[FM20] Manchester United: Falling Giant...

[Gungner]

 

12 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

What role are you playing Greenwood in? He got 26 in 28 for me 1st season back when I was using 4231. 2nd season he went 8 games without scoring, so I can understand your frustration! Tbh I've kind of realised he's maybe better off playing on the wing instead, let a more complete rounded player play through the middle. Greenwood is effectively a poacher really, he's not that creative or strong.

I'm playing him as a Deep Lying Foward on Attack duties. Probably not the best role for him, but it has worked with all other strikers I've had. So I guess it's really all I know xD

[Conor O'Hare]

What are people usingFernandes as, can't get a performacne out of him for love nor money

[FifaBing]

10 minutes ago, Conor O'Hare said:

What are people usingFernandes as, can't get a performacne out of him for love nor money

See my tactic back a few posts form here. I had him as  mezzela next to Pogba and he was brilliant. 

[Conor O'Hare]

I had success with him before like that, this time not so much - I know I'm now facing the dreaded 2nd season bus!  As allteams are going defesnvie against me and I can never seem to break them down.  Fernandes however has been exceptionally poor evem his set pieces have drifted away

 

[Gungner]

41 minutes ago, Conor O'Hare said:

What are people usingFernandes as, can't get a performacne out of him for love nor money

He's been immense for me as a box-to-box midfielder

[sedge11]

4 hours ago, Conor O'Hare said:

What are people usingFernandes as, can't get a performacne out of him for love nor money

I’ve used him as a mezzala on attack, plus he was on set prices for me, and would get 15 goals 15 assists each season quite easily, loved scoring from free kicks.

[Gee_Simpson]

5 hours ago, Conor O'Hare said:

I had success with him before like that, this time not so much - I know I'm now facing the dreaded 2nd season bus!  As allteams are going defesnvie against me and I can never seem to break them down.  Fernandes however has been exceptionally poor evem his set pieces have drifted away

 

This killed my 4231 2nd season! Greenwood went 8 games without scoring despite scoring 26 goals in 28 games in the 1st season! I actually started conceding more too because teams would just sit back, soak up the pressure and hit me on the counter. I think the 4231 is especially vulnerable to this with the lack of a DMC. I'm going with the 4123 this time and hopefully it goes smoothly. 

As for Fernandes, I'll be using him as a Mezz (A) and Pogba a RPM, with McTominay or Matic (who wasn't fast enough for a 4231) as a HB or sometimes a DM (D) or Anchorman. 

Edited July 28, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Gee_Simpson]

@sedge11 Seriously considering the January start again, but this time with my 4123 (4141dm). I was so frustrated last time though after finishing 5th and losing the Europa League Final. It just seems 4123 suits Utd better, and it seems most of you are using that formation with success rather than the 4231 which quite a few people on here have complained about.

The 4123 in general is a more versatile system imo, the 4231 I find is rather rigid and only certain players are capable of playing in a 4231 whereas with the 4123 you can have a different variety of players who can play in midfield especially due to having the protection of a DMC behind. 

Edited July 28, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Chapman7]

6 hours ago, Conor O'Hare said:

What are people usingFernandes as, can't get a performacne out of him for love nor money

Mezzella - 11 goals 12 assists 10 of those were open play too

[sedge11]

50 minutes ago, Gee_Simpson said:

@sedge11 Seriously considering the January start again, but this time with my 4123 (4141dm). I was so frustrated last time though after finishing 5th and losing the Europa League Final. It just seems 4123 suits Utd better, and it seems most of you are using that formation with success rather than the 4231 which quite a few people on here have complained about.

The 4123 in general is a more versatile system imo, the 4231 I find is rather rigid and only certain players are capable of playing in a 4231 whereas with the 4123 you can have a different variety of players who can play in midfield especially due to having the protection of a DMC behind. 

Ha can’t quite get one going your happy with then?

I’m also abit unsure on how I want to do my new Man Utd save, whether to start in January or from the beginning, so while I decide I’m just doing a small Marseille save.

Yea the 4123 definitely does suit Man Utd, and I think especially suits with Pogba and Bruno together, it’s a formation I always use with them, in fact formation I use for most teams, apart from when I was lazio and then rbl where I played a 532.

[Chapman7]

Am looking at a new right winger, feel Neres and Rodriguez are the two I'd consider the better options without having to spend around £100 million. Rodriguez' Off the Ball attribute is a little of putting though but his technical's attributes are insane and for someone I'd play as the Advance Playmaker on the right where he can cross/pass/ or shoot with his preferred foot. Think Neres would cost around £36-£45 maybe(rescouting due to old scout report saying at most £36 million) with wages that may go to £90K. Rodriguez is of course free with wages into the £100K's 

[Gee_Simpson]

21 minutes ago, sedge11 said:

Ha can’t quite get one going your happy with then?

