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Football Manager 2012
- Thread starter Cookie
- Start date
Haha love itttt ^
I didn't actually play at the weekend. Was playing Friday and I got turned over 2-1 by Everton despite taking the lead and dominating the play. So in my mind I was completely mugged off and I ended up saving and quitting for the day lulz.
Was busy Saturday then just stupidly hungover on Sunday so only got round to firing it up again last evening. Sooooo good. Tweaked my tactics slightly and appear to be a bit more stable at the back but still only just squeaked a win out at Stoke beating them 5-4 when Hernandez got his 4th of the game in the 90th minute (yes, yes I did go mental).
On a nice little run of results that includes a comprehensive 3-1 win away to Spurs.
Update on some of the young prospects I've signed just in case you guys haven't heard / seen them:
- Yaya Sanogo (Auxerre). Only started one game, but that was for my second string team in Carling Cup against a strong Chelsea team and he scored all 3 goals for a 3-2 win for us. Costs around £2m
- March Verratti (Pescara). Really impressed with this lad. Played in central midfield and he's comfortable with being defensive or attacking. Dubbed the new Pirlo by one of my scouts and he's been playing a lot of games for the first team despite only being 18. Costs around £3m.
Ashley Young has really been impressing lately. Nani still frustrates and I'm almost inclined to start Valencia over him as he always gets down the wing and puts a good ball in instead of trying to score from 30-40 yards every bloody time lol. Hernandez the star player though scoring over a goal a game! :clap:
I didn't actually play at the weekend. Was playing Friday and I got turned over 2-1 by Everton despite taking the lead and dominating the play. So in my mind I was completely mugged off and I ended up saving and quitting for the day lulz.
Was busy Saturday then just stupidly hungover on Sunday so only got round to firing it up again last evening. Sooooo good. Tweaked my tactics slightly and appear to be a bit more stable at the back but still only just squeaked a win out at Stoke beating them 5-4 when Hernandez got his 4th of the game in the 90th minute (yes, yes I did go mental).
On a nice little run of results that includes a comprehensive 3-1 win away to Spurs.
Update on some of the young prospects I've signed just in case you guys haven't heard / seen them:
- Yaya Sanogo (Auxerre). Only started one game, but that was for my second string team in Carling Cup against a strong Chelsea team and he scored all 3 goals for a 3-2 win for us. Costs around £2m
- March Verratti (Pescara). Really impressed with this lad. Played in central midfield and he's comfortable with being defensive or attacking. Dubbed the new Pirlo by one of my scouts and he's been playing a lot of games for the first team despite only being 18. Costs around £3m.
Ashley Young has really been impressing lately. Nani still frustrates and I'm almost inclined to start Valencia over him as he always gets down the wing and puts a good ball in instead of trying to score from 30-40 yards every bloody time lol. Hernandez the star player though scoring over a goal a game! :clap:
I bought Sanago for Peterborough united
Nice buy for them! Is he banging them in?
At work so no screenshots this morning I'm afraid. This is still my Man Utd game I've mentioned within this thread btw.
Had a very nice period of 8 or 9 games won on the bounce. Then had Chelsea away and a nightmare start meant I could only muster up a 3-1 defeat. Then I had Liverpool at home but squeaked a 2-1 win despite them taking the lead with a stupidly flukey goal from Suarez. Newcastle away and took the lead twice but they still somehow managed to get out 2-2. Hernandez was through in the 90th min but that Argentinian c**t Coloccini decided to take him out. He got a red card which they appealed after the game despite Hernandez being through on goal the t***s. And that's where I left it. Just hit January. 2nd in the league but 9 points behind City who have lost 1 and drawn 1 and won the other 17 or whatever games. Stupid. And I have City away next. So if I lose that will be 12 points and pretty much the league gone I think.
Champions League progression has been smoooth and I've drawn Lyon in the first knockout phase which I guess could have been worse. Central midfield needs overhauling really. The fact Verratti plays regularly speaks a lot about the quality given he's only 18 and by far the finished article. Would love to sign Hamsik tbh! Think I need to take a note out of Fergie's book and get a more defensive tactic set up for away days against the top teams. Tend to boss it at home but often struggle away.
Goal of the season really is to try and finish the top 2. If City carry on this stupid run of games there's nothing I can do. They have the squad and the game has obviously decided to make them epic. I'll take 2nd and a decent run in the Champs League. Just want some decent income from doing well in the competitions and then I'll be selling a fair few players in the summer and concentrating on getting the central midfield world class finally.
