Futbol Fanatik

A blog about Football Manager, Manchester United, and the Montreal Impact.

[futbolfanatik-blog]

FM11 – 2020-2021 Season Summary: Another Great Season

We also signed five new players and let go of four. Javier Esparza, Jean-Paul Stephan, Joe Brookes, Hamza Ben Ahmed, and Mário Oliveira joined the club while Danny Welbeck, Martin Tomlinson, Eddie Deans, Daniel Kofi Agyei left for greener pastures.

Since Ben Ahmed and Oliveira were signed during the winter window, they didn't really have time to show their full potential (although Ben Ahmed made a great impression on the fans). I didn't even want to sign Ben Ahmed during the window since his contract was expiring in June but Manchester City tipped my hand by making a bid for him. City had already signed one of my targets during the summer so I didn't want to lose another one to our rivals. Esparza was signed as a back-up fullback to cover for injuries and consequently didn't play too much. Stephan and Brookes though quickly made a name for themselves as you can see below.

Key Players:

1. Marc Cruz (Striker)

It took several seasons but Cruz finally won the English Premier Division Top Goalscorer award with 24 goals to his name – 41 goals in all competitions. He also set a new average rating record with a rating of 7.87 for the season.

2. Juan Francisco Buyo (Winger)

After a brilliant debut season where he broke the club's assists record, Buyo's form dipped in the next three seasons. I gave him the right wing spot this season, starting Sánchez only when Buyo was tired or injured and the Spaniard reacted well with 18 goals and 32 assists in 32 games. He won Best Player of the Champions League, slightly edging out Marc Cruz for the award.

3. Francisco Olalla (Defender)

Olalla was healthy for much of the season this year and it made a big difference in our backline as we conceded only 25 goals in the league. I feel like I'm repeating myself but when he's not there, our defense leaks like a sieve.

4. Kevin Reiß (Midfielder)

This guy wildly exceeded my expectations in his first season and became a permanent fixture of my starting eleven this year. With 43 appearances total (1 as a sub), he played the most games on the team – yes, more games than De Gea. His 6 goals and 9 assists aren't amazing stats but his versatility allows me to give him different roles in the heart of the midfield, be it Defensive Midfielder, Anchor Man, Ball-Winning Midfielder, Deep-Lying Playmaker, or Advanced Playmaker. I'm pretty sure that I'll give him the captaincy in a season or two.

5. Antoine Griezmann (Winger)

Again, Bébé got injured for a long stretch of the season and again Griezmann stepped up. He and Buyo have been tearing up the wings this season. Hopefully, he keeps it up next year even though he has reached his thirties.

Revelations of the Season:

1. Joe Brookes (Midfielder)

I've been keeping an eye on Joe Brookes since he was 16. At 18, he was unhappy to be listed for loan by his club because he thought he was too good to be loaned out. I was wary, but impressed by his confidence at such a young age. I bought him from Wolves for £7.5 million. It was a robbery. Although he scored only one goal and got only 8 assists in 37 appearances, he knows how to control the tempo of a game and works well with his teammates. Nuñez should watch his back.

2. Jean-Paul Stephan (Winger)

I initially thought that I had overspent on Stephan, giving Lorient £19.5 million for his transfer but a six-month tutoring period by Alexis Sánchez turned him into the player I thought I was getting. He is similar to Sánchez but more incisive. I will probably give him more minutes next season to see if he is the real deal.

[futbolfanatik-blog]

FM11 - 2019-2020 Season Summary: Doin' It Like It's 1999

We comfortably won the Club World Cup in December only to come back to the league with back-to-back defeats against Aston Villa (0-2) and Manchester City (0-1). City were a considerable foe this season. After they hired Rafa Benítez in January, they were neck and neck with us for the title until a disastrous run at the end of the season where they won two games in the last six matches. I like to think that our 3-0 win against them in the FA Cup semifinal was the catalyst of that breakdown, but their 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa in the Europa League semifinal probably didn't help morale either.

Much like the Premier League, our Champions League campaign wasn't easy either. The group stage was pretty straightforward as we easily dispatched Rangers, Werder Bremen, and M. Tel Aviv. The knockout stages were much more complicated. We managed to grind a 1-0 win away from home against Juventus and that away goal turned out to be the difference as we drew 1-1 at home. Cruz was our lone scorer in both games. The same story repeated itself in the quarterfinals against Atlético Madrid. We drew 0-0 at home and went on to beat them 2-0 at the Vicente Calderón. The semifinals were... interesting, for a lack of better term. We were pitted against Inter Milan, Paulo Henrique's team. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'd know that Paulo Henrique was probably the worst transfer of my tenure and I practically gave him to Inter after buying him for £50 million. To the surprise of no one, he was instrumental in the first leg, giving the key pass that would lead to Inter's winning goal and our first loss in Europe.

Since neither our 4-1-2-2-1 and 4-3-2-1 were able to break through Inter's defense, I took a gamble in the second leg and set out the team in a 4-1-3-2. If we were going down, we were going down swinging. The extra players in Inter's half of the pitch made all the difference. We were up 2-0 by the half-hour mark thanks to a brace by Marc Cruz. Griezmann added two more goals right after the halftime break. Inter came back with one goal but it wasn't enough. Sánchez and Coeff finished off the job with two more goals and we won 6-2 on aggregate. What a ride!