I’m also abit unsure on how I want to do my new Man Utd save, whether to start in January or from the beginning, so while I decide I’m just doing a small Marseille save.

Yea the 4123 definitely does suit Man Utd, and I think especially suits with Pogba and Bruno together, it’s a formation I always use with them, in fact formation I use for most teams, apart from when I was lazio and then rbl where I played a 532.

Yeah, mostly due to my failure this time though  I would start from the beginning but there's always a chance of doing too well and winning the league first season which is what happened during the first save, which I didn't really want. I think because of the now confirmed 3rd place finish irl, it would feel weird to finish above that in season 19/20.

Yeah I wanted to use both Bruno and Pogba in the same first 11 and the 4123 lets you do that. I should have went with a 4123 in the first place really.

[Gee_Simpson]

3 minutes ago, Chapman7 said:

Am looking at a new right winger, feel Neres and Rodriguez are the two I'd consider the better options without having to spend around £100 million. Rodriguez' Off the Ball attribute is a little of putting though but his technical's attributes are insane and for someone I'd play as the Advance Playmaker on the right where he can cross/pass/ or shoot with his preferred foot. Think Neres would cost around £36-£45 maybe(rescouting due to old scout report saying at most £36 million) with wages that may go to £90K. Rodriguez is of course free with wages into the £100K's 

Hmm I would choose Neres over Rodriguez. Imo Rodriguez would feel to me like another Di Maria or Sanchez signing. 

[Chapman7]

14 minutes ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Hmm I would choose Neres over Rodriguez. Imo Rodriguez would feel to me like another Di Maria or Sanchez signing. 

Is what I'm leaning towards but thought as I play short passing football he may be able to be of use. I may get both if I can get rid of Sanchez maybe 

[Sherkey]

7 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

@sedge11 Seriously considering the January start again, but this time with my 4123 (4141dm). I was so frustrated last time though after finishing 5th and losing the Europa League Final. It just seems 4123 suits Utd better, and it seems most of you are using that formation with success rather than the 4231 which quite a few people on here have complained about.

The 4123 in general is a more versatile system imo, the 4231 I find is rather rigid and only certain players are capable of playing in a 4231 whereas with the 4123 you can have a different variety of players who can play in midfield especially due to having the protection of a DMC behind. 

Depends on the roles, honestly. I use a 4-2-4, but I've never had too much problems. Have to set-up accordingly, though - a Mezzala will be a difficult role in a 2 midfield combination, due to his tendency to keep roaming and not work as much at defence. I tend to keep a static DLP in CM to act as a pivot, while have Fernandes in my other role as a B2B, so he also contributes to defence. With his creativity, he is insane from almost any role. I compensate for this by having a Trequarista on Attack who naturally drops back, creating a hybrid striker/AM position with the other striker always pushing the defence.

In your 4-2-3-1, maybe try different players in different role, if teams are sitting back. Either push a player up ahead into a two striker role so that your forward player gets more spaces (or you can do this with your AM as a Shadow Striker too, I reckon). The more players/ways that opposition have to focus on, the more mistakes they'll make or concede space.

I'm shooting here, not sure of your roles/formations - just a few thoughts on how it could work//

[Conor O'Hare]

What a horrible second season - End of March and Rashford/Greenwood only have 9 and 7 goals.  Martial has banged them in with 22 in all competitions.  All competitions being tongue in cheek - Dumped out of Europe in Group Stage, didn't even make Europa League and knocked out of FA Cup by Brentford in third round.  

I'm also going to have to fight hard for top 4 - My Utd challenge is going to be a mess as loss of revenus is going to be disastrous.  Grealish and Sancho have been terrible signins although Sancho has been brilliant in my last few games even though we got beat by City and Arsenal.  If I don't get top 4 this summer, I'm going to have an impossible job on my hand

[Gee_Simpson]

@sedge11 I think I'm going to try and finish top 4 from January again as I don't want to win the league first season, it would feel weird. Would you consider this as save scumming?  It's the real life fixtures so the same as last time. I finished 5th with my 4231 but this time I'll be using my 4123 (4141dm). 

Edited July 30, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[sedge11]

4 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

@sedge11 I think I'm going to try and finish top 4 from January again as I don't want to win the league first season, it would feel weird. Would you consider this as save scumming?  It's the real life fixtures so the same as last time. I finished 5th with my 4231 but this time I'll be using my 4123 (4141dm). 

