[FM20] Manchester United: Falling Giant...

[Vizzini]

19/20 Season Review

Wanted to see how Man Utd would fare playing the style of football I grew up with, and it did not disappoint. The League went down to the wire, with Liverpool being ahead on goal difference. Fortunately we did the job against Bournemouth and Liverpool choked away at Leicester, courtesy of a Jamie Vardy goal. In the Europa League and League Cup I opted to play the B-team, so was not to dissapointed to go out of either early, as the league was my main focus. On the plus side I enjoyed a run in the FA-Cup, but there Liverpool sadly got some revenge and beat me 2-1, deservedly I must say.

Main transfers in before the season were Kingsley Coman for 42 million over three years and Alex Telles for 34.5 million (half of it over three years). Sandro Tonali arrived in january for 28.5 million (didn't want Liverpool snapping him up). Only one first teamer was sold, and that was Nemanja Matic to Porto for 10 million in January (I had activated his clause in October, and after I was "forced" to buy Tonali, I didn't have any space for him). Luke Shaw spent the season on loan at West Ham and broke his foot again, Pereira went to Brazil for 6 months in January and scored 5 goals in 11 matches.

My main performers in terms of scoring was Rashford and Martial, who scored 19 and 27 goals in the Premier League, making the latter the Golden Boot winner (Notable mention to Greenwood, who got 10 in 17 starts). My main creators were Telles (12), Coman (11), Pogba (12) and Bruno (15), who between them notched up 50 assists!

As for next season I will probably look to sell Shaw, Romero, Lingard, Mata, Sanchez, Fosu-Mensah, Andreas Pereira,  two of Bailly, Smalling or Jones, and Rojo in Januray. Grant will be released on a free. From the u23s, I am planning to promote Henderson, Garner, Chong and Gomes into the first team. I am not really looking to buy anyone, maybe an experienced striker to provide cover for Martial and Greenwood.

This was my main tactic that I used exclusively with few changes throughout the year. It focuses on attacking quickly with pace in classic United-style, trying to exploit the space left behind by the opposittion. It worked a treat and the football was exciting to watch, while being tight at the back.

[Tummyowl]

I have Gary Neville and Paul Scholes as first team coaches. Ryan Giggs is my under 23 manager, with Roy Keane as his assistant (they are best friends). Ole is my under 18 manager, and Phil Neville was his assistant but he left for Middlesborough. Van Persie and Evra are coaches for Ole too.

Phil Neville has been relegated to League One with Middlesborough... I told him not to leave! 

[BigV]

Love that you've found a perfectionist as a CB powello, very rare to find, looks solid too 

[Gee_Simpson]

4 hours ago, Tummyowl said:

My spec is pretty outdated; I have not updated since University. I also play on my MacBook Pro which is a few years old.

Ah you have the i7 3770k. Nice one, I just upgraded from that (non k version) myself. This i9 9900k is a big improvement though so I felt the need to load more leagues than I usually do. 

4 hours ago, Tummyowl said:

I play slowly, as in I take ... hours and hours and hours just in pre season

Lol that's understandable as I love to make transfers in and out so I tend to take a while in pre season also. 

[Powello]

6 hours ago, BigV said:

Love that you've found a perfectionist as a CB powello, very rare to find, looks solid too 

Yeah  he's a good regen, could be a very good defender and as I am recreating the 07/08 United tactics he  will probably be my Vidic because of his strength, I think my other CB is more like Ferdinand. I haven't properly looked into them indepth yet to decided wihich is which

[Powello]

Just tested my attempt at the 07/08 tactic in the first friendly, not much to go on really as its a weak team. But my front three scored 11 between them before I subbed them all at half time lol

[g-sandhu]

What are good traits for Garner to learn as a DLP? Currently has Dictates Tempo.

I was thinking Comes deep to get the ball, tries killer balls often, tries long range passing??

Already he is streets ahead of Fred who seems pretty average.

Edited April 30, 2020 by g-sandhu

[Powello]

44 minutes ago, g-sandhu said:

What are good traits for Garner to learn as a DLP? Currently has Dictates Tempo.

I was thinking Comes deep to get the ball, tries killer balls often, tries long range passing??

