Gaming Football Manager 2020 (PC, Mac, Switch, Android, iOS, Stadia)

[sebsheep]

Just had a pretty big summer, Changed the formation to this

Spoiler: New Formation

Some of my bigger signings, got both a Gk and a CB from United for free.

Spoiler: New GK

Spoiler: New CB

Picked up another DLP, he was going for 6m and I've had a lot of interest for my actual one at around 20m, figured if he wants to leave we then have a ready made replacement.

Spoiler: New DLP

Did have to make a few players unhappy due to leaving them out of the CL squad.

Season has started very well, won 5/5 beating all of AEK, Olympiakos and PAOK.

 

[Maluco]

FA Cup Winners, 2nd in the PL, QF of the CL. Decent 2nd season. Kean won top scorer again, Digne top assists in the league again. Kean is a must buy on this if he isn't being used by Everton.

Brought in Luis, Reyna and Chukwueze. Managed to sell a bunch of the young kids I bought in the first season to be backups for 10m profit on each. Sold Gbamin too, he was good at the start of the 2nd season but slowly got worse so no point in keeping him.

I know that I can win the league with this core of Everton players, I just need to beat Liverpool basically. I don't remember a PL team ever being as strong as them in an FM before. I know in previous seasons United/City/Chelsea would be strong but they were much more beatable than Liverpool are in this game.

Liverpool are infuriating. I hated playing them and it must be even worse as a rival game!

Kean is a beast. On the last day of the summer window, he was into their reserves again and I tried to over a loan with wages paid and a 13.75 optional future fee and they accepted! So have him back for another season.

If he agrees to talk to me, someone will have to go to make room. Will keep an eye out for DLC but he looks like he is starting for them!

Just had a pretty big summer, Changed the formation to this

Spoiler: New Formation

Some of my bigger signings, got both a Gk and a CB from United for free.

Spoiler: New GK

Spoiler: New CB

Picked up another DLP, he was going for 6m and I've had a lot of interest for my actual one at around 20m, figured if he wants to leave we then have a ready made replacement.

Spoiler: New DLP

Did have to make a few players unhappy due to leaving them out of the CL squad.

Season has started very well, won 5/5 beating all of AEK, Olympiakos and PAOK.

I messed up my CL squad too because I just don’t produce any players of any worth to put in my CL squad, I will have to sign some youngsters in the summer and make sure they are homegrown in a few years.

Players I signed in season one are all gone!

It’s an interesting formation, do you have an attacking version to play at home against weaker sides? Or are you able to keep the ball better the way it is?

 

[sebsheep]

Liverpool are infuriating. I hated playing them and it must be even worse as a rival game!

Kean is a beast. On the last day of the summer window, he was into their reserves again and I tried to over a loan with wages paid and a 13.75 optional future fee and they accepted! So have him back for another season.

If he agrees to talk to me, someone will have to go to make room. Will keep an eye out for DLC but he looks like he is starting for them!



I messed up my CL squad too because I just don’t produce any players of any worth to put in my CL squad, I will have to sign some youngsters in the summer and make sure they are homegrown in a few years.

Players I signed in season one are all gone!

It’s an interesting formation, do you have an attacking version to play at home against weaker sides? Or are you able to keep the ball better the way it is?

Yeah my youth take hasn't been much good, have 2 players I moved up this year who at very best will become squad players. Board upgraded the facilities to average but won't go any further atm, might be because they're looking at building a new stadium but I'm not sure.

Haven't really needed a more attacking formation so far, my DLP gets forward quite well so it's not too much different to playing with 1 behind 2 in midfield.
Been averaging about 60% possession, which is up a little from last year. 2nd in chances created, oddly behind the team who are currently bottom of the league.

 

[Solius]

So first season I won everything but the CL with Juve, second season I'm at Madrid and looking likely to win La Liga but knocked out the CL again which is annoying.

Betis are absolute legends. Beat Barca home and away and lost both games to me and have helped me get a 9 point lead with 7 games to go.

My plan is to now move to the PL (as long as a job comes up) and create a dynasty at the club I join now that I have already won trophies abroad. I'm thinking I'd accept either Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal or Spurs but not Liverpool or City. Problem is Ole is untouchable at Utd right now.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Problem is Ole is untouchable at Utd right now.

Yeah it's fecking ridiculous

EDIT: oh sorry this is the Football Manager thread.

 

[Maluco]

Gutted, absolutely gutted.

