FM18: Chelsea FC

[bucket]

Not the best start..

lost 3-2 to arsenal in Community Shield

lost 3-2 to Everton. After being 3-0 down at HT 😡😡😡

[mhaffy]

9 hours ago, bucket said:

 

Not the best start..

lost 3-2 to arsenal in Community Shield

lost 3-2 to Everton. After being 3-0 down at HT 😡😡😡

 

Hope things turner around asap. What formation did you go with?

Still 2 more friendlies untill Community Shield for me.... unfortunately Morata and Belotti both injured... Belotti should be ok to make debut against Aresenal but not sure about Morata..... Fingers crossed 

[bucket]

24 minutes ago, mhaffy said:

Hope things turner around asap. What formation did you go with?

Still 2 more friendlies untill Community Shield for me.... unfortunately Morata and Belotti both injured... Belotti should be ok to make debut against Aresenal but not sure about Morata..... Fingers crossed 

Lost again to Burnley, my usual 4-2-4 wasn't working. So once Bakayoko was back, I'm now playing 4-3-2(wingers)-1. 

Managed to draw against Southampton - they scored a last minute equaliser. Beat Palace with new formation 3-1 and since beat Huddersfield and Watford. Also youngsters turned it on against Hull in Carabao Cup,

Got a complete group of death in Champs League. PSG, Napoli and Celtic!!! Drew 1-1 with PSG in 1st game and now to play Napoli. 

Backroom staff has completely changed. Signing no-one is hard! 

[bucket]

Anyone else losing the dressing room or just me? Cahill seems to be the BIGGEST disruptive influence I’ve ever come across in all the FM’s I’ve played. Christensen and Rudiger keeping both him and Luiz out the side as we’re winning and I told him this, when he came to me complaining about lack of game time. Said wasn’t good enough excuse! WTF!! Big month coming up, think this could be the first time I’ve ever been sacked...

[SupraFlush]

1 hour ago, bucket said:

Anyone else losing the dressing room or just me? Cahill seems to be the BIGGEST disruptive influence I’ve ever come across in all the FM’s I’ve played. Christensen and Rudiger keeping both him and Luiz out the side as we’re winning and I told him this, when he came to me complaining about lack of game time. Said wasn’t good enough excuse! WTF!! Big month coming up, think this could be the first time I’ve ever been sacked...

I managed to send him to West Ham for a loan and £12m after 15 games, so i'm good! The only one who's been annoyed is Alonso for buying Alex Sandro and not playing enough. Fortunately, Azpilicueta managed to talk him down the first time and I the second.

 

Other than that, my save is going really great. Currently on a "decent" winning streak

Here's my tactic, if anyone's interested.

And the transfers. Zivkovic didn't get a work permit, so he's tearing it up at Vitesse for the moment. Bernardo Roque is a regen i found at the start of the game who i hope will turn out to something special

If you're curious about anything, fell free to ask!

[PitchPosh]

Made it a few games into the season and here's how things are shaping up for me:

Transfers In:

Jose Gaya - Valencia £15m

Transfers Out:

Victor Moses - Jiangsu £14m

Results:

Community Shield vs Arsenal - 1-2 L

Fabregas (Pen 87') - Alonso (OG 4'), Azpilicueta (OG 16')

In a match where we scored all of the goals, we were unable to come out with a win. Deflection own goals from my Spanish wing backs put Arsenal two goals up at half-time and we were unable to really get back into the game after. It's worth noting I played with a 4-1-2-3 (Wide) for this match and was completely starved of possession. By the time I switched to my favored 4-2-3-1 it was far too late.

at Man City - 1-2 L

Morata (12') - Bernat (21'), Fernandinho (80')

We really deserved more from this match. Morata gave us the lead after he was played in by a wonderful through ball by Fabregas, but we lost control of the first half after that. The Bernat goal was down to a lucky (for him) block that placed the ball at his feet unmarked about 6' away from goal. I adjusted my corner defending instructions accordingly to try to prevent something similar from happening again. The second half was about even with each team having a couple of decent chances, but the power struggle continued with either of us unable to capitalize. In the 80th minute, Fernandinho was left unmarked, similar to Bernat, following a corner kick (despite my instructions to have the area/player marked by Pedro) and another blocked shot fell to his feet where he smashed the ball into the back of the net. An unlucky defeat, but I have to say, I was pretty pleased about how we coped with Man City on their pitch for the majority of the game.

