Prepared: The Aston Villa Guide

[Bodell]

Just read threw all of that, and it made me start a game with Villa, took every step that gets said in the OP, so I'll let you know how I get on.

But, brill guide.

 

[Ben]

I'm approaching the January transfer window now, and would like an attacking midfielder since Pires isn't getting any younger. I'm considering Iker Muniain since he is young, and has more of a scoring instinct than Ireland, and i'd like to take the goal scoring pressure off Gabby. Any other suggestions for players that can replace Pires/Ireland Godcubed, or anyone else?

If there is any chance of getting them, Pastore and Paulo Henrique are beasts, Gotze is very young but has a lot of potential.

 

[GodCubed]

I'm approaching the January transfer window now, and would like an attacking midfielder since Pires isn't getting any younger. I'm considering Iker Muniain since he is young, and has more of a scoring instinct than Ireland, and i'd like to take the goal scoring pressure off Gabby. Any other suggestions for players that can replace Pires/Ireland Godcubed, or anyone else?

Dario Conca or Simon Vukcevic are both machines, if maybe on the pricey side.

Just read threw all of that, and it made me start a game with Villa, took every step that gets said in the OP, so I'll let you know how I get on.

But, brill guide.

Thanks, I look forward to seeing how you do.

 

[Joel`]

Top of the table into November! Doubt it'll last, with Liverpool and City coming up. But hey, enjoy while it lasts eh Albrighton and Downing have both been playing very well, possibly better than Young who hasn't performed as well as he should so far. Will update again properly after January.

 

[Ride The Walrus]

How successful is Albrighton in your game?

I've got him fourth season with Liverpool, really poor player, real shame.

Good guide buddie.
Villa are a real force in my game 4 seasons in, David Hoilett won young player of the year twice, and Darren Bent won top goalscorer. They'd be top 2/3 in my game, but using Guzan as first choice GK

 

[saroy94]

I currently use Albrighton as a backup anyway, should be good in the next FM though. Just thought i'd add some things I did in my reign:

1st season signings:
Dodo - 2.5mil
Neymar - 15mil

Try and get Neymar as soon as you start the game, because within a week, all the top clubs will bid for him. Only Chelsea was interested as soon as I started the game, but as i bidded straight away they stopped. He was excellent for me, scoring 16 and assisting 4 in 26 games.

Dodo was just a backup, as warnock has good fitness anyway.

In the Jan transfer window, I wasn't really looking for anyone but Sissoko caught my eye. Again the big teams were about to sign him, but luckily I got him for 14.5mil, and still my finances were perfectly fine.

I also signed Afellay, as his contract was expiring.

 

[dedrevil]

2nd season villa.
| Kameni |
Diogo, Shawcross, Dunne, Warnock
Annan
S.Petrov Badelj
Ninis A.Young
Agbonlahor

Lukaku
Downing Albrighton
Ireland C.Ledesma
Kouyate
Jose Angel C.Davies Fazio Vrsaljko
| Freidel |

Reserves: Carini, Clark, Briggs, Collins, Cairney, Delph, Bannan, Reo Coker, Mahoto, Delfouneso, Heskey, Griffiths

 

[Joel`]

Halfway through January right now:

League table:
http://img841.imageshack.us/i/englishpremierdivisionih.png/

Ashley Young leading assists <3:
http://img593.imageshack.us/i/englishpremierdivisions.png/

Tactic and player ratings:
http://img574.imageshack.us/i/astonvillaastonvillatac.png/

I finally got my right winger, £15m for Elia, but I think he'll be perfect for my tactic, and he's fluent in English so should slot in quickly. Poli playing the pin-point passes with Young, Gabby and Elia all head of him is going to make some scary counters.

Currently trying to ship out quite a few players, Olympiakos are loaning Sidwell, and Carew is going on loan to Valencia, with an option to buy at £2.3m which should free up some wage budget. Delfouneso has been phenomenal in almost every game he played, has really saved me a lot of points when Gabby has been out or off form. Young started slow but is playing amazingly well right now, unfortunately neither Albrighton or Downing could continue their early season form playing week in week out, I'm sure they'll play fine as backup though.

Looking at my squad, anyone have suggestions for where I can improve, and any potential targets?

