MANUMAD's box of sweets

[MANUMAD]

No worries, man, I wasn't offended. I went back and managed to draw Internacional and won 2-0, but for the life of me I can't beat Real Madrid. My best results have been losing 0-1 with your 4-1-2-1-2 overload tactic and a 0-1 loss in extra time using the Rock Tripletweaked tactic.

Everybody has a team like that. Mine is Parma and Fulham.

btw I prefer the untweaked version of the rock. With it as southampton in November I'm second two points off spurs at first.

 

[metalface13]

Considering my weekly wage budget (excluding designated players) is less than $55,000/week I'm not too upset about losing to Madrid. In real life if MLS were to drop the salary cap or significantly raise it, we would have a really exciting league. Well, it's getting better anyways, but everyone wants to live in America ...

Can you post a link to the rock tactic you use? There's like 8 million versions.

 

[MANUMAD]

4141 Rock Tactic TC FINAL VERSION - its in his tactics thread.

 

[ArchieGemmo]

1. Stoke always seem to do quite well under AI management with a squad worse than yours.
2. I would say that a reasonable league finish would be EURO qualification.
3. Your squad seem to me to be too overtly reliant on youth. Maupay and vilhena are great but their age doesn't breed consistency.
4. I'm also not that keen on Huth esp for his pace.
5. Dunno anything about wilkinson.
6. If you re using LFC Marshall's update I'd look to buy facundo Ferreyra. Yes he s young but he s banging them in for me at the saints. Alternatively the slightly cheaper Abel Hernandez. Or destro or the amazing VolansVolans
7. In defense look to bring bellusci/burdisso and at rb cuadrado from florentina or Chris solly

Thanks for the advice! Finished the season last night in 7th place. Unfortunately was 2 points above chelsea with 2 games to go and had Spurs at home and Liverpool away and drew and lost but im still pretty happy seen as 7th got me into europe.

Start of next season i took your advice and signed Ferreyra and bellusci. I also signed Adrian on loan, james mccarthy and a few more experienced players, ambrossini,dempsey and elano which will hopefully help the younger players around them.

I have quite a few youth players which i currently have in the reserves is it better to keep them at the club and train them yourself or loan them out to a club with good training facilities in the lower leagues? Also in my own formation i play 2 strikers, one poacher attack and the other complete forward support. Do you think that Maupay and Ferreyra could play together upfront or should i be playing adrian or kweuke there and rotating the other 2 as poacher?

Thanks

 

[MANUMAD]

Thanks for the advice! Finished the season last night in 7th place. Unfortunately was 2 points above chelsea with 2 games to go and had Spurs at home and Liverpool away and drew and lost but im still pretty happy seen as 7th got me into europe.

Start of next season i took your advice and signed Ferreyra and bellusci. I also signed Adrian on loan, james mccarthy and a few more experienced players, ambrossini,dempsey and elano which will hopefully help the younger players around them.

I have quite a few youth players which i currently have in the reserves is it better to keep them at the club and train them yourself or loan them out to a club with good training facilities in the lower leagues? Also in my own formation i play 2 strikers, one poacher attack and the other complete forward support. Do you think that Maupay and Ferreyra could play together upfront or should i be playing adrian or kweuke there and rotating the other 2 as poacher?

Thanks

Glad to be of help.

1. Ferreyra will fly for you (he does with every team I tried him) though he tends to get a lot of yellow cards (or maybe its my tactics.
2. Maupay is adept at CF (support) and so is Ferreyra but they d be more effective if used with Kewuke/Adrian.
3. Too bad about 7th mate. Try to avoid 2nd season syndrome by following ideas in this thread among others and if you get a good start you ll make it.
4. Ambrosini is surprisingly good in FM13.
5. As for your youths it depends how good they are. But, I think your priority is to win stuff/establish Stoke so Id put them on the backburner: use a couple at most (one from the bench) and only if the other 10 are your first teamers so that you ensure you win the points/progress in the cups. Send them out on loan but have a recall option. Dont only look at facilities of the host team. Look at their squad to see how likely it is they will be getting games.

