[FM20] Manchester United: Falling Giant...

[Gee_Simpson]

1 hour ago, stevecummins78 said:

Boom!

 

 

Nice one. He's definitely someone I'll be looking to bring in, although I'll be disabling the first window so will probably go for him in summer 2020.

[Welshace]

10 minutes ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Nice one. He's definitely someone I'll be looking to bring in, although I'll be disabling the first window so will probably go for him in summer 2020.

Seems to be an issue with the disabling first window button right now... not working apparantly.

[Gee_Simpson]

4 hours ago, Welshace said:

Seems to be an issue with the disabling first window button right now... not working apparantly.

Oh great 

[Spiegel]

Mason Greenwood's 26th goal of the season has just knocked City out of the Europa...

[Nick OGS20]

18 hours ago, Welshace said:

Rashford's taken a beating by the looks of things.

In what sense? His CA was increased so...

[Spiegel]

Don't know if the AI Transfers have been tweaked in the new patch but some of the dealings I've seen in the league this summer (2020) are a bit nuts!

- Wolves have made five signings, all centre-halves; Javi Martinez, Toloi, Rojo, Hoedt and Holding. 
- Chelsea have let Tammy Abraham (on loan), Batshuayi, Giroud leave, and currently don't have a recognised striker bar a transfer listed Loftus Cheek?
- City have sold all three of their left backs, plus Otamendi, David Silva (albeit nothing they can do about that one) and loaned out Mahrez and Rodri. They've only signed Moussa Dembele and John McGinn. They've also sacked Guardiola and rehired Pellegrini?

Some teams have had decent summers tbf, Arsenal have Lenglet, Joachim Andersen and Danilo Pereira.  Liverpool have Jose Gimenez and Bruno Fernandes. But something definitely feels off!

By all accounts I think I've done alright. Made these signings (also added Bellingham & Eriksen last season). 

Net spend of £36mill :')

Ins: 
Nathan Aké - Bournemouth, £36mill
Kills three birds with one stone. Going into the summer, I was looking for a DM who could offer similar physicality and defensive prowess to McTominay. I was also looking to move on Smalling, Jones and Rojo, so needed another Centre-Half, ideally a left sided one to compete with Maguire. He's also a more than capable left back, which allows me to move Brandon Williams out on loan. Great personality and leader aswell for fairly decent price (Bournemouth have been relegated). What's not to like?

Nohan Kenneh - Leeds, £11mill
Seen a lot of people on the forums wax lyrical about this guy. Highly rated by my scouts and only 17. Looks to be long term option either at CB, DM or MC. Joins my U23 Midfield of Doom with Bellingham and Mejbri.

Luke Matheson - Rochdale, £5mill
Wolves managed to pick this chap up for a lot cheaper in real life, but he looks great so can't complain. Takes Ethan Laird's spot as U23 right back while the former is on loan at Bournemouth. Potentially awesome, but thinking his future may be further forward as he's a bit lightweight. 

Jadon Sancho - Dortmund, £89mill
Don't really need to explain this one

James Milner - Free Agent
Partially for bantz, partially because he's still an excellent player who, on a one year deal, allows me time to develop the likes of Williams, Garner and Laird. Should make for an excellent tutor also.

 

 

Edited February 22, 2020 by Spiegel
Detail on incoming signings

[Welshace]

4 hours ago, Nick OGS20 said:

In what sense? His CA was increased so...

As mentioned above, i'm not really a fan, I thought he had far higher technicals than that in the past, i'm obviously wrong, as someone said before you too

[stevecummins78]

Scrappy end to first season.

Home to Arsenal in Europa QF second leg, 0-1 from first leg. Winning 3-0 at half time, battering them. They score in 83 and 84 minute and we are out. Stunned.

League form dreadful, dropping points everywhere and board close to sacking me. Just about get our act together to nick fourth from Chelsea. New contract offered but position still ‘insecure’.

[stevecummins78]

Thinking of signing Maddison but not sure how to get best from him and Fernandes in the same team, anyone else has success with them both?

[RLC]

Pogba just got transfer listed on my save for 90 mil euro. Is it worth buying him (I can afford it and could use him) or is that a bit too much would you say?

[Spiegel]

7 hours ago, RLC said:

Pogba just got transfer listed on my save for 90 mil euro. Is it worth buying him (I can afford it and could use him) or is that a bit too much would you say?