Already he is streets ahead of Fred who seems pretty average.

comes deep is good and tries killer balls , but he will do both anyway, I don't feel like he needs any really, but that's probably just me

Freds not really a DLP, I found him better as BBM or AP

[BigV]

6 hours ago, Powello said:

Yeah  he's a good regen, could be a very good defender and as I am recreating the 07/08 United tactics he  will probably be my Vidic because of his strength, I think my other CB is more like Ferdinand. I haven't properly looked into them indepth yet to decided wihich is which

Using him as a stopper? looks very solid, can see his heading ability rising like vidic . 

[Powello]

5 minutes ago, BigV said:

Using him as a stopper? looks very solid, can see his heading ability rising like vidic . 

At the moment no, just CB-D, I am still testing things though.

Also I have noticed he's lost the bloody perfectionist personality ffs, he's now only fairly determined

[g-sandhu]

4 hours ago, Powello said:

comes deep is good and tries killer balls , but he will do both anyway, I don't feel like he needs any really, but that's probably just me

Freds not really a DLP, I found him better as BBM or AP

I only play with a DLP with Bruno and Pogba occupying the 2 Mezzala roles. So no space for Fred really. 

Sometimes I switch to 4-4-2 with Bruno as BBM and Pogba as a DLP in homes games against weak opposition.

But with Hannibal performing and training well looks like Fred will be out the door come the summer.

Edited April 30, 2020 by g-sandhu

[Gee_Simpson]

I rotate Garner and Fred at DLP (D), Fred does quite well there for me actually. I would imagine Garner will make it his own though and be certain 1st choice. Alternatively I could use Fred as a BBM like Powello suggests, then bring in another DLP, probably Tonali. Most likely though there won't be any space for Fred unfortunately, so he'll probably be sold at the end of the season. I won't be making any signings in this first season though (barring an injury crisis), 1st window is disabled also. 

Edited April 30, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[StePratt]

Si señor.

Mason Greenwood is my favourite player from this edition of FM. Absolute banger, like a prime R9. No one comes close. He got us out of so many draws this season, scoring crucial goals throughout the campaign. His most important one was in the 54th minute of the Champions League final. Yes, we were two nil up but PSG were pushing hard. The next goal was crucial, de Jong has the ball near the half way line on their right wing, looking to play it into Ousmane Dembele. Garner spots the danger and slams into de Jong, winning the ball he races away from Sergio Roberto and delivers a peach of a cross. There was only one player on the pitch you want a high pressure chance to fall to: Mason Greenwood. He pulls away from Laporte and powers a header past the hapless Donnarumma. Three - nil. Game over. Mason goes on to get a deserved hat-trick in the 88th minute. 

This season has been fantastic. The emergence of Konate in goal, Tuto and Horgan at centre back and the continual improvement of Whisker, really pushed us on from last season's Europa League victory. Finishing second in the league last season and a massive 13 points behind local rivals, Liverpool, this year felt as though we would again struggle to topple the fantastic team from Anfield. I knew they were beatable one on one, as a tested by our 5-0 aggregate double in the League (plus and EFL Cup final win and an FA Cup 5th Round win), but over the course of a 38 game season it would be difficult.

However, it was they who struggled with shock defeats against the likes of West Brom, Bristol City, Southampton, Brighton and a few others.

 

Allez allez!

We won the lot. 

You put a trophy in front of this team and they win it. Brilliant for the lads who are at the club at the start, Barlow, Levitt, Bishop, Laird, Garner, Mejbri and Traore. Not sure if I will carry on. I might see what international jobs come up after the Euros.

 

[Powello]

5 hours ago, StePratt said:

Si señor.

Mason Greenwood is my favourite player from this edition of FM. Absolute banger, like a prime R9. No one comes close. He got us out of so many draws this season, scoring crucial goals throughout the campaign. His most important one was in the 54th minute of the Champions League final. Yes, we were two nil up but PSG were pushing hard. The next goal was crucial, de Jong has the ball near the half way line on their right wing, looking to play it into Ousmane Dembele. Garner spots the danger and slams into de Jong, winning the ball he races away from Sergio Roberto and delivers a peach of a cross. There was only one player on the pitch you want a high pressure chance to fall to: Mason Greenwood. He pulls away from Laporte and powers a header past the hapless Donnarumma. Three - nil. Game over. Mason goes on to get a deserved hat-trick in the 88th minute. 

