[FM19] Manchester United

[xenqi]

this is my Pogba. 
although I had issues with him wanting to move to PSG last season.
having the same PSG issues with Milinkovic-Savic right now. 
anyone have recommendations for a Milinkovic-Savic replacement?

Edited December 24, 2018 by xenqi

[BigV]

6 minutes ago, xenqi said:

this is my Pogba. 
although I had issues with him wanting to move to PSG last season.
having the same PSG issues with Milinkovic-Savic right now. 
anyone have recommendations for a Milinkovic-Savic replacement?

Antonin Barak, low budget savic. Matheus Fernandes, Gedson Fernandes,  Kondogbia, Xavier Schlager, tonali. 

[xenqi]

Just now, BigV said:

Antonin Barak, low budget savic. Matheus Fernandes, Gedson Fernandes,  Kondogbia, Xavier Schlager, tonali. 

already have Tonali.
I play Tonali behind a mid2 of Savic and Pogba.
will look at the rest.
thanks!

[PaulC2K]

Im looking for some opinions for directions to go for the 3rd season. Im at May 2020, and need to start putting pressure on my main targets before the season ends.

Currently playing Vert-TT using 4-3-3 wide, 4-2-3-1 wide, and 4-2-4 wide. Really the only change i tend to make revolves around where the 3rd CM goes (DM/CM/AM/CF).

GK: DDG & Romero
LB: Shaw & Tierney
CB: Lindelof, de Ligt, Skrinier & Milenkovic
RB: Fosu-Mensa, Dalot & Vagnoman
CM: Pogba, Herrera, de Jong, Savic, Fernandes & Gagliardini
LW: Martial & Sanchez
RW: Chong & Pulisic
AM: Asensio
CF: Rashford, Lukaku & Kane

Weaknesses/Issues - Theres a lot of overseas players in there, which is a CL nightmare if i dont sort it. Been told my defence & midfield lacks 
Strengths - Youth. Chong has been better than expected and still have more kids to come through. Im trying to focus on buying potential.

Theres nobody im desperate to get rid of, however Sanchez will be 32 by Xmas, Lukaku is doing fine but will be 3rd choice and blocks Greenwoods path, Herrera will be 31 as the season kicks off, and I only bought Gagliardini as a cheap backup DM after selling Matic.
That said, Herrera is still dependable, and i wouldnt have an issue starting him in a CL final, and Sanchez... his age would be the only reason for selling him, he's on the shortlist for European player of the season - 32 starts & 3 subs, 20 goals, 10 assists, and 10 MoM awards which is 4 more than any of my other players. But 32 is 32.

The only English player who i think might add to the squad, is Eric Dier, after that its players who either need to be better than what ive already got, or they're going to be bit-part squad players. 
Im not convinced about Sessegnon from his stats, if anything the potential to turn him back into a full-back/wing-back appeals more than as a LW. Alli, great player but Asensio is a fringe player, the AM role is only used when im playing lesser sides and my first-11 are resting before a big match, and if he wasnt an AM, i probably wouldnt be using one. So adding competition for the spot seems daft. That said, i've never really spent the time looking into building the formation around the AM. If that became my primary formation, it'd make sense adding depth. I also have Gomes to come through if i wanted. Theres possibly even an argument to say Asensio should be sold, but i dont need the money, and surprisingly he isnt complaining.

What are peoples thoughts on wingers vs inside forwards?? Are wingers a thing of the past now with only 1 CF to aim for? Is that likely to improve with an AM? I'd like to sign Lemar, but not sure whether it'd work. I like the idea of playing early balls over the top for Rashford to run on to, and i suspect crosses into the box from the wing or set pieces should produce goals too. 

I got told my transfer funds for the summer window, and after rebalancing it to add a little more for wages, theres £300m and £700k/wk available for wages. It should mean i can buy absolutely anyone, provided they want to leave. So, with that in mind, i have a very competent squad, the funds to make 1-2 significant signings, and there are a handful of dead-rubber matches where i could try tactical changes if that might be worthwhile exploring? Anyone have any suggestions on what i should do next? I probably wont play any matches in the next few days, so any feedback would be welcome.

@xenqi Gedson Fernandes is a really solid signing.
I snapped him up 2nd summer, for 17.5m + 30m/3yr, i wanted him to be eased in and eventually phase out Herrera. He started strongly, and ended up being used at every opportunity by September. 
I probably should have tried to use Pogba & Savic together more often in a 3-man midfield, but instead ive tended to use him as Pogbas replacement when he needs recovery time. I've no idea whether he's a replacement in the mould of Savic, but ive been very happy with him since he arrived.

