Manchester United - The New Breed of Red Devils

coolmcool

Member
Joined
May 30, 2011
Messages
7,465
Reaction score
1
Points
0
Manchester United

View attachment 73046

July 1st 2017

And so it begins, I haven't had a story on here for a couple of years now and i never even got FM17, i have been playing FM16 on and off though but life unfortunately got in the way of FM! So my wife bought me Fm18 and im back in the game!

Im easing myself in gently by starting with Man Utd, Some of my best saves and stories have been with Man Utd, my only rule i have given myself is to not go over the top with transfers, the way i see it you chose to be Man Utd you want to keep some of the main players around so im going to limit myself to one transfer per window, i can let them roll over but it will mean that i generally have to promote youth from within and only bring in the odd mega star.

So first off i have created my manager who i believe looks rather Snazzy in his Man Utd Suit

View attachment 73043


And it Begins . . . .

Tonkin Takes Charge of Man Utd

View attachment 73042

Look at that Mugshot!​
 
Manchester United

View attachment 73021

Overview

So first things first the Bosses let me know they want Youth players coming through and attacking football, two philosophies right up my street

View attachment 73020

3 Players currently out with Injuries including Ibrahimovic whos likely to miss all the first half of the season

View attachment 73019

So my 3 best players at this moment in time consist of GK De Gea and a couple of the big expensive additions before i arrived in the form of CM Paul Pogba and ST Romelu Lukaku, it fits with my youth policy that my 3 best players are only in their mid twenties and should all have their best years ahead with Man Utd

View attachment 73018View attachment 73017View attachment 73016

Two of my best Youth prospects are very well known in the forms of Martial and Rashford who i hope will be leading the line for me for years to come whereas the other is a slightly less well known centre back with the name Axel Tuanzebe.

View attachment 73015View attachment 73014View attachment 73013

I have been given a budget of around £42Million which if i wiggle the budget a bit can rise up to £58Million, im not sure if i will invest it straight away as i always like to see what the squad is like before spending much money

View attachment 73012

A nice little feature shows us the main strengths and weakness in the squad, are main weakness is a lack of leadership and a lack of talent in our backup players

View attachment 73011

Another little interesting addition is the Squad Dynamics, with my aim of not changing the squad up to much this should only strengthen as the game progresses

View attachment 73010

And finally with my first friendly match approaching Sean Dyche has taken over Everton with Holland Legend Phillip Cocu taking his place at Burnley

View attachment 73009
 
welcome back mate! I know how things are with life, If anyone said growing up was so difficult and would disturb FM I would have stayed a child :(

Always loved your stories from before so can't wait to follow this one.
 
Looking good mate!

Will be keeping my eye out, one thing I will say is Lingard is very useful
 
welcome back mate! I know how things are with life, If anyone said growing up was so difficult and would disturb FM I would have stayed a child :(

Always loved your stories from before so can't wait to follow this one.
Thanks mate, yes i havent had the time in recent years, think on my very first story on here with Man Utd it was when i had broken my arm so i had plenty of time off work! Fm is one of the few games you can play one handedXD
Looking good mate!

Will be keeping my eye out, one thing I will say is Lingard is very useful
Yes i found he has done well so far during the friendlies, i have found it a pain that my backup strikers in Martial and Rashford are probably my best options for the wing meaning if lukaku struggles i dont have a striker to bring on with ibrahimovic out injured for so long
 
Manchester United

View attachment 72961July 2017 - Friendlies

So to start with im not really going to go into best elevens and tactics as they will change quite a bit leading up to the first competitive game

Ferencvaros 0 - 4 Man Utd

View attachment 72959

A brilliant start to life as Man Utd boss with a comfortable win in my first friendly, the attacking midfield trio were key

I didnt even know Daley Blind was on the transfer list but he refused a new deal with 1 year to go when i took him off the transfer list so i let him join PSG for a fee rising to nearly £30Million

View attachment 72958

Austria Wien 1 - 3 Man Utd

View attachment 72957

Another good win with Lukaku putting on a perfect MOM display whilst they netted late on to take the shine of the win before Martial netted even later

Man Utd 6 - 3 Bayern

View attachment 72956

It was a much changed Bayern side but i subbed nearly our whole team after half time and we still managed to hold onto the big win

My one signing of the window is complete and its Van Dijk, considering Liverpool have just bought him in real life for £75Million, £58Million has got to be classed as a steal!