This season has been fantastic. The emergence of Konate in goal, Tuto and Horgan at centre back and the continual improvement of Whisker, really pushed us on from last season's Europa League victory. Finishing second in the league last season and a massive 13 points behind local rivals, Liverpool, this year felt as though we would again struggle to topple the fantastic team from Anfield. I knew they were beatable one on one, as a tested by our 5-0 aggregate double in the League (plus and EFL Cup final win and an FA Cup 5th Round win), but over the course of a 38 game season it would be difficult.

However, it was they who struggled with shock defeats against the likes of West Brom, Bristol City, Southampton, Brighton and a few others.

 

Allez allez!

We won the lot. 

You put a trophy in front of this team and they win it. Brilliant for the lads who are at the club at the start, Barlow, Levitt, Bishop, Laird, Garner, Mejbri and Traore. Not sure if I will carry on. I might see what international jobs come up after the Euros.

 

AWesome dude congratulations, you are the only one to have completed the challenge, well are you the top rated side in the world rankings? 

Would you be able to send me or post your tactic? be interested to see how you played them  

I agree about Mason, he is a special player on the game, not many better forwards on there.

To be fair, if you have got to the point where you are winning the lot then it's not really a challenge any more so no reason to stay if you want a new challenge. You could take on my next challenge, which is much harder than this one hahaha

[StePratt]

3 hours ago, Powello said:

AWesome dude congratulations, you are the only one to have completed the challenge, well are you the top rated side in the world rankings? 

Would you be able to send me or post your tactic? be interested to see how you played them  

I agree about Mason, he is a special player on the game, not many better forwards on there.

To be fair, if you have got to the point where you are winning the lot then it's not really a challenge any more so no reason to stay if you want a new challenge. You could take on my next challenge, which is much harder than this one hahaha

To be honest I think I'm going to do a Hertha Berlin save next. On this one they have amassed a very good squad and Greenwood was on about joining them! See what the deal is.

Can't wait to see what your next challenge is. United again or something new?

 

[BigV]

19 hours ago, Powello said:

At the moment no, just CB-D, I am still testing things though.

Also I have noticed he's lost the bloody perfectionist personality ffs, he's now only fairly determined

Oooofffff blame your squad for that 

[g-sandhu]

Despite a great start after first 15 games or so, I am thinking of reverting to a 4231. Looks good in last couple of games played.

DLP (Pogba/Garner) - BBM (McTom/Fred)

IF(Sancho/James) - SS(Bruno/Lingard) - AP(Rashford/Gomes

AF (Martial/Greenwood)

Do people sell Martial? He frustrates me missing too many one-on-ones, then next game will smash a hat trick from nowhere. Whereas Greenwood is more prolific especially when they only get 1-2 chance per game.

Already have my eye on Mbappe, and getting some good CBs in, I only rate Axel out of all of them.

Edited May 1, 2020 by g-sandhu

[Powello]

19 hours ago, StePratt said:

To be honest I think I'm going to do a Hertha Berlin save next. On this one they have amassed a very good squad and Greenwood was on about joining them! See what the deal is.

Can't wait to see what your next challenge is. United again or something new?

 

Well it was going to be another united one but harder, but I've just moved and got no WiFi now so bit harder to sort it out

15 hours ago, BigV said:

Oooofffff blame your squad for that 

Yep bstards

[Zeonflux]

Season 4 continues to go well I’m undefeated in all comps so far (bar the Community shield and the super cup) winning my first 3 CL group games and winning all bar one league game which was a draw.

For the first time in the save I’ve been top of the league for more than one match and Haaland has come back from injury in fine form with 8 goals in 6 matches.

Hubbard his really knocking on the door for a starting position with only his pace and his acceleration stopping me from dropping him in along side De Ligt.

Still having trouble with the AML and the AMR but I’m currently switching between a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3-1-2 (wide) so the goals are still flowing due to the opposition not knowing which formation we’re going to use.

Also we beat Liverpool for the first time in the league with a 4-1 drumming and even with Mpabbe, Salah, Mane, Fermino, Tonoli, VVD and Upamencano.

This could be the year boys that we finally wrestle the League back to Old Trafford and start an era of domination!