 

[MANUMAD]

Btw at Southampton with LFC Marshall's update I keep getting money for players from the board. I started with 20m then in November while I was 2nd I got 15m more and 1st of Jan without changing expectations I got 33m more! Ill tell you what I did /who I bought/my squad when Im back home.

 

[metalface13]

4141 Rock Tactic TC FINAL VERSION - its in his tactics thread.

Ooooh that is a good tactic. I won my next attempt at the CWC! Beat Flamengo in the semis in a real nail biter, scored in the final minute to in 4-3. The final against Man United was more comfortable, took a 2-0 lead in the first half, ManU pulled one back in about the 75th minute so things got nervy at the end, but we won!

After that, I think I made way too many changes to my squad. My first competitive game against Seattle Sounders in the NACL quarter finals was a disaster. Lost 4-1. It didn't help it was during an international camp, so I was missing some crucial guys. But with a new CB and new GK it was ugly. That Rock tactic really picks up a lot of yellow cards, does every player need to be set to hard tackle? Seems excessive.

 

[MANUMAD]

That Rock tactic really picks up a lot of yellow cards, does every player need to be set to hard tackle? Seems excessive.

I think by accident its very similar to my OVERLOAD wingback tactic which is also based on agression. But you can ensure you dont get red cards thru player instructions (instruct yellow carded players to tackle normal or even easy tho I think the rock doesnt allow the latter).

 

[MANUMAD]

TERRIFIED OF MOYES - FEARING FOR MY BELOVED UTD

As we turned up to see Guns n' Roses in early October 1987 at Newcastle City Hall, no-one really knew what a rock 'n' roll behemoth the band would turn out to be. Their future global success was by no means guaranteed. Their debut album, the legendary Appetite For Destruction, had just been released in August and was choked with raw energy and balls-to-the-wall rock 'n' roll spirit. That gig in Newcastle was, I'm pretty sure, their first on UK soil. We loved the album but were not prepared for the full-on G n' R experience. My god, they were a fierce, swaggering rock n roll band, full of fire and spit and passion; the very essence of rock 'n' roll. Or, to put it in the vernacular, dude, they kicked ***, man.

Within 18 months they were the biggest band on earth and if you saw them that night, it was no surprise. They were a cut above and they **** well knew it and soon everyone would know it too. That first impression of them left you in no doubt of their brilliance.

Sadly, this can't be said of David Moyes' first few weeks' performance as manager. There was something as inevitable as a fire at a failing nightclub about Manchester United's loss at Anfield this weekend. Partly because it's not always been a happy hunting ground for United but also because their manager couldn't win there with his previous club, just as he couldn't win at any top club with Everton in ten long years.

Any reasonable assessment of this would lead a dispassionate observer to suggest that he was in some way culpable for this awful record; that it showed a flaw in his ability and a major flaw at that but somehow, he seems to have got away with it. It wasn't mentioned much this weekend in the media. It should have been.

I know many say it's too early to judge Moyes but really, it isn't. We all know what Moyes is like; we've had ten years of him already. He has a history of doing OK and finishing sixth or seventh and, hey look, that's where United now are. United fans should be concerned that he is already turning them into Everton.

Are his supporters assuming he will suddenly become a great manager, that he will rise from the great mass of average into stellar? How can that happen? Does anyone really do that when they're 15 years into their managerial career? It is not impossible but it's very unlikely. The way he is, is by and large, already set and anyway, presumably, the way he is, is why he got the job. So change in him is not required. And there's your trouble, right there. There will be no great improvement. He will not transform into a managerial colossus. At best he is learning on the job. Do United really want to be used as a learning zone? Shouldn't they be employing the best?

I'm fully aware that critics of my position on this will suggest, as the more paranoid United fans are fond of doing, that this is part of an ABU campaign. It's an easy way to dismiss any negativity. But here's the scary news is this critique of Moyes isn't part of an agenda which wants to see the club decline. Quite the reverse is true.