Steal imo

[Chapman7]

10 hours ago, RLC said:

Pogba just got transfer listed on my save for 90 mil euro. Is it worth buying him (I can afford it and could use him) or is that a bit too much would you say?

Depending on his age I would say and his wage demands. But at that price and depending on his age that would be a steal and also have resale value to and with him having a use if you managed to sign him back seems no brainer

[RLC]

4 hours ago, Spiegel said:

Steal imo

 

1 hour ago, Chapman7 said:

Depending on his age I would say and his wage demands. But at that price and depending on his age that would be a steal and also have resale value to and with him having a use if you managed to sign him back seems no brainer

Thanks both of you. 
It’s first season (first transfer window) so he’s only 26. Don’t really understand why he’s listed but seems to be by request. 

[Chapman7]

On 20/02/2020 at 14:37, stevecummins78 said:

I'm currently in March of the first season, third in the league and progressing in the FA Cup and Europe. I disabled the first window and following real life signed Fernandes and sold Rojo and Young in January. Probably going to cash in on Pogba in the summer and so my transfer/squad building strategy looks like this for the next two seasons....

 

Summer 2020

Release: Chong, Grant, Matic

Sell: Bailly, Fosu-Mensah, Jones, Lingard, Pogba, Sanchez, Smalling

Sign: Sancho, Maddison, Dembele, Chilwell, Dias, Luis

 

 

Is there a reason you let Chong go? I've found in previous saves to have been quite a decent player so just curious really 

[stevecummins78]

5 minutes ago, Chapman7 said:

Is there a reason you let Chong go? I've found in previous saves to have been quite a decent player so just curious really 

Won't sign a new deal for a reasonable wage, plus looks like he is off in real life.

[Chapman7]

4 minutes ago, stevecummins78 said:

Won't sign a new deal for a reasonable wage, plus looks like he is off in real life.

Think I got him to sign like £20k and then bit more after so many games I think on one save. With the wages for young players going up thought was pretty reasonable at the time 

[stevecummins78]

Pretty realistic league table, apart from Sheffield United of course. And Arsenal.

 

[stevecummins78]

2019/20 - end of season review

I didn’t expect us to challenge for the Premier League title with the squad I inherited. The focus was instead on establishing new signings and developing young players. In January I sold Marcus Rojo and Ashley Young, then brought in £55m Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon as my first signing.

We were in the top four for most of the season, though some way off leaders Liverpool and surprise challengers Arsenal. However, a Europa League quarter-final defeat against Arsenal (who also knocked us out at the same stage of the FA Cup) coincided with a dreadful run that saw us drop out of the Champions League places in April. In fact I was rumoured to be one more bad result from the sack before we steadied the ship and we were able to win our last three games to finish in fourth place ahead of Chelsea. Liverpool won the league without losing a game, adding the FA Cup as well. To make it worse for United fans Manchester City also won the Champions League for the first time and Arsenal won the Europa league.

Mason Greenwood and Daniel James were undoubtedly the breakout stars of the season. Greenwood was top scorer with 17 goals, though goals were fairly spread out between the forward players. Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial were frustrated with injury and loss of form, highlighting the need for reinforcement in attacking areas in the summer.

 

2020/21 - pre season

I continued the clear out that had commenced under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, while prioritising the strengthening of my forward line. Jadon Sancho was a key signing at £80m, while Moussa Dembele was a bargain at just £26m. The biggest overhaul was in the midfield. As expected PSG came in for Paul Pogba and having got them to go up to £100m I decided to sell. To replace him I signed James Maddison for a fee of £49m plus Jesse Lingard. Maddison was bought to play as a central attacking midfielder or further back as a playmaker, but I still needed to replace Pogba’s physical presence in midfield. Scott McTominay is a good player but I needed another body in there. My dream signing would have been Ruben Neves, but he wanted to go to Real Madrid and would not talk to me. I also scouted Florentino Luis extensively, but his wage demands were too high. I eventually settled on Declan Rice for £70m (including instalments) plus Andreas Pereira. The plan was that he would play on the left of midfield, next to Fernandes and behind Maddison in a 4-2-3-1. At the back I sold Tim Fosu-Mensah, Phil Jones, Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling. This raised money to trigger the £52m release clause of Ruben Dias. I was also able to sell Alexi Sanchez to Lokomotiv Moscow for £10m, albeit with having to cover some of his wages.