 

[DonVilla]

I'm still playing FM2010, however with the latest update. In the league played 6, won 5, drawn 1.
Results:
Blackburn

---------- Post added at 01:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:42 PM ----------

I'm still playing FM2010, however with the latest update. In the league played 6, won 5, drawn 1.
Results:
Blackburn A 2-0
Liverpool H 1-0
Man U H 1-1
Wolves A 3-2
Chelsea A 1-0
Spurs A 2-0

When I saw my fixtures at the start of the season, I was dreading the first 2 months, however I am very pleased with my results. Next up are a few "smaller" teams, such as Stoke, Wigan, etc., so hopefully I can keep it up.

Heskey and Delfouneso have been scoring at around a goal a game, with Ireland having 10 assists in 9 games (Europa League and League Cup included).

 

[Joel`]

Heskey scoring a goal a game? You gotta be trolling Nice results there though, especially winning at the bridge!

 

[GodCubed]

Halfway through January right now:

League table:
http://img841.imageshack.us/i/englishpremierdivisionih.png/

Ashley Young leading assists <3:
http://img593.imageshack.us/i/englishpremierdivisions.png/

Tactic and player ratings:
http://img574.imageshack.us/i/astonvillaastonvillatac.png/

I finally got my right winger, £15m for Elia, but I think he'll be perfect for my tactic, and he's fluent in English so should slot in quickly. Poli playing the pin-point passes with Young, Gabby and Elia all head of him is going to make some scary counters.

Currently trying to ship out quite a few players, Olympiakos are loaning Sidwell, and Carew is going on loan to Valencia, with an option to buy at £2.3m which should free up some wage budget. Delfouneso has been phenomenal in almost every game he played, has really saved me a lot of points when Gabby has been out or off form. Young started slow but is playing amazingly well right now, unfortunately neither Albrighton or Downing could continue their early season form playing week in week out, I'm sure they'll play fine as backup though.

Looking at my squad, anyone have suggestions for where I can improve, and any potential targets?

With that squad, I'd normally be suggesting a replacement for Albrighton, but seeing as he's doing well there's really no point. Maybe some better backups, but that's great results, it really is.

I'm still playing FM2010, however with the latest update. In the league played 6, won 5, drawn 1.
Results:
Blackburn

---------- Post added at 01:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:42 PM ----------

I'm still playing FM2010, however with the latest update. In the league played 6, won 5, drawn 1.
Results:
Blackburn A 2-0
Liverpool H 1-0
Man U H 1-1
Wolves A 3-2
Chelsea A 1-0
Spurs A 2-0

When I saw my fixtures at the start of the season, I was dreading the first 2 months, however I am very pleased with my results. Next up are a few "smaller" teams, such as Stoke, Wigan, etc., so hopefully I can keep it up.

Heskey and Delfouneso have been scoring at around a goal a game, with Ireland having 10 assists in 9 games (Europa League and League Cup included).

Heskey and the Fonz as a lethal striking partnership, priceless.

 

[saroy94]

What pitch size do you use? I'm starting a new game with Villa because all I ever did in my current game is save before match then load up agan if I lost. I want to actually play the proper way, so I might use this guide now

 

[Joel`]

Set your pitch size according to your tactic I use standard.

 

[HarryW]

Carew did ok for me, managed to score 27 in 30(7) in all competitions. I also got Macheda in on loan as i wanted to establish a good relationship with him and also have an English speaking Italian in the side to help Poli fit it. Macheda managed 25 in 37(12) in all competitions, along with gabby 41 in 58(2), 26 of which were in the league. So there is a lot of goals for no money, which allowed me to wait for some good bargains to come on the market in the summer.

 

[Joel`]

Well its all gone **** up now, 6 games without a win, averaging 3 conceded a game, God I hate this defence so much. I feel powerless to stop the rot, the defence is just not performing, and the whole tactic that brought me my success was the solidity of my defence. All that hard work till February just seems wasted, admittedly I never dreamt of a CL place when I started, but to go from title challengers to free falling down the table, just grr!

EDIT: Was finally winning a game at the Britannia, Dunne decides he needs 10 seconds to clear a ball in the dying seconds and a penalty ends up being conceded. 2 week fine, I'm ******

 

[Calum]

nice guide pal good details

 

[Joel`]

Secured a Champion's league spot Fighting Arsenal for 2nd, Spurs won the league!