Are you sure you cant speak to Savic and have him stay put? Ive had PSG nibble at DDG and Pogba, i rejected both offers, and when the players complained to me, i convinced them to stay with 1 response and they've been content ever since. I think as long as you've got some success and decent team moral, then a non-aggressive response to remind them that he might not find the same thing elsewhere, kills off any interest they have in leaving. The times ive tried to put players straight, like Jose would, they've started kicking and screaming. 

Also, some random bit of trivia, Savic's brother used to be on the Utd books a few years back. Looking at his history in-game, it looks like he was loaned back to Vojvodina for the season, and then released the next season.

[xenqi]

2 hours ago, PaulC2K said:

Are you sure you cant speak to Savic and have him stay put? Ive had PSG nibble at DDG and Pogba, i rejected both offers, and when the players complained to me, i convinced them to stay with 1 response and they've been content ever since. I think as long as you've got some success and decent team moral, then a non-aggressive response to remind them that he might not find the same thing elsewhere, kills off any interest they have in leaving. The times ive tried to put players straight, like Jose would, they've started kicking and screaming. 

I managed to reject PSG's advances for Pogba; but Savic became very unhappy even though PSG was not even coming close to the transfer value I had negotiated with Savic (was like 120m or something) and PSG was only offering around 80m each time. 
I eventually sold him to FC Bayern who came in late - just did not want to see him go to PSG.
My 3-man midfield triangle is now:

Tonali
Sergio Gomez - Pogba

Have a few regens that I will blood to fill in my triangle centre midfield.

@PaulC2K Dele Alli would be a pretty good purchase for AMC; and since you have such a huge budget, why not Mbappe?

[Myswikner]

Decided to fire up an Man U save as usual just to try smt different budget wise. did spend alot of cash in the first window.

https://gyazo.com/6caab7309e2fe1d41535d562277c8095

going for more or less all of the usual targets and trying to build a young squad that can develop into smt great.

Playing a 3-4-3 wingback tactic that is really great in defense and the attack is starting to pick up aswell after alot of 1-0 wins in the first games of the season.

https://gyazo.com/827d5a12945accd84fbc70e630ec4350

https://gyazo.com/bfe4b1e712ad169a5663b37f7fa4ecff

Trashed Arsenal 4-0 and won 3-1 vs Liverpool after Lukaku been subed in, scored and then got a red card leaving us 10 to 11 with 30 min left at 1-1

Played all of my reserves and alot of young players in the Caraboa vs leeds and lost in penaltys. Plan was to loose anyway so i could focus on more importent stuff.

 

[MatthewS17]

Anyone got any recommendations for a great either current or high potential midfielder. with excellent passing stats. Looking for someone in a Xavi, Fabregas, or Scholes mould, just to give varying examples. Signed De Jong before the update, but he seems to be nowhere near the same level in my new save. Also looking at Ndombele, but am not sure he's the right fit. Good passing range, but something just doesn't fit. So yeah, any decent, creative passers that are around, other than Tonali, who fit the CM role? Would have loved Rakitic, but he's too expensive and too old.

 

Also, does anyone have a decent suggestion for an alternative to De Ligt? I've signed Skriniar, but I'm looking for a BPD to play alongside him. I want a fall-back if I lose him to another club, and I can't seem to find anyone. I scouted Dias for around 5 months total, but my scouts didn't rate him that highly(I know this can be misleading), so if anyone can prove them wrong, would be great, and now I'm looking at Eder Militao from Porto. Anyone got suggestions? Must be a BPD. Bonus points if they have leadership potential, which is what United need.

For the BPD, established players can be mentioned, I don't mind, however I just paid 72m for Skriniar, so I'm not looking to spend that amount again. More or less looking at 55m and under.

[BigV]

3 hours ago, MatthewS17 said:

Anyone got any recommendations for a great either current or high potential midfielder. with excellent passing stats. Looking for someone in a Xavi, Fabregas, or Scholes mould, just to give varying examples. Signed De Jong before the update, but he seems to be nowhere near the same level in my new save. Also looking at Ndombele, but am not sure he's the right fit. Good passing range, but something just doesn't fit. So yeah, any decent, creative passers that are around, other than Tonali, who fit the CM role? Would have loved Rakitic, but he's too expensive and too old.

 

Also, does anyone have a decent suggestion for an alternative to De Ligt? I've signed Skriniar, but I'm looking for a BPD to play alongside him. I want a fall-back if I lose him to another club, and I can't seem to find anyone. I scouted Dias for around 5 months total, but my scouts didn't rate him that highly(I know this can be misleading), so if anyone can prove them wrong, would be great, and now I'm looking at Eder Militao from Porto. Anyone got suggestions? Must be a BPD. Bonus points if they have leadership potential, which is what United need.