View attachment 72954

Nice little added addition to the newer Fm, he becomes the most expensive Dutch player

View attachment 72953

Van Dijk is now valued at £4Million more than i bought him for

View attachment 72952

The Van Dijk deal is the most expensive transfer so far in the Premier League this season whilst the media think we will be coming in second behind rivals Man City

View attachment 72951

Eastern 0 - 8 Man Utd

View attachment 72950

We absolutely thrash Eastern in China with Lukaku getting 5 goals and a perfect 10 rating

The downside during that match though was Mata and Pogba picked up injuries and are set to miss the start of the season

View attachment 72949View attachment 72948

So Lukaku has netted 10 goals in the friendlies so far this season but hes not predicted to get anywhere near the Top Goalscorers in the league this season

View attachment 72946

Man Utd 2 - 2 At Madrid

View attachment 72945

Our perfect record in the friendlies is over as we only manage a draw with At Madrid with Griezemann in fine form

Malaga 0 - 2 Man Utd

View attachment 72944

A couple of late goals from the subs seal our final win in the friendlies but Lukaku did pick up a knock

Lukaku may miss the opening game of the season the European Super Cup against Real Madrid

View attachment 72943

Up next my first competitive game of the season​
 
Manchester United

August 2017

Carrick is selected as Captain whilst Ibrahimovic is Vice Captain, i didnt want to go against the status quo here so went with who i was told to go with but neither of these two are looking likely to get much game time this season so it looks like Lindelof may well be our Match Captain

View attachment 72876

Another new little addition is the social media side of things with even a picture of someones tickets to our next match!

View attachment 72875

Heres the tactic for the first game but its likely to change a lot over the coming months as i get used to the team, Arguably 3 of my best players in Pogba, Mata and Ibrahimovic are all out injured for the opening game

View attachment 72874

European Super Cup
Real Madrid 2 - 1 Man Utd

View attachment 72873

Well in comparison to the real life match we did quite well, Bale put them into the lead with a mega shot from about 35 yards out with around 20 minutes gone, we did get back into the game thanks to Rashford who netted from close range around an hour in, Ronaldo came back to haunt us though with the winner quarter of an hour from time as he hit another worldie.

Premier League
Swansea 0 - 3 Man Utd

View attachment 72872

Lukaku netted a brace, but missed the chance for a Hattrick with a poor penalty, i took him off penalty duties after he missed a couple in the friendlies but the people ahead of him in penalty taking were not on the pitch, Van Dijk also netted his first goal for the club as we got our season underway

Premier League
Man Utd 1 - 2 Arsenal

View attachment 72871

Well it was the battle of the new big buy strikers and Lacazette came out on top putting Arsenal 2-0 ahead before Herrera got one back, as you can see Lukaku had an incredible 5 key chances and fluffed the lot of them!

We draw Everton in the Carabao Cup

View attachment 72870

We get what i would call a very winnable Champions League Group Stage draw as we get Benfica, Basel and Celtic

View attachment 72869

Crystal Palace 1 - 2 Man Utd

View attachment 72868

Lukaku missed a ton of chances again but still won MOM! Lingard put us in front after Lukaku had an early goal disallowed which was adjudged to have been harsh, Valencia then tripped Cabaye around an hour in to concede the penalty which Cabaye got up and dispatched rather easily.
It was then Cabaye who completely fluffed a clearance to allow Herrera in to net a very late winner and go from Hero to Zero.

