FM18: Chelsea FC

[PitchPosh]

Welcome to the FM18 Chelsea Club Thread

Unlike previous versions of the club thread, this year's post will leave out the analysis of the club's squad, tactics, transfers, etc. Instead, the discussion of these topics by those who are managing Chelsea is what will fill the thread. To those of you who may be looking to take control of the club for the first time, or the first time in a long time, I leave you with this:

The appointment of Antonio Conte has brought success and change about equally and rapidly. Though the squad is thin at the start, the squad isn't short of quality by any means and the room available is an opportunity for those who'd like to tailor a talented squad to their playing style and vision. With the financial backing of a mega-money league TV deal and the pocketbook of well-known owner Roman Abramovich, Chelsea is ready for you to take control and continue to guide the club to more of the success it's grown accustomed to in recent years.

Club Info

Transfer Budget: £64M (Minimum Expectations) - £83.3M (Highest Expectations)

Wage Budget: £3.02-3.46M p/w

Current Wages: £2.67M p/w

Club Philosophies: Play Possession Football, Play Attacking Football

Key Players: Eden Hazard, N'golo Kante, Thibaut Courtois, Willian, Cesc Fabregas, Cesar Azpilicueta

Hot Prospects: Charly Musonda, Tammy Abraham, Trevoh Chalobah, Callum Hudson-Odoi

Potential Formations: 4-2-3-1 (Wide), 4-1-2-3

 

More To Follow

 

 

[bucket]

Haha, you started a new thread but it’s all gone quiet. Anyway not long till the full game is out. Are people starting again? I will be. First thing I’ll do is sort the back room staff out. Sometimes I marvel at how bad the coaching really is....!!

What positions do you think we need strengthening?

what youth players are you looking to play/promote? 

What formation you choosing? 

What players are you looking to target to bring into the club? 

[mhaffy]

I too am planning to start a new game; hopefully it will be a long career save and I will avoid being sacked!

My first task will be to strengthen backroom staff-recruitment,medical and coaching. Definitely scope to dramatically improve all of these areas swiftly before the season starts-I tend to start my game in mid June by choosing from France drop down options to give me more time.

On player side we have plenty of potential coming through but not ready yet. I want to try using a two striker tactic for a change and am planning to buy Belotti. Cahill's best days, in my opinion, are behind him and I will probably recruit a good young prospect that is ready to be gradually introduced to first team - de Ligt a possibility. Doubt if I will have much spare in transfer kitty after these two buys. 

I will probably give Charly some game time and looking forward to getting Tammy back for 18/19 season. Other prospects some way off being ready for first team action in 17/18.

Regarding tactics I am currently toying with 4312 and an asymmetrical 433 with 2 strikers and Hazard playing as IF(A) in AML slot, sitting narrower and playing more risky passes. Time will tell whether things work out in practice!

Good luck all... 

[bucket]

1 hour ago, mhaffy said:

I too am planning to start a new game; hopefully it will be a long career save and I will avoid being sacked!

My first task will be to strengthen backroom staff-recruitment,medical and coaching. Definitely scope to dramatically improve all of these areas swiftly before the season starts-I tend to start my game in mid June by choosing from France drop down options to give me more time.

On player side we have plenty of potential coming through but not ready yet. I want to try using a two striker tactic for a change and am planning to buy Belotti. Cahill's best days, in my opinion, are behind him and I will probably recruit a good young prospect that is ready to be gradually introduced to first team - de Ligt a possibility. Doubt if I will have much spare in transfer kitty after these two buys. 

I will probably give Charly some game time and looking forward to getting Tammy back for 18/19 season. Other prospects some way off being ready for first team action in 17/18.

Regarding tactics I am currently toying with 4312 and an asymmetrical 433 with 2 strikers and Hazard playing as IF(A) in AML slot, sitting narrower and playing more risky passes. Time will tell whether things work out in practice!

Good luck all... 

I’ve stopped playing for a couple of days. Planning to do a long night Saturday night. Missus and kids out, apart from 8 month old. So I’ll get him to sleep early doors and then start my save. I’ve even offered to do the night feed lol! 

