MANUMAD's box of sweets
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Higgi mate,
Tactics?
Either use a rigid 442/4231 of your own making or look at Mr Langvatn's 4411 Dominatrix and 4411 Underdog beast. Use them as basis and tweak according to preference/match - ie the former is an attacking tactic so if you play away turn it to standard or start attacking score a goal then turn it to standard.
As for players there are loads in this thread depending on your budget and needs.
Id suggest the following:
LB/RB: Boenisch (free)
CM: Boudjemaa (free)
CB: Doria (cb) 525k release clause (but can only come in January 2013)
DM: Muralha (Flamengo, I think) 850k release clause
CB/DM: St. Strandberg (but may not come)
Winger/amlr: T. Drage (look at my tip in one of the messages on this thread as to how to get him in cheaply)
CF Etien Veljkonja/ D. Ndlovu/Jayiya
Look also at Rainford Kalaba
Tactics?
Either use a rigid 442/4231 of your own making or look at Mr Langvatn's 4411 Dominatrix and 4411 Underdog beast. Use them as basis and tweak according to preference/match - ie the former is an attacking tactic so if you play away turn it to standard or start attacking score a goal then turn it to standard.
As for players there are loads in this thread depending on your budget and needs.
Id suggest the following:
LB/RB: Boenisch (free)
CM: Boudjemaa (free)
CB: Doria (cb) 525k release clause (but can only come in January 2013)
DM: Muralha (Flamengo, I think) 850k release clause
CB/DM: St. Strandberg (but may not come)
Winger/amlr: T. Drage (look at my tip in one of the messages on this thread as to how to get him in cheaply)
CF Etien Veljkonja/ D. Ndlovu/Jayiya
Look also at Rainford Kalaba
Tactical Discussion- Exploiting/dealing with wing backs (a return)
I recently started a save with Shaktar cos of the fact that they are toploaded with young talent and that they have a lot of money and I wanted to buy CONCA, THIAGO NEVES and MONTILLO (Cruzeiro) to use together from the start. I did and ended up with a frighteningly talented squad especially from mf upwards. I have the expected team cohesion problems (esp cos of the many nationalities and languages). I got drawn with Juventus, Chelsea and Malaga in the CL and in my first match I faced Juventus away who line up in a 352 formation. I tried to exploit the wing backs/lack of fbs/three cbs by changing my tactics to try to exploit the space behind them (wbs) but failed losing 1-0. Malaga beat Chelsea 3-1 in the other match which makes it even more difficult for me now btw.
I started preparing early for the Juventus match by having my players train in the new tactics I devised but my failure to win reminded me of the issue about wing backs which I previously raised in this thread. So I asked through a pm for help/ideas from the great RAIKAN and this is what he had to say (tweaked by yours truly):
-Things to consider when lining up against teams that use wingbacks:
1) How good are the wbs?
2) Are they more attacking or more defensive (I know wingbacks are meant to be attacking however, I have seen teams like Burnley/West Brom all adopt a 352 type of formation mid game and hence will either use the players they have or make a few changes and teams like that do not normally have very good attacking ones)
(a) If they are quick and agile, good at attacking and are pushing far up the pitch in order to get crosses into the box (Lahm/Evra/Rafael - OR LIKE JUVE IN MY CONUNDRUM), I set my attacking wingers to man mark them (no tight marking) so they end up tracking back and assisting your FB's and end up having a 2v1 situation where you will most likely win back possession.. you need to set your wingers closing down to whole pitch as this also helps when you are chasing the ball down in their half, if the defenders have poor composure and decisions will just end up hoofing the ball back to you!
THIS IS V CLEVER: Also, set your ST to MAN mark so that he puts pressure on the defender in possession and occasionally ends up doing the same thing.
(b) If they are slow and good at defending then I would not stress to much about it as they would most likely be doing it to counter your wingers.. if this is the case, change passing to down both flanks and play a quick tempo direct passing game and set the wingers to run with ball often and cross from byline as to ensure they attempt to take on the WB and hopefully either beating them or getting a free kick which could result in yellow/red cards! I do this often and it works
(c) If they play with WB's who are good like Lahm/Liechtensteiner and play with no wingers (as they do most of the time) (POSSIBLE JUVE SET UP) they play through the middle, I would focus my passing as above (direct/quick tempo etc) but ask the wingers to then cut inside hopefully dragging the WB's in field and having your FB settings to run and cross the ball often (I THINK HE MEANS OVERLAP) as sort of your own wingbacks as this creates a lot of free open space on the flanks for the cross! but you do need good attacking FB's/WB's yourself to take advantage of this as well as having a very good BWM even a DM (OR AN ANCHOR MAN?) to assist on defence if they counter you as they will most likely come through the middle..