But wait, there's more! Another old friend was set to face us in the final as Sergio Agüero was Barcelona's lone striker in a repeat of the 2009 final. With our best defender absent due to injury, we were gonna have our work cut out for us.

Agüero had a field day against us in the first half. Constantly threatening our defense and forcing De Gea to come up with some big saves. Our goalkeeper wasn't going to survive an onslaught like this for long, and he finally broke – twice – before halftime as Agüero put his team up 2-0.

In the second half, I instructed Darren Knox to mark Agüero tightly. I was risking having a hole in defense every time the Argentine came back deep but he was the most dangerous player on the pitch and I needed someone on him. I subbed off Bébé and Cruz shortly after the hour mark as they were completely ineffective and replaced them with Griezmann and Rooney. I instructed Rooney to swap with Silva every once in a while and the move immediately paid off. Three minutes after Rooney came on, Silva scored our first goal, reducing the scoreline to 2-1. Game on! I instructed the team to attack, attack, attack in the final 15 minutes, and they duly responded. Darren Knox brought the score level to 2-2 in the 80th minute!

We were looking good. Only one more goal and we would win our 12thChampions League. Then, tragedy struck. Riccardi picked up his second yellow and was promptly sent off in the 86th minute. We had to finish the game with ten men. Thankfully, I had one more sub and used it to replace Vidal by Coeff. Coeff would not only take Riccardi's place in the heart of defense, but his play-making abilities meant that I could place him as a Ball-Playing Defender and consequently launch our attacks from deep. At the end of 90 minutes, the score was still 2-2. We were going to extra-time with tired legs and one man down, a tough ask for any team in the world. But not this team.

It wasn't the first time this season that we had to come back and beat the odds. We came back from 1-0 down to 2-1 to win the FA Cup against Wolves. We came back from 2-0 down to beat Ipswich 3-2. We beat Reading 3-0 after picking up a red card in the opening minutes. Granted, none of these teams are Barcelona but it could be done. And it was. In the 99th minute, we got a penalty. Kevin Reiß – a 22 year-old midfielder who quickly became one of the key members of the squad in his first full season at the club – stepped up to the plate and coolly finished it off. 3-2. 12thChampions League title. 8Th consecutive Champions League trophy. See you next year.

Key Players:

1. Marc Cruz (Striker)

Not as prolific as last season but still THE man as far as our team is concerned. Voted Best Player of the Champions League and Golden Boot winner. He was also our Best Player at the Club World Cup.

2. Michele Roma (Defender)

After Fábio's transfer to Juventus, Roma was the only healthy left-back we had until Sergio Castillejo's arrival. His performances didn't drop at all despite the fixture congestion and he's looking like a serious candidate for the captaincy next season.

3. Stefan Ulrich (Defender)

In his first season at the club, Ulrich easily made the right-back position his own. His indiscipline is a concern but he more than makes up for it with crucial assists and intelligent crosses.

4. Kevin Reiß (Midfielder)

Also in his first full season at the club, Reiß pushed both Vidal and Coeff out of the starting line-up with great defensive plays and crucial goals including the winner in the Champions League final.

5. David De Gea (Goalkeeper)

If De Gea hadn't been healthy for the entire season, we would have been in serious trouble. Indeed, squad limitations forced me to register only 2 keepers for the season and Rob Hird broke his ribs midway through the season, leaving us with only one goalkeeper for the final stretch. De Gea might have conceded more than the previous seasons, but he did the job when it mattered.

Revelations of the Season:

1. Stefan Ulrich (Defender)

See above.

2. Kevin Reiß (Midfielder)

See above.

3. Lamine Badji (Winger)

I wasn't planning to play him much this season but he showed that he was able to keep up with the big boys. His hat trick against Reading was one of the highlights of the season.

Disappointment of the Season:

Jack Wilshere (Midfielder)

Was injured for long stretches of the season. What good is a depth player if he can't stay healthy?

[futbolfanatik-blog]

FM11 – 2018-2019 Season Summary: Champions Once Again

Our offense got better this year with 100 goals scored but our Champions League run was difficult since we couldn't seem to get a win away from home. Olalla's injury explained a good part of our defensive problems since he missed most of the games in the knockout rounds. Riccardi's injury only made matters worse as I had to rely on Varane, Smalling, and newcomer Darren Knox to carry the defense until the two stars came back.

Speaking of newcomers, four players joined us in the winter transfer window: the aforementioned Darren Knox, English star Jack Wilshere, youngsters Kevin Reiß and Lamine Badji.

Knox, Reiß, and Badji were all long-term moves as they're all under 23. Knox is a significant upgrade over Smalling while Reiß is Vidal's heir apparent. Badji was a cheap and young left-winger - a gamble who will hopefully be better than Bébé and/or Griezmann. Wilshere, on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise. When setting up my shortlists at the beginning of the season, I noticed that his contract was going to end in 2019 so I kept a close eye on him. His lack of playing time at Arsenal made him a prime target for any team looking to make a depth move especially since he was only 27 years old and could play anywhere in midfield. I snapped him up for £1.5m, cheap change out of the £77m transfer kitty.

