FM18: Man Utd - Awaken the Sleeping Devil 👹 !

[rstebbing1709]

Youth Prospects

[zlatanera]

So I've just made it to September on my save, thought I'd share how its going. My tactic is shamelessly stolen from Ozil's Sacchi recreation thread, something I tried with Milan on FM16 and worked quite well, hoping I can get United purring with it: https://community.sigames.com/topic/373361-arrigo-sacchis-4-4-2-very-fluid/

Relatively quiet transfer window for a first-time save - Pulisic was one of the toughest tranfers I've ever negotiated, Bosz turned down a deal worth over £100m with add-ons because until Smalling left I could only over value (£35.5m) up-front. Eventually I said screw it and backed out, Pulisic rioted and I put in a series of steadily increasing non-negotiable bids until I got him for a steal at £50m with no additional clauses. The only drawback is that unless game imitates life and Bosz ends up unemployed there's no way I'm getting a player from Dortmund without a nuclear war. That I was able to get him this way also means he needs tutored but his high reputation means I'm going to have to deliberately under-utilise him until I can find a tutor.

Mario is one where every year I load up the game, am surprised he's still at Villarreal and end up signing at some point. Villarreal were just so reasonable with him as well - exactly £1m over value and they accepted, transfer was done in 24 hours. Finding anyone of requisite quality to slot straight into the first team squad at under £100k per week wages is also an achievement on this game if my 1 season managing Barcelona means anything. 

I'm planning to heavily rotate my wide positions - Valencia / Mario, Shaw / Darmian, Mkhitaryan / Pulisic and Martial / Rashford whilst hopefully keeping the central partnerships and Lukaku as relative constants (the versatility of the likes of Herrera, Lingard, Pulisic, and Mkhitaryan means Mata can take occasional breaks too). The only changes I've made from Ozil's tactic are adding my own set pieces and playing Eric Bailly as a stopper to accentuate the whole "white Ferdinand / black Vidic" combo we're all dying to finally see in real life. Jones and Tuanzebe are perfect for Bailly and Lindelof's roles respectively also. 

One flaw I have found is that 3/6 goals we've conceded have been from corners / indirect free kicks so if anyone has any ideas on how to set up to defend them I'm all ears. Weirdly with a much smaller team (Barcelona) default instructions gave me the best record in the league. 

I've ruthlessly overhauled the staff - I think I kept perhaps 3 people who had arrived since Fergie left because good data analysts can be hard to find. I'm going for a very British bias in my hiring. Gary Neville will be coming back in a few months - for some reason every FM18 save I've had he refuses to talk to anyone until around November.

Results have been lacking in the four games so far - an extra time loss in the Super Cup 1-2 to Madrid, 0-2 against Southampton when I went overload on the 88th minute to try break the deadlock, 1-1 at Spurs (which was incredibly lucky and ended my two game experiment with Lukaku as a TM-S with PIs), and 3-1 at home to Newcastle.

Going forward I'm not looking forward to this CL group

In terms of future transfer targets, my aim is to get Lukaku firing and sell him to PSG after a season in order to rip the spine out of Spurs by signing Alli, Dier, Kane and Winks. Pietro Pellegri is another long-term target as he'll be much more expensive once the transfer update comes in. Sander Berge might be arriving in January if Carrick is a completely spent force - I do worry if he can't handle our pressing, he got a 6.5 in the Newcastle win. At 191 cm (Berge, Pellegri) and 188cm (Dier, Alli, Kane) my primary targets keep up with my Mourinho-like aim of an all-conquering team of giants, although I will make exceptions for talented midgets like Mata and Winks. Tierney might be an option to back up Shaw but for long-term options at full-back and goalkeeper I'm hoping for regens as Valencia's high natural fitness should mean he remains a good player for a few years. 

[Chapman7]

21 hours ago, zlatanera said:

So I've just made it to September on my save, thought I'd share how its going. My tactic is shamelessly stolen from Ozil's Sacchi recreation thread, something I tried with Milan on FM16 and worked quite well, hoping I can get United purring with it: https://community.sigames.com/topic/373361-arrigo-sacchis-4-4-2-very-fluid/

Relatively quiet transfer window for a first-time save - Pulisic was one of the toughest tranfers I've ever negotiated, Bosz turned down a deal worth over £100m with add-ons because until Smalling left I could only over value (£35.5m) up-front. Eventually I said screw it and backed out, Pulisic rioted and I put in a series of steadily increasing non-negotiable bids until I got him for a steal at £50m with no additional clauses. The only drawback is that unless game imitates life and Bosz ends up unemployed there's no way I'm getting a player from Dortmund without a nuclear war. That I was able to get him this way also means he needs tutored but his high reputation means I'm going to have to deliberately under-utilise him until I can find a tutor.