This goes beyond what I asked for but it is helpful:
if none of the above works and their wingbacks are really causing you problems, set your wingers to play in the MR/ML roles and have them doing more defensive work than attacking and try and hit them on the counter when they commit too many forward, especially the wing backs: settings for this include:
I recently started a save with Shaktar cos of the fact that they are toploaded with young talent and that they have a lot of money and I wanted to buy CONCA, THIAGO NEVES and MONTILLO (Cruzeiro) to use together from the start. I did and ended up with a frighteningly talented squad especially from mf upwards. I have the expected team cohesion problems (esp cos of the many nationalities and languages). I got drawn with Juventus, Chelsea and Malaga in the CL and in my first match I faced Juventus away who line up in a 352 formation. I tried to exploit the wing backs/lack of fbs/three cbs by changing my tactics to try to exploit the space behind them (wbs) but failed losing 1-0. Malaga beat Chelsea 3-1 in the other match which makes it even more difficult for me now btw.
I started preparing early for the Juventus match by having my players train in the new tactics I devised but my failure to win reminded me of the issue about wing backs which I previously raised in this thread. So I asked through a pm for help/ideas from the great RAIKAN and this is what he had to say (tweaked by yours truly):
-Things to consider when lining up against teams that use wingbacks:
1) How good are the wbs?
2) Are they more attacking or more defensive (I know wingbacks are meant to be attacking however, I have seen teams like Burnley/West Brom all adopt a 352 type of formation mid game and hence will either use the players they have or make a few changes and teams like that do not normally have very good attacking ones)
(a) If they are quick and agile, good at attacking and are pushing far up the pitch in order to get crosses into the box (Lahm/Evra/Rafael - OR LIKE JUVE IN MY CONUNDRUM), I set my attacking wingers to man mark them (no tight marking) so they end up tracking back and assisting your FB's and end up having a 2v1 situation where you will most likely win back possession.. you need to set your wingers closing down to whole pitch as this also helps when you are chasing the ball down in their half, if the defenders have poor composure and decisions will just end up hoofing the ball back to you!
THIS IS V CLEVER: Also, set your ST to MAN mark so that he puts pressure on the defender in possession and occasionally ends up doing the same thing.
(b) If they are slow and good at defending then I would not stress to much about it as they would most likely be doing it to counter your wingers.. if this is the case, change passing to down both flanks and play a quick tempo direct passing game and set the wingers to run with ball often and cross from byline as to ensure they attempt to take on the WB and hopefully either beating them or getting a free kick which could result in yellow/red cards! I do this often and it works
(c) If they play with WB's who are good like Lahm/Liechtensteiner and play with no wingers (as they do most of the time) (POSSIBLE JUVE SET UP) they play through the middle, I would focus my passing as above (direct/quick tempo etc) but ask the wingers to then cut inside hopefully dragging the WB's in field and having your FB settings to run and cross the ball often (I THINK HE MEANS OVERLAP) as sort of your own wingbacks as this creates a lot of free open space on the flanks for the cross! but you do need good attacking FB's/WB's yourself to take advantage of this as well as having a very good BWM even a DM (OR AN ANCHOR MAN?) to assist on defence if they counter you as they will most likely come through the middle..
This goes beyond what I asked for but it is helpful:
if none of the above works and their wingbacks are really causing you problems, set your wingers to play in the MR/ML roles and have them doing more defensive work than attacking and try and hit them on the counter when they commit too many forward, especially the wing backs: settings for this include:
- counter box ticked
- stand off
- zonal marking
- normal defensive line (I THOUGHT DEEP WOULD SUIT BETTER THIS SET UP ...)
- direct passing
- quick temp
- focus passing down both flanks
- using shouts: exploit flanks/pass into space/run at defence/clear ball to flanks
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yes anchor man/defensive mid 
someone good at tackling and even better if he is good in the air! Mudingayi/Mbia/Guilovgui come to mind!
sitting TOO far deep is very, very risky! I have done that in the past and ended up drawing 2:2 after going 2:0 up! setting to normal will also FORCE them to get extra men foward in order to get into a position that is dangerous, having you sit deep already allows them to easily get forward with the ball! (get what I mean)
someone good at tackling and even better if he is good in the air! Mudingayi/Mbia/Guilovgui come to mind!sitting TOO far deep is very, very risky! I have done that in the past and ended up drawing 2:2 after going 2:0 up! setting to normal will also FORCE them to get extra men foward in order to get into a position that is dangerous, having you sit deep already allows them to easily get forward with the ball! (get what I mean)
Same here- I actually cheated a bit with the Juve match restarting a couple of times trying to test a number of things. When I used deep defence and counter I lost 5-1. I thought it was the counter part of the equation but now I realise that maybe its the deep line.