No I wouldn’t say it’s save scumming ha, you want to it to be realistic to this season.

I think it’s what I will do when I eventually get my new Man Utd save going as well, Stay in jan/feb, means no youth intake in the 1st season but I can live with that.

[Gee_Simpson]

2 hours ago, sedge11 said:

No I wouldn’t say it’s save scumming ha, you want to it to be realistic to this season.

I think it’s what I will do when I eventually get my new Man Utd save going as well, Stay in jan/feb, means no youth intake in the 1st season but I can live with that.

Yeah, same. Means the database stays accurate with the January window being disabled too. Hopefully I have a better crack at it this time.

The no youth intake doesn't bother me much considering the state of my intakes in my old Utd save, both seasons intakes were awful

Edited July 30, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Chapman7]

On 28/05/2020 at 20:30, FMAnderson said:

I finished my first season with United with amazing player stats.

James Rodriguez and Delofeu signed 1st season. Have a look at the stats.

Liverpool gave me a run for my money.

League and FA Cup winners.

All stats available on request.

What role did you play Rodriguez?

[Gee_Simpson]

On 27/07/2020 at 19:05, FifaBing said:

This is my main tactic I used. In fact, I'm not sure I deviated from it much all year. Rashford was main IF on the left. 

How has this fared 2nd season? My striker stopped scoring in season 2 in one of my other tactics. Didn't you encounter any problems using De Gea as a SK (A), considering he has really poor vision and rushing out?

Edited August 1, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Conor O'Hare]

So, I just finished my second season which was a seriously difficult grind, really struggled with consistency and our record in big games and a cup run which was the saving grace in Season 1 desserted us....Although despite inconsistency we somehow managed to finish second in the league - This however paints a more positive outlook on the season than we deserve as we managed to pick up form towards the end of the season when those teams around us fell apart (City & Arsenal).  Interestingly City are now managed by Marco Biesla who replaced Allegri before Xmas who was only in post 5 months and City were just outside the top 4....Very agressive approach from City Hierarchy.

Season began with a 3-0 hammering from Liverpool in the Community Shield which was a tighter affair than the scoreline reflects and a lot of my first team were making their first pre season appearance so we struggled with fitness....and a 10 minute collapse in the 70th minute seen Liverpool score twice and the game got away from us.

We did managed pick up the Super Cup against Juventus with a penalty shoot out were we came from 2-1 down to tie the game 3-3 and took it on Penalties - Not knowing when we were beat was a serious feature of this season which continues to make me believe that we are on the right path with this team.

We went out to Chelsea in the Quarter Finals of the Carabao cup which meant that by Xmas we had failed to beat any of our Top 4 rivals in 6 attempts.  

Europe was a disaster we never got going and finished bottom with just one win in a group consisting of Roma, Porto and RB Lepizig - The one win we did managed seen us score an 83rd minute equaliser and then a 90th minute winner against Roma - Which meant finishing 3rd was at least in our own hands and a draw against Porto would see us salvage something and allow us a chance to defend our Europa League trophy = We ended up collapsing and going down 3-1 after conceeding 2 late goals.

You would think this was the biggest dissapointment we could muster but we then went and got knocked out by Brentford in the FA Cup, 1-0.  And whilst we were 3rd in the league at this point, I knew we didn't have the consistency to stage a title run.....Although we did go onto finish 2nd but 11 points off Liverpool.

I do think I've got some better ideas on tactics (thanks to some threads in the T&T forum) so I'm optimistic with one or two signings we can really compete next year - I've identified I didn't rotate my squad enough mainly due to not trusting the options we had.  So this summer the plan is to buy squad players and we already have last summers agreed arrival of Jude Bellingham to arrive and my DoF agreed a fee for Ben Godfrey to arrive who will be my 3rd choice CB.  I have plans for a young wide player to give cover for Rashford/Sancho/Greenwood and finally a tall hard working striker - Someone to hold the ball up really graft for the team.  I have two options for this but can't decide who.....I had enjoyed having Ighalo on this role but he unfortunately wouldn't lower his wage demands and I wasn't a big enough fan to give 300k....So he left us in January with 18 goals in 50 games which isn't record breaking tally but a great total for someone who came into a team that wasn't designed for him to score in - His goals he got where down to his own workrate and determination and most of them were pricless goals....He put some great performances for us that I was truly gutted to see him leave