For the BPD, established players can be mentioned, I don't mind, however I just paid 72m for Skriniar, so I'm not looking to spend that amount again. More or less looking at 55m and under.

Arthur from barca, the guy looks like an immense brazilian. Check sevilla and valencia, they have underated mid's, I'd say correa trained as CM, it's worked, tried it in several other saves. 

Ruben dias? yeah go for him, ignore your scouts, he's insane and on several other united posts he's always one that people buy cause he's cheap and OP attributes. Marquinos, rugani, jose gimnez, romagnoli, lenglet, jonathan tah (young and more of a wonderkid upcoming) and nathan ake more of a rotation thats solid. 

[PaulC2K]

10 hours ago, xenqi said:

I managed to reject PSG's advances for Pogba; but Savic became very unhappy even though PSG was not even coming close to the transfer value I had negotiated with Savic (was like 120m or something) and PSG was only offering around 80m each time. 
I eventually sold him to FC Bayern who came in late - just did not want to see him go to PSG.
My 3-man midfield triangle is now:

Tonali
Sergio Gomez - Pogba

Have a few regens that I will blood to fill in my triangle centre midfield.

@PaulC2K Dele Alli would be a pretty good purchase for AMC; and since you have such a huge budget, why not Mbappe?

Annoyingly whatever database settings i used, Tonali isnt in there. Doesnt seem to happen too often with frequently mentioned wonderkids or the more obscure signings, but its very annoying when it does. I hadnt realised quite what i'd done until i was comfortably into the season and didnt want to go through the whole process again. Ive since seen that what i scaled down has next to no impact on performance, and its not like my system would struggle either.
That sucks with Savic though, thankfully i havent had anyone come in for a player who couldnt be convinced to stay, most of the time its players angry and wanting to move because im not using them or because im trying to offload them or someone they like.

Alli would make sense if i felt like i could make an AM based formation work, as at least i'd have 2 players for the role, and it gives Gomes a viable path to the first team. Adding Dier too would probably help with the balance, be within budget, and adds 2 English players who could start games.
Mbappe was the first person to come to mind when given silly money, but i'd actually dismissed him thinking that i dont really need another striker, but he'd work well as a RW-IF. I've used Chong in that role in half the games this season, typically the lesser games, but he's scored plenty so i can only imagine what Mbappe could do! Strengthening the right side was something i was interested in doing, but i'd been looking at wingers and dismissing people like Bailey because he wants to come inside. Perhaps embracing the IF's is the way to go. I feel like trying to use wingers without 2 strikers is like fighting an uphill battle.

My heart says go get Mbappe, cos in all the years ive played FM ive never managed Messi and now its kinda too late, but my head says adding 1 foreigner doesnt solve my CL selection issues. The finances project i'll get 320m next year (£150m the year after, it was 350m only a month ago), so as crazy as it is, i should be able to get Mbappe the following year.

[stevemc]

Manchester United 2018/19 - June/Sept

So I finally got my Manchester United save going, I didn't want to make too many changes so only really signed Matthijs de Ligt and Kieran Tierney for the first team with Ashley Young the only first teamer that left. Tried to move on Darmian and Felliani but it didn't materialise. I've promoted Chong, Greenwood and Gomes to the first team so they can be mentored and I'll also look to give them some minutes.

Here's my transfers anyway;

 

Staff-wise, I made a few additions, managed to get in Matthias Sammer as Director of Football, and also brought in Roy Keane and Gary Neville as I like bring back ex-players on the coaching staff.

 

On the pitch, we had a decent start despite dropping two points at Brighton after conceding a 90th minter equaliser to Solly March, but they squad are all getting back from World Cup duty now so the team is getting stronger. Our best result so far, was this against Tottenham;

 

I'm pretty happy with the Champions League draw too;

 

The Carabao Cup has given us a draw away at Sheffield United.

Edited December 24, 2018 by stevemc

[sedge11]

So season 2 is finished. 

It was tight but we brought the premier league trophy back home.

It went to the final day and I beat defending champions city on goal difference, they had an incredible run at the end of the season to catch us, but we held on.

We had 5 players in the team of the year. With 2 of our signings Bailey and Koulibaly making the team.

Pogba won Players player and footballer of the year. Leon Bailey won young player of the year, and De Gea won the golden glove.

We also made the champs league final but sadly lost out to Barca in extra time. Herrera got sent off after we took the lead, and we struggled after that.