The 1-0 defeat was achieved by playing 4 at the back four in mf one attacker and one player positioned right on top of the rwinger so that i had 3 people on the rw. Team instructions/opposition instructions focussed my attacks on the right trying to utilise this. I missed some chances but thats as far as I went. Ill try some of your ideas for the return match and see what happens.
Player database - Forwards (CONTINUED)
Vaclav Kadlec - Hes as good as he was in FM12 but for some reason people dont rave about him any more. They are wrong.
Chibuike - not strictly speaking a forward. But cheap and effective. And young.
Aloisio (Figuirense)- Awesome but expensive.
Marcus Pedersen - Perfect for **1/2-*** leagues
Muriqui - Stats are not perhaps that great but he is effective and a utility player
Victor Andrade- 6mil clause in original version (before the update). Bit of a steal.
Luis Antonio Peralta - Very recommended
Carlos Carbonero
Samed Yesil - very recommended worderkid
Yiassine Benzia- ditto
Christian Danalache - 4mil goal machine
Mota (also AM/R) - Ranges from free to 600k. Amazing.
Urruti - Only used him for a season with Newells. But was mightily impressed. 21yo**** potential
Dino Ndlovu (RAIKAN recommends).
More to follow
Vaclav Kadlec - Hes as good as he was in FM12 but for some reason people dont rave about him any more. They are wrong.
Chibuike - not strictly speaking a forward. But cheap and effective. And young.
Aloisio (Figuirense)- Awesome but expensive.
Marcus Pedersen - Perfect for **1/2-*** leagues
Muriqui - Stats are not perhaps that great but he is effective and a utility player
Victor Andrade- 6mil clause in original version (before the update). Bit of a steal.
Luis Antonio Peralta - Very recommended
Carlos Carbonero
Samed Yesil - very recommended worderkid
Yiassine Benzia- ditto
Christian Danalache - 4mil goal machine
Mota (also AM/R) - Ranges from free to 600k. Amazing.
Urruti - Only used him for a season with Newells. But was mightily impressed. 21yo**** potential
Dino Ndlovu (RAIKAN recommends).
More to follow
I find exploiting wing backs quite easy, if they are (as they should be) attacking, and they (the opposition) play without wingers.
Same as you, I prefer fast players. Of course, especially wingers. As you say, your attacking wingers (or IFs) should man mark and close down on the whole pitch.
I then set their wide play instructions to 'move into space', and the team shout, passing: into space. I play with high tempo, and the counter-attack box ticked (even with a posession/dominating tactic).
If the team are fluid in, or well accustomed to, the tempo and passing style, they will exploit every inch of room the wing backs leave open to them.
As you stated, this requires a lot from BWM's and/or DM's (pace, stamina, positioning, tackling, etc), as opponents without wingers will concentrate their attacks through the middle.
Same as you, I prefer fast players. Of course, especially wingers. As you say, your attacking wingers (or IFs) should man mark and close down on the whole pitch.
I then set their wide play instructions to 'move into space', and the team shout, passing: into space. I play with high tempo, and the counter-attack box ticked (even with a posession/dominating tactic).
If the team are fluid in, or well accustomed to, the tempo and passing style, they will exploit every inch of room the wing backs leave open to them.
As you stated, this requires a lot from BWM's and/or DM's (pace, stamina, positioning, tackling, etc), as opponents without wingers will concentrate their attacks through the middle.
How to get Kweuke for 4 mil on the January Update etc
Kweuke remains a brilliant beast of an attacker in the new update. However if you try to buy him as soon as a new game starts you will need much more than the 3.2mil he went for in the original version.
But you can get him for 4mil which is still dirt cheap for a player of his calibre:
1) Make sure you monitor his transfer status every day from the start (dont put him on your short list just remember to check him every game day).
2) Within about a month he gets transfer listed with a 4 mil asking price and if you play as a European team you may even get offered him! But you must move fast as a lot of big teams are after him including Arsenal where he usually ends up if you are not quick. So be prepared to offer contractual terms to swing the balance in your favour especially if you are not a top reputation team (he is not that particular where he goes if the money is good).