There was one departure of note in that same window. Rafael, who wanted to look for other challenges, was sold to Real Madrid for £10m. I was surprised to see that the fans weren't sad about his departure but the move severely disrupted my starting line-up. Alberto originally took his place but a string of average performances forced me to try out Martínez in his place. Martínez played well against the minnows but wasn't good enough against the big teams. I finally decided to switch Fábio to the right flank and make Michele Roma the undisputed starter at left-back. It worked until Fábio got a dislocated shoulder in May which forced me to go back to the drawing board. Then, Alberto got injured in training before the Champions League final, so Martínez got the nod against Real Madrid. The Spaniard did well considering he was facing Cristiano Ronaldo. Olalla and Riccardi were also back for this match and we ended up winning the Champions League for the seventh time in a row.

Key Players:

1. Marc Cruz (Striker)

41 goals and 14 assists for the Spanish superstar, including the game-winning goal in the Champions League final. What more needs to be said about this exceptional player?

2. Javier Silva (Striker / Attacking Midfielder)

Another solid season for the Argentine striker with 25 goals and 12 assists. He's not as prolific as Cruz but he's just as good when it comes to scoring in the big games.

3. Antoine Griezmann (Winger)

He did an excellent job replacing Bébé in the first half of the season. I'm a little concerned that his attributes are already going down even though he's only 28. Still, his versatility in the attacking positions always comes in handy.

4. Michele Roma (Defender)

When I gave him the starting left-back position, he just ran with it. He had a tough time in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal against Olympique Lyonnais but a small adjustement in marking the opposition's winger quickly gave him the upper-hand. I might start him more often next season.

5. Arturo Vidal (Midfielder)

Vidal only scored one goal this season but he has been a permanent fixture in my starting eleven – when he's not suspended due to yellow cards accumulation, that is. His workrate in midfield is exemplary. He's getting older though so I hope Kevin Reiß lives up to the hype. The youngster has big shoes to fill.

Revelations of the Season:

1. Darren Knox (Defender)

He's not as good as Olalla and Riccardi but is still pretty effective. He'll have to work on his complacency though since he easily becomes disinterested when we're winning a game.

2. Daniel Meléndez (Defender)

His stats were the same as last season but his defensive abilities have massively improved. It's a shame that he's behind both Fábio and Roma.

Disappointment of the Season:

Elliot Duffy (Midfielder)

I had high hopes for this Academy graduate this year but a season filled with injuries severely hampered his development. If he doesn't improve in the next two years, I'll have to let him go.

[futbolfanatik-blog]

FM14 – January 2014: Welbeck is Dat Guy

Before January, Welbeck had 10 appearances in all competitions and only one goal to his name. He completely reversed the trend in January with 6 goals in 4 appearances.

It all started with a marvelous hat-trick against Blackburn in the FA Cup. Yes, it was Blackburn. Yes, it was the FA Cup. But it was surprising to see him turn almost every touch of the ball into a goal especially when he played with Chicharito right alongside him. The Mexican striker, who was our go-to guy before the holidays, had a very quiet game in comparison to Welbeck. It almost felt like he wasn't even palying.

He sat out the next two games (a 2-0 win over Southampton, and a 1-0 victory against Arsenal in the Capital One Cup), and came back for our league game against Crystal Palace where he scored twice in a 3-0 win.

At this point, I thought “three goals against Blackburn, two against Palace, why not start him in a big game and see how he will do?” I had a specific line-up in mind for the return leg against Arsenal in the Capital One Cup so he didn't play there. Instead, I gave him a start alongside Rooney in our second FA Cup fixture of the month which was against Manchester City.

City came back with the same formation that we had beaten 2-1 back in December so I responded in kind with the same attacking 4-4-2 albeit with a couple of personnel changes.

We started the game well, taking a 2-0 lead by the half-hour mark. Unfortunately, City came back to 2-1 in the second half via a Yaya Touré strike. I was worried that we would break down again in similar fashion to the game against Marseille, but Welbeck was here to save the day. He scored the insurance goal in the 92nd minute and we held on to the 3-1 scoreline to progress to the Fifth Round.

Off the field, we were very quiet on the transfer front with only one departure to note. I sent Anderson back to Porto for around £11 million. With Cleverley and Carrick playing the Deep Playmaker role, and Rooney, Kagawa, Januzaj all able to play Advanced Playmaker, there was just no space for him. I wish him well and hope he'll do well. Just not against us.

[futbolfanatik-blog]

FM14 – December 2013: Rough Stretch

A flat 4-4-2 could only salvage a 1-1 draw against Chelsea after falling behind via a Rafael own-goal. Chicharito was there to rescue us once again by grabbing the equalizer in the 88th minute.

Against Marseille, I switched to a 4-1-4-1. We started well, scoring the opening goal in the 7th minute; but when Ashley Young made it 2-1, I could only watch helplessly as the entire team switched off and let Marseille come back into the game and win it 3-2. We were already qualified so the loss didn't influence the standings as far as we were concerned but our late-game collapse was worrying.