I like that idea Mhaffy about starting earlier. Never thought of that myself! I might do disabled transfers to start with, then I can properly decide if I want to sign Alex Sandro or whether to continue with Alonso. Still a toss up between Icardi and Belotti for me. Belotti will be cheaper in terms of fee, signing on, agents and wages. All depends on how much I get given in the January window. 

Agree with Cahill. He’s against you straight away from some reason and never wants to help in anyway, with new signings. So he’ll be one of the first players out. 

Charly I’ll keep in and around like yourself, even though he’s starting to pee me off in real life. Expecting to play when he’s too weak. Needs to build up a bit more for my liking! Got too much mouth on him too. 

 

[masta p]

It never hurts to ask the boss for more money  

I still don't have the game, do you know how are Zouma and Christensen this year? Zouma used to be first choice for DC in FM15. 

 

 

[mhaffy]

Christensen v good and Zouma worth keeping when back from loan. Christensen seems to be 5* potential (5th star is black though) with Zouma 4* potential. Not sure what there game settings are regarding PA (I never use editor) and it could be their PA varies when you start a game.

 

[masta p]

31 minutes ago, mhaffy said:

Christensen v good and Zouma worth keeping when back from loan. Christensen seems to be 5* potential (5th star is black though) with Zouma 4* potential. Not sure what there game settings are regarding PA (I never use editor) and it could be their PA varies when you start a game.

 

Thanks, good to know. And glad to hear it. 

I suppose these two guys will be the backbone of my defense for the years to come. Having Thibaut Courtios at 25, Dave at 28, N'golo Kante at 26, Eden Hazard at 26 and Alvaro Morata at 25 gives us quite a few years with quality players along side the two DCs. I'll have to wait a bit to see the likes of Antonio Rudiger (25yrs), Marcos Alonso (26yrs), Davide Zappacosta (25yrs) and Bakayoko (23yrs) and their ability to improve even further, but if they somewhat good, get enough play time and train well, we have a defense line (GK, DC, DR/L, DM) that won't need much improvements. 

I'll try to stick with my tactic so far and see how it goes: 

--------ST--------

AML-------AMR

-----MC-MC----

-------DM--------

DL-DC-DC-DR

-------GK---------

 

This leaves me with aging Fabregas, Willian and Pedro which will need to be replaced in a couple of seasons I guess. And, ofcourse, Cahill and David Luiz which I'll probably try to sell in the end of the first season when I will have Christensen, Zouma and Rudiger maybe. I wonder if there's someone in the reserve or youth squads capable to develop enough in this timeline to cover these positions. Musonda for MC? Kenedy for AMR? Moses is still 26, but is he good enough to play in the AML/R position when there are Hazard, Pedro and Willian in the squad? Or should I try to train him to DL/R? 

What are some good prospects from the youngsters?

Tomas Kalas - DC?

Ola Aina - DC (not sure about his position really)? 

Ruben Loftus-Cheek - MC? 

Tammy Abraham - ST? 

Izzy Brown - ST? 

 

So many questions...  

[bucket]

Only one player who’d I think could have a career at chelsea is Tammy Abraham. All the others not chelsea quality. Kalas - championship level, Aina - championship level, RLC - Mid-lower prem level, Brown - Mid-lower premier level. (Just my opinion). Also I don’t rate Rudiger on this FM neither. I signed him on 17 and he was a let down. Doubt his stats have been raised that much and the chelsea researcher wouldn’t have touched him yet as too early to judge. But when he did play in a few games/saves that I started on here, he was below par. 

[mhaffy]

9 minutes ago, bucket said:

Only one player who’d I think could have a career at chelsea is Tammy Abraham.

Depending on random element of PA for various players at start of a game, you may have several other youngsters who could become quality players. In some game set ups Hudson-Odoi has better PA than Tammy. I have seen game set up where Trevoh Chalobah is 4 1/2 star PA, Hudson Odoi 4/1/2, Daishawn Redan 5 star, Chartly 4 1/2 star. Tammy 5 star on some but not always. Izzy Brown, Kasey Palmer, Barry Gilmour,George McEachran often 4 stars (albeit 1 black). Initial game set up can be quite variable. May be worth generating a few options and deciding which set up to base long term save on......