Had a very nice period of 8 or 9 games won on the bounce. Then had Chelsea away and a nightmare start meant I could only muster up a 3-1 defeat. Then I had Liverpool at home but squeaked a 2-1 win despite them taking the lead with a stupidly flukey goal from Suarez. Newcastle away and took the lead twice but they still somehow managed to get out 2-2. Hernandez was through in the 90th min but that Argentinian c**t Coloccini decided to take him out. He got a red card which they appealed after the game despite Hernandez being through on goal the t***s. And that's where I left it. Just hit January. 2nd in the league but 9 points behind City who have lost 1 and drawn 1 and won the other 17 or whatever games. Stupid. And I have City away next. So if I lose that will be 12 points and pretty much the league gone I think.
Champions League progression has been smoooth and I've drawn Lyon in the first knockout phase which I guess could have been worse. Central midfield needs overhauling really. The fact Verratti plays regularly speaks a lot about the quality given he's only 18 and by far the finished article. Would love to sign Hamsik tbh! Think I need to take a note out of Fergie's book and get a more defensive tactic set up for away days against the top teams. Tend to boss it at home but often struggle away.
Goal of the season really is to try and finish the top 2. If City carry on this stupid run of games there's nothing I can do. They have the squad and the game has obviously decided to make them epic. I'll take 2nd and a decent run in the Champs League. Just want some decent income from doing well in the competitions and then I'll be selling a fair few players in the summer and concentrating on getting the central midfield world class finally.
I'm at work also so no screenies...
I'm managing Liverpool and I've just finished season 2.
first season I came 2nd, I was about 12 points behind Utd and then 10 points ahead of City... I thought it was strange to see such a disparity at the top but hey ho, Europe here we come.
I had no budget at the start but for some reason the board gave me 14 mil in Jan so I got my hands on Nicolas Gaitan who seems to be a class act up the left wing.
A dramatic 0-0'er in the FA cup final meant we beat bolton 6-5 on penos to take the only trophy of the season.
2nd season I picked up Tevez for 22mil from City as he fell out with Mancini, I had to sign him on 175k p/w and my intention was to get him back in the limelight and hopefully someone would buy him but a 3 month injury didn't help and I am stuck with him going into season 3.
I also bought a oddly named DM from Dynamo Kyiv for about 14 mil to backup Lucas.
In Jan, I got Adam Johnson on a loan with a future fee of about 3mil as he also fell out with Mancini, quite a handy deal as he made team of the year in 6 months
Can not for the life of me shift Aquilani or Joe Cole who are on obscene wages, looking forward to the end of the season when their contracts run out!
I managed to do a treble with some pretty easy cup runs, I got Utd in the FA cup semi final but other than that I was very very lucky. I also won the Prem with 2 games to spare (those 2 games being Chelsea & Utd away LOL)
I got to the Champions League Quarters by winning every group game and beating some s**t french team in the first knockout. Lost 2-0 to Bayern then beat them 1-0 at home, I think City went on to win it.
3rd season the only transfer is Marek Hamsik to cover for an ageing Gerrard, no one will take Tevez, Carroll, Cole or Aquilani still and I've lost to City on penos in the community shield... next game Newcastle to open the Prem season
To be fair Carroll has been getting 15 games a season as a rotation striker so I shouldnt really complain.
Got a few good looking Regens now so going to do a Project Wenger and see how they develop.
I'm managing Liverpool and I've just finished season 2.
first season I came 2nd, I was about 12 points behind Utd and then 10 points ahead of City... I thought it was strange to see such a disparity at the top but hey ho, Europe here we come.
I had no budget at the start but for some reason the board gave me 14 mil in Jan so I got my hands on Nicolas Gaitan who seems to be a class act up the left wing.
A dramatic 0-0'er in the FA cup final meant we beat bolton 6-5 on penos to take the only trophy of the season.
2nd season I picked up Tevez for 22mil from City as he fell out with Mancini, I had to sign him on 175k p/w and my intention was to get him back in the limelight and hopefully someone would buy him but a 3 month injury didn't help and I am stuck with him going into season 3.
I also bought a oddly named DM from Dynamo Kyiv for about 14 mil to backup Lucas.
In Jan, I got Adam Johnson on a loan with a future fee of about 3mil as he also fell out with Mancini, quite a handy deal as he made team of the year in 6 months
Can not for the life of me shift Aquilani or Joe Cole who are on obscene wages, looking forward to the end of the season when their contracts run out!
I managed to do a treble with some pretty easy cup runs, I got Utd in the FA cup semi final but other than that I was very very lucky. I also won the Prem with 2 games to spare (those 2 games being Chelsea & Utd away LOL)
I got to the Champions League Quarters by winning every group game and beating some s**t french team in the first knockout. Lost 2-0 to Bayern then beat them 1-0 at home, I think City went on to win it.
