[FM18] The only way to force Gary Neville back into Football Management

[DavidBeckham]

We signed Ayew on deadline day to provide cover for Niasse but was unable to register him due to the Europa League registration rules (we can only make a maximum of three replacements). As seven new players came in during the January transfer window, we had to miss out on registering four of them. Frustratingly, Ayew threw a tantrum and his morale plunged to a point that I simply couldn't risk to play him.

Hate this so much!

On a more positive note, Costa began repaying part of his huge transfer fee with a great opener against Watford at home \o/

[BoxToBox]

Ahhhh, hate that!

[DavidBeckham]

December, January & February 2017/2018 - Everton F.C.

League

We visited Turf Moor for our first fixture of December and it turned out to be a nervy goal-less draw. Palace came visiting in our next game and Niasse continued to defy my start-of-season critics by bagging the winner in a narrow 1-0 victory. Next, we were unlucky at West Ham and suffered a 0-1 loss after Garbutt failed to stop a cross down his side. We started to make a habit of grinding out 1-0 wins as Tarashaj took his chance against Swansea after I decided to go two upfront in a 5-at-the-back formation. Jamie Vardy went on a crazy two-minute spell and bagged two before half-time in our 1-2 loss against Leicester. Tom Davies then helped us secure a point deep into injury time against the Magpies in a 1-1 draw. Of all the talents Spurs had up their sleeves, it had to be Moussa Sissoko as he bagged the winner in a close 0-1 defeat at Wembley. 

The boys kicked things off with a bang in January as we beat Arsenal 2-1 at home. Barkley was superb in the shadow striker role as he helped himself to two goals after exposing Mertesacker at the back. The Englishman took Niasse's place as the striker was injured and it proved to be a blessing in disguise. Baines bagged the late winner from the spot as we beat Huddersfield 2-1 at home. A dull goal-less draw at Brighton followed before we bagged another winner from the spot at Goodison Park against Stoke. Sigurdsson was the match winner. We travelled to Chelsea in our last fixture of the month and we rescued another point from the spot as Schneiderlin converted another penalty in the 78th minute. 

Moving into February, we picked up another home win against Watford before we fell to a disappointing 0-3 defeat in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. Firminho scored a banger from an acute angle before Coleman got sent off for a wild lunge (I couldn't believe it when he got sent off in the next game in Europe for a similar tackle!). Liverpool stormed to a comfortable win after we went for it late in the game. I was glad to have Bolasie back on my side as he slotted in the winner from a pinpoint Niasse knockdown from Barkley's deep free-kick. 

Moving into the last three months of the season, I was pleased to see us 5th in the table. To my surprise, Spurs are way behind the pack in 10th and Rafa Benitez is now in charge after Pochettino was sacked for their underwhelming form. Guus Hiddink took over at Newcastle and they now sit precariously above the relegation zone. 

FA Cup

We suffered a disappointing 3rd Round FA Cup exit against Fulham after errors from Ashley Williams in both games. Niasse was missing with injury and we badly missed his presence upfront. 

Europa League

The lads wrapped up the group stages with another 1-0 victory after Tom Davies bagged the winner in first-half injury time. We were drawn with Real Sociedad in the 1st Knockout Round and the lads defended resolutely in Spain to bring home a goal-less draw. As mentioned above, Coleman got himself sent off for a second consecutive game and it was always going to be difficult with ten men as we suffered a 1-2 defeat. And just like that, we are out of all the cup competitions

 

 

[BoxToBox]

To be honest, looking at where you are in the league, I wouldn't mind dipping out of the cups and Europa.

[DavidBeckham]

On 12/8/2017 at 23:07, BoxToBox said:

To be honest, looking at where you are in the league, I wouldn't mind dipping out of the cups and Europa.

Very true! It's good that we can focus on finishing as high as we can in the league but I would love a cup run or two to be honest

[DavidBeckham]

Defoe has been unbelievable for Bournemouth on my save  27 goals and 15 assists in 30 appearances! Has he been this good on any of your saves?

[Guest El Payaso]

2 minutes ago, DavidBeckham said:

 

Defoe has been unbelievable for Bournemouth on my save  27 goals and 15 assists in 30 appearances! Has he been this good on any of your saves?

