[FM20] Manchester United: Falling Giant...

[stevemc]

13 hours ago, Gee_Simpson said:

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.

4231 for the first half, then moved to a 451.

[stevemc]

Starting to get a tune out of Greenwood now, after a slow start...

[stevemc]

Season 2019/20: September-November

Premier League:

Quite tight at the top, all the big clubs rising to the top bar Chelsea (and Tottenham are a bit patchy), but Leicester City and Wolves having great seasons so far too. Greenwood has hit some real form, Rashford great too despite dropped the odd shocking performance, randomly. Grealish is finally fit after his initial injury and is being integrated into the first team slowly (as he picked up a groin strain in training too - his second injury). Only game we've lost is the Manchester derby.

 

Goalscoring charts;

 

Important away win at Leicester City;

 

Europa League:

Should qualify in top spot, we are top of the group, although Rosenborg getting a snide 0-0 draw at Old Trafford despite me absolutely dominating for 90 minutes and not finding the breakthrough, was disappointing.

 

Carabao Cup:

Brushed aside Tranmere Rovers with a fringe squad with ease, but struggled and got lucky against Stoke away, drew 2-2 missed a 90th minute penalty but managed to go through 5-4 in a shoot out after ex-red James Chester missed the decisive spot kick. We now face and under-performing West Ham United in the Quarter-Final at home.

 

I've sent a number of players on leadership courses and also sent Sergio Romero and Darren Fletcher on coaching badge courses, whilst Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Jack Grealish also made their England debuts. Tahith Chong and Angel Gomes's loans spells are going great too so far, at Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End, respectively.

Ahead of the January window, I tied up a deal for 17-year-old Mohamed Daramy for £2.5m, based on the scout reports, looks an exceptional talent - anyone ever signed him?

Edited March 3, 2020 by stevemc

[Chapman7]

On 01/03/2020 at 23:10, Gee_Simpson said:

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.

Post your 4-2-3-1 up maybe can see how can tweaked 

[stevemc]

Don't you just love messages like this

 

Edited March 3, 2020 by stevemc

[Gee_Simpson]

4 hours ago, stevemc said:

Don't you just love messages like this

 

His face ruins it 

[stevemc]

Bruno Fernandes is more than repaying his fee, 1 minute into the Wolves games he sticks this in the top bin

 

[Gee_Simpson]

1 hour ago, stevemc said:

Bruno Fernandes is more than repaying his fee, 1 minute into the Wolves games he sticks this in the top bin

 

He's insanely good. I haven't started properly yet because of the first window shenanigans, but even in the test save he plays brilliantly and scores loads of long range crackers. Him and Pogba beside him in the same midfield are frightening. 

[sedge11]

On 04/03/2020 at 20:43, stevemc said:

Bruno Fernandes is more than repaying his fee, 1 minute into the Wolves games he sticks this in the top bin

 

He’s quality, him and Rashford have been then driving force in my team

[stevemc]

9 hours ago, sedge11 said:

He’s quality, him and Rashford have been then driving force in my team

He's great, once I get to the end of the season, I'll post up his stats, he's a goal & assist machine!

[stevecummins78]

Five games in to new season and five victories and top of the league. However, Dembele is goaless in those games, as is Maddison. Both have been underwhelming in my 4231, any idea why they might be struggling?

[sean_oc16]

May 2023

4 more trophies added to the cabinet this season.

League won, unbeaten season complete.

Best goals conceded record so far, but also lowest goals scored of any season so far.

  

Rashford being top scorer with 18 in all comps shows our problems. Kane getting signing of the season despite only getting 13 in all comps. That deal not worked out as well as I was hoping, especially when Spurs signed Boadu and he finished as top league scorer with 26. Interesting choice of DMs in the best XI because it was normally Tousart and Can when we played that formation.

Some good seasons in there, the best might have been DDG despite the terrible ratings for GKs. 34 clean sheets beating his previous record including 25 in the league which helped him win best keeper award. Looking ahead to next season, Rugani will probably go and I already have a replacement coming in. Hysaj and Can might move on and I will try and sell Chong. Martial has interested teams again, bit reluctant to sell though especially coming off a poor season for us goalscoring.

[stevemc]

I’ve managed to pick up a new striker in January, Greenwood has been brilliant but he’s young and has needed two holidays since August to keep fresh, so it’s clear I can’t fully rely on him yet. So I signed Lautaro Martinez from Inter, cost me his £96m release clause but that’s my two strikers for the next decade sorted...