Squad below - trying to use some classic United squad numbers in their right positions!
 

Goalkeepers

GK(D) David De Gea (1)

GK(D) Dean Henderson (13)

GK(D) Sergio Romero (22)

 

Defenders

FBR(S) Aaron Wan-Bissaka (2)

BPD(C) Victor Lindelöf (4)

BPD(D) Harry Maguire (5)

WBL(A) Brandon Williams (12)

BPD(C) Axel Tuanzabe (15)

FBR(A) Diogo Dalot (20)

WBL(S) Luke Shaw (23)

BPD(D) Ruben Dias (26)

 

Midfielders

CM(D) Declan Rice (6)

AM(S) Juan Mata (8)

BWM(D) Scott McTominay (16)

CM(S) Fred (17)

MEZ(A) Bruno Fernandes (18)

DLP(D) James Garner (24)

AM(S) James Maddison (25)

AM(S) Angel Gomes (28)

 

Forwards

WR(A) Jadon Sancho (7)

AF(A) Anthony Martial (9)

IFL(A) Marcus Rashford (10)

IFR(A) Mason Greenwood (14)

AF(A) Moussa Dembélé (19)

IWL(A) Daniel James (21)

Edited April 28, 2020 by stevecummins78
Updated squad numbers

[xh7ds7]

My enjoyment of this save has caused me to break my 7+ years of lurking! Although back in the Football Manager PSP days, I was posting stories under a since inaccessible moniker!

2019/2020 Season Review

To start off, I was using the Pr0 Transfer Update from after the window closed. This meant I already had Bruno Fernandes which was a big reason for the first year successes!

I brought in Ruban Dias to instantly slot in alongside Maguire as my centre back pairing. Dias is young, but also instantly a first teamer. This meant I could sell Lindelof in the January window after not much gametime. Bailly (after his injury) and faith in Jones, Tuanzebe, and Fosu-Mensah meant I didn't need anymore defenders. Needing a right winger, but not wanting to break the bank yet for Sancho, I managed to gte Douglas Costa on loan for simply covering his wages. He was incredible, and in first season notched up 21 goals and 11 assists. I also brought in Alex Telles as first choice LB and kept Shaw as backup, though he left in January after Telles became the first name on the teamsheet. Telles had an incredible season being in TOTY, whilst getting a terrific 18 assists in all competitions.

In January, I brought in Everton as a tricky winger to complement Rashford, James, and the increasing demands of the fixture list with our good run in Europe. A deal for Blaise Matuidi was also struck on a free, but injuries to McTominay, having already sold Matic, meant I needed to fork out to get him straight away. It said it would cost £6 million, so I'm not sure how I got shortchanged for £16.5 million! Perhaps I should've gone to Spec...

The usual lineup consisted of a 4-2-3-1. There was a lot of rotation, with us using nearly 30 players during the season, and that meant we maintained a terrific amount of consistency, almost looking like the real life Liverpool team with our first couple of months fixtures. Then, things started to get difficult with a series of draws and losses that made the league table a lot closer than it first seemed like it would be. A very interchangeable front-line kept the goals flowing, with Rashford (28 goals), Martial (16 goals), James (9 goals), Costa (21 goals), and my personal favourite, Greenwood (29 goals), all contributing significantly in all competitions.

The Europa League also saw us coast to victory,with only the final really posing any difficulty. A Carabao Cup win with an easy run, with the exception of a 4-4 with Liverpool going down to penalties, also lined the trophy cabinets. The FA Cup saw us knocked out by eventual winners Liverpool on penalties in the quarter finals.

2020/2021 Season Preview

Lautaro Martinez was the big summer signing, with us wanting a more consistent striker, with the idea that Martial and Rashford might spend more time on the wings now Costa had gone back to Juve. Martinez did break his arm though, and before a game had been played faces 7 weeks out.

Leon Bailey was my first choice having scouted him for several months. His more reasonable price and wages, as well as a good first season meant he came in for a cool £80 million, funded by the sales of Andreas, Lingard, Mata and Rojo. Bellingham was brought in for the future, and instantly loaned back out again. That was all the business until deadline day, when another injury to McTominay forced me to look at our options for a 3 man (2 x CM and an AM) midfield. Only Pogba, Matuidi, Fernandes, and some unready youth players, not providing enough of a selection. Deadline day scrambling got Dani Cebellos on loan, james Ward-Prowse for a reasonable £36 million (to replace some of our sold home grown prospects) and the return of Douglas Costa on loan again - this time for a bargain 40% of his wages! 