Mario is one where every year I load up the game, am surprised he's still at Villarreal and end up signing at some point. Villarreal were just so reasonable with him as well - exactly £1m over value and they accepted, transfer was done in 24 hours. Finding anyone of requisite quality to slot straight into the first team squad at under £100k per week wages is also an achievement on this game if my 1 season managing Barcelona means anything. 

I'm planning to heavily rotate my wide positions - Valencia / Mario, Shaw / Darmian, Mkhitaryan / Pulisic and Martial / Rashford whilst hopefully keeping the central partnerships and Lukaku as relative constants (the versatility of the likes of Herrera, Lingard, Pulisic, and Mkhitaryan means Mata can take occasional breaks too). The only changes I've made from Ozil's tactic are adding my own set pieces and playing Eric Bailly as a stopper to accentuate the whole "white Ferdinand / black Vidic" combo we're all dying to finally see in real life. Jones and Tuanzebe are perfect for Bailly and Lindelof's roles respectively also. 

One flaw I have found is that 3/6 goals we've conceded have been from corners / indirect free kicks so if anyone has any ideas on how to set up to defend them I'm all ears. Weirdly with a much smaller team (Barcelona) default instructions gave me the best record in the league. 

I've ruthlessly overhauled the staff - I think I kept perhaps 3 people who had arrived since Fergie left because good data analysts can be hard to find. I'm going for a very British bias in my hiring. Gary Neville will be coming back in a few months - for some reason every FM18 save I've had he refuses to talk to anyone until around November.

Results have been lacking in the four games so far - an extra time loss in the Super Cup 1-2 to Madrid, 0-2 against Southampton when I went overload on the 88th minute to try break the deadlock, 1-1 at Spurs (which was incredibly lucky and ended my two game experiment with Lukaku as a TM-S with PIs), and 3-1 at home to Newcastle.

Going forward I'm not looking forward to this CL group

In terms of future transfer targets, my aim is to get Lukaku firing and sell him to PSG after a season in order to rip the spine out of Spurs by signing Alli, Dier, Kane and Winks. Pietro Pellegri is another long-term target as he'll be much more expensive once the transfer update comes in. Sander Berge might be arriving in January if Carrick is a completely spent force - I do worry if he can't handle our pressing, he got a 6.5 in the Newcastle win. At 191 cm (Berge, Pellegri) and 188cm (Dier, Alli, Kane) my primary targets keep up with my Mourinho-like aim of an all-conquering team of giants, although I will make exceptions for talented midgets like Mata and Winks. Tierney might be an option to back up Shaw but for long-term options at full-back and goalkeeper I'm hoping for regens as Valencia's high natural fitness should mean he remains a good player for a few years. 

Keeping your tactic with any PI’s for couple months atleast is best chance to get results. Lukaku has been a frustrating player in my save also. Finish season with around 20 in 40 atleast appearances. Found changing him from complete forward to false nine helped improve his performances after a few games. Didn’t help he was fairly injury prone at the start of the season which gave him less time to shine  

[rstebbing1709]

Mid Season Review 22/23

As we pass the January Transfer window and move into the second half of the season the team are still impressing. We have not quite done as well as last seasons all conquering side having lost in the European Super Cup to Chelsea and been eliminated at the Semi Final Stage of the Carabao Cup by Liverpool 5-4 on aggregate after they scored a fifth and ultimately tie winning Goal in the 121st minute of the Second leg.

In the League we are once again running away with the title currently sitting 15 points ahead of Liverpool after 25 played, I expect to have the title wrapped up by late March which will allow me to put more resources towards retaining the FA Cup and ECL. In the ECL we have a very tough tie against Barcelona coming up, though we have beaten them more times than they have us over the years, whenever we have lost to them it has been by a wide margin, I'm hoping we can avoid a heavy defeat in the first away leg and set a solid platform for the second leg at Old Trafford.

At the start of the Season the club was taken over by a Consortium though there has been no major change to the overall transfer budget which has sat a very healthy £500m+ for the last three years, the clubs balance sheet has risen sharply since the take over which is nice to see. 

In the transfer market we once again made use of both the free transfer and transfer lists bringing in some excellent buys without breaking the bank. Coming in were:

Victor Lindelof - Real Madrid - £61m (Returning to the club two season after he left for £78m) probably the best CD in the world on the game atm, 

Lewis Cook - Bournemouth - £16,5m (Listed by request has great stats and was instrumental in my England team that won the world cup, will be the man to replace Pogba if and when he leaves)

Christian Pulisic (Joined Jan 1st) - £31m - PSG (Another listed by request is young and has great potential. The only downside is that I failed to fully scout him and had purchased him as right sided winger only to find him natural on the left side where I am already stacked)

Christian Eriksen - Free transfer (A player I have always liked both on the game and IRL at 30 he still has a good few years at the top in him and is a great rotation option with Gribbin when I play with AM)

Alessandro Plizzari (Joins 3/7/23) - £13m - AC Milan (Initially coming in to replace Hart as back up he will eventually fight with De Gea for the number 1 position)