3rd season the only transfer is Marek Hamsik to cover for an ageing Gerrard, no one will take Tevez, Carroll, Cole or Aquilani still and I've lost to City on penos in the community shield... next game Newcastle to open the Prem season
To be fair Carroll has been getting 15 games a season as a rotation striker so I shouldnt really complain.
Got a few good looking Regens now so going to do a Project Wenger and see how they develop.
I'm still in my first season, with Oldham. I don't know how exactly; but never mind.
My team currently looks something like this;
First thing I did was to get Chris Herd on loan from Villa, Alex Nimely from Man City, Luke Freeman From Arsenal, took a massive gamble and got Francis Jeffers on a free with stupid wages, then got a couple more frees; Josh Parker, Michael Woods & Loris Karius
Herd is brilliant, can play anywhere in the middle (ideally centrally) and also at the back when needed too, pings the ball about for fun too. Alex Nimely is great, but only when he can be arsed. I had him on the iPhone version last year, and he got me around 30+ goals, city then released him and I got him for free. However, he's not as good this time. Finishing is poor, attitude is stupid. Freeman has been bobbins, not impressed with him at all. So thankfully he went back to L'Arse in January. Yet on his return, he made his debut for Arsenal in the Carling Cup a couple of days later, and yes, scored an absolute screamer for the winner. Typical.
Jeffers is a penis. He thinks he's better than he is. He blatantly isn't very good. I knew this, but thought I'd give him a shot. I'm paying him £2.5k a week to provide the odd assist and goal. AMAZOG. Luckily I only gave him a one year contract. However..
Josh Parker is a decent right-sided attacking midfielder, one of my scouts recommended him to me and he's now one virtually my first choice there. Very solid.
Michael Woods - no idea about him; his agent offered him to me for a paltry wage, and in the one game he's played so far he set up three goals. Which is nice.
Loris Karius - This guy was contracted to Man City (for about 3 years), he went on loan to Mainz till January (He's a keeper..), didn't make an appearance, then his agent offered him to me, whilst still being a City player for the foreseeable future, I offered him a measly contract and he accepted. Weird.
So, yeah - I brought that lot in, yet I couldn't get rid of anyone. I'm used to this. So, except a few youngsters who went on loan to lower league clubs, I'm left with everyone who I started with. Hence my finances are terrible.
Despite that, I'm doing pretty well. I've been in or around the top 3 for the majority of the time, and have gone on the odd 6-10 match unbeaten run. I've been getting some scrappy draws lately though, and Sc**thorpe are starting to stare down my neck...
My team currently looks something like this;
First thing I did was to get Chris Herd on loan from Villa, Alex Nimely from Man City, Luke Freeman From Arsenal, took a massive gamble and got Francis Jeffers on a free with stupid wages, then got a couple more frees; Josh Parker, Michael Woods & Loris Karius
Herd is brilliant, can play anywhere in the middle (ideally centrally) and also at the back when needed too, pings the ball about for fun too. Alex Nimely is great, but only when he can be arsed. I had him on the iPhone version last year, and he got me around 30+ goals, city then released him and I got him for free. However, he's not as good this time. Finishing is poor, attitude is stupid. Freeman has been bobbins, not impressed with him at all. So thankfully he went back to L'Arse in January. Yet on his return, he made his debut for Arsenal in the Carling Cup a couple of days later, and yes, scored an absolute screamer for the winner. Typical.
Jeffers is a penis. He thinks he's better than he is. He blatantly isn't very good. I knew this, but thought I'd give him a shot. I'm paying him £2.5k a week to provide the odd assist and goal. AMAZOG. Luckily I only gave him a one year contract. However..
Josh Parker is a decent right-sided attacking midfielder, one of my scouts recommended him to me and he's now one virtually my first choice there. Very solid.
Michael Woods - no idea about him; his agent offered him to me for a paltry wage, and in the one game he's played so far he set up three goals. Which is nice.
Loris Karius - This guy was contracted to Man City (for about 3 years), he went on loan to Mainz till January (He's a keeper..), didn't make an appearance, then his agent offered him to me, whilst still being a City player for the foreseeable future, I offered him a measly contract and he accepted. Weird.
So, yeah - I brought that lot in, yet I couldn't get rid of anyone. I'm used to this. So, except a few youngsters who went on loan to lower league clubs, I'm left with everyone who I started with. Hence my finances are terrible.
Despite that, I'm doing pretty well. I've been in or around the top 3 for the majority of the time, and have gone on the odd 6-10 match unbeaten run. I've been getting some scrappy draws lately though, and Sc**thorpe are starting to stare down my neck...
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Was gonna do some screenshots last night but I had another moment of rage that forced me to depart from the game lol! :evil:
Picking up from where I left off...