We went out early yet again in both domestic cups, with Aresnal and Liverpool winning the cups, which was disappointing and is something need to rectify.

So only 1 trophy in season 2 but was a good season, with some young players coming on well, some great potential in this team.

Here is the seasons stats for all comps.

Pogba was immense, Shaw, Rashford and Lingard all very good. An 2 of our 4 signings were brilliant in Koulibaly and Bailey. Of the youngsters, Gomes and Tuanzebe were very good, plus Garner was decent as well.

So onwards to season 3, we have had a poor showing in the domestic cups in both seasons so is an area will look to change, and we need to retain our title.

In terms of transfers, Lukaku, Matic, Bailly and Romero will probably all be sold and Young is retiring. 

So we will need to replace them so will look to sign a full back, a dm and another centre half. Striker wise I don't plan on replacing Lukaku as between Rashford, Belotti and Martial we get the goals but will see. And will use Henderson or Peirera will be used as the no2.

Greenwood and Chong will be back off loan and straight into the 1st team as well.

 

Edited December 24, 2018 by sedge11

[xenqi]

11 hours ago, MatthewS17 said:

 

For the BPD, 

@MatthewS17 
Dayot Upamecano or Benjamin Pavard;
For the CM, I currently have Sergio Gomez (the wonderkid from Dortmund).
I also have Ryan Gravenberch (from Ajax), and Mickael Cuisance (Monchengladbach) but they're both out on loan. (Dec 2021 now).

@PaulC2K Mbappe is an absolute beast and a must-have once you have the required funds. 

 

Edited December 25, 2018 by xenqi

[willowz1]

Interested to hear what people do with the right back position. Personally, i am a bit of a player developer, and i see a lot of potential in Lee O'Connor and Ethan Laird, both of which are right sided players, then you obviously have Dalot. do people retrain one of the them to a new position. Was tempted to retrain O'Connor to a CB, but his height concerns me. 

[simonbyrneno.4]

3 hours ago, willowz1 said:

Interested to hear what people do with the right back position. Personally, i am a bit of a player developer, and i see a lot of potential in Lee O'Connor and Ethan Laird, both of which are right sided players, then you obviously have Dalot. do people retrain one of the them to a new position. Was tempted to retrain O'Connor to a CB, but his height concerns me. 

Going to turn him into the new Denis Irwin myself and train hi m for both full back positions 

[milan_manutd]

On 23/12/2018 at 20:08, sedge11 said:

The biggest concern for me would be you that you have signed Moreno .

Sanchez is a pain to sell, I luckily managed to sell him for 40mil but I am having to continue paying about 150k a week of his wages, but it was the only way.

Moreno was free player and have very reasonable wage and bonus demands. Also Luke Shaw is often injured and I thing that he is not my future No1 in LB position. At the moment trying to give away Shae and money for Guerreiro from BVB. So, Moreno is just backup.

It is deeply against my rules to give some part of wage to player who is sold. Obviously, I will wait some time before Alexis departed. 

[zlatanera]

Got my first youth intake, and this guy appears:

Appears I may no longer need to sign Ryan Sessegnon to be my LM option for the next decade. He went straight into the first team (LM slot normally occupied by Sanchez who is out for the season with a broken leg) and did this:

At 15 years 239 days he became both our youngest ever player and goalscorer! 

[sedge11]

3 hours ago, milan_manutd said:

Moreno was free player and have very reasonable wage and bonus demands. Also Luke Shaw is often injured and I thing that he is not my future No1 in LB position. At the moment trying to give away Shae and money for Guerreiro from BVB. So, Moreno is just backup.

It is deeply against my rules to give some part of wage to player who is sold. Obviously, I will wait some time before Alexis departed. 

Still an ex Liverpool player , to be fair I've seen the AI man utd sign him on a previous save then sold him for 40mil.

Shaw has been incredible for me, but Guerreiro would be a great LB to replace him, if you get him.

Yea I don't like offering wages either, but I wanted rid of Sanchez and his massive wages so was a comprise I took to clear him out.

[sedge11]

1 hour ago, zlatanera said:

Got my first youth intake, and this guy appears:

Appears I may no longer need to sign Ryan Sessegnon to be my LM option for the next decade. He went straight into the first team (LM slot normally occupied by Sanchez who is out for the season with a broken leg) and did this:

At 15 years 239 days he became both our youngest ever player and goalscorer! 

Looks quality, the new Ryan Giggs.

Great crossing, passing and pace all at 15, he could be incredible.