Players Out:

Phil Jones - Arsenal - £48m (Phil had done a brilliant job for us when called upon, but as with many on the game he wanted to leave as he felt he had achieved everything he could at the club, with Victor coming back I was happy to get the money)

Ander Herrera - At. Bilbao - £17m ( This was a tough one as Ander had been a wonderful back-up to Savic, however he was getting older and it was unlikely I would get an offer like this again)

Eric Bailly - Barcelona - £78m (Again this was a tough decision however a world record fee for a defender and the emergence Tuanzebe as one of the worlds best CDs made the call a little easier)

Nemanja Matic - Juventus - £15m (Requested to leave for a new challenge, was unlikely to play much with Neves having nailed down the DLP position)

In other news Marcus Rashford took a clean sweep at the end of year awards winning the World Player of the year, World Golden ball and World Footballer of the year.

[axehan1]

 24/25 SEASON REVIEW

Another very successful season with more silverware.

The league was won at a canter with the best defensive record I've ever achieved.Only 9 goals conceded throughout the campaign

The season started with 2 penalty losses in the Community shield and the Super Cup followed by an away 0-0 draw at Arsenal in the first league game of the season, at that stage I thought we were in for a bit of a slog but we hit 1st place after game 6 and never looked back after that.

The first silverware came just before Christmas as we won the Club World Cup with a pair of 2-0 victories.

CARABAO CUP

Domestic cup success came in the form of the Carabao cup with the highlight being the Quarter Final win over Liverpool

FA CUP

We didn't win everything this season our last two competitive fixtures were Cup Final and Champions League Final against Man City.

A very lacklustre 0-2 defeat in the Final where we never looked like we were ever going to score while at the other end we gave away a penalty and they scored from a deflected shot.

The road to the final was pretty difficult too with games against Liverpool and  2 against Chelsea.Needless to say I wasn't feeling too confident with a Champions League Final again against Man City a week later.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

A difficult(on paper) group stage with games against Monaco and AC Milan saw us through into the knock out stages with relative ease.PSG were seen off in the 1st Knock Out round with Real Madrid beaten in the Quarter Finals with a fantastic 4-4 draw in Madrid, we actually came back from 1-4 down to draw that game.

Arsenal were well beaten in the Semi's and then we faced Man City in the final.

We were 2 up at half time so my team talk was to not get complacent so naturally we give 2 quick goals away. We were on top in extra time and should really have buried one of the chances we created but in the end it went to penalties, which we won 5-3.

I already have 4 incoming transfers sorted

Gustavo Cisneros 

A quality right back from RBL

Josh Tymon 

Left back, re-signed from RBL

Thiago Paulista 

A versatile DLP bought in from Juventus who can also fill in at Left Back.

Jean Carlos 

An attacking Mid bought in from Brazillian side Fluminense who I will try to convert to a CM as a Mezzala.

I will be looking to offload a couple of players as I have a couple of youngsters who need to be playing 1st team football.

My best player is striker Pietro Pellegri but he has an awful injury record

That's with regular rotation too so if I get a bid near the £80m mark i'll let him go.

Outside of United I am now the England manager with a WC qualifying group that includes Scotland and Wales, so another objective will be to make England World Cup winners in the next 4 years.

 

 

[zlatanera]

This was one hell of a dramatic end to the season. 

We lost the title to Arsenal one goal difference despite beating them 3-1 home and away - to compound my frustration we could have won the title with a game to go but capitulated 4-3 away to Liverpool of all people, then could only draw 1-1 away to Stoke after Nemanja Matic stupidly got himself sent off. Injuries to key players hindering us at inopportune moments was the theme of the later stages of the season. Varying fitness levels leading to me wielding a 4-4-2 formation for the last 3 games in the league did not help. 

In the F.A. Cup we went out in the 5th round 2-1 to Nottingham Forest as I rotated far too heavily due to having a run of CIty (H), Chelsea (N), Arsenal (A), Spartak Moscow (A), Chelsea (H) over 16 days. That neutral game was  the League Cup final, which we won on penalties, so not an empty-handed season:

In the Champions League we made it to the quarter finals, narrowly losing 4-0 on aggregate to PSG - the performances were better than it looks, especially considering injuries meant I only actually had 15 fit first-teamers, two of which were goalkeepers,  for the first leg which we lost 3-0 away from home. I now look at the 0-0 draw with Bournemouth between those two legs where I had to start Axel Tuanzebe, Angel Gomes, Tahith Chong and Nishan Burkart as potentially a season-defining moment brought about by an injury crisis - aka the most Arsenal way to possibly let Arsenal back into a title race. 