If you are planning to devote a lot of time to career save, then you may as well give yourself a good base start point.

Boy the hours seem to be passing slowly as release approaches.........

[bluey1905]

Hi all, another Chelsea nut here.

I've been playing FM/CM for years, always as Chelsea, with varying degrees of success, some good times, some not so good. Much like real life in fact!

I always seem to lose a bit of enthusiasm after about 5 seasons, not sure why, so this time I am going to try a keep my save going all year and build a team to rule Europe for the next decade. Unless Uncle Roman has different ideas of course!

After replacing a few faces in the current squad, Cahill, Cesc, Willian etc, I am going to focus on younger players who can serve the club long into the future. Luckily we have some decent younger players who should be good for a few years.

In the coaching dept we seem pretty light, so a definite improvement is needed there (good idea mhaffy about starting the season early)

So I may join in here if that's ok, or if it goes terribly I may disappear without trace licking my wounds.

COME ON CHELS

[mhaffy]

1 hour ago, bluey1905 said:

So I may join in here if that's ok, or if it goes terribly I may disappear without trace licking my wounds.

COME ON CHELS

Fingers crossed it's not the latter...good luck......not long to wait now hopefully........

[Santa Claus]

9 hours ago, mhaffy said:

Cahill's best days, in my opinion, are behind him and I will probably recruit a good young prospect that is ready to be gradually introduced to first team - de Ligt a possibility.

What's Gimenez from Atletico in this year's incarnation like? Used to be my favourite CB signing in previous year.

[mhaffy]

29 minutes ago, Santa Claus said:

What's Gimenez from Atletico in this year's incarnation like? Used to be my favourite CB signing in previous year.

In my Beta save (only played up until mid August my scouts said Gimenez would be a quality signing 3*CA, 4*PA with scouting score of 79. From what I saw on another site i think he may hive higher injury proneness compared to FM17....

[PitchPosh]

Hey all, glad to see some momentum here in the thread! Sorry I haven't made good on my promise to beef it up a bit, but I've been slammed at the office and my free time has been taken up by some freelance work. I'll be installing the game on my laptop tonight and hopefully get some time in over the weekend!

Looking forward to seeing how everyone sorts things out!

 

[mhaffy]

Wondering if final release has changed PA of players. Tried several "start games" and initial PA/quality not as good as beta for Chelsea. Yet to see Tammy be rated higher than 3.5* including 1 black! Maybe unlucky with random generator.......

[xinsomniacboix]

I just finished my first season, ultimately finishing third in the league, getting knocked out in the semifinals of the champions league as well as the FA Cup. Unfortunately I think this is one of the worst Chelsea teams I've played with in FM in the last ten years. There's the obvious standout players like Hazard, Kante, Azpilicueta, Willian, and Courtois, and then there's a significant drop in quality outside of the starting 11. Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Rudiger, Cahill, Zappacosta are all very average. Moses is a workhorse with no end product. Alonso seems to be very underrated stats wise as well. Fabregas doesn't have the physicals to play in the AM strata and is a liability in defense in the CM strata. Morata is more of a poacher compared to Drogba or Costa and not suited to play up front alone.

I brought in Alex Sandro, Mihilovic-Savic, Moussa Dembele, and Franco Vasquez in my first season. There's definitely more rebuilding to be done going forward.

What does everyone think the best tactical setup for Chelsea is?

[mhaffy]

14 minutes ago, xinsomniacboix said:

What does everyone think the best tactical setup for Chelsea is?

Still trying to get initial "set up" i am happy with for long term save. Planning to try 2 striker tactic though. What did you use when finishing 3rd? What potentail does Tammy have in your game?

[bucket]

21 minutes ago, xinsomniacboix said:

I just finished my first season, ultimately finishing third in the league, getting knocked out in the semifinals of the champions league as well as the FA Cup. Unfortunately I think this is one of the worst Chelsea teams I've played with in FM in the last ten years. There's the obvious standout players like Hazard, Kante, Azpilicueta, Willian, and Courtois, and then there's a significant drop in quality outside of the starting 11. Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Rudiger, Cahill, Zappacosta are all very average. Moses is a workhorse with no end product. Alonso seems to be very underrated stats wise as well. Fabregas doesn't have the physicals to play in the AM strata and is a liability in defense in the CM strata. Morata is more of a poacher compared to Drogba or Costa and not suited to play up front alone.

