This is my first story so be kind, not sure if this is even in the right place, been a long time reader but never done a story of my own.
Broke my arm 3 weeks ago which coincided with FM 2013 being released( I know drastic action) so i have plenty of time on my hands to get into this.
I decided to go for Man Utd as i have heard that people are having a tough time with the game so far this year and felt they would be a good challenge yet still enjoyable. They certainly have been as im in the year 2021/2022 season so have a big story to write up one handed.
My aims were to use my Youth system
Bring in mainly youngsters
Win as much as possible
First off get the League Back off City
JULY/AUGUST Transfers out ; mainly youth players on loan and Bebe as nobody wanted him even for free! Jonny Evans joined AC Milan for £9 Million
Anderson went to Everton for £4.2 million
Finally Ashley Young joined Tottenham for £15 million
Transfers in;
Gareth Bale for only £24 million a steal at that price, they bought Ashley Young with the proceeds!
Davide Santon was the other for £12 million as a good prospect as Buttner is shocking and i dont like Evra
Pre Season
6 - 0 Man Utd Reserves
Rooney 2 Hernandez 2 Van Persie 2
3 - 0 Port Vale
Hernandez Rooney Powell
2 - 0 Jiangsu
Cleverly Giggs
0 - 1 Beijing Guoan First loss of pre season, used a completly reserve side and it showed big time 4 - 0 Benfica
Scholes Bale Giggs Nani
Next up is my first official game in charge against Fulham
My first team is as follows
De Gea GK
Rafael DR
Vidic DC
Ferdinand DC
Santon DL
Fletcher MC
Carrick MC
Valenica AMR
Kagawa AMC
Bale AML
Van Persie ST
Jones and Smalling will both get game time to help them develop, Nani will rotate with Valencia and Hernandez will get some game time, Rooney will play in Midfield , attacking midfield and upfront depending on injuries and fatigue.
2 - 0 Fulham A
Van Persie 36 Nani 75
3 -1 Wigan H Rooney 56 Van Persie 65 Hernandez 86
Good come back against Wigan was 0-1 down at half time had a massive go at the team brought Rooney and Hernandez on and they reacted superbly.
Player of the Month View attachment 284931
Had to be Van Persie new to the club yet scored in both games he has played in.
SEPTEMBER
Champions League group is not tough but i was hoping for one easy team to use my reserves in, instead i have a group where any of these teams can spring a suprise on me;
Galatasary
Schalke
Udinese
0 - 1 Swansea A Terrible result, had a first team out aswell due to the international break but they won it at the death.
2 - 2 Stoke H
Van Persie 26, 43 Took a 2 -0 lead into the break yet still managed to only come away with a draw, tired legs of older defence may be the cause, Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra all being the wrong side of 30
Champions League Group B
1 - 1 Galatasary H
Santon 24 Lost another lead late on, not the start i had in mind
2 - 3 Chelsea
Bale 75 Nani 86 Tried to mount some sort of a comeback late on but its a big lost to one of our main rivals for the League.
Capital One Cup 3rd Round
2 - 0 West Brom
Van Persie 56 Rooney 89 Played the reserves for this cup game but had to put the big guns on for the second half to get anything from the game
1 - 0 West Brom H
Van Perise 45 P Just glad to get back to winning ways even if it was a lucky win.
All in all a poor month 2 wins in 6 is not Champions Material hopefully bounce back next month with some better results.
Player of the Month
View attachment 284935
Had to be Van Persie again 4 goals in 6 games even though we played poorly.
October Won 5 out of 6 this month and am back on track in the league aswell as europe and the cup
2 - 1 Schalke A
Van Persie 38 Rafael 56
Good win to start the month off they could only manage a consolation goal in injury time
4 - 1 Liverpool A
Bale 14 Valencia 46 Suarez o.g 48 Valencia 52
Best win this season so far not only against fierce rivals but in their own backyard. Everything happened in the space of 6 mins in the second half then not even a highlight!
2 -2 Sunderland H
Fletcher 26 Ferdinand 56
They came back with 2 goals in 4 minutes with 80 minutes gone and i was raging to say the least, Adam Johnson running about 80 yards then running into the net!
1 - 0 Udinese A
Vidic 12
Good away win in the Champions League and second in a row meaning qualification should be easy to come at Old Trafford.
2 - 0 Reading H
Van Persie 42 Hernandez 82
Capital One Cup 4th Round
3 -2 Aston Villa A
Fletcher 36 Valencia 92 Bale 108
Lucky win in the end with Valencia coming on to bag the goal to bring it to extra time and Bale scoring a similar goal to win it, I have been drawn against Brighton in the next round so am confident of going far.
Player of the Month View attachment 285008
Could have been either winger really Bale or Valencia, Nani isnt getting a look in at the moment and these two are scoring for fun and setting each others goals up with crosses to the far posts.