Anyway here is who I'm looking at for my new striker (Martial managed to score 29 goals this season so whoever comes in will be my second choice.

vs 

Osimhen is absolutely the better player and that's why I'm tempted to not go for him - He's going to cost a bomb and deserves more than being my second choice striker.  I also feel Isak has the potential for me to mould him into the type of player I want....I need to make a decision on this - Another player I'm looking at is this guy but he's 3rd choice at best (and if I was to sign him it would be just to get the marketing bonus for him!!!).- I sorta think he's too similar to what we have in pace and off the ball but that agression and workrate is very high and I know he'd work hard for the team which is what I want, just lacking the heigh of an out and out target man.- I also managed him before and he was solid back up scoring some big goals so if prices go too far for my first two he may well come back in!

[Marc Lister]

So somehow I won the league by 1 point from Liverpool! I was doing very well in the league and was almost 10 points ahead until the 20.4.x patches came along and my results just seemed to suffer after that. The lead we had over Liverpool and City shrank until we were in the position of having to win each league game to get a 1 point lead back again!

I was given a decent kitty of £206m when Chelsea very kindly drew with someone and thus were limited to a 5th place in the league. I've signed Rayan Ait-Nouri for LB for £16m, Marcos Llorente for MC for £36m and Federico Chiesa for AMR for £40m. I have managed to sell Marcos Rojo to Fulham for an initial £13m and I'm also actively trying to move Mata and Lingard on. I have signed Jude Bellingham, Daniele Rugani, Lautaro Martinez and Mike Maignan in January 2020 so I could look into getting rid of Andreas Perreira as well as Lingard as there is a lot of players for the AM C/R/L roles. I'm going to try to sell Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Alexis Sanchez, Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof to trim the squad down considering my purchases so far.

Having Rashford, Martial, Greenwood and Martinez I have a question. I have the option of signing Sebastiano Esposito from Inter for £21m. Should I? Is he worth it? I could use Rashford and Martial at AML, Chiesa/James at AMR with Greenwood/Martinez/Esposito as strikers and Bellingham providing competition to AM R/C/L players. I have £123m left in the budget so I can easily afford Esposito and if I can offload Mata/Lingard/Jones/Smalling/Sanchez/Bailly/Lindelof/Perreira in addition to Rojo that reduces the wage bill by £1m a week! I'm already £482k a week under it so I can easily afford Esposito's wages of £155k a week. Should I sign him?

Final league table:

[Sherkey]

7 hours ago, Marc Lister said:

So somehow I won the league by 1 point from Liverpool! I was doing very well in the league and was almost 10 points ahead until the 20.4.x patches came along and my results just seemed to suffer after that. The lead we had over Liverpool and City shrank until we were in the position of having to win each league game to get a 1 point lead back again!

I was given a decent kitty of £206m when Chelsea very kindly drew with someone and thus were limited to a 5th place in the league. I've signed Rayan Ait-Nouri for LB for £16m, Marcos Llorente for MC for £36m and Federico Chiesa for AMR for £40m. I have managed to sell Marcos Rojo to Fulham for an initial £13m and I'm also actively trying to move Mata and Lingard on. I have signed Jude Bellingham, Daniele Rugani, Lautaro Martinez and Mike Maignan in January 2020 so I could look into getting rid of Andreas Perreira as well as Lingard as there is a lot of players for the AM C/R/L roles. I'm going to try to sell Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Alexis Sanchez, Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof to trim the squad down considering my purchases so far.

Having Rashford, Martial, Greenwood and Martinez I have a question. I have the option of signing Sebastiano Esposito from Inter for £21m. Should I? Is he worth it? I could use Rashford and Martial at AML, Chiesa/James at AMR with Greenwood/Martinez/Esposito as strikers and Bellingham providing competition to AM R/C/L players. I have £123m left in the budget so I can easily afford Esposito and if I can offload Mata/Lingard/Jones/Smalling/Sanchez/Bailly/Lindelof/Perreira in addition to Rojo that reduces the wage bill by £1m a week! I'm already £482k a week under it so I can easily afford Esposito's wages of £155k a week. Should I sign him?

Final league table:

Esposito is a beast - if he suits your play, you should definitely go in for me.

However, since you've just finished year 1, that seems very steep (in terms of salary) that he is demanding. He isn't the finished article yet (from what I know), so 155k is crazy steep. Did he sign a new contract at Inter or something?

[Gee_Simpson]

7 hours ago, Marc Lister said:

So somehow I won the league by 1 point from Liverpool! I was doing very well in the league and was almost 10 points ahead until the 20.4.x patches came along and my results just seemed to suffer after that. The lead we had over Liverpool and City shrank until we were in the position of having to win each league game to get a 1 point lead back again!