Will update with screenies tomorrow

---------- Post added at 10:23 PM ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 05:19 AM ----------

Second Season

Have hit the ground running this season, particularly Gabby, Young and Elia have been on fire. Ireland did little last season in the AMC slot, I decided that the position was more ineffectual for my tactic than Ireland playing badly, so I dropped it back to a CM position in a box to box role.
Formation: http://img341.imageshack.us/i/astonvillaastonvillatac.png/
Ashley Young: http://img291.imageshack.us/i/ashleyyoungprofileattri.png/
Gabby: http://img443.imageshack.us/i/gabbyagbonlahorprofilea.png/

I was given a £35m budget with the aims of continental qualification, and a £1.3m wage budget, however I've decided to keep faith in Ireland/Delph in my midfield, and my only key signing was Ranocchia to beef up my defence for the Champion's League. Arsenal pipped me to a bargain £325k for Vincent Kompany

Transfers: http://img600.imageshack.us/i/astonvillatransfershist.png/

Played fantastically in the first 3 games of the league, the side seems to have far more attacking threat, hitting 3 goals in each game. A game that could already prove key is a 3-1 victory over Arsenal, overturning a 1-0 deficit at Half Time to hit 3 in the second half.
The only disappointment is that Young got injured for 3 weeks after playing just 12mins for England, especially with the form he was on, will dearly be missed
League:http://img41.imageshack.us/i/englishpremierdivisioni.png/

And here's Ireland in a friendly, wasting absolutely no time in hitting a hat-trick!
http://img593.imageshack.us/i/fcemmenvastonvillasplit.png/

The Villa youth system does it again:
http://img42.imageshack.us/i/johnsmithprofileattribu.png/

Can see him being a real star for the future, Barcelona and Madrid have already been sniffing around him.

 

[Mr.Legendary]

Secured a Champion's league spot Fighting Arsenal for 2nd, Spurs won the league!

Will update with screenies tomorrow

---------- Post added at 10:23 PM ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 05:19 AM ----------

Second Season

Have hit the ground running this season, particularly Gabby, Young and Elia have been on fire. Ireland did little last season in the AMC slot, I decided that the position was more ineffectual for my tactic than Ireland playing badly, so I dropped it back to a CM position in a box to box role.
Formation: http://img341.imageshack.us/i/astonvillaastonvillatac.png/
Ashley Young: http://img291.imageshack.us/i/ashleyyoungprofileattri.png/
Gabby: http://img443.imageshack.us/i/gabbyagbonlahorprofilea.png/

I was given a £35m budget with the aims of continental qualification, and a £1.3m wage budget, however I've decided to keep faith in Ireland/Delph in my midfield, and my only key signing was Ranocchia to beef up my defence for the Champion's League. Arsenal pipped me to a bargain £325k for Vincent Kompany

Transfers: http://img600.imageshack.us/i/astonvillatransfershist.png/

Played fantastically in the first 3 games of the league, the side seems to have far more attacking threat, hitting 3 goals in each game. A game that could already prove key is a 3-1 victory over Arsenal, overturning a 1-0 deficit at Half Time to hit 3 in the second half.
The only disappointment is that Young got injured for 3 weeks after playing just 12mins for England, especially with the form he was on, will dearly be missed
League:http://img41.imageshack.us/i/englishpremierdivisioni.png/

And here's Ireland in a friendly, wasting absolutely no time in hitting a hat-trick!
http://img593.imageshack.us/i/fcemmenvastonvillasplit.png/

The Villa youth system does it again:
http://img42.imageshack.us/i/johnsmithprofileattribu.png/

Can see him being a real star for the future, Barcelona and Madrid have already been sniffing around him.

Why did you sell friedel? he is awesome! and great regen there

 

[Joel`]

Why did you sell friedel? he is awesome! and great regen there

Wanted to concentrate on developing Smithies, Dudek signed on as a backup for just £4k a week, and I didn't see a point in holding onto a 40 year old, he was far too prone to error.

 

[Mr.Legendary]

hey into first season and after playing 3 games i am 12th in the league
Drew with man utd ( 1 - 1 ) liverpool ( 0 - 0 ) and bolton ( 1 - 1 ) so no wins so far! please help and to top it all of young is out for 5 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!