As far as the CL goes, we had an incredible journey. We lost our first two games at home to Atlético (3-1) and Man City (2-1), and I just accepted that we weren’t good enough for this level, but then we beat Shakhtar away 2-1 and I hoped we could beat them again and sneak into 3rd. We did better than that and beat Man City 2-0 at the Etihad and held on to win 1-0 in Spain , before smashing Shakhtar 6-0 and finished top of the group. Crazy scenes!

We beat Spurs in the last sixteen and then beat Porto handily in the quarter final. We got outplayed quite a few times up until then and our luck ran out in the semi final, where Arsenal destroyed us (6-2 on aggregate) Great adventure though.

In the league, we were 1 point clear at the winter break (22nd December) and only dropped 2 points for the rest of the season. Ajax, in second, didn’t drop a single point and took the league. Ridiculous and feels terribly unfair. A repeat next season would probably end my time in Holland. It’s not fun if you can’t make a single mistake.

We picked up the Dutch Cup, besting them in the final (2-0), but it’s little consolation. Most goals scored, least goals conceded, 75 goals split between our two forwards (41 for Brewster), only one loss all season, winning some great matches at likes of AZ and Feyenoord, and it’s all for nothing. No title.

We lose Brewster now for good, after scoring 70 goals in two seasons. No chance he is coming back, but Kenneh left for City in January (50 million plus 25% next sale) and we were able to buy Kean outright (13.75 million)

Armini and Kenneh are gone and some key players won’t return (Brewster, Motondo, Empadu, Nmecha) There are about 6 WNT windows on different players and some that need to be moved on and replaced, so a mini rebuild is on.

It’s the most disappointing end to a season I’ve had on this version, we were so good, but semi final of the CL was a great adventure and we rode our luck massively and has probably helped the club more reputation wise than a league win would have, but no title after all of that is gutting.

Can we bounce back? Will Ajax ever drop points again? Should I just resign in a huff and go back to real life? Who knows!

 

[Lay]

feck, the Arsenal loss would have annoyed me a lot seeing as they’re not one of the elite teams.

I lost La Liga with Villarreal with two games to go, losing away to Real Madrid 3-2. I fought back from 2-0 down too.

Real Madrid won the league thanks to a 2-2 draw at the Nou camp on the last day I finished two points behind Madrid and a point behind Barcelona.

Both teams have strengthened in the summer (Mane, Silva, Verratti) whilst I wonder if Trippier will be good enough to be my new right back and spent 300k on a Portuguese regen. Both teams beat me to my initial targets of Inaki Williams and Koulibaly.

 

[Maluco]

feck, the Arsenal loss would have annoyed me a lot seeing as they’re not one of the elite teams.

I lost La Liga with Villarreal with two games to go, losing away to Real Madrid 3-2. I fought back from 2-0 down too.

Real Madrid won the league thanks to a 2-2 draw at the Nou camp on the last day I finished two points behind Madrid and a point behind Barcelona.

Both teams have strengthened in the summer (Mane, Silva, Verratti) whilst I wonder if Trippier will be good enough to be my new right back and spent 300k on a Portuguese regen. Both teams beat me to my initial targets of Inaki Williams and Koulibaly.

Yeah, it was a bit strange the way it went down, but City and Atlético outplayed me both times and Spurs were my equals. I think with the high line and press, if it goes wrong, you get punished and it went wrong against Arsenal. I dropped the two points after that game too so it cost me the title too.

I am Excelsior though, and it’s only the 3rd season, so it was way beyond what I expected. I would have gone out in the group gladly though for the title It’s really discouraging thinking that the big side might not lose at all.

What way are you setting up with Villarreal? Who are your stars?

 

[Chipper]

Ready to tackle the National League, spent the past few days navigating the summer window. It was a lot of work. Signed one player I had on loan last season and apart from him there's 21 new players. 6 loans, 15 free transfers.

Put together a fairly nice squad. Last season Genie Scout reckoned I had the strongest team in my division and we won it, this time 2nd so we should be in contention again. Board wants mid-table and that should be easy enough.

 

[Maluco]

Ready to tackle the National League, spent the past few days navigating the summer window. It was a lot of work. Signed one player I had on loan last season and apart from him there's 21 new players. 6 loans, 15 free transfers.

Put together a fairly nice squad. Last season Genie Scout reckoned I had the strongest team in my division and we won it, this time 2nd so we should be in contention again. Board wants mid-table and that should be easy enough.

