FM Official Thread All Fantasy Football Manager talk here please

Very nice. The legend of Arnett continues. I await the day he scores the winning goal in a champions league final.

I finished my 3rd season at Yeovil, finishing a very creditable and safe ninth place in the Championship. Ogo Obi on loan from Watford top scored with 23 goals, supported ably by Demetri Mitchell on 15 and Dennon Lewis signed from Watford for 120k on 14 goals. I made one big money signing spending £1m on a german 18 yo defender called Sandro Theisen who promptly got injured for a vast majority of the season.

Mitchell has now scored 10+ goals and has 15+ assists in each of the last three seasons in league 2, 1 and now the championship. Not bad for a free transfer.

I am starting to feel a bit fatigued at Yeovil. They have not given me very much in the way of transfer funds and my wage budget only went up by about 10k. I've managed to make a few more free transfers, my most impressive is picking up Zach Clough. His star seems to have fallen a bit, but he started in CAM for me in the first game away at Fulham. He scored twice as we lost 3-2 to a last minute goal and two penalties.

I have been actively looking for other jobs, being offered the job at Hamburg. I rejected it, probably a good decision as they promptly got relegated. I would ideally like a job at a sleeping giant, and interviewed for Southampton. They offered it to some tiny chap called Zola instead.

 

Just finished revamping my scouting network for my Coca Cola blog. Think it's probably one of the most comprehensive scouting systems ever created in FM.

4 clubs
47 scouts
63 countries covered

No regen must be left unscouted!

 

I left Yeovil after three games of the new season. I think I lost my mojo there, wasn't enjoying it anymore and the financial support from the board just was not there. I was unemployed for about 3 months, but I have now taken a job in La Liga at Real San Sebastian, aka Real Sociedad. They just sacked Eusebio, and are sitting just above the relegation zone.

 

Impressive reids. I have about 10 scouts at Watford, and I thought that was quite impressive! I enjoy the aspect of the game now where you have to send your scouts out to acquire knowledge of players throughout the world. Pretty realistic.

Good luck in Spain! Quite a jump from Yeovil!

Still sitting 7th after 26 games and on the fringes of Europe. Got knocked out of the FA Cup in the 5th Round at home to Chelsea 1-2, because of an opening 15 minutes of madness where they battered us. Pretty gutting as I was really going for the Cup. Not been past the 5th round of any competition since I started my game which is quite frustrating. Also, all my English promotions have been in 2nd place, I need to win a trophy at some point!

 

I finished my first season in the Premier League, and finished an amazing 6th, qualifying for the Europa League ahead of Chelsea and Spurs! 6th is Watford's second highest top division finish since the famous 2nd place season in the 80's. So in the game about 45 years ago! In fact we were very close to making 4th and the Champions League, but a couple of of disappointing draws and defeats put paid to this. Notable moments included beating Liverpool at home on the first day, and pulling off wins at Arsenal and Man Utd very close together during the run in to the end of the season. Also, just broke my transfer record to sign a young Belgium 21 year old called Jack Nguyen from Anderlecht for £22 million, looks like he could be the next best thing. We shall see.

The end of the season was tinged with sadness as Peter Arnett departed to newly promoted Derby for £12 million, having failed to make an impression with us in the Premier League. I brought him on for the last 10 minutes in the last game at home to West Ham, where the fans gave him a rousing send off! So my run of managing him since my League Two days at Eastleigh is over. Incidentally Eastleigh finished mid-table in League One, they have fallen since my departure.

Starting my new (real life!) job on Monday, so after 10 days or so of good game time, I think updates could be limited moving forward into the spring!

 

booo I could see arnett lifting the European cup!

 

Interesting Peter Arnett, he came through for me at Watford in my game. I won the league after 5 seasons but haven't played it for a while since I took on the England job part time and I realised how crap international football is. Pernanada went for 45 mill to PSG.

 

Bought the game when it was released but struggled to get into it... today i tried again and i'm hooked again. god help me.

Starting as Watford and will have a heavy focus on youth development. Whether it be through the youth academy or buying youngsters.

Tactics










Signings






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Has every one else found that Watford withdraw from the under 23s and under 18s in the 17/18 season?

Super annoying!!!

 

Don't you have to accept the invitation each season?

 

I checked the database files and the 'youth leagues' was untucked which means I was never invited. Once a ticked it saved it I was back in the youth leagues. I tweeted miles and he said that it shouldn't be like that and doesn't happen to him.