I love to see United as big players on the world stage. It's a bit like seeing a massive band on tour. There is a spectacle, a big shiny greatness to the experience that goes beyond the music played. Seeing Zeppelin at Knebworth was easily as much about the occasion as the music, seeing G n' R at Wembley, likewise. And that's what Manchester United are - or should be. I've always liked their Billy Big Bollocks stature in British football, the huge crowds and the high status players. I don't want them to be diminished, rather I want them to be even bigger, especially in Europe where they have failed to impress too many times. It is out of a passion to see them be the big glossy rock 'n' roll footballing beast, that my distaste for Moyes' dry, averageness lies. In fact, it appals me.
When Ferguson took over in 1986 he was a man for those times. Aggressive but progressive and with a reputation for winning. He was a fire-breathing dragon of a man. But by contrast, what is Moyes' reputation? Don't give me being OK with a financially poorer club because that isn't even a relevant qualification. This is United. This is a much, much bigger deal. You need to be good with money, not good without it. You need to attract, manage and motivate great players, not good players.

The sad fact is that United already look radically diminished on the world stage with him at the helm. The red shirts look less red. Their brand is being damaged. These things matter. Once you look lesser, you're treated as lesser. You attract lesser players and therefore achieve less and the cycle of decline continues until you get someone in charge that can stamp his mark on the club with a clear vision and strategy. Yet, in the summer months Moyes hasn't given any indication as to what his vision for United is and yet clearly the squad needs a substantial overhaul. It won last year's title on the fumes of SAF's ego and super-human will and isn't good enough to do so again. Yet, Moyes still just seems a bit shocked to be working with players who are better than Andy Van Der Mayde.

The money is too big, the competition in European football too great, the investment at other clubs too massive to fall behind for more than a season at most. Decline cannot be tolerated and will not be tolerated by the club's owners no matter the talk of legacy and building a long tenure. At the elite level United operate there is no time to learn how to do the job. There is and can be no sentimentality. Be good and be good now. That's the only mantra. A string of bad results will rightly put Moyes under pressure and that pressure should also come from the fans. They pay their money and have a right to demand a better manager than the one they've been given.

It's understandable those fans want to support their manager and rally the troops against critics, but United are so massive, such a huge club that it doesn't need blind loyalty. It needs realism. At his best Ferguson brought that realism. You need a big man for the big stage. Moyes can't grow into being that. He cuts a tense, un-inspirational, somewhat constipated figure on the touchline and the pressure hasn't even begun yet. What's he going to be like when they're 2-0 down at home to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League? There's only so many times any fan wants to see their manager with his head in his hands, clawing at his eyes in desperation.

He seems gauche and inexperienced in this context, has a rabbit in the headlights look about him and yet looks older than his 50 years. All of these things are wrong for a superstar club. I simply don't believe any but a tiny percentage thinks Moyes is the best man United could have got and the game on Sunday will only have confirmed many people's fears. Not just the loss but the manner of it.

To me, a dull, boring United is a curse on British football. We all lose by it. Maybe those who support Moyes just have an appetite for destruction but somehow, I doubt it. Welcome to the jungle, baby.

 

[metalface13]

So, what do you think of the Fellaini purchase?

 

[emman23]

So, what do you think of the Fellaini purchase?

Good Move, I am a fan of those kind of players... I like khedira in RM.. as Arturo in juve

 

[MANUMAD]

So, what do you think of the Fellaini purchase?

1. I like Fellaini and have liked him for some time now. But we ended up paying 4m more than his expired 23.5m release clause. People in the Man Utd thread in this forum, know how frustrated I was for us not going for him much earlier as he obviously represented our most realistic target and instead wasted a lot of time chasing players who would never realistically join us - thereby leaving him late and having to pay 4m more AS WELL AS CAUSING US TO MISS OUT ON OTHERS apparently.
2. I also rate BAINES but I think he's overpriced and that COENTRAO is a viable alternative (I actually prefer him) - one we tried too late to get and it looks like we missed out on.
3. Herrera I was not entirely convinced about due to him only really having one great season but push came to shove (due to our abovementioned wasting of time and leaving it all for the last day) and we needed a player of his type and, due to our cack handed transfer "planning" / negotiating "skills" we ended up needing to take a risk on him. But we failed to pay 4m more on him (the 4m extra we "wasted" on FELLAINI). IMHO WILLIAN and ERIKSEN were much better options than HERRERA.
4. So we have strengthened but we are still short at least a player (and more if COENTRAO doesnt join).
5. I also have no idea why we never really went for DI MARIA who had been touted to clubs for a couple of weeks now (as I deffo dont like Valencia and esp A Young) or indeed OZIL who seems to me to be exactly the sort of player we need.
6. Btw the older amongst us (such as myself) will know that our inability to properly negotiate transfers / go for people on time is not a new thing (there are a lot of examples on this such as our missing out on RONALDINHO due to Kenyon trying to act clever and suddenly offer less etc).
7. Last nite there was an interesting point made on SKY: that clubs with DOFs who have contacts around the world such as Man City (who I didnt know they have a DOF btw) and Spurs do their transfer business more quickly and effective.
People on the UTD thread (some non UTD fans) try to assure me that since these things are not new as I say myself they never really hurt us in the past but I have two things to say to them:

a) Before we had FERGIE who could take a fairly pedestrian squad like last season's to the top of the EPL. Now we have MOYES who frankly gives me the shivers.
b) We did not do as well as a club of our stature should have done in Europe and Im sure its because we keep missing out on world class players.

 

[MANUMAD]

Southampton 1st season - The Rock 4141 tactic

In Feb 1st season my squad looks like this:

GK Mattia Perrin/Diego Alves
FBS/WBS: Corchia (off the tranny list Xmas)/Sanchez Mino/Yuto Nagatomo/Nathaniel Clyne/Luke Shaw/Callum Chambers
CBs: Lovren/E Munoz/Burdisso/St Strandberg/Yoshida/Dragovic
DMs: Fernando (20yo Brazilian - off tranny list)/Fernando (from FCP off tranny list)/Wanyama/Romero/Schneiderlin/Jack Cork
CMs: Ward Prowse/Will Hughes
AMS/Wingers: Msakni/Matheus/Lallana/Tom Ince/Gas Ramirez/M. Formica (loan)
CFs: Jay Rodrigues/Maupay/Ciro Immobile/Facundo Ferreyra/Pablo Osvaldo

Currently top of league same points with LFC and Spurs.

The idea of the save is to go for youngsters mainly (and from the start) especially players Ive never used such as: Luke Shaw/Dragovic/Will Hughes (amazingly I never bought him)/Ince/Immobile and more (eg my next target in attack is FIERRO who I havent used to date, and Ill also try to get English youngsters such as ZAHA/SHELVEY and BUTLAND.


Thanks to Mr Langvatn's amazing tactics I ll succeed across the board I think first season (just won the capital one cup vs LFC on pens where I had 22 shots to their 6 and PERRIN saved all 3 pens of theirs) and, If the transfer kitty I was given this season (20m plus 15m plus 33m as I say above WITHOUT having to change expectations) is anything to go by Ill have loads of money to buy all my targets.

 

[metalface13]

I get what you're saying about Fellaini. No idea why Moyes thought he could get him cheaper after his release clause expired. He's a good player, and personally I would have liked to see him at Arsenal ... but it leaves the window open for my dream (totally unrealistic dream) to come true: Michael Bradley from Roma to Arsenal. Herrera just has question marks all over it, what a bizarre scenario.

As an Arsenal fan I'm delighted we got Ozil. It wasn't the gap we needed to fill, but when you can get a player of that quality you've got to jump on it. Could be a real game changer for the Gunners, as far as recruitment strategy goes. Also a big signal of intent. I can't help but feel it's Wenger's way of thumbing his nose at Van Persie, who got to win the championship with Man Utd, but is now stuck playing for Moyes.

All in all I think this is going to be the most interesting season the Premiere League has seen in a while.

In FM news, I started up a save with Xolos Tijuana in Mexico They've got a strong contingent of American players and I'd like to see what I can do with them. After playing in MLS having a transfer budget of 5 million and offering wages for 15,000 makes me feel filthy rich. I may end up restarting it with LFCMarshall's completed summer transfer list as American striker Herculez Gomez has joined the club, but do you know if he switched around the teams that have qualified for Copa Libertadores? If so, I may play on the default 13.3 update, would really like to play in the CL in my first season.