So far, we've lost the Community Shield and Super Cup to FA Cup and Champions League winners Liverpool, who have added Paulo Dybala, Leroy Sane, Alex Grimaldo, Arkadiusz Milik to their already deadly squad. Carl Ancelotti's Manchester City have brought in Lukaku, Chilwell, and Depay having sacked Guardiola following his 2nd place finish in the league. Mourinho's Spurs, who started the first season really well have only add Lorenzo Pellegrini so may struggle. Chelsea have had the busiest window, bringing in James Rodriquez, Federico Chiesa, Federico Bernardeschi, Florentino Luis, and Dani Carvajal!

And Arsenal? Well, they finished 8th, sacking Arteta, and bringing in legend Viera to rule the roost. He has brought in Jesse Lingard, Allan, Thauvin, and Idrissa Gueye, to complement Arteta's only big signing Wilfried Zaha (who is now transfer listed by request).

Edited February 27, 2020 by xh7ds7

[stevemc]

Finally got around to starting a United wave after I was waiting for the game to be patched, and although I always like to start a United save with the first transfer window disabled, it looks like that’s another bug and doesn’t work - turns out we start with £50m in the bank.

i wasn’t going to sell anyone but Leicester City unsettled Matic, Matic kicked up a fuss so I agreed an £11m deal - whilst it was going through I picked up Florentino Luis as a direct replacement for £40m. Subsequently, Matic rejected Leicester City so now he’s left rotting away unless he finds a new club before the window closes.

I’m not really into overhauling the squad straight away but I’m not a fan of Jones, Lingard or Pereira and Juan Mata doesn’t really fit my plans so one or more of these could leave with me eyeing up Ruben Dias and Jack Grealish as improvements.

Martial has broken his ankle in a preseason game and is out for 4 months so I may need to bring in a short term loan too.

I made huge changes to my staff, ensuring we are fully staffed with quality at all levels, biggest signings were Bernhard Peters as HoYD and John Heitinga as u23 manager. What have people done with the over sized and bloated scouting set up?

Anyone had luck with player sales in the first window on the new patch?

Edited February 27, 2020 by stevemc

[Gee_Simpson]

@stevemc I would have started with Utd by now but I'm now waiting for the disable first transfer window bug to be fixed  Ridiculous how that got past QA testing, I'm assuming it will be included in the patch next week. 

What's your tactics setup? 

Edited February 27, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[stevemc]

8 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

@stevemc I would have started with Utd by now but I'm now waiting for the disable first transfer window bug to be fixed  Ridiculous how that got past QA testing, I'm assuming it will be included in the patch next week. 

What's your tactics setup? 

Yeah it's frustrating mate, such a simple feature.

I'm going with a 4-3-3/4-5-1 kind of set up as my main tactic.

[Deano565]

11 hours ago, stevemc said:

Finally got around to starting a United wave after I was waiting for the game to be patched, and although I always like to start a United save with the first transfer window disabled, it looks like that’s another bug and doesn’t work - turns out we start with £50m in the bank.

i wasn’t going to sell anyone but Leicester City unsettled Matic, Matic kicked up a fuss so I agreed an £11m deal - whilst it was going through I picked up Florentino Luis as a direct replacement for £40m. Subsequently, Matic rejected Leicester City so now he’s left rotting away unless he finds a new club before the window closes.

I’m not really into overhauling the squad straight away but I’m not a fan of Jones, Lingard or Pereira and Juan Mata doesn’t really fit my plans so one or more of these could leave with me eyeing up Ruben Dias and Jack Grealish as improvements.

Martial has broken his ankle in a preseason game and is out for 4 months so I may need to bring in a short term loan too.

I made huge changes to my staff, ensuring we are fully staffed with quality at all levels, biggest signings were Bernhard Peters as HoYD and John Heitinga as u23 manager. What have people done with the over sized and bloated scouting set up?

Anyone had luck with player sales in the first window on the new patch?

Jones and Lingard were a bit more tricky to get rid of, but Matic, Pereira and Mata were all easy enough to sell. 