I played City away and got a 1-1 draw. I took the lead and typically the pulled it back a minute later. They then went down to 10 men just before half time but despite us having the numerical advantage they still had more posession (this AI is seriously bumming them right now). That did however lead to a nice run in January that saw me winning all of my league games and also beating Lyon 3-1 at their place in the first leg of the Champs League 1st knockout phase. However both City and Chelsea have been just as impressive as me and I'm still in 3rd spot. The only benefit is I have a little bit of a gap over 4th spot.
January I signed Sime Vrsaljko from Dinamo Zagreb for just over £2m. Looks a very decent prospect at 19 and adds some nice cover for both right back and a defensive midfield role if required. I also have a deal in place for the end of the season to snap up Dinamo's midfielder Kovacic (I think that's right) who looks very good and could be the new Modric. That's a deal worth approx £9m.
With City looking utterly dominant in the league and some very tough competition to play in the Champs League in the latter stages the FA Cup was looking like a good chance for some silverware especially as Chelsea and City had both crashed out. I was pitted against Burnley in the 5th round and fielded a fairly strong team with 3 or 4 changes to some of the younger players. Conceded a sloppy goal and then after 6 minutes Vrsaljko get's a red card! I still manage to have a good share of the game and pull it back to 1-1 after 75 mins. I'm dominating at this stage spurning several chances then typically they lump a ball up and score in the 90th min. Blasted my team big time.
Then the last game of the evening for me was away to Fulham. Took the lead twice before poor defending led to them getting it back to 2-2. They then hit a stoppage time winner despite me being totally dominant. Was getting quite late by then anyway so it was time to come off!
Goal for the season is still the same. Fight for the league but it may be a battle between us and Chelsea for 2nd spot the way City are going. I should ease past Lyon now in the Champs League and will be hoping to get one of the weaker teams in the next round. Then get stuck in to the squad in the break and really sort the s**t out. I'll be doing my best to shift Anderson. Evra may go if I can get some decent money in (he is getting on a bit now) and if Real Madrid were to knock for Nani again I'd definitely be trying to squeeze a big money deal for him as he continually infuriates me with his choice to shoot on target. Valencia tends to start ahead of him now and always looks for a good ball and often delivers.
Picking up from where I left off...
I played City away and got a 1-1 draw. I took the lead and typically the pulled it back a minute later. They then went down to 10 men just before half time but despite us having the numerical advantage they still had more posession (this AI is seriously bumming them right now). That did however lead to a nice run in January that saw me winning all of my league games and also beating Lyon 3-1 at their place in the first leg of the Champs League 1st knockout phase. However both City and Chelsea have been just as impressive as me and I'm still in 3rd spot. The only benefit is I have a little bit of a gap over 4th spot.
January I signed Sime Vrsaljko from Dinamo Zagreb for just over £2m. Looks a very decent prospect at 19 and adds some nice cover for both right back and a defensive midfield role if required. I also have a deal in place for the end of the season to snap up Dinamo's midfielder Kovacic (I think that's right) who looks very good and could be the new Modric. That's a deal worth approx £9m.
With City looking utterly dominant in the league and some very tough competition to play in the Champs League in the latter stages the FA Cup was looking like a good chance for some silverware especially as Chelsea and City had both crashed out. I was pitted against Burnley in the 5th round and fielded a fairly strong team with 3 or 4 changes to some of the younger players. Conceded a sloppy goal and then after 6 minutes Vrsaljko get's a red card! I still manage to have a good share of the game and pull it back to 1-1 after 75 mins. I'm dominating at this stage spurning several chances then typically they lump a ball up and score in the 90th min. Blasted my team big time.
Then the last game of the evening for me was away to Fulham. Took the lead twice before poor defending led to them getting it back to 2-2. They then hit a stoppage time winner despite me being totally dominant. Was getting quite late by then anyway so it was time to come off!
Goal for the season is still the same. Fight for the league but it may be a battle between us and Chelsea for 2nd spot the way City are going. I should ease past Lyon now in the Champs League and will be hoping to get one of the weaker teams in the next round. Then get stuck in to the squad in the break and really sort the s**t out. I'll be doing my best to shift Anderson. Evra may go if I can get some decent money in (he is getting on a bit now) and if Real Madrid were to knock for Nani again I'd definitely be trying to squeeze a big money deal for him as he continually infuriates me with his choice to shoot on target. Valencia tends to start ahead of him now and always looks for a good ball and often delivers.
30 games in to the Prem now and still 9 points behind City. Given a couple of games I feel we've been really hard done by we could have been very close but not to be unless City f**k up big time now. We're currently a point ahead of Chelsea and have a comfortable gap ahead of 4th spot (currently Everton) so top 3 should be guaranteed but hoping for 2nd.