[sean_oc16]

June 2025 - End of Season 6

Very good season again, retaining the league title with another unbeaten season and also winning the Champions League for a second consecutive season. Both domestic cup finals we lost 3-2, the only occasions we conceded more than twice in a match which was disappointing but we're being judged on the more important league and CL trophies so winning them is better. Reduced attendance because of stadium expansion which will be ready for next season, with an extra 16000 seats being added.

   

Rashford a runaway winner of the fans' player of the season and understandably so, another terrific season with 41 goals and a record 11 PoTM awards. Fabio Silva did well coming in as the third striker to be named signing of he season. Mejbri contributed 5 goals and 11 assists in just 14 league appearances to be named young player of the season.

    

This shows how good we were in Europe this season, Rashford and Kane were the top 2 scorers as we set a new record 42 goals scored in the competition and De Gea kept 7 clean sheets to be named best GK for the 3rd time in 4 seasons. Harry Kane was awarded Best Player in Europe.

  

The squad. Currently in the process of renewing several contracts. Under and Militao are the only players that I might look to actively move on. Baro has been linked with a move to some big clubs recently so there could be a fight to keep him. Club World Championship is coming up shortly, would really like to win it after failing last time and with the new format being held every 4 years, but international call ups are going to hurt the squad in some positions.

Edited May 2, 2020 by sean_oc16

[stevemc]

On 26/04/2020 at 04:46, retrodude09 said:

Steve - this could be a silly question but how do you have them automatically set to save to the shortlist? 

It's in the staff responsibilities page mate, under scouting or something

[stevemc]

Season 2023/24: End of Season

 

Community Shield: 

Comfortable win against Manchester City, 3-0, with Kylian Mbappé scoring on his debut.

 

 

UEFA Super Cup: 

Terrible game but another win against Manchester City, 3-0, with Kylian Mbappé scoring again. We had Gianluigi Donnarumma to thank for saving an 85th minute penalty too.

 

 

Premier League: 

Another title, 6 in a row, this time we managed to go invincible. Liverpool also went invincible, but finished 2nd

Kylian Mbappé won Golden Boot with 23 goals in 23 games.

 

 

EFL Cup: 

Managed to pick this domestic trophy up too, having beaten Wolves, Burton Albion, Liverpool and Burnley we also smashed Manchester City in the final:

 

 

FA Cup: 

Once again meeting Manchester City in the final, and once again turning them over. We did have a favourable run to the final beating Bournemouth, Wolves, Watford and Brighton along the way.

 

 

Champions League: 

Comfortably topped the group:

Then knocked-out Sevilla, Inter Milan, and Napoli to set up a final with Liverpool.

Liverpool had a brilliant season, never lost in the league, and proved tough opposition in the final beating us on penalties after a 3-3 draw. Disappointed but in the bigger picture, happy with 6 European finals in 6 consecutive seasons:

 

 

Under 18's: 

Second year running we won the league and cup double:

 

 

Under 23's: 

The u-23's swept the board this season, most impressively beating Swindon Town 7-0 in the EFL Trophy Final:

 

 

My Squad:

GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma,  Yannick Becic(HG), Señén Martín Domínguez(HG)

RB: Aaron Wan-Bissaka(HG), Reece James(HG)

LB: Cizão, Maximilian Wöber

CB: Matthijs de Ligt, Léo Guerreiro, Rúben Dias

DM/CM: Eduardo Camavinga, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Rúben Neves, Florentino Luís

AM: Bruno Fernandes, Kai Havertz, Hannibal Mejbri(HG), Jude Bellingham(HG)

IF/WINGERS: Kylian Mbappé, Marcus Rashford(HG), Mason Greenwood(HG), Jadon Sancho(HG)

STRIKER: Lautaro Martínez, Erling Haaland, Sebastiano Esposito

YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES: Thiago Hurtado(HG) (CM), Victor Maurin(HG) (AM), Charlie Burton(HG) (AM/ST), Fabio Calvet(HG) (AM/IF), Yassine Hamzaoui(HG) (IF), Lee O'Donnell(HG) (ST)

*regen/newgen

[Gee_Simpson]

@stevemc I notice in most of the screenshots of your match stats, you have less possession than the opposition and low passing numbers, would I be right in guessing that you use attack for your tactic mentality?

Also, you have two of my potential targets in Haaland and Martinez, who would you recommend between the two if you could only pick one? 