Going forward I have decisions upon decisions upon decisions. The tactic worked well - it was when I changed it that I lose to Liverpool (my only loss to a traditional "top 6" side) and we had a good spread of the offensive workload throughout the team:

Ibrahimovic - 13 starts, 8 goals, 3 assists - probably going to release him

Lingard - 26 starts, 6 goals, 11 assists

Lukaku - 38 starts, 18 goals, 10 assists

Martial - 21 starts, 12 goals, 7 assists

Mata - 30 starts, 9 goals, 6 assists

Mkhitaryan - 33 starts, 11 goals, 13 assists

Pulisic - 23 starts, 10 goals, 9 assists

Rashford - 25 starts, 16 goals, 11 assists

I've invested for the future - Leon Goretzka, Pietro Pellegri, Ryan Sessegnon and Kieran TIerney are already signed. Real Madrid are circling for Mkhi and I'm inclined to accept - I believe Pulisic will do even better next year, although I actually had a bid for Gareth Bale accepted we couldn't meet his wage demands, which makes it confusing that my scouts honestly reckon I could get Messi to join. One thing I noticed, presumably due to something about Mata's traits, was that Lukaku overall performed better without him right behind him so may look to move the nicest men in football on - the only issue being his influence and close friendships with De Gea (irreplaceable) and Herrera.

Tactically I'm torn between maintaining that 4-4-1-1 I used for most of the season or gambling that a 1/1/1 record with a 4-4-2 with Lukaku as TM-A alongside a CF-S was due to so many players returning from injury, and signing Harry Kane to partner him. One thing I've been loving is us generating goals through our intensive pressing. Things like Lukaku closing down their full back forcing him to rush the pass, 2 passes later Rashford's heading it in at the back post. My favourite had to be Herrera tackling the Copenhagen goalkeeper in the 1st minute and smashing it in off the cross bar from a tight angle. 

One fun aside - Guardiola was sacked by CIty, who decided a radical change of philosphy was not in order and hired Luis Enrique. I then defeated him in the derby with possibly the most anti-Barca/Guardiola/Cruyff goal possible: 82nd minute, from a defensive free kick Lindelof wins it, heads back to De Gea, who volleys, yes volleys the ball over the top for the onrushing Herrera, who had been playing a sort of AM-destroyer role, to outmuscle John Stones and run clear from the halfway line before blasting it past Ederson in off the crossbar. Truly, I wish they had fixed YouTube highlight uploads for that one alone. 

One last thing, as part of my reset of backroom staff and overall philosophies to 2013 I was pleasantly surprised to receive a good option when asking for a foreign affiliate:

 

That's right, the club who gave us our most successful ever manager are now our feeder team! Hoping to get some quality Scottish  newgens coming through as it just doesn't seem right that ever since Fletcher left we haven't had a Scot in the squad. 

[zlatanera]

can this post be deleted?

 

 

[MAECK]

[zlatanera]

Well, it turns out Brexit means Brexit, but Brexit most certainly does not mean Bosman 

This is only my 2nd British save to actually reach Brexit (never stuck it out that far in FM17) but this is definitely the first time I've seen this happen. Could be a game changer for Arsenal

Will be interested to find out what happens with all my youth players who are going to be out of contract in summer.

[the SLC]

just been offered 180mil for martial, argh what should i do!!!!

[axehan1]

37 minutes ago, the SLC said:

just been offered 180mil for martial, argh what should i do!!!!

For £180m you can not say no.

[zlatanera]

Who will replace him? I'm assuming he's a regular starter? Do you have a ready-made replacement in the club, or a realistic transfer target to use that money on?

Personally I'll never sell him because I like him too much but you've just got to think how your club will manage without him - i.e. keep playing the same way and plug someone else into the gap he left, or sign someone / promote someone and change your tactics. Usually for a big club like United you need two good players for every position - can you ensure this is still the case by the end of the transfer window? If the answer to that is yes, then accept it because that's a stupendous amount of money. 

[Chapman7]

5 hours ago, axehan1 said:

For £180m you can not say no.

That's enough money to sign few players for development with the players you have already would manage to cover his place for season or two 

[McClane29]

7 hours ago, the SLC said:

just been offered 180mil for martial, argh what should i do!!!!

What season were you offered that?

I assume this is PSG/Real Madrid?

[zlatanera]

2018-19 season has been completed! One of the most fun I've had in FM18 - every other save I've bored of by the end of season 1. 

In terms of transfers, it was a busier summer than expected. 

Incoming:

Leon Goretzka (free), Harry Kane (£115m), Pietro Pellegri (£6m), Ryan Sessegnon (£4m rising to £8m), Kieran Tierney (£16.25m rising to £26m). The new earlier transfer deadline caught me out in my approach for Dele Alli, now Brexit has doubled his worth and he's injured for 6 months anyway.

Outgoing:

Daley Blind (£23m), Sergio Romero (£14.5m), Ander Herrera (£49.5m), Juan Mata (£42m), Marcos Rojo (£16m), Mario Gaspar (£20.5m rising to £25m).