Things went from bad to worse against Arsenal. When Wayne Rooney missed a penalty in the first half, I knew – I just knew – that we weren't going to win. Again, we conceded late as Cazorla scored the only goal of the game in the 76th minute.

We got a brief respite the following week as we received Charlton in a Capital One Cup fixture. We easily beat the Championship side 3-0. We followed that win with another clean sheet in a 2-0 victory over Everton.

On Boxing Day, we went over to the Etihad stadium for the first Manchester derby of the season. Although they looked threatening in a 4-3-2-1, I did not select a conservative formation, opting instead for an attacking 4-4-2 with De Gea in goal; Evra, Vidic, Evans, and Rafael in defense; Yacob and Carrick in central midfield; Welbeck and Nani on the wings; Rooney and Chicharito up front.

Rooney scored first in the 28th minute but City quickly replied via David Silva. We took the lead again when Jonny Evans scored a great header in the second half. That proved to be the winning goal of this Manchester derby. A great win for the team and for the fans.

Confidence was high after the two wins, especially since they were both away wins. We came back home for the last game of the month, beating Newcastle by the score of 3-1.

After 19 games, we are surprisingly first in the league, four points ahead of Chelsea. I don't expect to make new signings in the winter transfer window but you never know. A couple of wingers could always be helpful despite the good work of Ashley Young so far this season. We could also use another central midfielder since we lack a true box-to-box midfielder. We'll see how it goes.

[futbolfanatik-blog]

FM14 – November 2014: Business As Usual

We clinched our qualification to the Champions League's knockout rounds with a 0-0 draw against Juventus at home. A 5-1 thumping of Anderlecht ensured first place in the group. All that with one game to go in the group stage. Not too shabby considering the personnel at hand.

Apart from Juventus, our toughest game this month was surprisingly against Hull. Defensively, they were very compact. Offensively, they used a slow and methodical tempo, waiting for our players to get dragged out of position to make their move. They took the lead early in the second half when Fábio lost his mark. We equalized soon after but found it very hard to get the winner. Switching Chicharito from Poacher to Advanced Forward gave us better control in the final third and it was an inspired backheel from the Mexican that allowed Kagawa to score the winning goal in the 88th minute.

It wasn't all rainbows and unicorns though. We had another rash of injuries to contend with as Rafael, Giggs, and Jones all went down at some point during the month. Consequently, Santon and Carrick both had to play more than their fair share of games. On the positive side, Januzaj got plenty of playtime this month but I hope we won't get anymore injuries in the fixture-heavy month of December. Our flanks and central midfield are already bare as is. We could use a bit of luck in the injury department for once.

[futbolfanatik-blog]

FM14 – October 2013: Big Loss, Big Wins

Liverpool FC. I hate them in real life. I hate them in Football Manager. They always give me trouble and this time was no different. Our 4-2-3-1 had no answer for their 4-1-2-2-1 and we lost 1-0 after they scored an early goal. A disappointing loss considering we managed to keep Suarez quiet for the whole 90 and they had only one shot on target.

The international break was right after the Liverpool game so the players didn't have to linger on that narrow defeat. Of course, international breaks always come with their lot of bad news and it was announced that Robin van Persie would be out for two months after picking a knee injury while playing for the Netherlands. It was frustrating news since he had just come back to full fitness after getting injured in the Community Shield game and we had two difficult games coming up – a League clash against Spurs and a Champions League fixture against Juventus.

Against Spurs, I went with a very defensive team with Phil Jones, Fellaini, and Carrick in the middle. It was a gamble that turned out to be surprisingly effective. Although Spurs had most of the possession, they never bothered De Gea and we comfortably won 2-0.

Juventus was a completely different beast. The opposition report suggested that we play 4-4-2 against the Italian giants. Although it felt like suicide, I had no choice really since Yacob was our only fresh Defensive Midfielder. And so, we set out with a flat 4-4-2 with De Gea in goal; Evra, Evans, Ferdinand, Fábio in defense; Young, Yacob, Giggs, Valencia in midfield; Chicharito and Rooney up front.

I was very nervous both before and during the game but the players did the job and we emerged as the unlikely winners with Jonny Evans scoring both of our goals.

This win combined with the win against Marseille earlier in the month put us in great position in our Champions League group. Beating Juventus away was a massive win and I hope we repeat the feat at home next month.

[futbolfanatik-blog]

FM14 – September 2013: Testing Our Depth

Rotation was the main theme of the month as we set ourselves to compete on three fronts. The line-up shuffling started in the second match of this six-game stretch and led to the first negative result of the campaign.

Since RVP's injury in the Community Shield, our starting line-up looked like the real deal even without the Dutch striker up front and Michael Carrick in midfield. Yacob and Fellaini were doing a great job in the middle of the park while Kagawa expertly pulled the strings in all of our wins so far this season. However, to successfully compete on all fronts without burning out our players, I had to split up our most solid pairings to have a minimum amount of experience in all competitions. The broken partnerships were Vidic and Ferdinand, Yacob and Fellaini, and Kagawa-Rooney. In defense, I already knew that Vidic would be paired up with Evans while Ferdinand would partner Smalling so that both of our central defense pairings would have one Stopper (Vidic and Smalling) and one Ball-Playing Covering Defender (Ferdinand and Evans). In midfield, my choice of players was mainly influenced by form and fitness since Yacob was our only true enforcer. I had to find pairings that were the most likely to lead us to victory and not get tired or injured.