I was given a decent kitty of £206m when Chelsea very kindly drew with someone and thus were limited to a 5th place in the league. I've signed Rayan Ait-Nouri for LB for £16m, Marcos Llorente for MC for £36m and Federico Chiesa for AMR for £40m. I have managed to sell Marcos Rojo to Fulham for an initial £13m and I'm also actively trying to move Mata and Lingard on. I have signed Jude Bellingham, Daniele Rugani, Lautaro Martinez and Mike Maignan in January 2020 so I could look into getting rid of Andreas Perreira as well as Lingard as there is a lot of players for the AM C/R/L roles. I'm going to try to sell Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Alexis Sanchez, Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof to trim the squad down considering my purchases so far.

Having Rashford, Martial, Greenwood and Martinez I have a question. I have the option of signing Sebastiano Esposito from Inter for £21m. Should I? Is he worth it? I could use Rashford and Martial at AML, Chiesa/James at AMR with Greenwood/Martinez/Esposito as strikers and Bellingham providing competition to AM R/C/L players. I have £123m left in the budget so I can easily afford Esposito and if I can offload Mata/Lingard/Jones/Smalling/Sanchez/Bailly/Lindelof/Perreira in addition to Rojo that reduces the wage bill by £1m a week! I'm already £482k a week under it so I can easily afford Esposito's wages of £155k a week. Should I sign him?

Final league table:

Nice 1st season

I noticed you didn't score that many but also didn't concede many, were you using a 4123 (4141dm)?

[Marc Lister]

14 hours ago, Sherkey said:

Esposito is a beast - if he suits your play, you should definitely go in for me.

However, since you've just finished year 1, that seems very steep (in terms of salary) that he is demanding. He isn't the finished article yet (from what I know), so 155k is crazy steep. Did he sign a new contract at Inter or something?

Yeah £155k is a lot. I finished the season a few months ago and haven't played since I got the message asking me to confirm his signing. I've been meaning to post here about the league win and Esposito but haven't got around to it before now! Whilst £155k is a lot I can afford it as things are now and should I get rid of most/all the players I want to then there'll be loads of wages spare.

He's on £19.75k a week at Inter but did sign a new contract in May of this year.

14 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Nice 1st season

I noticed you didn't score that many but also didn't concede many, were you using a 4123 (4141dm)?

Thanks! It was probably my finest achievement ever in FM and I've been playing since FM05!! My team was third in the league for goals scored (Liverpool scored 84, City scored 75 and we scored 73) but we only conceded 18 goals, City conceded 26 and Liverpool 28. Weirdly that means the top 3 goal scoring teams are reversed in order for the top 3 least conceded goals. De Gea kept 23 clean sheets and Ederson kept 17. Alisson was 4th with 14 clean sheets.

Clean sheets:

As for formation I played a 4-2-3-1. I did sometimes drop a player to DMC but I found that I just didn't score goals so having an AMC was better for me to score goals. Since Matic left I haven't really had anyone I felt I could trust as DMC, I know Fred can kind of do that but he only made 9 league starts as I found a Pogba/Fernandes/Doucoure midfield triangle worked quite well with McTominay being an able deputy for the MC roles and Perreira for the AMC role when needed for injury/suspension/fitness cover.

Formation:

Edited August 2, 2020 by Marc Lister

[Vizzini]

Third season, perfect season!

Changed tacticts midway as I wanted to replicate how Solskjær has set up the current team, it worked to devastating effect.

I have only added three players to the original squad (Camavinga, Bellingham and Farinez), so it is worth persisting in youth, guys! 

Also, Andreas Pereira will never be sold after he smashed home the winner in the Champions League-finale in the 119th minute, love him to bits! 

As for next season, I have arranged the future transfer of Kylian Mbappe for a cool 190 million  

 

Edited August 2, 2020 by Vizzini

[Conor O'Hare]

Interested in seeinf your Ole Ball tactic - Seems very simple - Is there any PIs in place?

 

Wondering who your MDF is, Pogba I would imagine is the volante - Possibly Fred as the Regista?

[Sherkey]

1 hour ago, Marc Lister said:

Yeah £155k is a lot. I finished the season a few months ago and haven't played since I got the message asking me to confirm his signing. I've been meaning to post here about the league win and Esposito but haven't got around to it before now! Whilst £155k is a lot I can afford it as things are now and should I get rid of most/all the players I want to then there'll be loads of wages spare.