Continuing my theme in relation to players I recommend (ie not wonderkids exactly but developed players/immediate result players with whom you can win stuff from the get go) I would recommend greatly:
Emilio Zelaya - Doesnt look great but scored 60+ goals for me in one season in Argentina. He would cost around 4/5 mil
Hugo Nervo - Good cb/rb. Not expensive
Kweuke remains a brilliant beast of an attacker in the new update. However if you try to buy him as soon as a new game starts you will need much more than the 3.2mil he went for in the original version.
But you can get him for 4mil which is still dirt cheap for a player of his calibre:
1) Make sure you monitor his transfer status every day from the start (dont put him on your short list just remember to check him every game day).
2) Within about a month he gets transfer listed with a 4 mil asking price and if you play as a European team you may even get offered him! But you must move fast as a lot of big teams are after him including Arsenal where he usually ends up if you are not quick. So be prepared to offer contractual terms to swing the balance in your favour especially if you are not a top reputation team (he is not that particular where he goes if the money is good).
Continuing my theme in relation to players I recommend (ie not wonderkids exactly but developed players/immediate result players with whom you can win stuff from the get go) I would recommend greatly:
Emilio Zelaya - Doesnt look great but scored 60+ goals for me in one season in Argentina. He would cost around 4/5 mil
Hugo Nervo - Good cb/rb. Not expensive
karan10489
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Hey mate, just went through the entire thread, and some really interesting reads and tips. Thanks a lot and Keep up the great work
I actually had a hugely successful save with flamengo a while back, reached the Libertadores final and won the league with some brilliant performances from Luiz Antonio. totally agree with what you've said about the Brazilian leagues.
Am currently trying a save with Gremio, won the the Gaucho State and am 3rd in the league after 5 games. Standout players for me: Fernando, Souza, Renatinho (On loan from Coritiba), Para and Hernan Barcos.
Have you used any of them previously?
I actually had a hugely successful save with flamengo a while back, reached the Libertadores final and won the league with some brilliant performances from Luiz Antonio. totally agree with what you've said about the Brazilian leagues.
Am currently trying a save with Gremio, won the the Gaucho State and am 3rd in the league after 5 games. Standout players for me: Fernando, Souza, Renatinho (On loan from Coritiba), Para and Hernan Barcos.
Have you used any of them previously?
lipecamara
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hi manumad,
feels great to find a fellow who also enjoys the brazilian leagues to share thoughts. thanks!
see,i've been on a save with atletico-mg,and now finishing second season,i've been able to win everything(seriously,GREAT SQUAD,no cheating,4-2-3-1 formation) but i'm struggling with financial.What are your thoughts on improving the club budget and wealth?
feels great to find a fellow who also enjoys the brazilian leagues to share thoughts. thanks!
see,i've been on a save with atletico-mg,and now finishing second season,i've been able to win everything(seriously,GREAT SQUAD,no cheating,4-2-3-1 formation) but i'm struggling with financial.What are your thoughts on improving the club budget and wealth?
Karan10489 mate thanks for the good words. Nope havent used any of the players you mention. There is a Renatinho I like but as I mention in the thread he starts at Krasnodar.
lipecamara, thanks mate for nice words also. Only way to improve finances is keep winning stuff. Try also to sell players (and use non fee playing loans instead) keep squad small, play friendlies away against top opponents (little difficult at first I know), give contracts to free agents with the sole intention of selling them on asap.
Now as to the Brazilian leagues Im still playing my Vitoria save on and off (loveliest team on FM 2013 imho) and my new-ish cruzeiro save but I decided to try the ARGENTINIAN leagues. They are almost IMPOSSIBLE to play. Started a save with Newell's (a team with some really great players) and Tigre. However due to a combination of very small squads and no money I was forced in both saves to give up the save on the start of the second season despite winning EVERYTHING there is to win in the first season. Most good players either were on loan and left, or were in the last year of their contracts but I couldnt renew them due to lack of funds (despite my success I got no transfer money/wage budget increase second season - happened also in my Arsenal De Sarandi save - S0 MUST BE AN ANNOYING BUG). I ended up with extremely small squads and therefore unable to continue.
Only in my Arsenal De Sarandi save I could continue but it was a struggle. I suspended it and I dunno if ill restart it.