The Transfer window shuts and our deal for Van Dijk was the biggest of the window with Chelsea buying Belotti for £40Million the other big deal

View attachment 72867

The table means little at this early stage of the season but we are currently in 5th place with Arsenal and Southampton leading the way with 3 wins from 3

View attachment 72866

Despite missing plenty of chances Lukaku has still been our best player this month

View attachment 72865

Next month is a much busier time as despite the International break starting off the month we still play 7 matches in September​
 
Manchester United

September 2017 - Part 1

Premier League
Man Utd 2 - 0 West Ham

View attachment 72698

Well yet again Lukaku had a load of chances but didnt convert them whereas our goals came in the second half thanks to two players in real life at the moment are on the fringes of the United squad, Lindelof has been keeping Bailly out of the team whilst Mkhitaryan has looked good too


Champions League Group Stage
Celtic 1 - 1 Man Utd

View attachment 72697

Lukaku netted early on for us but that was as good as it got as Celtic equalized in the second half and we yet again failed to convert good chances

Premier League
Man Utd 3 - 1 Huddersfield

View attachment 72696

Martial netted a penalty before they hit back immediately, Mkhitaryan hit a brace to give us a very decisive victory whilst Lukaku struggled again, i was thinking of dropping him and playing Martial up front but he seems to be doing well on the wing and dont want to change that

We are literally a handful of games into the season and Bailly is already complaining about lack of game time

View attachment 72695

Phil Jones also complained but hes just got an injury in one of the reserve games and will miss the next couple of months

View attachment 72694

I will be looking to rotate the squad more in the future but right now its all about getting some wins and working out the correct tactic

Carabao Cup 3rd Rnd
Everton 0 - 1 Man Utd

View attachment 72693

It almost went to penalties but Lukaku came off the bench to net a winner with 3 minutes of extra time remaining, I gave some of the fringe players a game to shine and they struggled, Martial did not like playing up front whereas the likes of Carrick, Bailly and Romero had ok games but nothing special.

There was one big shock in the cup though as Rotherham knocked Man City out!

View attachment 72692

Well if we had just converted our chances against Celtic it would have been a perfect 4 wins from 4, but unbeaten few weeks has given me slightly more optimism even if it was against lower level teams
Up next for the rest of this month is two league games against Everton and Bournemouth whilst we face Benfica in the Champions League

 
Manchester United

September 2017 - Part 2

I dont know what the fans know that i dont but i didnt realise Everton and Schneiderlein were so good, Ha ha ha

View attachment 72653

We get Millwall in the Carabao Cup 4th rnd

View attachment 72652

Premier League
Everton 3 - Man Utd 1

View attachment 72651

Well that was inevitable after i had mentioned about not thinking they were that good! It was a pretty even game until i stupidly thought i would go for the win, first off Mata went off with an injury after i had used all my subs i then went for the attacking mentality after we usually use counter, we actually netted two more goals but both were disallowed with the headline being that at least one was controversially not given and it ended up with them netting two late goals and winning the match.

Mata's out for 3 weeks

View attachment 72650

Champions League Group Stages
Man Utd 4 - 0 Benfica

View attachment 72649

What a win! Martial missed a penalty but he still smashed in a Hattrick as we totally dominated Benfica after a poor show away to Celtic in the previous round.

Premier League
Bournemouth 3 - 4 Man Utd

View attachment 72648

We were 4-1 up and cruising with the likes of Martial and Lukaku putting in fine displays, with around 20 minutes to go i replaced both the centre backs as i thought they were struggling but their replacements did even worse as former player Josh King netted twice more to get a Hattrick whilst i had to sit back for the last 10 minutes and eek out the win.

2nd place in the Premier League behind Chelsea whilst Arsenal have a game in hand on us in 3rd but 5 wins from my opening 7 league games is not too shabby

View attachment 72647

I didnt need to choose my own Player of the Month as Mkhitaryan won the Award

View attachment 72646

Martial won the Young Player Award this Month

View attachment 72645


 
Manchester United

View attachment 72608

October 2017

So i put Bailly up for sale! He has a been an absolute pain in the rear end, moaning about first team football, one thing we dont lack is decent defenders and i didnt need him winding the rest of the squad up

View attachment 72607

Premier League
Man Utd 6 - 1 West Brom

View attachment 72606

Well the tactic seems to have finally started to pay off! Martial and Lukaku were on fire and they finally started to convert all the chances we create, before the match i had said in one of the interviews that West Brom were all old boring players who play rubbish football so that can usually back fire on me but it seemed to work well

Champions League Group Stage
Man Utd 6 - 1 Basel

View attachment 72605

Well we hit the same scoreline than the match before and this was with a weakened side! I put the likes of Mkhitaryan, Martial and Lukaku on the bench, Lingard and Rashford played up top and they were in fine form with Rashford netting a Hattrick

Premier League
Man City 0 - 3 Man Utd

View attachment 72604

Well to say this result was on the cards was an understatement! We just went and smashed City our biggest rivals at their place, the major downside though the likes of Lukaku and Martial our two best players went off with serious injuries, Smalling netted early on and has actually been keeping Van Dijk out of the team, one thing i think you have to remember with FM is dont go on form in real life as the likes of Mkhitaryan, Martial and Lindelof have been my best players.