[stevemc]

Season 2019/20: November-January

Transfer Window:

After the board made extra funds available in December, I was all set on wrapping up a deal for my number 1 target, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, had him scouted, analysed, chief scouted, I even attended a game, he had insane reports, perfect fit, available for £70-90m - once I went to start negotiating the deal it all started getting silly, Lazio wouldn't move from £140m so I decided to move targets. Savic is still a summer target, where I hope Lazio lower their demands. I quickly moved on to pick up a new striker in January, Greenwood has been brilliant but he’s young and has needed two holidays since August to keep fresh, so it’s clear I can’t fully rely on him yet. So I signed Lautaro Martinez from Inter, cost me his £96m release clause but that’s my two strikers for the next decade sorted...

 

Just to highlight how good a season Mason Greenwood is having, he's picked up the Golden Ball award;

 

I've also signed pre-contract agreements with Lorenzo Lucca and Isaac Lihadji to boost my u18s and u23s next season.

Odion Ighalo cancelled his loan, and won't be missed, 1 goal in 5 games.

In other January transfer news, Liverpool signed Raphaël Guerreiro for £55m and Wolves took Marcos Llorente on loan. It was generally a quiet window around the whole of Europe.

 

News:

Chelsea, with a transfer ban and in horrible form decided to sack Frank Lampard and replace with Massimiliano Allegri:

 

Quinton Fortune left his U23 assistant manager post with us to join Rochdale, so I've brought in ex-player, Ruud van Nistelrooy, who I'm very happy with:

 

In terms of Brexit, that has also been announced, I'm quite happy with it, not sure how it ranks against other peoples experiences?

 

Premier League:

We are flying, 10 points clear, just won the Manchester derby, we could actually win this. I'd say Champions League football at Old Trafford next season is almost certain from here.

 

Europe League:

Topped the group, happy overall as I used this competition to rest first team players:

 

The last game was a team pretty much full of kids, which excelled...

The team contained the likes of Teden Mengi, Axel Tuanzebe, Brandon Williams, James Garner, Largie Ramazani, Hannibal Mejbri and Amad Traoré, captained by Darren Fletcher.

 

Carabao Cup:

Tranmere Rovers (A), Stoke City (A), West Ham United (H) and Leeds United in the semi-finals (who are top of the Championship despite Marcelo Bielsa leaving for Napoli) all turned over to set a final up against Leicester City, who put Manchester City out in a thriller...

 

FA Cup:

Turned over Cardiff City and Peterborough United away, to make the 5th round against either Chelsea or Bristol City.

 

Personal:

Here is my review...

 

Edited March 7, 2020 by stevemc

[Gee_Simpson]

49 minutes ago, stevemc said:

Season 2019/20: November-January

Transfer Window:

After the board made extra funds available in December, I was all set on wrapping up a deal for my number 1 target, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, had him scouted, analysed, chief scouted, I even attended a game, he had insane reports, perfect fit, available for £70-90m - once I went to start negotiating the deal it all started getting silly, Lazio wouldn't move from £140m so I decided to move targets. Savic is still a summer target, where I hope Lazio lower their demands. I quickly moved on to pick up a new striker in January, Greenwood has been brilliant but he’s young and has needed two holidays since August to keep fresh, so it’s clear I can’t fully rely on him yet. So I signed Lautaro Martinez from Inter, cost me his £96m release clause but that’s my two strikers for the next decade sorted...

 

Just to highlight how good a season Mason Greenwood is having, he's picked up the Golden Ball award;

 

I've also signed pre-contract agreements with Lorenzo Lucca and Isaac Lihadji to boost my u18s and u23s next season.

Odion Ighalo cancelled his loan, and won't be missed, 1 goal in 5 games.

In other January transfer news, Liverpool signed Raphaël Guerreiro for £55m and Wolves took Marcos Llorente on loan. It was generally a quiet window around the whole of Europe.

 

News:

Chelsea, with a transfer ban and in horrible form decided to sack Frank Lampard and replace with Massimiliano Allegri:

 

Quinton Fortune left his U23 assistant manager post with us to join Rochdale, so I've brought in ex-player, Ruud van Nistelrooy, who I'm very happy with:

 

In terms of Brexit, that has also been announced, I'm quite happy with it, not sure how it ranks against other peoples experiences?

 

Premier League:

We are flying, 10 points clear, just won the Manchester derby, we could actually win this. I'd say Champions League football at Old Trafford next season is almost certain from here.