Progressed smoothly past Lyon in the Champs League and just had the easiest draw of the quarter finals getting Trabzonspor! (Who somehow knocked out Chelsea lulz). So should get through that but face either Barca or Bayern in the semi!
Hernandez and Valencia currently injured which is a bugger but still going well at the moment.
Progressed smoothly past Lyon in the Champs League and just had the easiest draw of the quarter finals getting Trabzonspor! (Who somehow knocked out Chelsea lulz). So should get through that but face either Barca or Bayern in the semi!
Hernandez and Valencia currently injured which is a bugger but still going well at the moment.
Well I managed to get through to the end of the season last night!
Swept aside Tranzonspor in the CL quarter finals hammering them 4-0 at their place and the 1st leg effevtively ending the tie. I then came up against Barca away from home and despite being battered De Gea had a wonder game and I somehow escaped with a 0-0 draw. By this stage City had all but wrapped up the league so I made sure players were rested and fresh for the home league. Over the 90 minutes we were the better team but a brilliant run and assist by Messi put them ahead after 20 minutes and we were only able to pull 1 back and went out on away goals.
Despite a poor run of 3 draws from my last 3 games (Chelsea home, Liverpool away, Newcastle home) we managed to finish a couple points clear of Chelsea in 2nd spot. I think City topped 100 points in the league which is crazy. If we hadn't been a bit unlucky in going out of the FA Cup we could of got some silverware but for the first season to finish 2nd in the league and reach the CL semi's - and only go out to Barca on away goals - is fairly satisfactory. (I recall on my first game with Man Utd on FM11 it took me a couple seasons to win anything lol).
So when I get home later I'll be skipping through the end of season break then getting stuck in to reshaping the team. It will likely be a fairly big overhaul and some players might be shocked I want to get rid of them... :evil:
Swept aside Tranzonspor in the CL quarter finals hammering them 4-0 at their place and the 1st leg effevtively ending the tie. I then came up against Barca away from home and despite being battered De Gea had a wonder game and I somehow escaped with a 0-0 draw. By this stage City had all but wrapped up the league so I made sure players were rested and fresh for the home league. Over the 90 minutes we were the better team but a brilliant run and assist by Messi put them ahead after 20 minutes and we were only able to pull 1 back and went out on away goals.
Despite a poor run of 3 draws from my last 3 games (Chelsea home, Liverpool away, Newcastle home) we managed to finish a couple points clear of Chelsea in 2nd spot. I think City topped 100 points in the league which is crazy. If we hadn't been a bit unlucky in going out of the FA Cup we could of got some silverware but for the first season to finish 2nd in the league and reach the CL semi's - and only go out to Barca on away goals - is fairly satisfactory. (I recall on my first game with Man Utd on FM11 it took me a couple seasons to win anything lol).
So when I get home later I'll be skipping through the end of season break then getting stuck in to reshaping the team. It will likely be a fairly big overhaul and some players might be shocked I want to get rid of them... :evil:
1st game of Season 3, 2-0 up against newcastle, lost the lead and they got it back to 2-2... however a debut goal from Hamsik put us back in front for the lead.
I told the team they had a bit of a let off and Hamsik is publically unhappy with my team talks... after 1 game.. what a c**t
I told the team they had a bit of a let off and Hamsik is publically unhappy with my team talks... after 1 game.. what a c**t
Rofl I had Rooney get a strop on and took a good 10 games to get him back to not being a moody wanker.
How much did Hamsik cost you??
Lol some of these type things are a joke.. I had 2 players (Rondon and so young left winger) I signed, both arrived and were homesick so I sent them back home for a bit, they get back and both complain about no first team football instantly! I'm like but you were home because you were homesick :/ They play the next 2 games then are homesick again and so it all started again! lol.. Third time round they actually sorted themselves out and are now happy but fml!
I just move my face pack over from last year. I'll prob get an updated one at some point because some players are a bit out of date, Henderson looks like a 12 year old boy lol
Hamsik cost me 29mil all up front at the end of season 2... He seems to have decent ish striker attributes so I'm going to try and make thing like that great season Gerrard and Torres had where Our Stevie was essentially a 2nd striker
Hamsik cost me 29mil all up front at the end of season 2... He seems to have decent ish striker attributes so I'm going to try and make thing like that great season Gerrard and Torres had where Our Stevie was essentially a 2nd striker
UR R26R.5, VW Golf R
I was going to do the same, as I had Megapack 3, but thought I'd update it all.
Punto/Clio GTT
aquired this last night, had a quick blast. FM games have advanced so much since i last played em, they seem perhaps too much in depth? seems hardcore control over everything!