He's on £19.75k a week at Inter but did sign a new contract in May of this year.

I wouldn't get him now. That's an insane wage to pay someone who is not that good yet. He gets to be a beast around 21 or so, but after the first season, the only reason the wages are so high is because the new contract. Maybe wait until nearer to the end of the window and try again? Or next year.

Because if the current salary starts off at 155k, then subsequent ones build on that, leading to a wage nightmare.

[Vizzini]

36 minutes ago, Conor O'Hare said:

Interested in seeinf your Ole Ball tactic - Seems very simple - Is there any PIs in place?

 

Wondering who your MDF is, Pogba I would imagine is the volante - Possibly Fred as the Regista?

Yes, I tend to keep things simple, it makes it easier to change things - The only PI is "dribble more" for the Advanced Forward. There are no long throws-exploits, but I have spent time setting up some set-piece routines that are quite effective, but nothing out of the ordinary, really. 

I have used either Camavinga or Gardner as the regista. Pogba is the first choice volante, Fred as backup and sometimes I use McTominay. I also use Fred as a wingback sometimes, as he have excellent attributes for it, and I also use Scott as a central defender.

Also, I just had a board takeover, and they brought in Skriniar and Kimmich, which meant that I had to sell Lindelof for 40m to Arsenal and loan out Laird to Aston Villa for the season.

[Conor O'Hare]

In my third season I'm about to start using Garner more, I've never toyed around much with Regista's so might give him a whirl around with that role.  My MDF is quite filled in my third season so game time will be hard to get but I'm definitely going to rotate a lot more this year.  I'll usualy play with either a 3 in MDF unless I'm using a back 3 but for the MDF spots I have the following:

Matic, Fernandes, Pogba, McTominay, Grealish, Tonali Garner, Bellingham - However Matic is unlikely to be here next season and Fernandes is trying to push for a move to PSG - If he makes it more difficult I'll ship him out as well there's plenty of other great young MDF in this game I'd enjoy working with. Grealish and Bellingham will also give cover out wide.

[Vizzini]

I think Regista is a really good role for big teams as they get the space to dominate - They will create key passes all day long. You also have the perfect player for it in Sandro Tonali. I consider my own MDF a 3 as well, since the Treq drops really deep and attacks the space by either dribbling or passing forward with intent. Finally, many consider the treq to be a role for lazy players, but I had Bruno in that role and he came second in the league for distance covered per 90, so it all depends on the player you use. 

Edited August 2, 2020 by Vizzini

[Gungner]

2 hours ago, Vizzini said:

Also, I just had a board takeover, and they brought in Skriniar and Kimmich, which meant that I had to sell Lindelof for 40m to Arsenal and loan out Laird to Aston Villa for the season.

Do you have any use for them? Otherwise, just don't use them, loan them out or transfer list them immidiately. 

If you have no use for them, the other players shouldn't suffer. 

[FifaBing]

20 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

How has this fared 2nd season? My striker stopped scoring in season 2 in one of my other tactics. Didn't you encounter any problems using De Gea as a SK (A), considering he has really poor vision and rushing out?

Ha, funny you mention that. Goals haven't been as plentiful as they were in season 1. It's strange that everyone encounters that....maybe teams just park the bus and play more defensive. It also didn't help that Martial was out for the first 4-5 weeks starting in August due to injury. He's gotten back on track and in January he now has 10 goals in 17 AP. Cavani, whom I signed last minute as a back up, along with Bruno Petkovic have filled in nicely tho. Cavani I signed for only a year as a stop gap until I go after Kane, Halaand, Lautaro, or Mbappe. 

 

Oh, and speaking of De Gea. Out of no where Juventus showed interest in him, but I didn't have any intention of selling. However, when they made a bid for around 70M, and I was able to counter closer to 90, I took it. It also helped that Donnarumma asked to be listed after his contract status broke down in Milan and I signed him for 30M! So I wasn't too unhappy with that. 

[Vizzini]

 

47 minutes ago, Gungner said:

Do you have any use for them? Otherwise, just don't use them, loan them out or transfer list them immidiately. 

If you have no use for them, the other players shouldn't suffer. 

Sure, they are both quality players and Kimmich is quite versatile as well, although having him and AWB could be considered overkill. I had plans to move Lindelof on and upgrade the CB-position and Skriniar would have been one of my main targets.

Putting all that aside, I think it also provides some realism, as IRL a manager cannot always decide who the club brings in.

