End of First Season - Southampton - My Thoughts

[Massey1987]

(I've had to attach the pictures)

Evening All,

Well.... Ive just finished my first season on FM 14 in FMC Mode with the Saints, a team I picked because Ive never played with them before and I have to admit I've been through it all, the joy, the sorrow, the wanting to snap my keyboard in half moments. I think at one point I actually cursed SI and wished that they all died a horrible and painful death for the stress and agony they had put me through.I thought i would share my thoughts incase anyone else was interested.

Firstly, its said that to get to where you want to go you have to have a map and a clear aim of what you want. That being said the map is not the territory so we have to understand that what we have in mind may not work, this is what my philosophy was. So the aim of my first season, a albeit high expectation of 1. Win the League, 2. Have a couple of top players of the season, 3. Have teams interested in players so I can sell them and accumulate funds to build a new squad for season 2.

Well. The first goal, win the league. As you guess.... I wasnt successful in the aspect, it was all looking good until I made the decision to make a few changes to my tactic to combat a few of the issues I saw. I must add that half way through this season the new patch was released which may have had some impact, here are a few screenshots charting the rise (and fall) of my mighty Saints;

A Good Start, a lot of wins, clean sheets etc. Looking Good;

Middle of the season, looking a little edgy now, too many draws and loses for my liking, Im a all or nothing kind of guy, we either win or lose, no half assed attempts allowed;

And the final last few weeks;

Well what can we say, what happened to my squad? Did they just lose it? Bottle it?

I dont know, all I know is it was my fault, around the time of the draw at Everton I looked at my squad and tactics and thought, hey, were losing ground here, lets try and squeeze the game as were favorites and everyone should be afraid of us! Oh how I was wrong, by changing my tactic and trying to get my team to do something that they wasn't used to heading into the vital part of the season was stupidity, I will defiantly learn from that!

Im sure your interested to know where I finished in the league so here is the final table, I could've ****** come 2nd had I not gone daft and changed what I was doing, I reverted back to my usual tactic after the Newcastle loss;

 

[Massey1987]

A few shocks there, Chelsea finishing so low as did City and Spurs, Man Utd won but only after getting rid of Dithering Dave Moyes. They hired Marcelo Bielsa who masterminded their charge;



Here are a few more pics of my squad;





Highest Avg Rating;



My, personal, favorite player. **** hes quick, **** hes fast, but God **** he's **** at shooting!



And now the awards;

Manager of the year.... thank you, thank you, autographs later please.... except you Blondie, come see my a little later...



Top Goalscorer..... One of the most underated strikers to have played in the Prem.... Sir Rickie Lambert;


Young player of the year award, Gaston himself....



Team of the Year award... A few on my guys made it in there...



So what now. Well. Looking at how my tactic performed over the season I noticed I got absolutely battered by the Mourinho tactic of 1 Striker, 2 Wide Wingers etc so I need to neutralise that while making the most of what I have. I expect to lose a few central mids and cash in on them, namely Gaston, and I think I will try a 4-4-1-1 tactic using a Target Man and they altering the role's of the Mids. Deffo need Wanyama as a BWM though, that guy is tougher than Mike Tyson, and packs one **** of a tackle. I definitely will not be selling him.



My main worry is bringing in a few wide players. I can never seem to get the performing well, just one of my many flaws but lets see how I get on.

So my final thoughts from the first season;

1. Do not have too many 'Specialist Roles' such as Treq etc, too many cooks spoil the broth etc.
2. Have a team that work for each other, I noticed that if I have Gaston (Lazy B*stard) and Osvaldo (Another Lazy B*stard) then my team suffered
3. Wing Backs are for attacking not defending, Clyne and Fox/Shaw became very suspect when I wanted to focus them on defending so Im going to leave them on CWB unless its not a option
4. Do not change to completely different tactics mid way through a season, think small changes, think Adam Sandler and Happy Gilmore... Tap it in... Tap Tap Tapppp it in. Small change, light touches
5. Anomoly games, happen, I've dominated and lost but I've also been dominated and won. I think there are bugs with the ME but, hey, if you dont want to play the game, dont play it, just dont try and bring everyone down by focusing on the flaws, here are a few screenies to leave you with;

 

[FramedAdam]

What tactic are you using? I've tried a couple of times to do well with Southampton, and end up finishing mid-table every time

 

[Massey1987]

Hi Mate,

I'm using a 4-3-2-1 tactic that I've made. Im trying it with Man U on a new save and its looking deadly, Im going to upload it once Im happy with it.

 

[Loud Metal Wolf]

Good read, playing as wolves with a 4-1-4-1 formation, won the league and now sitting pretty at the top of the championship.

Are you investing in the youth and training facilities?

 

[Massey1987]

Thats my plan, Ive signed a few players but didnt want to bring too many people in. Im just taking a break at the moment and playing with Man U but its a little less challenging;

View attachment 458878

 

[Barkernufc]

Yeah everyone complains about those games where you dominate and lose, saying they're too unrealistic. Yesterday's super Sunday was prime example of these types of games happening in real life. It does happen at times!

 

[jazzwild99]

I have a career with Southampton too I use 4-3-2-1 but with a defensive mid which is Defour, made some good signings in Honda, Defour and a few youngsters and am 6th place after 6 games and I have a win against arsenal under my belt.