The squad is in desperate need of a RB though, any cheap South American recommendations? Peruzzi wasn't interested due to our low reputation. I managed to buy Carlos Fierro though for 5M. Figured I had to have him if I was playing in Mexico after all.

 

[MANUMAD]

I get what you're saying about Fellaini. No idea why Moyes thought he could get him cheaper after his release clause expired. He's a good player, and personally I would have liked to see him at Arsenal ... but it leaves the window open for my dream (totally unrealistic dream) to come true: Michael Bradley from Roma to Arsenal. Herrera just has question marks all over it, what a bizarre scenario.

As an Arsenal fan I'm delighted we got Ozil. It wasn't the gap we needed to fill, but when you can get a player of that quality you've got to jump on it. Could be a real game changer for the Gunners, as far as recruitment strategy goes. Also a big signal of intent. I can't help but feel it's Wenger's way of thumbing his nose at Van Persie, who got to win the championship with Man Utd, but is now stuck playing for Moyes.

All in all I think this is going to be the most interesting season the Premiere League has seen in a while.

In FM news, I started up a save with Xolos Tijuana in Mexico They've got a strong contingent of American players and I'd like to see what I can do with them. After playing in MLS having a transfer budget of 5 million and offering wages for 15,000 makes me feel filthy rich. I may end up restarting it with LFCMarshall's completed summer transfer list as American striker Herculez Gomez has joined the club, but do you know if he switched around the teams that have qualified for Copa Libertadores? If so, I may play on the default 13.3 update, would really like to play in the CL in my first season.

The squad is in desperate need of a RB though, any cheap South American recommendations? Peruzzi wasn't interested due to our low reputation. I managed to buy Carlos Fierro though for 5M. Figured I had to have him if I was playing in Mexico after all.

1. Jealous you got OZIL as he's best in world in his position and wanted him for Utd.
2. But Arsenal needed: a credible cf, a dm and a cb at least and they did not and OZIL by himself, brilliant as he is will not be enough.
3. I have a theory, first posited by me 5/6 years ago. I dont rate WENGER at all (on top of the fact that he gets on my **** as a person) and I dont think that Arsenal with him at the helm have any chance of winning a major trophy (bar the odd FA/CO cup) ever again. And Im sticking my neck out by predicting them to finish outside the top four this year.
4. No idea about LFC MARSHALLS update switching around teams.
5. Look in URUGUAY for fbs/wbs (teams such as PENAROL/NACIONAL and even lower reputation teams have good ones).

 

[metalface13]

I think Giroud is a very credible CF, I think he's going to do well this season. By no means is he a Cavani, Falcao, RVP or Lewandowski but he works hard and is scoring goals (and hopefully many more with Ozil delivering them on a silver plate!). The worry of course is what happens if he gets injured or isn't playing well. I think we'll get a top class DM eventually, Wenger was interested in Bender (the Leverkusen one) but they didn't need to sell.

As for Wenger, I vacillate on him all the time. He endures the worst start for an Arsenal season last year, but then manages to scrap into 4th place. But then, a club like Arsenal shouldn't have to be scrapping into 4th, etc. And yes, listening to his press conferences will drive you insane. "Top, top, top, top quality players are like a new signing when Diaby returns to fitness!" Etc. Top that off with his stubbornness in the transfer market, making ludicrous buys like Park and Santos, it all just reeks of "I really have no idea what I want to achieve or how to achieve it anymore."

I wonder if the Ozil purchase will be Arsenal/Wenger turning a corner, or just Wenger buying himself a parting gift the way Ferguson did with RVP. I really feel like Wenger should see out his contract and then go into international management with the French national team. He wouldn't have to worry about transfer fees or buying players, etc. Just management. And if Ozil could entice Klopp to be our manager, all the sweeter.

Really excited for my Xolos save! Not many people play in Mexico so I feel a bit like a pioneer.

 

[MANUMAD]

I think Giroud is a very credible CF, I think he's going to do well this season. By no means is he a Cavani, Falcao, RVP or Lewandowski but he works hard and is scoring goals (and hopefully many more with Ozil delivering them on a silver plate!). The worry of course is what happens if he gets injured or isn't playing well. I think we'll get a top class DM eventually, Wenger was interested in Bender (the Leverkusen one) but they didn't need to sell.