Two surprises were Herrera and Mario - Mata was guaranteed to go once Kane's deal was sorted as I would no longer be using an attacking midfielder. Herrera and Goretzka were meant to be a formidable backup midfield duo but he wanted to go to Chelsea and that price was nothing to sniff at. Likewise Mario to Barcelona, undervalue but still double what I paid for him. Their losses were compensated for by not selling Andreas Pereira or Matteo Darmian. 

Harry Kane heralded a change of tactic:

Literally all I did was change my AM-A from last season to a TM-A in order to best accommodate Lukaku and he, in particular, came alive. 

We scored 140 goals in all competitions whilst only conceding 46. 

Highlight was definitely winning the title, in the process setting club records for most points (93) and most wins (29). De Gea had the most clean sheets (22) and our being top for goals scored (96) and conceded (22) meant De Gea got the golden glove whilst Lukaku topped the assists (15) and goal (23) charts with Kane and Rashford both on 20 goals. 

Gutted to go out to rivals in all 3 of my other trophies - although the League Cup was a reserve team in order to then successfully hammer City 4 days later at full strength, the other two were just down to fatigue - we played 4 games in 8 days culminating in the second leg defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League. 

I may have to readjust my tactics yet again as our 9 losses all season were to Chelsea (A, A), City (A, A, N), Juventus (A), RB Leipzig (H), Tottenham (A) and Galatasaray (H). Perhaps my 4-4-1-1 which was more defensively stable may be more suitable for big away games, or maybe I just needed to be more ruthless subbing either Kane or Lukaku when they had an off day.

Likely as a result of the rebalancing of the attack, goals were more focussed on my strikers with 5 hitting double figures:

Lukaku (40 starts, 30 goals, 20 assists)

Rashford (26 starts, 30 goals, 7 assists)

Kane (39 starts, 28 goals, 10 assists)

Martial (35 starts, 14 goals, 13 assists) - Martial rarely if ever played striker, whereas Rashford rotated between LM and ST

Pellegri (16 starts, 11 goals, 7 assists) 

 

Going forward we have ridiculous amounts of money but I'm feeling I may be happier attempting to better develop the youth - although I have high board confidence for it I've not really brought through a regular starter from the academy yet. Transfer wise - I'll listen to offers for Darmian, Mkhitaryan, Pereira and perhaps Goretzka or Lukaku if it was a really good offer and would allow me to reshape the team yet again. We do have enough money to pay Messi's release clause but his wages would mean I'd have to make sales before I could negotiate and although he is rated as "very interested", given how far out my scouts have been with players' wage demands I still think he could shun me for Barcelona. Ronaldo meanwhile would also be fun but Madrid have a higher release clause so is a no go. Two players I want to make regulars in the coming season having not quite emerged due to one reason or another, and another who may be kept around owing to a promising loan spell:

Tuanzebe missed 4 months due to injury meaning Rojo's leaving was not the golden opportunity it should have been. He then made too few starts to get a PL winner's medal - hopefully that will not be the case in a successful title defence in 2020.

 

Gomes came into the fold at the later end of the season - starting 10 league games with 4 assists and 1 PoM for an average rating of 7.47 but again, no PL medal. He's definitely the most promising real player in the ranks and I'll look to give him time somehow, likely by moving on Mkhitaryan and making him Pulisic's understudy.

Callum Gribbin at the start of the season would have been presumed to be leaving this summer. I allowed to go out on loan to Scunthorpe (League One, previous finish 12th, predicted 17th) as he had a decent enough personality to ensure development. He promptly lit up the league although he did seem to fade from February onwards (50 games a season aged 20 will do that to you), getting 8 goals and 7 assists, 3 PoM in 52 games over the season as Scunthorpe just missed out on the play-offs. Normally I only rely on star ratings and have regularly seen a guy make only two appearances in a loan season then top-score my league the next, but given visible development and good form I feel like he may be given a chance in the first team, or make the intermediate step up to Aberdeen or Preston. 

 

Edit: What a difference some sleep makes. Absolutely no desire to carry on with this save, probably going to go do something in Serie A or a smaller Scandinavian league as I nearly always do. 

[the SLC]

10 hours ago, McClane29 said:

What season were you offered that?

I assume this is PSG/Real Madrid?

end of season 2 and yes offer is from PSG. 

to the other replies, i would usually promote from the youth teams, have a couple of good uns coming through. one whos name evades me scored 50+ for the youth team. also james wilson is a possibility as he scored 20+ in previous season. so performed when called upon. 

not a fan on spending big money on big names. if i spend big then it would have to be an exceptional youth player.

it is a difficult decision as im a big fan of his IRL. wouldnt even consider it if it was either rashford or lukaku. on the other hand i normally start a new save when the latest patch gets released so if i accept its not the end of the world

[the SLC]

I accepted, and after all that he rejects the contract offer. surprising really as he said previously that he wanted to leave for psg

[MAECK]

[MAECK]

[Jon MUFC]

Second season finished with us winning 4 of the 5 available trophies:

Lost the FA Cup final in a fluke result to Burnley of all teams!