And so against West Brom, Jonny Evans, Tom Cleverley, and Danny Welbeck all got their first start of the season while Ferdinand, Fellaini, and Rooney were being rested for the Champions League fixture against Anderlecht.

The changes combined to the return from the international break led to an uninspiring performance and we were held to a 0-0 draw at the Hawthorns. Rooney came off the bench and almost got us the winner in the 90th minute but it was not to be.

We traveled to Belgium the following Wednesday to start our Champions League campaign. Welbeck was the only player who stayed on the starting eleven as we switched to a 4-4-2 with Lindegaard in goal; Fábio, Smalling, Ferdinand, Santon in defense; Phil Jones and Michael Carrick in central midfield; Welbeck and Nani on the wings; and Rooney with Van Persie up front.

Once again, we weren't at our best and had to rely on two set-pieces to win the game. The first was a brilliant free-kick from Van Persie in the first half, then Ferdinand scored the winning goal with a nice header from a corner kick in the second half.

We returned to our successful 4-2-3-1 for our next game against West Ham. Javier Hernández was given his first start of the season and the rest of the team was made up of the usual suspects.

The familiarity between our front six was evident as we thumped the Hammers 6-0. Chicharito and Young both scored twice while Kagawa put in another great performance.

I rewarded Chicharito with a second consecutive start in our midweek Capital One Cup clash against Ipswich Town. The Mexican striker scored again, leading us to a 3-1 win at Old Trafford.

He started again in our last game of the month against Fulham but didn't score this time. Still, we won 2-1, tightening our grip on second place two points behind league leaders Chelsea.

Although we got RVP back this month, my squad selection problems aren't over as both Cleverley and Anderson got injured. Consequently, rotating our central midfielders will be slightly more complicated than expected. Januzaj also went down at the beginning of the month but I think we'll get him back next month. He will be a welcomed addition on the wings.

[futbolfanatik-blog]

FM14 – August 2013: A Good Start

As mentioned last time, our first competitive game of the season was the Community Shield match against Wigan. Readers of this blog know that I like to employ a five-man midfield with either a DM or an AMC depending on the opposition. In this game, I opted for a 4-2-3-1 with Lindegaard in goal; Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra in defense; Yacob and Fellaini in central midfield, the former as a Ball-Winning Midfielder, the latter as a Box-to-Box Midfielder. Young and Valencia played on the wings. Finally, Rooney was placed in the hole behind Van Persie as an Advanced Playmaker.

It took us a while to get going but we finally scored early in the second half and ended up winning 2-0, the first of hopefully many trophies this season. On the negative side, we lost Van Persie to injury and it was revealed that he would be out for three weeks – terrible news for the start of the season.

However, Van Persie's injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise for our next two games as Kagawa stepped up to the plate magnificently, pulling the strings in both our 4-1 win over Stoke and 4-0 win over Southampton.

We initially found it hard to break through Stoke's Christmas tree formation but a simple instruction to “Exploit the Flanks” opened up all the space we needed to get our game going. Against Southampton, we focused on attacking down the right flank since Luke Shaw was having a mare against Valencia and yet it was Ashley Young on the left who ended up scoring a hattrick.

Off the pitch, the transfer window is quietly closing in England. We sent a couple more players out on loan on deadline day and didn't bring any reinforcements other than our summer signings. Our depth will be tested in the coming weeks when both the Capital One Cup and the Champions League get underway.

[futbolfanatik-blog]

FM14 – Summer 2013: A New Adventure Begins

After Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement at the end of the 2012-2013 season, taking up the manager role at Old Trafford in this year's edition of Football Manager was a no-brainer. Having already turned Manchester United into a dynasty on Football Manager 2011, I relished the occasion to do it again in different circumstances. The old coaching staff is gone. All the top teams have strengthened their ranks and they are gunning for us.

The first thing I did after taking charge was to approach the old coaching staff, namely Mike Phelan, Eric Steele, and René Meulensteen. They were with me in FM11 and I was keen to have them back. Sadly, both Steele and Phelan turned me down. Meulensteen, on the other hand, was glad to come back. I knew there was a reason why he was my favorite. I also signed a goalkeeping coach to lighten the load on Chris Woods.

I then turned to strengthening the squad, looking mostly for dynamic defensive midfielders and wingers. Most, if not all, players I ended up shortlisting were too expensive for us. My main target in central midfield was Bayer Leverkusen's Lars Bender but his asking price was too high. I ended up signing West Brom's Claudio Yacob for $16M.

Meanwhile, I was constantly harassed by Bayern and PSG who both were determined to sign Rafael. I refused to let the fullback go since I consider him to be one of our key players. He wasn't very happy after I turned down PSG's second offer and so I promised that we'd match his ambitions by winning the league this year. Knowing that this was easier said than done, I started to look for a replacement just in case I would be forced to sell him at the end of the season. That replacement turned out to be Newcastle's Davide Santon who I signed for $18M. His ability to play on both flanks was a bonus since I had sold Alexander Büttner earlier on to Rubin Kazan, leaving me with only Fábio as back up to Evra.