You are inspiring me to want to get back and do it, but then I remember the endless trials and turnover of players. It was a great feeling knowing that you had nailed a summer though and that you had players well above your level

 

[Berbaclass]

I'm starting a game on that Aswijan custom database which looks pretty cool.

 

[Nickosaur]

So ultimately a really successful first season in Brazil with Flamengo. After some early pressure from the board and fans due to crashing out the Interstate and Cup competitions, we hit great form for rest of the year, both in the league and Copa Libertadores.

The league was won on the penultimate matchday - with a 6-0 home victory over Corinthians. We'd stuttered to a few draws in the previous weeks and though Gremio made up some ground, it was comfortable in the end, finishing on 90 points.

The Libertadores is a great tournament. We squeezed past both Argentine giants River and Boca by just one goal on aggregate in the quarters and semis - before meeting Corinthians in the final. Having just smashed them in the league, I was optimisitc - and we proved to be too strong, winning 3-0 in the final.

Will have the Club World Cub coming up next month (I didn't check to see who we are playing). Will see how I feel after that game before deciding on my future. I would like to spend at least one more season with Flamengo, but it's a long, gruelling season. I think I'll stay - unless the Boca job looks up for grabs. That's the one I want next.

 

[sebsheep]

Gutted, absolutely gutted.

As far as the CL goes, we had an incredible journey. We lost our first two games at home to Atlético (3-1) and Man City (2-1), and I just accepted that we weren’t good enough for this level, but then we beat Shakhtar away 2-1 and I hoped we could beat them again and sneak into 3rd. We did better than that and beat Man City 2-0 at the Etihad and held on to win 1-0 in Spain , before smashing Shakhtar 6-0 and finished top of the group. Crazy scenes!

We beat Spurs in the last sixteen and then beat Porto handily in the quarter final. We got outplayed quite a few times up until then and our luck ran out in the semi final, where Arsenal destroyed us (6-2 on aggregate) Great adventure though.

In the league, we were 1 point clear at the winter break (22nd December) and only dropped 2 points for the rest of the season. Ajax, in second, didn’t drop a single point and took the league. Ridiculous and feels terribly unfair. A repeat next season would probably end my time in Holland. It’s not fun if you can’t make a single mistake.

We picked up the Dutch Cup, besting them in the final (2-0), but it’s little consolation. Most goals scored, least goals conceded, 75 goals split between our two forwards (41 for Brewster), only one loss all season, winning some great matches at likes of AZ and Feyenoord, and it’s all for nothing. No title.

We lose Brewster now for good, after scoring 70 goals in two seasons. No chance he is coming back, but Kenneh left for City in January (50 million plus 25% next sale) and we were able to buy Kean outright (13.75 million)

Armini and Kenneh are gone and some key players won’t return (Brewster, Motondo, Empadu, Nmecha) There are about 6 WNT windows on different players and some that need to be moved on and replaced, so a mini rebuild is on.

It’s the most disappointing end to a season I’ve had on this version, we were so good, but semi final of the CL was a great adventure and we rode our luck massively and has probably helped the club more reputation wise than a league win would have, but no title after all of that is gutting.

Can we bounce back? Will Ajax ever drop points again? Should I just resign in a huff and go back to real life? Who knows!

Just get the editor and delete Ajax tbh.
Pretty tough to deal with that end to season.

 

[sebsheep]

I'm starting a game on that Aswijan custom database which looks pretty cool.

How well do custom databases function? Remember watching a series using one a few years ago but the whole thing just broke.

 

[sebsheep]

So ultimately a really successful first season in Brazil with Flamengo. After some early pressure from the board and fans due to crashing out the Interstate and Cup competitions, we hit great form for rest of the year, both in the league and Copa Libertadores.

The league was won on the penultimate matchday - with a 6-0 home victory over Corinthians. We'd stuttered to a few draws in the previous weeks and though Gremio made up some ground, it was comfortable in the end, finishing on 90 points.

The Libertadores is a great tournament. We squeezed past both Argentine giants River and Boca by just one goal on aggregate in the quarters and semis - before meeting Corinthians in the final. Having just smashed them in the league, I was optimisitc - and we proved to be too strong, winning 3-0 in the final.