[zlatanera]

@sedge11 yeah, perhaps would have preferred a couple of those Bravery points in Anticipation / Composure but otherwise one of the best I've had in terms of attributes in the right place. Fairly Strong right foot too, 16 Natural Fitness and at 179cm at 15 he could be looking more like a Cristiano Ronaldo than a Giggs as he grows. Only concern is he could perhaps lose some of that acceleration if he does grow? I've not paid enough attention to my newgens since about FM16 so I don't know if that happens or not. 

[BigV]

12 hours ago, willowz1 said:

Interested to hear what people do with the right back position. Personally, i am a bit of a player developer, and i see a lot of potential in Lee O'Connor and Ethan Laird, both of which are right sided players, then you obviously have Dalot. do people retrain one of the them to a new position. Was tempted to retrain O'Connor to a CB, but his height concerns me. 

I bought sidibe, pushed valencia out and sold him. Dalot on rotation while giving laird cup games, his stats really bolster up with a few matches here and there, his progression is insane for a youngster who constantly improves month after month. Defos shaw like at full potential i reckon. 

[PaulC2K]

1 hour ago, xenqi said:

Mbappe is an absolute beast and a must-have once you have the required funds. 

PSG & Spurs just accepted what i genuinely assumed would be cheeky first offers before nudging the price up in 10-20m increments.

Mbappe came in at £180m and Alli was 120m. I fully expected Mbappe to be closer to the 300m mark, possibly higher as a sign of their intention to keep him. Alli is probably right, just surprised they didnt push for more.
So instead of an either-or situation, its both and theres still room to get a deal on Dier. Bonkers.

I immediately got an bid back from PSG too - £105m + 46m/3yr for Pogba. I dont really see the benefit of selling him, so wont be.


Everyone seems eager to sell Sanchez, is that because of the wage, not performing well, age, 2nd/3rd choice LW... all the above?? Just wondering, cos if i got a decent offer i'd sell him (3rd summer) mainly because of his age and last chance to get good money for him, but he was good in the first season and brilliant in the 2nd. I was eager to offload him for IRL reasons (Pogba too!) but its kinda hard to justify when he was probably my best player last season. Who would/did you replace him with?

[PaulC2K]

6 hours ago, zlatanera said:

Got my first youth intake, and this guy appears:

WHAT THE HECK!

I got 2x 5-star potential on the 2nd season, and ive bought a couple too, but havent seen anything remotely like that yet.
I usually get bored of a save some time around the 3rd season, but i want to make a decent go at getting 6-8yrs in for once so im making a real effort to pick up these kids now. Just had one arrive that cost £20m+ and isnt even in his league from what i can tell  

[Mark6880]

7 hours ago, PaulC2K said:

PSG & Spurs just accepted what i genuinely assumed would be cheeky first offers before nudging the price up in 10-20m increments.

Mbappe came in at £180m and Alli was 120m. I fully expected Mbappe to be closer to the 300m mark, possibly higher as a sign of their intention to keep him. Alli is probably right, just surprised they didnt push for more.
So instead of an either-or situation, its both and theres still room to get a deal on Dier. Bonkers.

I immediately got an bid back from PSG too - £105m + 46m/3yr for Pogba. I dont really see the benefit of selling him, so wont be.


Everyone seems eager to sell Sanchez, is that because of the wage, not performing well, age, 2nd/3rd choice LW... all the above?? Just wondering, cos if i got a decent offer i'd sell him (3rd summer) mainly because of his age and last chance to get good money for him, but he was good in the first season and brilliant in the 2nd. I was eager to offload him for IRL reasons (Pogba too!) but its kinda hard to justify when he was probably my best player last season. Who would/did you replace him with?

Mbappe cost me £170m but definitely well worth it.

Sanchez is OK but from the 3rd season onwards there are far better left wing options available and I find he does become hampered by niggling injuries. I alternate between Martial, Rashford and Justin Kluivert at the moment.

[Mark6880]

Mason Greenwood's development

2023 Squad

[Mark6880]

Long term replacement for Lukaku

[Mark6880]

Got to love this.

[Stuniverse]

I’m early into my Manchester United save. It’s (game date) 19/09/2018 and we’re 7th in EPL with 10 points from 5 matches. We’ve Pld 5, W 3, D 1, L 1, F 10, A 6, GD +4, Pts 10.

In the ECC we drew 1-1 at AS Roma, with Atletico Madrid and TSG Hoffenheim also in our group.

I’m playing a 4-1-4-1 DM Wide Gegenpress.

I’ve signed Will Hughes from Watford. As a Derby County fan I want to see if he can cut it at a top club. When I first made a ridiculous offer, Watford wanted £79M, but I eventually signed him for £30M (which may rise to £48M). He’s agreed to sign as back-up so the pressure’s not on immediately to play him. He’s averaging 6.97 from 2(1) in EPL and 6.60 from 1 in ECC.