As for Wenger, I vacillate on him all the time. He endures the worst start for an Arsenal season last year, but then manages to scrap into 4th place. But then, a club like Arsenal shouldn't have to be scrapping into 4th, etc. And yes, listening to his press conferences will drive you insane. "Top, top, top, top quality players are like a new signing when Diaby returns to fitness!" Etc. Top that off with his stubbornness in the transfer market, making ludicrous buys like Park and Santos, it all just reeks of "I really have no idea what I want to achieve or how to achieve it anymore."

I wonder if the Ozil purchase will be Arsenal/Wenger turning a corner, or just Wenger buying himself a parting gift the way Ferguson did with RVP. I really feel like Wenger should see out his contract and then go into international management with the French national team. He wouldn't have to worry about transfer fees or buying players, etc. Just management. And if Ozil could entice Klopp to be our manager, all the sweeter.

Really excited for my Xolos save! Not many people play in Mexico so I feel a bit like a pioneer.

1. Of course GIROUD is good and getting better. I meant you ve got no credible back up.
2. Wenger has slowly turned ARSENAL into a feeder club ... but yes maybe yesterday was a turning point.
3. KLOPP is awesome.

 

[MANUMAD]

If Romania is an EU member since 2007 anybody know why you still need wp for ROMANIAN players?!

 

[ArchieGemmo]

Glad to be of help.

1. Ferreyra will fly for you (he does with every team I tried him) though he tends to get a lot of yellow cards (or maybe its my tactics.
2. Maupay is adept at CF (support) and so is Ferreyra but they d be more effective if used with Kewuke/Adrian.
3. Too bad about 7th mate. Try to avoid 2nd season syndrome by following ideas in this thread among others and if you get a good start you ll make it.
4. Ambrosini is surprisingly good in FM13.
5. As for your youths it depends how good they are. But, I think your priority is to win stuff/establish Stoke so Id put them on the backburner: use a couple at most (one from the bench) and only if the other 10 are your first teamers so that you ensure you win the points/progress in the cups. Send them out on loan but have a recall option. Dont only look at facilities of the host team. Look at their squad to see how likely it is they will be getting games.

.

January season 2. Things have been going reasonably well sitting 4th in the league, through to the knock out stages of the Europa League where i play Groningen and in the semi of the carling cup where i won the first leg 2-1 away to QPR.

My main problem this year has been scoring goals! I have maupay, ferreyra, adrian and kweuke up front but have still to find a settled partnership that works. Whats the best way to get them to score more goals?

Also i seem to be producing excellent results against the better teams in the league and dropping points to the teams in the bottom half! It is so frustrating! If i would have won these games i would easily have been top of the league right now. I have only lost 2 games all season but the amount of draws ive had is insane! Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[MANUMAD]

.

January season 2. Things have been going reasonably well sitting 4th in the league, through to the knock out stages of the Europa League where i play Groningen and in the semi of the carling cup where i won the first leg 2-1 away to QPR.

My main problem this year has been scoring goals! I have maupay, ferreyra, adrian and kweuke up front but have still to find a settled partnership that works. Whats the best way to get them to score more goals?

Also i seem to be producing excellent results against the better teams in the league and dropping points to the teams in the bottom half! It is so frustrating! If i would have won these games i would easily have been top of the league right now. I have only lost 2 games all season but the amount of draws ive had is insane! Any advice would be much appreciated.

1. Your cfs are good they should be scoring enuf goals. What tactic do you use? If you can give me a screenshot of formation and team instructions we can then discuss them and find a solution.
2. Do you change your approach to lower rep teams? You should, as they will usually try to sit back, park the bus etc. Note that an attacking or more attacking mentality is not necessarily enuf cos what it means ultimately is that player should always look to attack when a patient controlling build up is whats needed to draw the opposition out of their shell. Another idea is to use pace and power - especially the latter. Use get stuck in and hassle shouts as well as maybe push higher up, target weak links (eg bravery less than 12? Tackle hard OI).
3. Whenever you can, schedule friendlies against exactly the type of opposition that gives you trouble and try such things out.