Yeah and Benik Afobe and Joshua King too. They play with 4-4-2 which in FM is super effective. With all due respect Defoe (or any of those 'decent' or 'good' strikers) shouldn't be recording those kind of stats and especially the assist chart is way off especially when you think about Defoe's style of play and also those attributes. He isn't a creator at all.

Good stuff this is like always. I like the look of that league table if you exclude Tottenham and Bournemouth, looks just about right. 

[DavidBeckham]

19 hours ago, El Payaso said:

Yeah and Benik Afobe and Joshua King too. They play with 4-4-2 which in FM is super effective. With all due respect Defoe (or any of those 'decent' or 'good' strikers) shouldn't be recording those kind of stats and especially the assist chart is way off especially when you think about Defoe's style of play and also those attributes. He isn't a creator at all.

Good stuff this is like always. I like the look of that league table if you exclude Tottenham and Bournemouth, looks just about right. 

Not forgetting Wilson too! Agree with you that 4-4-2 is not easy to handle on this version and I've always switched to 3 center-backs formations to stop teams with two upfront. Hopefully the game developers can help to reduce the effectiveness of 4-4-2s as Defoe's stats are way off from how they are in real life. 

Cheers mate! I am definitely pleased with our league position given that we disabled the first transfer window and went into the season with an imbalanced squad  

[Guest El Payaso]

3 hours ago, DavidBeckham said:

Not forgetting Wilson too! Agree with you that 4-4-2 is not easy to handle on this version and I've always switched to 3 center-backs formations to stop teams with two upfront. Hopefully the game developers can help to reduce the effectiveness of 4-4-2s as Defoe's stats are way off from how they are in real life. 

Yep, I'm getting decent results too with a two DM 4-2-3-1 but in terms of simulation this definitely is shaking the gaming world. Had a save with Everton btw in FM 2016 with director of football in control of my transfer business. Ended up in sixty something games unbeaten in middle of season 3. Won everything in season 2. 

[BoxToBox]

23 hours ago, El Payaso said:

and especially the assist chart is way off especially when you think about Defoe's style of play and also those attributes. He isn't a creator at all.

Shots parried by the keeper, off the post, or deflected by a defender, that then get tapped by another player seem to count as assists in FM this year. So it may not be Defoe being traditionally creative.

[Guest El Payaso]

13 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

Shots parried by the keeper, off the post, or deflected by a defender, that then get tapped by another player seem to count as assists in FM this year. So it may not be Defoe being traditionally creative.

I actually played a pre-season friendly against them and by that saw what he was doing.  

[DavidBeckham]

20 hours ago, BoxToBox said:

Shots parried by the keeper, off the post, or deflected by a defender, that then get tapped by another player seem to count as assists in FM this year. So it may not be Defoe being traditionally creative.

I didn't know that! But still, Defoe was absolutely on fire on my save and I can't see him excelling in the same way in real life!

20 hours ago, El Payaso said:

Yep, I'm getting decent results too with a two DM 4-2-3-1 but in terms of simulation this definitely is shaking the gaming world. Had a save with Everton btw in FM 2016 with director of football in control of my transfer business. Ended up in sixty something games unbeaten in middle of season 3. Won everything in season 2. 

That's an unbelievable achievement! I definitely can't see myself winning the Premier League/Champions League next season as the quality in my team is still some way behind the top 6! And I've never trusted the director of football with transfers as I felt I know the type of players who can fit into my tactics better  

[DavidBeckham]

\o/

And we can look forward to a big summer!

[BoxToBox]

Oh yes, brilliant!

[DavidBeckham]

Season Review 2017/2018 - Everton F.C.

League (Qualified for Champions League in 4th)

I was delighted to see us secure 4th place after stacking up the 1-0 wins in the last three months of the season. We kept things solid in games and often snatch the opening goals from set-pieces. Having failed to extend our lead for the rest of the game, we parked the bus in the last ten minutes to hang on to the crucial 1-0 wins. It was a fantastic achievement for everyone associated with the club as we managed to finish above Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs, who all have better quality players than us. Brighton and Newcastle went back down with Crystal Palace. 