 

Europe League:

Topped the group, happy overall as I used this competition to rest first team players:

 

The last game was a team pretty much full of kids, which excelled...

The team contained the likes of Teden Mengi, Axel Tuanzebe, Brandon Williams, James Garner, Largie Ramazani, Hannibal Mejbri and Amad Traoré, captained by Darren Fletcher.

 

Carabao Cup:

Tranmere Rovers (A), Stoke City (A), West Ham United (H) and Leeds United in the semi-finals (who are top of the Championship despite Marcelo Bielsa leaving for Napoli) all turned over to set a final up against Leicester City, who put Manchester City out in a thriller...

 

FA Cup:

Turned over Cardiff City and Peterborough United away, to make the 5th round against either Chelsea or Bristol City.

 

Personal:

Here is my review...

 

Is that with a 4231? Maybe my expectations are too high when I see most people here over achieving in the 1st season. I'm disabling the first transfer window so will have no new players, just the squad as of January. 4231 for me on FMT had been too inconsistent. I have a 4123 but it's not exactly winning every game either. 

[stevemc]

28 minutes ago, Gee_Simpson said:

Is that with a 4231? Maybe my expectations are too high when I see most people here over achieving in the 1st season. I'm disabling the first transfer window so will have no new players, just the squad as of January. 4231 for me on FMT had been too inconsistent. I have a 4123 but it's not exactly winning every game either. 

Yep, same tactics as I posted earlier in the thread.

[Gee_Simpson]

8 minutes ago, stevemc said:

Yep, same tactics as I posted earlier in the thread.

Thanks. I think I'm just useless at tactics unfortunately 😬

Edited March 7, 2020 by Gee_Simpson

[stevecummins78]

2 hours ago, stevemc said:

Yep, same tactics as I posted earlier in the thread.

Which ones were they?

[stevemc]

10 hours ago, stevecummins78 said:

Which ones were they?

Here...

On 28/02/2020 at 07:54, stevemc said:

On 01/03/2020 at 09:50, stevemc said:

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.

 

[MatthewS17]

For the first time in my life, I can't get anything out of my front 3. Two wide IF/IWs in Rashford and James/Greenwood and Martial. Rashford makes these runs but every attempt ends up severely wide or straight at the goalkeeper. Martial can't hit a barn door, and the RW is just nonexistent. This is a first for me, as my left IF(A), which is always Rashford is the absolute key in every one of my teams over the years.

I've not changed anything. I still stick with a control possession 4-3-3(The game's 4-1-4-1 DM) system, which seems to create but never score. My front three churn out 6.2 and 6.3 every game, which is ridiculous. For example, I just checked Rashford's last 5 games, and he has something like on average 6 shots a game, and Martial averages around 4. And yet, there's no goals and assists. Both have 1 goal in 12 games.

Funny enough, Pogba and Bruno with Matic in behind turn out the best scores I've ever seen in my midfielders. 

I'll figure something out eventually, but I'm wondering if anyone has the same conundrum?

 

 

Also, has anyone got a counter attacking system that works? I had one before the update, now it just gets destroyed.

Edited March 8, 2020 by MatthewS17

[Spiegel]

Made it to January 1st 2021 so figured i'd put out a summary of where we are; 

New additions

Two new additions to the squad;

• Regen playmaker Daryl Clarkson joins the U18 squad. Highly recommended by our scouts, he strikes me as a bit of a Michael Carrick type, and is a potential long term option at DM(S) or DLP(S) employed in our base formation.
• Highly rated winger Karamoko Dembélé joins from Celtic. Already seems very good, so I'll likely keep him around the first team, with the option to play in the U23s as I do with all my 2* prospects.

Unless someone really impressive becomes available, or I unexpectedly lose a first-teamer I'm unlikely to make further additions to the squad this window. 

Games since last post

Some big wins over Liverpool and Arsenal since my last post. I really struggled against Wolves' counter-attacking 3-5-2, which provide my first (and only) league loss of the season. 

Only other loss so far is the 2-1 defeat to Feyenoord in the CL Group Stage. The kids turned them over 7-0 at Old Trafford but weren't able to repeat that away from home. We'd comfortably qualified by this point so nothing to really worry about. 

Premier League Table

We continue our early promise and end the calendar year at the top of the table. Despite some unusual transfer activity in the summer, Man City are in second place, though in a one-on-one game, I don't think they're as big a threat as Champions Liverpool, who made some excellent additions in the summer.

