So, I'm into my second season with United and the January window is just around the corner...
I play a 4-4-2 (with side wingers rather than side midfielders) with Counter as Starting strategy... though I switch over to Attacking often.
Against stronger teams who have good forwards, I switch over to a 4-1-4-1 field with a defensive midfielder in place of an extra striker to cut off the opposition supply...)
My present team is...( I'm on the patch v11.0)
GOAL KEEPER: Igor Akinfeev- as best as a replacement for Van the Man there is!
Back Up: Alex Smithies (touted as the next Shilton)
Van der Sar agreed on a Player/ GK coach contract so hopefully he will retire or something at the end of the season. For now he is in the reserves ( I don't actually know why... he conceded 1 goal in 18 starts last season!!!)
DEFENDERS- Evra......Vidic.... Ferdinand..... Santon
Evra- the best left back in the freakin’ country!!!
Vidic-Ferdinand- An epic-epic partnership!
Santon- The Italian wonderkid can play on both sides at the back, so gives you enough flexibility.
Back Up: O'Shea,
Brown (Should look to sell him, I think. Though he is a safe defender.)
Rafael/ Fabio ( I screwed up with the Da Silva brothers... so now he is no longer a wonderkid, just a fairly good player and so is his brother who is in the reserves this season... also Rafael is unhappy and wants to leave the club for a fine I imposed over a year ago!!! Any help with that? I'm losing patience with him. And I have Santon)
Evans ( also trained as LB)
Smalling...
Jorgensen (is he a good long term replacement for Rio?)
Gary Neville: Why doesn't he retire???? In the reserves!
Midfielders: Nani... Fletcher... Rodwell... Valencia
Intermitently, Neymar starts on the left and Nani shifts to the right, So Valencia either starts from the bench or is left out.
When I play defensive midfield... Owen Hargreaves starts for me ( who else!) along with Fletcher and Rodwell.
Nani- Really good when he cuts in from the left. If he thinks he can take a shot, he will... And then there are the free kicks...
Fletcher.... he is solid in midfield and for some reason I prefer him ahead of Carrick, pro’lly because he has played all his football at United.
Rodwell... IRL... the best midfield talent on the planet along with Wilshire... Wonderkid who can also play centre-half... though I haven’t found use for him in that position yet... Destined to be World class.
Valencia- Stereotype winger... attacking runs galore... and regularly scores goals at the far post during crosses too.
Owen Hargreaves... Wait for him... let him heal... protect him... and then... at the designated moment... unleash him... Sometimes makes me feel I can play without a defensive line!!! Is injury prone though... so, as I said... protect him and use sparingly.
Back-up: Paulo Henrique...I signed him to help Neymar settle in, but turns out he is supposed to be my best midfield man according to my Assistant. I haven't seen much of him yet... signed him towards the end of August and has been injured for most of the time.
Ninis... can play anywhere in midfield after training... replacement for Park whom I sold...
Carrick... need to sell him...simply because I don't like him!!!
Juan Iturbe... just started out... Excellent!!!
Obertan... looses out to Iturbe... will be shipped out at the end of the season... made a mistake... should have sold him to Lyon when I had the chance...rejected it in the hopes of him improving in the future... but since I've watched Iturbe, no thank you!
Giggs... when he is fit, he plays. Last season, notched up an average rating of 7.72!!! He is a legend in the true sense!
S Defour- is away on loan... haven’t played him yet.
Scholes... made him sign a player/ Coach contract... so should retire soon...
Bebe, Cleverley... haven't played them yet... are on loan... could sell Bebe if he isn't good enough...
Marco Veratti... young... should be good... touted as the next andrea pirlo... away on loan.
Forwards: Wayne Rooney... the best in the business... scored 42 goals last season.... Frontrunner for World Player of the Year...already scored 16 this year!
Berbatov... Surely a declining prospect... started the first season well but stopped scoring midway... though was phenomenal in Europe, was the top scorer in the Champions Cup...
Javier Hernandez... Phenomenal first season... 22 goals in 22 appearances ( that after Berbatov started most matches...) with an Avge rating of 7.85!!!
Has started the second season well...9 goals already from 10 starting appearances...
Neymar... one word... AWESOME! Whether as forward or Left winger...
Macheda... at 19, he is a phenomenal talent though not as good as Neymar... can apply finishing touches with class...
Mame Biram Diouf-I'm finding him hard to ignore after his performances in the reserves... he did not go on loan this year...Feedback?
Welbeck... hasn't really impressed me... how are your experiences with him?
Castiagnos... touted as the next...wait for it... RUUD VAN NISTELROOOOY....
Terence Makengo... 19, I got him after a face-off with R. Madrid and AC Milan!!!
As my domestic bias is sort of declining, I like to sign more players from England...
I also have reasonable U-18 talent who did not lose a match in the U-18 league last season and haven’t lost a match yet...
I’m thinking Bale (he’s Welsh and so is Giggs) if Cleverly isn’t good enough... and relegate Valencia to the bench next season with Nani on the right?
Also Aguero to partner Rooney?
Any other Englishmen I could look into... it’s a good team and I’m winning but I like to make small tweaks...
Actually...should I sign anyone at all?
The Assistant manager is bugging me for a central midfielder... but I feel I have enough...