Having a bit of a mare on my game. I've started to think the AI is intent on causing my anger. I started well and should have been in for a good chance of winning the league. However I dropped points by drawing two easy games at home. Then the real conspiracy... Coasting at 3-1 against Fulham at their place, then out of nowhere Zamora hits a 5 minute hatrick in the final 10 minutes of the game and I lose 4-3. Literally bullshit.
I'd signed Vidal from Juventus but he was playing average at best and moaning so I flogged him off to Citeh and signed Ozil from Madrid who was transfer listed! He's not done much either though mind you. Will be out of the Champs League as lost the 1st leg of my q/final at home to Barca (typical). Won the Carling Cup, in the semi's of the FA Cup and will qualify for Europe but winning the league looks like evading me again meh.
I'd signed Vidal from Juventus but he was playing average at best and moaning so I flogged him off to Citeh and signed Ozil from Madrid who was transfer listed! He's not done much either though mind you. Will be out of the Champs League as lost the 1st leg of my q/final at home to Barca (typical). Won the Carling Cup, in the semi's of the FA Cup and will qualify for Europe but winning the league looks like evading me again meh.
I'm in the second season with United, and genuinely don't think I need to improve the team (only player I bought last season was Kyle Walker)
Too many good prospects coming through from the ranks
May steal Rodwell from Everton, given that I've got 75mil to spend
Barca wouldn't accept 75 for Messi
Too many good prospects coming through from the ranks
May steal Rodwell from Everton, given that I've got 75mil to spend
Barca wouldn't accept 75 for Messi
I'm halfway through the second season as toon and still sit mid table Hoping to get top half about 7th or 8th, can't stop dropping points late in games
Have signed a 16 year old beastly striker, 4.5 star potential and scored 19 goals in 18 games for my u18's but now out for 6 weeks with ankle ligament injury so can't keep playing my league cup games
Hoping to get top half about 7th or 8th, can't stop dropping points late in games Have signed a 16 year old beastly striker, 4.5 star potential and scored 19 goals in 18 games for my u18's but now out for 6 weeks with ankle ligament injury so can't keep playing my league cup games
Had a mint pre season which has of course left me with a great sense of optimism that's sure to come crashing down with an away defeat to Aston Villa or something frustrating.
In truth though, we've just carried on our form from the back end of last season. We went out to Barca 4-0 on aggregate in the Champs League 1/4 final but it could of been worse given we lost the home leg 2-0. And actually we were probably the better team in the return leg. The computer just decided that Rooney would not be scoring and he spurned several one on one chances. (This incidentally is where I feel the game is flawed. So many one on ones are missed / go horribly wide). Following that defeat we went on a nice little 12/13 unbeaten streak winning all bar 1 of those games which was a 2-2 draw away to Spurs. This run also included hammering Arsenal 4-0 in the FA Cup final which, added to my Carling Cup glory, gave the fans something to cheer about. With such a great run at the end of the season we were only 4 or 5 points off the league (finished 3rd behind City and Arsenal). If Zamora hadn't scored a 5 minute hatrick (still annoyed about that one) and we hadn't dropped a few silly points against weak opposition at home we'd have won that league. But hindsight if a wonderful thing.
So with a nice long end of season break I obviously pondered how to improve the squad. Ferdinand retired but I've not really needed to do anything with that. Vidic has been a rock and Phil Jones, despite a pretty weak 1st season, has come on leaps and bounds and really proved himself. Smalling and Evans are also both more than adequate. The midfield is packed full of quality and signing anybody in that position would likely hinder the development of a couple of the younger guys who I have high hopes for. The biggest weakness I've observed with the team is the full backs. I've pretty much been rotating Digne and Fabio at LB, Rafael and Vrsaljko at RB. Rafael hasn't been as good as I'd hoped and Chelsea came knocking. Valued at approx £6m I said I wanted £16.5m and to my surprise they came back and offered it. I took the money despite the fans not being too pleased. I signed Brocchetti from Rubin Kazan for £13.5m. A solid looking defender who can play at LB or CB. I still worry I've not got sufficient cover at RB but trying to find a decent buy has been a nightmare. Clubs just want way over the odds and I'm not prepared to pay £25-40m for a right back lol. There's 2 solid looking French right backs but they've both just been snapped up by Everton and Spurs respectively so I may have to wait til January before launching a raid on one of them.