Won the Premier League finishing 15 points ahead of second place

Won the Champions League beating Atletico in the final (at Atletico's ground!)

Won the Carabao Cup beating Leicester in the final

Won the Community Shield beating Man City.

 

Only signings I made (apart from youth prospects) were Arkadiusz Milik as a backup option to Lukaku and Mesut Ozil on a free transfer.

Lukaku top scorer with 33 in all comps, Milk with 22 behind him. Player of the season was Pogba who excelled in a BBM role. POTY from my first season, Mkhitaryan, was kept out of the team by Jesse Lingard, who was undroppable and our assist king.

Played the same tactic (4231) and mentality (standard) all season home and away, adjusting only minor details in game accordingly. First time I've ever kept my tactics this simple and it definitely worked!

Think I will carry on into season 3 at some stage and try to bring through more youth players and let some of those players entering their 30s go. However, might split the save and resign and take a smaller job elsewhere - at times this season felt a little too easy like the game was on cruise control for me (not bragging, but it's not fun when it's not a challenge!)

 

[axehan1]

Season 25/26 Review

The league was won on matchday 37 as Top played second at Stamford Bridge,Chelsea had to win to take it to the last day.We went 2 up inside 20 minutes and everything seemed rosy but Chelsea managed to get it back to 2-2 in the second-half and were in complete control until we broke late in the game to go back in front.They managed to make it 3-3 in the 95th of the 3 minutes that the ref had added on(not happy) but we saw the rest of the game out to become Champions again.

 

A really fun season that saw us have a bad start and really have to work hard to become Champions.

The season started with a 2-1 win over Man City in the Community Shield followed by a 1-0 defeat to BMG in the Super Cup.The first silverware arrived in December.

Club World Cup

A stuttering win in the Semi's followed by a hammering over Santos in the Final

Carabao Cup

The final was straight forward, an easy 4-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday who were League One opposition, the difficult part was having to play games against Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea to get  there.

FA Cup

A similar story to the Carabao Cup, an easy win over Championship side Wolves in the Final but we once again had to beat Arsenal and Chelsea to get there.

Champions League

What can I say about this years Champions League, just 1 goal conceded in winning the thing.A 5-0 thrashing of Barcelona on the way and a very comfortable win over Inter in the final.

A few cracks have started to appear though,We didn't score a lot of goals, nobody scored 20 league goals and although we are dominant as a defensive unit we were stuttering go forward so I decided to dip in to the transfer market and make a proper statement of intent.

Transfers In

Andres Solbes bought in for £103m.I want a 30 league goals a season player and I believe this is the man.

Malick Pignet bought in from Chelsea for £72m, a creative genius(hopefully) who should create chance after chance for my front 3/4

Pablo Alvarez, transfer listed by Bayern for £28m, how could I say no to a potential goal machine.

Dayot Upamecano, a defensive beast who had a £75m release clause who could battle with Tuanzebe and Lindelof for a centre back position

£298m spent but offset through a few departures

I'm bidding on a DM and may make 1 other signing to make sure we can win it all again this coming season.

[Sherkey]

 

My front three are really, really starting to gel. Haven't had any three of them in all three spots for goals, assists and ratings for the League before.

[MAECK]

[MAECK]

[MAECK]

[MAECK]

[stevecummins78]

So I want to sign a classy ball playing centre half to replace Jones and play alongside Bailly. I don’t rate Lindelof.

Who to sign - De Ligt from Ajax, or José Giménez from Atletico Madrid?

[axehan1]

You don't rate Lindelof!!! In FM he is just about flawless.

[naspa]

7 hours ago, stevecummins78 said:

So I want to sign a classy ball playing centre half to replace Jones and play alongside Bailly. I don’t rate Lindelof.

Who to sign - De Ligt from Ajax, or José Giménez from Atletico Madrid?

Toby Alderweireld - has a 25 mil release clause

[warlock]

7 hours ago, stevecummins78 said:

Who to sign - De Ligt from Ajax, or José Giménez from Atletico Madrid?

De Ligt will be great, but maybe not this season. Gimenez is great now, but will cost you a bit - I signed him in summer 2018 when he was transfer-listed. De Vrij is always good for me but, as Axehan1 suggested, I've never had an issue with Lindelhof - he's way better in FM than IRL.

[zlatanera]

Lindelof is one of the best BPD in the game. But my personal reccomendation replacement would be Umtiti - has a £53million release clause at the start of the game and is fast like Lindelof. De Ligt and many others are only around 12-13 acceleration or pace, lindelof is at least 15 for each and Umtiti is 14/15. can make a difference if you play a high line (as many people do, particularly with big teams like United)

[sedge11]

So after a short Lyon save and with the update out, I have started my new Man utd save. So to start with I made alot of staff changes as always, as you can see below, I also promoted Tony Strudwick, Tony Whelan and Tom Hughes to the 1st team staff from the under 18's.