Definitely get Grealish. I paid £57m and have been playing him as a Mezzala on the right side of a narrow midfield diamond. Averaged 7.31 first season and has scored a couple of crackers. Also a useful option at AML if Martial is injured. 

Dias has also done well for me partnering Maguire. 

[stevemc]

2 hours ago, Deano565 said:

Jones and Lingard were a bit more tricky to get rid of, but Matic, Pereira and Mata were all easy enough to sell. 

Definitely get Grealish. I paid £57m and have been playing him as a Mezzala on the right side of a narrow midfield diamond. Averaged 7.31 first season and has scored a couple of crackers. Also a useful option at AML if Martial is injured. 

Dias has also done well for me partnering Maguire. 

Yeah I've actually managed to sell;

Matic: £13m (Shanghai Shenua) 

Jones: £12m (Wolves)

Mata: £15m (Shanghai Shenua)

Andreas Pereira £22.5m (Leicester City)

Lingard won't sell though so I'll keep him, I'm not happy with £13m for him.

Picked up Ruben Dias and I'm just sorting Jack Grealish now

Edited February 28, 2020 by stevemc

[Zeonflux]

Hey all,

I’ve started a new save with the winter update and I’ve settled on a 4231

GKd De Gea

FBa AWB

BPDc Lindelof

BPDs Maguire

WBs Shaw

APs Pogba

BWMd McTominay

IFa Rashford

AMs Fernandes

Ws Deulofeu

AFa Martial

Only a few games into the season and currently unbeaten but still unbeaten with a draw against Leicester being the only black spot on a clean sweep of wins

Other than Deulofeu I also brought in Bellingham from Birmingham and I’m after Florentino Luis when I get some players off of the books

[stevemc]

Not sure if anyone knows, but at the start of the game you can bring Rui Faria back as a 4.5 star under-18 fitness coach:

[Gee_Simpson]

3 hours ago, stevemc said:

Not sure if anyone knows, but at the start of the game you can bring Rui Faria back as a 4.5 star under-18 fitness coach:

What skin are you using? Is that default with backgrounds? 

[Gee_Simpson]

Damn, I'm so tempted to start without the first window disabled but not sure if I should. For example, I'm worried my main targets may become tougher to purchase if I don't do any deals for a season, on the other hand clubs may be more willing to sell after the first season.

I've never played with the first window disabled so I'm struggling to decide whether to wait for the update next week or start now. I don't want it to be too easy straight away which I'm worried that new signings will do that. First window disabled is also more realistic, but I'm just worried for the reasons stated regarding missing out in targets. 

How many of you started with the window disabled and did you find any problems with signing players in the 2nd season?

Edited February 28, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[stevemc]

52 minutes ago, Gee_Simpson said:

What skin are you using? Is that default with backgrounds? 

It's a skin I've pieced together from a number of different skins, with my background packs.

[sedge11]

3 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

How many of you started with the window disabled and did you find any problems with signing players in the 2nd season?

I started with it disabled and had no problems signing players in 2nd season.

[Spiegel]

14 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

How many of you started with the window disabled and did you find any problems with signing players in the 2nd season?

I normally do - I typically find the transfers get a bit more interesting after the first season once the AI's had the chance to have a play :')

Only reason I haven't on my most recent save was so I could nab Jude Bellingham for compensation.

[stevemc]

Signed Jack Grealish, instantly got a hip injury in training and out for 7 weeks to 3 months 

[stevemc]

Solid start to the first season, brought in Florentino Luis, Ruben Dias and Jack Grealish plus Darren Fletcher for mentoring and a couple of u-18 players to boost the u-18 squad. Managed to ship out Phil Jones, Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic and Andreas Pereira whilst loaning Gomes and Chong out too. Made huge staff changes, got it in a great place to build from now, including bringing this legend back, purely because he's a legend and a Model Citizen  

 

Premier League:

Sitting top, happy having already played Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, but we have Tottenham and Manchester City approaching:

 

Europa League:

Nice, easy group for us, but yet to play a game - perfect for rotating the squad.

 

Carabao Cup:

Drawn Tranmere away, yet to play.