I finally came to realise that I was being pretty foolish by just sticking to the same tactic 100% of the time. Not only does this give the AI the chance to suss you out but sometimes it's just the wrong tactic to play against the opposition. I'd been playing a 4-4-2 but with a flat back 4, two CM's, AML, AMR and two up top. I adopted a secondary tactic with a flat back 4 again, a defensive midfielder, 2 CM's, 1 AML, 1 AMR and just the 1 up top. This obviously packs the midfield much better and has proven to be my tactic of choice in the tougher games, in particular away from home. I also decided to tweak my more attacking tactic slightly. I shifted one of the CM's further up to AMC and then the other CM directly behind as a deep lying playmaker. The AMC is typically set to be the main playmaker. This was pretty much done with the intension of getting the best out of Ozil who hasn't really been as impressive as I'd hoped.
So in to pre season. I realise this has turned in to an essay so a quick wrap up. Mini tour of South Korea = 3 easy convincing wins. Bit tougher 3 games with Lille, Benfica and AZ. All at home though and 3 wins. Then I faced City in the Carling Cup, a fixture they beat me 2-1 in my opening game as manager. We were the better team, and took the lead through Rooney. Smalling made a mistake and gifted them a pen, 1-1. Rooney then made it 2-1. We're still having the better play but Bryan Ruiz (yes City signed him, really) smashes in a long range effort, 2-2. Then in the final few minutes Ozil plays a juicy ball through to Rooney who rounds the keeper and scores his third. Full time 3-2. I know it's only the Carling Cup but it was a great victory. I was playing the more defensive 4-5-1 tactic against them which worked well in the league too last season when I beat them 3-1 at Old Trafford.
So at this stage, I'm getting excited. The only doubt I have about my squad is at RB but Smalling has performed well there apart from his error against City. Ozil appears to be finding his feet, and Verratii + Kovacic are both developing really nicely now despite their tender age. Shinji Kagawa (from Dortmund) has been brilliant. He was part of a somewhat dubious exchange with Nani + a couple mil their way but he's been brilliant and unlike Nani doesn't frustrate me with his play. Valencia has been class on the right wing too. Kagawa is sadly injured for 2-3 months but I've still got Young and Ozil can play on the left flank too (I play the AML as an inside foward). I've literally got £90m to spend but trying to resist. Was tempted to sign Neymar but he's just gone to Barca for £45m and I don't think the expense would have been totally required. Also wanted to try and sign Mario Gotze but he will actually cost approx £50m and there's enough quality down the left flank. So I've been good and resisted spending. I fear a high profile signing in the final third may upset the balance anyway. So I'll keep my money and see how the team fares with the option of a big signing in January.
1st game in the Prem and I faced Leeds away from home who had just been promoted. I thought it could be tricky but we stormed it winning comfortable 4-0 with Hernandez grabbing 2. Rooney got 1 and had a stormer and Ozil was also instrumental again. A pleasing start. Next up is Stoke at home and that's where I'm at now. Addicted isn't even the word! (This is now my 3rd season just for clarity)
In truth though, we've just carried on our form from the back end of last season. We went out to Barca 4-0 on aggregate in the Champs League 1/4 final but it could of been worse given we lost the home leg 2-0. And actually we were probably the better team in the return leg. The computer just decided that Rooney would not be scoring and he spurned several one on one chances. (This incidentally is where I feel the game is flawed. So many one on ones are missed / go horribly wide). Following that defeat we went on a nice little 12/13 unbeaten streak winning all bar 1 of those games which was a 2-2 draw away to Spurs. This run also included hammering Arsenal 4-0 in the FA Cup final which, added to my Carling Cup glory, gave the fans something to cheer about. With such a great run at the end of the season we were only 4 or 5 points off the league (finished 3rd behind City and Arsenal). If Zamora hadn't scored a 5 minute hatrick (still annoyed about that one) and we hadn't dropped a few silly points against weak opposition at home we'd have won that league. But hindsight if a wonderful thing.
So with a nice long end of season break I obviously pondered how to improve the squad. Ferdinand retired but I've not really needed to do anything with that. Vidic has been a rock and Phil Jones, despite a pretty weak 1st season, has come on leaps and bounds and really proved himself. Smalling and Evans are also both more than adequate. The midfield is packed full of quality and signing anybody in that position would likely hinder the development of a couple of the younger guys who I have high hopes for. The biggest weakness I've observed with the team is the full backs. I've pretty much been rotating Digne and Fabio at LB, Rafael and Vrsaljko at RB. Rafael hasn't been as good as I'd hoped and Chelsea came knocking. Valued at approx £6m I said I wanted £16.5m and to my surprise they came back and offered it. I took the money despite the fans not being too pleased. I signed Brocchetti from Rubin Kazan for £13.5m. A solid looking defender who can play at LB or CB. I still worry I've not got sufficient cover at RB but trying to find a decent buy has been a nightmare. Clubs just want way over the odds and I'm not prepared to pay £25-40m for a right back lol. There's 2 solid looking French right backs but they've both just been snapped up by Everton and Spurs respectively so I may have to wait til January before launching a raid on one of them.