Will have the Club World Cub coming up next month (I didn't check to see who we are playing). Will see how I feel after that game before deciding on my future. I would like to spend at least one more season with Flamengo, but it's a long, gruelling season. I think I'll stay - unless the Boca job looks up for grabs. That's the one I want next.

That's a very good season overall. The one thing I do like about Brazil is the sheer amount of talent in the league, and the fullbacks tend to have very good technical abilities.

 

[sebsheep]

Just passed January now, as I thought clubs came in for Barisic, he ended up going for €40m, which is more than I had in the bank. Obviously I had a player at the club to step in but I may have then purchased a guy for €8.75m.
Then had clubs meet the release clause for Jebali, signed a guy to eventually step in and replace him in a couple of seasons. Jebali then proceeds to turn down the clubs.
Madrid jumped in with the last action of the window to take him. After a few little sales we've ended up making a total of €78m this year. Spend has been €42.5m, though around €15m of that was actually spent last season.

Currently 12 points ahead in the league having just lost our first game to the classic mid-table team when you played better. Qualified 2nd in our CL group behind Barca, but ahead of Zebre and Zenit. Drew AC Milan in the 1st knockout round. Will earn a tasty €9.5m just for playing in the round.
Also getting the club to upgrade the youth facilities. Still no sight of those new stadium plans though.

 

[Nickosaur]

That's a very good season overall. The one thing I do like about Brazil is the sheer amount of talent in the league, and the fullbacks tend to have very good technical abilities.

Yeah there are wonderkids everywhere. And while there are plenty that can be bough for very low release clauses, I've also had a few of my promising youngsters poached too!
For example, I had a 16 year old in my youth team - 5* potential midfielder who had a £4m buy-out clause as he was on very low wages. So I bumped him up to about £4k - which is insane for such a young player who isn't really involved. Anyway - that put his release clause up to about £16m. Thought I should be safe with that. About 3 weeks later, Santos paid that and off he went As far as I can see, there's no real way to avoid this, unless you pay your wonderkids a ridiculous amount from an early age.

What season are you in Greece btw? Greece sounds a lot of fun. I might do a journeyman save in some of Europe's lesser leagues after i'm done in South America.

 

[Stevondo8]

I assume everyone else takes their real life dislike of other clubs into football manager too? For a utd fan I think I’ve just had a pretty sweet April...

Beat Liverpool 3-2 at their place with a last minute winner in first leg of champs lge quarter finals followed a week later by a 3-1 home win in the 2nd leg to knock them out of the tournament, then a week after that beat them 2-0 at home to seal the league (3rd league in a row) with 5 games to go. Mbappe just agreed to join for next season too.

 

[Lay]

Yeah, it was a bit strange the way it went down, but City and Atlético outplayed me both times and Spurs were my equals. I think with the high line and press, if it goes wrong, you get punished and it went wrong against Arsenal. I dropped the two points after that game too so it cost me the title too.

I am Excelsior though, and it’s only the 3rd season, so it was way beyond what I expected. I would have gone out in the group gladly though for the title It’s really discouraging thinking that the big side might not lose at all.

What way are you setting up with Villarreal? Who are your stars?

I actually won the CL somehow. I knocked out Liverpool in the last 16, got a 2-0 win at home and I expected a barrage at Anfield but we scored after 3 minutes and the game pretty much fizzled out. A couple of late goals for either side meant I won 2-1. Knocked Inter out in the quarters, overturning a 3-2 defeat in Italy. Like you had Arsenal in the semi final but won 3-0 at the Emirates! Lost second leg 2-1 at home. Had Barcelona in the final, my goalkeeper and his stubbed finger was okay to start even though his condition was low. Didn't matter as I won 1-0 thanks to my loanee Pjaca after 4 minutes.

My defence is pretty rock solid, I play a deep line with two defensive role midfielders and its great against bigger teams. I beat PSG, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool with the tactic. Struggle against lower teams though and that cost me the league. I have a few loaned in players who saved me a lot, Pjaca was great. The following season, I've mainly signed cheap regens and Trippier. Not sure I can muster up another title challenge this season.

The annoying part of the season was actually the Copa Del Rey. I knocked out Real Madrid, Valencia and Sevilla but then got knocked out by Granada in the semi finals!

 

[Chipper]

You are inspiring me to want to get back and do it, but then I remember the endless trials and turnover of players. It was a great feeling knowing that you had nailed a summer though and that you had players well above your level

It's good fun. Used to try and do this in various countries as there were different 'Hero' achievements for taking a club from the lowest to the highest division. English Hero, Scottish Hero, Spanish Hero etc. There was 6 or 7 of them for different countries but now there's only one by the looks of it and I'm assuming you can do it in any country.