Edited May 4, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Zeonflux]

So I’ve currently hit the World Cup 2022 and the seasons stopped to accommodate obviously and I must say I couldn’t be happier we’re undefeated in the league with 12 wins and a draw and we have a nice 6 point lead over Liverpool.

The medical department must have put Haaland on steroids during his recovery from injury over the summer as since he’s come back he’s got 13 goals in 7 games and is on fire.

On a side note this is normally around the time in the save where I’m happy with my tactics so I end up starting a new save with my hometown club and all my goals for this save goes out of the window, this year I’m gonna avoid that by combining the 2.

Basically I’ve added down to the National League North/South and when they become active at the end of the season I shall be adding a second manager to take over the mighty Hereford FC and will be aiming to lead them to PL and CL glory.

There will be some restrictions in place with this, I will allow some of my U18s and U23s to go on loan to Hereford once active but only 2 a season and that’s if they choose to go but other than that all potential transfers there must be legit. So if I have a player with a value of £2m then then I have to pay £2m to get him.

This way I get the best of both, I continue my united save and I can play as Hereford without having to choose between one or the other.

Oh I’m also hoping to get an international job to run along side being United boss

[Powello]

1 hour ago, Zeonflux said:

So I’ve currently hit the World Cup 2022 and the seasons stopped to accommodate obviously and I must say I couldn’t be happier we’re undefeated in the league with 12 wins and a draw and we have a nice 6 point lead over Liverpool.

The medical department must have put Haaland on steroids during his recovery from injury over the summer as since he’s come back he’s got 13 goals in 7 games and is on fire.

On a side note this is normally around the time in the save where I’m happy with my tactics so I end up starting a new save with my hometown club and all my goals for this save goes out of the window, this year I’m gonna avoid that by combining the 2.

Basically I’ve added down to the National League North/South and when they become active at the end of the season I shall be adding a second manager to take over the mighty Hereford FC and will be aiming to lead them to PL and CL glory.

There will be some restrictions in place with this, I will allow some of my U18s and U23s to go on loan to Hereford once active but only 2 a season and that’s if they choose to go but other than that all potential transfers there must be legit. So if I have a player with a value of £2m then then I have to pay £2m to get him.

This way I get the best of both, I continue my united save and I can play as Hereford without having to choose between one or the other.

Oh I’m also hoping to get an international job to run along side being United boss

That could be a big, lonf save with 3 jobs on the go.

be careful with teh world cup, make sure your player,s who aren't at the world cup, are given regular playing time, either through u23/u18s or try and get some friendlies going as I made the mistake on an old save of going on holiday till it was over and when I came back for the first match back, most of the players were unft and it almost destroyed my season

Edited May 4, 2020 by Powello

[Zeonflux]

48 minutes ago, Powello said:

That could be a big, lonf save with 3 jobs on the go.

be careful with teh world cup, make sure your player,s who aren't at the world cup, are given regular playing time, either through u23/u18s or try and get some friendlies going as I made the mistake on an old save of going on holiday till it was over and when I came back for the first match back, most of the players were unft and it almost destroyed my season

Yeah it’s gonna be a long save for sure. But the idea is to combine my 2 yearly saves into one rather than jumping between the two and getting nowhere with either.

ah I didn’t think of that. Think there’s 2 weeks left so I’ll organise some friendlies and get them all playing 

[Powello]

1 hour ago, Zeonflux said:

Yeah it’s gonna be a long save for sure. But the idea is to combine my 2 yearly saves into one rather than jumping between the two and getting nowhere with either.

ah I didn’t think of that. Think there’s 2 weeks left so I’ll organise some friendlies and get them all playing 

Fair enough, makes it easier I guess.

Yeah it's not something I bet most people think about but it's definitely something needed.

I'm now on my long term save starting unemployed, I gave myself a very low rep and pretty bad attributes so I could start off low and work my way up to the United job. But somehow my first job is Napoli LOL. I have no idea how I got this job considering I was turned down for the cambridge job haha

[stevemc]

10 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

@stevemc I notice in most of the screenshots of your match stats, you have less possession than the opposition and low passing numbers, would I be right in guessing that you use attack for your tactic mentality?

Also, you have two of my potential targets in Haaland and Martinez, who would you recommend between the two if you could only pick one? 

Yeah generally attack.

Haaland 100%.