Also signed Stefan Savic D(C) for £26M from Atletico Madrid. He’s averaging 7.45 from 2(1) in EPL and 7.10 from 1 in ECC. I wanted to go British but my scouts didn’t think Michael Keane or Harry Maguire were any better than our existing players, although I am keeping an eye on Reece Oxford.

I haven’t sold anybody, although quite a lot of young players are out on loan.

My plan is to attempt to stay competitive in terms of ECC Qualification, whilst working out which senior players I want to keep and which I want to offload. Where possible, I also want to give youth a chance to develop. Not sure yet what my plans are for the January transfer window as I only have £1,840,630 left in my transfer budget. The wage budget is £3,645,784 p/w and we’re currently spending £3,590,990 p/w so under budget.

One of the many things I admired about Sir Alex Ferguson was how he kept a British nucleus to his squad and that’s something I’d like to emulate if possible, although I doubt players like Harry Kane are going to sign but I can only try.

Any thoughts on this approach and suggestions on who to buy, who to offload, and who to develop would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

Edited December 26, 2018 by Stuniverse

[Stuniverse]

On 24/10/2018 at 22:01, trekman said:

Only played a couple of games so far in the league but doing well. Only one defeat so far which was a 9 goal thriller against Liverpool loosing 5-4. Signed Kostas Manolas who has a release clause at the start of the game of £34m and the game says he's an 'Elite defender'. You've got to be quick though. Planning to give Periera, Chong and Gomes games against the 'easier' opponents. I'm thinking about a better striker because I think Lakaku needs too many chances which is a bit accurate considering how he's playing irl. I'm looking for a couple of good wingers (not wonderkids) because I'm planning to play 'The Fergie way' and want too guys with good crossing so recommendations welcome.

Which Pereira?

[xenqi]

On 25/12/2018 at 22:01, willowz1 said:

Interested to hear what people do with the right back position. 

Dalot on the right back, with Pavard as a standby just in case.
Kieran Tierney on the left back (he is an absolute beast) with a 19-year old regen as standby.

My back 4:

Tierney - de Ligt - Pavard - Dalot

Backups: Alexis (regen), Upamecano, Lindelof (trying to sell him but he rejected Inter's contract), Oscar (18 year old regen), and Valies (17 year old regen). 

With a central midfield trio of:
Pogba - Sergio Gomez
Tonali

My back 4 is rarely tested - and the 2 wingbacks put in a fair number of assists over the season. 

[xenqi]

57 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

Any thoughts on this approach and suggestions on who to buy, who to offload, and who to develop would be gratefully appreciated.

I am developing Tahith Chong, Angel Gomes, Mason Greenwood. But they're not exactly world-beaters to be honest. They're mostly out on loan because my new regens have better stats than them. 
Andreas Pereira developed nicely, but Newcastle came in with a ridiculous offer and I sold him. 
I have bought a whole slew of wonderkids over the seasons, and some of them have turned out really nice, including Joao Felix, Gravenberch, de Ligt, Upamecano, Sergio Gomez, Sandro Tonali, etc.
Would definitely recommend Tonali, de Ligt, Gomez and Upamecano if you can afford them.
Should definitely also buy Milinkovic-Savic and pair him up with Pogba in center midfield. 
Mbappe is godlike - and a good player to have if you have the available funds. 

I pretty much offload everybody - they're honestly not good enough for Manchester United (in my opinion, don't shoot me).
The only players I have kept (and in the senior squad) are: De Gea, Lindelof (trying to sell), Dalot, Pogba, Rashford, and Martial. 

[xenqi]

3 hours ago, Mark6880 said:

Mbappe cost me £170m but definitely well worth it.

Sanchez is OK but from the 3rd season onwards there are far better left wing options available and I find he does become hampered by niggling injuries. I alternate between Martial, Rashford and Justin Kluivert at the moment.

Try Jadon Sancho and Sergio Gomez (can also play centre mid). 

[Mark6880]

37 minutes ago, xenqi said:

Try Jadon Sancho and Sergio Gomez (can also play centre mid). 

I forgot to mention I already have Sancho as well

[xenqi]

15 minutes ago, Mark6880 said:

I forgot to mention I already have Sancho as well



Sergio Gomez then.
But realistically, I use Sancho, Martial or Mbappe, with Rashford up top as a solo striker.
My other wingers are all regens.  

[zlatanera]

12 hours ago, PaulC2K said:

WHAT THE HECK!