Good start to the season and just drew 0-0 at home to Chesterfield in a top of the table clash. My goalie saved a penalty with 10 minutes left so perhaps a bit lucky. I was using 9 out of 11 second choice players in the starting line up.

Spoiler: league lable so far

 

[sebsheep]

Yeah there are wonderkids everywhere. And while there are plenty that can be bough for very low release clauses, I've also had a few of my promising youngsters poached too!
For example, I had a 16 year old in my youth team - 5* potential midfielder who had a £4m buy-out clause as he was on very low wages. So I bumped him up to about £4k - which is insane for such a young player who isn't really involved. Anyway - that put his release clause up to about £16m. Thought I should be safe with that. About 3 weeks later, Santos paid that and off he went As far as I can see, there's no real way to avoid this, unless you pay your wonderkids a ridiculous amount from an early age.

What season are you in Greece btw? Greece sounds a lot of fun. I might do a journeyman save in some of Europe's lesser leagues after i'm done in South America.

This is my 9th season I think (2028). It's been fun and is probably the longest save I've had without winning too much; 2 Greek Cups, a Super League and a Super League 2 in the previous 8 years. The title is quite competitive with AEK Athens, Olympiakos and PAOK being up there every year and having much bigger budgets. There is no prize money in from the league and only a small amount from the semi-final of the Greek Cup onwards. You are very reliant on getting into European competition and even then the CL money is a lot more than the others. I think we've finally reached a point where we should be able to consistently reach it and then hopefully edge further each year.

 

[Maluco]

Just passed January now, as I thought clubs came in for Barisic, he ended up going for €40m, which is more than I had in the bank. Obviously I had a player at the club to step in but I may have then purchased a guy for €8.75m.
Then had clubs meet the release clause for Jebali, signed a guy to eventually step in and replace him in a couple of seasons. Jebali then proceeds to turn down the clubs.
Madrid jumped in with the last action of the window to take him. After a few little sales we've ended up making a total of €78m this year. Spend has been €42.5m, though around €15m of that was actually spent last season.

Currently 12 points ahead in the league having just lost our first game to the classic mid-table team when you played better. Qualified 2nd in our CL group behind Barca, but ahead of Zebre and Zenit. Drew AC Milan in the 1st knockout round. Will earn a tasty €9.5m just for playing in the round.
Also getting the club to upgrade the youth facilities. Still no sight of those new stadium plans though.

This sounds like you are making massive strides now. Any particular reason or do you think you squad is just that much better now?

I actually won the CL somehow. I knocked out Liverpool in the last 16, got a 2-0 win at home and I expected a barrage at Anfield but we scored after 3 minutes and the game pretty much fizzled out. A couple of late goals for either side meant I won 2-1. Knocked Inter out in the quarters, overturning a 3-2 defeat in Italy. Like you had Arsenal in the semi final but won 3-0 at the Emirates! Lost second leg 2-1 at home. Had Barcelona in the final, my goalkeeper and his stubbed finger was okay to start even though his condition was low. Didn't matter as I won 1-0 thanks to my loanee Pjaca after 4 minutes.

My defence is pretty rock solid, I play a deep line with two defensive role midfielders and its great against bigger teams. I beat PSG, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool with the tactic. Struggle against lower teams though and that cost me the league. I have a few loaned in players who saved me a lot, Pjaca was great. The following season, I've mainly signed cheap regens and Trippier. Not sure I can muster up another title challenge this season.

The annoying part of the season was actually the Copa Del Rey. I knocked out Real Madrid, Valencia and Sevilla but then got knocked out by Granada in the semi finals!

That’s a massive result, well done! You seem to have perfected a tactic to play against the big teams. Mine seems to be touch and go, but it’s attacking and exciting so will keep it again this season and hope I can raise the quality of my defence.

Do you have a more attacking version? All I do is push my DM/CM and change them into a CM/AMC when I am at home against lesser sides and it works quite well.

It's good fun. Used to try and do this in various countries as there were different 'Hero' achievements for taking a club from the lowest to the highest division. English Hero, Scottish Hero, Spanish Hero etc. There was 6 or 7 of them for different countries but now there's only one by the looks of it and I'm assuming you can do it in any country.