vs Swansea - 3-0 W

Willian (21'), Morata (45+1, 79')

I switched back to my trusty 4-2-3-1 formation for this game. Though early, another loss after losing to two potential title rivals could affect the dressing room quite badly. Thankfully, the boys seemed well up for this game giving us a great win for our home opener. Willian terrorized Swansea's defense with his runs down the right wing, though we could have won far more comfortably had his delivery from crosses been a little better. Morata was an absolute monster up top with his hold-up play and finishing. He finished the game with a brace and an assist and deserved his MoTM. Kante and Drinkwater were back to their Leicester best bossing the midfield and snuffing out virtually any chances Swansea had to get something going. The fact that we kept a clean sheet and held them to only two shots was very encouraging. The one downside is that I've lost David Luiz for 2-3 months to a broken foot. Thankfully there is depth at CB

at West Ham - 1-0 W

Drinkwater (70')

We enjoyed 55% of possession this match, again playing in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but were only able to produce 6 shots on target. Though we won the game, I was very disappointed with how a couple of key players performed. Once again Willian created a bunch of problems going down the right wing, but was unable to produce anything with his crosses (the majority of which went behind the goal). I really hope that this isn't a trend that is going to continue throughout the season, because Morata was in all the right places, with virtually no service. This was Fabregas' poorest game so far, and he had very little impact on the game. Perhaps this is something I'll have to look into to make sure I'm setting him up to make a difference. The good news about this match is that Bakayoko and Hazard both made their first appearances of the season. Gaya had a fantastic game both defensively and going forward, while Rudiger performed wonderfully in defense. 

2 wins and 2 losses isn't a wonderful start, but it looks like the squad is starting to settle into the tactics a little more, so hopefully things will continue at the trajectory of the last couple of matches. Enjoying reading up on everyone's saves so far!

[mhaffy]

5 minutes ago, PitchPosh said:

2 wins and 2 losses isn't a wonderful start, but it looks like the squad is starting to settle into the tactics a little more, so hopefully things will continue at the trajectory of the last couple of matches. Enjoying reading up on everyone's saves so far!

Interesting to hear your comments on possession with 4123 Wide - that is one of my "3" but not the one I plan to focus on. Glad to see results have picked up; fingers crossed you can get some momentum going.

Good to see plenty of content on this thread. Hope to progress my save later on today.

[mhaffy]

1 hour ago, SupraFlush said:

Other than that, my save is going really great. Currently on a "decent" winning streak

Good to see your save is going well. Given your high transfer spending, how are your FFP projections looking; particularly the European one?

[SupraFlush]

5 minutes ago, mhaffy said:

Good to see your save is going well. Given your high transfer spending, how are your FFP projections looking; particularly the European one?

The European one is fine for the moment, but the wages might be too much for the Premier League one. Hopefully i'll be able to sell some players to lower it in January. Kanté just came and wanted an improved contract, thankfully he was happy with a £25k raise!

[mhaffy]

7 minutes ago, SupraFlush said:

The European one is fine for the moment, but the wages might be too much for the Premier League one.

Thanks for update. Premier League wages is the only one that I have nearly had a problem with in previous versions of FM. Still not sure quite how "accurate" the fail projection is as sometimes it has changed to green later on - maybe the timing of relevant year and when the year on year wage increase is applied for FFP etc...Good luck

[SupraFlush]

31 minutes ago, mhaffy said:

Thanks for update. Premier League wages is the only one that I have nearly had a problem with in previous versions of FM. Still not sure quite how "accurate" the fail projection is as sometimes it has changed to green later on - maybe the timing of relevant year and when the year on year wage increase is applied for FFP etc...Good luck

Yeah i don't know either how it works. 11 days later and i'm in the green now. So it apparently changes over the course over the season depending on results etc.