Carabao Cup (Knocked out in 3rd Round)

I opted to rest the entire 1st 11 and it was no surprise to see us suffer an early 3rd round exit to the mighty Red Devils. 

FA Cup (Knocked out in 3rd Round)

I'm not happy with the disappointing 3rd round exit after horror shows from Ashley Williams and poor finishing from the lads with Niasse unavailable to play in both ties

Europa League (Knocked out in 1st Knockout Round)

We were great in the group stages and managed to finish top ahead of the Europa League experts Sevilla. A shocking straight red in Coleman's second consecutive game cost us dearly as we were eliminated by Real Sociedad 1-2 on aggregate. 

Top 3 Players

Oumar Niasse

I mentioned at the start of this thread that I did not have a proven goalscorer in the squad and Niasse did his absolute best to prove me wrong. He ended the campaign with 17 goals and 5 assists and in a season where we struggled to find the back of the net, where would we be without his goals? 

Michael Keane

I have repeatedly said that the Englishman is the only decent center-back we have in the squad and when Jagielka retired half-way through the season due to injury, I was praying for Michael to stay fit every game. Thankfully, he did and missed only one league game throughout the campaign. We will be nowhere near the top 4 without Michael Keane and what a solid campaign he has had for us.

Mason Holgate

Perhaps the most surprising choice of all, Mason takes his well-deserved place in my top 3 players of the season. I did not believe he has good enough anticipation or concentration to be my first choice right-back but he made full use of Coleman's injury at the start of the season to cement his spot at right-back. Like Keane, he missed one league game all season and even found time to bag two crucial goals late in games to win us 4 points single-handedly. Well done Mason!

What's next?

At the start of the season, I was hoping we could consolidate our position among the European places and the boys did fantastically well to qualify for the Champions League. It will certainly be too soon to expect us to challenge for the title next year and I would be more than happy if we could keep our place in Europe's top competition. As for now, bring on the summer transfer window! \o/

[DavidBeckham]

Preseason 2018/2019 - Everton F.C.

Board Expectations

English Premier League: Qualify for Europa League

FA Cup: Sixth Round

Carabao Cup: Quarter Final

Champions League: Group Stage

The board expectations are certainly reasonable but we need a bigger squad to go further in the cup competitions. We will use the summer to bring in quality cover to our 1st 11 and hopefully rotate the players more during the course of the season.   

Budgets

Transfer: 51.9 million pounds

Wages: 2 million pounds p/w 

We were handed a sizeable budget to strengthen our squad in our very important season back in the Champions League. The squad could look very different by the end of the transfer window. 

Transfers

Well, we certainly did not expect this. Despite being handed a huge transfer war chest, we did not get to spend a single penny as the outgoing players fetched a total of 83 millions pounds. We were willing to pay big bucks for the likes of Kasper Dolberg and Inigo Martinez but they chose Man United and Real Madrid respectively. The players who came in cost a mere total of 68 million pounds and the board will certainly be happy with our finance management. Coleman had to go as he had one year left on his contract and he's reaching his 30s. Like Coleman, McCarthy had one year left on his contract and according to my medical team, he is rather injury prone. Hence, we did not think it was feasible to extend his contract and I chose to offload him to Arsenal. 

Players In

Hugo Mallo

Holgate did so well for me at right-back last year but he was playing in the conservative FB-Defend role and was often protected by defensive winger Coleman down his flank. Coleman left the club for pastures new and I wanted someone who's more reliable defensively and Hugo most certainly fits the bill. The Spaniard will start the season ahead of Holgate at right-back. 

Michy Batshuayi

Ayew came in, threw a tantrum after finding himself out of our Europa League squad, and there was no way back for him since then. Michy was brought in as Ayew's replacement after the Belgian found himself on the fringes of Chelsea's first team. He will compete with Niasse to play in the very important Advanced Forward role. Niasse got a decent amount of goals for us last campaign but his shots to goal ratio wasn't the best. I'm expecting a better ratio from the Belgian.

Alfie Mawson

We needed someone to replace McCarthy in the midfield anchor role and even though he's currently not natural at DM, I saw qualities in Alfie which could help him nail the DM spot long term. He's a good man marker, very decent in the air and will get lots of game time for us this campaign. 