Good start to the season and just drew 0-0 at home to Chesterfield in a top of the table clash. My goalie saved a penalty with 10 minutes left so perhaps a bit lucky. I was using 9 out of 11 second choice players in the starting line up.

Spoiler: league lable so far

Looking good once again! I had thought about doing it with Edinburgh in Scotland. I always enjoy the save if I have a particular connection to a certain city and it’s a great city. Club badge and kits look nice too!

Any signs of a takeover or anything like that so far?

 

[sebsheep]

This sounds like you are making massive strides now. Any particular reason or do you think you squad is just that much better now?

I think it's a combination of a better squad and a different system. Upgraded GK, CB, RB (That was a big one as the wonderkid I loaned from Chelsea has been top notch this year), DM and got two wide players either. The wide players haven't really been that great but it's worked better as a team and we actually started well in the league, the last couple of seasons we've started badly and had to climb up for most of the season.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Don't think I've scored a goal as late as this before. Damn near flipped the laptop into the air.

 

[Berbaclass]

How well do custom databases function? Remember watching a series using one a few years ago but the whole thing just broke.

This one is pretty solid apparently, lots of work has gone into it.

I think custom databases are better now they have to have a certain level of validation through the editor.

 

[SilentWitness]

Won the league in my 3rd season with Everton. Knew I could do it. Funnily enough Kean (After me praising him constantly) has become really shit. Went from 31 -> 33 -> 11 and I'm not sure why he only scored 11 goals. He's like a completely different player and has stopped growing even though he's only had small injuries so not sure what's happening there.

 

[Berbaclass]

I decided to go back to the lower levels of English football for a new save. The Evostik Premier League to be exact as I wanted to manage Whitby Town as I'm originally from the North East of England and Darlington/Gateshead seemed a bit too easy so I went a another level down.

Playing a very basic 4-4-2 which is tailored to my players and their specific strengths and I think it's doing pretty well. I was watching some stuff about set-pieces the other day (Which is kinda what inspired me to start a new save) and I think they are pretty solid so far. My main concern was wanting to be very solid from set-pieces. We're pretty good offensively as it happens too.

Spoiler: Tactic

I forgot how much of a slog LLM is, not done a save like it for years. It's gong well though. 14 games into the league and we sit 2nd, 3 points behind Stalybridge who I am literally about to play away from home. We're also into the FA Trophy 1st Round and managed to get to the FA Cup 1st Round too which was nice for the finances. Went from -20k to having 5k in the balance

Spoiler: Table

Found a really nice young player who unusually in the first season is a newgen. He just popped up when I asked my DOF to give me some free transfer suggestions.

Spoiler: Birch

I'm very happy with him for two reasons. First he's playing really well and is my best RM and secondly I think I might be able to cash in on him at some point and get us out of inevitable debt. But that's just what LLM is like until you start getting to the top few tiers of English football.

Anyway onto Stalybridge!

 

[Maluco]

Won the league in my 3rd season with Everton. Knew I could do it. Funnily enough Kean (After me praising him constantly) has become really shit. Went from 31 -> 33 -> 11 and I'm not sure why he only scored 11 goals. He's like a completely different player and has stopped growing even though he's only had small injuries so not sure what's happening there.

You tell me that after I have just bought him permanently Congrats in the league win though. I am sure it’s the first version you have done it on where you retained so many players.

 

[Maluco]

I decided to go back to the lower levels of English football for a new save. The Evostik Premier League to be exact as I wanted to manage Whitby Town as I'm originally from the North East of England and Darlington/Gateshead seemed a bit too easy so I went a another level down.

Playing a very basic 4-4-2 which is tailored to my players and their specific strengths and I think it's doing pretty well. I was watching some stuff about set-pieces the other day (Which is kinda what inspired me to start a new save) and I think they are pretty solid so far. My main concern was wanting to be very solid from set-pieces. We're pretty good offensively as it happens too.

Spoiler: Tactic

I forgot how much of a slog LLM is, not done a save like it for years. It's gong well though. 14 games into the league and we sit 2nd, 3 points behind Stalybridge who I am literally about to play away from home. We're also into the FA Trophy 1st Round and managed to get to the FA Cup 1st Round too which was nice for the finances. Went from -20k to having 5k in the balance

Spoiler: Table

Found a really nice young player who unusually in the first season is a newgen. He just popped up when I asked my DOF to give me some free transfer suggestions.