So one of my hitherto favourite leagues on FM has been FUBAR(ed) for 2013. Now I always said that FM2013 is the best version for being so difficult but the Argie leagues are heartbreaking!
lipecamara, thanks mate for nice words also. Only way to improve finances is keep winning stuff. Try also to sell players (and use non fee playing loans instead) keep squad small, play friendlies away against top opponents (little difficult at first I know), give contracts to free agents with the sole intention of selling them on asap.
Now as to the Brazilian leagues Im still playing my Vitoria save on and off (loveliest team on FM 2013 imho) and my new-ish cruzeiro save but I decided to try the ARGENTINIAN leagues. They are almost IMPOSSIBLE to play. Started a save with Newell's (a team with some really great players) and Tigre. However due to a combination of very small squads and no money I was forced in both saves to give up the save on the start of the second season despite winning EVERYTHING there is to win in the first season. Most good players either were on loan and left, or were in the last year of their contracts but I couldnt renew them due to lack of funds (despite my success I got no transfer money/wage budget increase second season - happened also in my Arsenal De Sarandi save - S0 MUST BE AN ANNOYING BUG). I ended up with extremely small squads and therefore unable to continue.
Only in my Arsenal De Sarandi save I could continue but it was a struggle. I suspended it and I dunno if ill restart it.
So one of my hitherto favourite leagues on FM has been FUBAR(ed) for 2013. Now I always said that FM2013 is the best version for being so difficult but the Argie leagues are heartbreaking!
May I also take a minute of your time to hate RAIKAN a little?
He is a horrible, hateful individual who is always ready to help people so promptly it defies belief!
So naughty you RAIKAN for closing those threads (the Why am I such a ****** one and the other). Spoilsport. They were SO funny!
He is a horrible, hateful individual who is always ready to help people so promptly it defies belief!
So naughty you RAIKAN for closing those threads (the Why am I such a ****** one and the other). Spoilsport. They were SO funny!
karan10489
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Would strongly recommend some of these mate! Got offered the Corinthians Job when Tite left to manage Brazil and promptly took Barcos with me. He's now scored 37 goals for the season, and its only July! sure, Gaucho state gave him 33, but still! His ratings are crazy! He and Souza are fast developing into favorites!
On that note, got any good Vitoria players i can steal?
On that note, got any good Vitoria players i can steal?
lipecamara
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Would strongly recommend some of these mate! Got offered the Corinthians Job when Tite left to manage Brazil and promptly took Barcos with me. He's now scored 37 goals for the season, and its only July! sure, Gaucho state gave him 33, but still! His ratings are crazy! He and Souza are fast developing into favorites!
On that note, got any good Vitoria players i can steal?
haha,barcos is great indeed.
On that note, got any good Vitoria players i can steal?
Only about half their squad! Look in this thread I recommend their best players. Marquinhos is a very good example.
Btw RAIKAN I was only half joking about closing that thread. I *DID* enjoy reading it ...
Monaco Points
1. Monaco are infamous for FM2013 (at least pre January update) as having a squad that looks as if it would walk Ligue 2 and yet even with (because of?) quality additions it is a real struggle even coming 3rd and getting promoted.
2. Having had a save pre- January where I experienced the above not only in the first season but in the next seasons as well (on getting promoted I had a squad which was worse than only PSG and yet I still struggled to impose myself against teams much weaker) I recently decided to start a new one with the January update in order to try to use the experience gained first time round to avoid it happening again to me (by eg not buying players en masse - which I did; I bought quite a few but I did it more sensibly and even where they were better than what I had I still mainly used what I had and blooded them in gradually) and to try players I didnt/rarely tried before such as SASSA and MAUPAY.
3. Well, having finished the first season it still was a real struggle getting promoted (finished third about 12 points behind the leader - EN AVANT GINCAMP (sp)) and at the start I got very near getting sacked (the nearest I have been to it since I first played FM). But it WAS quite an enjoyable save and I was shocked at how easily I managed to win both the Cup and the Coupe de Ligue!
4. The transfer budget is 13.9m and wages are generous. Coupled with that is the very rich chairman who keeps pumping money in the team as well as being supportive to you in buying players so they are an ideal team to build into something formidable relatively quickly. You can try to sell what little deadwood there is but its well neigh impossible in the first season. I used instalments quite heavily as there is no financial danger.