I brought in Alex Sandro, Mihilovic-Savic, Moussa Dembele, and Franco Vasquez in my first season. There's definitely more rebuilding to be done going forward.

What does everyone think the best tactical setup for Chelsea is?

All I know is that is some proper decent players you’ve bought in mate. Totally agree on this being one of the strangest Chelsea squads in a long time. Absolutely no depth until 2nd season. Good luck with the rest of the save. Gonna start mine tomorrow. But have transfers off for the first window 

[mhaffy]

Spent enough time trying "initial set ups" and have decided to go with 1st one generated. Tammy only 3.5* but some good potential to nurture if I manage to hold on to my job. Initial ratings as follows for my long term save:

Need to focus on backroom staff now as Recruitment and Medical have scope for significant improvement:

From above it would seem coaching set up, apart from GK, is top notch........but that too needs improving:

Time to get to work improving backroom team and recruiting my transfer targets - Belotti and de Ligt!

[PitchPosh]

1 hour ago, mhaffy said:

Spoiler

 

Spent enough time trying "initial set ups" and have decided to go with 1st one generated. Tammy only 3.5* but some good potential to nurture if I manage to hold on to my job. Initial ratings as follows for my long term save:

Need to focus on backroom staff now as Recruitment and Medical have scope for significant improvement:

From above it would seem coaching set up, apart from GK, is top notch........but that too needs improving:

Time to get to work improving backroom team and recruiting my transfer targets - Belotti and de Ligt!

 

 

Tammy, Musonda, and Chalobah are the only players looking like they may have a shot at getting into the squad for me. Hoping for some great youth to come through the club!

I started my save last night and began to sort out my staff. I usually like to try to keep the majority of the coaches from the nation I'm managing in, but there aren't too many great English coaches. Like usual, I'm finding a bunch of really good Italian coaches. 

As for tactics, I think I'll be sticking to my 4-2-3-1. I really like the way Pep has this City side playing IRL (who doesn't?) so I think I'm going to try to get something like that implemented, which I'm sure will be easier said than done.

Still have some scouting to be done as far as transfer targets go. Excited to keep this save rolling!

[mhaffy]

Taking me ages to decide what to do with staff! Have not pressed continue button once yet. Looking for good Director of Football to take over Emenalo role and relieve me of task of sorting out moves for unwanted players etc! Always very painful and slow at start....

[PitchPosh]

1 minute ago, mhaffy said:

Taking me ages to decide what to do with staff! Have not pressed continue button once yet. Looking for good Director of Football to take over Emenalo role and relieve me of task of sorting out moves for unwanted players etc! Always very painful and slow at start....

I hear you, I pressed continue once out of habit, but haven't since. I really only have it in me to do all of this setting-up once, so I'm trying to make it count! I completely forgot that Emenalo will need to be replaced. I'll add it to my list

[bucket]

3 hours ago, xinsomniacboix said:

I just finished my first season, ultimately finishing third in the league, getting knocked out in the semifinals of the champions league as well as the FA Cup. Unfortunately I think this is one of the worst Chelsea teams I've played with in FM in the last ten years. There's the obvious standout players like Hazard, Kante, Azpilicueta, Willian, and Courtois, and then there's a significant drop in quality outside of the starting 11. Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Rudiger, Cahill, Zappacosta are all very average. Moses is a workhorse with no end product. Alonso seems to be very underrated stats wise as well. Fabregas doesn't have the physicals to play in the AM strata and is a liability in defense in the CM strata. Morata is more of a poacher compared to Drogba or Costa and not suited to play up front alone.

I brought in Alex Sandro, Mihilovic-Savic, Moussa Dembele, and Franco Vasquez in my first season. There's definitely more rebuilding to be done going forward.

What does everyone think the best tactical setup for Chelsea is?