Edited August 2, 2020 by Vizzini

[Gee_Simpson]

@Vizzini Or anyone for that matter, do you think for someone who struggles with tactics, it's better to have minimal TI's and PI's in a tactic? I'll most likely always keep counter press and counter as it's what I enjoy to see irl. I'm not great, and getting frustrated. I may even try out your 4231 but I have OCD and I have this thing where I can't use anyone else's tactics.

Edited August 2, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Gee_Simpson]

@Marc Lister Your screenshots didn't work mate. 

[Marc Lister]

11 minutes ago, Gee_Simpson said:

@Marc Lister Your screenshots didn't work mate. 

Sorry about that! I hadn't worked out what I did last night and couldn't remember how to get the screenshots to show. They should be visible now?

[Gee_Simpson]

16 minutes ago, Marc Lister said:

Sorry about that! I hadn't worked out what I did last night and couldn't remember how to get the screenshots to show. They should be visible now?

It's there but it's really small

[Vizzini]

46 minutes ago, Gee_Simpson said:

@Vizzini Or anyone for that matter, do you think for someone who struggles with tactics, it's better to have minimal TI's and PI's in a tactic? I'll most likely always keep counter press and counter as it's what I enjoy to see irl. I'm not great, and getting frustrated. I may even try out your 4231 but I have OCD and I have this thing where I can't use anyone else's tactics.

Yes. In your case, there is no need to have higher tempo, more direct, higher line of engagement, more urgent pressing, etc, if you are already playing on a higher mentality, such as "positive". Why? Because that is already part of the mentality you have selected. Secondly, by activating counter press and counter you have already made sure that the team will press high up the pitch when losing possession and to play fast and direct with bodies moving forward when the opportunity presents itself. 

Also, if you are struggling with tactics I would strongly recommend to only adding one TI at the time, because then it is much easier to see if it is working or not in the match enginge. If you select a bunch to create a "style" it can be difficult to figure out how to tweak it, use the "clean slate" template, pick a formation you want to use, and start with 1-2 TI's per part (in possession, out of possession, in transition). 

The last advise is about roles and duties: Who do you want to be your main goal scorers? Who will create the chances for them? Who will defend when they are attacking? Choose accordingly to suit your style of play and try not to care to much about role familiarity. 

 

[Gee_Simpson]

6 minutes ago, Vizzini said:

Yes. In your case, there is no need to have higher tempo, more direct, higher line of engagement, more urgent pressing, etc, if you are already playing on a higher mentality, such as "positive". Why? Because that is already part of the mentality you have selected. Secondly, by activating counter press and counter you have already made sure that the team will press high up the pitch when losing possession and to play fast and direct with bodies moving forward when the opportunity presents itself. 

Also, if you are struggling with tactics I would strongly recommend to only adding one TI at the time, because then it is much easier to see if it is working or not in the match enginge. If you select a bunch to create a "style" it can be difficult to figure out how to tweak it, use the "clean slate" template, pick a formation you want to use, and start with 1-2 TI's per part (in possession, out of possession, in transition). 

The last advise is about roles and duties: Who do you want to be your main goal scorers? Who will create the chances for them? Who will defend when they are attacking? Choose accordingly to suit your style of play and try not to care to much about role familiarity. 

 

Thanks for the advice mate.

I have been trying a 4123 (4141dm) but the striker doesn't score as much as he does when played in a 4231. The 4123 is better defensively though but generally doesn't score as much overall as a 4231. My 4231 did win me the league first season in my first save with Utd but 2nd season we fell apart and my striker couldn't score any more which was frustrating, so I ended up deleting it, it was also due to my dealings in the market for the 2nd season, I wasn't happy with the transfers I made.

Edited August 2, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Vizzini]

Is that because he was playing as more of a creator? I have used the 4123 a lot this year, often playing a direct "Fergie-style" type of football, and I have almost exclusively used an Advanced Forward to great success - On my Milan-save Greenwood scored a goal a game in that kind of setup. The striker does not have to link play, you can use more aggressive roles in midfield, such as a mezzala to bridge the gap, or supporting wide players. 

[Marc Lister]

37 minutes ago, Gee_Simpson said:

It's there but it's really small

Damn and blast! I used the 1024 embed code and that is way too small. I've used the original 3440 code and it looks better to me. Think I've cracked it now.

[Gee_Simpson]

18 minutes ago, Vizzini said:

Is that because he was playing as more of a creator? I have used the 4123 a lot this year, often playing a direct "Fergie-style" type of football, and I have almost exclusively used an Advanced Forward to great success - On my Milan-save Greenwood scored a goal a game in that kind of setup. The striker does not have to link play, you can use more aggressive roles in midfield, such as a mezzala to bridge the gap, or supporting wide players. 