Which is weird because I was running vanilla, no add ons or mods.

 

Beta version should be out tomorrow. Finally a precise "/100" scouting system. Richarlison better be good...

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@reids - just got round to ready your blogs while bored at work and excited about the upcoming FM18 - great stuff! I enjoyed it immensely and am looking forward to seeing what you have planned next. Top work

 

Ta! Took an immense amount of time haha.

Beta is out now, Richarlison looks an absolute beast - as does Doucoure. Juan Hernandez looks special as well.

 

Knew Miles wouldn't let us down haha! Any chance of a screenshot of those 2?

 

Ask and you shall receive:

Richarlison: https://i.imgur.com/N630nCe.png
Doucoure: https://i.imgur.com/FAPIEgb.png
Juan Hernandez: https://i.imgur.com/XHy1KXG.png

 

10 off the ball?! Hmmm. Doucoure looks great though. Man I love numbers.

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Richarlison has been a bit short changed on some of those stats.

Doucoure looks immense though.

What about the fan's favourite, Andre Gray?

 

What about Peñaranda?

 

Penaranda, Richarlison, Hernandez and Matheus are wonderkids. Next year I assume we'll pick up another 4, then another 4 until we take over the world. Mwahahahaha

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FM18 confirming the loan location of all the kids I've never heard of before. Including this Matheus who looks awesome

 

Can someone please post Andre Gray’s stats on FM, interested to see what he has. Thanks.

 

I'll post them when I get home, he's been good for me so far in my 4231. First touch is 10 if I remember correctly. Success and Richarlison are killing it on each wing at the moment!

 

Here you go. Also, £70k a week?!?

 

Thanks, looks pretty decent actually, a part from that first touch.

Does FM allow you to coach that to get it higher?

 

Two seasons in.

Penaranda is insane.

Deeney so good with a striker next to him - sold to Southampton for £33 million.

Decent change for Kabasele as well £15 million I think.

Doccoure's stats go up really well when played!

Chalobah & Hughes, with game time, go on to become excellent.

After first season the whole defence needs refreshing, bought a left back and 2 centre backs. Janmaat survived.

 

Yes, but considering he's 26 it most likely won't increase that much

 

Is there a classic mode on FM this year? I.e. dumbed down tactics wise, no 'trequartista' for example.

 

So, I downloaded the demo the other day and here's how I'm doing..

11 games in and I'm sitting in 19th. Formations wise, I've been using a combo of 4-2-3-1, and 5-3-2 (3CBs, 2WBs).

I've scored 16 goals in the league so far, but have conceded 24 which is obviously shocking. It's clear that my problems lie in my defence. Perhaps I have set Holebas and Janmaat to be too attacking minded?

In terms of player performances, Deeney came into the season injured and despite now being fully fit, is yet to score a goal or assist. Andre Gray has bagged 3 goals, yet Richarlison has been largely very ineffective. I've tried playing Richarlison on the left wing as a winger (support) and inside forward (attack, and I'm retraining him for this role), but apart from the 1 assist he's been very ineffective. Success has been ok, but is injured atm.

A few positives though:

Will Hughes got called up by Southgate to the England squad, and now has 2 caps to his name.

I signed a young CB from Charlton called Ezri Konsa, who's coming on leaps and bounds at Doncaster.

Willliams Velasquez's and Cucho's stats are shooting up, and the former has already been capped by Venezuela.

David Sesay (looks like an excellent prospect) and Michael Folivi are doing well out on loan, and like the above their stats are going up.

Any hints or tips on how I can climb up the league? Only 3 wins so far:

4-1 at home to Spurs
3-2 at home to Arsenal
4-3 at home to Bournemouth

Thanks all!

 

Stick a screenshot of your tactics up here, I might be able to help!

 

Been really enjoying taking my game slow this year. Inspired by @reids and his blogs I've spent a lot more time and care into my save and so far it's been working wonders.

I had actually planned to set up using a 4-2-3-1 control but the team has ended up settling very nicely into a 4-3-2-1DM using Chalobah as a Regista and Success & Richarlison as inside forwards feeding Gray. Currently sitting 4th, with Gray top scorer and Richarlison top assists in the league!

Reshaped the defence a bit by bringing in Jordan Lukaku on loan for the left and Diego Reyes from Porto as a ball playing defender for under 3 million - bargain! Also brought in Stefano Sturaro who had been transfer listed by Juventus for 6 million - that's now 5 4 star midfielders with Hughes and Cleverley as backup! Also bough a few promising youngsters from South America who have gone to Valladolid to get work permits, can't remember their names off the top of my head.