Squad Review

I've tried to commit to having 2 players in each position in the first team and U18s, with 11-ish players in the U23s. The idea being that the first team is back-filled by the U23s, and the U23s is back-filled by the U18s. So far it's worked quite well.

GK - I've heavily rotated De Gea and Henderson so far this season. I'm currently in two minds as to whether I move De Gea on at the end of the season, or possibly the year after because of his obscene wages, and Henderson really hasn't missed a beat so far. There's no rush as neither has complained about minutes. Kovar looks half-decent, and academy player Ekpeyong is highly rated by our staff.

RB - One of the stronger positions in the squad. Wan-Bissaka has nailed down the first-choice spot, as Dalot hasn't been fit enough to regularly stake a claim. While he's been playing LB for the most part, Laird has been outstanding at Steven Gerrard's Bournemouth and is likely the man to challenge for a place in the XI long term. With Matheson also showing considerable promise, I'm debating moving Dalot on. Likely on loan first to try and build his value. 

LB - Pretty happy here, Luke Shaw has maintained his excellent form from last season, and Milner's been a servicable backup. While he's been a rotation player at best at Brighton, I will likely bring Williams back to compete in the summer. Nathan Ake has also stepped in here as and when required. Reece Devine's shown considerable potential and will likely be loaned out to get some minutes. I also have homegrown regen Mason Grice, who could be outstanding. 

CB - Again, pretty solid. Tuanzebe has very much established himself as Maguire's regular partner, which has upset Lindelof a bit (despite him also getting regular minutes). Should it get to a point where I have to move Lindelof on, I'd have no issue with using Kenneh as 4th choice. Teden Mengi has been impressive in the U23s and will likely be sent on loan to get regular minutes. Academy player Robbie Jack is an interesting prospect, though lacks ball-playing ability and is in need of tutoring. 

DM - Scott McTominay has so far maintained his excellent form from last year, with Nathan Ake also being well worth his transfer fee in the role. Kenneh is the heir apparent, while James Garner is still on our books. He's been solid, if unspectacular, on loan at Blackburn.

MC - Very happy here. Pogba is still running the show as a DLP(S), while Eriksen has proved to be a steal since he joined this time last season. Mata and Pereira have been good back-up options at DLP and MEZ respectively though Pereira has been getting itchy feet. Should he move on, Bellingham's looking more than ready to step in. Hannibal Mejbri has been tearing the U23 division to shreads, and is ready to get minutes out on loan. 

W/IFs: Rashford and Sancho have both been excellent so far, contributing double figures in both goals and assists. Dan James has typically served as backup to both players, and while his pace terrifies defenders, his finishing is bobbins :'). Martial has been injured for most of the season, and i'm considering moving him on to make way for other talents. Similar with Lingard who is either unplayable or awful with no inbetween. Gomes, Chong and Dembele are all prospects who could possibly step in.

ST: European Golden Boy Mason Greenwood has continued his outstanding goal scoring feats from last year, and is currently first choice in the striker position. When not available, we reshuffle the front line, with Rashford moving up-top with Dan James coming in. It's worked well, but adding another dedicated striker as backup is something I'm considering. Youth Players Kevin Fenton and Dillon Hoogewerf are both promising, but need development time in the U23s before I consider them as potential first team options.

Edited March 8, 2020 by Spiegel

[Gee_Simpson]

@Spiegel I see you have kept new signings to a minimum and are still doing really well. Most people here have made widespread changes, whereas you still have lots of the starting team left. I'm in two minds whether to go down this route when I start tomorrow or go transfer crazy like the majority 

[Spiegel]

Yeah kept it fairly minimal; Bellingham, Fletcher and Eriksen in Season 1. Aké, Kenneh, Matheson, Sancho, Milner, Clarkson and Dembele in Season 2.

Personally, I always keep teams largely the same so I can transition players through the youth setup. Have just shy of a £300m transfer budget so could easily go mad with signings

Edited March 8, 2020 by Spiegel

[sean_oc16]

On 07/03/2020 at 08:43, stevemc said:

I’ve managed to pick up a new striker in January, Greenwood has been brilliant but he’s young and has needed two holidays since August to keep fresh, so it’s clear I can’t fully rely on him yet. So I signed Lautaro Martinez from Inter, cost me his £96m release clause but that’s my two strikers for the next decade sorted...

Lautaro looks amazing. Liverpool got him first season in my save, he's got a minimum of 15 league goals in each of the 4 seasons so far.