Martial out for 3 weeks

View attachment 72603

Lukaku out for 5 weeks

View attachment 72602

Carabao Cup 4th Rnd
Millwall 0 - 1 Man Utd

View attachment 72601

I played a partially weakened team but upfront i didnt have a lot of options with Martial, Lukaku, Wilson and Ibrahimovic all injured Rashford is my only choice, Mata missed an early penalty and it was a sign of things to come, we were all over them but just didnt have the end product. Lingard managed to get the only goal of the game just before half time whereas we had 26 shots with 12 on target but couldnt convert any more with Rashford struggling upfront but with nobody to come on and replace him

We will play West Brom in the Carabao Cup Quarter Finals

View attachment 72600

Premier League
Man Utd 0 - 1 Chelsea

View attachment 72599

This was smash your laptop against a wall sort of FM! It was a pretty even game, our problem was we had no attacking players to bring on and replace the ones playing poorly, it looked like we were going to play out a bore draw until they got a very controversial penalty late on! Mata then went on to get his own penalty in the 89th minute and only went and ****** missed again! Ive never known so many players from the same team miss so many penalties!

We were top of the table for a couple of weeks but after that poor result against Chelsea we drop down to 3rd place on equal points with them and 3 points behind Arsenal.

View attachment 72598

As you can see its not just us that have beaten Man City! They have really struggled so far this season

Chris Smalling is my Player of the Month, he barely got a look in at the start of the season, he complained about not getting game time, i gave him a shot in the Cup matches and he has played well, he has even Captained the side recently.

View attachment 72597
 
Decent start so far just need to get the consistency going and you will be flying! One decent thing is City haven't hit form which makes it even better for you hopefully you can crack on and top the table for a lengthy period.
 
Decent start so far just need to get the consistency going and you will be flying! One decent thing is City haven't hit form which makes it even better for you hopefully you can crack on and top the table for a lengthy period.
Yes definetly, just need the consistency but the injuries have been a killer, hoping if i can get so players out in the winter window to bring in a new attacking player
 
Manchester United

View attachment 72456

November 2017

Champions League Groups
Basel 0 - 1 Man Utd

View attachment 72455

Well this was a very lucky result! Fellaini got sent off for a second yellow just 36 minutes into the match! Our 10 men still had the better chances and Rashford netted just after have time to win us the game

3 wins and a draw in the Champions League so far sees us 3 points clear of second placed Benfica, a draw against Celtic in our next game will see us through

View attachment 72454

Mata out for 7 Weeks!

View attachment 72453

Premier League
Man Utd 3 - 1 Burnley

View attachment 72452

A much better performance especially from Rashford as he nets a brace and gets the MOM award, They had someone sent off late on but the result was already sorted by then.

Premier League
Southampton 1 - 2 Man Utd

View attachment 72451

We were so lucky! They were all over us with way more and better chances they just couldnt finish, it was Lingard who netted a very late winner for us against Southampton who have been in very good form so far this season.

Champions League Groups
Man Utd 2 - 2 Celtic

View attachment 72450

Another poor result against Celtic! We were all over them in the first half and should have netted 10 goals not just 2! And it came back to haunt us big time as Sinclair netted just after the break before Sinclair scored a very late and controversial penalty to even up the match

That point though was enough to see us through the Group Stages

View attachment 72449

14 wins from my opening 20 Man Utd games

View attachment 72448

Premier League
Liverpool 4 - 3 Man Utd

View attachment 72447

I literally have no idea what happened here! We were 2-0 up within 20 minutes but thats as good as it got as they turned the game on its head by half time and we just fell apart, i made 3 subs just after the break which changed nothing before Lindelof went off injured leaving us to see out the game with 10 men and the loss.