5 wins in 7 sounds good but the draws were against weak teams i would expect to beat easily, im wearer of using my reserves in any games as i struggle just to win let alone win with any style. 2 - 1 Arsenal A
Hernandez 48 , 82
Good result after going behind just before half time, Van Persie was having a mare against his old club but bringing on Hernandez sorted that out!
1 - 0 Udinese H
Valencia 4
Booked our places into the knockout stages but was a very boring match zooming past without even so much as another highlight. 2 - 0 Southampton H
Bale 18, 53
Bale comesback to haunt is former club with a brace and two similar goals both set up by Valencia
3 - 0 West Ham A
Kagawa 14, 46 Evra 66
Kagawa deciding to show up today was a suprise i was about ready to drop him for Rooney.
1 -1 Galatasary A
Ferdinand 46
0 - 0 Norwich
Two poor results in a row were i got to confident after the 4 back to back wins and used reserves which backfired big time.
Capital One Cup Quarter Final
3 - 0 Brighton A
Giggs 11 Hernandez 46, 69
Good win in the cup as the reserves finally show up and do something another big help in the cup draw as i face Burnley in the Semi Finals
Player of the Month View attachment 285017
The Little Peas 4 goals in 2 games was enough for him to win it, Van Persie has been terrible recently failing to score in 8 games now, Hernandez may be the way forward!
5 wins in 8 but no losses is not bad as fatigue hits bad over Christmas with 4 games in 9 days stretching us to the limit
3 - 0 Aston Villa H
Rooney 27 P Evra 28 Valencia 32
We just exploded in the space of 5 minutes going 3 up then doing nothing for the rest of the match
1 - 1 Schalke H
Jones 51
We do enough to win the group meaning we hopefully get an easier tie.
3 - 0 Everton A
Bale 73 Valencia 78, 85
3 -1 QPR A
Rafael 1 Hernandez 78, 84
1 - 0 Man City A
Valencia 72
4 - 0 Newcastle H
Van Persie 9, 47 Ferdinand 51 Hernandez 89
What a run of results 4 wins in a row in the league and 3 were away from home, The Man City game has to be the biggest result leapfrogging them and going top. Valencia is on fire at the moment and was nice to see Van Persie get a brace
0 - 0 Tottenham H
3 - 3 Wigan A
Hernanadez 3 , 11 ,42
Two poor results i put down to fatigue, nice to see Hernandez get a first half hat trick but we came from behind all 3 times against a Wigan side fighting relegation not Champion stuff.
Player of the Month View attachment 285044
Had to be Valencia he has been one of the stars of the season so far along with Bale, 4 goals this month along with 3 assists means he showed us why Nani has played since September!
Team Played Won Lost Draw Pts
Man Utd 20 13 2 5 44
Man City 20 12 2 6 42 Chelsea 20 11 1 7 40
As you can see only a 2 point lead with just over half the season gone but happy to still be in all the Competitions next month is the big month for the Capital One Cup
Transfers in Stefan Jovetic for £13.5 million and Leighton Baines as a part exchange for Tom Cleverly! I couldnt believe that one either. View attachment 285059View attachment 285060
All in all a good transfer window Baines will play ahead of Santon in the side now, Jovetic has not got a definite place but was transfer listed and too cheap to even think off passing up.
8 out of 9 wins this month with the other being a draw so very productive, Baines has fit in well and Jovetic has had some game time. Made it into the Capital One Cup Final and kept up with Man City in the league.
2 - 0 Fulham H
Kagawa 34 Hernandez 59
FA Cup 3rd Round
3 -1 Bournemouth
Ferdinand 13 Valencia 18, 85
Capital One Cup Semi Final First Leg
3 - 0 Burnley A
Kagawa 35 Fletcher 55 Hernandez 81
3 - 0 Swansea H V
Van Persie 10 Bale 34, 37
Stoke 2 - 1 A
Bale 17, 78
5 wins in a row has helped my teams confidence go sky high and its nice to see that the goals are getting around the whole team so were not dependant on 1 player.
1 - 1 West Brom A
Bale 26
Capital One Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg
1 - 1 Burnley H
Win on Agg 4 - 1
Glad to be through to my first Cup Final and hopefully get my first silverware, we face Tottenham who are currently fourth but have Europa League commitments either side of the Cup Final
FA Cup 4th Round
4 - 1 Arsenal H
Kagawa 11, 71 Nani 18 Valencia 29
3 - 0 Chelsea H
Van Persie 14 Bale 59 Kagawa 89
Two good wins to finish off the month especially the Chelsea win in the league as they are currently 3rd right behind me and Man City.
Player of the Month View attachment 285083
Kagawa getting 5 goals and 5 assists this month, he has been on fire playing in that central role just behind van Persie.
4 wins in 6 games and the most important was the first chance for silverware. Not only winning the Capital One Cup but winning it in style against a very good Tottenham side.