[Zeonflux]

2 hours ago, Powello said:

Fair enough, makes it easier I guess.

Yeah it's not something I bet most people think about but it's definitely something needed.

I'm now on my long term save starting unemployed, I gave myself a very low rep and pretty bad attributes so I could start off low and work my way up to the United job. But somehow my first job is Napoli LOL. I have no idea how I got this job considering I was turned down for the cambridge job haha

Also being an international manager as well as a lower league manager will stop me from having to holiday through the international breaks all the time.

well that is odd, how long were you unemployed for?

[Powello]

2 hours ago, Zeonflux said:

Also being an international manager as well as a lower league manager will stop me from having to holiday through the international breaks all the time.

well that is odd, how long were you unemployed for?

I holidayed it to January then just applied for every available job lol

[Gee_Simpson]

6 hours ago, stevemc said:

Yeah generally attack.

Haaland 100%.

Cheers.

Hmm, Martinez was my preferred choice but I don't think I could turn down the opportunity to go for Haaland so I would probably opt for him. How much did they each cost? 

Edited May 4, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[stevemc]

30 minutes ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Cheers.

Hmm, Martinez was my preferred choice but I don't think I could turn down the opportunity to go for Haaland so I would probably opt for him. How much did they each cost? 

Both £99m.

[stevemc]

I'm about to replace Lautaro Martínez in season 6, with this kid:

[Zeonflux]

16 hours ago, Powello said:

I holidayed it to January then just applied for every available job lol

Hmm not sure on that one then, I know on older versions it was a thing that if you went too long without getting a job it basically made it easier to get one by apparently changing reputation behind the scenes but not sure on newer games 

[Powello]

1 hour ago, Zeonflux said:

Hmm not sure on that one then, I know on older versions it was a thing that if you went too long without getting a job it basically made it easier to get one by apparently changing reputation behind the scenes but not sure on newer games 

Weird on older versions I holidayed for 3 years and it was difficult to get a job lol

[Powello]

Ladies and Gentleman, I am back with another challenge. Some of you who saw my previous challenge might have thought it was difficult, some of you tried it, some may have without telling anyone lol. But that challenge has nothing on this one. Let me introduce you to......

The Impossible Challenge

You have 3 seasons to bring United back to the top of World football.

Database changes made

- Unlike the last challenge, you start in the Premier League, but you have a 25 point deduction
- All players and staff have been removed from all levels of the club, but the owners and board are still there
- Transfer budget is set at 200m
- All sponsorships, except 1 one 100m kit deal, have been removed
- Transfer Embargo shall start on February 2nd 2020 and end July 1st 2023

The Rules

Basically, you start off with a bare club, only the board remians, no players no staff, no youngsters. You have 200m in the transfer budget and 2 transfer windows to build a squad capable of not only dealing with the points deduction, but also becoming the best club in the world in 3 seasons. You still have all the expectations of the board and the fans, the reputation is still there as well as the debts.

To complete this challenge, you must:-

- Win the Premier League
- Win the Champions League
- Win the FA Cup
- Win the Euro SUper Cup
- Win the World Club Championship
- Be ranked No1 in the World Rankings.

- You are only allowed to load the English leagues, you may use a large database if you want
- You must have "'Do no Add key staff"ticked, you may have attribute masking disabled, must not have anything ticked that adds players or staff
- You can start at any time, but it's wise to have it start early pre season
- You are not allowed to bring any players back that were in the original squad, so sorry no Greenwood haha (that ones a killer for me haha)
- As usual, keep us updated on progress in here  

Are you ready to take the challenge? Do you have the balls?   

The editor data file is attached below.... good luck

 

United Impossible Challenge.fmf

[BigV]

3 hours ago, Powello said:

Are you ready to take the challenge? Do you have the balls?

No, you're fking crazy  gg to anyone that tries 

[Powello]

34 minutes ago, BigV said:

No, you're fking crazy  gg to anyone that tries 

Haha I'm trying it 😎 well I have to lol

[StePratt]

7 hours ago, Powello said:

sorry no Greenwood haha (that ones a killer for me haha)

That's me out. 

[Powello]

1 hour ago, StePratt said:

That's me out. 

LOL come on man  

[Powello]

The Impossible Challenge Season 1

So the summer transfer window has just closed and below is the squad I have been able to put together. Sorry for the screenshots like these, my phone data won't let me access imgr.com.