I got 2x 5-star potential on the 2nd season, and ive bought a couple too, but havent seen anything remotely like that yet.
I usually get bored of a save some time around the 3rd season, but i want to make a decent go at getting 6-8yrs in for once so im making a real effort to pick up these kids now. Just had one arrive that cost £20m+ and isnt even in his league from what i can tell  

I believe he may be what's known as a "freak regen" - his personality is affected by the youth staff's personalities (sadly didn't get Nicky Butt's personality but hopefully has a lot of his professionalism), and they appear ready for first team football with really high potential. I remember I had one at RB for Hamburg on FM18 but never got to use him as you can't play in the Bundesliga until you're 17 and he spawned aged 14, I ran out of patience with the save before he came through. Can't say I've ever had any others like that though. 

[MatthewS17]

I've seen a lot of people here using the CM midfield role, so I'm wondering if someone could explain to me what the role entails. I've never used it because it always seemed like an all round no strengths, no weaknesses role. So yeah, anyone got a deep understanding of the role? 

How does the CM(S) differ from a Carrilero, or how does the CM(A) role differ from a AP(A), for example? 

[zlatanera]

44-effing-2, knocking Liverpool off their perch, goals galore, academy products running down the left wing and a comeback win against Bayern in the Champions League final...it's 1999 2019!!

 

Unusually, I did not hold back in the transfer market - offering Rugani £30k more than he asked to beat out Real Madrid for his signature and setting records for most expensive Scotsman (Tierney), Italian (Rugani), transfer between English clubs (Kanté) and Manchester United player (Kanté). Drinkwater was signed purely to be a homegrown depth option - he'll see out his contract but probably not play much.

Liverpool pushed us all the way, briefly overtaking us in April, with their ridiculous prowess off set pieces (21 from Corners, 5 DKF, 9 IFK) leading them beyond the 100 goal mark. We set club records for points, wins, and lowest number of draws in a season, as well as winning 12 games in a row. Despite this, on the last day of the season we still needed a win, and were against Chelsea:

Valencia's sending off in probably his last game for the club put our position in doubt but we held on for the win! Michael Thomas sadly doesn't get a league winners' medal for his 6 league starts, despite scoring and assisting in the title-winning game. 

One rather odd blot on an otherwise successful league season - of our 29 goals conceded, 12 were over two games: we lost 6-2 away to Newcastle and 6-5 at Anfield (Firmino getting the winner in the 90th minute). 

In the League Cup we went out at the first (rather substantial) hurdle, our reserves going down 2-0 at City. Everton snatched a 1-0 win in the FA Cup 5th round too, Rashford getting sent off in that one (he has a 3 match ban in next season's competition). 

In the Champions League we swept through a tough-looking group, and weathered some rather underwhelming performances in Istanbul and Milan before smashing them at home, setting up a derby semi-final (Liverpool vs Bayern being the other tie in the round). A 3-0 home leg had us in good standing, but when Aguero scored twice in the space of 3 minutes midway through the first half in the away leg I was worried...thankfully we held on to set up a final against Bayern:

Despite creating more chances, twice we trailed before Martial kept us in it. When Neuer saved his penalty and Bayern brought on Kingsley Coman I thought for sure we would conceded, but I made no subs and in the 90th minute Martial finished off a great team move for the winner and his hat-trick!

MVPs and disappointments:

David De Gea was one of only 4 players to average under 7.00, and the only one whose rating wasn't brought down by appearing mostly as a sub (Romero, McTominay and Jones the others). In late February I honestly thought he had cost me the title - being at fault for 4 of the 8 goals he conceded over two games against Liverpool and Spurs (getting a 4.6 then a 6.4). 

Alexis Sanchez was pretty average on the left flank, getting 2 goals and 5 assist in 21 appearances before breaking his leg in February - combined with a 7 week shin splints-induced absence meant he missed over 6 months. I hope his rep hasn't fallen enough that I can't offload him this summer.

Daniele Rugani more than justified his price tag, with great consistency at the back as well as providing 5 goals 3 assists off set pieces (and one long ball).

Juan Mata took to the Wide Playmaker role like a duck to water, eventually becoming a natural in the position and contributing 12 goals and 17 assists. 

Anthony Martial was the headline act though, with 31 goals (20 league, 10 CL, 1 cup) including that hat-trick in the final and an overhead kick against Arsenal getting our goal of the season award. 

 

Despite our success I'm not resting on my laurels and have already arranged the transfers of Memphis (£35m) and Gedson Fernandes (£35m rising to £45.5m) to reinforce the attack and midfield. I'm eying Asensio for the RM position and need to replace Valencia too. I'm thinking two seasons of success should be enough for a thread on my tactic.