Lindelof out for 5 Months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

View attachment 72446

I feel as if the FM Gods did this to wind me up! We agreed a deal to sell Bailly literally a couple of days before we could do with him most!

Premier League
Man Utd 5 - 0 Newcastle

View attachment 72445

Now thats what i call getting back on track after a few indifferent performances, Mkhitaryan and Lukaku played them off the park with Lukaku netting a 9 minute first half Hattrick

Mkhitaryan wins Player of the Month

View attachment 72444

Equal points with Chelsea whilst we are one point behind Arsenal who are top of the table

View attachment 72443
 
Manchester United

View attachment 72364

December 2017 - Part 1

We had a very early Christmas present from the board as they bump our transfer budget up to £100Million, Any recommendations on who i should buy? Remember my only rule is im only buying one player per window so it needs to be someone well worth it and i think in the Attacking midfield area

View attachment 72362

Premier League
Man Utd 1 - 1 Stoke

View attachment 72361

Well that was just an awful start to the month! They had one shot on target and one goal scored, we had 30 shots with 11 on target and just the one goal, absolute shocker

We get West Ham in the FA Cup 3rd rnd

View attachment 72360

Champions League Groups
Benfica 4 - 1 Man Utd

View attachment 72359

This game was 1-1 and a fairly even affair up to the 80 minute mark, i tried the old Overload mode and boy did it backfire, it used to be much more effective back on fm 16, they netted one goal before Bailly went off injured, we were down to 10 men and they netted twice more.

Luckly it didnt mean anything and we still topped our group

View attachment 72358

PSG want Mkhitaryan and he wants to go!

View attachment 72357

Premier League
Brighton 0 - Man Utd 2

View attachment 72356

It was the fringe players Matic and Fellaini that got us the winning goals in this match, it was the complete opposite to the Stoke game with Brighton missing a shed load of chances whilst we put ours away

We get Napoli in the Champions League

View attachment 72355

Premier League
Leicester 2 - 4 Man Utd

View attachment 72354

This was one **** of a game! It was 1-1 with 10 minutes to go but goals from Fellaini and Lukaku getting his Hattrick in a real back and forth 10 minutes, they got just the one more goal but could have easily got 3 or 4.

Premier League
Man Utd 2 - 1 Watford

View attachment 72353

Lukaku seems to have found some form at the right time as he scores early on before we get pegged back near the end of the game but Lukaku nets in the 80th minute again to see us finish the update with 3 wins from 3 in the league.

Lukaku has been on fire in recent games, he can be a little hit and miss but his goals in the last 2 games alone have won us 6 points

View attachment 72350

3 points behind Arsenal, Chelsea are then 3 points behind us but they have a game in hand, Look at Lukaku running away with the Golden Boot with 16 league goals already this season after the bookies didnt rate him!

View attachment 72349
 
Manchester United

View attachment 1140659

December 2017 - Part 2

Carabao Cup Quarter Finals
West Brom 2 - 1 Man Utd

View attachment 72311

Just an awful display in the cup, i even put out my best available 11 but they blew us away in the first half, Pogba got a consolation goal late on but we didnt push for the equalizer.

Premier League
Man Utd 2 - 0 Tottenham

View attachment 72310

Tottenham didnt have a single shot on target but we left it very very late! Mata netted twice in injury time to seal the 3 points.

Premier League
Man Utd 1 - 0 Swansea

View attachment 72309

Another game we dominated and another we won near the final whistle! Martial with a 94th minute penalty!!

Premier League
Arsenal 3 - 4 Man Utd

View attachment 72308

What a Top of the Table Clash! It was back and forth action as we came from behind before they pegged us back after we took the lead twice, Rashford's 82 minute goal prove to be the winner!