4. The squad:
GKs - Subasic is the best they have but frankly doesnt look very good. Sourzac doesnt have great stats but star-wise he looks promising. So I tried to sell the former but it proved impossible so I sent him to the reserves. He did not complain once. I kept the latter as back up and bought Pierrick Cros for around 4 milwho is quite good (needs some work on distribution mainly). By the second year Sourzac not only did not improve stat-wise but he lost two stars from the four he started with so out he went (sold). His replacement was a french GK I have used before and was pretty happy about: ALI AHAMADA (cost me around 8m including instalments. Bought first January.
FBs/WBs: There are quite a lot of these (or players who can play in these positions as well as at cb/dm/on wings) .... MORE SOON
1. Monaco are infamous for FM2013 (at least pre January update) as having a squad that looks as if it would walk Ligue 2 and yet even with (because of?) quality additions it is a real struggle even coming 3rd and getting promoted.
2. Having had a save pre- January where I experienced the above not only in the first season but in the next seasons as well (on getting promoted I had a squad which was worse than only PSG and yet I still struggled to impose myself against teams much weaker) I recently decided to start a new one with the January update in order to try to use the experience gained first time round to avoid it happening again to me (by eg not buying players en masse - which I did; I bought quite a few but I did it more sensibly and even where they were better than what I had I still mainly used what I had and blooded them in gradually) and to try players I didnt/rarely tried before such as SASSA and MAUPAY.
3. Well, having finished the first season it still was a real struggle getting promoted (finished third about 12 points behind the leader - EN AVANT GINCAMP (sp)) and at the start I got very near getting sacked (the nearest I have been to it since I first played FM). But it WAS quite an enjoyable save and I was shocked at how easily I managed to win both the Cup and the Coupe de Ligue!
4. The transfer budget is 13.9m and wages are generous. Coupled with that is the very rich chairman who keeps pumping money in the team as well as being supportive to you in buying players so they are an ideal team to build into something formidable relatively quickly. You can try to sell what little deadwood there is but its well neigh impossible in the first season. I used instalments quite heavily as there is no financial danger.
4. The squad:
GKs - Subasic is the best they have but frankly doesnt look very good. Sourzac doesnt have great stats but star-wise he looks promising. So I tried to sell the former but it proved impossible so I sent him to the reserves. He did not complain once. I kept the latter as back up and bought Pierrick Cros for around 4 milwho is quite good (needs some work on distribution mainly). By the second year Sourzac not only did not improve stat-wise but he lost two stars from the four he started with so out he went (sold). His replacement was a french GK I have used before and was pretty happy about: ALI AHAMADA (cost me around 8m including instalments. Bought first January.
FBs/WBs: There are quite a lot of these (or players who can play in these positions as well as at cb/dm/on wings) .... MORE SOON
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Monaco - Points
FBs/WBs: This is another area where there's loads of decent to great players (the squad has even more GKs than indicated above but have fun trying to shift them even on frees!). However as with most other positions almost all FBs/WBs start out as being 4* potential or more but drastically fall in the second season with little or no attribute change (unless its my training!). Anyways Tzavellas is the best one and by the second season his value shoots up to 6m (26yo at the start). Andrea Raggi (also plays at cb) and Appiah are pretty decent and there's also Layvin Kurzawa who looks like a good prospect till you find yourself in Ligue 1 second season and find he hasnt improved almost at all.
I note here that perhaps my style of playing FM makes me too stict about players - what I do is I play to win stuff from the get go and developing players is not near the top of my priorities - raking in the trophies and cash is!
I bought Romario from Vitoria. I couldnt use him in Ligue 2 as I only could use two non-eu players and those were Ocampos and Sassa but I bought him to use him in the cups and give him one of the 4 non eu slots allowed in Ligue 1. Did the former but when it came to the latter I brought in SCOCCO on a free and DZEKO off the transfer list so Romario had to go on loan.
I also bought KIKO FEMENIA from Barcelona B. The guy is an absolute legend. Cost me 250k which is about a 10th of his real value bearing in mind his stats and performance. Plays at LB/RB and RW.
Christopher Dibon also came in dirt cheap (around 500k if memory serves) and was pretty solid at rb/cb whenever called upon (mostly off the bench but never once complained).
Loaned in De Sciglio in the first season who was AWESOME. But I didnt buy him as at the time I had to use the money elsewhere.
N. Clyne (great) and Seb Corchia (legend) eventually got picked off the transfer list ((FM 2013 sure is the most difficult of all but the amount of freebies/transferlisted great players is ridiculous!)
CBs: Wolf starts 4* and is great but 2nd season he goes to 2* and is 32 so despite no drop in actual ability he got sold in the second season (for fear that I would not be able to get anywhere near the 4m I got for him if I let him get older).