Managed to shift a few players who didn't really interest me - Okaka for 6m, Mapps for 4m, and Prodl to Stoke for 10m (this upset Deeney and I struggled to find another Defender I wanted but ended up bringing in Sergi Gomez on loan as another ball playing defender - done well so far!).

Scouting system has revealed some great youngsters to keep track of, mainly in Brazil but having Valladolid as an affiliate makes getting them in and grabbing the work permit much easier!

Highlights have included beating City 4-1, Liverpool 3-2 and the scum 3-0 in the cup!

If anyone's interested I can grab some screenshots later, let me know.

 

I'll upload a screenie of my formation(s) once the game has finished downloading

Since I last posted I've been doing better. I've largely ditched the 4-2-3-1 formation and instead have adopted a 4-4-2 and 5-3-2 (3 CBs, 2WB, 3CMs, 2FWs) and have been doing better recently. Now on Christmas Eve 2017 and I'm sitting in 13th, with 7 wins to my name. Andre Gray is top scorer with 7 goals and what's nice is that players from the midfield are contributing also. Still conceding too many goals, but since I've ditched my previous formation this has improved.

Cleverley has been phenomenal for me so far and Southgate is really missing a trick by not calling him up. He has been in the executive box with Gino recently though to watch Deeney. On the subject of Deeney, he's scored 2 league goals and has 1/2 assists to his name, but has been very quiet other than that. I suspect that if I went more direct at times, I'd play to his strengths.

Success is doing pretty well, but poor Richarlison just can't get in my team at the mo as I'm playing 4-4-2 mostly and he doesn't fit into this formation at all. I might try Grrwood's formation above and see if that can bring the best out of him.

Transfers-wise, I've sold Dje-Dje, and Kaboul and Zeegelaar are expected to leave in Jan. Not made any major signings, but Capoue has done very well for me so far and has been linked with a £28.5m move to AC Milan. If he goes, I'll look to bring in another CM, definitely. Capoue would be a loss, but with Cleverley, Hughes, Chalobah, Pereyra and Doucoure all fighting for 2/3 spots at CM, there is such strength in depth here, and quality also. I would look to spend half of this on a young replacement and the rest on a LB/LWB.

I've terminated the contracts of a number of staff at the Vic and have brought in a new head of youth development, coaches, some scouts and am also looking for a head of sport science.

 

Update.. At the beginning of Feb and the team has gone from strength to strength. Andre Gray is now top scorer with 13 PL goals, and his good form has been a contributing factor towards my position of 10th in the table with 11 games to go.

Surprisingly, 4-4-2 is going really well for me and I'm passing teams off the pitch at home and scoring for fun. My away record is the 5th worst in the league though, so something needs to be done about that. Poor Richarlison is doing well whenever I play him on the LW, but the trouble is that I don't play this formation often, and so he's not getting much of a look in at the moment. Perhaps I will play 4-1-2-2-1 away from home..

 

Well things are going pretty well for my lot - after 22 games we sit in 3rd but things are tight at the top! United are already 10 points clear, and only 3 points seperate 2nd - 6th, with 3 of us on 41 points. Some great individual performances have really helped, Gray is the league's top scorer and joint best rating with 19 goals averaging at 7.47, and Richarlison is on 11 assists despite being out injured for 3 weeks. He also won the European Golden Boy award after a flying start to the season!

I'm lucky to have a lot of cover at the team but as you can imagine there are some concerned with lack of games. I don't have any room for Cleverly with 5 midfielders ahead of him at the moment but as he is highly influential I have some concerns about trying to cash in on him. Kaboul and Britos are free to go - as of yet I haven't been able to find a consistent partner for Diego Reyes at the back but have tended to play Cathcart or Kabasele. Karnesis wanted his loan terminated so I am down to Bachmann as backup, and I have recalled Zarate from his loan to cover for Gray and potentially play alongside Pereyra in a 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree. I feel like we've been found out a bit and have had to move formations around a fair bit to rescue games.

I now have a very interesting transfer window ahead of me, I've identified many promising youngsters I want to go after but have no budget at all at the moment. The Defence needs improving for sure and I'd love another winger as Carrillo has been pants so far. Trying to cash in Cleverley is very tempting but I really think it might cause some problems in the squad... I've attached my squad below, would love to know what you guys would do.