Mamadou Sakho

This is the transfer I hesitated over the most this summer as I already have three decent center backs in the squad whom I want to give lots of game time to. We decided to go for it in the end as we had the funds in the bag and I foresee us playing three at the back a lot this season.  Liverpool fans won't be pleased about this!

Christian Atsu

I wanted another left-footed option down our wings and Christian is the perfect fit. The Ghanaian is very quick, has good technique and will offer another dimension to our attack. 

Opening Fixtures

Like last season, we face a very tough start to the campaign with the likes of Chelsea, Man United and Spurs to come in the league. We also face opening games in the Champions League and the Carabao Cup in a very busy September. Wish me luck!

[BoxToBox]

Some cracking signings.

[DavidBeckham]

Couldn't resist signing a player of such quality for this sort of money on deadline day 

[Rikulec]

That's a really promising transfer window.

[BoxToBox]

1 hour ago, DavidBeckham said:

Couldn't resist signing a player of such quality for this sort of money on deadline day 

[DavidBeckham]

On 12/22/2017 at 22:10, Rikulec said:

That's a really promising transfer window.

 

On 12/22/2017 at 22:18, BoxToBox said:

Cheers lads!

A really tough group in our 1st season back in Europe's elite competition as we face the finest from Italy & Netherlands. A long trip to Russia awaits too.

 

[DavidBeckham]

August 2019/2020 - Middlesbrough F.C.

League

I wasn't too pleased with the early Carabao Cup exit to Leeds United and we were terrible at penalties. On the bright side, we are still unbeaten in the league and Gestede has looked threatening for us playing as a Target Man. 

Table

We are 4th and I'm just glad that Scholesy is nowhere near another sacking!

[BoxToBox]

You're in cracking form now! Love it!

[Adamm90]

How is Batshuayi performing for you? I signed him in my second season too, but I'm struggling to get anything positive out of him, and now he's complaining about the lack of game time.

[kidthekid]

Great start to the season, Batshuayi seems to be clicking for you

[DavidBeckham]

On 1/12/2018 at 12:32, BoxToBox said:

You're in cracking form now! Love it!

Cheers mate!

On 1/12/2018 at 17:41, Adamm90 said:

How is Batshuayi performing for you? I signed him in my second season too, but I'm struggling to get anything positive out of him, and now he's complaining about the lack of game time.

Batshuayi is leading the line well for me in the Advanced Forward role and he is proving to be an upgrade on Niasse. We aren't the most attacking team and he has a decent record so far (6 goals & 2 assists in 12 starts). He's certainly good enough for a team which just broke into the Champions League places!

On 1/13/2018 at 13:52, kidthekid said:

Great start to the season, Batshuayi seems to be clicking for you

Cheers, great to see you around mate! \o/

[Adamm90]

4 minutes ago, DavidBeckham said:

Batshuayi is leading the line well for me in the Advanced Forward role and he is proving to be an upgrade on Niasse. We aren't the most attacking team and he has a decent record so far (6 goals & 2 assists in 12 starts). He's certainly good enough for a team which just broke into the Champions League places!

After seeing how he was performing for you, I decided to give him another chance. Threw him upfront, alongside Sandro, and he’s now has 15 goals in 15 starts (in the league). Amazing turnaround from him!

[DavidBeckham]

15 hours ago, Adamm90 said:

After seeing how he was performing for you, I decided to give him another chance. Threw him upfront, alongside Sandro, and he’s now has 15 goals in 15 starts (in the league). Amazing turnaround from him!

That's fantastic to hear! I went two upfront against Swansea as they were playing three at the back in our last league game and he bagged a brace! He seems to be more effective in a two 

[DavidBeckham]

[kidthekid]

Yikes!!

[Rikulec]

Balls.

[DavidBeckham]

Unbelievable!! I can't believe these injuries are happening to me one after another, and they are all injuries sustained in games as well

[Guest El Payaso]

That's tough. It's strange as I have always had far too few injuries on every Football Manager game that I have played. Only Luciano Narsingh seems to be having trouble with small injuries in my save with Swansea.  *JinxJinx*

[Carninho]

I know when FM18 was first released this message board was full of complaints about player injuries. 