My season 1 transfers were:

I don't usually buy players older than 30, but to get Cheillini for 21 mil, I couldn't turn down, his attributes are still amazing at 32/33 and he's the best defender at the club, I've always liked him and for years have tried but never been able to get him, so had to do. He will be great for 2-3 years and will be great for tutoring. With Fosu mensah and Tuanzebe out on loan felt I had to bring someone in, and he will be tutoring both of them once back off loan. 

Don't have to say much about the outs, none are that good and are just not really united players.

My formations that I shall be using are:

 

The 1st one will be for games against the smaller teams and games that I should easily be winning, and the 2nd will be for the big games, and the bigger teams just so we are that little more solid at the back.

So far only played the super cup but using the 2nd formation 4-1-2-3 we beat Madrid 1-0, so a good start. 

My last man utd save was close and competitive with some teams mainly man city and aresnal so am hoping for the same again, makes the game more enjoyable for me if have some competition and it's competitive.

[Yoeri]

On 6-3-2018 at 13:29, MAECK said:

What formation do you play? Amazing scores.

[the SLC]

what a great game to watch

[the SLC]

check out group f. what a surprise

[axehan1]

Smashed.

[warlock]

To those of us playing with the winter transfer update, what are you doing with Sanchez?

Just completed my first season and he was rubbish up until Christmas having tried him as both IF on the left, and rotating with Lukaku as striker. For the second half of the season he was much better in the striker role and ended with 14 goals and 6 assists in 19(7) appearances. Unfortunately, this meant I've had to play Rashford as the IF-L and he's been rubbish all season. He was also rubbish as a striker, which is why I ended up playing Sanchez there.

We've played a hugely-successful 433 wide. So for the second season I have some interesting challenges. Stick with the 433 and persevere with Rashford out left, or move him on and get someone better. Or switch to a two-striker setup with Lukaku, Sanchez, Martial and Rashford sharing the duties. Thoughts?

[sedge11]

36 minutes ago, warlock said:

To those of us playing with the winter transfer update, what are you doing with Sanchez?

Just completed my first season and he was rubbish up until Christmas having tried him as both IF on the left, and rotating with Lukaku as striker. For the second half of the season he was much better in the striker role and ended with 14 goals and 6 assists in 19(7) appearances. Unfortunately, this meant I've had to play Rashford as the IF-L and he's been rubbish all season. He was also rubbish as a striker, which is why I ended up playing Sanchez there.

We've played a hugely-successful 433 wide. So for the second season I have some interesting challenges. Stick with the 433 and persevere with Rashford out left, or move him on and get someone better. Or switch to a two-striker setup with Lukaku, Sanchez, Martial and Rashford sharing the duties. Thoughts?

I’ve been using Sanchez as either an IF on the left or as a raumdeuter on the right and has 14 goals and 12 assists going into March.

I wouldn’t get rid of Rashford, he’s still only 20-21 so can easily be made into one of the best in the game, I’ve had good success with him playing him on the right as a winger or as a complete forward, and he has 13 goals and 11 assists so far in all comps.

[warlock]

5 minutes ago, sedge11 said:

I wouldn’t get rid of Rashford, he’s still only 20-21 so can easily be made into one of the best in the game

Thanks for that - you're probably right, and looking at his performances in detail he does seem to have developed over the season. If he does come good it would avoid the headache of a new tacic... I'm very happy with what I've got now. It will also save the transfer budget for the areas that really need strengthening: replacements for Young (who "wants a new challenge"), and probably Fellaini, who hasn't been bad but we don't play BWM or anything like, so he's not the best fit for the tactic.

I could be wrong, but it also seems to me that all of the u23s have had a pretty major downgrade in this database so not much help coming from there.

[sedge11]

31 minutes ago, warlock said:

I could be wrong, but it also seems to me that all of the u23s have had a pretty major downgrade in this database so not much help coming from there.

Some of them do seem a little weaker and tutoring doesn't seem to be working as well, but Mctominay has had abit of an upgrade. I'm tutoring and trying to develop Gomes, Gribbin, Puigmal and Ro Shaun Williams, plus Mctominay. But I can't wait to get Tuanzebe and Fosu Mensah back at end of the season.

[sedge11]

Right so coming into the business end of the 1st season here is how the table looks.

We were top but lost away to man city, which meant I have lost both games to them which is annoying. As you can see we have kept alot of clean sheets, De Gea missed a couple games so has 17 clean sheets in 23 games which is great, we tend to win alot of games 1 or 2-0.

League cup we got knocked out by Wolves early on, Man city went and won it.

We are in the last 8 of the fa cup and have been drawn Leicester. In the champs league we got Feynoord in the 1st knockout round, winning the 1st leg 2-0 away.