[stevemc]

10 hours ago, sean_oc16 said:

Lautaro looks amazing. Liverpool got him first season in my save, he's got a minimum of 15 league goals in each of the 4 seasons so far.

He's been smashing it since January!

[Zeonflux]

Does anyone have an actual working 4231 where the striker actually scores that I can use?

[Spiegel]

[stevemc]

Season 2019/20: February-May

 

News:

Well start off with Jose Mourinho being sacked by Tottenham, didn't last long, Brentford knocked him out of the FA Cup, then he was dismissed after we won 0-2 against them in their own back yard. Alan Pardew has also made a shock return to Crystal Palace...

Pep has also been sacked by Manchester City...

 

Premier League:

In truth, we dominated the league, we had a wobble in April but had plenty of points already in the bank as a cushion. We broke the 100 point barrier, scored the most, conceded the least. We are joined in the Champions League next season by Liverpool, Manchester City and Wolves, who beat us and had a great season. I think next season will be much tighter.

Predicted 3rd, finished 1st.

 

Goalscoring charts:

 

Paul Pogba had a fine season, picking up the FWA Footballer of the Year award and PFA Player of the Year. Florentino Luis picked up PFA Young Player of the Year, whilst I won manager of the year.

Joining us in the Premier League next season are Jonathan Woodgate's Middlesbrough, Sabri Lamouchi's Nottingham Forest and

Here we have example of United-DNA

 

Europe League:

As posted earlier, we topped the group, then brushed aside Frankfurt, PSV, Arsenal and Roma to set up a final with Lazio.

Lazio, anchored by my number one summer target, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, beat us on penalties. We dominated the game but couldn't finish our chances.

 

Carabao Cup:

The first trophy of the season went to Leicester City, they were on fire until after the final then their form dropped off a cliff. We should have won this game though, I felt I got my team talk wrong and I turned out to be right, Jamie Vardy had a blinder and we didn't finish our chances. In the shoot out, Jesse Lingard missed the decisive spot kick. Thankfully this competition was a bonus and not ranked as important by the board.

 

 

 

FA Cup:

The board wanted the minimum of a semi-final, and that's exactly what they got. We failed to make the final after losing the Manchester derby 2-1 in extra time. Raheem Sterling popped up with the winner. This game came bang in the middle of our worst patch of form of the season, in April.

In an amazing turn, Brentford knocked out Tottenham, then beat Manchester City in the final on penalties - Ollie Watkins driving them forward.

 

Overall:

Here is the full season round-up:

 

Summer:

An early deal to allow Sergio Romero to leave has been done at £9m. Dean Henderson will come back from loan to press David de Gea for the number one spot.

 

My plans for the summer including removing much of the deadwood, improving the first team whilst reducing the wages, we are currently the 2nd highest payers at £3.5m per week, which is only 36% of our annual turnover, but I'd still like to improve that area.

I also think my tactic needs tweaking, I lost games I shouldn't have this season even though I dominated and had plenty of chance, so I'm of lowering the tempo, swapping mentalities more and try to create better quality opportunities, over quantity.

Edited March 13, 2020 by stevemc

[Gee_Simpson]

Nice results there 

Just one thing, Utd are predicted 5th in the first season 

[Gee_Simpson]

On 03/03/2020 at 03:55, Chapman7 said:

Post your 4-2-3-1 up maybe can see how can tweaked 

I ended up switching to a 4123 (labeled as the 4141dm wide in game) and have been getting better results in my test save. I will be starting this weekend with the 1st window disabled, so I'm not expecting amazing results in this first season. I'm not great at creating tactics, so not expecting to run away with the league, I'll be happy just to finish in the top 4. 

[sean_oc16]

August 2023

Headed into season 5. Aims are the same again as you would expect, win league, cl final, fa cup final.

Solid enough pre-season including the community shield win over Liverpool, but still not dead set our main formation, trying to find something that leads to being more clinical with our finishing.