---------- Post added at 03:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:56 AM ----------
So, I'm into my second season with United and the January window is just around the corner...
I play a 4-4-2 (with side wingers rather than side midfielders) with Counter as Starting strategy... though I switch over to Attacking often.
Against stronger teams who have good forwards, I switch over to a 4-1-4-1 field with a defensive midfielder in place of an extra striker to cut off the opposition supply...)
My present team is...( I'm on the patch v11.0)
GOAL KEEPER: Igor Akinfeev- as best as a replacement for Van the Man there is!
Back Up: Alex Smithies (touted as the next Shilton)
Van der Sar agreed on a Player/ GK coach contract so hopefully he will retire or something at the end of the season. For now he is in the reserves ( I don't actually know why... he conceded 1 goal in 18 starts last season!!!)
DEFENDERS- Evra......Vidic.... Ferdinand..... Santon
Evra- the best left back in the freakin’ country!!!
Vidic-Ferdinand- An epic-epic partnership!
Santon- The Italian wonderkid can play on both sides at the back, so gives you enough flexibility.
Back Up: O'Shea,
Brown (Should look to sell him, I think. Though he is a safe defender.)
Rafael/ Fabio ( I screwed up with the Da Silva brothers... so now he is no longer a wonderkid, just a fairly good player and so is his brother who is in the reserves this season... also Rafael is unhappy and wants to leave the club for a fine I imposed over a year ago!!! Any help with that? I'm losing patience with him. And I have Santon)
Evans ( also trained as LB)
Smalling...
Jorgensen (is he a good long term replacement for Rio?)
Gary Neville: Why doesn't he retire???? In the reserves!
Midfielders: Nani... Fletcher... Rodwell... Valencia
Intermitently, Neymar starts on the left and Nani shifts to the right, So Valencia either starts from the bench or is left out.
When I play defensive midfield... Owen Hargreaves starts for me ( who else!) along with Fletcher and Rodwell.
Nani- Really good when he cuts in from the left. If he thinks he can take a shot, he will... And then there are the free kicks...
Fletcher.... he is solid in midfield and for some reason I prefer him ahead of Carrick, pro’lly because he has played all his football at United.
Rodwell... IRL... the best midfield talent on the planet along with Wilshire... Wonderkid who can also play centre-half... though I haven’t found use for him in that position yet... Destined to be World class.
Valencia- Stereotype winger... attacking runs galore... and regularly scores goals at the far post during crosses too.
Owen Hargreaves... Wait for him... let him heal... protect him... and then... at the designated moment... unleash him... Sometimes makes me feel I can play without a defensive line!!! Is injury prone though... so, as I said... protect him and use sparingly.
Back-up: Paulo Henrique...I signed him to help Neymar settle in, but turns out he is supposed to be my best midfield man according to my Assistant. I haven't seen much of him yet... signed him towards the end of August and has been injured for most of the time.
Ninis... can play anywhere in midfield after training... replacement for Park whom I sold...
Carrick... need to sell him...simply because I don't like him!!!
Juan Iturbe... just started out... Excellent!!!
Obertan... looses out to Iturbe... will be shipped out at the end of the season... made a mistake... should have sold him to Lyon when I had the chance...rejected it in the hopes of him improving in the future... but since I've watched Iturbe, no thank you!
Giggs... when he is fit, he plays. Last season, notched up an average rating of 7.72!!! He is a legend in the true sense!
S Defour- is away on loan... haven’t played him yet.
Scholes... made him sign a player/ Coach contract... so should retire soon...
Bebe, Cleverley... haven't played them yet... are on loan... could sell Bebe if he isn't good enough...
Marco Veratti... young... should be good... touted as the next andrea pirlo... away on loan.
Forwards: Wayne Rooney... the best in the business... scored 42 goals last season.... Frontrunner for World Player of the Year...already scored 16 this year!
Berbatov... Surely a declining prospect... started the first season well but stopped scoring midway... though was phenomenal in Europe, was the top scorer in the Champions Cup...
Javier Hernandez... Phenomenal first season... 22 goals in 22 appearances ( that after Berbatov started most matches...) with an Avge rating of 7.85!!!
Has started the second season well...9 goals already from 10 starting appearances...
Neymar... one word... AWESOME! Whether as forward or Left winger...
Macheda... at 19, he is a phenomenal talent though not as good as Neymar... can apply finishing touches with class...
Mame Biram Diouf-I'm finding him hard to ignore after his performances in the reserves... he did not go on loan this year...Feedback?
Welbeck... hasn't really impressed me... how are your experiences with him?
Castiagnos... touted as the next...wait for it... RUUD VAN NISTELROOOOY....
Terence Makengo... 19, I got him after a face-off with R. Madrid and AC Milan!!!
As my domestic bias is sort of declining, I like to sign more players from England...
I also have reasonable U-18 talent who did not lose a match in the U-18 league last season and haven’t lost a match yet...
I’m thinking Bale (he’s Welsh and so is Giggs) if Cleverly isn’t good enough... and relegate Valencia to the bench next season with Nani on the right?
Also Aguero to partner Rooney?
Any other Englishmen I could look into... it’s a good team and I’m winning but I like to make small tweaks...
Actually...should I sign anyone at all?
The Assistant manager is bugging me for a central midfielder... but I feel I have enough...