Spoiler: Birch

I'm very happy with him for two reasons. First he's playing really well and is my best RM and secondly I think I might be able to cash in on him at some point and get us out of inevitable debt. But that's just what LLM is like until you start getting to the top few tiers of English football.

Anyway onto Stalybridge!

He is ridiculous for that level!!

 

[Berbaclass]

He is ridiculous for that level!!

I know

 

[Chipper]

Any signs of a takeover or anything like that so far?

Already got taken over once, no cash injection. Actually have a loan to pay now as he took one out soon after the takeover so he's more Glazer than Abramovich. The old board were pumping in funds every so often as we were running at a loss but this one hasn't yet.

Another 10 games down and slipped to 2nd after picking up a further 20 points. Chesterfield on a great streak of form. 6 wins, a 3-3 draw where we let a 3-1 lead slip, a battling 0-0 away from home with 10 men for 86 minutes and 2 losses where we played badly.

Spoiler: latest table

 

[Chipper]

Found a really nice young player who unusually in the first season is a newgen. He just popped up when I asked my DOF to give me some free transfer suggestions.

Spoiler: Birch

I'm very happy with him for two reasons. First he's playing really well and is my best RM and secondly I think I might be able to cash in on him at some point and get us out of inevitable debt. But that's just what LLM is like until you start getting to the top few tiers of English football.

Better than my right-winger and I'm 2 divisions higher.

Spoiler: Burrows

Looking forward to seeing how you do.

 

[Maluco]

After the disappointment of losing the title in the last game, I came back determined to come back better next season, and I think we had a monster summer. I started with a 17 million budget.

OUT

Kounde 29 million
Kluster 5 million
Jones 7.5 million
Mavropanos 5.5 million
Toujon 6.75 million
Bodart 20 million
Atakan 10 million

Really happy with sales, as none were starters. A bit sad about Jones but I just wasn’t playing him enough to justify keeping him. Kounde has decent stats, but nothing special, and it was the likes of Burnley and Watford coming in for him. Decided to sell up at 29 million after a special regen reared his head. Bodart was our starting keeper, but 20 million is a good offer for him, he is very replaceable.

IN

Osimhen 22 million
Vagnoman 8 million
Leno 13 million
Ferran Torres 14 million
Ayala 5.25 million
Cuenca Free
Hlozek Free
Anjorin Free


Delighted with all five. Leno is a massive upgrade in goal, Vagnoman is a great price for a future world class full back. Ferran Torres was lost out on loan at Porto and we grabbed him for a cut price; our first starting RW that belongs to the club! Osimhen looks like an able replacement for Brewster, but it’s always a gamble and Ayala is only 18 years old, but he is a monster. 17 Heading, Tackling and 15 Marking and Pace as well as decent all round stats at only 18 years old. He comes in as a 5 star talent and a starter.

Cuenca is able back up that can only improve and we managed to persuade Hlozek to go out on loan. Anjorin doesn’t have a clear role but I couldn’t pass him up on a free. I’m hoping he will agree to a loan coming up to the end of the window.

LOANS

Ampadu, Fred (who has been here since January) and Nmecha (for a 3rd season!) all agreed to come back and we added Shaw for an option at left back, Oxlade-Chamberlain, to compete with Torres on the right and Reiner to compete with Nmecha.

All in all, a very good 21 man squad and I feel we are much more well-rounded than last year. The only 3 questions are:

a) If Osimhen can replace 41 goal Brewster
b) If Ayala, at only 18 years old, will be ready to start in place of Kounde
c) We haven’t replaced Kenneh and we miss him in big games. I couldn’t find the right player, and with no money and a new stingy board (who never let us go above 50% from transfer fees) we might have to do without.

Let’s see what happens! Game one is the Super Cup with our nemesis Ajax, and then we have two 2-legged ties to even make the Champions League (Sporting, then the winner of CSKA/Anderlecht) With Kean out for 7 weeks, what can we do early doors?

 

[sebsheep]

You tell me that after I have just bought him permanently Congrats in the league win though. I am sure it’s the first version you have done it on where you retained so many players.

Came across him playing for Zenit St.Petersburg in my save, his numbers were pretty poor.

 

[sebsheep]

Don't think I've scored a goal as late as this before. Damn near flipped the laptop into the air.

Imagine being on the other end of that.

 

[sebsheep]

After the disappointment of losing the title in the last game, I came back determined to come back better next season, and I think we had a monster summer. I started with a 17 million budget.