The last signing of the summer was 16-year-old striker Richairo Zivkovic from FC Groningen. My scouts were begging me to sign him. All the big clubs were after him. We ended up getting him and the fans were very happy. I'm curious to see how he will turn out in the long run.

In other transfer news, Barcelona signed Gündogan, much to my chagrin. I was counting on waiting out his Dortmund contract to sign him but it was not to be.

Sending out a bunch of our lads on loan was my only other task in this window. Five players were sent out, excluding those already on loan before I took charge. More will probably be on their way out as well to gain first-team experience.

On the pitch, we had good days and bad days during this pre-season. I'm still tweaking our tactics to get them right. We start the campaign with the Community Shield fixture against Wigan without De Gea who's out injured. I hope we get off to a good start.

[futbolfanatik-blog]

FM11 – November 2018: Almost Perfect

All I wanted for the month of November was to get revenge against AZ, qualify for the next stage of the Champions League, and put October's terrible results behind us.

We started well with a 3-0 win over Blackpool in which Josh Williams scored his first goal of the season. The players gave me quite a scare in this one since Williams' goal – our second of the game – came late in the 85th minute. I was afraid that we were going to concede like we did against Bolton so that second goal was a huge relief.

We set for the Netherlands the following Wednesday for our second game against AZ Alkmaar. I left the 4-1-3-2 at home and opted for a 4-1-2-2-1 instead to close up the midfield.

The result was positive. We ended up with a 2-0 win over those bastards and subsequently took the lead of our Champions League group.

Four more cleans sheets followed our revenge over AZ. First, we thumped Wolves 5-0 at Molineux including a brace for Williams who seems to be finding his place within the team. Landeiro also scored in this game. All in all, it was a good outing four our Reserves strikers.

Our main strikers weren't gonna stand idly by while the youngsters tore up the opposition though. Indeed, Marc Cruz and Javier Silva partnered up in the next game and led the team to a 6-0 thrashing of West Ham. Cruz finished with two goals, Silva one, and Buyo collected one goal and two assists.

The goals dried up in the next two games, but Marc Cruz scored in both matches, leading us to 2-0 and 1-0 results over Milwall and Ipswich respectively. You would expect us to beat those two teams handily but after the disappointing results we've had since the beginning of the season, I was happy with the six points and clean sheets.

Our last game of the month was the second-to-last fixture of the Champions League group stage and we were scheduled to face Villarreal at he Madrigal. We made our lives difficult by giving away two penalties which Giuseppe Rossi converted effortlessly. We managed to come back and tie the game both times and seemed destined to end up with a 2-2 draw until Vidal came out of nowhere and scored the winning goal in the dying minutes of the game.

[stretfordender]

[futbolfanatik-blog]

FM11 – October 2018: Some Turbulence

I thought we had eliminated our nasty habit of conceding late but I was sorely mistaken. Indeed, we had the three points almost sewn up against Bolton when Remi Johannessen scored in injury time to hold us to a 1-1 draw.

It was worrisome to concede like that, especially when we had Liverpool coming up, a fixture that's never been easy for us. I insisted on Defensive Positioning in our Match Preparation against the Reds and we ended up drawing 0-0. A disappointing but fair result.

After these two results, we hit rock bottom against AZ Alkmaar in the Champions League. The Dutch side surprised us with a quick goal in the opening minutes of each half and hunkered down to a 2-0 victory. The loss was a slap in the face to our club especially since it happened at Old Trafford where losing is unacceptable. The players knew that they played like crap but I still gave them hell for it.

A 4-1 win over Sunderland led me to believe that we had recovered from the three previous games but an early goal by Chelsea on their first shot of the game the following week made me question the team once again. But this time, the players responded well, fighting back to a 2-1 win despite going down to ten men at the hour mark.

So, we are still top at the end of the month but our recent performances have been worrisome. Injuries certainly played a part in it, but we also have discipline problems as evidenced by our nasty habit of conceding both early and late, and our red cards. It might be time to tighten the screw a little.

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FM11 – September 2018: Reaching Cruising Altitude

Things started very well in September as we easily disposed of Chelsea and Peterborough in the first two games of month with Silva the standout player in both games. I was disappointed that we couldn't keep the clean sheet against Peterborough but that was just nitpicking over a nearly flawless performance.

Injuries continued to pile up however. First, it was Alberto who suffered a lower back stress fracture during the international break. Then, Riccardi, who played only one game last month, broke his wrist during the break as well, sidelining him for another month. We then lost Fábio during the game against Peterborough, leaving my defense thin once again.

The rash of injuries were frustrating especially with the Champions League kicking into gear. With Alberto out, I only had two right-backs for the rest of the month, one of which also subbed as a right-winger since Sánchez – one of our right-wingers – subbed as a left-winger when needed due to Bébé's injury.

I was able to put out a pretty strong team against Villarreal and we won the game 2-0 but it was against Arsenal that the problems started.