[georgey]

A wee update from myself , sorry no pics to upload yet but I am still within the transfer window. 

As you may recall even though it's the first ever window , Roman has given me 230m to play with for whatever reason.. he must really trust me lol. 

 

I had said I won't spend it all at once.  I'm sure most people will agree that left back needs strengthened if we want an elite team.

i decided Alex Sandro was my man as he looks a pure beast. I negotiate a deal in excess of 60m but decide he's worth  it and I end up having to offer him 250k per week in order to convince to agree terms  which he does.  Unfortunately in the final hour Man City swing in with a bid and he agrees to join them....grrrr

i have now plumped for Alaba from Bayern and have got him signed ! More expensive but also a top level LB.

I fancied trying belloti or dolberg for a striker but I play in a funny way. So many player names get mentioned on the forum that I know they would be good but I only allow myself to sign players that my scouts identify just for a touch of realism.  Annoyingly , I am scouring the Netherlands and Italy but neither has as yet been noticed  so I have not bid for them.   They did however recommend young de ligt from Ajax so he has been signed for the future and I will offload Cahill after the first season so that's his replacement already sorted.

i really want anoher striker , maybe 2 as I decide to accept a quite generous loan offer from Everton for batshuai. I go through my scout reports and still no belloti or dolberg so I end up going big and have tied up a deal for icardi.   I also want a young but top potential striker as I play two up top so I want another option in who can improve as we go.  The highest rated young striker my scouts have found is timo Werner from Germany so a deal is tied up for him.  

Now what's your opinion here lads,  I bid for Delle Alli earlier in the window and all of a sudden he has an outburst about it and spurs list him.  I still have 110m left to play with and his asking price is 57m on the list. I decide it's a no-brainier but my bid is then negotiated by spurs and despite the 57 asking price they won't come lower with me than 104m after several attempts. I can just afford him but is it worth  it? He's young , good and English but I'm torn. There is FFP to think about and it's also a huge amount spent in one window if I follow through. What do you think everyone  , should I do it? 

 

[SupraFlush]

46 minutes ago, georgey said:

What do you think everyone  , should I do it? 

I'm not sure. On one hand, you'll get a great english youngster who'll still improve. On the other hand, there are players around his level who will cost significantly less. I'd recommend Sergej Milinovic Savic, probably one of the best players you could buy and will only cost £30-40m. He's my best performer with 9 goals and 9 assists in 21(3) games.

[bucket]

Another for Savic here. Was immense in my beta game. I can’t play at the moment. Seems to be a problem with the game and MacBooks. Until this is cleared up I refuse to play such a laggy and despondent game. 

[mhaffy]

28 minutes ago, bucket said:

Another for Savic here. Was immense in my beta game. I can’t play at the moment. Seems to be a problem with the game and MacBooks. Until this is cleared up I refuse to play such a laggy and despondent game

Savic "not on my radar" and have just requested a scouting report! Not sure I can afford him this yera though. Only about 312m in kitty and some of that will be needed to up the squad bonus for leaguee & cup performances.

Sorry to hear about the MacBook lag issue. Hope they get hotfix out asap.

[georgey]

Savic is a good shout and my scouts have spotted him.  I had him in my beta game for Liverpool though and I'm keen to try different people.  Alli certainly wouldn't be value for money but I quite fancied signing him.  I might just keep my money as I want Sanchez from arsenal anyway.  

Hazards first game back in training for me was an u23 friendly and he broke his ribs putting him straight back out after the broken ankle for a further 7 weeks 

[bucket]

Woohoo signed a 2 year extension. Managed to turn the form around, players slowly seeing my way. Cesar is a fantastic help in dealing with players kicking up a fuss. Trying to get Tibo to sign a new contract but his agent is an arse, so can see this going on a long time. Just going to carry on with the save, hopefully there will be a fix soon, but the addiction (already!) has kicked in and want to play it all the time.