All I know is that is some proper decent players you’ve bought in mate. Totally agree on this being one of the strangest Chelsea squads in a long time. Absolutely no depth until 2nd season. Good luck with the rest of the save. Gonna start mine tomorrow. But have transfers off for the first window. Going to try and sneak in doing the back room staff tonight. Just don’t tell the wife!

[bucket]

1 hour ago, PitchPosh said:

I hear you, I pressed continue once out of habit, but haven't since. I really only have it in me to do all of this setting-up once, so I'm trying to make it count! I completely forgot that Emenalo will need to be replaced. I'll add it to my list

Emanelo is off to Monaco I believe. I think I signed their DOF if I remember correctly. Could be getting that completely wrong! I did use to like hiring Frank Arneson back, not sure what he’s like anymore. 

[mhaffy]

7 minutes ago, bucket said:

I did use to like hiring Frank Arneson back, not sure what he’s like anymore. 

Can't find Frank in my current save....maybe in a nation i have not loaded?

[PitchPosh]

7 minutes ago, bucket said:

Emanelo is off to Monaco I believe. I think I signed their DOF if I remember correctly. Could be getting that completely wrong! I did use to like hiring Frank Arneson back, not sure what he’s like anymore. 

That's what the rumor is. I usually replaced him anyways, but I just completely forgot he had left. I usually snag Les Reed (I think) from Southampton. 

[bucket]

Yep me too. Or used to give him a season as his contract is quite high if I remember correctly. Wasn’t Frank at Hamburg or did he leave there? His brother was a very good scout in the game. 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Steve Walsh from Everton would be a better choice as DOF.

[mhaffy]

Boy that's been a long slog....up to 23rd June now. 13 staff out, 18 in and Belotti and de Ligt eventually signed. Had to pay more in transfer fees and wages to get both players than in Beta. Beta nearly always seems "easier" than full game.......Time to organise friendlies know and set up tactics followeed by training and tutoring when players return from their holidays.....Start of saves is soooooooo painful. Hopefully worth the effort.

[bucket]

13 minutes ago, mhaffy said:

Boy that's been a long slog....up to 23rd June now. 13 staff out, 18 in and Belotti and de Ligt eventually signed. Had to pay more in transfer fees and wages to get both players than in Beta. Beta nearly always seems "easier" than full game.......Time to organise friendlies know and set up tactics followeed by training and tutoring when players return from their holidays.....Start of saves is soooooooo painful. Hopefully worth the effort.

haha. Ive got the joys of doing that soon. So what staff went in and out?

[mhaffy]

51 minutes ago, bucket said:

haha. Ive got the joys of doing that soon. So what staff went in and out?

Went for experienced DoF with a Professional personality - Pantaleo Corvino.

For HoYD my "go to" Model Professional Bernhard Peters! Good coach too.

Recruitment Team now improved and 2nd in all categories, Best Medical Team

Coaching quality a lot better now (apart from GK where 3 skills now to train!)

Not perfect and scope to improve later, but good enough to get going!

Beta tactics and Corner routines I set up in Beta have to be created from scratch now....different file format in full game vs Beta....zzzzzzzzz

PS Enjoy your turn over weekend.....

[bucket]

AAAHHHHHHHH got to start again as didn't realise that if you don't have a country loaded you don't see the staff. Ie didn't have the Scottish league loaded so no Celtic staff, not even Brendan Rogers! AHHH

[mhaffy]

3 minutes ago, bucket said:

AAAHHHHHHHH got to start again as didn't realise that if you don't have a country loaded you don't see the staff. Ie didn't have the Scottish league loaded so no Celtic staff, not even Brendan Rogers! AHHH

Cant you just add Scottish league(s) now via preferences or does that not load staff?

[bucket]

Only adds a new country/league at end of season... oh F !!

[bucket]

Only a few hours left at work, then my all nighter starts. Can’t wait! How’s everyone doing in their save? I’ve just seen some user sign Sanchez on a free. But....

Signing on a fee £8.5m

Wages: £350,000 

Apperance bonus £63,000

Goal bonus: £59,000

Yearly increase: 10%. 

Thanks but no thanks!!

[mhaffy]

5 minutes ago, bucket said:

Thanks but no thanks!!