[Zeonflux]

Guys anyone got any ideas on how I can increase my strikers output?

im doing ok lots of 1-0 wins but they don’t look to confident as we always give at least 2 decent chances away a game.

anyways my front 4 are:

IFa, AMs, Ws with AFa up top. I’ve then got an APs and BWMd behind them

[Gee_Simpson]

3 hours ago, stevemc said:

Solid start to the first season, brought in Florentino Luis, Ruben Dias and Jack Grealish plus Darren Fletcher for mentoring and a couple of u-18 players to boost the u-18 squad. Managed to ship out Phil Jones, Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic and Andreas Pereira whilst loaning Gomes and Chong out too. Made huge staff changes, got it in a great place to build from now, including bringing this legend back, purely because he's a legend and a Model Citizen  

 

Premier League:

Sitting top, happy having already played Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, but we have Tottenham and Manchester City approaching:

 

Europa League:

Nice, easy group for us, but yet to play a game - perfect for rotating the squad.

 

Carabao Cup:

Drawn Tranmere away, yet to play.

Nice one. What tactics are you using? That's a very good start so far  I'm trying to settle on a tactic first before I start (waiting on the bug being fixed), so I've been testing a few on FMT for now, can't seem to get a consistent 4231 going at all. I think with Pogba and Fernandes in the same lineup a 433/4123 makes the most sense over a 4231, problem I find with a 4123 is I can't get the lone striker firing, most goals come from the wingers or CM's. 

Edited February 29, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[stevecummins78]

8 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Nice one. What tactics are you using? That's a very good start so far  I'm trying to settle on a tactic first before I start (waiting on the bug being fixed), so I've been testing a few on FMT for now, can't seem to get a consistent 4231 going at all. I think with Pogba and Fernandes in the same lineup a 433/4123 makes the most sense over a 4231, problem I find with a 4123 is I can't get the lone striker firing, most goals come from the wingers or CM's. 

What is that background and skin you are using?

[Spiegel]

Made a great start in the league. Cups... not so much!

Really enjoying using this squad though. Don't see the need to make significant updates - should be able to integrate academy players as and when. 

[stevecummins78]

My best XI for the new season. Advice welcome on tactics as well...

 

 

[Gee_Simpson]

1 hour ago, stevecummins78 said:

What is that background and skin you are using?

You've quoted the wrong person mate  I PM'd @stevemc asking the same thing as I like having backgrounds. He sent me the link to the skin and his backgrounds. The skin is available in the skinning section on the forums, it's just the default skin with backgrounds enabled. Link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/th95mequnjpfw2p/Base_Skin_with_Background_Support.zip/file

Backgrounds are all compiled by @stevemc, Here's the links he sent:

Managers/Staff Background Pack

Nations & Continents Background Pack

Competitions Pack

Stadium Pack

Long Team Names - English Leagues

Edited March 1, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[Spiegel]

1 hour ago, stevecummins78 said:

My best XI for the new season. Advice welcome on tactics as well...

Looks fairly solid - my thoughts are; 

• Midfield pairing strikes me as a bit unbalanced. You have Bruno drifting wide, and McTominay hunting the ball. Who's occupying the middle of the park in transition? I'd consider a CM(D) & CM(S) pairing.
• Dembele could possibly get isolated playing as a lone AF(A)?
• What's the thinking behind the lower line of engagement? Seems to clash with all your other instructions (Prevent GK Distribution, Counter Press, Urgent Pressing etc.)

[stevecummins78]

7 hours ago, Spiegel said:

Looks fairly solid - my thoughts are; 

• Midfield pairing strikes me as a bit unbalanced. You have Bruno drifting wide, and McTominay hunting the ball. Who's occupying the middle of the park in transition? I'd consider a CM(D) & CM(S) pairing.
• Dembele could possibly get isolated playing as a lone AF(A)?
• What's the thinking behind the lower line of engagement? Seems to clash with all your other instructions (Prevent GK Distribution, Counter Press, Urgent Pressing etc.)

Thanks!

I have realised the same about the midfield, so I’m either playing Rice there now as a holding CM(D) or retraining Scott for that role. In some tough games I might play both Rice and Scott together.

Would you suggest Dembele as a complete or deep laying forward then?

Thinking on lower line of engagement was to try and compliment counter attacking in the transition. To be honest I’m a bit torn about whether to press or not?