Transfers

Notable Outs: Daniele Rugani to Real Madrid for £66m. Said previously I was thinking of letting him move on if interested clubs came in and when Madrid did he wanted to go so simple deal to do. Tahith Chong to Inter for £26m. Performances never quite lived up to the ratings from scouts and coaches, didn't have room to keep him around. Anthony Martial to Juventus for £64m. Last season was his worst so far despite getting his most game time, and we have a lot of attacking players. Elseid Hysaj to Inter for £48.5m. Had 3 great seasons for a guy that cost less than £7m but turns 30 this season so it's time to move on and give Laird more senior playing time. Emre Can to Lazio for £63m. Was surprised at Lazio coming in but they had big money after selling SMS. Another case of just getting younger at the position, but will miss his versatility in the middle. Michael Byrne to WBA for £21m. He's a regen I took a shot on a few years ago but never played for us, always out on loan including at WBA for the last 2 seasons and I have other young CBs so happy to cash in. Dylan Levitt to Swansea for £11.5m Similar to Chong he's at the point where there isn't a place for him anywhere so he has to go.

Notable Ins: Dayot Upamecano from Leipzig for £42m. He's the signing I alluded to in my last update and why I was willing to move Rugani on. Saw him unhappy and transfer listed during the season so got the deal done instead of waiting and risking him deciding to stay. Naci Unuvar from Ajax for £91m This one wasn't planned but other clubs were bidding and I couldn't let it go without trying. Sancho and Under have had injury problems in past seasons, combined with other injuries there are times we've been short on the left side or for wide players

That leaves our squad looking like this

Laird is going to be given the opportunity to show he can at least be a good squad player or he'll go the way of Levitt and Chong next summer. Camavinga and Greenwood I want to get involved in the senior team more this season. Vlahovic returns from a good loan spell at Lazio. Hopefully between the 4 strikers at least one will step up as the main man and we'll get enough contributions from everywhere else again.

[sean_oc16]

14 hours ago, Spiegel said:

Hope you have better luck getting goals out of him than me if you get him. Maybe then you can give me some tips 

[Spiegel]

2 hours ago, sean_oc16 said:

Hope you have better luck getting goals out of him than me if you get him. Maybe then you can give me some tips 

I've dropped him into the DLF(A) role where I've typically used Greenwood and he's been banging goals in so far.

I've had injuries to my typical front three of Rashford, Sancho and Greenwood so I've had to use him most of the time and do find he has a different effect on my play; with Greenwood, we got a ton of goals in transition - a defender will spot his run and drill a through ball to him for the one-on-one. With Kane however, we have to actually build up play to get him in position. Once he's in the box through it's just a case of getting the ball to him - very Van Nistelrooy-esque. 

[sedge11]

Haven't posted in a while and have seen the thread get busier with people's saves, so thought would post again and share how mine is going. I'm 4 seasons in so apologise for a potential long post.

So season 1

I disabled the 1st transfer window, and we struggled abit, it wasn't until I brought Bruno Fernandes in January that we really picked up. However only good enough for 3rd in the league. Unfortunately we left the season empty handed losing the Europa final to Lazio. Liverpool were unbelievable, and city won the champs league.

Season 2

I sold Pogba to PSG for 137 mil which was the biggest piece of transfer news. A better season where we deserved a lot more, but Liverpool were again unbelievable and again getting 90 + point, and they also beat us in the fa cup final.

We got knocked out of our champs league group getting drawn Inter, Barca and Leverkusen, but we managed to redeem ourselves from season 1 by then going on and winning the Europa league.

Season 3

Season 3 we really turned it on. We finally beat Liverpool to the league title, making sure they didn't surpass our 20 league titles, it was a hard fought and tense title battle, we had to be near perfect throughout the whole season. Rashford fired us to victory picking up the top goal scorer award with 29 league goals.

 We also won the fa cup beating Sheff Utd 5-2 in the final, and the carabao cup beating man city 2-1, Mctominay was the star of the show scoring both gaols, so that completed the domestic treble. Rashford had an incredible season that season, and in generally has been quality for the whole save.

Season 4 

Season 4 was abit more of a slog, and I didn't play it for a couple weeks but have got back into it, and it turned out to be another great season. We defended our league title and won with a bigger margin, finally shaking Liverpool off, and our defence was excellent all season only conceding 15 goals.

We also picked up another fa cup with an easy 5-0 win over Norwich. We did however stutter a little bit towards the end when Rashford picked up an injury keeping him out of the last month of the season, this meant we lost out in the semi final of the champs league to Real Madrid. Both Under and Sancho had pretty poor seasons, so we really missed Rashford at that time.

Bruno Fernandes however was the main man during season 4 and was assist machine.

Together Fernandes and Rashford have really pushed this team on in the last 2 seasons.

My best 11 and formation so far looks like this:

As said Rashford and Fernandes have both been incredible, but Mctominay and Milenkovic are the unsung heroes of this team. Greenwood has also been quality and getting better and better each season.

