top two tiers of Swedish football and have lived in the shadows of Helsingborgs; the biggest side in the city. Now its time to turn them into a top notch academy club that can compete with the best in Sweden and hopefully in Europe. Let's take a look at the club info and facilities:

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Now this is two upgrades on for our junior coaching, so it's looking very very good. We got an upgrade early on, and upon a new chairman being elected we were given the option to improve it once again and it was accepted :).

Results

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We got off to an amazing start with 5 comprehensive straight wins. We've got an exceptionally small squad, 14 in total including 3 goalkeepers, so when suspensions and slight injuries kicked in our first 11 was severely weakened. See the goal from Benajamin Abbe? Yeah, he's a goalkeeper who was playing in centre mid. More to come from him separately :p.

League Table

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We're in with as chance of promotion, which is well ahead of our prediction of 10th. Eskilsminne, our city rivals who we share our ground with, are sitting comfortably atop the table by 10 points. I've just got to keep my fingers crossed that we can keep the injuries and suspensions to a bare minimum. Roll on youth intake day :D

Tactics

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With no DMs in the squad to speak of, I opted for a simple flat 4-4-2 using the same Sacchi principles. The centre midfielders are asked to hold position, while the only other PIs are to roll it out to the full backs from the keeper and all players are ''shoot less''. I hate wasted long shots.

Squad

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Yes, that is the entirety of our squad :eek:. Our star player is youngster Benjamin Tannus who is destined for greater things, hopefully with us. Elsewhere, we have a top notch keeper and a fantastic forward partnership. I will be doing a squad review at the end of the season, but here are the key men:

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Manager Profile

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Here I am, several months on since joining in December 2017 and having already completed my first coaching badge. Still dreadful though :p

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Black Magic: Derrin Brown hired as 'mental' coach

What happens when you hypnotise your reserve keeper and tell him he's Stevie G Circa 2008

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This is one of the reasons I love the youth challenge :D - when else would this ever happen? He didn't even celebrate that Pirlo-esque assist. Just walked off in a nonchalant fashion away from his celebrating team-mates.

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Youth Intake 2018

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A great intake with 3 players ready to step straight into the first 11 and a bunch of others with decent potential.

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Axengren is touted as the best of the group by my HOYD and with good reason. He is very solid defensively so he'll add some much needed steel to our defence.

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Another solid defensive player and also deemed the most ready for the first team, he's a key player already. Hallin will help us shift to my favoured 4-4-2 DM.

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He might not be much of a finisher, but his spark of creativity and his physical presence will make Svensson a real addition to our first team. Likely to rotate into the side to start with.

 

 

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On ‎20‎/‎01‎/‎2017 at 13:19, smp20 said:

 SMP20's Philosophy - Inspired by Sacchi

Ok so I've cheated a little here. I created a tactical overview for my Getafe thread and I went into a fair amount of detail so I've copied and pasted it taking out the squad building as it's not relevant for youth only saves. Chances are this will be my strategy going forward wherever I end up. I'm a sucker for Sacchi-style play and I've used versions of it with success on FM13, 14, 16 and 17 - only on FM15 and for the last patch on FM14 did I deviate and used a strikerless 4-1-2-3 approach.

Tactic

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Additional Individual Instructions: GK - Roll it out, Distribute to Full Backs, DMs - Play more risky passes, All Players - shoot less often

Attacking Strategy

A very fluid, attacking approach lends itself to an aggressive, creative style of play. Our very fluid shape gives each player a high level of creative freedom, which is something that I want to encourage. We play at a high tempo, looking to move the ball forward quickly into dangerous. However, I also don't want to waste possession of the ball, so we aim to keep it on the ground (short) for the most part and play it out from the back. Our primary attacking aim is to get the ball into our strikers who can link up with each other or with the wingers breaking into the final third, hence the fairly narrow approach, but I don't want to be too restrictive in the way we do that and the players have the creative freedom to choose their attacking style. Whether that's getting the ball into the strikers feet asap and playing 1-2s, bombing down the wing and delivering, playing through balls from the DM or any other way they can think of I don't mind, variety is the key. And of course, there is the deadly counter attack.

Defensive Strategy

The combination of the very fluid shape and high line brings the lines of the team together. Also opting for DMs instead of MCs gets rid of any central gaps making it nigh on impossible for teams to break through centrally, providing there are no individual errors. We press very high up the pitch with the aim to win the ball high in the oppositions half. If a team progresses into our half we organise with two solid banks of 4, complete with tight marking giving no player the time or space to exploit us. Our key area for winning the ball is in the DM area, where we press aggressively to prevent the opposition being able to take on our back 4. If, for whatever reason, the opposition can play a long ball over the top / through ball or they dribble past our DM strata then we rely on the pace of our back line (particularly our CBs). Our pressing style acts as a machine, where there is little room for individual error. We spend most of the season concentrating our match prep on 'Defensive Positioning' - Arrigo Sacchi would call this shadow play.

Attacking Strategy in Action

Lethal Counter

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A large amount of our goals will come from deadly counter attacks. Often we will win the ball in the DM strata and launch an attack utilising 2 or more of our front 4.