[b101]

Going into the end of the season and a lovely run of form has seen us win the league with 6 games to play (won it at home to City ) and make it through to the CL semis. The second week of April will be a hard one to forget for the blue half of Manchester, with them losing both CL QF legs as well as having us sew up the title at their expensive in the middle of it. Only slight knock was the loss to Chelsea in the 95th minute with a very rotated squad and a dubious late goal. Next up, Barca in the semi as well as trying to hit 100 points and +100 GD (might be a push).

 

[sedge11]

7 hours ago, xenqi said:

I am developing Tahith Chong, Angel Gomes, Mason Greenwood. But they're not exactly world-beaters to be honest.

If you develop them well they can be, especially Chong. On my beta save with Pompey, the AI Man Utd developed Chong to be an incredible player.

I'm hoping to do the same with any luck.

[zlatanera]

@b101 those are some great results! 

I'm actually getting rid of Sanchez!

Shame, as he's a very good player (and performed outstandingly in his few appearances as striker in my first save), but just like in that save he's had horrendous luck with injuries, and I wanted to bring in Memphis as I'm not doing a Lyon save this year and don't expect him to be there on FM20. I'll be interested to see what wages they've offered, I was expecting him to choose Juventus (had 5 identical bids for him). He's still being paid more by us than anyone else in the squad bar Pogba, which is ridiculous when we're only paying 70%. 

[Zeonflux]

What the hell tactics are you all using cause I’m doing ok on my save but drawing way too many games and find that in the draws my players do almost nothing

[xenqi]

5 hours ago, Zeonflux said:

What the hell tactics are you all using cause I’m doing ok on my save but drawing way too many games and find that in the draws my players do almost nothing

4-1-4-1 Custom Vertical Tiki-Taka with world-class or elite (don't know the diff tbh) players in every position. 

[xenqi]

5 hours ago, sedge11 said:

If you develop them well they can be, especially Chong. On my beta save with Pompey, the AI Man Utd developed Chong to be an incredible player.

I'm hoping to do the same with any luck.

not sure if it's worth it - I'll keep them around for a few seasons more to see how they develop; but not looking good compared to some of the new regens coming out :\

[stevemc]

Rashford, wonderful. He's keeping Lukaku on the bench.

[zlatanera]

@Zeonflux @Sysiphus @martymcfly Ben Beechey the 4th! Doubt he'll ever make it with United but I'd be interested to see if he can end up with 20 Finishing.

[PaulC2K]

Just got to July 2020, La Liga transfer window opened and the gossip was Sanchez to Madrid - valued at £74m, and sure enough he's wanted. I waited a little, hoping they'd come to me, but instead got 3 offers for Martial, 1 for Pulisic & 2 for Lindelof. 
They didnt come and his price dropped to 64m at some point too (seeing it at 74m did seem higher than i recall ever seeing it), so i offered him around, Madrid came straight back with a 36m offer, i went back with 40m +30/3yr, and they said sure! 31yrs old, 32 in 4 months, and £375k/wk off the wage bill too. 
He had a fantastic 2nd season, but he still has 4yrs left on his contract, which is a staggering £78m in wages. So all in all, a brilliant deal... Except he said no and is now being a moody sod  

Managed to get it done before having time to post the message in the end, but had to include 100k/week wages (~20m). 

 

[Sysiphus]

10 minutes ago, zlatanera said:

@Zeonflux @Sysiphus @martymcfly Ben Beechey the 4th! Doubt he'll ever make it with United but I'd be interested to see if he can end up with 20 Finishing.

Nice to see another Beechey! Mine has improved considerably but still lacks the technical attributes to make it. If my Beechey had the finishing of yours he'd certainly be more exciting.

 

Edited December 27, 2018 by Sysiphus

[zlatanera]

4 minutes ago, Sysiphus said:

Nice to see another Beechey! Mine has improved considerably but still lacks the technical attributes to make it. If my Beechey had the finishing of yours he'd certainly be more exciting.

 

Looks like an English Erling Håland in the making!

[Jamie Cortez]

Bored of my Spain save now. 

I shall return with a live save and see if I can improve on the first season double I got in the beta! 

[b101]

22 minutes ago, zlatanera said:

@Zeonflux @Sysiphus @martymcfly Ben Beechey the 4th! Doubt he'll ever make it with United but I'd be interested to see if he can end up with 20 Finishing.

Meant to say I had one as well. He's rubbish

Thankfully I had a couple of better prospects too:

[zlatanera]

Defence is the best form of Attack...