I finally came to realise that I was being pretty foolish by just sticking to the same tactic 100% of the time. Not only does this give the AI the chance to suss you out but sometimes it's just the wrong tactic to play against the opposition. I'd been playing a 4-4-2 but with a flat back 4, two CM's, AML, AMR and two up top. I adopted a secondary tactic with a flat back 4 again, a defensive midfielder, 2 CM's, 1 AML, 1 AMR and just the 1 up top. This obviously packs the midfield much better and has proven to be my tactic of choice in the tougher games, in particular away from home. I also decided to tweak my more attacking tactic slightly. I shifted one of the CM's further up to AMC and then the other CM directly behind as a deep lying playmaker. The AMC is typically set to be the main playmaker. This was pretty much done with the intension of getting the best out of Ozil who hasn't really been as impressive as I'd hoped.
So in to pre season. I realise this has turned in to an essay so a quick wrap up. Mini tour of South Korea = 3 easy convincing wins. Bit tougher 3 games with Lille, Benfica and AZ. All at home though and 3 wins. Then I faced City in the Carling Cup, a fixture they beat me 2-1 in my opening game as manager. We were the better team, and took the lead through Rooney. Smalling made a mistake and gifted them a pen, 1-1. Rooney then made it 2-1. We're still having the better play but Bryan Ruiz (yes City signed him, really) smashes in a long range effort, 2-2. Then in the final few minutes Ozil plays a juicy ball through to Rooney who rounds the keeper and scores his third. Full time 3-2. I know it's only the Carling Cup but it was a great victory. I was playing the more defensive 4-5-1 tactic against them which worked well in the league too last season when I beat them 3-1 at Old Trafford.
So at this stage, I'm getting excited. The only doubt I have about my squad is at RB but Smalling has performed well there apart from his error against City. Ozil appears to be finding his feet, and Verratii + Kovacic are both developing really nicely now despite their tender age. Shinji Kagawa (from Dortmund) has been brilliant. He was part of a somewhat dubious exchange with Nani + a couple mil their way but he's been brilliant and unlike Nani doesn't frustrate me with his play. Valencia has been class on the right wing too. Kagawa is sadly injured for 2-3 months but I've still got Young and Ozil can play on the left flank too (I play the AML as an inside foward). I've literally got £90m to spend but trying to resist. Was tempted to sign Neymar but he's just gone to Barca for £45m and I don't think the expense would have been totally required. Also wanted to try and sign Mario Gotze but he will actually cost approx £50m and there's enough quality down the left flank. So I've been good and resisted spending. I fear a high profile signing in the final third may upset the balance anyway. So I'll keep my money and see how the team fares with the option of a big signing in January.
1st game in the Prem and I faced Leeds away from home who had just been promoted. I thought it could be tricky but we stormed it winning comfortable 4-0 with Hernandez grabbing 2. Rooney got 1 and had a stormer and Ozil was also instrumental again. A pleasing start. Next up is Stoke at home and that's where I'm at now. Addicted isn't even the word!
(This is now my 3rd season just for clarity)
UR R26R.5, VW Golf R
What formation are you guys using?
I had a belter on FM2011 that I uploaded and loads of the guys from SIGames and other forums were using it. Took ages to tweak as well.
Now I'm thinking of adopting Barca's setup with the 2 holding midfielders and the 3 attackers, but I don't know if that would work well with Spurs and the players I'd want to play and bring in. Sandro and Parker as the holding two, but then I have Modric ahead of them and that leaves Bale on the left and no room for van der Vaart unless he plays on the right, which I don't want. Bah.
I'm assuming Neymar and Ganso are still fantastic, too.
I had a belter on FM2011 that I uploaded and loads of the guys from SIGames and other forums were using it. Took ages to tweak as well.
Now I'm thinking of adopting Barca's setup with the 2 holding midfielders and the 3 attackers, but I don't know if that would work well with Spurs and the players I'd want to play and bring in. Sandro and Parker as the holding two, but then I have Modric ahead of them and that leaves Bale on the left and no room for van der Vaart unless he plays on the right, which I don't want. Bah.
I'm assuming Neymar and Ganso are still fantastic, too.
My formation is outlined in the essay above but I'll post a couple screenies of it later too.
Stats wise yes Neymar and Ganso both look like beasts again. Neymar's just gone off to Barca for £45m in my game (they're gonna be even harder to beat now FFS). Ganso still at Santos not sure what the going rate for him is but I've pretty well covered in that area at present. (Also I signed him with United on FM11 so I wanted a bit of a change of players tbh). I've got Marvin Martin and Mesut Ozil to cover that MC/AMC role.