Wing Play

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With a tactic using two attacking wingers it would be nonsensical to not utilise them fully. Here you can see  our left winger beating his full-back 1v1 and whip a ball into the box. Typical 4-4-2 wing play at it's best.

Front 2 Link Up Play

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Here we have two examples of when our two forwards have linked up to score using a high tempo, pace and good off the ball movement. The complete forward drops deep, playing the advanced forward through on both occasion. The four goals you've seen so far were all from the 4-1 win vs Real Madrid at the Bernebeu.

DM Through Balls

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Here is an example where our DM, Pepelu, plays a risky pass over the top between the full back and central defender. This is a very common way for us to score goals. The DMs don't get that many assists, but they are often very involved in the build up play; the assist to the assist being their speciality.

Defensive Strategy in Action

The High Press

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Here is a great example of our high pressing style. First our strikers put a lot of pressure and win the first time round, lose it, but our DMs are pressing high and win it back. You missed Penaranda tucking it away...

Winning the Ball in DM strata

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Here are some examples of us winning the ball in the DM strata, often leading to deadly counters.

Aggressive Centre-Back Play

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Here is an example of Ro-Shaun Williams playing as an aggressive centre back, leaving the back line to win the ball in the opposition half, recovering when the ball is lost and tackling Inaki Williams shortly after before he can break into the final third. This is typical play from our centre backs.

CBs soaking up Through Balls

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This is where the pace of our centre backs is crucial. If we haven't managed to get pressure on the ball quick enough (no 14) and the opposition can play it through/over the top then our centre backs spring into action and soak it up - as you can see Ilori doing here.

The Machine In Action

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Here you can see our machine in action. Double-teaming (pressure, cover), including tracking runs from the striker (no. 9), stop the team from breaking us down through the middle and the tight marking stops them from being able to play it wide or over the top. We won the ball soon after. These clips are from the 6-0 cup win vs Bilbao.

@ifinnem - this will be what you are looking for :thup:

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So we did it. We managed to achieve promotion at the first time of asking. When we had a few injuries woes it was looking unlikely, however the youth intake really helped us towards it, mainly with adding depth.

League Table

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Eskilsminne, our ground-sharers, actually fared a lot poorer in the second half of the season, although they still managed to comfortably win the league. Victories against our city rivals and Torns proved crucial as we secured 2nd place by just one point.

Results

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Plenty of draws, though the big wins against both Hassleholm sides stick out - the city must hate us. We scraped through into the playoff final decider where I returned to Linkoping and beat my old cities rivals to relegate them and take their place in the 3rd tier. Ahhh Nostalgia.

Player Stats

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In the latter stages of the season we changed to my favoured 4-4-2DM but our best 11 took a nod towards our most used 4-4-2 flat this season. Young left back  Konstantinovic has been plagued with injury, notably picking up a knee problem for 5 weeks and upon his return breaking his leg. Holenstein and Johnson were the highlight of the season, forging a 48 goal, 25 assist partnership. Backup keeper held a very interesting record of having scored more goals than he conceded - he only ever played outfield and never in goal :lol:.

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On to the curse of being able to upgrade to excellent junior coaching. We are bleeding money with our youth setup costing £40k a month. Its a price we need to pay if we want to continue as we are. 

 

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2019 Mid-Season Update

Results

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We had an outstanding start but we've hit a rocky patch. The June losses occured when we were without our defensive mid partnership; we're just not the same without Tannus and Hallin pulling the strings defensively. 

League Table

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We're in a title race and I can see this one being very tight. Given our prediction, I'm very happy with the season so far.

Player Stats

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Player stats are looking good - Jason Johnson has been insane up top but unfortunately both him and Holenstein have picked up long term injuries. We're going to struggle to score goals without that partnership.

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Nice to see you back. I'm amazed the flat 442 with wingers is still working that fine for you, even with the DMs pushed up to MCs - I thought that was a key part of the secret of what made it tick! The 4-4-2 seems ridiculously difficult to get right in this version of FM so I'm all the most amazed. Great job.

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1 hour ago, noikeee said:

Nice to see you back. I'm amazed the flat 442 with wingers is still working that fine for you, even with the DMs pushed up to MCs - I thought that was a key part of the secret of what made it tick! The 4-4-2 seems ridiculously difficult to get right in this version of FM so I'm all the most amazed. Great job.

Cheers. We started well with the flat 4-4-2 but after the blip in August 2018 I switched to 4-4-2-DM and I haven't looked back. Its just that much more solid. The flat provided much better possession, but more high quality chances with DM.

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Youth Intake 2019

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Another good intake with a standout player - fortunately for us and our injuries woes it's a striker! All, apart from Joel Nilsson and Daniel Jakobsson, are being signed.

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Andersson will walk straight into our first 11 and he's already our best striker on paper. I've got high hopes for him.

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Erlandsson will be turned in to a creative-type winger, adding a bit of difference to the pacey dribblers we have there.

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Johansson is a speed merchant and not much else, though he's got some good mental attributes.

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Arvidsson is another speedster who also boasts very high flair. A fairly professional personality should see him develop nicely.

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3 minutes ago, noikeee said:

Decent season. :D You've reached the level equivalent of the Championship, right? 2nd tier?

Yes we're now in the Superettan :D - apologies for the lack of information alongside the screenshots my browser went back and I lost my update :/

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