I quite like what I have managed to put together, it took a lot of negotiating with clubs but I think we have a good shot of getting top 6 first seasno and maybe a cup. It's pretty poor at the back right now, but will be retraining some players for certain positions, the strike force isn't the best but can finish but damn that midfield is world class. Goint to be an interesting season

[Gee_Simpson]

Won't this challenge be easier? The other one seemed way harder considering the squad you have built for this one.

[Powello]

6 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Won't this challenge be easier? The other one seemed way harder considering the squad you have built for this one.

I don't think so considering the debt and deletion of all the big sponsorship will be forced to sell off players plus I'm way over the financial fair play 😂 plus it's only 3 seasons. Plus this squad is still nothing compared to Liverpool and citys

[MatthewS17]

Lo and behold, I've begun my second season of my Manchester United save, and I think I've done a fairly decent job of bringing in players that are needed and suit my style and United's club culture.

In terms of transfers, in came: 

Sergio Reguilon - Free
Donny Van De Beek - 28m
Jack Grealish - 36m
Jadon Sancho - 89m
Edinson Cavani - Free

Total: 153m

 

Alongside, out went:

Sergio Romero -  5m
Eric Bailly - Loan(Nobody wanted to buy him)
Luke Shaw - 39m
Timothy Fosu-Mensah - Free
Andreas Pereira - 22.5m
Alexis Sanchez - 21.5m

 

With Jones and Lingard already gone, the goal had been to remove the remaining deadwood, while adding quality and depth in order to realistically move for a league challenge. I think I've done that, with the squad looking like this:

Goalkeepers: David De Gea, Dean Henderson, Joel Pereira
Full Backs: Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Diogo Dalot, Brandon Williams, Sergio Reguilon
Centre Backs: Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Chris Smalling, Axel Tuanzebe, Teden Mengi
Defensive Midefield: Nemanja Matic, Scott McTominay, Fred, James Garner
Central Midfield: Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes, Jude Bellingham, Donny Van De Beek, Juan Mata(Don't use AMs in my system, or hardly), Hannibal Mejbri
Wingers: Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Daniel James, Jack Grealish
Forwards: Edinson Cavani, Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood

 

The second and not so important goal was to lessen how many average players were on gigantic wages at the club. Hence, out went Shaw(160k per week ffs) and Sanchez. Mata and Matic both took pay cuts so they'll get to stay. Pogba signed a new deal that had the exact same wage as the old one. 

Now that depth is established, the next goal is to add the final pieces of quality, and then to make Man United the world's best team.

Primarily, I need a new DM, and Rodrigo Bentancur has already agreed a move for 63m at the end of the season. He is my perfect DM, with great mentals, work rate, passing and defensive ability. That leaves me with the centre back and striker roles to obtain. 

Dayot Upamecano is my primary target as he's fairly cheap for a WC centre back, with Ben Godfrey being a decent alternative.

In terms of a forward, Harry Kane is the primary target, with Lautaro being my alternative, as both are incredible all round strikers. The problem with Harry Kane is his undying loyalty to Spurs in my saves, and not willing to force a move which brings down the price. I watched and courted him for a full season before and got nothing for it.

However, I may look to change striker profile if I can obtain either Mbappe or I will look to Haaland as a cheaper option. A lot depends on my budget for the upcoming season. However, with a net spend this season of only around 120m(65m before Bentancur), I don't see why I shouldn't be backed if I am still successful.
 

Enough of that. On to the season. 

We started off beating City on penalties in the Community Shield after a 2-2 draw, with Set Piece Simulator doing its best to thwart me(Scored a goal in the 89th minute, immediate following highlight was a City set piece, instead of the usual kick off, which absolutely set me into a rage, as they scored. But we still won.

Next important fixture was Barca. We scored first inside 12 minutes thanks to Cavani, but 10 minutes later Barca equalised and dominated the rest of the match, literally tearing apart my midfield. I stubbornly chose to let the game play out, until the final 10, where we really started to struggle. Switched to an experimental 4-4-2 diamond to body the midfield, which worked perfectly, as it shut them out. On came extra time, with me prepping for penalties, and Barca going absolute gung-ho. We hit them on the counter in superb fashion, and Martial finished superbly. What followed was quite emphatic. From Pogba heading out a cross in our box, to blasting his way into their box to score from our own cross. Who said he has no work rate?! And then Greenwood, who was having a shocker but I persisted, hit the final goal with a brilliant finish, as we ran out 4-1 winners.