[mhaffy]

1 minute ago, bucket said:

Woohoo signed a 2 year extension. Managed to turn the form around, players slowly seeing my way. Cesar is a fantastic help in dealing with players kicking up a fuss. Trying to get Tibo to sign a new contract but his agent is an arse, so can see this going on a long time. Just going to carry on with the save, hopefully there will be a fix soon, but the addiction (already!) has kicked in and want to play it all the time.

Well done re extension - how far are you through save? Did you make Dave captain? Only just approaching Community Shield in my save!

[bucket]

1 minute ago, mhaffy said:

Well done re extension - how far are you through save? Did you make Dave captain? Only just approaching Community Shield in my save!

Only 12th October !!!! No he's my vice captain, but Cahill isn't is starting 11 and plus he doesn't want to do anything when I ask him too.

[bucket]

Bring on January, I need a STRIKER!!!

[mhaffy]

2 minutes ago, bucket said:

Bring on January, I need a STRIKER!!!

Balotelli perhaps?

[bucket]

20 minutes ago, mhaffy said:

Balotelli perhaps?

Say whattttt!! No thanks dude. Thinking more Belotti myself. May move Bats on at end of season. Still not 100% happy with the way we are playing, but slowly getting the player relationships building. Baka, Kante and Fabregas are all green linked now. As is Hazard and Alonso.  

[smdw2008]

timo werner 

[mhaffy]

14 hours ago, bucket said:

Say whattttt!! No thanks dude. Thinking more Belotti myself. May move Bats on at end of season. Still not 100% happy with the way we are playing, but slowly getting the player relationships building. Baka, Kante and Fabregas are all green linked now. As is Hazard and Alonso.  

Apologies for earlier suggestion! I mean't Belotti. Obviously not concentrating when I actually typed Balotelli! Maybe I was day dreaming about earlier versions of FM. Be interested to hear when you started seeing player relationships appearing. I have played about 7 friendlies, using same back 4 and midfield 3 most of the time but have yet to see any......hope they start showing up soon. Busy on charity work today but hope to get round to playing some FM later....Community Shield is next match.

[PitchPosh]

11 hours ago, smdw2008 said:

timo werner 

He looks to be quality again, but he has quite a bit of potential to fill as well. I have my eye on him for sure. 

1 hour ago, mhaffy said:

Apologies for earlier suggestion! I mean't Belotti. Obviously not concentrating when I actually typed Balotelli! Maybe I was day dreaming about earlier versions of FM. Be interested to hear when you started seeing player relationships appearing. I have played about 7 friendlies, using same back 4 and midfield 3 most of the time but have yet to see any......hope they start showing up soon. Busy on charity work today but hope to get round to playing some FM later....Community Shield is next match.

I thought you knew something we didn't, mhaffy   Wouldn't be the first time a big club took a punt on him, though. 

I got a couple more matches in before I called it a night yesterday, including a 5 goal thriller away to Dortmund. I'll try to get an update in here this evening after work. 

[masta p]

How do you sell unwanted players? Put them on the transfer list and wait for offers? Or you offer them to clubs? With or without putting them on the transfer list? 

[PitchPosh]

Just now, masta p said:

How do you sell unwanted players? Put them on the transfer list and wait for offers? Or you offer them to clubs? With or without putting them on the transfer list? 

I have always offered unwanted players to other clubs. It certainly seems like the quickest way to get rid of any extra baggage. In this and last year's versions, though, it seems like you are usually unable to get anything over the player's value by offering them out. I always get low-ball offers, or offers requiring a portion of their salary to be paid. 

Speaking of unwanted players, Cahill has been horrendous for me. I'm still on a winning streak, but we're just inching out games against lesser opponents. Finally got possession up to 55-60%, though.

[masta p]

 

11 minutes ago, PitchPosh said:

I have always offered unwanted players to other clubs. It certainly seems like the quickest way to get rid of any extra baggage. In this and last year's versions, though, it seems like you are usually unable to get anything over the player's value by offering them out. I always get low-ball offers, or offers requiring a portion of their salary to be paid. 

Speaking of unwanted players, Cahill has been horrendous for me. I'm still on a winning streak, but we're just inching out games against lesser opponents. Finally got possession up to 55-60%, though.

Are you having any trouble with the morale? 