Gary Kagelmasher is younger (no spring chicken tho), 4* (drops to 3 second season) and is an absolute legend.
They are both great but other than the abovementioned Raggi there's no decent cover so reinforcements are necessary.
Strandberg came in for 600k first season summer
Brought in J. Ivens on a free (later sold on) and Ashley Williams off the transfer list in the second season and Papastathopoulos (great!) in the third.
DMs: Delvin Dinga is young able and with good potential. If you use him carefully he ll serve you for long, Nampalys Mendy flatters to deceive and is another one of 4* to 2* star no improvement players. You will offload him second season.
Dumont is decent and experienced but I had to sell him third season as he wanted much more than was worth to renew contract and negotiations broke down.
Strandberg can be used here but I brought in Simao, Pizarro, Capoue (transfer list second season), Matuidi (free third season), Nainggollan (transfer list Jan second season).
Loaned Chantome second season also tho he's not really a DM and bought Selnaes for 300k who is also no DM and is better at cm/rw.
CM/AM: Jacob Poulsen and Nacer Barazite are both great and also play at am/wings. I bought in Mistdjo and used the aforementioned Chantome here. I also found Barrada (sp) an awesome stat Algerian playing in Spain in the third season for free and got SCOCCO for free in the third season to use at am/wings. I cant RECOMMEND SCOCCO ENOUGH. HE CAN PLAY AT CF AS WELL AND HAD THE FANS CONFIDENCE BAR TO FULL AFTER ONE FRIENDLY!!!
SASSA was bought in the first season to have as additional cover at CF but half the time he was used very successfully at AM.
Same goes for NEAL MAUPAY who I bought in the first summer. I know how liked this guy is in the forum but after using him at Newcastle in an earlier save where he was great he wasnt so this save.
Valere Germain is also a player they have but I never found out where to use him and sold him second season.
MORE TO COME ...
FBs/WBs: This is another area where there's loads of decent to great players (the squad has even more GKs than indicated above but have fun trying to shift them even on frees!). However as with most other positions almost all FBs/WBs start out as being 4* potential or more but drastically fall in the second season with little or no attribute change (unless its my training!). Anyways Tzavellas is the best one and by the second season his value shoots up to 6m (26yo at the start). Andrea Raggi (also plays at cb) and Appiah are pretty decent and there's also Layvin Kurzawa who looks like a good prospect till you find yourself in Ligue 1 second season and find he hasnt improved almost at all.
I note here that perhaps my style of playing FM makes me too stict about players - what I do is I play to win stuff from the get go and developing players is not near the top of my priorities - raking in the trophies and cash is!
I bought Romario from Vitoria. I couldnt use him in Ligue 2 as I only could use two non-eu players and those were Ocampos and Sassa but I bought him to use him in the cups and give him one of the 4 non eu slots allowed in Ligue 1. Did the former but when it came to the latter I brought in SCOCCO on a free and DZEKO off the transfer list so Romario had to go on loan.
I also bought KIKO FEMENIA from Barcelona B. The guy is an absolute legend. Cost me 250k which is about a 10th of his real value bearing in mind his stats and performance. Plays at LB/RB and RW.
Christopher Dibon also came in dirt cheap (around 500k if memory serves) and was pretty solid at rb/cb whenever called upon (mostly off the bench but never once complained).
Loaned in De Sciglio in the first season who was AWESOME. But I didnt buy him as at the time I had to use the money elsewhere.
N. Clyne (great) and Seb Corchia (legend) eventually got picked off the transfer list ((FM 2013 sure is the most difficult of all but the amount of freebies/transferlisted great players is ridiculous!)
CBs: Wolf starts 4* and is great but 2nd season he goes to 2* and is 32 so despite no drop in actual ability he got sold in the second season (for fear that I would not be able to get anywhere near the 4m I got for him if I let him get older).
Gary Kagelmasher is younger (no spring chicken tho), 4* (drops to 3 second season) and is an absolute legend.
They are both great but other than the abovementioned Raggi there's no decent cover so reinforcements are necessary.
Strandberg came in for 600k first season summer
Brought in J. Ivens on a free (later sold on) and Ashley Williams off the transfer list in the second season and Papastathopoulos (great!) in the third.
DMs: Delvin Dinga is young able and with good potential. If you use him carefully he ll serve you for long, Nampalys Mendy flatters to deceive and is another one of 4* to 2* star no improvement players. You will offload him second season.
Dumont is decent and experienced but I had to sell him third season as he wanted much more than was worth to renew contract and negotiations broke down.