In the league, we're 5 wins from 5, with 17 goals scored and 1 conceded. 

My biggest problem is actually selection. Grealish is pushing Bruno for a place in the squad, as his creative output is exceeding Bruno's. In fact, Grealish has amazed me with how good he is in central midfield. Greenwood can't stop scoring from the RW, but neither does Sancho stop scoring and assisting. Donny Van De Beek offers brilliant control in the midfield and he tends to be involved in everything. Martial was first choice, except Cavani has just hit a hat-trick and scored in every game he's played. Martial has 4 in 5. 

 

I like these problems.

[Gee_Simpson]

What do you guys do regarding scouting at Utd? Leave it to the chief scout or set it up yourselves? Also do any of you utilise a loan manager and/or technical director?

[Chapman7]

2 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

What do you guys do regarding scouting at Utd? Leave it to the chief scout or set it up yourselves? Also do any of you utilise a loan manager and/or technical director?

 

Always set assignments up myself as won't sign players over certain age.

I've always got rid of both the Loan Manager and Technical Director if a club has one

[Gee_Simpson]

13 minutes ago, Chapman7 said:

 

Always set assignments up myself as won't sign players over certain age.

I've always got rid of both the Loan Manager and Technical Director if a club has one

I reckon I'll go first season with the Chief Scout and review it at the end of the season. I actually replaced the loan manager and technical director with better ones but now I think I may let both of them go lol, as usually I like bringing in my own staff and handle loans myself but I was just getting lazy so delegated those areas to them. With regards to the overload of scouts, do you release quite a few of them down to the amount recommended by the board? Not sure whether to let some go or not. There are loads of scouts at Utd at the start, not sure if they are all needed.

Edited May 6, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Powello]

17 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

I reckon I'll go first season with the Chief Scout and review it at the end of the season. I actually replaced the loan manager and technical director with better ones but now I think I may let both of them go lol, as usually I like bringing in my own staff and handle loans myself but I was just getting lazy so delegated those areas to them. With regards to the overload of scouts, do you release quite a few of them down to the amount recommended by the board? Not sure whether to let some go or not. There are loads of scouts at Utd at the start, not sure if they are all needed.

There's a few scouts at the start who are terrible. Look through them and you'll see. One has 13 for jpa and the jpp isn't much different

[Gee_Simpson]

1 hour ago, Powello said:

There's a few scouts at the start who are terrible. Look through them and you'll see. One has 13 for jpa and the jpp isn't much different

Thanks.

I reckon I'll sack my technical director and loan manager after just signing them up to 20k+ contracts I've decided I want to do these jobs myself, although tbf to the director, he has advised me to sign some decent looking staff already but I can probably find better. I may keep the loan manager if he just suggests moves but I'm not sure if he makes the choices himself, I'm assuming he does.

Edit - Looks like I can't sack them as the board think the compensation is too expensive

Edited May 7, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[MatthewS17]

1 hour ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Thanks.

I reckon I'll sack my technical director and loan manager after just signing them up to 20k+ contracts I've decided I want to do these jobs myself, although tbf to the director, he has advised me to sign some decent looking staff already but I can probably find better. I may keep the loan manager if he just suggests moves but I'm not sure if he makes the choices himself, I'm assuming he does.

Edit - Looks like I can't sack them as the board think the compensation is too expensive

Tbh, I keep them around to make it feel slightly realistic, given I'm in charge of everything. I have Luis Ocampos as my DoF and don't remember who my technical director is. The idea was to have something similar to the way Sir Alex used to do things, in which he was part of negotiations and meeting players alongside David Gill. However, more delegation is needed. 

I don't use the Loan Manager as it makes no sense. The Head of Youth development can do the same thing, and I've placed him in charge of signing any potential youngsters for youth teams. 

However, he never seems to do this. He just accepts or rejects incoming offers which is slightly frustrating. 

 

As for the scouts, I sack anyone with below 16 in in the Potential or Ability stats. This is Man United. Only the best will do. 

Edited May 7, 2020 by MatthewS17