2 - 0 Liverpool H
Bale 6 Nani 93
2 -1 Sunderland A
Jovetic 1 Kagawa 36
FA Cup 5th Round
0 - 0 Sunderland H
Champions League 1st Knockout Round 1st Leg
0 - 3 Shakhter A
Capital One Cup Final
3 - 1 Tottenham N
Kagawa 7 Lloris o.g 20 Bale 32
FA Cup 4th Round Replay
2 - 4 Sunderland A
O shea o.g 20 Ferdinand 43
Strange feeling winning the Capital One Cup in between effectively going out of the other two competitions i was gunning for.
Player of the Month View attachment 285088
Second Player of the Month award for Kagawa as everything goes through him he bossed the midfield in the cup game and started the scoring
Champions League 1st Knockout Round 2nd Leg
3 - 1 Shakhter H
Van Persie 22 Fletcher 35 Bale 64 Lost 4 -3 on aggregate.
0 - 1 Southampton A
4 - 0 Arsenal H
Van Persie 6, 24 Vidic 49 Bale 86
4 - 0 West Ham H
Bale 21 Rooney 50, 59 Nani 54
4 good wins out of 5 funny how the team i lost to you would have said were the worst team currently in 20th in the league, glad to get some pride back with the Shakhter win and thumping Arsenal is always pleasing, despite winning a lot of league games since Christmas i am still neck and neck with Man City
Player of the Month View attachment 285093
3 goals and 4 assists mean that their was no other choice than Gareth Bale this month
Next month is a big month in the league as i am out of other cup competitions and Man City are not and they have to face Chelsea and Arsenal away in the league so hopefully i could wrap the league up
Only 2 wins out of 4 this month and i thought the Title would be gone, but Man City played poorly and it came down to me still being ahead with 3 games to go including Man City.
1 - 1 Norwich A
Valencia 11
2 - 1 Aston Villa H
Nani 23 Vidic 57
4 - 1 QPR H
Parr o.g 4 Jovetic 27 Van Persie 40 Bale 89
0 - 1 Everton H
I was hoping to wrap the league up with the Everton game at home meaning the Man City game wouldnt matter but that wasnt to be.
Player of the Month View attachment 285107
No one really stood out but Nani's goal and 3 assists were good considering he only played twice
Summer Transfers 2013
Transfers in
Falcao from Athletico Madrid for £52 million.
Only the one transfer in but maybe the most important one i will make, after not feeling the need to strengthen anywhere else i thought i would sell some plays to beef up my budget to get him.
Transfers Out
Fabio £1.6 million to Southampton
Javier Hernandez £24.5 million to FC Bayern
Macheda £3.5 million to Norwich
Loans out included Henriquez and Nick Powell
I thought i would sell Hernandez as he wasnt going to get any game time ahead of Van Persie or Falcao and he helped fund a lot of the deal
Falcao View attachment 285121
5 - 0 Seoul A
Falcao 10 Rothwell 17 Jovetic 44 Bale 53 Van Persie 67
4 - 0 Sundowns A
Falcao 3, 14, 31 Jovetic 67
A good pre season all in all i dont know why they organized only the one home game so we did plenty of travelling in that short time but it seems as if Falcao fitted in well getting 7 goals in 6 games. He does seem to be either Man of the Match or terrible their is no middle ground.
Up next is FA Cup winners Tottenham in the Community Shield.
Not a bad draw all these teams are around the same which usually means it will be tighter as their is no one team that will be getting thrashed week in week out. Also what are the chances of drawing Schalke again in the group stages.
1 - 1 Liverpool A
Valencia 47
2 - 2 Schalke H
Ferdinand 27 Valencia 46
Capital One Cup 3rd Round
2 - 1 Norwich H
Ferdinand 31 Bale 61
1 - 1 QPR A
Falcao 47
Falcao being injured for the first three games really showed but i thought that when he came back for the QPR game that we would destroy them but they nicked a late equalizer.
Player of the Month View attachment 285185
Had to be Rio hes getting on a bit now so doesnt play every game but scoring twice in a row while Falcao was out injured sure helped his chances of staying in the side.
5 wins out of 6 has us heading the right way back up the league after last months 3 draws. The goals were more spaced out amongst the whole team aswell rather than us revolving around Falcao and missing him when hes injured.
1 - 0 PAOK A
Jones 40
3 - 0 Wolves H
Henry o.g 10 Fletcher 56 Jones 85
0 - 0 Southhampton H
2 - 1 Benfica A
Kagawa 45 Bale 79
3 - 0 West Ham A
Falcao 12 Bale 18 Ioannou 34
Capital One Cup 4th Round
2 - 0 Wolves H
Fletcher 57 Falcao 59
Glad to see my young regen CB getting on the score sheet, after Ferdiands goals last month he got very fatigued and jones came in and managed to score 2 goals in as many games.