I saw the same with my initial saves too, but nothing recently following the last couple of patches. 

I know things are going well in your save, but  you might need to think about restarting as you will be hit with these long term injuries throughout your save, as the patch doesnt look to be one of those that corrects game saves :/

[Adamm90]

7 minutes ago, Carninho said:

I know when FM18 was first released this message board was full of complaints about player injuries. 

I saw the same with my initial saves too, but nothing recently following the last couple of patches. 

I know things are going well in your save, but  you might need to think about restarting as you will be hit with these long term injuries throughout your save, as the patch doesnt look to be one of those that corrects game saves :/

I don't think it's relative to the patch. I had an almost injury-free first half to my second season, and in January I had a few first-team players complaining about the lack of game time, so I allowed a few to leave. Shortly after that, I had an injury crisis and was forced to use a few from my under-23 squad.

[DavidBeckham]

On 1/17/2018 at 20:08, El Payaso said:

That's tough. It's strange as I have always had far too few injuries on every Football Manager game that I have played. Only Luciano Narsingh seems to be having trouble with small injuries in my save with Swansea.  *JinxJinx*

The amount of injuries decreased significantly since I paid closer attention to the medical centre. However, when I get one, it's often really serious and it's frustrating  for the development of my players

On 1/17/2018 at 23:51, Carninho said:

I know when FM18 was first released this message board was full of complaints about player injuries. 

I saw the same with my initial saves too, but nothing recently following the last couple of patches. 

I know things are going well in your save, but  you might need to think about restarting as you will be hit with these long term injuries throughout your save, as the patch doesnt look to be one of those that corrects game saves :/

On 1/18/2018 at 00:01, Adamm90 said:

I don't think it's relative to the patch. I had an almost injury-free first half to my second season, and in January I had a few first-team players complaining about the lack of game time, so I allowed a few to leave. Shortly after that, I had an injury crisis and was forced to use a few from my under-23 squad.

I really hope the patch corrected this problem as I've spent so much time on the save that I'm very reluctant to restart. Can anyone else confirm? 

 

[Carninho]

On 28/10/2017 at 00:42, Vinnyvagus77 said:

Good luck!

 

BTW - Would it not be wise to start a career once the full game is out rather than the Beta?  Too many things that need resolving before a career can begin.  Just my thoughts but wondered what you and the other thought?

 

For example - Injuries tend to be higher during the beta's from what I've read (and experienced) in the past.

 

8 hours ago, DavidBeckham said:

The amount of injuries decreased significantly since I paid closer attention to the medical centre. However, when I get one, it's often really serious and it's frustrating  for the development of my players

I really hope the patch corrected this problem as I've spent so much time on the save that I'm very reluctant to restart. Can anyone else confirm? 

 

When i read this i thought Ooo hang on a minute, he's right.

I know my early saves were flooded with injuries and the forum went crazy for it too. I never stuck with a long term save for various reasons till a few months after release.

The injury issue has gone in all the long term saves I've started, but its rare that patches fix a current savegame, and the fact that you are having multiple long terms injuries still make me think you always will in your current save. If it was me i'd 100% start again

 

On a side note I was inspired by your old David Beckham save having really enjoyed following it and  Ispent aged looking for a similar story arc I could follow in the last FM. An old legend who I could follow the career off like you did with DB. Mido & Jay Jay Okocha were a couple that looked good on paper that I wish i'd stuck with. I would enjoy reading another save of yours that followed a playing career again... (not that i'm telling you to abandon this Gary Neville/Everton save)

[DavidBeckham]

On 1/19/2018 at 20:57, Carninho said:

 

When i read this i thought Ooo hang on a minute, he's right.

I know my early saves were flooded with injuries and the forum went crazy for it too. I never stuck with a long term save for various reasons till a few months after release.