I am reading some guys are having trouble with the whole team making fuss about contracts or backup players not getting play time...

[bucket]

1 hour ago, mhaffy said:

Apologies for earlier suggestion! I mean't Belotti. Obviously not concentrating when I actually typed Balotelli! Maybe I was day dreaming about earlier versions of FM. Be interested to hear when you started seeing player relationships appearing. I have played about 7 friendlies, using same back 4 and midfield 3 most of the time but have yet to see any......hope they start showing up soon. Busy on charity work today but hope to get round to playing some FM later....Community Shield is next match.

Haha no worries mate. Thought you may have meant him. Belotti is my No1 target for strikers roll. Fantastic doing charity work, who for May I ask? They appeared in early October mate. Once Bakayoko was fit and playing. Those 3 players haven’t changed in terms of position nor roles. Maybe Kante and/or Bakayoko drops back into DM during a game. But green line still remains. 

Im finishing soon, have to pick daughter up from play school. So hopefully get some game time in later on! 

Good luck with Community’s Shield 

[bucket]

25 minutes ago, PitchPosh said:

I have always offered unwanted players to other clubs. It certainly seems like the quickest way to get rid of any extra baggage. In this and last year's versions, though, it seems like you are usually unable to get anything over the player's value by offering them out. I always get low-ball offers, or offers requiring a portion of their salary to be paid. 

Speaking of unwanted players, Cahill has been horrendous for me. I'm still on a winning streak, but we're just inching out games against lesser opponents. Finally got possession up to 55-60%, though.

That’s why Cahill doesn’t play in my save. AC and Rudiger doing really well together! 

[bucket]

13 minutes ago, masta p said:

 

Are you having any trouble with the morale? 

I am reading some guys are having trouble with the whole team making fuss about contracts or backup players not getting play time...

I did with Cahill moaning about playing time, but told Cesar to speak to him and it worked wonders. Now have Luiz and Pedro doing the same, but again Cesar stepped up to diffuse situation. 

[masta p]

2 minutes ago, bucket said:

I did with Cahill moaning about playing time, but told Cesar to speak to him and it worked wonders. Now have Luiz and Pedro doing the same, but again Cesar stepped up to diffuse situation. 

Dave is the man! 

I really like him and I even brought him to Stamford Bridge before that deal was made in IRL. I think it's quite obvious who's going to be the captain and leader in the team.

[PitchPosh]

31 minutes ago, masta p said:

 

Are you having any trouble with the morale? 

I am reading some guys are having trouble with the whole team making fuss about contracts or backup players not getting play time...

No issues with morale at the moment, but the players certainly haven't warmed up to me like I would have thought. Their support for me is right below the halfway mark, which surprised me a bit given our recent form. Perhaps it'll start moving up once they get used to playing together a bit more.

[Carefree_Since_1905]

Loaded up my first save over the weekend. Struggling a little at the moment as I've gone for 3 at the back and wingbacks to mirror Conte and I can't seem to score.

Beat Arsenal 2-1 in the CS. I've then had 3 draws in the league - Bournemouth 0-0, City, 1-1, Stoke 1-1.

Out: Willian - £55m to Real

In: De Ligt (One of my favorites from last year) - 14m

Alex Sandro - £58m (£9m signing on fee as well) - Not sure if this is the right move / worth the money

Pasalic  - £38m (i think) - Willian replacement

Coric - 11m but loaned back to Dinamo

I also bought an Argentinian AM for £4m that couldn't get a WP so he got loaned out to Inter.

I think I will fiddle around with the tactics and then probably start again. I saw that City signed Bernat for £25m so might see if I can pinch him if I start again. If i switch to a back 4 then I will probably sell Moses.

Struggling with improving the coaches as we already have more than the allowed amount and the board wouldn't allow me anymore. Once coach was going to cost around £2m to get rid of which I thought was too much.

 

[bucket]

36 minutes ago, Carefree_Since_1905 said:

Loaded up my first save over the weekend. Struggling a little at the moment as I've gone for 3 at the back and wingbacks to mirror Conte and I can't seem to score.