6 game Winning Streak in the League

View attachment 72307

I won Manager of the Month after a 7 game unbeaten run in December

View attachment 72306

After beating Arsenal we top the League! We are on the same points as them but have a better goal difference, Chelsea are 5 points behind us whilst Liverpool in 4th are 14 points behind us and i have to feel a Top 3 place is certain

View attachment 72305
 
Manchester United

View attachment 72191

January 2018

Bailly joins Tottenham for £34Million, i didnt want him to leave to be honest but he moaned like **** about lack of game time from about 4 games in

View attachment 72190

Premier League
Man Utd 4 - 0 Crystal Palace

View attachment 72189

What a win! A brilliant highscoring game with Phil Jones showing we wont be missing Bailly anytime soon as he scored and put in a man of the match display

New Contract Signed

View attachment 72188

I spend all of my transfer budget this window on the mighty Paulo Dybala! As i could only bring in the one player per window it doesnt matter what i have to pay for the one player!

View attachment 72187

Dybala has been awesome for me on previous saves on FM16, i always played him upfront back them but it seems like he prefers to play either in an AMC role or even on the wing over playing up top by himself

View attachment 72186

FA Cup 3rd Rnd
West Ham 3 - 1 Man Utd

View attachment 72185

An awful result, i played a lot of the fringe players and boy did it show! Dybala didnt have a terrible debut but that was about it.

Mkhitaryan out for 4 weeks

View attachment 72184

Premier League
West Ham 0 - 0 Man Utd

View attachment 72183

Bore Draw.

Premier League
Man Utd 3 - 2 Everton

View attachment 72182

Dybala finally shows why i bought him! He had an awesome match on the wing with a brace whilst he set up Rashford's goal too in all round awesome display, they came back though and towards the end we practically had to hold on to the 3 points

Premier League
Huddersfield 1 - 6 Man Utd

View attachment 72181

What a trouncing! Rashford nets a superb Hattrick and is loving having Dybala on the other wing to link up with.

We have the biggest deal of the window whilst Bailly leaving for Tottenham was second, the surprise of the window was Sanchez leaving for Liverpool for just £27.5Million, i actually went in for him but got quoted like £100Million and thought i may go back for him for free in the summer

View attachment 72180

At the end of January we are now out of both domestic cups so can focus on the league, Arsenal are now 1 point behind us but also have played a game more

View attachment 72179

Arsenal have really struggled in the last couple of weeks with 3 draws in a row in the league

View attachment 72178
 
Manchester United

View attachment 72141

February 2018

Premier League
West Brom 1 - 2 Man Utd

View attachment 72140

Lukaku and Rashford set up this win early on before they got one back late on to give us a nervy end, those two have linked up well in recent weeks along with Dybala pushing Martial out of the picture after his good early season form

Just thought i would show the other Managerial chances since the summer after i was shocked to see that West Brom's new boss is Guus Hiddink!

View attachment 72139

Premier League
Man Utd 3 - 0 Bournemouth

View attachment 72138

A good all round display with my midfield in the form of Pogba and Mata netting the important goals before a late extra from Dybala

Premier League
Man Utd 4 - 0 Man City

View attachment 72137

I know Man City have been struggling down in 6th place on my save but this was not something i saw coming! A brilliant second half display after a rather boring first 45 minutes saw us run out comfortable winners.

Mata out injured again

View attachment 72136

Champions League 1st Knockout rnd 1st leg
Napoli 1 - 1 Man Utd

View attachment 72135

After our recent good form i was pretty peeved at this result but to be honest a come from behind draw against Napoli away from home even with Valencia getting sent off may well turn out to be ok

My youth intake came in and here are my best two, their potentials have got even higher since i signed them on deals, these players will be key to the future of this save with my rule of only signing one player per window, if you take it that to replace the whole starting 11 with take 9 more windows which is 4 and a half years so i will need to get the youth players on side

View attachment 72134View attachment 72133

Premier League
Chelsea 2 - 3 Man Utd

View attachment 72132

We were 2-0 up just after the break and it was all plain sailing, they suddenly had a little spurt into action netted twice and i was raging at my computer screen before Lukaku popped up and netted a very late winner

6 goals and 6 assists since Dybala joined us in the winter window

View attachment 72131

9 points clear of Arsenal with 9 games to go and the win against Chelsea pushes them back down to 3rd place, we are already guaranteed a top 7 finish

View attachment 72130
 
Didn't realise Dybala had quite such good attributes.

What a regen name, he Dunn-Ya!
 
I didn't know Mata was so inuury prone! He's had a nightmare of a season as far as injuries go!
 
Top