35 million to improve my Manchester United? Start of 2nd season (PICTURE)

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Liam Docherty

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Sadly, with this squad I only ended up in 5th position, and just managed to qualify for the Europa league.

The only striker I had luck with was Rooney. The rest just never managed to do much.

I have 35 million to spend, who should I sell and who should I buy to improve my squad?

I'm new to FM, any tips of the right formation would be a great help too.

Thanks for any help!
 
Okay, personally on formation tips I'd change a fair bit. Thomas muller should not be MC (he's shown as MC position on your pic), he operates best as an AML with the role of Inside Forward attack. Sven bender should be your holding anchorman at DM not AMR.

Rooney plays imense as a trequartista and pop Hernandez as a poacher alongside Rooney, that is a great great great goalscoring combo. Hernandez is god on this game. Nani should be your AMR. Don't use Cleverley in DM, ony MC or preferably AMC (attacking mid attack role).

As far as spending your money goes, I would sign 1 midfielder, maybe a Box-to-box type of midfielder as I am not a fletcher fan. I'd suggest Javi Martinez from Athletic Bilbao, don't pay more than 20million for him, if you can't get him for that or cheaper, look elsewhere for a good all-rounder. If you aren't a cleverely fan, then get a 2nd MC to play a Deep-Lying Playmaker role to function as the link from midfield to rooney, who will then shoot/score or set up hernandez/your wingers. A good player for this role is Andrea Poli or Marco verratti, however, again, don't pay too much for them.

Good luck, you might need some back up players too in the positions I've reccomended
 
From your screenshot it would appear as though you're playing Sven Bender AMR, Nani MCR, Thomas Muller MCL and Tom Cleverley DMC? As a basic tip, if you've got six positions for midfield and attack (assuming you wish to play a back four) you simply cannot have the midfield full of attacking talent, and then the most defensive player playing on the right wing. Like everything, balance is key.

Personally, I wouldn't add to the squad apart from the usual method of selling older players and replacing them with new blood. The squad you have is perfectly capable of winning the league, you just need to mould a team; therein lies the secret. Morale and the team feeling comfortable in the formation they're playing play a bigger factor than filling your side with star-studded, flair players and sending them to play with an all out attack strategy.

As you're new to the game, you may wish to download a ready-made tactic from the Tactics section to help you and then develop your own brand of football from that.

So, in summary:
-Use players in their proper positions,
-Balance the team with midfield steel and attacking flair,
-There's no need to buy a new side, your team is definitely good enough to win the league,
-Morale and allowing players time to gel play a big part, and finally
-If you'd like, go to the Tactics section and get an all-conquering way to play until you become more familiar with the game.

Hope some of this helps mate.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, I've read what you've said, and I'm pretty happy with the tactics I've set up. Hopefully this should give me more luck!

I'm running 4-5-1, would Hernandez work fine as a lone striker like Rooney would?

Do you think any players should be replaced, or any new ones purchased?
 
That can work, consider this formation also --> 4-2-2-2

DR-DC-DC-DL
MC MC
AMR AML
P Treq

I would do that personally as man Utd :)

Also, I hate fletcher and i'd buy an allrounder type midfielder such as Javi Martinez for MC and play Bender as the ball winning.

other than that you have wings covered with nani young and muller.
 
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If you tell us what players you're using in this 4-5-1, then I think it'll be easier for us to advise you on players being purchased as we should be able to point out strengths and identify weaknesses.

As for replaced, I'd be looking at replacing Ferdinand or at the very least moving him off of the wage bill and if Chris Smalling isn't great, maybe him too. I'd also think about playing Rafael as first choice right back and then bringing in/promoting from the youth side some cover for him; either that or buy a first choice right back and use Rafael as cover. Maybe a young left back for when Evra's stats start to drop off who can compete with Fabio would be useful, too.

When I look at your midfield, the vast majority are attacking players; Nani, Young, Muller, Anderson, Felipe Anderson, Tom Cleverley, Belhanda. Compare that to the defensive-minded players and it's only Sven Bender and Darren Fletcher. It might be wise to loan out one/two of the attacking players in order to maximise their playing time so they improve whilst also maintaining your own squad strength and capabilities, whilst promoting/buying a young defensive midfielder.