My only signing in January is someone I highly recommend if you want a great young player. I had him on my Lyon save, and he was pure class, and went straight into the 1st team and performed well scoring alot of goals, so I have massive hopes for him at Man utd. He has already scored a winner in an fa cup game, but I am easing him in slowly.

[jkae]

Ive just started after the update and need fullbacks. Tierney looks like hes had a downgrade, and i really want a right back more than anything, anyone had any joy? 

I want a leader too if im going to replace Valencia. The team (just like in real life) lacks a solid leader. anyone had any joy? Im using Herrera as captain at the moment. 

Ive signed Pulisic and Arthur so far.

[warlock]

51 minutes ago, jkae said:

Ive just started after the update and need fullbacks. Tierney looks like hes had a downgrade, and i really want a right back more than anything, anyone had any joy? 

Hadn't noticed a downgrade to Tierney, but his price was upgraded beyond what I was prepared to pay. I signed Alex Telles from FCP for £13m and he's proved to be a bit of a bargain - not brilliant, but very reliable, now valued at £35.5m and averaged 7.34 for the season rotating with Shaw.

Sold Darmian, but figured I could manage the season with Valencia and Young in rotation at RB. Now Young wants to leave (and I'm in agreement) so I'm currently looking. Zappacosta at Chelsea is transfer listed, so available at a bargain price, but my scouts don't rate him although stats-wise he looks the part. Hysaj at Napoli, maybe. Odriozola at Real San Sebastian is another prospect but I know from previous saves that they'll hold to his release clause which is £35.5m.

If you find a good one, let us know .

[jkae]

Will do thanks Warlock

[Sherkey]

6 hours ago, jkae said:

Ive just started after the update and need fullbacks. Tierney looks like hes had a downgrade, and i really want a right back more than anything, anyone had any joy? 

I want a leader too if im going to replace Valencia. The team (just like in real life) lacks a solid leader. anyone had any joy? Im using Herrera as captain at the moment. 

Ive signed Pulisic and Arthur so far.

Get back Rafael. Beast of an B, and helps with home grown status too. Valencia just left the club at 35, Rafael is 31 now in my save, and still going strong. Odriozola is another beast I kinda wish I'd gotten, but with Valencia and Rafael, never needed him.

[AJJ]

Who do you guys get to replace Matic a few years down the line? Been looking at Wiegl

[jkae]

18 hours ago, Sherkey said:

Get back Rafael.

I never even thought of him. I was gutted when he left but could never stay fit. Thanks!

[sedge11]

11 hours ago, AJJ said:

Who do you guys get to replace Matic a few years down the line? Been looking at Wiegl

How about training and tutoring Fosu Mensah to replace Matic. Otherwise someone like Dier or that Savic from Lazio, bot 100% sure he can play that role but attributes are amazing.

[sedge11]

So end of the 1st season and well it was incredibly disappointing. We lost the league by 3 points, a loss to Leicester with 4-5 games to go cost us, and City just didn't drop points.

We then lost in the fa cup final 1-0 to chelsea to end the season badly. We also lost in the quarters in the champs league to Bayern, who went on to win it.

So a trophyless 1st season, and I seem to be on a lean spell in fm, as my previous lyon save only rewarded 2 trophies in 3 years, but it keeps it interesting and a big summer is required to get back on top.

The season stats for my players were:

Lukaku had a great season, Mata and Rashford was also great, Bailly and Chiellini formed a great partnership, and with them and De gea you can see in the league that De Gea kept 22 clean sheets.

So to the 2nd season and we need a big and good summer, Ibra and Carrick are retiring, Young wants to leave and I'm also going to sell Jones and Rojo. I'm not sure what to do with Pogba and Sanchez, as neither did as well as I would want, especially Pogba, kind of tempted to sell one or both.

Tuanzebe, Fosu Mensah, Pereira back off loan and will be promoted to the 1st team, along with Geubbels and Gomes who had a few games in the 1st season.

Also the best player from my youth intake, Parkinson, I have high hopes for him to be future no1 left back.

[the SLC]

On 3/16/2018 at 18:53, warlock said:

To those of us playing with the winter transfer update, what are you doing with Sanchez?

Just completed my first season and he was rubbish up until Christmas having tried him as both IF on the left, and rotating with Lukaku as striker. For the second half of the season he was much better in the striker role and ended with 14 goals and 6 assists in 19(7) appearances. Unfortunately, this meant I've had to play Rashford as the IF-L and he's been rubbish all season. He was also rubbish as a striker, which is why I ended up playing Sanchez there.

We've played a hugely-successful 433 wide. So for the second season I have some interesting challenges. Stick with the 433 and persevere with Rashford out left, or move him on and get someone better. Or switch to a two-striker setup with Lukaku, Sanchez, Martial and Rashford sharing the duties. Thoughts?

i play him as the central cf of a front 3 and so far he has scored 75 goals in 101 appearances