Strandberg can be used here but I brought in Simao, Pizarro, Capoue (transfer list second season), Matuidi (free third season), Nainggollan (transfer list Jan second season).
Loaned Chantome second season also tho he's not really a DM and bought Selnaes for 300k who is also no DM and is better at cm/rw.
CM/AM: Jacob Poulsen and Nacer Barazite are both great and also play at am/wings. I bought in Mistdjo and used the aforementioned Chantome here. I also found Barrada (sp) an awesome stat Algerian playing in Spain in the third season for free and got SCOCCO for free in the third season to use at am/wings. I cant RECOMMEND SCOCCO ENOUGH. HE CAN PLAY AT CF AS WELL AND HAD THE FANS CONFIDENCE BAR TO FULL AFTER ONE FRIENDLY!!!
SASSA was bought in the first season to have as additional cover at CF but half the time he was used very successfully at AM.
Same goes for NEAL MAUPAY who I bought in the first summer. I know how liked this guy is in the forum but after using him at Newcastle in an earlier save where he was great he wasnt so this save.
Valere Germain is also a player they have but I never found out where to use him and sold him second season.
MORE TO COME ...
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More on MONACO:
Finished the third season having won EVERYTHING THERE WAS TO WIN - Ligue1, Super Cup, Euro Super Cup, CL, Coupe De Ligue and French Coupe - and all thanks to my new tactics for which Ill be making a separate post.
Anyway MONACO from the start has decent wingers options from the wonderkid that is OCAMPOS (spiffing great from the get go) to Nacer Baracite (awesome on either wing/at am - BTW Ocampos can be a decent striker as well), there is also a sweedish guy loaned in who is great (EMIR BAJRAMI), Nabil Dirar (great for a couple of seasons), and Edgar Salli who is decent for at least 3 seasons if not more. There's also Jacob Poulsen who is great but after two seasons he wanted too much to renew his contract so he got sold.
Brought in Sid Ahmed Aouedj first season for wing cover (sold him after one and a half season if memory serves).
The weakest position is upfront as the only decent out and out striker there is is IBRAHIMA TOURE who's only good for a season if at that. Yannick N'Djeng came in together with the abovementioned Maupay and Sassa in the first season and proceeded to be top scorer in France for it!!! Sold to Midlsbro end of third season when better options became available.
Apart from the abovementioned and from memory over the seasons I also bought:
Lucas Digne LB - Recommended
Pedro Leon (free) - good for a season.
Wilfried Bony 7m from transfer list - A goal machine and a steal.
Edin Dzeko - 9.5m from transfer list. Main reason for winning the CL
E. Elia - winger from transfer list. Ok. Slightly overrated.
The squad for the current fourth and probs final (I only play till Ive won everything with one team and then I start a new save and Ive only got the club world club left) as well as my new v effective tactics to follow ...
Finished the third season having won EVERYTHING THERE WAS TO WIN - Ligue1, Super Cup, Euro Super Cup, CL, Coupe De Ligue and French Coupe - and all thanks to my new tactics for which Ill be making a separate post.
Anyway MONACO from the start has decent wingers options from the wonderkid that is OCAMPOS (spiffing great from the get go) to Nacer Baracite (awesome on either wing/at am - BTW Ocampos can be a decent striker as well), there is also a sweedish guy loaned in who is great (EMIR BAJRAMI), Nabil Dirar (great for a couple of seasons), and Edgar Salli who is decent for at least 3 seasons if not more. There's also Jacob Poulsen who is great but after two seasons he wanted too much to renew his contract so he got sold.
Brought in Sid Ahmed Aouedj first season for wing cover (sold him after one and a half season if memory serves).
The weakest position is upfront as the only decent out and out striker there is is IBRAHIMA TOURE who's only good for a season if at that. Yannick N'Djeng came in together with the abovementioned Maupay and Sassa in the first season and proceeded to be top scorer in France for it!!! Sold to Midlsbro end of third season when better options became available.
Apart from the abovementioned and from memory over the seasons I also bought:
Lucas Digne LB - Recommended
Pedro Leon (free) - good for a season.
Wilfried Bony 7m from transfer list - A goal machine and a steal.
Edin Dzeko - 9.5m from transfer list. Main reason for winning the CL
E. Elia - winger from transfer list. Ok. Slightly overrated.
The squad for the current fourth and probs final (I only play till Ive won everything with one team and then I start a new save and Ive only got the club world club left) as well as my new v effective tactics to follow ...