I have tried a PF (A) with 'roam from position', a F9, CF (A) also, even a Treq

I basically am the person who loves their striker to score most of the goals, growing up watching R9 influenced me. I know nowadays the striker in some real life systems plays more part of the team and isn't always the top goalscorer (Liverpool for example) but I always want my striker to be prolific.

Here's my 4123, any advice would be great. I get the feeling on here that the 4123 is more balanced and gets better results vs a 4231 but I could be wrong.

I'll also link my 4231, this originally had the Winger (A) at the AMR slot, but I was advised to drop him to MR, so he commits defenders earlier in the build up. AM (S) had 'roam' and 'takes more risks'. DLP (D) had 'takes more risks'.

 

Edited August 2, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Vizzini]

Does not look bad at all (4-3-3)! Couple of suggestions: Even though both defenders are suited to being a ball playing defender, having two of them often leads to giving away possession needlessly. The most glaring thing for me is the shorter passing. You say you love prolific striker, yet you tell your players to pass to the nearest team mate and into feet, even though you have a lot of players aggressively moving into space. Personally, I would leave the passing on mixed and add "pass into space". The last point: You want a striker who looks to get in behind, yet you try to pin the oppossition down in their own box, leaving little space for your strikers to exploit. Ditch the higher defensive line and more urgent pressing. The counter press will take care of what you need. 

The second one looks good too, although I would remove the pressing and d-line TI's there as well. How does the AMC play? If he is getting low ratings and you see him in the same space as Pogba I would consider putting him on an attacking duty to exploit the space that the striker creates. 

Edited August 2, 2020 by Vizzini

[Gee_Simpson]

7 minutes ago, Vizzini said:

Does not look bad at all (4-3-3)! Couple of suggestions: Even though both defenders are suited to being a ball playing defender, having two of them often leads to giving away possession needlessly. The most glaring thing for me is the shorter passing. You say you love prolific striker, yet you tell your players to pass to the nearest team mate and into feet, even though you have a lot of players aggressively moving into space. Personally, I would leave the passing on mixed and add "pass into space". The last point: You want a striker who looks to get in behind, yet you try to pin the oppossition down in their own box, leaving little space for your strikers to exploit. Ditch the higher defensive line and more urgent pressing. The counter press will take care of what you need. 

Thanks  I will certainly give that a go, do you recommend AF for the striker role then yeah? 

[Vizzini]

There is not really that much of a difference between a PF and an AF, other than the former being more aggressive out of possession, so that is up to you. If you play a striker with low workrate and stamina I would probably play him as an AF. 

[Gee_Simpson]

4 minutes ago, Vizzini said:

There is not really that much of a difference between a PF and an AF, other than the former being more aggressive out of possession, so that is up to you. If you play a striker with low workrate and stamina I would probably play him as an AF. 

Cool. In my 4231 Martial scores prolifically as a PF (A), so I'm just hoping to replicate that in a 4123 as I feel it's a more balanced formation and suits a wider range of players imo. Would you usually advise a 4123 over a 4231?

Edited August 2, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Vizzini]

Then I would just keep it as is. Depends on the players, as you say the 4-1-2-3 is better balanced, so it easier to make it work. The challenge with the 4-2-3-1 is that it is top heavy, so it is easy for space to congest, that is essentially why I opted for two DMs instead, to have more space for Bruno to thrive in, and for better progression from deep. 

Edited August 2, 2020 by Vizzini

[Gee_Simpson]

11 minutes ago, Vizzini said:

Then I would just keep it as is. Depends on the players, as you say the 4-1-2-3 is better balanced, so it easier to make it work. The challenge with the 4-2-3-1 is that it is top heavy, so it is easy for space to congest. 

Yeah problem I had with the 4231 was it conceded too many, but not in the 1st season, it was the 2nd season after I had won the title when I started to concede almost every game, which was frustrating. I think teams started to sit back and just hit me on the counter. I also probably brought in too many players, and Skriniar who I bought for 65m played terribly and I couldn't work out why. 2nd season the goals dried up for Greenwood who hit 26 in 28 first season, he went 8 games without scoring 2nd season with the same setup. 

If I can get my lone striker to be prolific in a 4123 then I'll stick with that. Maybe I should load up both tactics just incase. 

What do you do during games if things are going wrong, or do you usually not need to make many changes? For example, maybe there is a good time to use short passing, lower tempo, etc. 

Edited August 2, 2020 by Gee_Simpson