[stevecummins78]

7 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

You've quoted the wrong person mate  I PM'd @stevemc asking the same thing as I like having backgrounds. He sent me the link to the skin and his backgrounds. The skin is available in the skinning section on the forums, it's just the default skin with backgrounds enabled. Link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/th95mequnjpfw2p/Base_Skin_with_Background_Support.zip/file

Backgrounds are all compiled by @stevemc, Here's the links he sent:

Managers/Staff Background Pack

Nations & Continents Background Pack

Competitions Pack

Stadium Pack

Long Team Names - English Leagues

Oh sorry! Thanks so much!

[stevemc]

19 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Nice one. What tactics are you using? That's a very good start so far  I'm trying to settle on a tactic first before I start (waiting on the bug being fixed), so I've been testing a few on FMT for now, can't seem to get a consistent 4231 going at all. I think with Pogba and Fernandes in the same lineup a 433/4123 makes the most sense over a 4231, problem I find with a 4123 is I can't get the lone striker firing, most goals come from the wingers or CM's. 

I've got three, I start with a 4-2-3-1 and switch between mentalities through the game, if that'a not working, I have a 4-5-1 available too then a 4-4-1-1 which is defensive which I use to tighten up and close games out.

[Spiegel]

1 hour ago, stevecummins78 said:

Thanks!

I have realised the same about the midfield, so I’m either playing Rice there now as a holding CM(D) or retraining Scott for that role. In some tough games I might play both Rice and Scott together.

Would you suggest Dembele as a complete or deep laying forward then?

Thinking on lower line of engagement was to try and compliment counter attacking in the transition. To be honest I’m a bit torn about whether to press or not?

Not sure what you mean by retraining him? He should be able to perform that role without a problem. 

I've had success with a DLF(A) as a lone striker, but that's in a 4-3-3. DLF(A) or CF(S) are both worth a shout.

I'd leave lower line of engagement out tbh, it clashes with your other choices - in particular Prevent GK Distribution. You're asking your forward players to play high up to stop the GK pass, then drop wayyyy back. 

[stevecummins78]

13 minutes ago, Spiegel said:

Not sure what you mean by retraining him? He should be able to perform that role without a problem. 

I've had success with a DLF(A) as a lone striker, but that's in a 4-3-3. DLF(A) or CF(S) are both worth a shout.

I'd leave lower line of engagement out tbh, it clashes with your other choices - in particular Prevent GK Distribution. You're asking your forward players to play high up to stop the GK pass, then drop wayyyy back. 

Thanks, will make those tweaks. 

How effective is Sancho on the right by the way?

[Spiegel]

11 minutes ago, stevecummins78 said:

Thanks, will make those tweaks. 

How effective is Sancho on the right by the way?

I use him as an IF(A) and he's on 6 goals, 5 assists in 10 games. 

Most of my build-up occurs on the left side with Shaw, Pogba and Rashford so he gets the benefit of a lot of crosses to him on the far post. He also gets his fair share of isolation plays when Pogba switches the ball to him, which make the most out of his dribbling ability.

 

Edited March 1, 2020 by Spiegel

[stevecummins78]

8 minutes ago, Spiegel said:

I use him as an IF(A) and he's on 6 goals, 5 assists in 10 games. 

Most of my build-up occurs on the left side with Shaw, Pogba and Rashford so he gets the benefit of a lot of crosses to him on the far post. He also gets his fair share of isolation plays when Pogba switches the ball to him, which make the most out of his dribbling ability.

 

Isn’t he better with his right foot though? You have him cutting in with his left?

[Spiegel]

1 minute ago, stevecummins78 said:

Isn’t he better with his right foot though? You have him cutting in with his left?

Sure, but I'm finding that he'll still try and beat the defender from the outside and get a cross in - he just doesn't do it from the byline like a winger would.

[stevemc]

Hannibal Mejbri won't forget his league debut, goal and two assists plus becoming our youngest ever scorer;

Edited March 1, 2020 by stevemc

[Gee_Simpson]

4 hours ago, stevemc said:

Hannibal Mejbri won't forget his league debut, goal and two assists plus becoming our youngest ever scorer;

Was that with your 4231? I can't get a 4231 working consistently at all so far during tests on FMT (waiting for the bug to be fixed before starting proper). Not sure what I'm doing wrong, the 4141dm wide seems to work better for me in tests, beat Sheff Utd 7-1 but struggled with a 4231.

Edited March 1, 2020 by Gee_Simpson