Our defense for that game was strong. Rafael, Olalla, Varane, and Meléndez had all played well so far so there were no worries there. Midfield, however, was a completely different story. With no Vidal (injured), no Coeff (injured), no Agyei (tired after the Villarreal game), no Rakitić (tired after the Villarreal game), no Nuñez (injured during the Villarreal game), no Sánchez (tired after the Villarreal game), and no Buyo (tired after the Villarreal game), I was forced to improvise.

Consequently, Hakizimana came in to play the Anchor Man in front of the defense while Diomandé and Zerbo both played central midfield, the former as a Ball-Winning Midfielder, the latter as a Central Midfielder with Support duty. It wasn't the most intimidating triangle but it was the only one that worked when taking players' fitness into account. On the wings, Griezmann started on the right wing for the first time this season while Welbeck made his first appearance on the matchday teamsheet starting at left wing.

It went from bad to worse when Varane got a straight red card for a nasty tackle in the 15th minute of play. Hakizimana took his place and we played 4-2-2-1 from that point on. We held our own well despite Arsenal's numerical superiority. I took a gamble at the hour mark, taking out Zerbo and replacing him with Rakitić to try to create some offense in the final thirty minutes. It paid off almost immediately. Ten minutes after Rakitić came on, he delivered a sublime cross to Welbeck who scored an easy tap-in. Arsenal went on the attack after that but I locked down our half of the pitch, putting Silva as a Defensive Forward while Welbeck and Griezmann played as Defensive Wingers. It wasn't pretty but we got the three points in the end, with a clean sheet to boot.

Our next fixture was a League Cup encounter against Blackburn so I decided to give a run out to some of the Reserves players just to be on the safe side. In a 4-1-3-2, Asenjo started in goal; Roma, Pringle, Smalling, Rinaldi played in defense. Agyei started in front of them. Sánchez went out to the left wing since both Welbeck and Griezmann had played the full 90 against Arsenal. Rakitić was our Advanced Playmaker and Ángel García Martínez started on the right wing. Up front, Williams and Landeiro both got their first start of the season.

The game was difficult. It was obvious that several of of our players were nowhere near the level of our first eleven and it showed on the pitch. At the other end, Jonny Evans was having the game of his life against us. Perhaps he was trying to make a point but there was no way Williams or Landeiro were going to get past him. I was going to have to make some substitutions to change the situation. At the hour mark, I replaced a largely disappointing Williams by Agüero, moved Martínez to right-back and replaced Rinaldi by Buyo. Agüero's presence ultimately opened up some space for the other players and Landeiro finally broke the deadlock by scoring a tap-in at the 63rd minute. Buyo scored another late in the game and we were through to the 4th Round with a 2-0 win over Blackburn.

We finished the month with another 2-0 win – this time against Aston Villa – which helped us secure the top spot of the table. All we have to do now is keep going.

[futbolfanatik-blog]

FM11 – August 2018 Summary: So It Begins...

Our first game of the new season was the now traditional Community Shield fixture. However, we weren't facing Arsenal or Chelsea or Manchester City as is usually the case. This time, our opponents were Bolton, a team that beat us twice last year with a surprisingly efficient counterattack. Knowing this, I wasn't going to fall in their trap and play 4-2-3-1 as I would've done last season. I brought out my big game tactic instead – a 4-1-2-2-1 with De Gea in goal; Fábio, Varane, Olalla, Rafael in the backline; Vidal as the enforcer in front of the back four; Coeff and Rakitić as the two central midfielders; Griezmann and Sánchez on the wings; and Marc Cruz up front.

As expected, we dominated the game and Bolton's rare forays into our territory were easily rebuffed by the defense. However, it took a moment of brilliance from Marc Cruz to finally break the deadlock. He stole the ball from a Bolton defender at the halfway line and sprinted towards their goal for an accurate finish. He added an assist in the second half by providing the perfect ball to Rakitić who scored our second with one of is signature curling shots.

The league's schedule wasn't very kind to us as Manchester City were our opponents in the league's opening fixture. I went with the same tactic with only one change: Hakizimana slotted in next to Olalla in defense after Varane picked up an injury during training. Riccardi, Olalla's usual partner, was still on the sidelines from an injury he picked up during pre-season so I had no choice. It was a huge responsibility for the 19-year-old but thankfully City's main striker was unavailable for this game so I had one less thing to worry about.

Again, Marc Cruz was the man of the hour as he scored a hat trick to give us a 3-0 win against City. However, injuries were starting to pile up with both Coeff and Rafael unable to finish the game. Coeff was the worst of the two, suffering a torn calf muscle which could sideline him for 3 to 4 months.

The first derby of the season settled, we made our way slightly up North for an “easier” fixture against Burnley. This time, I changed the formation, opting for a 4-1-3-2 with Silva and Agüero coming in to support Cruz; Hakizimana was given a second consecutive start while Alberto replaced the recovering Rafael.

Despite the firepower up front, it was Olalla who emerged as the Man of the Match with two goals to his name. Sánchez was the other scorer in a 3-1 victory.

Finally, we ended the month with the European SuperCup fixture against Juventus and I returned to the 4-1-2-2-1. Riccardi was finally fit but Olalla was injured so Hakizimana started a third game. Alberto also retained his position and Agyei came in to play the enforcer while Vidal was pushed up to take Coeff's place.