So onwards to season 5, and its a big one for me, I didn't buy anyone in season 4 as we had just won the domestic treble and I was happy with the team, but there have been a few underperforming players and the champs league still alludes us. So as the team has been the same for the last 2 seasons, I'm going to freshen it up abit. 

The right wing is an area of frustration with Sancho and Under both having poor seasons and both will be moved on. I'm looking at either Chiesa who has been excellent in a poor spurs team, or moving th right wing position in slightly as a right sided no10. We are pretty stacked in midifield with Bellingham and Mejbri having breakthrough seasons in season 4, so I can push Bruno upto the 10 position and play one of them 2 in the mezzala role.

2 other positions I will look at are the full back area's, Telles has been good but will look to sell so I need someone as competition for Williams, who has been brilliant in this save and developed well. Right back I don't particularly have a back up for AWB, mainly using Tuanzebe there or Laird, who hasn't really developed, so I need another option.

We have a couple of really good regens who I also want to push and get them in the team.

One from the youth, who came through in season 2 I think it was.

And then a cm I brought in season 4 from Israel for around 6 mil.

There are one or 2 others but they aren't as good as these 2.

[stevemc]

Daft question, but I've seen loads of youth players that looks quality but won't get a Work Permit - do you guys still sign them, and if so, what do you do with them?

[PT-KK]

 

Best regen I've ever gotten. First season.

Honestly, don't know what to do with him (IF or AF).

[stevemc]

Season 2020/21: Pre-Season

 

Transfer News:

I've had a brilliant window to be honest, all my main transfer activity is done, I have about £15m left which I'm going to use to stock up my under 18's with some future talent.

I had a healthy budget of around £120m plus I sold off much of the deadwood, out went Diogo Dalot, Chris Smalling, Sergio Romero, Luke Shaw, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Jess Lingard, Daniel James, Eric Bailly plus a few others bringing in a heft addition to the transfer pot. Fred and Lindelof were not originally planned to be sold, but I accepted what I deemed healthy bids for two squad players.

In came Sergej Milinkovic-Savic for £75m and Jadon Sancho for £92m as my main targets. Then highly-rated wonderkid Yari Verschaeren came in to replace Fred and Kristoffer Ajer to replace Victor Lindelof. In my last piece of main business I brought in David Alaba for £74m, a world-class, experienced left-back with Brandon Williams now as his deputy.

Net spend of £46m.

Only issue I have is Alexi Sanchez, what do people do with him?

 

Elsewhere in England, Dybala joined Liverpool for £88m, Rodrigo Bentancur joined Chelsea for £75m, N'Golo Kanté left for Real Madrid for £68m and Xherdan Shaqiri moved down to Arsenal for £38m. Carlo Ancelotti took over at Manchester City allowing Manuel Pellegrini to join Everton and Tottenham replaced Jose Mourinho with Ernesto Valverde with Mauricio Pochettino still unemployed a year later...

 

Pre-season:

I've tweaked my tactic, so I've embedded it in pre-season whilst aiming to get morale up high:

 

Overall, I'm 100% equipped now for the new season.

Edited March 15, 2020 by stevemc

[sean_oc16]

Had a takeover of the club.

Javi Teres really going all out there to make us a "great force"  Probably down to us already having a £600m transfer budget though tbf.

[Gee_Simpson]

2 hours ago, sean_oc16 said:

Had a takeover of the club.

Javi Teres really going all out there to make us a "great force"  Probably down to us already having a £600m transfer budget though tbf.

"Some £0" 

[sedge11]

8 hours ago, stevemc said:

Only issue I have is Alexi Sanchez, what do people do with him?

Offered him a new contract in the 1st season, cut his wages in half, then made it easy to sell him in the summer.

[blue heron]

1 hour ago, sedge11 said:

Offered him a new contract in the 1st season, cut his wages in half, then made it easy to sell him in the summer.

With the newest update (20.4) it seems - at least for me - that this doesn't work any more. When trying to start negotiations with him, he want around 600k euro p/wk

[stevemc]

31 minutes ago, blue heron said:

With the newest update (20.4) it seems - at least for me - that this doesn't work any more. When trying to start negotiations with him, he want around 600k euro p/wk

Yep, he's impossible to shift, can't loan, sell for £0 or terminate his contract. He literally wont budge!