Agreed!!!! Looking forward to hearing how your "all nighter" goes. I have still not played a match. Currently working through individual training for every player at club.....Tutoring after that....Just hope that all this time invested leads to a successful long term save.....time will tell.

[bucket]

What manager badges and experience did you set yourself? I understand if you started with a low reputation in both, you don’t get much time to impress.!!!

[mhaffy]

1 minute ago, bucket said:

What manager badges and experience did you set yourself? I understand if you started with a low reputation in both, you don’t get much time to impress.!!!

With Chelsea I always go with badge recommended for club to give myself a fighting chance and allocate points to give myself 5* coaching in several areas.

[PitchPosh]

I've just completed my first signing of the season only a few days in, with Jose Gaya joining the club. Really surprised you're able to get him for nothing. £15m + 15% of future profit. Moses made way to fund the deal selling him on for £14m. Not a bad bit of business, I think. 

[mhaffy]

1 hour ago, PitchPosh said:

've just completed my first signing of the season only a few days in, with Jose Gaya joining the club. Really surprised you're able to get him for nothing. £15m + 15% of future profit. Moses made way to fund the deal selling him on for £14m. Not a bad bit of business, I think. 

Sounds like good trade - i cannot see Victor getting much game time! In my save Jat Da Silva is 4.5* PA so hoping to use Marcos/Baba while I bring Jay through to save spending.....

[georgey]

Sooo... I'm starting my Chelsea game and am currently sorting out training / staff / tutoring etc

I then start scouting transfer targets and i ask my board for money , they say no and i say that our rivals might use our weakness against us.... Roman then ups the budget to 131m  

Time to go shopping !!

[bucket]

1 minute ago, georgey said:

Sooo... I'm starting my Chelsea game and am currently sorting out training / staff / tutoring etc

I then start scouting transfer targets and i ask my board for money , they say no and i say that our rivals might use our weakness against us.... Roman then ups the budget to 131m  

Time to go shopping !!

Just be careful about the money in the bank!!! I'm just finishing up my backroom staff, I've turned off the first window, so looking forward to January.

[georgey]

7 minutes ago, bucket said:

Just be careful about the money in the bank!!! I'm just finishing up my backroom staff, I've turned off the first window, so looking forward to January.

I was going to disable first budget but i forgot haha !  I won't go too mad anyway as i want to bring through some of the younger lads although they are out on loan currently.  Will sign a couple of young but good players , perhaps one big name. 

[mhaffy]

9 minutes ago, georgey said:

Sooo... I'm starting my Chelsea game and am currently sorting out training / staff / tutoring etc

I then start scouting transfer targets and i ask my board for money , they say no and i say that our rivals might use our weakness against us.... Roman then ups the budget to 131m  

Time to go shopping !!

Hope the board don't raise season expectations after upping your transfer kitty.....Spend wisely...Keep us posted!

[PitchPosh]

I'll be thinking about January targets while I'm at an engagement party tonight, ha! 

Thethread has some good momentum, glad everyone is getting settled in! Hoping to get to the community shield by this evening!

[bucket]

Just into my second friendly. drew 0-0 with Bayern first game.

[georgey]

Right , a small update... i wonder if this is bugged.  I told you that Roman gave me 131m right at the start when i asked for more money...  Well , when it came to setting expectations he has now handed me a budget STARTING at 230m !!!!!!  I could have had more if upped the expectations ( champs league qual and first knockout round iirc ) .   
I'm not gonna spend it all as i would just get bored if i buy a whole team of superstars.    Has anyone else had a massive change of budgets like this ?

[bucket]

Yes, but that was in the beta. Don't think its a bug as I did report it, but maybe worth mentioning again in the Chelsea database bug forum.

[mhaffy]

1 minute ago, georgey said:

Has anyone else had a massive change of budgets like this ?

Not me, but if you dont ask, you dont get! I try to manage within budgets initially set, sometimes adjusting wage budget. Presumably you will need to keep close eye on FFP if you spend it all.....

[bucket]

Ive got £0. Way to get round this is to do loan deals! Thinking of bringing in A Correa from Ath Madrid, but don't want to pay the over the odds monthly fee.