Beat Arsenal 2-1 in the CS. I've then had 3 draws in the league - Bournemouth 0-0, City, 1-1, Stoke 1-1.

Out: Willian - £55m to Real

In: De Ligt (One of my favorites from last year) - 14m

Alex Sandro - £58m (£9m signing on fee as well) - Not sure if this is the right move / worth the money

Pasalic  - £38m (i think) - Willian replacement

Coric - 11m but loaned back to Dinamo

I also bought an Argentinian AM for £4m that couldn't get a WP so he got loaned out to Inter.

I think I will fiddle around with the tactics and then probably start again. I saw that City signed Bernat for £25m so might see if I can pinch him if I start again. If i switch to a back 4 then I will probably sell Moses.

Struggling with improving the coaches as we already have more than the allowed amount and the board wouldn't allow me anymore. Once coach was going to cost around £2m to get rid of which I thought was too much.

 

I managed to get an increase in coaches allowed. Wouldn’t worry too much about paying out big money. I think I’m pretty much top in all categories of training in the Prem after a massive overhaul of the backroom staff. 

[mhaffy]

1 hour ago, bucket said:

Fantastic doing charity work, who for May I ask? They appeared in early October mate.

Poppy Appeal Organiser for our village and an adjoining one so busiest time of year is always when FM released! Should have it finished, including submission of accounts, in early December. Looking forward to some FM later on tonight, even if only a couple of matches. Mulling over what formation tweaks to deploy against Wenger in Community Shield while I sort through Poppy Appeal stuff.

Re-assuring to hear that relationship lines started appearing early October for you - bit early for mine to start. I was beginning to worry that there was a bug with them given number of matches I had used same "first team" line up in friendlies.

[mhaffy]

Well that was a close call. Not a vintage performance but won Community Shield on penalties - Kante slotted home the clincher! Swarmed over Arsenal early on with team looking really fired up and went one up after 6 minutes through a Belotti pen. Arsenal equalised just before half time. Not all my players fully match fit and I used all six subs. Took Belotti off and gave Redan his debut and used Kenedy to replace Batshui. Kenedy had goal disallowed for marginal offside in 86th minute but Courtois saved two pens and Kante delivered!

PS Cahill was not in my starting line up and not on bench....wonder how long before he kicks off.........Looked at dynamics after win and 8 players now "support" me (up from 4 before game)...

[masta p]

How much did you pay for Belotti? 

[mhaffy]

1 hour ago, masta p said:

How much did you pay for Belotti? 

I found that he cost more in full game than Beta (transfer fee, wages and agent fee)! In my current save :

£28m Up front, £30m spread over 3 annual installments and 20% of future profit

I think that Agent fee was a further £7.5m.

Good luck....Let us know how you get on; particulalry if you sign him for less.

[masta p]

Cheers for the image. 

Unfortunately, I am waiting for the next paycheck, so until then I will be tormenting you with questions to sate my curiosity about the game  

[mhaffy]

28 minutes ago, masta p said:

Cheers for the image. 

Unfortunately, I am waiting for the next paycheck, so until then I will be tormenting you with questions to sate my curiosity about the game  

No probs

 

[mhaffy]

First relationship line has appeared just before 2nd league game (away to Huddersfield) - it has taken 11 games, including friendlies.

[masta p]

2 minutes ago, mhaffy said:

First relationship line has appeared just before 2nd league game (away to Huddersfield) - it has taken 11 games, including friendlies.

How is this affecting the match? 

[mhaffy]

10 minutes ago, masta p said:

How is this affecting the match? 

Too early to comment but in theory the more familiar your players are of playing together then the better the team should work/play together. Presumably you would want to maximise the number of green relationship lines between players.

[bucket]

55 minutes ago, mhaffy said:

Too early to comment but in theory the more familiar your players are of playing together then the better the team should work/play together. Presumably you would want to maximise the number of green relationship lines between players.

It’s a bit like fifa ultimate team in that respect....