As for your question regarding Hernandez, if you're going to play one striker then Rooney is an absolute must. But, really, you should be looking to use the two in tandem to get the most out of your side as they are a terrific combination.
 
Sterling101 said:
That can work, consider this formation also --> 4-2-2-2

DR-DC-DC-DL
MC MC
AMR AML
P Treq

I would do that personally as man Utd :)

Also, I hate fletcher and i'd buy an allrounder type midfielder such as Javi Martinez for MC and play Bender as the ball winning.

other than that you have wings covered with nani young and muller.
Click to expand...

4-1-2-2-2? Isn't that... against the rules? :P 1 player too many.
 
Okay sorry, I went away for a bit!

I think I'd like to stick to two strikers, and the 4-2-2-2 posted above (or 4-2-4 as it translates to in-game) seems good. I just sold Hernandez because I'm just not a fan of him in the game, who should I get to replace him?
 
I hope you got a great deal for him! cause he really is awesome at poacher lol :) Urm...

Expensive replacements:
-Neymar
-Pato

Semi-Expensive replacements:
-Seydou Doumbia
-Moussa Sow
-Kevin Gameiro
 
Hey sorry I've been away guys! Had a busy day.

Here's what I've set up so far in my pre-season (ignore Sven Bender as a Poacher in the 4-2-4 formation, I've yet to buy another Striker to replace Hernandez.

4-2-4 (4-2-2-2)
View attachment 204701

4-5-1
View attachment 204702

Any advice is welcome! You guys are great help. Also feel free to spend my £50m :P
 
on Screenshot 1, swap felipe anderson with Bender and use felipe anderson in rotation with anderson at Advanced playmaker. In screenshot 2, I would change the actual role of felipe anderson's position to deep lying playmaker or CM-support due to the fact you have an anchorman to break opponent possession.

Other than that, good job. I posted some striker suggestions on the first page of this thread :)
 
Thanks!

Thing is, Sven Bender isn't my striker, I just put him there to fill the spot for the screenshot, can you explain the difference in Playmakers if possible? Really not too sure what each one means, and the differences of each type of Playmaker.

Also, what stats would usually suggest the best type of player to be a Playmaker?

Yeah mate just had a look at your strikers! Sadly Doumbia just got bought by Tottenham :( I actually use him in my FIFA Ultimate Team too.
 
I know, But Sven bender is ALOT better at ball-winning than felipe anderson. I meant to just use felipe along with the other anderson in your advanced playmaker role.

Now the easiest way to tell you the difference between playmaker is... Iniesta = Advanced Playmaker Xavi = deep-lying.

the DLP will rarely run into the box, and will try to pull the strings from a deeper position in comparison to his attacking team mates. The advanced playmaker will play almost as high as your strikers and try thread little passes through and maybe run into the box.

The best stats per position can be viewed on the attributes screen of players and top right hand side there is a pull down menu to highlight the best stats for a position/role.
 
Ahhh Iniesta and Xavi makes it quite clear now.

So you mean, switch between Felipe and the other Anderson for the position of Advanced Playmaker, right? Who should I use as a Box-to-Box midfielder, if I should use that at all?

Also, which formation do you prefer? The 4-2-4 or 4-5-1?
 
I can't decide which Striker to get... I honestly don't know what skills to focus on. I've been offered Tevez for £33m, should I focus on the players' Star levels?

EDIT: I just found a save file where I still have Hernandez, going to give him another chance :)
 
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I personally think 4-2-4 works best currently (the FM match engine sometimes alters after patches). I reccommend you keep hernandez and play him as poacher with rooney as treq :)

Focus on both star rating AND specific stats which suite the role you want. Eg. A poacher wants good finishing, composure, accel, pace and off the ball.

You can be shown the key stats for each positional role by going to any player's attribute page and on the top right there is a pull down menu to "show best stats for" or something along those lines and select the area, position then role and it'l then highlight the key stats. These stats for the role you select are the important ones.
 
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