The injury issue has gone in all the long term saves I've started, but its rare that patches fix a current savegame, and the fact that you are having multiple long terms injuries still make me think you always will in your current save. If it was me i'd 100% start again

 

On a side note I was inspired by your old David Beckham save having really enjoyed following it and  Ispent aged looking for a similar story arc I could follow in the last FM. An old legend who I could follow the career off like you did with DB. Mido & Jay Jay Okocha were a couple that looked good on paper that I wish i'd stuck with. I would enjoy reading another save of yours that followed a playing career again... (not that i'm telling you to abandon this Gary Neville/Everton save)

I've checked with some of the other users and they told me that the problem with long term injuries should be resolved in a current saved game. Lets hope this is true!

Cheers mate! Why not start a thread on the forums so that we can all follow your progress? It will be twice as fun, I promise I'm planning to stick to this save long term and it should take me around clubs like the old Becks save. Hopefully you will enjoy it as much!

[DavidBeckham]

'Hat'shuayi \o/

[DavidBeckham]

I know he's expensive but I needed someone to replace Sigurdsson and his set-piece prowess following the Icelander's long-term injury. Can't wait to see how he does for us!

[BoxToBox]

I dunno, I think that's a killer deal for Eriksen coming into his prime. 39m isn't much in English football any more.

[DavidBeckham]

23 hours ago, BoxToBox said:

I dunno, I think that's a killer deal for Eriksen coming into his prime. 39m isn't much in English football any more.

Cheers mate! He put in a transfer request as he was moaning for Champions League football after Spurs dropped down to Europa League. I'm quite sure he will cost tons more if he wasn't on the transfer list! 

[DavidBeckham]

I couldn't turn down the chance to sign a striker of his quality! Similar to Eriksen's situation, he was on the transfer list as Arsenal wasn't in the Champions League and even though I had to sell Helder Costa to raise funds, I went all out for the French striker. I'm excited! 

[Maw74]

No no no not our Great Dane. 

That isn't expensive anyway, especially in today's market, What did Everton pay for  Sigurdsson?  £50m

[BoxToBox]

8 hours ago, DavidBeckham said:

I couldn't turn down the chance to sign a striker of his quality! Similar to Eriksen's situation, he was on the transfer list as Arsenal wasn't in the Champions League and even though I had to sell Helder Costa to raise funds, I went all out for the French striker. I'm excited! 

These transfers man!

2 hours ago, Maw74 said:

No no no not our Great Dane. 

That isn't expensive anyway, especially in today's market, What did Everton pay for  Sigurdsson?  £50m

£40m plus £5m in add-ons.

[DavidBeckham]

On 24/01/2018 at 17:56, Maw74 said:

No no no not our Great Dane. 

That isn't expensive anyway, especially in today's market, What did Everton pay for  Sigurdsson?  £50m

Yes, given that we paid 50m for Sigurdsson, i had to go for the Great Dane at a lower price! This was because of Sigurdsson's long term injury too!

22 hours ago, BoxToBox said:

These transfers man!

£40m plus £5m in add-ons.

They didn't start well though are you facing the same problem with your new signings? Always thought they need around half a season to play at their best. 

[BoxToBox]

32 minutes ago, DavidBeckham said:

They didn't start well though are you facing the same problem with your new signings? Always thought they need around half a season to play at their best. 

Not as much, but it happens. Some start on fire, more take a few months to get in the swing.

Especially defensively, I find they're not as good until they learn the language. Perhaps it's something to do with communication with the keeper organising lines?

[DavidBeckham]

23 hours ago, BoxToBox said:

Not as much, but it happens. Some start on fire, more take a few months to get in the swing.

Especially defensively, I find they're not as good until they learn the language. Perhaps it's something to do with communication with the keeper organising lines?

Eriksen had so many chances to score in his first start but fluffed his lines. The winning goal came from an own goal from his mishit shot 6 yards out. He ended with a 6.4. I'm getting increasingly reluctant to play new signings no matter how good they are! 

I definitely noticed the same about defenders and goalkeepers. Even for midfielders who don't know English, they tend to dive in twofooted and get themselves sent off on their debut. I rarely see new signings settling in and playing at their best in their first few games. Dynamics must have caused this.

[BoxToBox]

I had a newbie dive into a leg breaker on his debut before, had the PPM does not dive into tackles. 

[Guest El Payaso]

For my team defenders Lemos and Ricca were excellent straight from the start while with the best of the signings, Viera, started slower but is now one of the best players in the league.