[PitchPosh]

I've noticed that the relationship lines reduce the number of misplaced passes between players by quite a bit. Gaya and Hazard, for example, would misplace little one-twos or flick on passes and through balls. I feel like everything is developing quite slowly for me, though. Still only have a couple of relationship lines (6 PL matches into the season) and no one directly supports me, despite being on a winning streak. I have Arsenal away as my next match, so maybe a win there will help the players get behind me a bit. 

[mhaffy]

59 minutes ago, PitchPosh said:

've noticed that the relationship lines reduce the number of misplaced passes between players by quite a bit. Gaya and Hazard, for example, would misplace little one-twos or flick on passes and through balls. I feel like everything is developing quite slowly for me, though. Still only have a couple of relationship lines (6 PL matches into the season) and no one directly supports me, despite being on a winning streak. I have Arsenal away as my next match, so maybe a win there will help the players get behind me a bit. 

More relationship lines would be of great benefit to my side at moment; playing reasonably well but lots of poor passes. Only green line I had was between Drinkwater and Kante but West Ham ruined that by going in hard and injuring Drinkwater (out 3-4 weeks), Alonso (out for 3 weeks) and I also had to sub Kante although he seems ok (high natural fitness attribute must help!). Down to bare bones now as Morata injured again and Bakayoko still not back, Rudiger also injured! Resuts since Community Shield win are 0-0 Home draw v Spurs, 3-1 away win at Huddersfield and 2-0 home win over West Ham. Belotti 3 goals and 2 assists so far. Only circa £3m in tranfer kitty and no wage headroom having,hopefully, tied Courtois down until 2022. Maybe Charly will get a bit more game time, or Willian in my midfield 3?

Surprised no one directly supports you. When I click on my manger square in Dynamics, Hierarchy apparently 8 players support me and 2 oppose.

[PitchPosh]

43 minutes ago, mhaffy said:

Spoiler

 

More relationship lines would be of great benefit to my side at moment; playing reasonably well but lots of poor passes. Only green line I had was between Drinkwater and Kante but West Ham ruined that by going in hard and injuring Drinkwater (out 3-4 weeks), Alonso (out for 3 weeks) and I also had to sub Kante although he seems ok (high natural fitness attribute must help!). Down to bare bones now as Morata injured again and Bakayoko still not back, Rudiger also injured! Resuts since Community Shield win are 0-0 Home draw v Spurs, 3-1 away win at Huddersfield and 2-0 home win over West Ham. Belotti 3 goals and 2 assists so far. Only circa £3m in tranfer kitty and no wage headroom having,hopefully, tied Courtois down until 2022. Maybe Charly will get a bit more game time, or Willian in my midfield 3?

Surprised no one directly supports you. When I click on my manger square in Dynamics, Hierarcht apparently 8 players support me and 2 oppose.

 

 

Yep, despite the relatively high passing ability of the squad, I have seen a great deal of poor passes as well. I still can't get a decent cross out of Willian. He beats his man regularly and finds quite a bit of space, but I swear 50% (guessing here) of his crosses go behind goal. For a player with 14 crossing I haven't seen much good come from him at all.

I was able to tie down Courtois to a 5 year deal at £50m. I forget what his actual wage is, but I think it was somewhere around £175,000 p/w. I will probably try to get Hazard extended at the end of the season. Hopefully no one comes sniffing around in January!

I'll check the Dynamics tab again when I get home this evening. Maybe I'm looking at the wrong window/field. 

[mhaffy]

Just got Morata fit, after second injury, and he gets sidelined on international duty and will miss next game against Liverpool. Soooo frustrating as very keen for him and Belotti to build up good relationship - they have hardly played together yet due to injuries!

[mhaffy]

On 11/13/2017 at 14:41, bucket said:

I did with Cahill moaning about playing time, but told Cesar to speak to him and it worked wonders. Now have Luiz and Pedro doing the same, but again Cesar stepped up to diffuse situation. 

Spot on re Dave. With two strikers, I only have 1 slot in AM and Hazard, on his return from injury, is the main man and performing really well. Pedro unhappy with lack of playing time but Dave seems for now to have sorted. Great news. Will rest Hazard for next match, Carabao cup, and play Pedro and try to give Willian some game time too.