[blue heron]

Started out on 20.4 last week and got around to finish my 1st season. Did try and start with a 4-4-2 but had a hard time getting it to work consistently. After January window shifted back to my favorite 4-3-3 style and got the team playing far better. You can say that we're overrated in FM20 still (or that others are underrated maybe). I 'only' make one purchase, in January, which was Lautaro Martinez from Inter to have a better finisher and focus point in attack. Matic didn't perform so he was shipped out and Andreas also wasn't up to much so he moved on loan.

Transfers

Tactics

 

We had a fight with Chelsea for the title for the longest time, and managed to be far more consistent than they were, delivering us the title with a 6 point gap. We didn't score that many, but we also conceded only a few. The main man, just as IRL, is Bruno Fernandes running the show from midfield and from set pieces. Missing Pogba for a longer period of time due to injury wasn't a problem at all due to him!

Competitions

The Europa League was easy, with us defeating Frankfurt in the finals. The other cup competitions I'd rather forget - these were lost while I was still struggling trying to get a 442 to work. Now for the next season, let's see how much deadwood I can actually shift, and how I can get a new forward/winger and some extra defensive solidity added to the team!

 

[MatthewS17]

Has anyone managed to figure out how to play Pogba alongside Bruno in a 4-3-3? I've tried different roles but one or the other always seems to be ineffective. I wanted Pogba to be the playmaker and Bruno to play ahead in a more goalscoring midfield role, but without him being played as the No. 10.

 

At the same time, struggling to get goals out the Striker in anything but the Advanced Forward role, which leaves a lot of gaps behind.

[Spiegel]

6 hours ago, MatthewS17 said:

Has anyone managed to figure out how to play Pogba alongside Bruno in a 4-3-3? I've tried different roles but one or the other always seems to be ineffective. I wanted Pogba to be the playmaker and Bruno to play ahead in a more goalscoring midfield role, but without him being played as the No. 10.

4-3-3 user here, though I'm running with Eriksen instead of Bruno as I'm on the original db. I've had the most luck using McTominay as DM(S), Pogba as a DLP(S), Eriksen as a MEZ(S)

Get decent returns from all three relative to their positions.

[MatthewS17]

1 hour ago, Spiegel said:

4-3-3 user here, though I'm running with Eriksen instead of Bruno as I'm on the original db. I've had the most luck using McTominay as DM(S), Pogba as a DLP(S), Eriksen as a MEZ(S)

Get decent returns from all three relative to their positions.

Thanks. I just tried out something similar, but with a lot more risk. 

I played McT as the DM(S), Pogba as the AP(S) and Bruno as the MEZ(A). As you can see, it's very top heavy for now, but it's a start. Both Bruno and Pogba scored and assisted each other. As you can expect, conceded a lot of chances. 

I'll try out your variation and see how it goes. Once again, thanks. :)) 

 

[stevemc]

Opening game of season two, not a bad start  

[sean_oc16]

January 2024

Unbeaten so far through to the new year, ending the year with 3 very good results. We've added some big scoring returns that we didn't have last season, but it is just completely random when they happen, we've played better in a lot of the matches where we only get a draw or 1-0 win than for example when we put 5 past Leicester or 3 past Liverpool. Ahead of us we play Chelsea 4 times in Jan between league and league cup fixtures, take on Dortmund in the CL and West Brom in the FA cup.

Last time I said I was hoping for at least one of the strikers to step up and Rashford has been the man to do so with 23 goals in 24 appearances across all comps and is the leagues top scorer on 16. The other 3 have 14 between them in all comps with 6 of those coming recently in the boxing day win. The defence continues to be very good with 13 clean sheets in the league so far.

With the transfer window opening I'm not looking to do much again, have a couple of young players joining and will again be looking to see if any more prospects come onto our radar. Laird, who has only recently stopped being unhappy I rejected a bid from Chelsea for him in the summer, is attracting interest again. With 18 months left on his deal I need to make a decision soon if I want to given him a new deal or cash in. Offered some new contracts to other players that I do want to keep around but Jadon Sancho is wanting £400k p/w (plus bonuses) a massive increase on his current £195k p/w. No current interest in him but might have to shop him around in the summer because I don't want to be paying that much for him and he certainly isn't playing like he's worth that much right now.

[stevemc]

Curious what people are going with David de Gea and Paul Pogba, their high contracts are stressing me out?

[MatthewS17]

16 minutes ago, stevemc said:

Curious what people are going with David de Gea and Paul Pogba, their high contracts are stressing me out?

Trying to keep them. World Class players are necessary to reach the top, and it really doesn't get much better than them. 

But that's just me.