The game was a tightly contested affair and there weren't many shots on target since both teams were forced to shoot from long range. The score was still 0-0 after 120 minutes of play so we had to go to penalties. My choices were fairly limited since Vidal had gone off injured in extra-time while Rakitić was subbed off after 90 minutes due to exhaustion but De Gea came up big, stopping the first two Juve penalty shots and we won the contest 4-1.

All in all, we had a pretty good start but I have a feeling that the team's depth will be severely tested this year with the amount of injuries we already picked up. I think we'll be fine as long as Cruz and our goalkeepers stay healthy.

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FM11 – Summer 2018: Winds Of Change

After a long and arduous campaign, it was time to focus on ways to improve the squad for the coming season. As expected, Raphael Varane and Ivan Nuñez joined us on July 1st while Jonny Evans left us and signed with Blackburn.

I've long complained about Paulo Henrique's inability to gel with the team and with Rakitić, Silva, Griezmann, and now Nuñez all able to play in his position, it was time to let him go and move on. Finding a buyer didn't take too much time and he successfully transferred to Inter Milan for £22 million. He was happy to leave, the fans were happy to see him go, and so concluded the worst transfer of my tenure.

Once Ganso's exit was settled, I set out to find ways to further improve the squad. Jon Aurtenetxe was sold to Sunderland for the tidy sum of £5 million. The Spanish defender barely featured last season, and with several young defenders coming of age, there was just no space left for him. I'm sad to see him go, but that's football.

Speaking of youngsters, there were a few promising talents who I felt weren't that far from making the jump to the first team, they just needed more playing time to develop properly – playing time that I couldn't guarantee with so many players on hand. So both Rob Hird and Iñigo Sanstitebean set out on loan to Blackburn and Q.P.R. respectively.

Elliott Duffy, Daniele Rinaldi, Eddie Deans, and Wayne Pringle were also placed on the Loan list but either clubs were not interested or could not find the necessary funds. I hope to find a team for all of them before the transfer window closes. I know that several clubs are interested in purchasing Duffy and Rinaldi but both of them are long-term prospects that I hope will stay at the club for a long time.

After all of this, there was one surprise signing this summer: Sunderland youngster Josh Williams. The young striker has been on my shortlist since he was just 17 years old but I never made a move for him because we had a logjam at the forward position and English players are always massively overvalued by their clubs. Why and how did I sign him this summer you ask? Easy. With Evans' departure, the club was down one homegrown British player. Not a big deal in terms of talent since our team is stacked, but I was worried that UEFA's squad requirements for the Champions League would come back and bite me in the ass so Williams was one of three targets I had in my mind to compensate (the other two were Birmingham's Jack Butland and Wolves' Under-18 midfielder Joe Brooks).

Of course, Sunderland asked an obscene amount of money for a youngster who hadn't proven much so I figured I would praise him in the media and wait until next year to snap him up on a free. I was almost discouraged when he ended up signing a new deal with the Black Cats but upon closer look, I noticed that he had signed with a release clause: 8.25 million pounds, a laughable amount of money when I had £100 million to spend. The contract negotiations were pretty straightforward and now I just hope that he won't turn into another Connor Wickham.

So here we are, ready to start the season. Our goal this year is simply to do better than the last campaign. I also hope that guys like Duffy, Rinaldi, and Williams will get enough playing time to bolster our depth. Small little factoid for you guys, we are now the youngest team in the league while Arsenal is the oldest. Who would've thought?

[futbolfanatik-blog]

Montreal Impact - Sporting Kansas City: Notes & Ratings

My ratings with some thoughts:

GK - Troy Perkins: 8 | Made several crucial saves to preserve the clean sheet. LB - Jeb Brovsky: 7.5 | Was his usual combative self. Did a great job containing Kei Kamara. CB - Mattero Ferrari: 7.5 | Almost caused the team to concede with a deadly giveaway. Fortunately, nothing came of it. Was solid otherwise. CB - Alessandro Nesta: 8 | I cringe every time I see him gingerly get up from a tackle, worried that it might be his last. He made several of these tackles throughout the game and always came out the winner. RB - Hassoun Camara: 7.5 LW - Sanna Nyassi: 6.5 | His defensive recoveries are a great help to the back four but he's brainless in the final third. CM - Davy Arnaud: 6 | Lots of hustle when defending. Lots of technical defects when going forward. He's not making a case for his position in the starting line-up especially now that Bernardello is here. CM - Patrice Bernier: 7.5 | The only central midfielder able to create things. CAM - Felipe: 6 | Invisible. As much as Arnaud is screws up the Impact's build-up play, Felipe isn't doing much except getting fouled and/or throwing himself to the ground. RW - Justin Mapp: 7 | Faded in and out of the game. Shades of the 2012 Mapp surfaced when he didn't pass the ball to Di Vaio on a break. FW - Marco Di Vaio: 7 | Couldn't get his bearings right. It felt like he was thinking too much instead of acting on instinct. Sub - Andrés Romero: 6.5 | No good defensively but full of pace and tricks once he's in the final third. Sub - Blake Smith: 8 | Absolutely love this kid! He scored the winner and always brings a spark to the game when he comes in. Sub - Andrew Wenger: N/A