OUT

Kounde 29 million
Kluster 5 million
Jones 7.5 million
Mavropanos 5.5 million
Toujon 6.75 million
Bodart 20 million
Atakan 10 million

Really happy with sales, as none were starters. A bit sad about Jones but I just wasn’t playing him enough to justify keeping him. Kounde has decent stats, but nothing special, and it was the likes of Burnley and Watford coming in for him. Decided to sell up at 29 million after a special regen reared his head. Bodart was our starting keeper, but 20 million is a good offer for him, he is very replaceable.

IN

Osimhen 22 million
Vagnoman 8 million
Leno 13 million
Ferran Torres 14 million
Ayala 5.25 million
Cuenca Free
Hlozek Free
Anjorin Free


Delighted with all five. Leno is a massive upgrade in goal, Vagnoman is a great price for a future world class full back. Ferran Torres was lost out on loan at Porto and we grabbed him for a cut price; our first starting RW that belongs to the club! Osimhen looks like an able replacement for Brewster, but it’s always a gamble and Ayala is only 18 years old, but he is a monster. 17 Heading, Tackling and 15 Marking and Pace as well as decent all round stats at only 18 years old. He comes in as a 5 star talent and a starter.

Cuenca is able back up that can only improve and we managed to persuade Hlozek to go out on loan. Anjorin doesn’t have a clear role but I couldn’t pass him up on a free. I’m hoping he will agree to a loan coming up to the end of the window.

LOANS

Ampadu, Fred (who has been here since January) and Nmecha (for a 3rd season!) all agreed to come back and we added Shaw for an option at left back, Oxlade-Chamberlain, to compete with Torres on the right and Reiner to compete with Nmecha.

All in all, a very good 21 man squad and I feel we are much more well-rounded than last year. The only 3 questions are:

a) If Osimhen can replace 41 goal Brewster
b) If Ayala, at only 18 years old, will be ready to start in place of Kounde
c) We haven’t replaced Kenneh and we miss him in big games. I couldn’t find the right player, and with no money and a new stingy board (who never let us go above 50% from transfer fees) we might have to do without.

Let’s see what happens! Game one is the Super Cup with our nemesis Ajax, and then we have two 2-legged ties to even make the Champions League (Sporting, then the winner of CSKA/Anderlecht) With Kean out for 7 weeks, what can we do early doors?

That looks to be a good summer from the players I recognise.

 

[sebsheep]

Season ended very well, a 2nd double for us now even though it took us 4 years to get back to winning anything. Should really have won the league by a few points more but my team decided that the pressure of needing just 1 more win was far too much for them. Might well need to invest in some new wide players this summer as the ones I currently have are just turning in terrible performances game after game. Top scorer only getting 13 goals is a bit of a worry as well. I think we mainly did so well due to conceding a lot less.

Construction will now begin on our new stadium, it's not far off double the size of our current on and does give us a decently sized loan to pay off over the next 10 years. Hopefully we don't go the Arsenal route.

 

[Chipper]

Had a very lucky win last night in the cup, Scunthorpe away in a cup replay who are 2 divisons higher than me. I had players I consider CMs at RB and RM because of injuries and suspensions and had to play a weird assymetric formation with a WB ahead of a FB on the left because I had nobody at all who could play LM. They were the better side, we got 9 bookings and a red, were losing 1-0 and scored from 2 corners late on. Their goalie got a big hand on both headers but couldn't keep them out.

Spoiler

Reward is WBA at home in the 3rd round who are now PL in my save. Hopefully it's televised.

 

[sebsheep]

Had a very lucky win last night in the cup, Scunthorpe away in a cup replay who are 2 divisons higher than me. I had players I consider CMs at RB and RM because of injuries and suspensions and had to play a weird assymetric formation with a WB ahead of a FB on the left because I had nobody at all who could play LM. They were the better side, we got 9 bookings and a red, were losing 1-0 and scored from 2 corners late on. Their goalie got a big hand on both headers but couldn't keep them out.

Spoiler

Reward is WBA at home in the 3rd round who are now PL in my save. Hopefully it's televised.

That could give you a decent cash injection.

Also, your team are thugs.

 

[sebsheep]

Sorted a left midfielder very earlier into the summer, when he joins on the day the window opens he's shown as injured. Pop onto his profile to see what it is and he's damaged his achilles tendon and will miss 4-6 months.